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The 12^th South Asian Games were held in India in Guawhati and Shillong in February 2016, after repeated rescheduling. There were a number of challenges to organizing the games such as lack of infrastructure, legacy of corruption from past games, shortage of time etc. However, the games were held within 90 days of the announcement of venues and final dates. Sri Yadav, the Secretary, Department of Sports wants to understand the key drivers of success behind organizing the event. He also wants to understand how the success of Indian athletes at SAG could be leveraged for success at larger events.

The case and discussion questions posed will allow the instructors the opportunity to introduce critical strategic concepts from strategic, nonprofit management and social enterprise literature. Specifically, (1) strategic transformation: countering drift and anticipating future trends and crises; (2) types of leadership: transactional versus transformational; (3) hybridity and mission drift; and (4) nonprofit funding models, the starvation cycle and the overhead myth.

Both primary and secondary sources have been used to prepare the case. The first two authors had the opportunity to interview Thomas Tighe, Direct Relief’s (DR) President and CEO in July of 2019. The interview lasted one hour and was transcribed by one of the authors and reviewed by the other two authors for accuracy. In addition, the authors conducted nonparticipant observations in DR’s headquarters in Santa Barbara (California). Given the longevity and media exposure of the organization, extensive internal and external archival data was also available for the analysis.

This real and undisguised case is based on DR, a +70-year-old humanitarian $1.2bn nonprofit organization headquartered in California (USA). From its headquarters in Santa Barbara, DR responds to emergencies and delivers medical support for vulnerable people affected by poverty, natural disasters and civil unrest in all 50 US states, six US territories including Puerto Rico and US Virgin Islands, and in more than 90 countries.

The case presents Thomas Tighe, DR’s President and CEO, reflecting in late 2018 on the transformation and growth that the organization had experienced since he started his tenure in 2000. Specifically, he is considering the most effective way to allocate an unrestricted recent cash donation. Should DR spend that money on traditional fundraising, reducing its efficiency rate, or should DR take a long-term approach and use the funds to build long-term capabilities? In addition, the case outlines the history and evolution of DR over its more than 70 years of existence, the CEO’s background and motivations, as well as a detailed description of the organization’s revenue portfolio. Students will have an opportunity to learn about a unique nonprofit named among “the world’s most non-for-profit organizations” by Fast Company; DR was also included in the Charity Navigator’s list of the “10 Best Charities Everyone’s Heard of.” In addition, in January 2009, DR was designated as a Verified-Accredited Distributor by The National Association of Boards of Pharmacy, which placed it as the first nonprofit to receive this designation to deliver prescription medicines to all 50 US states. Throughout Tighe’s tenure, DR had been lauded for its fundraising efficiency. The unique distinction to DR’s efficiency is its tradition of adopting new technologies and modern business practices for humanitarian purposes.

Students will learn how DR, under the leadership of Thomas Tighe, reinvented and reinforced the organization’s traditions to retain high levels of efficiency in the face of an ever-larger organizational scale, public scrutiny and demand for humanitarian support across the world. Students will witness many strategic and operational tenets that they may be more familiar with from the for-profit world. The case also will help students to understand the concept of hybrid organizations and different nonprofit funding models.

The case has been written to be used in graduate Nonprofit Leadership Management and Social Entrepreneurship courses. Given the scope and implications, the case could also be used on an upper-level strategy course. To maximize students’ learning, the case should be introduced halfway into the course after students have a solid understanding of what nonprofits are and how they operate. If students are not familiar with some of the concepts introduced in the analysis, the proposed readings will prepare them for a more fruitful discussion.

