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Killing ‘em softly: terminating projects within a video game studio is a case study on human resource management (HRM) and project management in a creative setting. This disguised case is based on a real situation that was documented through individual and group interviews at a major video game studio. Several HRM and project management concepts can be discussed through this case including employee retention, planning and staffing and intracompany communication. It seeks to help students develop a multi-level, interdisciplinary and critical analysis of a common HRM situation in project-based creative sectors and invites them to devise action and communication plans to handle the termination of a project.

This disguised case is based on real events and depicts tensions as they unfolded within a Canadian major video game company. Data for this case were collected through eight individual interviews followed by two group interviews with the employees involved. Early drafts of this case were also presented to respondents in order to ensure the validity of the case. Follow-up interviews, as well as the analysis of company documents were later used to complete the case’s final edits.

This case can be used in HRM, project management and creativity management courses/modules at the undergraduate and graduate levels. It is relevant for business students in an HRM major, as well as for general administration students who plan to work in creative sectors. The case is also suitable for students in arts programs who aspire to manage creative teams or projects. It can be used as a take-home individual or group assignment, or as an in-class group activity.

This case was designed for use at the undergraduate and MBA level in human resource management and international business. Upon completion of the case study discussion and assignments, students will be able to: (1) understand human resource management in multinational corporations and the importance of cross-cultural management and human resource integration in acquisitions; (2) understand the challenges and solutions faced by multinational corporations in the process of expansion; (3) analysis of what characteristics should be considered in CEO selection for managing a newly acquired company; and (4) analyze how to better promote global human resource management from the dimensions of localized HRM system reform and human resource structure reconstruction.

After a long period of negotiation, exploration, suspension and restart, Geely Group finally acquired 49.9% of the shares of DRB’s Proton Holding and 51% of the shares of the luxury car brand, Lotus Group. On the afternoon of May 24, Geely Holding Group held an acquisition signing ceremony with the Malaysia DRB-HICOM Berhad (hereinafter referred to as DRB). Geely’s commercial territory now extended into Southeast Asia, and its product spectrum increased to luxury sports cars.However, the completion of the acquisition did not mean peace of mind. On the contrary, Geely still faced a series of challenges because of differences in cultural background. The national cultures of the two countries (China and Malaysia) were very different, and so were the values of the two enterprises. Facing the challenges of promoting global human resource integration, Geely needs to make a fundamental decision on the HRM mode in the new-acquired company. Should Geely transplant its own management practice into the Proton, or adopt localized HRM philosophy? Which kind of global HRM practice would be more effective for supporting the new-acquired company developments in the future? In the post-acquisition management, how to better realize the global human resources integration become a key problem faced by Geely.

This case was designed for use at the undergraduate and MBA level in human resource management and international business.

Teaching notes are available for educators only.

CSS 6: Human Resource Management.

Brands are socially constructed (Askegaard, 2006) and are culturally dependent on the “cultural codes of branding” by taking into consideration the history, images and myths that can influence brand meaning (Schroeder, 2009). Brands can be of great value when they hold a favorable image in the consumer’s mind (Anholt, 2010). Regional differences and demographics can impact what has a favorable image in the consumer’s mind and can bias the expectancy set for consumers. When selecting a brand name, the SMILE and SCRATCH test should be used (Neck et al., 2018; Watkins, 2014). This name evaluation test can be used to assess the strength of a brand name. If the name has these five qualities, it should be kept, or you should “smile”: suggestive – it evokes positivity; meaningful – customers can understand it; imagery – it is visually memorable; legs – it lends itself well to a theme to run with; and emotional – it resonates with your market. On the contrary, if the name has any of these traits, it should be “scratched”: spelling-challenged – it is hard to spell; copycat – it is too similar to competitors’ names; restrictive – it would be hard to grow or evolve with; annoying – it is annoying; tame – it is lame or uninspired; curse of knowledge – only insiders or some people will understand it; and hard-to-pronounce – it is hard to say (Neck et al., 2018; Watkins, 2014). The marketing mix or 4P’s of marketing – product, price, promotion and place – is a set of tools business owners can use to achieve their marketing goals and is based on McCarthy’s (1960) work. The S.A.V.E. framework – solution, access, value and education (Ettenson et al., 2013) – has more recently been cited as a more modern replacement to the long used 4P’s model (Ettenson et al., 2013). Through this framework, business owners can work to align their brand to provide a solution to customers’ problems, give them access to the solution, provide value for customers and educate them about the product or service. The S.A.V.E. framework focuses on solutions, access, value and education rather than product, place, price and promotion. In this framework, the business should focus on meeting their customers’ needs and being accessible to customers along their entire journey from hearing about the company to making a purchase. Additionally, companies should provide value for their customers rather than solely worrying about price, and instead educate customers by providing information they care about (Ettenson et al., 2013; Neck et al., 2018).

