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Hasn’t everyone at some point felt as if the universe was conspiring against his or her success? This case narrative tracks the story of Emmett Taylor, an operations manager for a bottling company, as a snow and ice storm bears down on his southeastern U.S. plant. Taylor is already plagued by stress caused by all facets of his life-family, work, and personal health-and this storm is no exception. The story offers an opportunity to discuss time, energy, and priority management; individual behavior from a type-A personality; work-life balance; organizational behavior; and leadership. This case is a suitable substitution for the classic best-selling Darden case “John Wolford” (UVA-OB-0167).

The learning outcomes of this case are in understanding core concepts of brand management and brand dilution. Assessment of macro-economic risks and proper positioning strategies are the key take-away from this case. The case gives an understanding of how brands are built and positioned, and the pitfalls of poor brand planning and assessment that could lead to brand dilution. The case is useful for highlighting the importance of brand management and the challenges of re-positioning. The discussions would shed light on why it is important to plan and manage spending on marketing for brand building activities, and why brands would suffer when spending is reduced. This case is a teaching case and not a research case. It will help participants assimilate available information in combination with existing academic theories and publications to help develop an accurate assessment and prognosis of the events leading until the point of slicing the case.

Reid & Taylor in 2015 had been reduced to a discounter brand offering extended end-of-season sales when most other competitors have ended their promotions. In the 17 years since its big-budget launch in the Indian market in one of the most memorable brand introductions, Reid & Taylor changed its ambassador twice and repositioned itself thrice. The case would allow participants to delve deeper into aspects of marketing spending, brand management, positioning and advertising effectiveness. The case brings to the fore discussions on marketing, specifically on branding, positioning and its related advertising in the textile sector for a brand that has not been studied in academic literature until the present time. The discussion allows for novelty, involving both forward- and backward-looking assessments and evaluations to help participants better imbibe learnings in brand management and positioning.

The case is suitable for a graduate-level (Master’s level) course in marketing and brand management. This case is suitable for elective courses that discuss positioning and brands.

Teaching notes are available for educators only.

CSS 8: Marketing

Ann Taylor was founded in 1954, and its classic black dress and woman's power suit were staples for years. In 1995 Ann Taylor LOFT was launched to appeal to a more casual, costconscious consumer. Under Kay Krill's leadership, the division began to outperform the original flagship. When Krill was promoted to President/CEO of Ann Taylor Stores Corporation in 2005, she was challenged with rebuilding the Ann Taylor brand - (i.e., meeting the “wardrobing needs of the updated classic consumer”) while maintaining the image and market share of LOFT. By mid-2008, an additional problem appeared: the macroeconomic climate was posing considerable uncertainty, especially for retail businesses. Krill was firmly committed to long-term growth. However, given the 2008 situation, what could she do to unleash what she believed was the firm's “significant untapped potential”?

Manufacturing, Western management theories and Japanese management practices.

This case can be used in project management or management-related courses at tertiary institutions at Undergraduate and Postgraduate level.

This case provides students with an opportunity to find out what make Toyota so successful in manufacturing through its famous production system as well as the underlying Toyota Way principles. All students are expected to understand the Toyota Way model with a balanced view that goes beyond a set of lean tools such as just-in-time. This case opens a historical account for the Toyota Way model by connecting with possible Western management theories and Japanese management practices.

It is expected to significantly benefit students with industry experience with the intention of initiating appropriate changes in their own industry and/or organization by applying what they have learnt from the Toyota Way, through bridging with Western management theories.

Teaching notes.

The decade from 2000 until 2010 was a turbulent time for Toyota Motor Company. The carmaker came under significant criticism from the United States government, consumers throughout the world, and media critics amid allegations of poor quality control and vehicle safety concerns. Problems with accelerators and brake systems were found on several of its most popular models, a situation initially exacerbated by the slow and somewhat tentative response from top management. Toyota was accused of not addressing early warning signs that appeared several years before the crisis received intense negative publicity. Toyota struggled to retain the confidence of consumers and governmental regulators, eventually recalling approximately eight million automobiles.

