Arctic Insulation: Teaching Commentary

OVERVIEW This is an excellent short case to cover basic concepts in cost analysis for cost control and managerial decisions. The case always works well for me in class. Perhaps this is because the unusual industry context is intriguing to students who enjoy thinking about business issues in strange settings. Also, the topics covered have high common sense appeal. If students have not thought much about these issues before, this case is seen as very …

…best classroom strategy is just to follow the questions in order, based on the analysis presented in this commentary. For a core, required course I would plant to spend 75 minutes of a 90-minute class on questions 1, 2, 3, and 5 and only about 15 minutes as a "teaser" on question 4. In my elective SCM course, my plan is to spend no more than 45 minutes on questions 1, 2, 3, and 5 so that the class can more fully explore the richness of question 4.