Search results

Learning outcomes are as follows: students will discover the importance of process orientation in management; students will determine the root cause of the problem by applying root cause analysis technique; students will identify the failure modes, analyze their effect, score them on a scale and prioritize the corrective action to prevent the failures; students will analyze the processes and propose error-proof system/s; and students will analyze organizational culture and ethical issues.

Purpose: This case study is intended as a class-exercise, for students to discover the importance of process-orientation in management, analyze the ethical dilemma in health care and to apply quality management techniques, such as five-why, root cause analysis, failure mode and effect analysis (FMEA) and error-proofing, in the management of the health-care and service industry. Design/methodology/approach: A voluntary reporting of a case of “radiation overdose” in a hospital’s radio therapy treatment unit, which led to an ethical dilemma. Consequently, a study was conducted to establish the causes of the incident and to develop a fail-proof system, to avoid recurrence. Findings: After careful analysis of the process-flow and the root causes, 25 potential failure modes were detected and the team had assigned a risk priority number (RPN) for each potential incident, selected the top ten RPNs and developed an error-proofing system to prevent recurrence. Subsequently, the improvement process was carried out for all the 25 potential incidents and a new control mechanism was implemented. The question of ethical dilemma remained unresolved. Research limitations/implications: Ishikawa diagram, FMEA and Poka-Yoke techniques require a multi-disciplinary team with process knowledge in identifying the possible root causes for errors, potential risks and also the possible error-proofing method/s. Besides, these techniques need frank discussions and agreement among team members on the efforts for the development of action plan, implementation and control of the new processes. Practical implications: Students can take the case data to identify root cause analysis and the RPN (RPN = possibility of detection × probability of occurrence × severity), to redesign the protocols, through systematic identification of the deficiencies of the existing protocols. Further, they can recommend quality improvement projects. Faculty can navigate the case session orientation, emphasizing quality management or ethical practices, depending on the course for which the case is selected.

MBA or PG Diploma in Management – health-care management, hospital administration, operations management, services operations, total quality management (TQM) and ethics.

Teaching Notes are available for educators only.

CSS 9: Operations and Logistics.

Social entrepreneurship/innovation.

Basic to advanced level.

This case introduces students to the context of social innovation and social entrepreneurship. Societies are facing new challenges that will require innovative solutions. In our society, social needs are addressed in a variety of different ways. Some of these needs are addressed mainly through public organizations, some in private spheres through associations or businesses, and others in informal organizations or maybe not at all. As changes occur in our society, the current practices we use to meet our needs will not necessarily be the same practices we use to meet our needs in the future. In response, a number of initiatives are emerging. This case describes the process of such a new initiative.

Students need to understand what social innovation is; in how many ways it manifests; and why it is a multi-disciplinary field. Students need to understand the difference between for-profit and not-for-profit organizations and which challenges they are effective in addressing (context dependency). Students need to understand, describe and discuss the process and methods of developing social entrepreneurship and social innovations using the House of Plenty Social Innovation Model as a case. Students need to understand and discuss the main challenges that not-for-profit social innovations face in securing financial sustainability and in scaling up using the House of Plenty Social Innovation Model as a case.

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 3: Entrepreneurship.

Organisational behaviour; Leadership; Organisational development; Public–Private partnership; Health care management; Public health.

Masters students in Business Administration, Post Graduate Diploma, Clinical Training of Medical Professionals, Health Leadership Programme.

Prof Jannie Hugo, the protagonist in the case, was considering his dilemma of aligning the multiple partners involved in public health care. A high level of collaboration was required of a multitude of stakeholders in developing the Daspoort clinic into a pilot site for the Tshwane district’s implementation of the National Health Insurance system. In addition, the re-engineering of primary health care with the focus on the patient and community orientated approach were launched on this site.

Gaining insight into international and national landscapes and principles of health care systems. Critically analyse the role of technology in delivering innovative health and social services. Present judgment of Prof Jannie Hugo’s contextual leadership effectiveness in enhancing collaboration between the multiple stakeholders and recommend next steps.

2 × DVDs on Vimeo, Slides and teaching plan with discussion or exam questions with model answers.

CSS 7: Management Science.

After reading and discussing the case study, students should be able to identify the reasons why the company needed to digitise and how this links to the company’s strategy around technology and innovation, analyse the digitalisation implementation process followed in the case study by using an organisational change management model and make recommendations and propose a solution for the protagonist to consider for the successful roll-out of the digitalisation project.

