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The case study will encourage reflection on the challenges that organisations face in attracting, engaging and retaining knowledge workers that are critical to their performance and growth. It is set in the context of innovative, high-tech organisations whose success is heavily dependent on the performance of information technology (IT) professionals, a specialised and heavily demanded workforce.

The case study depicts the struggle of Manoel Almeida, Descomplica’s chief technology officer, to reverse the scenario of demotivation and high turnover among IT employees and to attract new talent. The case study addresses the themes of knowledge worker attraction, engagement and retention, with a focus on IT professionals.

This case study is designed for undergraduate and graduate education programmes/courses.

Teaching notes are available for educators only.

CSS 7: Management science.

As the regulatory system begins to recognize the role of social responsibility reporting, reliable disclosure measures will be required. Issues of transparency, reliability and assurance are likely to arise as securities regulators consider whether and how to require disclosure of non-financial information. Various reporting models are presented in the case to illustrate different ways that these issues can be addressed by privately held and publicly traded corporations.

The case uses the company, Etsy, Inc., which has established itself as a publicly traded, socially responsible corporation. Etsy must decide whether it will re-incorporate as a benefit corporation in order to maintain its B Lab certification. This decision introduces students to the various measures of corporate social responsibility, the interests of the stakeholders of a corporation and the regulatory environment in which socially responsible, publicly traded corporations operate. The case uses only publicly available information.

This teaching case addresses the decision faced by Etsy, Inc. when it became a publicly traded corporation. In order to maintain its certification as a socially responsible corporation by B Lab, it would have to re-incorporate as a Delaware Benefit Corporation. In making this decision, the company had to consider various measures used for corporate social responsibility reporting and transparency and how these might affect Etsy’s stakeholders.

Undergraduate or masters level case that could be used in a business law, commercial law, legal environment or auditing course.

This case is intended to help students of business communication and public relations to trace the effects of communication by public figures and understand essential elements of designing effective communication. After working through the case and assignment questions, the students will be able to:understand the drivers of vaccine hesitancy;analyze the effects of mass communication on public sentiment, in a fast-changing public health situation; anddesign interventions to influence public awareness and action, using a simple model (5W) for mass communication.

As the vaccines first arrived after the devastating first wave of the Covid-19 pandemic, Indians hesitated to take the shot. Vaccine hesitancy, a worldwide phenomenon, hampered the uptake of the first Covid vaccines despite the dark clouds of the lethal disease. The case looks at the massive problem of vaccine hesitancy and how an integrated communication strategy could overcome and mitigate the challenge. The case protagonist, the leader of a communications agency, looks at the messaging, medium and platforms needed for strategic communication pitch to combat this vaccine hesitancy.

The case was designed for use in a graduate-level course in business communication. This case may be positioned toward the middle or end of the course to illustrate mass communication strategy for pressing and sensitive challenges. The case may also be used in a course on public relations, both at graduate and undergraduate levels.

Teaching notes are available for educators only.

CSS 8: Marketing.

The case opens with Martha Stewart's 2005 release from prison following her conviction for obstructing an insider-trading investigation of her 2001 sale of personal stock. The scandal dealt a crippling blow to the powerful Martha Stewart brand and drove results at her namesake company, Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia (MSO), deep into the red. But as owner of more than 90 percent of MSO's voting shares, Stewart continued to control the company throughout the scandal.

The company faced significant external challenges, including changing consumer preferences and mounting competition in all of its markets. Ad rates were under pressure as advertisers began fragmenting spending across multiple platforms, including the Internet and social media, where MSO was weak. New competitors were luring readers from MSO's flagship publication, Martha Stewart Living. And in its second biggest business, merchandising, retailing juggernauts such as Walmart and Target were crushing MSO's most important sales channel, Kmart. Internal challenges loomed even larger, with numerous failures of governance while the company attempted a turnaround.

This case can be used to teach either corporate governance or turnarounds.

Students will learn:

• How control of shareholder voting rights by a founding executive can undermine corporate governance

• The importance of independent directors and board committees

• How company bylaws affect corporate governance

• How to recognize and respond to early signs of stagnation

• How to avoid management actions that can make a crisis worse

• How weaknesses in executive leadership can push a company into crisis and foster a culture that actively prevents strategic revitalization

How control of shareholder voting rights by a founding executive can undermine corporate governance

The importance of independent directors and board committees

How company bylaws affect corporate governance

How to recognize and respond to early signs of stagnation

How to avoid management actions that can make a crisis worse

How weaknesses in executive leadership can push a company into crisis and foster a culture that actively prevents strategic revitalization