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New product development and introduction, Marketing.

The case is suitable for post-graduate students in management, or in their final year. The case is intended for those business school students who are familiar with the basics of marketing management and are going through a course on new product development. The level of difficulty for post-graduate management students as far as this case is concerned is medium to high. The case can be a part of the following courses in marketing; new product marketing; technology marketing; brand management (how to build a technology brand).

The case concerns a computing technology company – Novatium Solutions – that has developed a new product, an affordable computing system, and is looking at ways of marketing it. The product offering in the initial stages is just hardware with limited local processing abilities that needs to be connected through a wire to a telecom broadband player to provide the internet browsing facility. As the case progresses, the product evolves into upgraded and newer formats. The theme of the case is intended to be new product marketing in a technology sector.

The following will be the learning outcomes for this case; new product process and marketing in a technology company (compared to non technology consumer product company); bringing customer orientation to a product technology company; the role of a marketing head in a new product company; and building a retail brand for an affordable technology product.

Teaching notes are available; please consult your Librarian for access. The teaching notes provide adequate questions and answers (four assignment questions and three class discussion questions) so that faculty members need not look beyond these to give student projects or assignments.

Upon completion of the case study, the students will be able to analyze the brand equity construct through the associative neural network model for decision-making; identify prospective scenarios through the Delphi method for the construction of strategic plans in organizations; and propose the innovation of a product by applying creativity techniques to enter international markets.

Cafe Galavis was one of the leading family businesses in industrial development and had the highest business recognition, with a century of experience in producing and commercializing roasted and ground coffee in Cucuta, Colombia. In 2015, the diplomatic crisis between the governments of Colombia and Venezuela led to the indefinite closure of the Colombian–Venezuelan border, which caused an increase in income from smuggled coffee. In addition, the presence of different competitors and traditional brands negatively impacted the level of sales, which considerably affected financial stability. Likewise, internal difficulties of family nature and administrative management led to the change of senior management. By 2016, Juan Yáñez was appointed chief executive officer (CEO) and was in charge of avoiding the company’s closure. In January 2023, he received feedback from his consulting team, and upon evaluation of the new market challenges with his collaborators, he realized a great challenge that merited the search for a priority alternative solution. How to design a new product considering the loss of brand identity in the face of the generational change of its consumers? These were some of the challenges posed by the CEO that consequently required starting a strategic management process of innovation.

The teaching case is aimed at students of postgraduate academic programs in the areas of knowledge of innovation, product design, industrial design, marketing or MBA. In the modules of marketing, strategic management, brand management and strategic foresight, the case allowed for the orientation of the concepts of brand value or branding as well as the analysis of the value chain for the implementation of strategies that promote competitive advantages of companies. Similarly, in the modules of product or service design, creativity and innovation and complex thinking, the case allows one to approach a complex problem and apply creativity techniques for its solution.

Teaching notes are available for educators only.

CSS: 8 Marketing.

Talent management.

Management level proposed courses: knowledge management, human resource management, leadership and fundamentals of strategic management.

Legacy and succession issues plague rising economies. Attracting the local talent to stay is becoming increasingly difficult. This is especially the case for the family run businesses and also local government lead industries. Many MNCs have to bring in their own qualified staff making that an added cost and a disincentive to work in Malaysia. Thus, Malaysia has been experiencing a brain drain. The case study explores the generational differences in retaining staff and the challenges of a global demand and war for top talent. This affects emerging economies that are competing to keep their top talent from being lured away by their competitors. Brain drain is occurring in almost all sectors, but the Malaysian accountancy sector is the most affected. In view of this issue, this case addresses the common challenges facing accounting firms which is talent management and succession planning. ABC Ltd, a fictional firm is one of the Big Four accounting firms (four largest international accountancy and professional services firms), chosen as the context. Jeremy Tan is a manager of ABC Ltd

This case is the basis for class discussion and group presentations. Students will be able to understand generational differences, apply strategies to recruit and retain high-potential talent, and develop awareness of issues regarding Generation Y in Asia.

Teaching notes.

Human Resource Management & Social Entrepreneurship.

The target audiences for the case study are undergraduate and postgraduate (e.g. BSc, MSc as well as MBA) students and also management trainees and executives who are interested in understanding the social capital enhancing practices, policies and strategies adopted by the world’s largest commercial employer to ensure complete satisfaction and contentment of 1.7 million employees and their family. Even senior management teams could be targeted in executive education programs, as this case discusses time tested practices, policies and strategies which have been sparsely discussed so far and hence can be expected to provide insights to senior corporate managers. The case also demonstrates the application of different frameworks on social capital and corporate social responsibility which can be used by the participants in their firms to assess the social capital.

