. How was Lincoln able to grow and prosper for so long in such a difficult commodity industry that forced out other giants such as General Electric, Westinghouse, and BOC? What is the source of Lincoln’s outstanding and enduring success?

2. Given this outstanding success, why did the internationalization thrust of the late 1980s and early 1990s fail?

3. What is your evaluation of the company’s internationalization strategy under Tony Massaro’s leadership? Is it likely to be more successful that the previous offshore initiatives? If so, why?

4. Should Lincoln go ahead with its investment in Indonesia? If so, what should be its entry strategy with respect to partnerships? Which compensation option would you recommend to Mike Gillespie as he considers the advisability of implementing the company’s incentive management system?

5. What do you think of Lincoln’s emerging international strategy by the mid-1990s? Does this company have a competitive advantage that can be transferred to the global environment? How is Massaro’s recent overseas initiative different from Lincoln’s earlier failed approach?

In general, you may follow the guidelines as follows:

(1) They should be presented in memo format;
(2) Follow the instructions of the writing question at the bottom of the case assignment sheet. In general, you should identify the key strategic issues, state your position and support that position using strategic logic;
(3) State you position or central theme upfront;
(4) You should only use key facts (sparingly) to help justify your position. Do not simply restate what the case has said;
(5) Write analytically. Try to go beyond the facts by doing some new analysis of the situation facing the managers. Relate the practical issues to concepts and theories you learned in the class. Be aware: Do NOT follow the descriptive writing style.
(6) If the assignment asks you to make recommendations, do not dwell on things that the company is already doing. Instead focus on things it is not yet doing, but probably should, according to your analysis;
(7) Present your ideas with a clear line of thinking, and organize your arguments in a logical way.

An “A” paper writes analytically, identifies and focuses on a central theme only, and applies pertinent concepts and theories to the business problem with strong, logical reasoning.

A typical “B” paper identifies some major arguments, but it wanders occasionally. The line of thinking is clear mostly. It may state too much descriptive facts, and sometimes relies on personal observation/examples rather than theoretical analysis to support the perspectives.

A “C” paper cannot identify a central theme but wanders all the time. It may heavily restate the case facts without proposing the writer’s own perspective or logical reasoning. It could hardly relate the practical phenomenon to pertinent concepts or theories.

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