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Data used to develop the case included primary data from employees and supervisors of a commercial floorcovering manufacturing plant in Northwest Georgia. The case company is not disguised.

The survey was developed using existing instruments from the Organizational Behavior and Human Resources Literature. Instruments were listed in Exhibits 2 through 7. The survey administration had the support of the Vice President for Resources and Facilities, and employees and their supervisors were given time to complete the surveys. The data gathered was analyzed by the researcher using SPSS statistical software.

Established in 1957, J&J started as a family-owned business but had grown and diversified its product offerings by focusing on commercial flooring. It survived several economic downturns and remained competitive in a market dominated by more prominent flooring manufacturers. J&J Industries strived to empower its 800 employees with various incentive programs. Employees remained loyal to J&J; many had worked for the company for over 15 years. However, management wanted to measure the impact of empowering and initiatives on employee performance and satisfaction to determine the real power of employee incentive programs. The Resources and Facilities Vice President employed Professor Lopez, a Management Professor, to develop a survey to measure these constructs and analyze the data to guide future incentive programs. Data from the employee and supervisor survey was provided along with the statistical analysis results for interpretation and recommendations for VP Fordham.

The target audience for this case is primarily students in a research methodology course and students studying quantitative regression analysis and interpretation. The focus is predominantly on graduate-level students in Master of Business Administration or Master of Accounting programs in business. Graduate students should have completed courses in management or organizational behavior, business statistics or quantitative methods or data visualization and cleaning as background knowledge for this case. Specifically, students should understand regression analysis and know when and how the tool is used for managerial decision-making.

This case was a real-life situation faced by the author. Names were changed, so students would not know that the author was the protagonist. The case had been developed over several years as a capstone to the capital budgeting section of an MBA finance course and an advanced undergraduate course.

Trey and Lauren Gallo were considering the purchase of a vacation condo that also generated rental income. The current owners were willing to sell at a lowball offer of $605,000 as the pandemic entered its 13th month. The Gallos felt they needed to act fast to get this deal. However, the risks were extraordinary, as the pandemic had reduced rental income by 50% and borders had just recently closed. The case provides all data needed to compute rental revenues, capital expenditure, operational expenditures and financing costs. Students are expected to compute the NPV and IRR of free cashflows. Students will compute and evaluate the cost of capital using the condo’s projected debt structure, a choice of several proxy betas and a project risk premium. The case also uses extensive sensitivity analysis. This case differs from corporate capital budgeting problems because it evaluates both levered and unlevered cashflows, and the cashflows include savings from personal use. The case has been successfully used in MBA finance courses and advanced undergraduate finance courses. The case can be used as a capstone case for capital budgeting or a comprehensive exam in undergraduate, MBA and executive programs. The case questions can also be spread throughout a course to cover the topics of financial statement forecasting, free cash flows, capital budgeting, cost of capital and sensitivity analysis.

Earlier versions of this case have been used in an advanced undergraduate corporate finance course and MBA finance courses. The case is generally used as a capstone to the material on capital budgeting. Students should have already covered material on financial statements, loan cashflows, levered and unlevered cashflows, CAPM, proxy betas, weighted average cost of capital, NPV and IRR. This case is also appropriate for courses in real estate finance and personal finance.

This case looks at an important business task: forecasting a new product. The case can be used to teach finance, marketing (new product introduction), and healthcare strategy. The product is one of Amgen's most important new products: denosumab. On the surface, the case is fairly easy; students simply have to do some simple mathematical calculations. However, the challenges of forecasting quickly become apparent; every forecast depends on some critical assumptions, and the answer can vary dramatically.

Highlight the importance of forecasting as a business task. Give students the opportunity to create a forecast, using logical assumptions to generate an answer. Illustrate how dramatically forecasts can vary. Demonstrate why sensitivity analysis and customer understanding are both critical when trying to forecast a new product launch.

The learning outcomes of this study are as follows:▪ evaluate the difficulties of entry-level women entrepreneurs in the South African farming industry;▪ appreciate the entrepreneurial journey of a women entrepreneur in the farming industry;▪ assess the role of networking and support programmes in prompting women entrepreneurs in South Africa;▪ understand the role of diversification in building a sustainable business in today’s COVID-19-affected economic environment;▪ make an informed decision regarding how COVID-19 had negatively affected the farming industry; and▪ critically evaluate which options are available for women entrepreneurs to overcome the negative effects of COVID-19 and remain sustainable businesses.

