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Learning outcomes are as follows: Students will understand the main characteristics of Agile leader and importance of these characteristics in successful change management. Students will understand how Agile leader works to manage changes in organizations and what steps the leader must take to make successful changes in the organization. Students will know in details the Kotter change management model, will recognize and will be able to apply this model in real-life situations.

The case study is about the College of Business Administration (CBA). The CBA is a private higher education institution located in Riga, Latvia, Eastern Europe. The CBA provides professional higher education programs. The case study tells the story how Susan was at first hired as free-lancer for specific tasks at the College in 2017. After successful competition of these tasks, Susan was hired as the new director in 2018. The management at the College was almost non-existent at that moment, and Susan had to face the question how to develop the CBA and make it profitable. Susan had to build her management team, had to review and describe all processes and had to build the internal culture of the organization. Susan implemented change management plan, and in four years, the number of students and lecturers at the College had doubled, and the turnover of the CBA had reached more than one million euros. The case study shows Agile leader characteristics and change management process in details.

Undergraduate studies.

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CSS 7: Management Science

Over the last two decades, Under Armour (UA) has emerged from being the “underdog” in the sports apparel and footwear industry to being a leader in the industry, with a fierce attention to performance and great skill at picking up-and-coming athletes who emerge as superstars. This case underscores its administrative heritage, competitive strategy, and growth potential as a global player in a highly competitive industry. It addresses the tension between being a performance brand while launching lines for women vs technology applications and conflicts between its growth strategy and macro-economic forces. It highlights areas in which it has succeeded against macro-economic forces and where it has not.

The research relies primarily on secondary sources and countless studies of UA and its major competitors. Primary research is based on databases, videos of UA’s Chief Executive Officer, Kevin Plank, and articles from Bloomberg to The Baltimore Sun (UA’s headquarters) on the history, growth and future of UA. It also includes observations and site visits to one of its signature brand house stores as well as intensive research and directed studies with students in the USA and China.

The case can be applied to undergraduate, graduate or executive business classes in: business policy and strategy; general management; (sports) marketing; leadership or organisational behaviour classes.

The learning objectives to be drawn from the case are as follows: to explore the violation of the psychological contract; to understand the notion of the boundaryless career; to assess the advantages and disadvantages of leaving an employer; to explore the factors to be considered when contemplating a career move; and to identify career management strategies in the digital age.

Management practices at Media Inc. have resulted in a growing sense of dissatisfaction for Palesa Khume who had been hired to head up the management team of a new glossy women’s magazine, Mirror Me. This project was exciting and exhilarating for Khume. The shifting of agreed-upon objectives causes increased stress to Media Inc. employees and comes to a head with the reneging of the agreed-upon year-end bonus to Khume. She is now faced with the decision whether she should stay or leave the organisation.

Postgraduate Business students, especially MBA students.

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CSS 6: Human Resource Management

Marketing strategy.

The course is well suited for MBA and Executive MBA class on Strategic Management, Marketing Strategy, Brand Management, Entrepreneurship, Innovation and Change in emerging economies. The case can also be taught to senior undergraduate students to explore the issues mentioned in the case as an integrative case for courses like Strategic Management and Marketing Strategy.

Niyogi Books had positioned itself as an independent publishing house with a focus on the niche area of trade books. Due to the internet, digitalization and globalization the dynamics of the book publishing industry had changed considerably, and the company needed to think and reflect on its current position and future strategy. Niyogi Books had added new products and new markets along with other innovations to succeed in the business of publishing. But the way ahead for Niyogi Books was to innovate in light of fast-paced technological advancement. The company needed to balance the digitization of content as well as retailing with its existing print strategy. A related issue is the need to plan an innovative and cost-effective communication strategy to boost sales.

The learning outcomes are as follows: analyze the business environment of the publishing industry, realize the need for a branding strategy for small business and apply communication strategies single/multi-channel setting, understand the need of an organization to purposefully adapt an organization’s (self-) resource base (management capability to effectively coordinate and redeploy internal and external competences) and analyze the role of a growth strategy and how it can be used to devise a product/marketing strategy.

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CSS 11: Strategy.

After completing the case study, the students will be able to explore, create and capture the dilemmas of a platform strategy; compare, contrast and configure strategies for successful platform adoption; develop fitting configurations for marketplace design; and use temple framework to evaluate the dilemma of the element of time (do it sooner, delay for later or dismiss forever) in launching a new marketplace.