DRA Projects is part of the DRA Global business based in South Africa. The company is known locally in the mining and engineering industry for its project development, delivery, execution and operations capabilities. Digital transformation is a key strategic focus in the industry, as clients seek digitised integrated systems. For this client offering, J.C. Heslinga, managing director of DRA Projects, was tasked with leading the digitalisation of the project delivery system. From July 2020 until July 2022, Heslinga led the implementation team through different organisational change stages. As the next phase included rolling out digitalisation to pilot projects and engaging employees and clients in the new process, Heslinga wondered if enough was done to ready the business for this change. The end users would be executing the changes, so their adoption will be imperative for successfully rolling out digitalisation. The case study concludes with Heslinga pondering the approach needed for the next phase. The case study focuses on the digitalisation implementation process through the lens of organisational change. The case study presents an opportunity to analyse and identify the theories and models used in organisational change within a real-life business context. The organisational change learnings can be adapted to help students with any transformation changes in similar business scenarios.

Postgraduate- and master’s-level students and business executives attending short courses will benefit from the learnings. The learnings can be applied to improve decision-making, organisational behaviour and strategic implementation using the fundamental principles of organisational change.

Teaching notes are available for educators only.

CSS 6: Human resource management

In 2006, four successful entrepreneurs decided to establish a world-class mega university. Initially, the project progressed slowly until Vineet Gupta was able to locate a small plot of land in Sonipat, Haryana. Forty-eight hours before the payment deadline, Ashish Dhawan and Sanjeev Bikchandani agreed to invest in their personal capital to kick start the project. They however suggested a pivot in favour of a smaller private liberal arts college. Meanwhile, Pramath Sinha, with prior experience in establishing the Indian School of Business launched a pilot through the Young India Fellowship (YIF). Dhawan and Bikchandani, through their extensive entrepreneurial networks, raised scholarships for the first two batches of the fellowship in the hope of attracting other donors to the board and getting a buy-in for Ashoka University. The team faced a number of challenges: managing the new model of collective philanthropy, recruiting faculty and finding jobs for the first undergraduate batch. At Ashoka University's first graduation ceremony in 2017 they wondered whether this model could revolutionise the higher education space like the IITs and IIMs had done for the country.

Parsana Health Centre Private Limited, a part of the INR 4,500 crore¹ fitness industry, was a fitness centre established at Ahmedabad (Gujarat) in India in December 2002, as an integral part of the organized players of the fitness industry. It had been relentlessly working towards creating and nurturing a healthy lifestyle for the people of Ahmedabad over the previous two eventful decades. Under the able guidance of skilled trainers and dieticians, the fitness enthusiast could enjoy state of the art gym facilities, in the upcoming mega city of Ahmedabad. Parsana Health Centre Private Limited enjoyed the first mover advantage in Ahmedabad and tapped the fitness club² market through its 13 franchises opened in select vantage locations of the city. It was started by the Parsana brothers: Vijay and Dinesh. They strived hard to inculcate the fitness regime in people and attempted to interweave the benefits of fitness with their occupations. However, the road undertaken threw challenges at them – sometimes from people who failed to underline the importance of fitness in their daily schedule, and sometimes from other fitness brands which emerged as strong competitors. The emergence of many individual and branded fitness chains started making inroads into the busy streets of Ahmedabad and they too worked hard to pull out fitness enthusiasts to these social fitness centres by providing personal health counseling, rejuvenation, yoga, etc. Sustaining competitive advantage became a tough task.

The case covers several topics such as social entrepreneurship, social innovation, green startups, their marketing and growth. The learning outcomes are as follows: identify the characteristics of social entrepreneurs; learn about the concept of social innovation, its challenges and opportunities; apply the concepts environmental sustainability to possible growth strategies; and evaluate the different growth opportunities available to the company in the region.

The case tells the story of a recently established technology and agriculture startup, Schaduf, founded in Egypt. Their concept mixes tradition with technology to improve the quality of life for city dwellers. Research and development (R&D) plays a big role in this company’s success. Schaduf uses the concepts of soilless farming to grow rooftop crops for low-income households. The company also provides aesthetic solutions for businesses and homes to increase their green spaces. Driven by a desire to transform the monochrome city to a green paradise, two Egyptian entrepreneurs founded Schaduf, an urban micro-farming and eco-friendly venture. The founders of the startup, brothers Sherif and Tarek Hosny, are in the process of expanding their business. They are faced by the dilemma of staying true to their original business concept in developing markets or pursuing other lucrative ventures in more affluent economies. This case offers learners insight into the growth strategy of a social enterprise that relies heavily on R&D to stay ahead of the game. Learners should evaluate the different growth strategies available to the company.