In April 2021, managing director and co-owner Beverley-Anne Joseph, was considering the long-term business strategy options for Zelpy, her hop farm business outside George, a town in the Western Cape, South Africa. As the first black woman hop farmer in Africa, she had run a successful business supplying hops to South African Breweries (SAB), a subsidiary of the global conglomerate Anheuser-Busch InBev (AB InBev). To date, her hop farming business had not been impacted by the South African Government’s COVID-19 lockdowns that impacted the sale of alcoholic beverages. However, it had given her a wake-up call as to the risk of having most of her eggs in one basket. She now had to consider how to diversify her farming business to minimise risk.

MBA, Masters in Management, Postgraduate Diploma in Business and Executive Education short courses.

Teaching notes are available for educators only.

CSS 3: Entrepreneurship.

Tourism and hospitality management, strategy, economics and customer service.

Undergraduate students studying hospitality management, customer satisfaction, customer service and economics.

Dubai International Airport is one of the most celebrated airports worldwide. It was constructed by order of Sheikh Rashid bin Saeed Al Maktoum in 1969 and has developed significantly in all sections over the years. Passenger numbers and profits have increased dramatically and the airport has received many awards from various countries and organizations, contributing greatly to economic and tourism development. Dubai International Airport offers unique services and facilities to customers, including the Airport Medical Centre, special needs services, Dubai International Airport Hotel, transportation, lounges, a children's play area, smoking rooms, Al Majlis services, executive flight services, Ahlan services, a modern baggage-handling system and Dubai Duty Free. The quality of service is one of the significant concerns of an international company, including Dubai International Airport, as a high quality brings many benefits to the organization, such as increased customer satisfaction and revenue. Thus, to maintain a high-quality level and compete with other international airports, Dubai International Airport needs to ensure the development of its service.

This cast study will help understand both the services offered by the airport and their features and understand the concepts of increasing value to customers in lieu of money, the contribution of the airport to economic growth, exceeding customers' expectations, intonation in providing services, some factors of competitive advantages, the application of customer satisfaction theories, the services market triangle and providing a role model to other airports.

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The learning outcomes focus on enabling students to view operational model changes critically, as they pertain to:

■ evaluating different management styles and uses of the ADKAR change management model in decision-making moments in times of crisis (such as COVID-19) in non-profit organisations (NPOs);

■ evaluating different ways in which NPOs pivot to sustainability, including the use of social enterprise models and change management;

■ anticipating and managing change in institutional formations through new technologies;

■ articulating trade-offs between grant and non-grant resource mobilisation for African philanthropy; and

■ application of change management theory to organisations’ sustainability journeys.

In May 2020, working from her home office just over one month into a nationwide lockdown because of the COVID-19 pandemic, Masego Madzwamuse, chief executive officer (CEO) of the Southern Africa Trust (the Trust), knew that it could once again be at a crossroads. In 2015, the Trust had found itself in a quandary when its primary donor gave notification of its intention to withdraw its funding. The Trust had responded by making changes to its structure and strategy. Now, with uncertainty rife throughout South Africa, the CEO knew that she had to consider whether the changes that had been implemented over the past five years had prepared the Trust not only to respond to, but also to survive the pandemic and continue its vital work long into the future.

Postgraduate Diploma in Management, MBA, Masters in Management.

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CSS 11: Strategy.

The context of the case presents an account of how corporate social responsibility (CSR) initiated by Lawrence & Mayo (L&M), a company dealing in optical frames for 140 years, helped to build brand equity, image and identity, creating a strategic advantage against competition. The case had a deep-rooted theoretical association with a theory such as the triple bottom line theory (three Ps: profit, people and planet) on CSR. The case helps to understand and clarify the role of CSR in brand equity. It also gives an insight into the value and culture of L&M, and its impact on various stakeholders, namely, employees and customers.

This case is related to the CSR orientation of L&M and its impact on brand equity. As a brand, L&M is over 140 years old and has a dynamic and trending optics market in India. There is a dilemma in the company around the impact of CSR on brand equity, customer engagement and company goodwill. This case focuses on maintaining and improving brand equity, identity and image through CSR initiatives.

