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Both quantitative and qualitative methods were used to test the effectiveness of the case exercise process as it relates to increasing student participation and engagement. Surveys were used as a data collection method where students self-reported their participation.

This research paper argues that class engagement and participation is a process that must be learned by students. To this end, it presents a case exercise process designed particularly for the introduction to management class that helps students to learn and apply management theory while increasing their engagement. While each element of the process is not new, the integration of the elements into a process that is structured and repeated throughout the semester adds value to student participation. Empirical data demonstrated that students increased their participation in classes that used the case exercise process over traditional lecture classes.

This paper is relevant for faculty members seeking to use case exercises in teaching undergraduate management courses, particularly introductory management courses.

This is the fourth in a series of articles about case research, writing, teaching, and reviewing. In this article, the protagonist, Prof. Moore, consults experienced case teachers and learns many different approaches to use in the classroom. The article is written as if it were a case; it is fictitious.

The purpose of this study is to make students understand the logic behind and implications of the “Socio-Technical Imbrication Framework” that can help them understand the importance of aligning workforce motivation and capabilities with the modern technology deployed in the organization. Moreover, students will understand the essentiality and criticality of customer satisfaction for the organization.

The technical services operations team at Cotton Web Limited formerly relied on JS Node, e-coordination system, to address customer complaints. There were many bugs in that system as it did not carry along the complaint tracking protocol, was slow in response, fundamentally structured upon manual complaint record keeping that resulted in piling up un-resolved complaints for a longer period of time. The team under the leadership of Mr. Hasan Ali, a competent expert working as GM Research and Data Analytics, undertook detailed analysis of recurring glitches in this system and replaced it with a novel Web-based automated complaint management system at Cotton Web Limited. This entire diagnosis and intervention process took almost three months till completion. The case is written for use in courses in the curriculum of BBA, BBIS, BSIT and BSCS programs at undergraduate level. It is most suitable for the courses in leadership, change management, business process reengineering, soft engineering, team building and business communication.

The case is suitable for teaching at Undergraduate level to the students of BBIS, BBA, BSCS and BSIT students in the last year of their degree programs. Teaching faculty can use case-based methodology for student learning by putting them into a real-life situation faced by an organization and letting them think critically and identify following points for further discussion and clarity: individual or in groups; problem identification through discussion; the stakeholders involved in the company’s situation through presentation or one-pager presentation; case analysis with reaching best solution to prevailing issue at hand through group discussion; reaching a decision or solution with reasonable logic and justification through group discussions; and create further dilemma on the basis of questions unanswered within this case story.

Teaching notes are available for educators only.

CSS 7: Management Science.

This case can be used to teach students how to analyze innovative business models, as well as to trace their reasons for success and failure. The following objectives also align with categories in Bloom’s taxonomy (Forehand, 2010), consistent with the keywords underlined. More specifically, this case will enable students to learn the following: First, to analyze the distinctive features of a social commerce business model, and how these differ from a traditional e-commerce model. This objective maps to Discussion Question No. 1. This objective helps students to understand the value proposition of an unfamiliar business model (social commerce platform) and compare it with that of a familiar business model (e-commerce platform). Second, racing the causes for success and failure of a venture, using frameworks from entrepreneurship and strategy. This relates to Discussion Question No. 2. This objective helps students analyze strategic decisions of an entrepreneur in light of available resource constraints and by applying appropriate conceptual frameworks. Third, developing recommendations to help a new venture sustain its business model in the face of severe challenges. Discussion Question No. 3 covers this objective. This objective enables students to debate possible paths that the startup could take. The discussion on possible paths naturally causes students to create sustainable or viable options.

The case describes the challenge facing Vidit Aatrey, the founder and chief executive of Meesho, a social commerce venture headquartered in Bangalore, India, in October of 2022. While Meesho recorded the second-highest sales (by order volume) during India’s festive season, it also recorded layoffs and business closures. While Meesho’s core business of getting resellers to sell through its online platform seemed to be working, its new business ventures, such as expanding into the grocery business and into Indonesia, had failed and resulted in more than 300 layoffs. Meesho was also pressed for funding: valued at US$4.9bn, the global market for venture capital funding had chilled and now demanded profitability, not growth-at-all-costs. Meesho’s cash burn rate was about $40m per month, and Aatrey was hard pressed to come up with options for profitable growth.

This case is intended for students of management at a master’s level in a course on entrepreneurship. At the authors’ institute, this case is used with MBA students in an elective course on entrepreneurship and also in an elective course in general management.

Teaching notes are available for educators only.

CCS 3: Entrepreneurship

This case study is designed to enable students to formulate the strategic planning process in relation to an organization’s resources; assess the critical tasks required for the company’s business planning for growth and market expansion; and examine the importance of the value delivery process for the company, its customer and its employees. At the end of the case discussion, students will learn how to plan their business in an emerging market by using their existing resources, where the business stands at present and where it may go in the coming future.