Indian Railways (IR) remains the world’s largest commercial employer, with approximately 1.7 million employees, which conveys the huge magnitude of social capital inventory accrued. This social capital, especially people side of IR, played a very crucial role in running the organization successfully for more than a century. As an organization, IR has guaranteed heavy importance for its employees while making decisions on strategic level. But recently, IR was moving towards automation and was cutting on cost incurred for its employees. IR was already exhibiting decreasing trend in the number of employees employed in the organization. These initiatives were resisted by IR employees due to fear of job losses and insecurity. In 2013, Chief Personnel Officer’s (CPO) of different zones have to rethink about their HR practices to assure confidence for employees on the security of their jobs and sustain the social capital accrued by IR over years. The objective of this case study is to describe the social capital accrued by IR over the years by offering livelihoods for nearly 1.7 million families across the country. Teaching note applies the frameworks on social capital in literature in the context of IR. Teaching note also discusses how CPOs of IR can pursue the change initiatives among the employees without affecting the social capital accrued so far.

Case study’s primary objective is to apply frameworks available in literature on social capital and corporate social responsibility to understand the social capital accrued by IR over decades. The case study attempts to answer the following assignment questions which forms the learning objectives of this case study: How do the existing frameworks on social capital measurement explain the social capital accrued by IR over decades? How can a firm assess its accrued social capital? How can one demonstrate the same using the case of IR? How can IR pursue change initiatives when it comes to its employees without affecting the social capital accrued over time?

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:10 Public sector management.

The first company under the Amara Raja Group was established in 1984, i.e. Amara Raja Electronics Limited (AREL) followed by Amara Raja Batteries Limited (ARBL). Its founder leveraged the presence of his family in Renigunta, a rural village in South India, and chose to start the industry there to create employment opportunities. Preference is given to local population in all ARG enterprises. Despite its strong people orientation, the HR department/function at ARG got strengthened only after Jaikrishna strived to make it central to business. The department's evolution has been demarcated in three phases. The first and second phase saw few initiatives, and during the third phase the HR department was structured according to the Dave Ulrich Strategic HR Model. While this structure had been successful until now, certain sections in ARG still doubted its sustainability.

The case is designed to be used with the digital business model framework developed by Peter Weill and Stephanie Woerner of Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) (Weill and Woerner, 2015) and is referred to as the W & W framework. This approach provides a useful structure for thinking through the strategic options facing environments ripe for digital transformation.

Research for this case was conducted through face-to-face interviews with the protagonist, as well as through a review of their business planning documents and other data and documentation provided by the founder. Some of the market and industry data were obtained using secondary research and industry reports. Interviews were digitally recorded and transcribed to ensure accuracy.

The case follows the story of Kurt Waltenbaugh, a Minnesota entrepreneur who shared the dream of using data analytics to reduce costs within the US health-care system. In early 2014, Waltenbaugh and a physician colleague founded Carrot Health to bring together their personal experience and expertise in both consumer data analytics and health care. From the beginning, they focused on how to use data analytics to help identify high-risk/high-cost patients who had not yet sought medical treatment. They believed that they could use these insights to encourage early medical interventions and, as a result, lower the long-term cost of care.

Carrot’s initial success found them in a consultative role, working on behalf of insurance companies. Through this work, they honed their capabilities by helping their clients combine existing claims data with external consumer behavioral data to identify new potential customers. These initial consulting contracts gave Carrot the opportunity to develop its analytic tools, business model and, importantly, to earn some much-needed cash flow during the start-up phase. However, they also learned that, while insurance companies were willing to purchase data insights for one-off market expansion projects, it was much more difficult to motivate them to use data proactively to eliminate costs on an ongoing basis. Waltenbaugh believed that Carrot’s greatest potential lay in their ability to develop predictive models of health outcomes, and this case explores Carrot’s journey through strategic decisions and company transformation.

This case is intended for either an undergraduate or graduate course on entrepreneurial strategy. It provides an effective introduction to the unique structure and constraints which apply to an innovative start-up within the health-care industry. The case also serves as a platform to explore the critical criteria to be considered when developing a digital transformation strategy and exposing students to the digital business model developed by Weill and Woerner (2015) at MIT (referred to in this instructor’s manual as the W&W framework). The case was written to be used in an advanced strategy Master of Business Administration (MBA) class, an undergraduate specialty health-care course or as part of a health-care concentration in a regular MBA, Master of Health Care Administration (MHA) or Master of Public Health (MPH). It may be taught toward the end of a course on business strategy when students are building on generic strategy frameworks and adapting their strategic thinking to the characteristics of specific industries or sectors. However, the case can also be taught as part of a course on health-care innovation in which case it also serves well as an introduction to the health-care payments and insurance system in the USA. Finally, the case can be used in a specialized course on digital transformation strategy in which case it serves as an introduction to the MIT W&W framework.