The case can be used for senior undergraduate students and at the graduate level in MBA, management, innovation, entrepreneurship and social entrepreneurship programs.

Teaching notes are available for educators only.

CSS 3: Entrepreneurship.

This case study is related to start-up post-listing investment analysis. Through this case study, students will be able to perform the business analysis guided by the Venture Evaluation Metric tool, perform financial analysis using the discounted cash flow methods and perform investment analysis recommendation with justifications from the business and financial analysis performed above.

This case study sets out the study of a scalable start-up, Zomato, which is a successfully listed start-up firm in India. Despite the start-up development success in the pre-listing, the firm has exhibited a continuous unprofitable finance performance in the post-listing and has further experienced a volatile share price performance, both of which have puzzled existing and potential investors. In addition, some analysts are in the opinions that the firm share price valuation have been inflated with overvaluation since in the initial public offering stage and remain traded with overvaluation in the market. Notably, considering the negative indicators mentioned above, investors are concerned about long-term sustainability of the firm business and financial performance. In the context of post-listing investment, the following questions are material to investors: What is the realistic growth trajectory for Zomato in the medium term? What is Zomato’s share fair value in the medium term? Can one see opportunities or risks ahead of investing in Zomato’s shares? What will be the investment strategy for new investors?

This case study is suited to bachelor’s and master’s level in business schools studying entrepreneurial finance analysis.

Teaching notes are available for educators only.

CSS 1: Accounting and finance.

Information technology, management science and strategic management.

The case has been developed for use in “e-government Management and Leadership” and “Strategic IT management” courses and is appropriate for MBA and Executive Development Programs, as well as corporate training programs incorporating information system and e-government dilemmas. The case is appropriate for courses that deal with e-government development.

Ajman Digital Government (ADG) was established in 2017. It is a new government entity intended to deliver the Ajman e-Government Project to increase government efficiency and productivity, as well as transforming public services to meet citizen expectations of digital experiences and satisfying the UAE Federal e-government standard. The current UAE federal e-government ranking includes only two emirates, Abu Dhabi and Dubai. ADG intends to be part of the UAE federal e-government ranking and participating in the world digital competitiveness ranking. Many challenges lie ahead for ADG, which intends to add Ajman’s e-government to UAE’s federal e-government, supporting the digital competitiveness of UAE worldwide and participating in increasing the ranking for UAE federal government in IMD’s World Digital Competitiveness Ranking; in addition to this challenging goal, there are significant new obstacles to the implementation of the new digital government in Ajman. ADG requires specific ingredients for the maintenance and support of the UAE e-government standard to position the project toward the success. Study of the strategic positioning of ADG would help support success of the development of e-government and weigh which technology should be used and how the project should proceed strategically. The case also provides a very useful ground for discussing all challenges faced and how the innovative business model of e-government will address these issues and create a sustainable e-government environment.

The case is structured to achieve the following learning objectives: Students can recognise the dilemma faced by the Ajman Government in managing citizen expectations, stakeholder expectations and the wider implications of its actions on developing a coherent communication strategy. Students can recognise and critically evaluate the role of leadership and communication in using e-government strategies in hyper technology market. To bring out the challenges in the digital government and repositioning strategies in a highly competitive and dynamic technology environment. Differentiation and repositioning strategies in a highly competitive technology market. Learn how to effectively communicate the value of a digital government to the targeted citizens. Understand how to strike a balance between short-term objectives and long-term goals in e-government development. Analyse the environment, competition, industry and IT product positioning. List alternative IT strategies and e-government positioning. Understand the primary drivers of interaction in e-government.

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.

The ‘CSIR-Tech: Facilitating lab to market journeys’ case is designed to teach students the strategic intricacies of an organizational network. The case also throws light on the formation and design of a collaborative inter-organizational network. CSIR, a premier R&D organization in India, was plagued with challenges in the commercialization of technologies developed in its constituent laboratories. CSIR-Tech was established as a private-limited company to catalyse the technology development and commercialization process. The case analyses formation of CSIR-CSIR-Tech alliance and discusses how the alliance can help in overcoming challenges associated with commercialization of technologies being developed at CSIR.