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Marketing management, digital marketing, advertising and promotion management, and technology management.

The case is suitable for BBA and MBA students. It can also be considered in executive education programs.

Venkatesh Kothapalli, the marketing head at Reebok India headquarters at Gurgaon, was in a decision dilemma about the effectiveness of using social media marketing and its employment in the current scheme of marketing strategy being planned. He had been able to generate a fair amount of awareness and excitement amongst potential users on Reebok's social media sites. However, these often fail to convert into topline sales. In addition, Alex his superior had given clear instructions that no separate budget would be earmarked for this type of medium. So Venkatesh had to divert some parts of his existing budgets (which he did from the PR budget and the DM budget) and channel these into the new area of social media marketing. This had also created concerns in Venkatesh's mind about the possibility of the new media not showing favourable results while budgets of the traditional and tried and tested media like PR and direct marketing were being chopped.

These include: understanding the dilemma of an organization's adoption of newer marketing tools as opposed to traditional marketing practices; evaluating the role of newer mediums like social media marketing and its long term and short term relevance; understanding the origins and development of social media marketing to grasp the full scale of its usefulness; and appreciating the complexities of measuring the effectiveness of social media marketing initiatives.

Teaching notes are available, please consult your librarian for access.

Prudential Equity Group had downgraded Danaher to underweight status, citing concerns over its inadequate organic growth. By March 2009, its CEO wondered how to keep growing a company that faced changing worldwide economic circumstances, pressure from low-cost competitors, new competitors, flat or declining demand for company products, price increases for certain raw materials, and criticism from market analysts.

The assignment is to design a plan that aligns patient satisfaction scores with quality care metrics. The instructor’s manual (IM) introduces models for designing and implementing a strategic plan to approach the quality improvement process.

This is a field research case. The author(s) had access to the Chief Operating Officer (COO) and other members of the management team, meeting with them on numerous occasions. Cleveland Clinic Florida (CCF) provided the data included in the appendices. Additionally, relevant hospital data, also included in the appendices, is required to be made public on Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) databases. Accordingly, all data and information are provided by original sources.

Osmel “Ozzie” Delgado, MBA and COO of CCF was faced with a dilemma. Under the new CMS reimbursement formula, patient satisfaction survey scores directly impacted hospital reimbursement. However, the CCF patient satisfaction surveys revealed some very unhappy patients. Delgado pondered these results that really made no sense to him because CCF received the highest national and state rankings for its clinical quality at the same time. Clearly, patients were receiving the best medical care, but they were still unhappy. Leaning back in his chair, Delgado shook his head and wondered incredulously how one of the most famous hospitals in the world could deliver such great care but receive negative patient feedback on CMS surveys. What was going wrong and how was the hospital going to fix it?

This case is designed for graduate Master’s in Business Administration (MBA), Master’s in Health Sciences Administration (MHSA) and/or Public Health (PA) audiences. While a healthcare concentration is useful, the case raises the generic business problems of satisfying the customer to increase brand recognition in the marketplace and displacing competition to increase annual revenues. Indeed, the same analysis can be applied in other heavily regulated industries also suffering from a change in liquidity and growth occasioned by regulatory change.

After completion of the case study, the students will be able to understand the calculation of cost of individual sources of funds and cost of capital, examine various tools such as economic value added and cash value added analyses which help determining whether a company has added value to its shareholders or not and explore the application of Benford’s law and the Beneish M-score in detecting manipulation of numbers in financial statements.

