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The Neenan Company is a construction firm based in Fort Collins, Colorado, known for their efforts in pioneering the advancement of the design/build approach to construction. With a history of industry leadership, innovative contracting methods, and ethical business practices, the company now faces management, customer relations, and financial challenges. Serious structural problems were discovered in a number of public schools and other buildings built by the company. Thrown into a whirlwind of shock, Randy Myers, President of the company, must consider how to respond to the crisis, and how to prevent these issues in the future. Written from his perspective, this case provides a platform for considering the challenges that can result from industry innovation, ethical decision-making, and crisis management.

For the development of this case, the authors interviewed the top management at the Neenan Company: Founder David Neenan, President Randy Myers, and Donna Smith, Vice President of Business Development. The authors also interviewed current employees, previous employees of Neenan, representatives of school buildings built by Neenan, stakeholders, other experts in the construction field and existing customers of the company. The company made internal documents available to the authors, including financial statements and quality control and assessment tools, which were provided by Ryan Dellos, Chief Financial Officer. The authors surveyed financial documents and business documents to analyze pertinent information and data relevant to the case. All the interviews were recorded, coded, and analyzed to include multiple perspectives. Extensive online research was conducted on the construction industry and The Neenan Company which included several news articles and interviews on David and Randy. Additionally, the authors carefully studied the news reports by The Denver Post and other related press materials. Experts from the construction field and financial field provided assistance with data analysis and interpretation. The authors used a variety of academic resources to draw connections between the issues faced by Neenan and concepts discussed in business courses.

This case has applications in entrepreneurship, small business management, business ethics, leadership, organizational structure/design, and new venture management courses at both undergraduate and graduate levels. It also contains critical areas of decision-making relevant to an advanced strategic management course. The case can be introduced at any stage of the term, and is specifically relevant to discussions focussing on innovation and growth, corporate social responsibility, ethical decision-making, stakeholder theory, entrepreneurial crisis management, and long-term venture success.

Innovation, privatisation and property development.

Undergraduate and MA level property development courses; modules covering privatisation within undergraduate, MBA and MA level management programmes.

This paper presents the genesis and motivating factors that stimulate a managing director of a housing development (D&B Private Limited Company) to introduce innovation as a strategic solution to the challenges which hinder his firm's growth. The recently launched Ten Malaysian Plan and the Sustainable Programme for Corporate Malaysia are identified as the two stimulating events that triggered the initiation and subsequent implementation of innovation into Design and Build Sdn Bhd. Innovation has been recognized as an endeavor that impacts positively and significantly the performance of the firm that innovates. There was a major focus on factors that enhance innovation of a firm: structure, culture, resources and how to address or react to external factors such as government regulation on innovation, environmental uncertainty and market competition. The quest to be an innovative firm has led to major changes in the structure, culture and review of the firm intangible resources. Coupled with some corporate responsibilities, Design and Build Sdn Bhd has been recognized for its unique performance resulting from the competitive advantage derived from this very idea of innovations.

Students are expected to be able: to present a basic understanding of the motivations and driving force behind the housing developer's keen interest to innovate, to present the multiple benefits of adopting innovation in the housing industry, to highlight the internal and external factors which positively influence innovation among housing developers?, to present how housing developers are able to manage challenges facing their companies through innovation.

Teaching notes.

The technical report released by the National Transportation Safety Board, along with the primary flight cockpit voice recorder data and archival interview data, were used as the basis for this case. Other available public data such as news reports were used to round out the synopsis of the case study.

United Express Flight 5925 was a scheduled commuter passenger flight operated by Great Lakes Airlines with a Beechcraft 1900 twin turboprop. It was a regularly scheduled flight from Chicago O'Hare International Airport to Quincy, Illinois, with an intermediate stop in Burlington, Iowa. Drawing from various first-hand accounts (cockpit voice recorder) and secondary evidence (news reports, archival interview data, and online sources) of the tragedy, the case provides a detailed account of the key events that took place leading up to the accident at Quincy regional airport. The case describes how the radio interactions, a jammed door and degradation of situational awareness all contributed to the accident. Through many of the quotes in the text and eyewitness accounts, readers gain an understanding of the impressions and perceptions of the pilots, including how they felt about many of the critical decisions in the last minutes of the flight and the situation at the airport.

When the authors teach this case, the students are required to read it as pre-reading before class. Various readings and materials (see supplemental readings below and Exhibit 3) are made available to students before class, and the instructor can choose to use some of these materials to further explore areas of interest. This case is best explored over a 90-min session but could be expanded to take up one 3-h session. This case can be covered in an undergraduate senior capstone organizational behaviour seminar, any general organizational behaviour class (including introductory in nature), an undergraduate communication theory class or an MBA class that focuses on applied organizational behaviour concepts. It works particularly well in the MBA class, as students with work experience can make the links between the behaviours explored in the case and their everyday workplaces.

Human resource management.

The case can be used on courses related to human resources management (HRM), which are offered in management programmes like MBA/PGDBM. The case could also be used in management development programmes, seminars and workshops that have HRM as a component of the programme. The case can be used effectively for classroom discussions as well as in distance learning programmes.

