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Information was obtained in interviews with Richard Nagel in Winter/Spring 2022. This information was supplemented by material from secondary sources. The only information that was disguised were the real names for Bob Crater, Tim Landy, Jane Tolley and Mary Nagel.

The case was classroom tested in Summer 2022. The responses from students helped to shape the writing of the case.

Richard Nagel, the owner of the RE/MAX Elite real estate agency in Monmouth Beach, New Jersey, has just learned that one of his agents, Tim Landy, quit and left the industry. Tim was a young real estate agent and Richard had spent considerable time training him. Tim was motivated and he worked hard to prospect for business, but he showed that he was experiencing difficulty closing on his sales. Richard decided to recommend that Tim work with another agent, Bob Crater, as Bob was an experienced salesman but was not doing the up-front prospecting that Tim was doing. Richard suggested two different strategies to the two agents – a pairing up arrangement and peer-to-peer learning. The outcome that Richard envisioned was that both of the struggling salesmen would benefit from either of these strategies, but Bob refused to collaborate.

Tim’s quitting was characteristic of an ongoing problem with employee retention that Richard had been experiencing as a manager in recent years. This problem caused Richard to think about how he recruited his real estate agents, how he developed them through coaching and how he motivated them so that they would stay happy in their job and not leave. He recognized the importance of thoroughly examining his retention strategy within the next 12 months so that he could better manage the problem and strengthen the productivity of his real estate agency.

The case is intended for an undergraduate course in human resources management, as it deals directly with recruiting, coaching and retaining employees.

In early 2014, recent Stanford University graduate Tyler Shultz was in a quandary. He had been working at Theranos, a blood-diagnostic company founded by Elizabeth Holmes, a Stanford-dropout wunderkind, for almost a year. Shultz had learned enough about the company to realize that its practices and the efficacy of its much-touted finger-prick blood-testing technology were questionable and that the company was going to great lengths to hide this fact from the public and from regulators.

Theranos and Holmes were Silicon Valley darlings, enjoying positive press and lavish attention from potential investors and technology titans alike. Just as companies like PayPal had revolutionized the stagnant payments industry and Uber had upended the for-hire transportation sector, Theranos had been positioned as the latest technology firm to substantially disrupt yet another mature sector: the medical laboratory business. By the start of 2014, the company had raised more than $400 million in funding, and had an estimated market valuation of $9 billion.

Shultz's situation was exacerbated by the fact that his grandfather, the highly respected former US Secretary of State George Shultz, was on the Theranos board and was one of Elizabeth Holmes's biggest supporters.

But Tyler Shultz worried about the customers he was convinced were receiving highly unreliable and often inaccurate blood-test results. With so much at stake, Shultz wondered how he should proceed. Should he raise his concerns with the firm's investors? Blow the whistle externally? Report to industry regulators? Go away quietly?

This case and its subsequent four brief follow-up cases are based largely on interviews with Tyler Shultz, and outline the dilemma he faced and the various steps he would take both to extricate himself from his unsavory position and let the public know the full extent of the deception at Theranos.

Five optional handouts are available to instructors to further discussion after the case has been debriefed. The handouts serve as additional decision points for the students if your class time permits.

This case study is best suited for courses in career management, stress management, work–life management or science of well-being in organization behavior (OB) or human resources management (HRM). This case study is targeted at the MBA or executive development programs. The learning outcomes of this case study are as follows: to analyze the challenges in balancing Suraj Kumar’s (the protagonist) work–life balance situation and identifying the main causes of such a conflict. What are some strategies that could be used to address these issues? To develop a plan to balance work responsibilities with family and personal life. What specific actions could he take to achieve this balance? To design a training program for employees that addresses work–life balance issues. What topics would you cover in the training, and what methods would you use to deliver the content? To create a proposal for a flexible work arrangement program that an organization could offer to its employees. What would be the benefits of this program, and how would it be implemented and managed? To develop a business case for why an organization should prioritize work–life balance for its employees. What are the potential benefits of doing so, and how can the organization measure the impact of its efforts?

