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This case describes the evolution of an entrepreneur's venture-capital fund-raising from seed-stage financing through later-round efforts. The case focuses on where the “action” is in venture finance: the exploitation of social capital by an entrepreneur and investors. Much of the teaching materials on venture finance focus on the economics of financing; while these materials provide useful information about the mechanics of valuation and how to structure venture-capital agreements, they miss the social side of venture-capital investing. The case illustrates the theoretical concept that social capital (i.e., a person's relationship to other people in society) influences venture finance. The case can be used in a class on entrepreneurship or venture finance.

In April 1992, this multinational consumer foods and beverages company is the focus of takeover rumors, which have prompted an assessment of the firm's returns. The student must choose among the principal methods of estimating the weighted-average cost of capital (WACC) for GrandMet and its three main business segments, and must then produce WACC estimates in order to evaluate the firm's performance.

This case presents turnaround alternatives for a UK-based company, Carpets International (CI), a manufacturer focused on woven carpets and suffering from the ageing equipment and resulting product quality issues during the late 1990s. The case profiles CI’s position in the UK marketplace as well as highlights the growing international competition from Europe and Mexico. Comparisons between customer’s preferences for carpeting in the USA vs the UK are included. Additionally, the case introduces first-mover advantages in the application of innovational ideas applied to a mature industry in another country.

This case study was written by the CEO of the company as the lead author. The case is not disguised.

This case is appropriate for undergraduate strategic management/business policy classes.

Alan Silko must decide whether to invest in seven statistical-process-control (SPC) stations in order to increase his chances of becoming a “select supplier” for a large computer company. The student must do a discounted-cash-flow/decision-tree analysis of the option. The student is also given the opportunity to construct x-bar and range charts and to do an SPC analysis.

Suitable for MBA, EMBA, and executive education programs, this case uses the complexities of the oil industry to set the stage to unfold a stakeholder analysis on BP's growth and opportunity in the renewable energy sector. This public sourced case offers a discussion about the firm's overall strategy, post Gulf Oil spill, moving forward. The case describes how within a single decade, BP had emerged as one of the largest energy companies in the world. Within that scope, BP had an odd achievement: It had been building an alternative energy business and had gained a reputation as being an oil company with a regard for the environment. Then a series of preventable accidents, in the United States in particular, started to chip away at the firm's status. In a matter of five years, BP went from celebrating its most profitable period to finding itself selling assets while industry watchers wondered whether the company would survive after being responsible for the largest oil spill in the United States. Shortly following the Gulf oil spill, Robert Dudley, a legacy Amoco executive, was appointed to replace Tony Hayward, the beleaguered BP group chief executive and director. Besides the oil spill and ongoing cleanup, Dudley had slumping revenues (even before the Deepwater tragedy) and a huge rebuilding task ahead of him. Not only did he have a multinational energy company to run, but Robert Dudley had to rehabilitate the Gulf of Mexico ecosystem, compensate all who suffered loss as a result of the damage, and repair the firm's shabby reputation. Dudley needed to implement a sound long-term strategy. How would his former division—renewable energy and alternative activities—fit into his plans?

This case used the interplay between individuals, firms and markets to examine how a company sustained success from its value adding activities. The theory of value creation was demonstrated by the leader’s ability to configure the firm’s tangible and intangible resources to create opportunities beyond the commodity markets. Also, what matters were not just the technical processes of developing value-added products, but how the company’s culture served as a link to new products, new markets and new ventures.

The case was based on primary and secondary sources. The primary sources face-to-face semi-structured recorded interviews with the protagonist at the company’s headquarters. The secondary data were from the company’s website, and public information about Johnsonville Sausage LLC. Supplemental information was gathered from market research firms. No names have been disguised. The case has been classroom tested with undergraduate students in a capstone course. The author has no personal relationship with the company.

Kevin Ladwig, Vice President, was concerned by the expanded production of ethanol, an attractive supplement to gasoline in the USA. Because most ethanol is processed from corn, expanded production of ethanol heightened the demand for corn. Since corn is a staple feed ingredient for animals, heightened demand for corn increased the cost of Johnsonville’s raw material – hogs. In fact, the cost of feed was Johnsonville’s major economic input in animal production from farrow to finish, accounting for up to 70 percent of the total production cost of hogs. The case introduces the nexus of food and energy markets and how the “Johnsonville Way” was used to convert an old idea into an innovation.

This case is appropriate for undergraduate and graduate courses in business and agribusiness management. It would also be appropriate for courses using concepts in innovation and organizational culture.

This case was developed with information gathered from publicly available secondary sources, including news articles, company annual reports, various organizational websites and social media posts. The authors pilot-tested the case in two undergraduate courses: Leadership and Labor-Management Relations.