On April 4, 2007, Don Imus, one of the company&s most popular talk show personalities made comments on the air regarding the Rutgers women&s basketball team. According to the transcription from Media Matters for America, Imus said, “ That&s some nappy-headed hos there. I&m gonna tell you that now, man, that&s some … woo. And the girls from Tennessee, they all look cute, you know, so, like … kinda like … I don&t know.” At first, the comments did not seem out of the ordinary for one of radio&s “shock jocks.” However, as the public reaction grew, the situation changed considerably. Under pressure from the public, Moonves reluctantly suspended Imus. But it was too little too late. By the end of the day on April 11, analysts estimated that $2.5 million in advertising revenue was lost. On April 12, Moonves terminated Don Imus& contract.

After Moonves fired Imus, there was still a lot to consider. He really wanted a way for the company to meet the demands of the company&s stakeholders. In addition, he wanted to avoid any more distractions from the firm&s normal day-to-day operations.

In 1992 Joe Jackson, former manager of DuPont Motorsports for twelve years, was angling to get the paint business at Rick Hendrick's sixty-five automotive dealerships across the United States. In order to win the Hendrick car dealership paint contract, Jackson and Hendrick met to discuss the possibility of sponsoring Hendrick's new team and rookie NASCAR driver—Jeff Gordon. As a result of that meeting, DuPont signed on to be the primary sponsor. By 2006 Gordon was a NASCAR superstar, and the DuPont logo—viewed by millions—was a household brand. While this level of exposure was exciting for the company, executives at DuPont could not help but wonder if they were fully leveraging this tremendous marketing opportunity. Gordon was on fire—but was DuPont maximizing the heat? The DuPont-NASCAR case tasks students and executives with designing a creative marketing campaign to activate the NASCAR sponsorship opportunity and maximize value beyond conventional sponsorship marketing. This open-ended challenge encourages students and executives to think outside of the traditional marketing tactics typically employed by business-to-consumer (B2C) NASCAR sponsors. Additionally, the nature of DuPont creates the need to develop a multi-dimensional plan that caters to a breadth of brands. Beyond designing a new marketing campaign, a key objective of the case is to focus students and executives on designing metrics for measurement of the return on investment (ROI) into a campaign plan. As a first step, it is important to clearly articulate the campaign, business strategy, and key business objectives mapped to the strategy.

Students and executives learn how to design a marketing campaign for measurement. Specifically, they are tasked with designing a new marketing campaign for DuPont to activate the DuPont/NASCAR relationship. Students and executives must define metrics for measurement and learn to use a balanced score card approach. Since the DuPont sponsorship of Hendrick Motorsports is a brand campaign built to reach the DuPont business-to-business (B2B) customer, both non-financial and financial metrics are used. The key to success is to have a clearly defined sponsorship marketing strategy and business objectives. The case teaches students and executives how to define key metrics and articulate a methodology for campaign measurement pre and post to quantify the return on investment (ROI).

After completion of the case study, the students will be able to gain knowledge on public–private partnerships (PPPs) in emerging markets; understand how to apply the sensing element of the dynamic capabilities framework in analysing context, especially in emerging market context; and understand how to apply the dynamic capabilities framework to the process of developing brand equity.

On 20 March 2020, in Johannesburg South Africa, Dr Barbara Jensen Vorster, the head of corporate communications and marketing at the Gautrain Management Agency, was considering her dilemma of how to manage stakeholders at a time when the patronage guarantee was under question. The nature of the Gautrain PPP transport contract entailed a revenue guarantee that was called a patronage guarantee. How did they build their Gautrain brand equity during the Gautrain PPP patronage guarantee controversy? This case study highlights the perspectives of multiple stakeholders which places the Gautrain brand equity under strain. The Gautrain brand identity was created to project an integrated, overarching brand position for the construction project and later the operating company. The logo illustrated Africanisation, and the slogan “For People on the Move” represented a modern collaborative approach. Upholding the status of the brand is an important quest for the corporate communications and marketing team, and therefore the issue around the patronage guarantee must be addressed. This case study illustrates contrasting views about the Gautrain being elitist versus the rapid rail train enabling economic prosperity. The pro-prosperity versus pro-economic development values were at the heart of the different opinions around the patronage guarantee. Students are therefore confronted with their own values while the case study aims to drive an awareness or consciousness around these issues in an emerging market.

