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Sondologics, a manufacturer of video, audio, and gaming accessories products, was experiencing pricing and distribution problems in its channels. Numerous retailers were complaining about unfair price competition from unauthorized retailers, i.e., gray marketers, on standalone websites or Amazon's Marketplace, offering discounts of up to 30% off list price.

The company estimated that about 10% of its retail volume in the United States was being generated by unauthorized retailers. Compounding the problem, gray marketers and authorized retailers alike were selling at below-list prices, which violated the Sondologics MAP (minimum advertised pricing) policy.

Sondologics was considering numerous initiatives to address the MAP and gray-market problems, including retaining a third-party service to monitor pricing and distribution in the channel. Students are asked to develop recommendations that would promote sales while protecting the name-brand image and price points of Sondologics' products.

International strategy; finance; corporate innovation and technology management.

MBA/MA.

This case's subject is global/international strategy and how investment decisions are made to enter new markets by global companies such as Vodafone Group Plc. The case follows the executive team that is assigned the task of recommending a course of action to invest in various mobile telephony businesses globally and how to set the criteria and strategy for investing.

The case targets graduate students in MBA and technology management programs and can be used in courses in Global Business, Strategy and Policy, Finance, Corporate Innovation and Technology Management. The learning outcomes are expected to be a clearer understanding of the broad political, technical, economic and socio-legal issues to be addressed as well as the firm level strategies employed by transnationals to expand into developing countries.

The case includes teaching materials as well as financial statements, explanations of technologies and demographic data for use in analysis.

In early 2004, residents of Inglewood, California, a working-class community just outside Los Angeles composed primarily of African- and Hispanic-Americans, were preparing to vote on a referendum that would change the city charter to allow Wal-Mart to build a supercenter on a huge, undeveloped lot in the city. Walmart had put forward the measure after the city council refused to change the zoning of a sixty-acre plot on which it held an option to build. Numerous community and religious groups opposed Wal-Mart's entry and campaigned against the referendum. Walmart promised low-priced merchandise and jobs, but these groups were skeptical about the kinds of jobs and compensation that would be offered, the healthcare that would be provided to employees, and the broader impact Walmart would have on the community. Inglewood was a pro-union community, so there was also opposition based on Walmart's anti-union position. On April 6 Inglewood residents voted to reject the referendum by a margin of 60.6 percent to 39.9 percent. Though smaller, less organized, and with fewer resources than Walmart, this coalition of community and religious leaders had defeated the global retailing behemoth.

After students have analyzed the case they will be able to (a) appreciate the importance of nonmarket factors to execute growth and market entry strategies, (b) understand how the decisions of political institutions depend on the issue context and the alignments of coalitions of interest, (c) formulate and assess strategies to overcome nonmarket barriers to entry.

The case study analyses competition in the automobile industry in Zimbabwe, a developing economy. From that perspective, it discusses Puzey and Payne’s business operations; a company with a long-standing history in the country’s automobile industry. Since its establishment during the Colonial era, the company endured a prolonged period of rapid car and spare parts sales decline in 2012. Following a management buyout deal in 2013, the decline in sales proved to be its real dilemma and it required strategic decisions to diffuse the impact of the “grey markets”. Government policies added to the company’s problems.

The case study follows a qualitative research approach. Information about Puzey and Payne’s business operations was gathered from archived materials, through qualitative conversations as well as company artefacts. Published materials in newspapers and magazines were used to provide background information.

The case study is appropriate for both undergraduate and postgraduate students studying International Business Management.

The learning outcomes are as follows: identify the key challenges of leading a large organisation that is self-serving as compared to one that has people of integrity in its employ; understand how resilient leaders need to be to remain focussed on the task at hand while faced with resistance and controversy at every turn; demonstrate how to cultivate a culture of trust and integrity in an organisation bereft of both, and rebuild an organisation’s reputation; navigate the dynamics of having an unruly subordinate [chief operating officer (COO)] who in reality is more powerful; and develop key skills in practicing self-care in an environment where one is constantly undermined and devalued.

