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In early 2004, residents of Inglewood, California, a working-class community just outside Los Angeles composed primarily of African- and Hispanic-Americans, were preparing to vote on a referendum that would change the city charter to allow Wal-Mart to build a supercenter on a huge, undeveloped lot in the city. Walmart had put forward the measure after the city council refused to change the zoning of a sixty-acre plot on which it held an option to build. Numerous community and religious groups opposed Wal-Mart's entry and campaigned against the referendum. Walmart promised low-priced merchandise and jobs, but these groups were skeptical about the kinds of jobs and compensation that would be offered, the healthcare that would be provided to employees, and the broader impact Walmart would have on the community. Inglewood was a pro-union community, so there was also opposition based on Walmart's anti-union position. On April 6 Inglewood residents voted to reject the referendum by a margin of 60.6 percent to 39.9 percent. Though smaller, less organized, and with fewer resources than Walmart, this coalition of community and religious leaders had defeated the global retailing behemoth.

After students have analyzed the case they will be able to (a) appreciate the importance of nonmarket factors to execute growth and market entry strategies, (b) understand how the decisions of political institutions depend on the issue context and the alignments of coalitions of interest, (c) formulate and assess strategies to overcome nonmarket barriers to entry.

Human Resource Management & Social Entrepreneurship.

The target audiences for the case study are undergraduate and postgraduate (e.g. BSc, MSc as well as MBA) students and also management trainees and executives who are interested in understanding the social capital enhancing practices, policies and strategies adopted by the world’s largest commercial employer to ensure complete satisfaction and contentment of 1.7 million employees and their family. Even senior management teams could be targeted in executive education programs, as this case discusses time tested practices, policies and strategies which have been sparsely discussed so far and hence can be expected to provide insights to senior corporate managers. The case also demonstrates the application of different frameworks on social capital and corporate social responsibility which can be used by the participants in their firms to assess the social capital.

Indian Railways (IR) remains the world’s largest commercial employer, with approximately 1.7 million employees, which conveys the huge magnitude of social capital inventory accrued. This social capital, especially people side of IR, played a very crucial role in running the organization successfully for more than a century. As an organization, IR has guaranteed heavy importance for its employees while making decisions on strategic level. But recently, IR was moving towards automation and was cutting on cost incurred for its employees. IR was already exhibiting decreasing trend in the number of employees employed in the organization. These initiatives were resisted by IR employees due to fear of job losses and insecurity. In 2013, Chief Personnel Officer’s (CPO) of different zones have to rethink about their HR practices to assure confidence for employees on the security of their jobs and sustain the social capital accrued by IR over years. The objective of this case study is to describe the social capital accrued by IR over the years by offering livelihoods for nearly 1.7 million families across the country. Teaching note applies the frameworks on social capital in literature in the context of IR. Teaching note also discusses how CPOs of IR can pursue the change initiatives among the employees without affecting the social capital accrued so far.

Case study’s primary objective is to apply frameworks available in literature on social capital and corporate social responsibility to understand the social capital accrued by IR over decades. The case study attempts to answer the following assignment questions which forms the learning objectives of this case study: How do the existing frameworks on social capital measurement explain the social capital accrued by IR over decades? How can a firm assess its accrued social capital? How can one demonstrate the same using the case of IR? How can IR pursue change initiatives when it comes to its employees without affecting the social capital accrued over time?

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CSS:10 Public sector management.

For 28 years Alaska, like the vast majority of the nation, has struggled with growing prison populations and shrinking budgets. In 1995, the Alaska Department of Corrections, faced with sanctions unless they ameliorated their crowded prison conditions, looked to the popular practice of contracting out its correctional operations by sending 650 prisoners to a private out-of-state prison. But, as the costs of prisoner litigation and transportation mounted, the state began to consider building its own private prison, a decision which many state lawmakers and business entrepreneurs argued would allow the state to stretch scarce dollars by providing cheaper and better quality prisons, return millions of dollars to the state economy, and create permanent jobs. In this decision case, students are required to put themselves in the role of the Alaska Legislature to determine whether they should permit the building and operation of a private prison in one of Alaska's remote communities. The students must analyze and juggle the complex and often competing set of objectives, values, and political tensions intrinsic to all privatization decisions.

This case addresses stakeholder theory by asking students to consider the various entities that have a vested interest in Delta’s response to the passage of the Senate Bill (SB) 202. Stakeholder theory holds that businesses are responsible to broader constituents in society and not only to stockholders/shareholders or owners. This perspective suggests that businesses do not exist to maximize profit alone but also to enhance society in their day-to-day decisions. To this end, stakeholders are defined as entities that affect or are affected by an organization’s decisions. Stakeholder theory is based on three arguments: descriptive, instrumental and normative arguments.

The information presented in the case was sourced from secondary sources, including both company and media publications. Several media sources from a breadth of political orientations were used to capture the complexity of the issue and the decision at hand. The case development and premise started at the Eastern Academy of Management 2021 Annual Conference Case Hackathon. The case was piloted by eight students (seven undergraduates, one graduate student) in two different courses at two institutions. The student feedback helped to highlight where clarifications were needed within the case and resulted in modifications to the exhibits, appendices and discussion questions.

On March 26, 2021, the media was buzzing about the passage of the Georgia SB 202, which included voting regulations perceived to negatively target black voters. As the head of the state’s largest employer, Delta Airlines’ Chief Executive Officer Edward Bastian found himself at the center of a heated political issue. While Delta had initially shown support for the bill, the rise in opposing voices and pressure to boycott Delta presented increasing pressure to think about its various stakeholders and potentially reevaluate the company’s handling of the situation. Should Bastiasn stay consistent with Delta’s initial support of SB 202, speak out to oppose it or remain silent?

