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In January, 2007, TJX reported that it had suffered from a computer intrusion. The company was sure neither of the identity of the perpetrators nor of how many customers were affected. A deeper analysis revealed that the intrusion had started earlier and affected more customers than previously thought. Ensuing investigation concluded that TJX was collecting unnecessary information, keeping it for too long and employing obsolete and insufficient safeguards. TJX denied any wrongdoing but implemented most of the recommended remedies to strengthen their security.

Emerging markets – marketing and business strategy; social entrepreneurship; opportunity identification; frugal innovation.

MBA; marketing management; specialis ed courses such as entrepreneurship and international marketing. Data rich case, but analytical difficulty is only moderate.

Reboot Systems was conceived as a reverse engineering/refurbishing company for used computers when Rahul Chowdhury and Subbarao came in contact with Anand Tater who had started a small business in the used computer market. The team recognised the potential of the refurbished computer market in India, which was largely unorganised with penetration of personal computers pegged at less than 5 per cent. They identified the opportunity to address the digital divide, caused by lack of affordability and accessibility, by providing inexpensive “as good as new” used computers to those who aspired to own a computer. Additionally, in extending the life of used computers on a large-scale through “frugal innovation”, they hoped to reduce the extent of e-waste generated in the economy. This case provides a rich description of an emerging market characterised by market heterogeneity, social-political governance with poor policy measures, unorganised markets, chronic shortage of resources and inadequate infrastructure. Entrepreneurs hoping to address social issues must tackle these problems at the grass-root level and come up with improvised solutions that address the unique needs of the heterogeneous and resource constrained market. Some of Reboot Systems pressing challenges were in building a viable strategic approach to the market and ensuring scalability in a sustainable way.

An understanding of the characteristics of an emerging market from a macro (environmental) as well as micro (industry specific) perspective, an appreciation of opportunity identification and improvisation in emerging markets as well as differentiating “frugal” innovation from the idea of “Jugaad”, an understanding of the role of strategic vision and mission in accomplishing social and business objectives, an understanding of how to develop sustainability and competitive advantage from a social as well as business perspective.

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

Through this case, students will not only learn about the latest development of this emerging industry, IoT, but also gain a systematic understanding of “ecosystem strategy” and get to know a new corporate growth model called “co-creation”.

This case describes why and how Advantech Co., Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as Advantech) has transformed in the age of the Internet of Things. Aware of the ecosystem attributes of the IoT industry and committed to the company’s principle of “altruism”, Advantech strategically positioned itself as an “IoT platform provider” and an “enabler” for IoT applications. After carrying out a reform in terms of internal management, external cooperation, and development model, Advantech has evolved from an industrial computer maker to an IoT solution provider. Since the launch of the “co-creation model” at the end of 2016, Advantech has drawn attention from many excellent companies in traditional industries. With the Internet of Everything close at hand, Chairman KC Liu is well aware there are many challenges to overcome as Advantech strives to build an industrial IoT ecosystem, the “evolution” continues.

MBAs, EMBAs and senior executives.

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CSS 11: Strategy

Finance, accountancy, auditing.

Supports information systems audit (ISA), auditing practises and controls, corporate governance and internal controls and financial management modules, business administration and MBA programmes.

The case study focuses on the implementation of ISA and information technology in the highly responsible task of executing financial audits The case emphasises on the fact that the advantages of ISA can only be reaped when they are amalgamated with an auditor's scrutiny, sharp eye, extensive knowledge of auditing systems and accounting principles and a rich experience of the auditing function. The suggested synergy also facilitates a reduction of around 60 per cent, in the cost of executing the audits and the man-hours required to complete the audit, as in the case of Jain Chowdhary & Company.

The case helps students to comprehend the relevance of audit trail. It emphasises on the importance of identifying the source of information and tracking raw data backward. It familiarises the students with the complexities involved in a real audit and emphasises on the role of logic, intelligence, diligence, patience and farsightedness while performing the auditing function. It is important for them to understand how White collar crimes take place in real business economy. This case, hence exposes students to these nuances and can make a student, from a non-commerce background, understand the key elements of efficient auditing. (Elaborate teaching objectives are appended in the teaching note.)

Teaching note.

In November 2005 Fidelity Homestead, a savings bank in Louisiana, began noticing suspicious charges from Mexico and southern California on its customers' credit cards. More than a year later, an audit revealed peculiarities in the credit card data in the computer systems of TJX Companies, the parent company of more than 2,600 discount fashion and home accessories retail stores in the United States, Canada, and Europe.