This case looks at the leadership of former GCEO Lulama Mokhobo at the South African Broadcasting Corporation SABC from 2012 to 2014 and her lived experience within the theme of empowered powerlessness. With an unsupportive board, destructive COO, and minister of communications at government level, Lulama is disempowered in her position and battles to make changes. Colleagues attest to the unusually complex dynamics that she had to navigate on a daily basis. The case details how this eroded Lulama’s self-confidence as well as her ability to lead the organisation and pushed her to resign. The SABC managed to undo the strides she made during her tenure and now finds itself in financial quagmire due to poor and questionable decisions made after her resignation as the GCEO of the organisation.

The target audience for this case comprises students enrolled in tertiary business education programmes who have already had some sort of work experience and hands-on exposure to real-world business. MBA and EMBA students, as well as executive education programmes. Including disciplines such as leadership, organisational behaviour and people management and strategy.

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 11: Strategy.

Innovation, marketing, strategic decision making.

Advanced undergraduate, MBA/executive education.

Zwack Unicum is an enduring icon of Hungarian business and culture having survived many generations of change. The case describes historical development of Zwack Unicum focusing on the years after 1989 through EU Accession of Hungary in 2004, while the company shifted away from a family business to become a publicly traded company. Elements hint at how corporate governance changes incentivize and constrain decisions of top management. The marketing strategy called “Innovate on tradition” is examined and it demonstrates how product and marketing innovation can be led by leveraging tradition, and how companies in emerging markets faced with competition from established developed-country brands can use local culture to outmaneuver attempts at market-share capture. Threats explored include the impact of a global economic crisis on sales domestically and internationally, and the changing demographics in their primary places of commercial activity (an overall aging and decreasing population in tandem with a growing minority population). Management must find a balance between short-term and long-term strategic decisions and revisit the sustainability of a marketing strategy associated with messages that are not necessarily preferred by a growing number of their consumers.

To understand the need for wide-perspective, flexibility, and foresight in emerging markets and companies therein.

Teaching note.

After reading and analyzing the case study, the students would be able to identify the main stakeholders and decision-makers and their importance and influence on the environment for a product, evaluate the value chain of the product and critical decision-makers, evaluate the various ways to avoid falling into the trap of greenwashing and examine the marketing strategy to market an environmentally friendly product.

LIKO-S is a Czech manufacturing and construction company. The company has been designing and creating intelligent solutions, such as green facades or vertical greenery systems, to save energy in building heating and cooling systems. The company launched green facades in the Czech market. However, the main obstacle was the need for supporting data to showcase the positive environmental impact of green facades. Under these circumstances, Libor Musil’s main objective was to overcome prevalent misconceptions about green facades and find a suitable market segment. The situation worried the company, as LIKO-S had heavily invested in developing and marketing the green walls. The management had to tackle this challenge as soon as possible to recover the substantial research and development and marketing investments. Furthermore, owing to lack of information, even genuinely sustainable products were seen as greenwashing. In addition, bad or wrong customer perceptions of these walls might spill over to other products, tarnishing the company’s image and threatening its survival in the domestic market. Under these circumstances, competitors might enter the Czech market, jeopardizing the company’s overall profits. Consequently, Libor was in a great dilemma about managing the financial and reputational risk of the company. Should Libor close the green walls unit, explore different markets/uses or help increase awareness among the general population about green walls by finding a suitable marketing strategy?

The case study was designed for graduate-level students in the strategic management (CSR and innovation module) courses. However, the case could also be an excellent addition to marketing courses dealing with customers’ perceptions of innovative products and strategies to improve the adoption of the product.

Teaching notes are available for educators only.

CSS 3: Entrepreneurship

This telecommunications international business case study is the second in a series (A, B and C) of Vodafone cases.

This case is intended to be used in MBA graduate and undergraduate business courses in strategy, cross-cultural management and human resources.

This case examined organizational structures and human resource operating strategies of Vodafone Egypt from 2002 until 2007. Vodafone’s business model, how Vodafone addressed the differences in national culture between Britain and Egypt and how Vodafone fostered adoption of the Vodafone corporate culture are the main themes of this case. Further, this case examined business issues, products, processes and people systems that challenged Vodafone to grow quickly from zero local operations in 1998 to 4,000 employees and national mobile coverage in 2007.

The students who have used this case in the author’s classes have gained a clearer understanding of how international managers often have to develop a change culture and structure as a catalyst for firm growth in emerging markets. Adaptation to the local culture may not be an option for fast growth technology firms and may be ill-suited to meet corporate objectives.

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 5: International Business.