In 2019, Abigail Disney, granddaughter of Roy Disney (co-founder of the entertainment giant The Walt Disney Company), gained considerable media attention when she publicly criticized the high compensation paid to the current Disney CEO, Robert Iger. In fact, Iger had one of the largest ratios of CEO-to-average worker pay in corporate America. Abigail Disney called for the company to reduce Iger’s compensation and to increase pay for the average Disney worker to address the perceived pay inequity.

This case is primarily written for the undergraduate level. The topics would be appropriate for Human Resource Management, Labor Relations, Business Ethics, Leadership, and an upper level Compensation course. It is possible that the case could also be used in a Business Strategy or Economics course if supporting documents are provided.

In this return on investment (ROI) for customer relationship management (CRM) case scenario, students must calculate the ROI for analytic CRM enabled by an enterprise data warehouse. The case is based upon a real-life consulting engagement with a major Fortune 100 telecommunications company. In this case the executive management team's strategic objective is to grow the customer base by 5 percent annually by customer acquisition. The internal rate of return calculated from the data given in the case is more than 800 percent for one year, and sensitivity analysis shows this is a robust projection, suggesting it should be funded without question. However, the strategy of the firm is customer acquisition in an environment of high customer churn. As a result of these dynamics, the revenues and net income of the firm are actually decreasing by hundreds of millions of dollars each year. A better solution would realize that the executive team has the incorrect strategic objective. Customer acquisition is the wrong approach in an environment of high customer churn and executives should focus on customer retention and cross-sell and up-sell to high-value customers. The case discussion therefore takes students beyond CRM ROI to focuses on the key strategic concepts of customer relationship management.

Students learn how to calculate return on investment (ROI) for analytic customer relationship management (CRM) initiatives. The case also discusses in detail the difference between operational CRM and analytic CRM. The case solution is relatively straightforward with a very good ROI. However, the true learning of the case is for students to understand the strategic context of analytic CRM and to question assumptions in any ROI model.

In writing this case, the research team used secondary resources such as academic journals, trade magazines and websites to inform and verify the information.

January 7, 2021, was not a good day for Goya Foods CEO Robert Bob Unanue, who has been at the helm of Goya since 2004. On that day, the nine-member board of directors of Goya censured Unanue for publicly questioning the legitimacy of the 2021 United States Presidential election. A day before, on January 6, a mob “trapped lawmakers and vandalized the home of Congress in the worst desecration of the complex since British forces burned it in 1814” (Hockstein, 2021).

Unanue was considered a follower of former president Trump and has expressed that “the country was […] blessed to have a leader like President Trump, who is a builder” (Hawkins, 2020). In January 2021, Unanue appeared on Fox News and said a “ war was coming,” as Joe Biden’s election was “unverified.” These, among other words, motivated the censured by the board of Goya Foods, Inc. (Santana and Isidore, 2021).

Students are asked the following questions for discussion: Did the board of directors of Goya Foods carry its role too far by openly censuring Unanue? Did Unanue go too far by openly expressing subjective opinions and thus influencing how people view the election results? Should he have remained as CEO of Goya Foods after his words on Joe Biden’s election?

One of the authors has taught the case in the Strategic Management course for MBA students. In addition, graduate students of corporate governance, business ethics, social responsibility and leadership, among other classes, will be the target segments for the case.

1. Recognize the effects on brand image and sales when CEOs participate in political arenas and publicly discuss social issues.

2. Understand the dynamics behind ethnic family businesses, such as their governance and conflict resolution approach.

3. Assess the value of the corporate board’s management of corporations.

CCS11: Strategy

This case explores the turnaround and corporate renewal of the Chicago Blackhawks professional hockey team, which transformed from one of the worst-run organizations in all of professional sports in 2007 to one that won the Stanley Cup (the National Hockey League championship trophy) in 2010. W. Rockwell “Rocky” Wirtz was faced with making critical decisions shortly after inheriting the team from his father, who was the individual most associated with the organization's decline. The team faced financial trouble and had narrowly avoided missing payroll; the previous customer relations strategy (which included refusing to televise home games or to conduct effective marketing) had resulted in significantly diminished brand value; and management and player personnel were devoid of effective leadership. At its nadir, the team was named “The Worst Franchise in Professional Sports” by ESPN in 2004. After assuming control, Rocky embarked on an ambitious corporate renewal strategy that included the following components: leadership: install a new management team with clear goals and creative ideas about how to turn around the organization; culture: reward players for accomplishing their goals and establish a performance-based culture; financial: seek new corporate sponsorships and increase ticket prices once the team established a winning record; and brand and marketing: send a clear message that the team was intent upon winning the championship and design a customer-focused marketing strategy.

After analyzing the case, students should be able to: recommend strategic, financial, and operational changes needed to turn around the organization, and identify key leadership qualities that enable execution of a turnaround plan.