The war of the woods: A forestry giant seeks peace

The case examines the difficult strategic decision before MacMillan Bloedel, the largest forest company in British Columbia at the time. The company had been battered by economic downturns in key markets, long-standing protests and criticism from environmentalists for its logging methods of old-growth forests, accidents and safety problems in its operations, and loss of confidence by its investors. With the prospect of losing key European customers to its increasingly tarnished image, the company goes about examining its options to get out of this quagmire and regain respect and profitability in the marketplace. The CEO strikes a high-level, internal task force and grants this 'Forest Project' 90 days to comprehensively review all options. Now the often conflicting recommendations are in. Should MacMillan Bloedel opt for major, but risky, innovations? Or should it stay with the perhaps equally risky status quo?