Food service management, human resource management, hospitality strategic management and, international business and management.

Graduate students.

The purpose of this case study is to determine whether the practice of talent management serves to motivate fast food service employees. It aims to determine employees’ perceived level of awareness and importance of talent management practices; current practice of talent management within the fast food service sector; and to assess the level of motivation of employees from talent management practices. The survey method employing the use of questionnaires was used to ascertain data from a fast food service establishment in Jamaica, a developing island destination located in the Caribbean region (Sinclair-Maragh and Gursoy, 2015). Jamaica is chosen for the study, as there has been an increase in the number of both local and international fast food entities over the years (Collinder, 2014). The focus on fast food service is important, as they have been providing employment to a significant sector of the population. This type of business operation is classified as a tourism related hospitality area (Purcell, 1996) and as indicated by Christensen and Rog (2008), talent management presents an intriguing opportunity for hospitality organizations to attract employees with requisite skills and experience. The industry is also challenged in maintaining motivated employees (Baum, 2008). Talent management can assist organizations that have long-struggled with high turnover rates and the ability to attract and engage employees that are considered assets and not liabilities. Lockwood (2007) points out that engaged employees are loyal, hardworking and passionate about their work. Motivation theory is used to provide theoretical support for the findings of the study. This is because behavioral theorists such as Abraham Maslow suggested that survival, safety, belonging and self-esteem are factors that can be used to motivate employees and Sigmund Freud believes that people need to be rewarded to get work done (Nohria et al., 2008). This theory is plausible to the study, as it is postulated that talent management can enhance employee engagement, through highly motivated employees (Christensen and Rog, 2008). The study finds that majority of the employees understood the meaning of the term “talent management”. In terms of their personal and professional development, the employees believe that these are highly influenced by the organization’s culture. They pointed out that skills are usually developed through training, cross-training and succession planning. Financial assistance is given for further training and skill development. The performance evaluation process is used to identify employees’ specific skill. Although this is done, the majority has not been placed in other departments that would benefit more from their skills. Only 7.6 per cent reported that this was ever done. Employees’ emotional wellbeing is also important. Although majority of the employees (44.7 per cent) are happy about their work, they indicated that they could be motivated by coaching, mentorship and empowerment initiatives. Overall, the employees’ sense of belonging through their engagement and development, and self-esteem through their morale and competence are important to their motivation levels. They are also motivated when support is provided for training and skill development as explained by the motivation theory.

The learning outcomes are intended to guide the teaching-learning process and stimulate students’ understanding of the concepts of talent management specific to fast food service employees’ motivation. The case study is a useful resource for graduate students to enable and develop their critical thinking and solution-oriented skills. Students should be able to critically analyze the case and respond to the questions to garner and improve their understanding of talent management and its applicability in the fast food service sector. Further understanding of the concept can be derived from developing dimensions and measures of talent management that can be generalized to the food service sector.

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 6: Human Resource Management.

The case includes links to video clips on textile and apparel manufacture to familiarize students with the textile manufacturing process. The case also provides links to audio and video clips of the case protagonist discussing the strengths and weaknesses of the cluster at IK.

The case offers opportunities for the learner to analyze the situation from three cases as follows: industry, cluster (broadly location) and firm. Specific teaching objectives are as follows: How to identify and analyze the drivers of competitiveness of a cluster. Assess the strength of clusters using Porter’s Diamond framework. Map the linkages between players of a cluster as follows: across firms, industries and public organizations. Benchmark and compare clusters to identify opportunities for upgrading competitiveness.

The case describes the challenge facing Mr Nikunj Bagdia, the owner and chief executive of Ken Enterprises Private Limited (Ken), a textile manufacturing unit located in the town of Ichalkaranji (IK), in October of 2019. IK boasts the largest number of cutting-edge air-jet looms in India and Ken is IK’s largest exporter of woven textile fabrics. However, IK lags the textile and apparel manufacturing cluster of Tiruppur, in another region of the country. The case enables a microeconomic analysis of the business environment of industrial clusters and a cluster mapping exercise, which helps identify opportunities for enhancing IK’s textile cluster. As the case closes, Nikunj is trying to prioritize opportunities that could emerge from the analyzes.

Masters/MBA level courses on competitiveness, strategy for economic development and microeconomics of competitiveness.

CSS 11: Strategy.