The U.S. Secret Service, the U.S. Justice Department, and the Royal Canadian Mounted Police found that hackers had penetrated TJX's systems in mid-2005, accessing information that dated as far back as 2003. TJX had violated industry security standards by failing to update its in-store wireless networks and by storing credit card numbers and expiration dates without adequate encryption. When TJX announced the intrusion in January 2007, it admitted that hackers had compromised nearly 46 million debit and credit card numbers, the largest-ever data breach in the United States.

After analyzing and discussing the case, students should be able to:

• Understand imbedded operational risks

• Analyze how operational risk decisions are made in a firm

• Understand the challenges in the electronic payment transmission process, which relies on each participant in the process to operate best-in-class safety systems to ensure the safety of the entire process

• Recognize the sophistication of IT security threats

Understand imbedded operational risks

Analyze how operational risk decisions are made in a firm

Understand the challenges in the electronic payment transmission process, which relies on each participant in the process to operate best-in-class safety systems to ensure the safety of the entire process

Recognize the sophistication of IT security threats

A product manager at Apple examines the past, present, and future of the PC industry in September 2011 in the wake of Steve Jobs's resignation and HP's announcement that it was exiting the PC industry in favor of enterprise software solutions and consulting. The protagonist thinks through current forces in the PC industry, including market share trends, mobile computing, ultrabooks, and cloud computing services—as well as the position of the Mac in Apple's product portfolio—and is faced with making a decision about the future of the Mac.

Management of Innovation and Technology/Management Information Systems.

Information Systems.

SER (Sugar, Energy & Rum) was a company belonging to the Grupo Pellas Corporation. The company operated in four countries, had six subsidiaries, employed more than 25,000 people, had more than 43,500 manzanas of sugarcane crops in Nicaragua alone and had global annual sales of more than US$400m. In 2008, due to the negative effects of the crisis on the company’s business model (increasing costs due to higher prices for fuel and decreasing income because of low international sugar prices), the company decided to implement a business intelligence (BI) system to optimize its processes to reduce costs and increase productivity. At that time, the company had more than 100 years of data, information systems that fed into their main business processes and a culture that appreciated data as the basis for decision-making. However, there were inconsistencies among data systems, users received highly complex reports in Excel or green screens and process monitoring happened long after the tasks had been completed. As a response, SER used extract–transform–load to collect and clean data that would be used in the BI system (the case leaves the questions regarding the systems selection unsolved for discussion). Based on their business model, they selected the most critical processes and defined key performance indicators to measure the impact of changes in those processes. They considered graphic design as a tool to make the system more accepted by users and worked together with users so that reports only offered the most important information. The result was improved costs and productivity. They decreased manual time spent by 14 per cent, automated time spent by 10 per cent, and eliminated 1,556 hours of dead time for equipment in the field, which allowed them to increase productivity by US$1m just in sugar. They saved 20,000 trips from the fields to the factories, which represented more than US$1m in savings by monitoring the weight of wagons loaded with sugarcane in real time. They improved client perceptions about the company both locally and internationally by implementing a sugar traceability system.

The case “Business Intelligence at the Grupo Pellas SER Company” has as its objective to respond to the question: How does a company make its BI system implementation successful? As such, the case: Discusses what a BI system is and what it provides to a business analyses challenges, benefits and context when implementing a BI system; analyses success factors and recommendations in the BI system implementation process; analyses the process of implementing a BI and highlights the importance of the system priority questions and technological alternatives.

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 11: Strategy

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.

Information Technology Security.

The case adds value for management students at all levels, as well as for practitioners. Work experience is not a requirement, as the case will expose some of the fundamental concepts pertaining to the scenario described. Assignment questions are designed from the perspective of teaching this case to a business student audience. The case could certainly be adjusted to fit the needs of students in more technical disciplines.

Set in October 2008, the case begins with the dilemmas facing Mr Ramanuj as he and his team from E-Infra Solutions prepared to address the damages caused by a major virus attach at OrangeInc headquarter at Bangalore, India. The virus attack destroyed all the important organizational documents residing on the computer systems and brought its business to a standstill. The catastrophe indicated the need for a comprehensive information technology (IT) security solution which was earlier overlooked by OrangeInc's management.

To teach the basic concepts of information security, in particular malware, and its impact on the business. To introduce the concepts and the importance of security awareness program. To teach the importance of IT infrastructure technology, process and procedures.

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Discusses the structure of the Seven-Eleven Japan supply chain in terms of its facilities network, inventory management, distribution, and information.

To discuss how Seven-Eleven has made consistent supply chain choices to support its business strategy of providing convenience to customers. Points to how Seven-Eleven has used information and aggregation in transportation to improve supply chain responsiveness at a relatively low cost.