Teaching case.

This case presents the story of Big Momma’s, a coffee shop in a deteriorated historic district in Springfield, Missouri. Big Momma’s owner Lyle, a black man in a predominantly white region, was new to the area and launched the business quickly, without much market testing of the concept or brand. Soon after launching, Lyle wondered if he was set up for doom as customers constantly ask for Momma or barbeque. It seemed necessary to take a critical look at the marketing and branding plans.

This case could have multiple uses, primarily for early stage undergraduate students studying entrepreneurship or integrated marketing communications. The case lines up nicely with the following textbook lessons. Entrepreneurship: the case can be used with Entrepreneurship: The Practice and Mindset (Neck et al., 2018), chapter 16, lesson on branding with a specific tie to the SMILE and SCRATCH test described in Table 16.1 and the S.A.V.E. framework described on pages 453–454. It can also be used with Entrepreneurship (Zacharakis et al., 2018), chapter 6, lesson on marketing strategy for entrepreneurs with a specific tie to the sections on marketing mix and value proposition described on pages 183–198. Integrated marketing communications: this case can be used with Advertising, Promotion, and Other Aspects of Integrated Marketing Communications (Shrimp and Andrews, 2013), chapter 3, lesson on brand naming.

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By the end of this session, students should be able to: explain what a business model is; summarize the case firm’s business strategy using the elements of business model canvas proposed by Alexander Osterwalder and practice how to apply the business model canvas to analyze the business model of a firm; understand how a firm can seize an opportunity for innovation; and discuss how the case firm navigated through problems that came up as it grew.

Creative Design was a start-up company in Taiwan. To fulfill a course requirement while she was still in school, the founder had formed a team and entered an entrepreneurship competition. They won the second runner up award in that competition and impressed some firms who enquired if they would be interested in doing corporate identity system (CIS) design. They discovered that without establishing a corporate structure their prospective clients would be unable to pay an invoice. As a consequence, the founder and one of the team members established Creative Design Ltd. This case discusses the challenge Creative Design faced at the end of 2012. Wonderland farmers’ association (WFA) wanted to market locally grown jasmine but did not know how to go about it. They reached out to the founder and her company for assistance. The case of WFA was uncharted territory. Creative Design already had extensive experience in CIS design, but it did not have any experience in handling agriculture products. In this case, they had to deal with the full supply chain from production to exhibition. The risk for this project was high but Creative Design accepted the case and became the first design firm offering a “total solution.” Currently, Creative Design works with all kinds of cases, from simple CIS designs to more complicated total solutions of various scales. The founder now has to contemplate if the design house should develop more total solution cases. Doing so would require recruiting more staff and the dilemma of balancing revenue and costs.

The case study is designed for the undergraduate and graduate students of the College of Management; the case can be adopted for the courses of management, innovation and entrepreneurship, etc.

Teaching Notes are available for educators only.

CSS: 3 Entrepreneurship.

This case study aims to yield the following learning outcomes: understand the key performance indicators of successful human resource management (HRM) in the hospitality and tourism sector, especially during pandemics; identify the various concepts and strategies of HRM and recruitment over a short period; conceptualize the types of HRM practices such as safety and health, recruitment and promotion and rewards when facing pandemic conditions as well as the handling of hotel staff in strained times; evaluate the crisis management solutions used by human resources to lower the employee turnover rate; and develop a crisis management plan from a human resource standpoint in a pandemic situation.

A five-star hotel in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates (UAE), Bab Al Qasr Hotel & Residence (BAQHotel) opened in October 2016. In April 2020, the hotel began accepting patients with COVID-19 in conjunction with the Abu Dhabi’s Healthcare Company (SEHA), as a support to the UAE Government, through Department of Culture and Tourism Abu Dhabi (DCTAD), to meet the local needs and sustain business during these unforeseen circumstances, which heavily impacted the whole World. Samer Majari, the Human Resource Director of BAQ hotel was responsible for recruiting and supervising delegates, while ensuring the comfort of hotel staff, arranging for their transportation, catering, safety and well-being. To combat the high staff turnover, including COVID-19-positive staff, Majari reviewed the existing staff model; divided the staff into two groups for providing services to both sides of the hotel; arranged for separate accommodations, food and transportation; and retained the existing resources and recruited new workers. This study aims to provide management solutions that concern hiring of staff from the existing UAE market and highlights ways of creating a lower staff turnover rate through incentives and compensations, while also managing staff by motivating them and also safeguarding them against COVID-19.