Undergraduate and postgraduate students, essential for students focusing on Marketing and CSR disciplines.

Teaching notes are available for educators only.

CSS 8: Marketing.

This case was written using primary data through various channels, including in-depth structured interviews with the CEO and other individuals at the Crisis Center of Tampa Bay (CCTB), as well as exchanging email messages and phone conversations with employees at CCTB. All interviews were recorded and transcribed. In addition, one of the authors took a tour of the main offices of CCTB and took notes on the physical facilities as well as the information provided by the tour guide. Public information from CCTB was used to enhance the information and provide background. All accounts presented in this case are real, and no information was altered or fabricated.

Clara Reynolds had been CEO of CCTB for over eight years. The agency had almost tripled its budget in the time she had been there. Her leadership style had positively impacted the culture of the organization. Employees valued her open and transparent leadership style. Employees saw her commitment to training employees, creating work–life balance and helping employees be exceptional at their jobs. There was an issue, however, with Transcare, the organization’s ambulatory service. The performance of the business was declining, and Clara wanted to update the board within 60 days at the next quarterly board meeting. She was not sure what she could do to increase engagement with Transcare’s staff, which would show the board that the staff was fully willing to do what was necessary.

This case is appropriate for teaching undergraduate or graduate-level courses in leadership, organizational behavior or principles of management. It is designed to be discussed during one class period. It will save time and improve the flow if the students read the case before class and are prepared when they arrive. Any information needed for the case discussion has been presented in the case; no further research by the students is necessary. Students should think about the role of leadership in a nonprofit. They should put themselves in the protagonist’s shoes throughout the reading of the case.

Organizational ethics and related issues.

Graduate course on Strategic Human Resource Management and specialization courses in Banking.

This case details the account of a human resources (HR) manager of a multinational bank in India who “used” his position to bring on board his cronies to secure his position and utilize the inherent powers in the position to further his own ends. The case elaborates how the Manager HR went about his job soon after taking over and the consequences this had on the Indian operations and the morale of officers. The case requires the students to analyze and suggest ways in which this organization can prevent such occurrences in future.

The primary learning objective is to help the student understand the significance of organizational ethics values and react to issues arising from dealing with unethical practices. It will also make them aware of what can happen if systems are deliberately flouted and reporting protocol relating to information flows are ignored. Specifically, it will help them to select the right people, who are aware of the culture of the organization and what this culture implies in terms of working ethically. Communicate the working standards expected of its employees, especially newly trained ones. Analyze the challenges an employee can face when he or she tries to do things in the organization which are not ethical. Evaluate the different ways in which errant employees should be handled.

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The learning outcomes after reading and analysing this case study are dealing with the challenges of family business; learning the importance of succession planning; accepting the next generation and the role of the first generation; and understanding the decision-making skills and roles of the generations in family business.

Khushboo Pouch and Packaging was the first-generation initiative of Mr Bhavesh Udeshi. Mitesh Udeshi, son of Bhavesh Udeshi and the business’s sole successor, joined the firm in 2019 after graduating with a Master of Business Administration degree. Mitesh had desired to join his family firm since he was a teenager and aid the business with emerging business ideas. As a fresher, he applied his newly acquired theories to the company’s operations. He initiated several changes in the company; however, his actions were ineffective. He introduced modifications to the business premises, production units, marketing tactics, accounting department and product line extension for two years. Mitesh had intended to restructure his traditional firm in rational and innovative ways, but none of his plans had come to fruition. He failed because the firm’s change management was confronted with denial, rage, bargaining and melancholy from both his father and the employees. Amidst non-acceptance and inconsistency, he found himself in a quandary. He had two options: remain in the family firm and persevere in making his ambitions a reality or resign, find a job and embark on a new path. Unfortunately, leaving would indicate surrendering defeat after a two-year struggle.

Programmes: Master of Business Administration (MBA), Bachelor of Business Administration (BBA) programmes, MBA in Entrepreneurship and small businesses, and Post graduate diploma in management (PGDM).

Teaching notes are available for educators only.

CSS 3: Entrepreneurship