An industry adage held that “there are two types of rental car companies: those that lose money and Enterprise.” The company that would become Enterprise Rent-A-Car was started in 1957 in St. Louis, Missouri, by Jack Taylor. Taylor set up Enterprise offices in neighborhoods rather than at airports because he believed that Americans would welcome a local option for renting cars when their own vehicles were being repaired. In 2010 Enterprise had more than 6,000 rental locations in the United States and a fleet of 850,000 cars in service. Its parent, Enterprise Holdings (comprising Enterprise, National, and Alamo brands) accounted for nearly half of the car rental market and was more than twice the size of Hertz, the number two competitor. Enterprise's competitive advantage was the result of the combination of its practices in hiring, training, compensation, organization, customer service, IT, and fleet management, among others.

This case has multiple theoretical linkages at the micro-organizational behavior level (e.g. job enrichment), but it is best analyzed and understood when examined at the organizational level. Students will learn about shared entrepreneurship, high performance work systems, shared leadership and virtuous organizations, and how they can develop a sustainable competitive advantage.

The case was prepared using a qualitative approach. Data were collected via the following ways: literature search; organizational documents and published historical accounts; direct observations by a research team; and on-site audio recorded and transcribed individual and group interviews conducted by a research team (the authors) with organization members at multiple levels of the firm.

John Lewis Company has been in business since 1864. In 1929, it became the John Lewis Partnership (JLP) when the son of the founder sold a portion of the firm to the employees. In 1955, he sold his remaining interest to the employee/partners. JLP has a constitution and has a representative democracy governance structure. As the firm approaches the 100th anniversary of the trust, it is faced with multiple challenges. The partners are faced with the question – How to respond to the environmental turmoil?

This case has environmental issues – How to respond to competition, technological changes and environmental uncertainty and an internal issue – How can high performance work practices provide a sustainable competitive advantage? Both issues can be examined in strategic management courses after the students have studied traditionally managed companies. This case could also be used in human resource management courses.

This case talks about the role that can be expected to be played by a disabled woman in an organization and shows how a disabled woman can assume a leadership position and be a role model.

This case identifies the qualities that help a person from a minority group succeed in the corporate environment; examines the contribution that a disabled person, especially a woman can make to an organization; analyzes transformational leadership; assesses the importance of inclusive design in today’s products; and recognizes the corporate role in ensuring an inclusive culture that encouraged disabled people.

The case “Sumaira Latif at P&G: pioneering inclusive design and accessibility to all” provides an in-depth look at the efforts of Sumaira “Sam” Latif (she), Accessibility Leader at P&G, to incorporate inclusive design in the company’s product packaging. Sam – a blind woman and mother of three – had always struggled to use various everyday products. Her personal struggles drove her to find ways to fix such problems for people with disabilities. So, after a decade of experience at P&G, when she got an opportunity to interact with the top management, she convinced them that catering to the disabled was not charity, but a smart business move. Sam also put forth the role she could play in helping P&G make products with an inclusive design. Impressed with her, P&G made her Special Consultant for Inclusive Design, a position specifically created for her. Sam created the widely lauded tactile indicators which helped the blind differentiate between shampoo and conditioner bottles. P&G then promoted her to the position of Company Accessibility Leader, wherein she played a pivotal role in bringing inclusive design to more of P&G’s products. Sam also played a critical role in making P&G adopt certain technologies to help the blind shop for the company’s products independently, apart from ensuring that all P&G ads were audio-described. However, Sam had an ambitious vision to infuse inclusive design into all products, which required her to bring about a culture change in the CPG industry. She was also faced with the predicament of how to ensure that audio-described ads became a media buying standard, considering the wide-scale resistance to it. How can Sam succeed in making the CPG industry develop inclusive design, the way she convinced P&G to do it?.

Graduate and post-graduate programs.

Supplementary materials Teaching Notes are available for educators only.

This case looks at the design and implementation of a risk management strategy. It reviews the early moves by Great Plains Energy (GPE) to establish a corporate-wide Enterprise Risk Management program. The corporate Chief Risk Officer is Andrea Bielsker. Andrea appointed Jana Utter to take charge of coordinating the design and implementation of the ERM program. Utter faces a number of challenges. She has had to first conceptualize the program given the charge by the Board of Directors, then design a process by which she identifies the risks that the corporation faces, assist in designing measures for the risks, and work with the various divisions and functional areas to put processes in place to mitigate the identified risks.