The case is particularly well-suited to students who are familiar with traditional frameworks for business strategy and business models. The analysis builds on this knowledge and introduces students interested in learning about the opportunities and challenges of digital strategy. Equally, the case works well for students with clinical backgrounds, who are interested in how business strategy can influence changes within the health-care sphere. Finally, an important aspect of the case design was to develop students’ analytical confidence by encouraging them to “get their hands dirty” and to carry out some basic exploratory data analytics themselves. As such, the case requires students to combine and correlate data and to experience the potentially powerful combination of clinical and consumer data. Instructors should find that the insights from these activities give students unique insights into the potential for of data analytics to move health care from a reactive/treatment ethos to a proactive/intervention ethos. This experience can be particularly revealing for students with clinical backgrounds who may initially be resistant to the use of clinical data by commercial organizations.

Bangkok beer & beverages: in pursuit of growth.

Entrepreneurship, Strategic management, Importer/Distributor, Marketing, Environmental forces, Wine, Thailand.

Senior undergraduate or graduate MBA students taking a course in entrepreneurship, strategic management, marketing or small business management.

Bangkok Beer & Beverages (BB&B) Company is an importer, distributor and marketer of premium spirits and wines in Thailand. The case takes place in April 2007, after the public announcement of BB&B's distribution agreement with Fosters Group of Australia to distribute the Group's Penfolds brand throughout Thailand. Coinciding with this milestone of BB&B is the rising interest in wine and the announcement by the Thailand Government to impose stricter regulations for the distribution and promotion of alcoholic beverages to curb consumption in response to demands made by several public interest groups. Within this backdrop, Pongchalerm Chalermsaphayakorn, co-founder and CEO of BB&B, was working with a team to consider future opportunities to pursue for sustainable long-term growth.

This case problem can be used to increase students' understanding of: how an entrepreneurial firm attempts to build/develop organizational capability; how decision-makers should assess the impact of, and respond to, the threat of significant and uncontrollable changes to the business macroenvironment; a firm's market position and the identification of strategic groups in an industry; and evaluating different growth opportunities and the implications on a firm's mission.

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

This case examines the opportunity for the Quaker-Tropicana-Gatorade (QTG) division of PepsiCo to invest in either or both of two small but fast-growing retail channels: the Dollar Channel and the Natural Foods Channel. The case gives an overview of PepsiCo's business strategy, focusing on health, wellness, and diversity and also provides a wide range of information. Students are challenged to take a broad, general management view in developing their recommendations.

The case study will help improve systemic gender-related challenges for women in STEM, male-dominated nontraditional workplaces, such as mining, and contribute to CASE FOR WOMEN database of women-centered business teaching cases.

The learning objectives are as follows: discuss gender issues in nontraditional science, technology, engineering, mathematics (STEM)–related male-dominated industries; conduct a strategic competitive strengths and weaknesses, the opportunities and threats analysis and political, economic, social, technological, legal and environmental analysis; evaluate relevant information and decision criteria to assess the options; provide recommendations for strengthening vision mission and strategy; and analyze the business model using the Business Model Canvas.

Alicia Woods (she/her), founder of Covergalls Inc., was facing an unexpected challenge during the COVID-19 worldwide pandemic restrictions and lockdowns which had created an unprecedented disruption to her business. Should Covergalls continue on its current path, or was it time to branch out?

This case is suitable for diversity, equality and inclusion, strategic management, entrepreneurship, marketing or leadership courses at the undergraduate BBA and graduate MBA level on campus or online.

Teaching notes are available for educators only.

CCS 3: Entrepreneurship.

The following subjects are addressed through the case: Integrated thinking; professional skills; ethics and values; sustainability; and responsible leadership.

This teaching case is aimed at Postgraduate accounting honours or masters students or MBA students.

The case begins on 16 May 2018, with Jason Roberts, Head of Environmental Programmes at World wide fund for nature (WWF), reflecting over bad news. The Department of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries (“DAFF”, also referred to as “government”), have just approved the 2017/2018 Total Allowable Catch (“TAC”) for the West Coast (WC) rock lobster at 1,924 tons, almost three times the amount recommended by the scientific community. The events describe a history of tension between the primary objectives of the WWF and the government; difficulties in stakeholder management, and the potential consequences for the survival of the WC rock lobster and those who depend on it for their livelihood. The different perspectives held by different stakeholders; the relevance of the scientific evidence; the legal provisions in place and the process applicable to making the TAC decision; all highlight the complex environment in which decisions were made; to which the WWF is wondering how to respond.

The case’s primary learning objective is to highlight the variety of considerations involved in complex decision-making, also known as “integrated thinking”. Students will be required to critically analyse and evaluate the information in the case, as well as the exhibits; to comment on the appropriateness of various decisions and recommendations; evaluate the ethical/moral responsibilities of WWF; understand different perspectives and the reasons for these perspectives; identify actions and statements that reflect responsible leadership, as well as those that reflect the contrary; and apply learnings from this case to personally reflect on one’s role as a responsible business leader.

Teaching Notes are available for educators only.

CSS 1: Accounting and Finance.