Designed for use with Time Life, Inc. (A).

Time Life has historically been a continuity book publisher, selling 20-volume book series via direct mail. Now, however, music and video/TV divisions have been added, and the CEO is trying to craft a strategy that will align the divisions so they can produce multimedia products. There is also an immediate decision facing the CEO about the advertising for a new book and TV series, and questions for the division managers about how to shape and improve their businesses' creative processes. Teaching Purpose: Designed to show students the strategic process of a general manager struggling to develop a corporate strategy. Also raises issues of how division managers can direct such work processes as creation and cross-divisional integration.