This case study discusses conflicts due to competitive priorities that people face in balancing the pressures, roles and responsibilities between their professional life (careers) and their personal life, and the trade-offs that they make across these multiple aspects of their lives. This case study revolves around Suraj Kumar, a successful consultant, who was offered a promotion as the executive director for the social sector. This promotion would require extensive travel and time away from his family. Kumar was struggling to balance his work responsibilities with his family life and his involvement with the Smile and Shine Foundation, which supports the education of children from economically weaker sections of society. He was reflecting on his past and present and trying to figure out how to prioritize his commitments while also achieving his personal and professional goals.

This research has shown that a case discussion and role-play can be effective for a less experienced audience. Instructors can provide multiple perspectives to stimulate reflection and debate. For executive MBA or executive development programs, a self-reflection exercise is recommended. Participants in these programs may have personal experience dealing with or may know others who have dealt with work–life balance issues, making self-reflection a valuable tool.

Teaching notes are available for educators only.

CSS 6: Human resource management.

The case recounts actual events and embeds information that has either been provided by the organization or that is publicly available from secondary sources, such as links to news articles, the organization’s financial report and videos. The protagonist is a real person, although identified only by first name, and she was interviewed extensively and provided planning documents.

The case addresses fundamental project management concepts via a nonprofit’s fundraising event that had to be shifted to online delivery during the early days of COVID. Students take the perspective of advising the protagonist, a key member of the event committee. As if this substantive re-plan during a pandemic was not challenging enough, the committee had the additional complication of integrating a fundraising management system into the organization in time to support the event. Students must work through detailed planning and calculations and also need to think more broadly about appropriate tradeoffs and justify them in their recommendations.

As this case has students work with concepts and skills central to project management and has involves a mix of applying, analyzing and evaluation outcomes, it can be used within operations management or project management courses for either undergraduate senior-level or early graduate-level business or engineering students. It has already been assigned in project management courses in two separate MBA programs. The case required no substantial revisions, and feedback from student evaluations show that it was perceived positively in both classes.

The case takes place in the city of Dubai, United Arab Emirates, a booming regional tourist and commercial center located on the Arab (Persian) Gulf coast of the Arabian Peninsula. The story describes Vijay, the Indian (East Asian) entrepreneur, his personality, background, motivations and management style. The focus of the case is on how this entrepreneur grows the business over the seven years leading up to the decision to launch a travel club targeted toward East Asian travelers in the region. The details of the new venture are chronicled from inception to its eventual closure four years later under desperate financial circumstances. The richness of the case is enhanced by the inclusion of details of the legal, economic and cultural factors that define the business context and business risks. The case provides an interesting and informative view of a part of the world that is “in the news” but largely remains a mystery to the typical North American student.

This case is particularly applicable for use in courses on entrepreneurship, people management, and business strategy. It is intended to give students an overview of a succession planning strategy, and provide insight into the particular challenges facing founders of small businesses as they identify and prepare a successor for the most senior management role. Given the position of Closed Loop as an early mover technology firm in the insurance industry, this case also explores the strategic business considerations. The case therefore offers students detailed, authentic, and practical lessons on leadership through the personal experiences of a founder-CEO in a high performing organisation.

This case is appropriate for students enrolled in postgraduate programmes such as a Master of Business Administration (MBA) and Executive Education programmes. Although the case learnings are transferrable to more general leadership and change management studies, this case will be particularly useful to students with interests in entrepreneurship, leadership in tech startups, and succession planning.

