Search results

Entrepreneurship.

MBA level – entrepreneurship courses, MA level – women empowerment issues, MBA – thriving in unstructured environments.

Saundarya Rajesh, was the founder-president of AVTAR Career Creators (ACC) a talent consulting firm that offered solutions in training, hiring, selection process outsourcing and human resource information studies to over 400 clients. The case describes the progressive journey of Saundarya as an entrepreneur in discovering and exploiting opportunities as they arise at different points of her career. Saundarya did pioneering work for creating flexi-career opportunities that included tools for Flexidizing® and Unbundling® of jobs. She has won many accolades for her work that included Tie Stree Shakti Awards 2011 for excellence in entrepreneurship, Cavinkare's Chinnikrishnan Innovation Award for Outstanding Entrepreneurship 2011 and India Today's Business Wizards of Tamil Nadu, 2011. Saundarya was happy with the fact that there were 23,000 women currently on the AVTAR I-WIN network and there were 13-15 lakh more women whose talent could be harnessed. She dreamt of ensuring that 1.2 million Indian women, who had dropped out of the workforce in the past 10-15 years, could be brought back to contribute productively. While there appeared to be an acceptance of the flexible working concept among the potential employees and employers, several questions about the future potential of such a work-force needed to be answered.

To understand the factors that constitute entrepreneur's alertness such as personality traits, social networks and prior knowledge. To understand the importance of entrepreneur's alertness for identifying business opportunities. To understand types of entrepreneurial opportunities. To understand the opportunity identification triad: recognition, development and evaluation. To understand how to develop a business model in under-defined contexts.

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

The learning outcomes are as follows: to understand why talent management is a vital component of a company’s broader strategy for long-term operational excellence; to understand the impact of generation, life stage and career stage on an employee’s professional needs, goals and expectations of their firm; to understand how organisational culture contributes, in this case, to ineffective people management practices; and to develop a talent management strategy: new policies, processes or practices that will address the identified issues and create a sustainable pipeline of talent.

This case finds the successful agro-processing firm Namib Mills in a state of internal tension in April 2019. As Namibia’s premier supplier of staple food products, Namib Mills is performing well in a struggling economy. Then yet, CEO Ian Collard is concerned that his senior management team is not exhibiting the kind of leadership and strategic management needed to take the company into the future. As Ian examines the issue further – with the aid of a report from an external consultant – he begins to see that the weaknesses of his senior managers, who are prone to micromanaging and poor communication, are part of a bigger issue of talent management in the firm. The junior employees, who are energetic and ready to innovate, are growing restless as they wait for career growth and promotion opportunities. The rising leaders in middle management are also struggling to break through. Ian must confront how organisational culture and generational diversity within this family-owned business have created talent management barriers and develop a strategy for sustainably developing employees into the leaders of the future.

This case is designed for a master’s level management program and is well-suited for courses that deal with organisational behaviour, people management or human resources management. Specifically, the case is aimed at students interested in talent management, generational diversity and organisational culture.

CSS 6: Human Resource Management.

The learning outcomes of this study are as follows:▪ to explain the marketing of products that fall under “stigmatised” products;▪ to develop a multi-segmentation strategy and identify variables used in segmentation;▪ to identify the target segments;▪ to draw a value proposition canvas;▪ to construct positioning statements; and▪ to decide the product portfolio based on segmentation, targeting and positioning (STP).

This case considers the dilemma faced by Deep Bajaj, CEO of Sirona Hygiene Pvt. Ltd., a company in the female menstrual and intimate hygiene products space, in May 2021. During an investor meeting, an investor questions Sirona’s focus on menstrual cups (MCs) and advises Deep to expand instead the sanitary pads category. While the company has been growing at more than 100% year-on-year and has also been profitable for the last three years, the case considers how Deep can better participate in the bull run in the Indian menstrual hygiene market. Should he discard menstrual cups from Sirona’s product portfolio and concentrate on sanitary pads – India’s most highly accepted menstrual hygiene product? Alternatively, should he discard sanitary pads from his product portfolio and focus on MCs – his flagship product? Or, could he tap the large and growing menstrual hygiene market to “have his cup and pad too”?

This case is suitable for a class of 90 min in an undergraduate course or an extended session of two 90-min classes in a graduate MBA course. It can be studied as part of the STP module in a Marketing Management course. It may also be used in a strategic management course within a graduate MBA program to provide an understanding of the value proposition canvas as part of the module on business model canvas.

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.

