Abstract

In recent times, Cisco has shown a tremendous improvement in sales growth and profitability. Cisco's balance sheet is currently among the strongest in the tech industry. After being somewhat late in recognising the worst tech downturn in history, CEO John Chambers has seized the initiative, and drastically restructured the company. Cisco's comeback looks remarkable for a company which had been written-off in the first few months of 2001. Chambers seems to have demonstrated that his hard earned reputation as a successful CEO is very much intact. The case can be used to understand how a firm in disarray can use a slump to streamline operations and build a better future.

Learning Objectives

The case is structured to achieve the following Learning Objectives:

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Keywords

Cisco, Turnaround, John Chambers, Operations, Strategy, Nortel Networks, Lucent Technologies, Inventory write down, Sales growth, Crisis, Wallstreet's earnings expectation, Cisco's Internet operating system, Routers, Juniper