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In 2009 Wikia was the Internet's largest for-profit provider of hosted open-source wikis, with over a million daily users. After five years of existence, the organization had supported a wide range of exploratory activities, experiencing both success and failure. With approximately $3 million of cash on hand, Wikia turned cash flow positive in 2009, with revenues of approximately $4.5 million, affording it time and flexibility to try new things. Some of the company's employees and investors suggested that Wikia should attempt to expand and market itself more aggressively, but which strategic direction should receive priority? The case presents many of the issues and tradeoffs facing CEO Gil Penchina as he formulates these priorities.

The case seeks to teach students about the general business challenges facing a new firm in the area of Web 2.0, also popularly known as social networking. The case also exposes students to wiki technology and how it facilitates collaborative behavior.

The case captures the origin and initial years of two restaurants Mirchi & Mime and Madeira & Mime, which exclusively employed Speech and Hearing Impaired persons (SHI) as servers (often called “waiters” in India). It documents how the restaurants were set up, captures significant incidents during this initial period and the impact of these incidents on the working of the restaurants. Further, it describes the challenge of opening a fine dining restaurant and a gastropub staffed exclusively by SHI persons as servers. The case narrates the reactions and impact on the SHIs and their families, co-workers within the outlets and the customers visiting these outlets. Finally, the case lists the recognition received by the organisation and outlines plans for the immediate future.

Marketing.

MBA Marketing Class.

The case describes the transition of a “Galvanized Wires Business of Tata Steel” into a unique identity, the'Tata Wiron' brand. It focuses on key stages in this journey, including “Understanding the Customers in Galvanized Wires Business”, “Value Chain”, “Challenges Faced”, “Need for Branding”, “Market Segmentation”, “Competition”, “Process of Branding”, “Differentiation”, “Distribution & Sales” and “Promotion”. Tata Steel Wires Business is a major player in the steel wire industry, servicing the discerning needs of its customers across global markets and the leading producer of steel wires in India. A wealth of experience and expertise in the wire industry coupled with latest technology incorporations has enabled Tata Steel Wires Division to constantly meet the most exacting specifications and requirements of its customers. It manufactures a wide range of wires catering to the needs of various industry segments, such as automobile, infrastructure, power and general engineering. The products are well established across the markets of Europe, the USA, Middle East Asia, Australasia, South Asia and Asia and the Far East.

The expected learning outcomes are as follows: understanding how in-depth analysis of the competition and value chain establishes the need for branding in a commodity market; understanding how consumer insights help in market segmentation and targeting; and building a brand in commodity market.

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

– New World wines in the UK market: re-thinking the right strategies for 2020.

– International marketing, international strategy, strategic decision making, consumer behaviour, brand strategy.

– This case study is intended for MBA and Masters courses, specially in MSc Marketing, MSc Strategy and International Business.

– The case presents new comparative data of a decade consumer research of imported wines conducted in the UK in the years 2002 and 2012. The task of the students is to understand consumer's changes, new preferences and new trends in this industry and to implement the new international marketing strategy for the Chilean wine industry in the UK market.

The students should be able to identify the key issue of this case study, which is related to how Chilean wines can compete better in the international market place, facing strong competition from both Old and New World wine producers. It is also important to understand the comparative data from 2002 versus 2012, the changes in consumers' preferences and new trends of this industry. How to implement the marketing strategy in a highly competitive environment is a key task for the students.

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

During one of the most nerve-wracking football matches of the 2012–2013 Bundesliga season, life-long friends Franz Dully and Max Vogel begin arguing about whether the wealth of a football club determines its success during the season. In order to disprove Vogel's claim that “money scores goals,” Dully must analyze the Bundesliga's current market values, points earned, and mid-season leader data.

After analyzing the case, students will be able to compute prediction intervals, develop regression models, and interpret data. The development of the regression models asks students to choose the relevant set of independent variables, as well as determine an appropriate functional form for the regression equation. The models derived have to be evaluated as well as compared to one another. Further, the students have to interpret the quantitative findings in the context of the application.

Looks at the introduction of statistical process control (SPC) into a distribution center servicing a department store chain. Focuses on the receiving process in the distribution center and describes the introduction of SPC methodology. Discusses run charts, pareto diagrams, and control limits.

To introduce statistical process control.