Undergraduate students within business ethics or business in society courses are the best audiences for the case. The case may also be used in courses that have a portion of their content on business ethics or business in society; these related courses with subsections, modules or themes in this area may include corporate strategy, social responsibility and political activism.

On completion of analysis of this case, students would be able to: appreciate the context of a typical delisting decision of a public company that is part of a large business group; analyze the complex nature of the relationships among the promoter shareholders, minority shareholders, government-controlled financial institutions, independent directors and executive directors in such a situation of transfer of value; and develop the best possible course of action for the promoters, independent directors and public shareholders, keeping into consideration the principles of corporate governance and the objective of shareholders’ wealth maximization.

The case presents an opportunity to examine the corporate restructuring and governance issues associated with the delisting attempt of India-based mining company Vedanta Ltd., by its London-based parent company, Vedanta Resources. The case focuses on the conflict of interests between the promoters of a business group and the public shareholders of a subsidiary, and the pivotal roles independent directors and proxy advisory firms play in supporting the public shareholders.

The case can be discussed in a graduate-level corporate strategy course that deals with restructuring and governance issues in companies, especially large group companies. It can also be discussed in a course of corporate governance where students have the opportunity to understand the potential conflict between promoters and other shareholders, and the moderating roles the independent directors and institutions may play in resolving such conflicts.

Teaching notes are available for educators only.

CSS 11: Strategy.

The “Anti-Racism in my Pocket” case illustrates how collaborative entrepreneurial leadership can build on personal experiences, expertise and a desire to change the status quo to support racial equity. The case will support students’ critical thinking skills and further heighten their understanding of the contributions of women in leadership, anti-racism and the role of technology. Moreover, the case is motivating for students with aspirations of using business skills and knowledge to contribute to social equity.

After completing this case, students should be able to identify the role of marketing in the development, implementation and evaluation of a behavior change initiative, the Anti-Racism Action Nuggets anti-racism training program; analyze qualitative and quantitative data to assess the impact of the Anti-Racism Action Nuggets Pilot using a logic model; identify marketing opportunities, challenges and strategies to scale the Anti-Racism Action Nuggets series for a broader impact; and discuss the relationship of gender in strategic positioning and marketing leadership to the development of the Anti-Racism Action Nuggets (Optional).

This case charts the development of an anti-racism training series by two friends, Allison Plyer (she/her) and Valerie (Val) Uccellani (she/her), called Anti-Racism Action Nuggets. The two protagonists aimed to change individual behaviors to reduce structural racism through lessons that were delivered in text messages to participants. Once the course is completed, they conduct a test pilot with members of NOW, LOVE, a women’s organization in New Orleans, Louisiana. At the end of the case, students are provided with the qualitative and quantitative pilot data for their analysis to recommend next steps and important marketing considerations for the Anti-Racism Action Nuggets series.

Undergraduate, graduate and executive education

Teaching notes are available for educators only.

CCS 8: Marketing

After working through the case, the students should be able to understand Indian political economy and the brand building process of NaMo; identify the media mix strategies used to build the brand NaMo in India; evaluate possible future growth strategies for brand NaMo; and compare and contrast brand NaMo with business brands.

Narendra Modi popularly called as NaMo was the current Prime Minister of India. He belonged to Bhartiya Janata Party (BJP) which won India’s general elections in two consecutive terms 2014 and 2019. NaMo was recognised worldwide for his prudence in leading the country to greater heights of achievement. NaMo started his political journey as the worker of BJP at a tender age. His rise in political career was akin to flagship brand overtaking the parent brand. All the steps taken in the past to position himself as a cult brand, will it fortify to NaMo’s victory in 2024 general elections? Business firms may follow NaMo’s strategies. What can the business brands emulate from NaMo to market and position themselves? Can political success be transpired to business success?

This case is designed for use in a graduate-/postgraduate-level marketing course in segments on brand management, brand expansion and the marketing strategies of a market leader. The case can also be used in a brand management course to discuss brand management models (e.g. Keller’s brand resonance pyramid and brand value chain). This case has particular application for classes that focus on brand equity, STP for any brand (segmentation, targeting and positioning) and brand value chain. The case looks in detail at the Indian political market and brand building process of NaMo and examines competitive moves since its inception. This case can be used in brand management, media management courses. The dilemma can be explained as part of a marketing course for postgraduate and executive programmes.

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CSS 8: Marketing.

The media consultant for the Reagan-Bush '84 campaign identifies his goal as stopping and reversing a strong decline in support for President Reagan. The case describes the results of some of the motivational research used, and introduces a framework for evaluating advertising strategies. The case also introduces the MECCAS framework for evaluating advertising copy and discusses theory-driven communication strategies.

Because U.S. legislators are often most attentive to the issues raised by people who create jobs in their states, Bob Epstein, a local business owner, has been asked by activists to help lobby for a bill that would mandate the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions in California. Before deciding whether he should work to establish the business community's backing for this bill, Epstein must weigh the pros and cons of supporting measures that might put his business (and standing in the community) at risk.

Use the 4 I's framework to evaluate the nonmarket environment, assess the political impact of the potential coalitions in favor of and opposed to the bill, identify the type of politics that characterizes the situation, and describe the strategies each side will likely use in contesting the bill.