This case study intends to provide a context for creative solutions to human resource challenges facing organizations during a pandemic. It also involves swift responses to crises faced by HR managers and the immediate solutions required. Therefore, this case study can be used in undergraduate level courses for students pursuing a bachelor’s or a master’s degree in HRM, hospitality management, crisis management or international business studies. Moreover, this case study can be used for corporate training and to help hospitality industry staff, mid-level human resource managers and organizational development practitioners to better understand crisis management in their hotels.

Teaching notes are available for educators only.

CSS 6: Human Resource Management

This case is based on primary and secondary sources of information. These sources include interviews with senior executives as well as documents provided by Mondragon and Eroski. The interviews were conducted on-site. In addition, the authors researched the literature on both organizations.

Eroski is the largest of Mondragon Corporation’s coops. Since its founding, Eroski has faced numerous challenges. It has responded to each challenge with out-of-the-box thinking. In response to the pandemic, Eroski become an e-commerce supermarket as well as selectively continuing bricks and mortar stores. As the pandemic is winding down, Eroski is considering how to respond to the “new normal,” which is largely undefined. The question posited at the end of the case is, “Will Eroski be able to hold to its social principles, maintain its unusual governance model and other unusual practices, and survive this latest challenge?”

Eroski of Mondragon is a complex and unusual organization. To appreciate the challenges and how they were overcome by its unique business model, a student must have a minimum background in management, corporate finance and marketing. Thus, this case would fit well into a senior or graduate class on strategic human resource management. It is also recommended for the strategy capstone course usually offered during the last year of a business bachelor’s degree (senior level) to ensure that students are introduced to what Paul Adler refers to as an alternative business model. It can also be targeted for an advanced management course or a strategy course at the MBA and executive levels.

This case study is most suitable for a target audience of graduate-level students in leadership and/or change management classes. It will help students to apply a change management model to an existing problem/change and analyze its applicability, recognize different leadership approaches in practice and assess their appropriateness in different contexts and present key findings and ideas in front of an audience.

This case study examines the leadership of Dr. Mahmoud Khattab, CEO of B.TECH, during the turbulent times of the 2011 Egyptian Revolution. B.TECH was founded in 1997 as a subsidiary of the Egyptian home appliances manufacturer Olympic Electric, to enter the retail market. The morning after January 28, 2011, the “Friday of Rage,” Khattab found the company’s stores looted and seized, and the employees panicked. The company leader was pressured to decide the next steps quickly. Everything was condensed into a dilemma of whether to keep the stores open but potentially risk employee trust and safety as well as the company’s assets – or close them but lose revenue, the ability to pay workers and the company’s market leader position. Students should also identify and reflect on the elements of leadership that contributed to a business success in a turbulent political environment. This case study highlights critical leadership and management decisions during an unexpected crisis that threatened the company’s operations and diversification efforts. Khattab acted almost instinctively, using the interpersonal and creative skills he had acquired while running a family business in his native Egypt and while occupying various leadership roles.

This case study is particularly suitable for classes on change management and leadership for university students at the graduate level.

Teaching notes are available for educators only.

CSS11: Strategy.

Appendix 1: Comic Frames A At the end of the case study discussion, students will able to as follows: Explain various growth strategies as a potential unicorn with the exponential growth mindset rather than linear growth mindset through adaptation of Massive Transformative Purpose (MTP) and Moonshot Thinking (MT). Demonstrate innovative and creative plans and ideas, with the ability to scale up in the circular economy. Review and summarize the power of Collaborative Innovation (CI). Compare and contrast different ways in dealing with Hedgehog and Fox style of leadership into the business. Appendix 2: Comic Frames B At the end of the case study discussion, students will able to as follows: Act with a growth strategy as a potential unicorn with the exponential growth mindset rather than linear growth mindset through adaptation of MTP and MT. Simulate innovative and creative plans and ideas, with the ability to scale up in the circular economy. Assess and leverage the power of CI. Decide and differentiate in dealing with Hedgehog and Fox style of leadership into the business.

