Search results

This case focuses on Cisco Systems' innovative probe-and-learn approach to using social media to launch its ASR 1000 Series Edge Router. The company had decided to eschew traditional print and TV media in marketing the new product and had decided instead to focus its efforts entirely on digital marketing and social media to attract the attention of its target market. The case discusses Cisco's bold plan to launch the ASR 1000 Series “virtually, visually, and virally” and the digital tactics employed by the Cisco Systems marketing team to accomplish this ambitious goal. Business marketers normally adopt a more serious and traditional approach to marketing its products but in this case Cisco had decided to buck that trend by exploring digital tools and social gaming avenues which its target client—the technical community—were increasingly frequenting. Cisco's challenge lay in whether this new approach and resultant value proposition would resonate with its technical audience and give the ASR 1000 Router the kind of publicity it needed to have. The case is set at a time when social media was burgeoning as a promising way to engage consumers more deeply with brands and products, but marketers were still experimenting with the tools and tactics of social media for marketing.

Understand the relevance of social media for product launches as a function of contextual factors such as nature of product, media habits, and company credibility. Learn about the applicability of social media for business marketers in terms of its uniqueness, advantages and challenges. Recognize the relationship between campaign objectives and the value proposition for the product. Understand the evolution of social media marketing from a probe-and-learn approach to a strategy-driven process. The initial test and learn approach must be enhanced and become more strategic in the future.

Business management, corporate ethics and management of change.

The case study is relevant for undergraduate and post-graduate management degrees. It includes courses such as Business Management, Corporate Ethics and Management of Change.

AMARA, a leading parts dealer and a subsidiary company of MTD Holdings has been hit by allegations of corruption which involved a ring of senior employees who are said to have swindled the company out of spare parts worth millions of US dollars with the help of a few security guards who were authorising illegal movements at check points. The workers' committee who blew the whistle on the scandal were now impatient that the investigations ordered in December last year 2011 have not taken off as management appears not keen on them. Management was dragging its feet when it comes to dealing effectively with the allegations. There was no proper strategy on how the allegations were going to be dealt with. There was also victimisation of workers. Senior managers who have been tasked to investigate the issue were suspected to be involved in the scandal thus that is why they were dragging their feet in the investigation.

Students can focus on the importance of good corporate governance as a cornerstone of good business practice. The importance of an active board of directors is also vital for the smooth running of a business. Students will also appreciate the importance of making quality decisions by top management as an important ingredient for the success of an organisation. The issue of an effective control system in an organisation is also important to avoid leakages which will cost an organisation millions of dollars.

Teaching notes are available, please contact your librarian to access.

After completion of the case study, students will be able to understand the putty industry, consumer behaviour for putty, comparative advantage of putty to different industries and within industry and market entry strategy for newly introduced product.

Putty market in India grew at a compound annual growth rate of 15% over the period FY07–FY20. Many organized and unorganized players entered the putty market since its introduction. Putty was invented by cement companies to increase offtake of cement which otherwise declined owing to reduced use of marble. Painters are purchasing putty to be used before the paint to improve the texture of the walls and to fill cracks. Therefore, to take advantage of distribution channels and dealers’ network, paint companies introduced putty. Consumers, who use putty to improve aesthetics of their home, have very less knowledge about putty. They depend on painter or contractor for it. XYZ colourant company wanted to enter the white putty market to use the market opportunity along with coloured putty for economic project where cost is the constraint. This case study culminates with the probing question about the peculiarity of industry where two different industries are involved for the same product. This case study is designed to understand the target consumers’ behaviour and the entry decisions of the company to the growing market.

This case study is designed for use in second-year management programmes, especially for the students of strategic management and marketing strategy courses.

Teaching notes are available for educators only.

CSS 11: Strategy.

The case is aimed at providing students with an opportunity to understand various aspects of corporate governance and the consequences of poor corporate governance. The case addresses the following objectives: The students need to assess the role of the board in implementing corporate governance. The students should be able to explain the conflicts experienced by various stakeholders in an organization. The students need to evaluate the balancing act of growth and governance in a startup. The students should be able to determine the current state of business sustainability of the high-growth startups in India.

The case presents the challenges faced by the CEO of BharatPe, Suhail Sameer. Beginning in 2022, Bharatpe was in deep trouble as there were allegations of financial mismanagement, toxic work culture and widening losses. Co-founder Ashneer Grover and his wife Madhuri had to leave the company following charges against them. As Grover was the face of the company, Sameer would have to quickly act on filling the void and reassuring investors. Because of the uncertainty, scores of employees had already quit or were looking for other jobs. Questions were also raised about the board’s inaction and lack of proactive measures. After a meteoric rise for three years, BharatPe was struggling to survive the whole episode and put its focus back on business.

The case is intended for MBA students in corporate governance, organizational behaviour, business ethics and strategic management areas. As the case reveals the impact of poor corporate governance, it can also be used for executive training purposes on corporate sustainability, governance and leadership with a special focus on Indian startups.

Teaching notes are available for educators only.

CSS 11: Strategy.

TASER International, Inc. is one of the world's leading less-lethal weapons manufacturers and distributors. The case begins with a dramatic moment as the President and CEO of TASER International become aware of a highly critical article in Barron's. The article questions the legitimacy of their high stock price and casts doubt on their continued ability to grow. The case presents the company's counterarguments to the critical Barron's article, and asks for alternatives for TASER's next move into the relatively untapped consumer market with a new consumer-oriented product, the TASER X26^C. The case resulted from lengthy in-person, email, and phone interviews with TASER's President, Tom Smith. In addition, the company and its products have been well publicized in the national business press and in the local newspapers. Further, product details and other information on TASERs and other less-lethal weapons has been published in numerous police and military sources. Finally, TASER International's website has been a rich source of supplemental information to support the writing of the case.