Shoppre was a parcel-forwarding firm established in 2017. In a short period, Shoppre turned out to be one of the best parcel forwarding and cross-border commerce companies in India, thanks to the first-mover advantage it enjoyed. Shoppre had offerings of shopping and shipping of cross-border e-commerce. As a new firm looking forward to increasing its market power, Shoppre faced the dilemma of whether to launch the marketplace, and if yes, whether to do it soon or delay it for the future. There was also confusion in the marketplace’s design and implementation. Nikkitha Shankar’s (she/her) worry was that if Shoppre did not decide quickly on this, there would be possible crises in managing the partners and their financial performance. Shankar was brainstorming the issues with the founding partner and was gauging the dimensions. This case study presented new marketplaces’ dilemmas along with managing sellers, customers, markets, finance, logistics and digital transformation.

The case study is suitable for undergraduate- and graduate-level students pursuing courses in business programmes and senior management professionals participating in executive education programmes. The case study will also fit well for courses such as the “Platform strategy: building and thriving in a vibrant ecosystem” course [1], digital business models [2] and digital business strategy [3].

Teaching notes are available for educators only.

CSS 11: Strategy.

In the 1990s, Mike Flanagan foresaw video moving from analog to digital and developed an equipment rental business to meet the needs of the entertainment/media production industry. By 1996 he established a second company to offer training in the use of Avid, a digital video-editing program. Flanagan sold the rental business in 1998 and by 2002 expanded the training away from a business model to a full-fledged college business model. By 2014 what started as a successful training program developed into a negative interaction with the US Department of Education and Flanagan found himself being forced out of business.

This case was originally a client-based project conducted real time in an MBA-level marketing course at the Graziadio School of Business and Management at Pepperdine University.

The case is well suited for a variety of business and law courses that integrate ethical decision making in their curriculum at the undergraduate and graduate levels. The case allows for a greater understanding of the implications of managerial behavior tied to ethical beliefs and the possible outcomes that may result. It also allows for a stronger grasp of the integral nature of management, staff, consumers and outside organizations on the pervasive impact of non-ethical behavior. Last, this case creates a framework for students to assess how ethics influence managerial behavior that will affect an organization’s success.

What ethical duties and obligations does a business owe to its customers and other stakeholders? Is ignorance an excuse for failing to meet those ethical obligations?

The learning outcomes are as follows: to understand and examine the strategies that help platforms fight competition and manage networks; to analyse the role of platform governance in the management of the networks and partners’ trust; and to evaluate the strategic risks of disintermediation and multi-homing firms face while trying to sustain profits and capture value.

The case presents the dilemma faced by Deepinder Goyal, the young founder and CEO of Zomato in formulating the growth strategy for its food delivery platform, struggling to retain its market leadership position amid intensifying competition and other challenges during the COVID-19 pandemic. Zomato has become a public company with an IPO announced in mid of July 2021. Therefore, there is growing expectation for profitability among its shareholders and investors considering tailwinds of COVID-19 crisis, which have given the push towards adoption of food delivery among the customers. This has also resulted in increased competition in the industry. On other hand, there is growing dissatisfaction among its restaurant partners who have been hit hard by COVID-19 and struggling for survival. CEO Deepinder has to find how he will ensure the long-term growth for Zomato to tap the growing food delivery market in India and regain its restaurant partner’s trust.

The case is intended for post-graduate courses (MBA, PGDM) on digital business strategy or strategic management of technology-oriented businesses. The case can be used to understand the nature of competition and different strategies for platform-based businesses in the digital world. The case can also be used to study the role governance can play in efficient value creation and capture on the platform by the partner entities. Finally, the case also highlights how are platform businesses are coping with the Covid challenge. There are no specific prerequisites but knowledge on basic strategy concepts and platform business concepts will be good for better understanding. Level of difficulty is medium.

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CSS 11: Strategy.

Digital skills change management skills problem solving skills.