The case study discusses how Byju’s, an Indian multinational educational technology company, revolutionized student learning programs through its innovative strategic implementation. It explores the company’s growth and expansion strategy by considering a strength, weakness, opportunity and threats analysis. It elaborates on how Byju’s acquired various companies in India and other countries to become an international technology-based educational brand with 150 million users in 2022. The case study also highlights the marketing and promotional strategy used by the company on online and offline platforms. The case study elaborates on the value delivery process and its importance for customer and employee satisfaction. Despite its success in the Indian market, Byju’s faced tough challenges in the US and European markets, such as lower-than-expected growth rates and lower subscription numbers, even though it followed the same strategy as in the Indian market. The acquisition and celebrity strategy works in emerging economies such as India but not in developed countries. The company’s return on investment was down owing to the high costs it had incurred over the years on market acquisitions and marketing promotions. The growing competition was also expected to bring more challenges for Byju’s. New players such as Tata Studi and YouTube planned to enter the market. Byju Raveendran and his management group had to decide whether to maintain or change the current market offering to reflect market developments to satisfy their customers and employees. They also had to determine whether the main components of the marketing strategy, such as the company’s ongoing value delivery process and ongoing strategy toward the target audience, partners and rivals, are advantageous to the firm or not. The team was in dilemma whether the marketing planning process was going in the right direction and how to make all elements of its businesses more efficient in dealing with the issues. Raveendran kept asking questions about to what extent it is still possible to alter the marketing plan.

The case study is appropriate for discussion in courses such as marketing management, service marketing and strategic marketing management, whether they are part of an undergraduate program (Bachelor of Business Administration [BBA]), a postgraduate program in business management (Master of Business Administration [MBA]) or an executive-level program (executive MBA). The breadth of business topics addressed and the intricacy of the scenario make this case study best suited to be used after the semester as either a culminating project or as a seminar discussion for undergraduates (BBA). The case study can also be discussed in the marketing management course (graduation level) under the marketing and service strategy chapters.

CSS8: Marketing

Teaching notes are available for educators only.

An instructor engaged students in managing and reporting sustainability initiatives at an organisation. After completion of the case study discussion, the students will be able to critique the sustainability initiatives that can be undertaken at an organisation; understand sustainability reporting; analyse how result-based management aids in sustainability report preparation; recommend critical considerations for conducting a sustainability impact assessment by an educational institute.

The case contributed to the growing knowledge base about reporting sustainability initiatives at an organisation and managing them to aid in decision-making. The case called for better integration between sustainability activities and reporting under organisations’ Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) or environmental, social and governance (ESG) reporting.

Ajay served as the head of the management department and a leading member of the sustainability initiatives at University Alpha, Delhi NCR, India. He was assigned the task of publishing the university’s annual report. The management had requested him to consider preparing a standalone sustainability report for the university.

He began the task by examining the benefits of standalone sustainability reporting. He proceeded to analyse the specifics of SDG reporting, SDG Accord reporting and ESG reporting using the Global Reporting Initiative guidelines. During discussions with a consultant, the necessary steps for creating an SDG-only report and an integrated SDG and ESG sustainability report were clarified.

Guidance from an expert led to an intention to use a result matrix in preparing the sustainability report and ongoing impact assessment of SDG initiatives for reporting. The dilemma involved deciding between continuing with the sustainability initiative listing in the annual reports or opting for a standalone sustainability report. Critical considerations concerning the sustainability impact assessment of SDG-related activities at an educational organisation were also explored.

This case is intended for discussion in the graduate-level program in strategy, general management, sustainability management, environmental management and environmental economics. The case may also be used for participants in executive program.

Teaching notes are available for educators only.

CSS 4: Environmental Management.

The subject area of the case is operations management and capacity planning. The case adopts different operation strategies to use the idle capacity.

The case study is suitable for discussion in masters level classes. The case explains the situation of a company which is fighting for its survival. The case reveals the alternative operations strategies it applies to maximize its capacity utilization and reduce its costs.

The case describes a paper producing company which is earning low margins. The company’s capacity remains unused during the off-seasons. The company then plans to share its capacity with another dying industry. Both the companies plan to cooperate and share resources. However, there are other attractive alternatives too and the dilemma situations leave the gap for continuous discussions.

The case aims at providing potential alternatives to the students and initiating healthy discussions. The students will be able to understand the capacity utilization dilemmas and applicability of the operations strategy concept in practice.

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 9: Operations and Logistics.

The case is suitable for both undergraduate and graduate business students. The suggestions in the teaching note would suit classes of varying sizes and can be organized by teams or for individual work.

The case is suitable for classes discussing a range of topics including business ethics, values-based leadership and entrepreneurship. The case is told from the perspective of a Hispanic, first-generation female CEO in tech – a male-dominated field. As some of its decision points include discussions with other female entrepreneurs in similar positions, this case is also suitable for discussions on gender and minority leader representation.

This case tells the story of a female tech entrepreneur in Baltimore, how her personal values influenced the values of her company and how she successfully applied those values even in the early stages of her venture. It includes a discussion of her former career in the military and her experiences as a first-generation American.

The case offers several decision points where students are invited to anticipate and discuss the protagonists’ values and their application of them in her work. It likewise invites students to reflect on their own values and how they influence their business decisions. As the case is based on true events and uses real names, students may also perform research on the real business and its context to extend this case even further.

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

Women are chronically underrepresented in leadership positions and some choose to become entrepreneurs because it offers a surer path to CEO roles. Additionally, this case offers some perspective on the different leadership styles of women, such as this protagonist’s choice to allow her personal and corporate values to drive important early decisions for her business. The instructor and students also may wish to focus on aspects of the case related to the protagonist’s ethnicity and her family’s status as recent immigrants to the USA. Ideally, class discussions will consider the protagonist holistically, and her identities as intersectional.

CSS 3: Entrepreneurship.