Ankit Tripathi, was a compassionate 22-year-old, the typical lad from New Delhi, India, who seemed driven to change the world. His elder brother Atul Tripathi, a young, creative 25-year-old, was sat there next to him, beaming with pride and gratitude. Both brothers, being mechanical engineering graduates, had experienced the advancement of technology at the cost of Mother Earth. It pained them no end. It was the reason that Atul had refused to serve as an engineer in a government institution after graduating. The parents were shocked when Ankit followed suit. The brothers were poles apart in their personality and temperament, and it was rare to see them agree on anything in this way. Yet, they agreed to disagree with their parents and ventured into becoming entrepreneurs with a purpose and passion to salvage the environment. They had a vision, but without a proper roadmap, it would certainly be a tough game. Nevertheless, they boldly embarked upon their journey and established their start-up “Uneako” in 2019. “Uneako” was a calculated risk, taking into account family resistance (parents’ attitude/perception), personal conflicts (psychological), financial limitations (resources), shallow expertise (professionalism), social concern acceptability and low awareness (environment), government regulations (legalities/approvals), conflicts between brothers (personality issues), etc. Being from a nonbusiness family, the brothers had defied the wave of obstacles and challenges in daring to start their own business, putting at stake the hard-earned money of their father, Satendra Tripathi. Amidst so much social mockery, would Atul and Ankit succumb and become a laughing stock or would they find something that they could live and die for?

Appendix 1: Comic Frames A: This case has been particularly focused on undergraduate level students pursuing business or commerce programs. Especially those studying core courses, for example, entrepreneurial and strategic management. Appendix 2: Comic Frames B: This case has been particularly focused postgraduate-early stage or higher level students pursuing business or commerce programs. Particularly those specializing in entrepreneurial and strategic management courses. Also, can be taught in the entrepreneurial or start-up workshops.

www.pewresearch.org/topics/generation-z/ Paulynice. J.P., (2019) “From Idea to Reality: An Entrepreneur’s Guide to Meaningful Business Growth” Paulynice Consulting Group. Hardy.D., (2015) “The Entrepreneur Roller Coaster: It’s Your Turn to Join The Ride” Success Publishers. Wadhwa.V., Amla.I., Salkever.A., (2020) “From Incremental to Exponential” Berrett-Koehler Publishers. Sustainable Entrepreneurship: Business Success through Sustainability edited by Christina Weidinger, Franz Fischler, René Schmidpeter, Springer 2014. Teaching notes are available for educators only.

CSS 3: Entrepreneurship.

Students should be able to: identify the elements of business processes; analyze efficiency measures; identify and define causes of poor efficiency in business process; analyze the results of a simulation model; propose process redesign alternatives based on the analysis; and acknowledge the challenges for improving public service processes.

The process to get a passport seems to be very simple, but Jose Hernandez, a Manufacturing Plant Director, has had bad experiences the past three times he has visited the passport office. He and his family have spent more than 3 h to get the passport for his little daughter, Maria. In this case, the authors illustrate the process analysis performed by Jose to find effective and efficient solutions to the problems that he found. The case study guides students through the analysis of a business process in public service from the perspective of the users. The students participating in the case analysis will not only learn to diagnose and describe the process but also to redesign it to achieve significant improvements. Furthermore, the students will realize that adding more resources to the process may not solve the fundamental issues, but analytical and creative skills are needed. In addition, the teaching notes provide a discussion about the existing challenges to improve public service processes.

Management and engineering undergraduate programs, operations management and business process design in Master of Business Administration programs.

Teaching Notes are available for educators only.

CSS 9: Operations and Logistics.

Innovation and creativity in small to medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in Latin America.

The case is recommended for creativity and innovation subjects, in undergraduate and MBA levels. The case is also suggested for subjects associated with the organizational dynamics on SMEs.

Colchones Eldorado is a Colombian company dedicated to the bedding industry. The company was founded in 1957 by Gumercindo Gómez Caro, a creative man who in 1959 invented a machine to make springs, which allowed the company to grow steadily for several decades. On November 18, 2004, the founder's daughter, Martha Luz Gomez, was appointed as General Manager. On April 2011 it obtained a license from Sealy, the biggest mattress making company in the USA. The license implied a challenge - testing the company's innovative capacities to adapt Sealy mattresses to satisfy consumers in the Colombian market.

Students are shown the characteristics of the creative and innovation process in a Latin American SME, and the innovation challenges which are faced. From the reading and the case discussion, the students should be able to: analyse the manifestations of the creative process in an SME; identify examples of the innovation types of an SME; and discuss the organizational conditions to answer the creativity and innovation challenges in an SME.

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