The case briefly describes the history of Electronic Data Systems (EDS) under Ross Perot and GM before turning to the beginning of a tumultuous decade in the late 1990s. As the turn of the century approached, EDS made critical strategic missteps such as missing opportunities in the Internet space, overlooking the onset of client-server computing, and failing to obtain major Y2K-related projects. The company attempted a turnaround by replacing the CEO with Dick Brown, whose leadership helped streamline the sprawling company. Despite initial successes, Brown's tenure ultimately ended in failure, due largely to his failure to recognize the growing Indian market and his willingness to buy business at the expense of the company's margin. The disastrous multibillion-dollar Navy & Marine Corp Intranet contract typified the type of high-profile transactions that Brown pursued, often boosting EDS's stock price in the short term while eroding its cash flow short term and its profitability over the long term. EDS management went through several stages of the turnaround process: the blinded phase, the inactive phase, and the faulty action phase, until Michael Jordan replaced Brown as CEO and enacted a three-tiered operational, strategic, and financial turnaround.

EDS's near-decade of turnaround efforts takes students through every phase of the turnaround process and demonstrates that even initially successful turnaround efforts can become distracted, rendering them ineffective. The case will show both a failed turnaround and a subsequent successful one, while adding an international component with respect to EDS's overlooking an important, growing Indian market.

The case illustrates how environmental forces affect an industry’s profitability. PESTEL and five forces analyses can be used to examine the retail agricultural equipment industry.

Single case study.

Jonathan Sullivan has a decision to make. His company is struggling due to difficult industry conditions. He is questioning if the company can continue to survive. MEC is an agricultural equipment dealer. The industry has experienced boom-and-bust periods since the company was founded. But the current downturn seems different. The past five years have been difficult as manufacturers have changed their dealership practices. Jonathan has struggled with some of the new practices the manufacturers have implemented. These new practices could negatively impact the company’s ability to survive. Jonathan wonders, “What is the best path forward for the business?”

The case is designed to be used in an undergraduate strategic management course.

The case delves into the significant factors contributing to the steep decline of Sintex shares, examining both external and internal factors. Internally, the primary drivers were the expansion plan, the demerger decision, financial mismanagement and the delayed and inadequate integration of Information Technology (IT) into the business.

Sintex, a prominent private sector company listed in the Indian stock markets, operated in the textile and plastics sectors. However, in 2017, Sintex underwent a demerger into two separate entities: Sintex Industries Limited (SIL) and Sintex Plastics Technology Limited (SPTL). While SIL focused on textiles, SPTL dealt with plastics. However, soon after the demerger, the share prices of both companies began plummeting, leading to significant losses for investors. This case investigates the reasons behind this decline through a step-by-step analysis.

This case is suitable for postgraduate students pursuing an MBA, MMS and executive programs such as PGDBM and PGDM, with a specialization in business strategy. It is also beneficial for participants in management development programs (MDPs) designed for higher level executives. Additionally, the case can serve as training material for executives undergoing strategic role training within an organization. It is recommended to teach the case toward the end of the course, where the instructor can provide a summary of the previous classes’ teachings.

CCS7: Management Science

Suitable for MBA, EMBA, and executive education programs, this case uses the complexities of the oil industry to set the stage to unfold a stakeholder analysis on BP's growth and opportunity in the renewable energy sector. This public sourced case offers a discussion about the firm's overall strategy, post Gulf Oil spill, moving forward. The case describes how within a single decade, BP had emerged as one of the largest energy companies in the world. Within that scope, BP had an odd achievement: It had been building an alternative energy business and had gained a reputation as being an oil company with a regard for the environment. Then a series of preventable accidents, in the United States in particular, started to chip away at the firm's status. In a matter of five years, BP went from celebrating its most profitable period to finding itself selling assets while industry watchers wondered whether the company would survive after being responsible for the largest oil spill in the United States. Shortly following the Gulf oil spill, Robert Dudley, a legacy Amoco executive, was appointed to replace Tony Hayward, the beleaguered BP group chief executive and director. Besides the oil spill and ongoing cleanup, Dudley had slumping revenues (even before the Deepwater tragedy) and a huge rebuilding task ahead of him. Not only did he have a multinational energy company to run, but Robert Dudley had to rehabilitate the Gulf of Mexico ecosystem, compensate all who suffered loss as a result of the damage, and repair the firm's shabby reputation. Dudley needed to implement a sound long-term strategy. How would his former division—renewable energy and alternative activities—fit into his plans?