The case looks into the HRM practices at a leading Indian construction company – ABC Constructions. The case tries to explain the management perspectives behind the people practice initiatives undertaken by the company in order to recruit/retain and nurture talent. The case also explains the basic principles underlying its human resource policies. It tries to explain the initiatives taken by ABC Constructions to meet the challenges posed by the changing business environment, as the company moves beyond the borders of the country of its initial operations. The case provides an overview of unique challenges faced by a company in the Indian construction industry, where a significant number of people executing its projects are not its permanent employees.

The students would get a fairly good understanding of existing good practices in the field of human resource management, especially in the context of a multifaceted and labour intensive construction industry in the Indian corporate scenario. Anecdotes of actual experiences with respect to people management would facilitate greater understanding of the complexities involved at the grass root level of functioning and implementation. Theoretical inputs relating to training could be better understood through the customised programmes provided by the company for its diverse workforce. The HR challenges faced by the top management as a company grows and expands to new markets can better be understood.

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

At the end of the case students will be able to:

1. Relate risk as one of the 12 principles in project management contemplated in the international standards of the PMBOK Seventh Edition guide.

2. Determine high-level risks by articulating the WBS and RBS of a construction project.

3. Perform a qualitative and quantitative analysis of the probability and impact of risks through the heat map tool and the Expected Monetary Value (EMV) technique.

4. Propose the different response strategies contemplated in the risk management through the formulation of a response and contingency plan.

MORESA S.A.S was a family company founded in 1994, whose value proposition focused on construction and permanent advice for the execution of innovative and contemporary projects with more than 27 years of experience in the city of San José de Cucuta, department of Norte de Santander, Colombia. The objective of the case is to Relate risk as one of the 12 principles in project management contemplated in the international standards of the PMBOK Seventh Edition guide; Determine high-level risks by articulating the WBS and RBS of a construction project; Perform a qualitative and quantitative analysis of the probability and impact of risks through the heat map tool and the Expected Monetary Value (EMV) technique and propose the different response strategies contemplated in the risk management through the formulation of a response and contingency plan. The teaching case is designed for academic programs in areas of knowledge of civil engineering, architecture and at postgraduate level such as: Master’s in civil engineering, Master’s in risk management, Master in project management or MBA. For this case, an expert judgment was developed with professionals belonging to different areas of knowledge. Likewise, secondary information was collected from the organization's strategic documents and the analogous estimation through the historical records of the project portfolio developed by the construction company. Finally, the case, classified in the Built Environment, a challenge that project managers must face in VUCA environment through risk management.

The teaching case is designed for academic programs in areas of knowledge of civil engineering, architecture and at postgraduate level such as: Master’s in civil engineering, Master’s in risk management, Master’s in project management or MBA. In the modules of risk management, project management, international standards, the case guides the applicability of methods and artifacts used in risk management considering the process identification, quantitative, qualitative analysis, and development of response strategies and contingency plans.

Teaching notes are available for educators only.

CSS 2: Built Environment.

This case is suitable for undergraduates, MBA students and students from business administration departments in the teaching of human resources management and performance management.

Luodian Electric Power Construction Corporation Group (LEPCC Group) is a state owned enterprise transformed from a construction unit of Luopu Power Supply Bureau (LPSB), a governmental organization in charge of all the electricity supply in Luopu City. The general manager of LEPCC, Gu Ming tried to set up a modern market-oriented management system for LEPCC. Unfortunately the problems that had accumulated in the past two decades during which LEPCC was a governmental organization made his reforms very difficult. The first headache for Gu Ming was the performance appraisal reform in LEPCC. The existing performance appraisal system seemed to have at least three problems in practice: unclear appraisal objectives, an improper assessment system, a different appraisal standard for similar positions. What should Gu Ming do to build a proper performance appraisal system to help the fast-growing LEPCC Group to make LEPCC a competitive market-oriented player?

The first objective of this case is to enable students to understand that the issues of working performance are issues of people first, rather than issues of the management system. If the management focuses on the system instead of on the staff of the company to design the performance management system, the system will be fruitless and inefficient. The second objective is to cultivate students' capability to apply the basic theories of human resource management and the knowledge of performance appraisal in case analysis and practical management. This case, seemingly about performance appraisal, is in fact about the organizational structure and processes of the organization. Reform should start with organizational analysis, job analysis and job descriptions. Only when all these have been done correctly, can the performance management system be designed more reasonably, scientifically and efficiently.

Teaching notes are available; please consult your librarian for access.

Accounting and Finance.

Postgraduate/graduate.

This paper aims to analyse the fixed assets management of Larsen & Toubro Ltd (L&T), a leading Indian construction company for sufficiency and efficiency, and explore its future growth prospects in relation to its capital investments. It also investigates whether the global crisis in 2008 had any impact on the development plans of the company for future orientation as the global recession affected companies in various sectors worldwide. It specifically aims to find out whether L&T was in a better position to face the situation in the industry.

Expected learning outcomes are as follows: to learn and apply the concept of fixed assets management in a business organization; to evaluate the impact of fixed assets management on the profitability of the company; to appreciate the importance of fixed assets management efficiency in a business organization; and to illustrate the use of financial crisis on the growth prospects of a business.