Nimmy Jacob, a newly recruited research analyst with an equity research firm, was entrusted with tracking the “auto ancillary industry”, specifically “Minda Corporation Ltd” (MIL). MIL was a leading diversified auto components manufacturing companies in India. The company’s share price meteorically rose during February 2021–2022 (Figure 1). The company’s turnover over the past few years had grown at a compounded annual growth rate of 15% during the three preceding years. The company had in the recent past bought a 15% stake in another competitor, Pricol Ltd, for a consideration of INR 400 crores and previously had used joint ventures and acquisitions to scale up its operations. Jacob, apart from the conventional financial analysis, had to ascertain whether all the strategic decisions were adding value to the shareholders’ investments by exploring the various tools available for the same and also calculate the minimum expected rate of return for MIL. Jacob was apprehensive about the financial statements, although the numbers for the company were good. Jacob was skeptical about a high-growth company having the incentive to manipulate its earnings. Manipulations could be in the form of abnormal increase in accruals, inconsistency in expenses and high days of receivables. Therefore, Jacobs used certain analytics/statistical tools to detect any manipulation of numbers in the financial statements of the company and to ascertain apt findings about the company.

This case study is intended for discussion in corporate finance, financial reporting and analysis and financial analytics at Master of Business Administration/undergraduate level.

Teaching notes are available for educators only.

CSS1: Accounting and finance

The case deals with project management principles that are required for implementing a social project in India.

The study has been carried out at primary schools in an underdeveloped state, namely, Odisha, in India.

The case illustrates a project management approach for improving primary education in a government set up. The bureaucracy set up in education in a state like Odisha, India, needs to undergo radical changes. To be effective, an education system requires an optimal integration of the three main components, namely, people, infrastructure (this includes technology) and pedagogical processes. Using a public–private partnership model, American India Foundation (AIF) through its Digital Equalizer (DE) Program has been able to make a positive impact in an underdeveloped tribal dominated district like Keonjhar. The case study also illustrates the detailed execution plan predicated on total system planning, required to achieve this amount of success. The case study also explains how to measure success through different metrics where intervention has to be at multiple levels. The learning from the case study can also be adopted for designing an implementation strategy in other states.

Expected learning outcomes are as follows: how to approach implementation of technology-based intervention with involvement of all stakeholders; learn project management techniques related to digital learning model implementation; understand the DE methodology; and understand the challenges faced while implementing the DE Program.

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 7: Management Science.

Amongst other things, at the end of this case discussion, the student should be able to: diagnose situational factors that contribute to a brand’s positioning; explore important issues in implementing brand positioning strategies; use relevant models for understanding a firm’s internal and external environments to inform strategic decisions about customers and competition; demonstrate an understanding of target audience; identify the unique attributes of the competition to inform a firm’s positioning and competitive strategy.

Kaya FM derives its name from the isiZulu word “ikhaya”, which means “home”. The name reflects the mission of the radio station to provide a home for black South Africans who were denied many opportunities during the apartheid era in South Africa. Kaya FM has been broadcasting since 1997, following the deregulation of the media landscape in South Africa. However, by 2018, the radio landscape has become very challenging. Mainstream advertisers still do not consider Kaya FM as a preferred channel to reach their target audience. Overall, radio listenership is dwindling and advertising sales growth is not encouraging. Greg Maloka, Kaya FM’s station manager is considering how to preserve the station’s unique positioning as it competes with both more dominant stations and new entrants so that Kaya FM can truly be a home for Afropolitans for many years to come.

Honour’s and master’s level, as well as executive education delegates.

Teaching Notes are available for educators only.

CSS 8: Marketing.

The purpose of this research is to identify studies that had been undertaken to determine the efficacy of the case method of teaching as compared to the lecture method in an academic setting. An extensive search of secondary sources to identify research was undertaken to determine the effectiveness of case teaching as compared to the lecture method. The findings of this study indicate within the research reviewed the following positive results of case teaching noted by students: enhanced learning of the subject; heightened student engagement in the classroom; and the receipt of higher grades in some disciplines. The following negative results are also found: lack of understanding of course content and the method is more challenging and time consuming. In a national survey of faculty using the case method for the first time, the following positive outcomes of utilizing the case method were found: develops strong critical-thinking skills, greater retention of course material and more active engagement in the classroom. The limitations are the inconsistency of variables measured in the study and the small sample sizes. “Recommendations for further study include the use of larger sample sizes and a control group using the lecture method of teaching.”

An extensive search for all studies is performed in the classroom to evaluate and compare the use of the case method as compared to the lecture method of teaching.