The game of cricket that originated in Britain thrives on passion and the following it generates in India and other South Asian countries is tremendous. The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) is the apex governing body that controls all cricketing events in the India. Being the richest such body, BCCI is the most powerful national body among similar organizations across countries where cricket is played. The world of cricket saw a sea change with the introduction of the Indian Premier League (IPL) due to its unprecedented commercial success. The case describes the betting scandal that hit IPL, BCCI and its promoter in the middle of 2013. The scandal involved the son-in-law of the President of BCCI. The events following the scandal saw the Supreme Court of India, the highest judicial body in the country, to indict BCCI and its President of serious misgovernance. Set in this backdrop, the case highlights governance issues in the functioning of not for profit organizations such as BCCI. The case provides an opportunity to reflect on and discuss as to how such quasi-public bodies ought to be governed.

Financial reporting.

Postgraduate (honours and masters in financial reporting).

Transnet is the utility company responsible for, inter alia, the operation, construction and management of South Africa's fuel pipeline infrastructure. The company is wholly owned by the South African Government and prepares its financial statements in compliance with International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS). One of Transnet's capital projects involves the construction of an upgraded multi-fuel pipeline. The expected costs of construction ballooned from ZAR12.6 billion (approximately USD120 million) to ZAR24 billion (approximately USD240 million) over a five-year period. This has raised questions about the prudential management of the company's capital projects and the basis on which the government subsidises Transnet's capital costs. The significant increase in project costs also begs the question: how should the cost of the self-constructed pipeline be accounted for in Transnet's annual financial statements?

Describe and explain the qualitative characteristics of useful information in terms of the Conceptual Framework (2010) and summarise the framework's key principles. Evaluate these principles, drawing connections between them and the relevant academic theory (as per the prescribed readings), with specific reference to the accounting for self-constructed plant and equipment.

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 1: Accounting and Finance

“NTL suffered huge losses in its foreign exchange hedging activities as its highly complex leveraged structured products backfired badly in the wake of the Global Financial Crisis of 2007 and 2008. The CFO and the Treasury head have both been sacked, and Joshi, the new CFO, has embraced aggressive litigation as NTL's survival strategy to cope with the losses that threaten its solvency. In the meantime, NTL also faces tax investigations and whistleblower allegations of fraud, and it finds that the record-keeping of its derivative transactions was hopelessly incomplete and patchy. A complete reconstruction of the entire derivative transaction history is the only way to rebuild trust, and that task falls on Reddy, a seasoned derivatives expert brought in by the Board specifically for this purpose.

In this dire situation, Seth, the founder Chairman of NTL decides that NTL needs to put all this behind it and focus on rebuilding the business. The challenge for Seth, Joshi and Reddy is to go about doing this in an environment that offers very few rays of hope.”

The learning outcomes are as follows: understanding of the principles of choice overload and the impact of consumer choice overload on company sustainability and growth prospects; understanding of how several heuristics inform consumer decision-making; applying nudge theory to interpret and clarify the impact and consequences of nudges on consumer decision-making; and considering the challenge of a newly appointed CEO to influence consumer choice.

The case study and teaching note offers insights into the use of behavioural economics principles in consumer choice. The case study methodology was used to design, analyse and interpret the real-life application of behavioural economics in the retail sector. The case demonstrates how choice overload, dual process theory, decision heuristics and nudge theory play a role in consumer decision-making. The case offers insights into the application of behavioural economics to support the sustainability of a company in an emerging market context. Managers can use the findings to consider how to use behavioural economics principles to drive consumer choice. The application of behavioural economics to an industry facing challenges of sustainability offers new insights into how to design spaces and cues for consumer choice.

The case study is suitable for course in business administration, specifically at postgraduate level.

Teaching notes are available for educators only.

CSS 8: Marketing

Key State Blue Cross and Blue Shield Plan (a disguised case of an actual BCBS Plan) is the merged product of three state plans. Initially burdened with a reputation of poor customer service, Key State's executives decided to invest heavily in service improvement, eventually achieving superior levels. Key State's high-quality customer service emerged as a true competitive advantage for its customers, who were primarily businesses and health benefits consultants who influenced corporate purchasers of health insurance. The Key State brand came to be synonymous with personal service, security, choice, and dependability. But the health care insurance market was changing under Key State's feet. Spiraling costs meant that high-quality service became less of a competitive advantage as employers were lured by low-cost, low-service providers. Many employers cut or dropped health care benefits entirely, swelling the ranks of the under- and uninsured, who in turn were extremely price-sensitive when shopping for health insurance on their own. Finally, the health care insurance market was being revolutionized by financial institutions willing to hold health benefit accounts and pay providers directly, thereby eliminating the need for Key State as a mediator. Key State executives were aware of these changes but were challenged by the mindset, culture, and organizational design custom-fit to their business accounts. The case asks the reader to consider whether Key State has the right number of target markets, whether it should have one brand or several for its different target markets, what it should do for the uninsured, and how it should improve its brand experience in light of the industry's changing landscape. All of these decisions will have significant implications for the organizational design of Key State.

To better understand the challenges involved in a successful health insurance company to cope with a rapidly changing and unpredictable environment; to formulate a new strategy and a new organizational design to accomplish this adaptation.