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 1: Accounting and finance.

Management science, operational and financial risk of overseas enterprises.

This case is mainly applicable to international business course and project management course.

Since 1992, the Great Mekong sub-regional economic cooperation between China and ASEAN countries was officially launched and set free economic zone. Hydropower is starting to develop in recent years in Cambodia, and it is a good significance to Cambodia's industry. Furthermore, most of hydropower plants in Cambodia are built by Chinese companies. Thus, this paper will analyze the current risk and condition of Kamchay hydropower, as well as the development of Chinese enterprise for Cambodia economic and social development.

This case study provides students concepts on international business, project management, and operational risk of overseas enterprises. The principle of project contracting, labor cooperation, and project financial in international process are considered together with the implications they have for advancing understanding of the problem of the host country's government interests and the various risk of enterprises in international BOT projects.

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

The key teaching objectives of the case are the following:▪ to develop an awareness of a megaproject’s external environment (through PESTLE) in terms of challenges from each source;▪ to introduce theory that allows students to identify, characterise and describe factors that can lead to inter-organisational conflict during construction projects;▪ to develop the ability to apply the typology of causal factors (identified in Objective 2) to a given context, answering why each factor may have contributed to the given contractual dispute;▪ to develop an understanding of the procurement and contract management process wherein contracts are not only the logical outcome of the procurement process but also the primary vehicles for clarifying responsibilities (for task completion) and risk transfer; and▪ to understand specific dynamics of construction projects that make disputes inevitable and ways to overcome these.

Priced at US$1.63bn (in 2015), the Orange Line Metro Train (OLMT) project in Lahore was one of Pakistan’s earliest (and costliest!) transport infrastructure megaprojects ever undertaken. Devised to ease congestion in Lahore, promote ecofriendly, efficient, modern and affordable transport systems and lead to improved mobility across Lahore, the OLMT was a socially, politically and economically important project.The case is seen through the eyes of the protagonist, Uzair Shah, a seasoned public servant and an experienced Transport Engineer. At the time of the decision, Shah was General Manager – Operations at the newly established Punjab Metrobus Authority (PMA – the project sponsor) and was also the project lead of OLMT’s Project Management Unit (PMU). Through Shah’s eyes, students approach the project at a juncture when the most serious contractual dispute in the project’s history has erupted. The parties at the interface were Lahore Development Authority (LDA), PMU’s technical interface with contractors and consultants and Maqbool-Colson Joint Venture (MCJV), one of the two civil work contractors hired for OLMT’s civil works.While quality issues had been emerging with MCJV for a few months, LDA had maintained unilateral communications and remained considerably adversarial in their dealings with MCJV. Eventually, in October 2016, this relationship had soured to such an extent that it appeared irreconcilable. It was only then that LDA had recommended Shah to take the contractor to court for non-performance.The decision that Uzair faced was whether to take LDA’s advice and take the contractor to court (terminate the contract, claim performance guarantee and appoint a new contractor) or negotiate and continue with the current contract. The decision had huge financial, legal, reputational, political and schedule-related implications. The decision needed to be taken by the protagonist in the context of all these factors.

The case was initially developed for use within a Procurement and Contracts Management course for a (business) executive audience. The case is intended for the business school audience or students enrolled in courses related to the construction management discipline.Courses where the case can be used include Construction Project Management, Public Sector Projects, Contracts and Procurement and Strategic Projects and Practice (or similar). The case can also be used within an MBA setting.

Teaching notes are available for educators only.

CSS: 9: Operations and Logistics.

The expected learning outcomes are to understand key frameworks and tools for global leaders through the application of widely used theoretical frameworks on a written business case, understand the role of the leader in a team, apply theories of change to situations to anticipate courses of events and evaluate and apply relevant theory to assess a leader’s character and personality.

Hassan Allam Holding (HAH) was a family-owned Egyptian engineering, construction and infrastructure company managed by co-Chief Executive Officers and brothers Amr and Hassan Allam. HAH experienced significant growth and success, but eventually, it reached a point where its family governance structure could no longer sustain further growth. Amr and Hassan realized this and started planning to transition toward a corporate governance structure. In 2016, they managed to get the International Finance Corporation on board as an equity partner, and this helped propel the governance transition, but they still needed to find a way to convince the family to step back. This case study can help students understand the issues that may occur during a change within an established organization of any size. The case study considers the implications the change may have on the leader, his personality and his character and how it shapes the leader in question as an outcome. This case study has been designed to be used in one or two sessions and can be offered in management or leadership courses at an undergraduate or graduate level.

This case study is intended for graduate and undergraduate students studying a leadership or management course. It can help students comprehend the challenges of a family-owned business and how change is associated with such businesses. The case also considers how leaders are shaped by effectively managing conflict. This case can be considered as Level 1 on a 1–3 scale, as the full description of the situation is given in the case and the task of the students is to analyze the leader and his decisions using various academic concepts and theories (Erskin et al., 2003).

Teaching notes are available for educators only.

CSS 3: Entrepreneurship