This case study is appropriate for advanced undergraduate and Master of Business Administration courses focused on marketing, communications and/or stakeholder management, such as in business and society courses. At both levels, the case study will be valuable in generating discussion on communications models and how to manage stakeholders ranging from government to community representatives. In courses where dynamic capabilities theory is taught, this case study will offer a specific application of this model in the context of brand communications and building brand equity in times of controversy.

Teaching notes are available for educators only.

CSS 3: Entrepreneurship.

The case study has several objectives: to gauge the evaluation of the direct-to-consumer industry in the economy of India, to analyse the competition of the brands, to ascertain the evolution of smaller direct-to-consumer (DTC) brands on the purchasing capacity of consumers, to analyse challenges in branding in Tier 2 and 3 cities and to evaluate the strategic branding decisions of Mamaearth.

During her pregnancy, Ghazal Alagh and her husband Varun Alagh, the co-founders of Mamaearth, were looking for some good and natural products for their baby’s skincare. However, she could not find products that were 100% safe. Hence, as a concerned mother, she started using a few hands-on home remedies for her baby, which were 100% organic, and then the idea clicked to her to start a baby care brand named Mamaearth, which later also included personal care products. The company started as a DTC/internet-first brand in 2016, which only used to sell products online without any intermediaries when it was still trying to make its way in the market and was aware of the stiff competition by giants such as Hindustan Unilever and Proctor & Gamble, who were ruling the market for decades. When the COVID-19 pandemic hit, the market saw a shift in consumer buying patterns. There was greater use of e-commerce touch points for shopping, as various digital platforms such as the official site of products, social media and mobile platforms were used by consumers during the pandemic, leading to digitalization in buying and digitalization of consumer shopping journey. These technology platforms were expected to play a substantial role in reaching and creating consumer awareness, transaction and retention post-COVID according to reports by Deloitte 2020. Moreover, such a shift in behaviour amidst the COVID-19 pandemic shot up sales of this DTC brand and made itself the big shot it is today, where they were looking to get into an initial public offering in just seven years of its launch. They re-evaluated their strategy, which helped them become the biggest brand in no time.

This case study is suitable for Doctor of Philosophy students.

Teaching notes are available for educators only.

CSS 8: Marketing.

On March 18, 2019, Yuvraj Mehta, head Corporate Brand Management & Communications (CBMC) at Larsen & Toubro (L&T), heard about negative media narratives against L&T, following a high-profile merger and acquisition (M&A) between the company and Mindtree. Some of the allegations against L&T were “hostile takeover” and “destruction of Mindtree's culture.” Mehta was faced with the issue of influencing all stakeholders; turning the tide and changing the narrative from hostile takeover to continuity, growth and profitability; and integrating Mindtree and its employees and culture into L&T. Compared to L&T's previous acquisitions, which were small, and other strategic initiatives, which were mostly organic, Mindtree acquisition was the largest (in value terms) in its history. It was also the most complex as Mindtree promoters aggressively resisted the acquisition, and L&T had to acquire a large number of shares through an open offer. Media speculations began in January 2019 when L&T, the engineering and construction giant, planned to acquire a majority stake in the young IT firm, Mindtree. Soon the reporting changed to aggressive media ranting. Time was at a premium. Mehta knew he would need to begin strategising almost immediately. How should he proceed? What should be his first move?

The learning outcomes of this study are as follows:

1. comprehending foundational dimensions of brand equity and criteria to compare the use of traditional and new media in leading brand communication appropriateness and performance;

2. understanding and evaluating implications of leading brand communications during times of crises; and

3. creating recommendations for leading brand communication preparedness and response to crises.