In the light of the case study and the accompanying case study questions, the incumbent would be able to gain a comprehensive understanding on the theoretical underpinnings of retail store expansion, identify the challenges for expanding a brand into emerging markets such as India and apply various marketing strategies aimed at in-depth analysis retail expansion. Learners can further comprehend the importance of brand communication incorporated by the brand to attract its customer subset.

It was in December 2022, when Mason Chatterjee, the Indian brand head of Armani Exchange (A|X), was confronted with the managerial dilemma whether launching the second store in the city of Ahmedabad would be a right decision. Another issue that was troubling him was how to go about launching a second store in a city which was not a home to other luxury sublabels. The case study illustrates the decisional aspect of retail expansion adopted by Chatterjee, considering the distinct managerial perspectives. Chatterjee found potential in the city of Ahmedabad, owing to an increased number of high-net-worth individuals and other macro factors. The case study is primarily an outcome of research carried out at A|X store at Ahmedabad One mall, Ahmedabad, for over a fortnight in the month of February 2023. The expansion decision of Chatterjee proved to be a success in the city of Ahmedabad reaching a sales figure of INR 1 crore (US$130,344.11) in the very first month of its launch. However, he was confronted with the managerial dilemma of further expansion, just six months after the launch of the latest expansion.

The case study is intended for advanced undergraduates or postgraduate programs in management or electives such as marketing, retail management and strategic management. It has not only been specifically designed for teaching the concept of retail expansion but can also be used to integrate contexts on brand’s merchandise mix, retail positioning, visual merchandising and brand communication. The case study has an overview of each of these elements. The instructor may choose them into the context for a wider encompassing detailed lesson or particularly on the main aspect of the case.

Teaching notes are available for educators only.

CSS8: Marketing

This case replaces UVA-M-0837. It can be used in a variety of marketing and strategy classes to understand how (1) at a macro level, a shift in consumer and environmental factors can impact firm strategy and (2) at a micro level, an e-mail-based marketing campaign designed to address these changes can impact firm-level performance.

The case puts the students in the position of CEO Robert Huth as he is preparing for a board meeting. He had taken David's Bridal from a loss in 1996 to sales of over $1 billion by 2011, but he was concerned about future growth. People were waiting longer and longer to get married and, once they decided to, were spending much less than in the past, so the industry had seen year-over-year declines since 2007. How would David's Bridal establish its brand in the minds of a new generation of brides who shopped, purchased, and decided differently than had brides in past generations?

The Dudley Beauty case illustrates a contemporary branding, management and marketing challenge facing many companies that are 50 plus years old. Movahhed (2016) highlights the six elements to consider during brand strategy: the target audience, the brand promise, brand perception (past, current and future), brand values, brand voice and brand positioning. The times have changed with changing macroenvironmental factors including political, economic, sociological, technological, legal and other environmental (PESTLE) changes that affect a business but which the business does not directly control.

The case is based upon an interview with Dudley Beauty CEO and President Ursula Dudley Oglesby and secondary sources.

The “A Makeover for Dudley’s Q+” case explores the challenges of a second-generation textured hair care and personal care company in the direct selling channel as it faces an aging market and changing business and economic environment. A Black-owned company, begun in 1967 by her parents, Dudley Beauty is led by the founders’ daughter, Harvard College and Harvard Law School-educated, Ursula Dudley Oglesby. At over 50 years old, the company has continually created new textured hair products and has high brand awareness among older Black consumers but has not adequately addressed changing hair trends and shifting communication preferences of younger consumers. The company is at a critical point needing to reach a younger, larger market to survive. The business situation supports marketing, management, strategy, and/or entrepreneurship undergraduate students in understanding how macroenvironmental forces and internal structures affect businesses.

This case is intended primarily for use by undergraduates in a variety of courses. It is suitable for courses in Principles of Marketing, Entrepreneurial Marketing, general Entrepreneurship and Marketing Strategy courses covering topics such as direct selling, the role of environmental factors in business, rebranding efforts using digital and social media marketing and women/minority business owners.

This secondary source case is based mainly on legislative documents (that tracked the initiation and progress of the Parental Rights in Education bill that later became an Act), corporate documents (published by The Walt Disney Company) and news articles from publications such as The New York Times and Bloomberg. All sources are cited in the case narrative and as end notes.