The courses evaluated in the study are from a variety of disciplines in universities.

A review of research studies is performed to evaluate the efficacy of the case method of teaching as compared to the lecture method.

This case is written for those people who are interested in entrepreneurship, and to generate discussions on the Lean Start-up methodology, as well as other topics related to entrepreneurship and innovation.

It can be used with senior undergraduates, MBAs, EMBAs and senior executives.

In August 2011, Mars Ren and Gene Deng created a technology-based venture, Shanghai Tianhailu Network Information Technology Ltd. Filled with passion, they aspired to be the first “factory outlet” in China' hotel booking industry. To achieve this goal, they developed the Hotelvp app for mobile users. After 6:00 p.m. every day, users could book accommodation online in hotels above three-star standard for that same night at significant discounts. Hotels also benefited because they could sell their unsold room nights at the last minute and improve their revenue management. Ren and Deng were convinced that this win-win idea would take off. Unfortunately, it failed to fully satisfy either the users or the hotels. In spite of the founders' passion and energy, it was still acquired by a much more powerful player in the online sector, JD.com, in early 2014. This case is designed to stimulate in-depth discussions based on the question: What are the key obstacles when launching a startup and how to overcome them?

Through class discussion, it aims at teaching the student how to define and practice a start-up idea successfully by following the “Lean Start-up” methodology and/or take advantage of a practical tool, discovery-driven planning. Specifically, this case intends to teach students how: To identify and define a good start-up idea; To take actions based on the idea/opportunity, iterate and modify it along the way to create new start-ups, and finally lead the new start-ups to grow and succeed; To understand the key concepts, frameworks and theoretical logics of Lean Start-up methodology, and apply it in practice.

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 Ivey Business School recently decided to outsource its printing to ProPrintR. Barbara Pokropek, Ivey Executive Development (IED), was faced with managing IED's outsourced printing jobs. There had been an increasing number of quality issues with the binder that ProPrintR prepared for IED's executive classes. While binder material errors may not sound like a big deal, for IED these materials are part of their branding and can lead to executive student dissatisfaction. This case describes the evolution of the current situation and challenges students to consider how to manage the situation.

The situation described in this critical incident is real, only the name of the print provider has been changed. Barbara Pokropek was interviewed and she provided the data and examples described. Ms Pokropek reviewed and provided input to revise the manuscript.

This case is intended for undergraduate core operations management classes. It can be used to discuss supplier relations and supply management. As such there are multiple dimensions to the case: importance of clearly delineating the work needed, defining performance expectations and metrics for a supplier, selecting quality tools to help measure performance, and centralized vs decentralized supply management.

Management Strategy.

Management Graduates and Post-Graduates.

Today, tourism is one of the fastest growing industries throughout the world. The tourism industry plays a very crucial role in the country’s economy, as it not only contributes towards the national income but also brings beneficial spillover directly or indirectly on the other industries. Tourism is the most important source of income for many emerging countries. India, a newly emerging economy, also depends, to a great extent, on tourist income. However, this sector continues to not make optimal contribution in India. In today’s competitive arena, the state tourism corporations must use all possible means to maximise growth and profitability through pegging up the rate of tourist arrivals. There is a general agreement in the tourism industry at the theoretical level about the imperative of a public – private partnership (PPP) in serving this objective. PPP aims to synergise the efforts of the two components in the general development of society and increase in competitiveness. The public–private partnership in tourism industry is at an emerging stage and could be developed in various ways. This case study highlights the key learning from Delhi Tourism’s experience on how PPP can be implemented in the tourism sector. This case study discusses an opportunity for Delhi Tourism which can alter the landscape of the tourism industry of India and also the rejuvenation of Delhi Tourism, a public sector corporation, through PPP.

The case will give a clear understanding of the dynamics and environmental factors governing a mixed economy like India. The reasons for the PPP can be analysed through the case. Students can understand the strategic choice of taking a private partner by a public sector in a very dynamic industry, i.e. the tourism 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.