On 16 August 2020, Dr Barbara Jensen Vorster, Senior Executive Manager, Communications and Marketing of the Gautrain Management Agency (GMA), in Midrand South Africa, considered her dilemma of adapting their communication approach during COVID-19 and beyond the current crisis. The GMA relied on traditional media and the crisis created an opportunity to rethink their entire communications approach. It was important to the GMA communications team to keep the Gautrain commuters connected even though they might not be using the Gautrain during the lockdown of COVID-19. Jensen Vorster believed that a brand should be adaptive and continue even when a service is not running. Jensen Vorster had to lead her communications team when they were all working from home, and they had to keep commuters informed of the requirements during the different levels of lockdown in South Africa. Their various campaigns during this time purposefully communicated with commuters and the various “staying home” initiatives with the intention of lifting spirits. The communication outreach during the COVID-19 pandemic switched over to social media communications out of necessity; however, was that ideal communication during a crisis? While most of the case focuses on this external communication, the case pays attention to some internal communication initiatives by Jensen Vorster with her own team and for the Gautrain’s staff. The question is whether brands should shift from traditional media to new media campaigns during the 21st-century crises? Students will get the opportunity to compare the use of traditional and new media during crisis times. How might they approach their brand communications during COVID-19 and in preparation for future crises?

Marketing and Business Communications and Leadership courses for MBA or executive education programs.

Masters level MBA.

The team of authors conducted face-to-face interviews prior to and during the lockdown in South Africa; the interviews were conducted online through Zoom. Interviews included Dr Barbara Jensen Vorster, Senior Executive Manager, Communications and Marketing of the Gautrain Management Agency and Kesagee Nayager, the Marketing and Communications Executive Manager at Bombela Concession Company. Viwe Mgedzi, Executive Manager for Knowledge Management, provided documents supporting the case. The researchers also conducted desktop research of secondary data, including media and press articles on the companies. The @Gautrain Twitter feed was very important for the researchers to investigate as part of the secondary data research, to triangulate the interview data.

For example, see one of the Twitter feeds on 17 March 2020, 5:37 pm.

The following Twitter feed on the Gautrain’s status confirmed the interview data: https://twitter.com/TheGautrain/status/1239938937885466633

The main resources of this case study were the interviews and the media articles to offer objective references. The authors used the following two newspaper articles to triangulate the information they gained from the interviews:

BusinessTech, March 18, 2020, accessed March 8, 2021 at https://businesstech.co.za/news/lifestyle/382707/south-african-coronavirus-cases-jumps-to-116-as-a-gautrain-exec-tests-positive/

Timeslive, www.timeslive.co.za/news/south-africa/2020-03-17-staff-in-self-isolation-after-executive-tests-positive-two-gautrain-stations-chemically-decontaminated/

Teaching notes are available for educators only.

CSS 7: Management science; CSS 8: Marketing.

The case is set in summer 2016, centered on the writer and performing star, Lin-Manuel Miranda, whose Broadway show Hamilton had grossed almost $75 million and won 11 Tony Awards. The musical's cultural influence was buoyed by Miranda’s 578,000 Twitter followers; hundreds of celebrities from Oprah Winfrey to Jennifer Lopez had become ambassadors for the musical; and its impromptu #Ham4Ham live performances were engaging thousands of people on social media with each release. The case explores specific tactics the show employed, challenges students to consider the importance of personality in creating social media buzz, and studies the practical influence social media may have had on the show’s success. It is appropriate for any marketing course, particularly a digital media class in which students are familiar with the major platforms.

The Olympic Gold Quest (OGQ) was founded as a Non-profit to support Indian athletes in their quest to win Olympic Gold medals by bridging the gap between the best athletes in India and in the world. The support from OGQ has been instrumental to India in winning its highest number of medals at any summer Olympics. Buoyed by this success, OGQ has set up a target of achieving eight Olympic medals at the 2016 Rio Olympic Games. With OGQ relying on donations to support the athletes, the challenge is to market the Olympic cause by creating, communicating, and delivering the right offering for its donors.