Al-Rumman Pharma is headquartered in Dubai, is an integrated international pharmaceutical company providing a wide range of pharmaceutical solutions to manufacture high quality and affordable generic medicines. It holds credibility amongst healthcare professionals and patients, across the Middle East and North African (MENA) markets. Their quality assurance is fostered by high levels of reliability and order fulfillment, which differentiates them from their competitors. Recently, they have been facing technology fatigue meant as an organization suffering from overwhelming options and choices in technology, this contributes to turbulent and confused states of mind when considering technology adaptation. This case evolves specifically from a procurement perspective, the pressure of high expectation and severe compliance clauses from key suppliers, particularly large corporations with monopolies in supplies who have the tendency to dominate and dictate terms to the small and medium enterprises (SMEs). For example, forcing SME’s to adopt specific technological frameworks to be trade partners. Another conflict is that while the SME’s do value the contribution of the procurement function, the shift from tactical to strategic mindset is not robust enough. Is this a dilemma? Ms Mary buyer at Al-Rumman Pharma, which is SME in operation, is facing challenges from key suppliers because of her tactical buying approach and adoption of multiple technological frameworks from various key suppliers, which are neither integrated nor compatible with each other. Her transition from traditional buying to a more strategic sourcing approach is what the need of the hour is. Prior information technology role was more as support at Al-Rumman Pharma and Chief Executive Officer Dr Mubeen Ahmad Khan did technology adopted decisions in isolation but today the company needs an integrative approach with forward thinking and also kept the legacy intact. Resistance to change was very inevitable once it was integrated.

This case has been particularly focused on undergraduates in the final semester of management courses, as well as masters level students specializing in supply chain and operation management courses. It is also for practitioner procurement and supply chain managers going for various supply chain management related certification courses. Students who have studied procurement management are most suitable to accomplish this case study. Executives pursuing a business program are also recommended to study this case.

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CSS 9: Operations and logistics.

The learning objectives are intended to stimulate the students’ comprehension of the various challenges faced by Indian startups in the digital ecosystem. With the changing working dynamics in organizations around the globe, managers are expected to explore unconventional business models to facilitate operational growth. The case study is a valuable resource for graduate students to enhance and evolve their critical thinking and solution-oriented skills as forthcoming managers of digital businesses. Students should be able to analyze the case, respond to the questions and evaluate the consequences of workplace flexibility, moonlighting and its applicability in an organizational context. With the Indian Government introducing schemes such as the Digital India initiative and Startup India, it is predicted that numerous startups will opt for digital business standards and a remote work approach. The case bridges classroom theories and a real-life digital company to help students connect with emerging market scenarios.

During the digital era, India witnessed a shift in companies’ work culture, which amplified when COVID-19 hit the country. Organizations started to work remotely and experienced the numerous benefits it brought. The comfort of working from home was greater for digital businesses whose significant operations could be performed online. However, is it really that productive for digital companies to telecommute? The case illustrates how a digital company, Career Pandit, formed in 2018, unfurls and expands its business and further highlights the challenges the pandemic raised concerning people management. In addition to the discussion, the purpose of the case is to determine the implication of workplace flexibility and moonlighting and how Indian startups cope with the uncertain future challenges it brings.

Under graduate and postgraduate students.

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CSS 6: Human Resource Management.

After reading and discussing the case study, students should be able to identify the reasons why the company needed to digitise and how this links to the company’s strategy around technology and innovation, analyse the digitalisation implementation process followed in the case study by using an organisational change management model and make recommendations and propose a solution for the protagonist to consider for the successful roll-out of the digitalisation project.

DRA Projects is part of the DRA Global business based in South Africa. The company is known locally in the mining and engineering industry for its project development, delivery, execution and operations capabilities. Digital transformation is a key strategic focus in the industry, as clients seek digitised integrated systems. For this client offering, J.C. Heslinga, managing director of DRA Projects, was tasked with leading the digitalisation of the project delivery system. From July 2020 until July 2022, Heslinga led the implementation team through different organisational change stages. As the next phase included rolling out digitalisation to pilot projects and engaging employees and clients in the new process, Heslinga wondered if enough was done to ready the business for this change. The end users would be executing the changes, so their adoption will be imperative for successfully rolling out digitalisation. The case study concludes with Heslinga pondering the approach needed for the next phase. The case study focuses on the digitalisation implementation process through the lens of organisational change. The case study presents an opportunity to analyse and identify the theories and models used in organisational change within a real-life business context. The organisational change learnings can be adapted to help students with any transformation changes in similar business scenarios.

Postgraduate- and master’s-level students and business executives attending short courses will benefit from the learnings. The learnings can be applied to improve decision-making, organisational behaviour and strategic implementation using the fundamental principles of organisational change.

Teaching notes are available for educators only.

CSS 6: Human resource management