This case tells the story of a small business’ succession plan journey in two parts. Closed Loop is a small insurance software company that is transitioning from a founder-run startup to manager-run company. Case A follows the 55-year-old founder Alex Martin as he performs a measured succession planning analysis that eventually leads him to promote from within the company. Neevan Chattry is the 33-year-old head of business development who has been with the company for ten years and shows promise as a rising leader. Over the course of 18 months, Alex and Neevan embark on a structured preparation and handover process. The case ends in June 2015 with Neevan taking over as CEO and Alex stepping into the role of board chairperson. Case B picks up two years later when Neevan unexpectedly announces that he is resigning as CEO, leaving Closed Loop in a difficult position. In this case, Alex confronts the mistakes he made over the last three years, both during succession planning and Neevan’s tenure as CEO, as well as how digital disruption in the insurance industry affected the business strategy over this period. The case ends with Alex resuming the role of CEO to lead Closed Loop in a reinvention process. Students are left to analyse the decisions taken by the different leaders and how Closed Loop will fair in the future under Alex’s leadership.

Identify the key components of a strong succession plan, including a careful selection process, mentorship of the successor, communication of the change to internal and external stakeholders, and the withdrawal of the outgoing leader; explore the organisational transitions that companies naturally undergo as they grow and enter different phases of operation and the implications of that change for leadership; discuss the compatibility of different leadership traits, styles, and mindsets with the strategic objectives of the company at different points in time; and provide suggestions and recommendations to owners contemplating succession planning in their organisations.

Teaching notes are available for educators only.

CSS 6: Human Resource Management.

Quality management among multiple business units of a large organization is often difficult if each unit is run independently in terms on their quality standards. In this case, participants will discuss how Bukhari Group of Companies should establish a common brand image through standardized quality. Participants should also understand that common brand image for diverse products does not mean identical level of rejection or customer complaints. It should be understood that different markets have different tolerance for product failures. The participants can chalk out the measures the protagonist of the case should be able to take to effectively steer the Bhukari Group to achieve profits and excellence.

Acting as chief financial officer (CFO), students try to determine how Coleco can fend off creditors. Coleco is in default on its loans and is in a negative equity position.

The case, while acknowledging the difficulty of managing a family business in view of the accompanying human issues, emphasizes that sound business practices and procedures, and clarity with regard to the goal, remain the key; a firm is a complex, interconnected system and management needs a systems viewpoint; and technology can only support underlying business processes if there is clarity with respect to these.

SomPack had survived low-cost Asian competition starting the mid-1990s, a revolt by some extended family to try and bring it down with the help of a competitor, the Turkish banking crisis of 2001, and the global economic crisis of 2008 all the while watching its suppliers, competitors and customers collapse. A focus on cost-cutting and internal discipline by the successor, who had been promoted to CEO in 2004, had exacerbated internal discontent somewhat and had led to issues with production planning, but everyone understood that times were tough. Several large customers who had left were asked to return because the alternatives had been worse. By 2012, SomPack was considering expansion into new products in collaboration with its international partners. Then one day, in July 2013, it suddenly collapsed. Could the entire approach have been wrong? What should management have done instead?

Undergraduate, graduate business management.

Teaching Notes are available for educators only. Please contact your library to gain login details or email support@emeraldinsight.com to request teaching notes.

CSS 7: Management Science.

This case is designed for an undergraduate entrepreneurship course dealing with the launch and growth of an entrepreneurial venture, including strategies for effective team building, especially with teams based in different countries.

This case has been used in 300 and 400 level entrepreneurship courses.

The case tells the story of John Lee (CEO) and Regina Adams (President), the founders of a new business called global loans in entrepreneurship (GLIE) based in Singapore. GLIE facilitates micro-loans for small business owners in the developing world and specifically targets entrepreneurial development projects for the poor. Many social enterprises start their operations on a shoestring budget. Typically, the deficit of cash pushes the leadership to use creative strategies to move things forward, including recruiting individuals who are willing to work in the startup phase without monetary compensation. This case sheds light on what can happen when founders recruit and rely on a volunteer for essential technology development, vesting the individual with substantial power, and creating the possibility for him/her to delay or purposefully hold up the launch of the company.

The case highlights the importance for someone on the founding team to have whatever core competencies are most critical to the firm. Additional themes are the importance of raising adequate funds at startup, the pitfalls of using volunteers in the wrong capacity, and the disastrous impact the wrong employee can have in a small firm setting.

Teaching note.