In April 2022, The Walt Disney Company and its CEO, Robert Chapek, were at the center of a controversy over the company’s opposition to the State of Florida’s Parental Rights in Education bill. The bill, dubbed “Don’t Say Gay” by its critics, prohibited instruction on sexual identity and gender orientation in the state’s elementary schools. The controversy stemmed from Disney’s initial non-reaction to the bill and its later strident opposition and call for its repeal. Chapek was pressured by negative media publicity and employee disgruntlement on the one hand and adverse economic consequences for opposing the bill by the state’s Governor, Ron DeSantis. Chapek and the Board had to respond to the political threats to Disney’s economic well-being while appeasing its employees and other stakeholders who wanted the company to be a corporate champion in diversity, equity and inclusion.

The case is best suited for advanced undergraduate or graduate leadership, strategic management and marketing courses. From a leadership and strategic management perspective, the case is well-suited for demonstrating the evolving expectations of leaders and corporate social responsibility, as well as the concepts of issue framing and nonmarket management. Instructors may also leverage the case in marketing courses (e.g. brand management), as CEO activism (i.e. messaging and practice) is one characteristic of brand activism (Animation Guild, 2022).

In mid-2013, the Lee family, which owned the Hong Kong based food and health product giant Lee Kum Kee (LKK), struggled with how best to increase involvement of the fifth generation (G5), the children of the company's current fourth-generation (G4) senior executives and governance leaders. Only two of the fourteen G5 members had joined the company, and few had expressed interest in further involvement, including in the multiple learning and development programs the business offered, such as a mentoring program. Many of the G5 cousins had expressed little interest in business careers in general, and none of them currently was serving as an LKK intern. G4 members observed that their children were busy with family obligations, hobbies, and emerging careers outside the business. G5's lack of interest in business and governance roles was part of a growing pattern of low family engagement in general, exhibited by the cancellation of recent family retreats (once an annual tradition) because of apathy and some underlying conflict. A history of splits among past generations of the Lee family regarding business leadership made the engagement issue even more meaningful and critical.

Students will consider the challenge from the point of view of G4 family members David Lee, chairman of the family's Family Office, and his sister, Elizabeth Mok, who ran the Family Learning and Development Center. They and their three siblings saw engaging the next generation as a top priority, one related to key concepts including family-business continuity, generational engagement and empowerment, succession, emotional ownership, and intrinsic/extrinsic motivation.

It is February 2011 and Brian France, CEO of NASCAR (the National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing), is facing a crisis. In the last five years, attendance at weekend NASCAR races has fallen 22 percent and television viewership has declined 30 percent. Key marketing sponsors have recently left the sport. At the same time, the U.S. economy was only beginning to recover from an economic recession that had an adverse impact on the sport of auto racing as a whole. Some leaders within NASCAR counseled Brian that these trends in attendance, viewership, and sponsorship stemmed from the recession and that NASCAR should continue with business as usual. But Brian sensed that the industry needed fundamental change and that he, as CEO of NASCAR, was the one that must lead this change.

With Brian at the helm, NASCAR embarked on an unprecedented amount of qualitative and quantitative research to assess the strengths and weaknesses of the entire industry. At the center of this research was the NASCAR consumer. Highly engaged, enthusiastic consumers were at the heart of an industry business model that had been successful for decades. But in 2011, marketing within all of NASCAR needed to transform, as it was clear that consumers were disengaging with the sport.

As the consumer research results unfold, Brian and leaders within NASCAR must make tough choices and set priorities. The case focuses on four key areas in which decisions need to be made by NASCAR leadership: digital marketing and social media, targeting the next-generation NASCAR consumer, enhancing the star power of NASCAR drivers, and enhancing the consumer experience at NASCAR events. Focus group videos offer students a customer-centric deep-dive into these challenges.

At its heart, this is a case about great leadership and transforming marketing throughout an entire industry. A wrap-up video from CEO Brian France summarizes how NASCAR executives tackled the difficult questions posed in the case.

• Understand how deep consumer engagement is at the heart of a successful marketing ecosystem

• Analyze focus group videos to understand the needs of today's consumer

• Prioritize the market segments that should be cultivated as the next-generation consumer

• Understand how differing incentives within an industry are at the heart of many marketing problems

• Analyze a complex set of problems and set and manage priorities

• Understand the importance of leadership in a time of crisis

Understand how deep consumer engagement is at the heart of a successful marketing ecosystem

Analyze focus group videos to understand the needs of today's consumer

Prioritize the market segments that should be cultivated as the next-generation consumer

Understand how differing incentives within an industry are at the heart of many marketing problems

Analyze a complex set of problems and set and manage priorities

Understand the importance of leadership in a time of crisis