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.

This case is based on a real-life consulting engagement with a major Fortune 100 telecommunications company. The name of the firm has been disguised for confidentiality reasons. Completing the case teaches students how to develop a cost-containment ROI analysis and develop a business case for a large enterprise technology project. The class discussion focuses on strategies to understand and manage the risks of the project and organizational issues. In addition, the case teaches students good questions to ask when reviewing a complex project business case, and how to present a project for funding approval. This case is the second in a series of three cases designed to teach students ROI analysis for technology projects; the first is “B&K Distributors: Calculating Return on Investment for a Web-Based Customer Portal” and the third is the case “ROI for a Customer Relationship Management Initiative at GST.”

The case objective is for students to learn how to compute a return on investment (ROI) analysis for a large cost-containment technology project. Students learn the best practice of computing the range of possible outcomes (the best, worst, and expected case), and how to present the results to senior management. In addition, students learn how to incorporate important management issues of personnel reduction and technology project risk into an ROI analysis.

In late 2019, Dr. Hiroaki Kitano, the president and director of research at Sony Computer Science Laboratories (Sony CSL), had decided he would be stepping down from his position soon. Sony CSL, a small blue-sky fundamental research facility funded by Sony, had always operated on the strength of the trust between Sony's CEO and the lab's director. Sony had been hands-off in its management, leaving Kitano to hire, fire, fund, and evaluate the lab's researchers and project portfolio at his own discretion. Now that he was stepping down, however, he worried that Sony CSL could not withstand his departure. Kitano wanted to make a transparent plan for the organization's future before he handed off Sony CSL to his successor. That plan involved three key decisions. First, what should be the optimal structure and governance of Sony CSL? Should it maintain its independence and autonomy, or should it align more closely with Sony's business priorities? Second, how could Sony CSL scale its impact on Sony and society at large, given its small size? Finally, should Sony CSL establish some standard methods of measuring project success and strength of the portfolio? In making these decisions, Kitano wanted to ensure that he preserved the unique culture that had allowed Sony CSL to pursue path-breaking research and innovation.

Decision-making seems simple, but, in reality, it is not an easy task to decide the cause for its profound result or consequence, leading to inevitable failures. Therefore, a leader must recognize whether there is something incorrect so as to avoid bad results. A good leader is a person who carefully reviews and analyzes aspects of a problem, knows the strengths and weaknesses of his organization and evaluates what the advantages or risks are. It cannot be denied that the appropriate options will reap many benefits to the business. For such important things, this paper will discuss the dilemma of Viettire, a tire distributor company in Vietnam. Accordingly, its CEO was worried about what strategic option he should adopt to approach the Myanmar market while ensuring a strategic fit to its company’s resources and capabilities and also to the overall market demands of the tire industry environment in both countries. However, with different ideas, the expansion strategies in this new market become controversial. The General Director and Founder of Viettire were wondering how Viettire could expand its existing business into Myanmar. To expand the company to new emerging market in Myanmar, Hoang Nguyen – CEO of Viettire – had conducted a strategic analysis of external environment factors to define the opportunities and threats when doing business in Myanmar by using Porter’s five forces model, S.W.O.T and competitive advantages analysis. The results indicated that Myanmar’s business environment is highly risky for foreign investors because of uncertain political, economic, social reforms in the process. Among three options, namely, exporting, licensing and wholly owned, however, Option 2 is illustrated as the best strategy for its dilemma.

Postgraduate/Graduate Business level.

As for a market mechanism, what produces, how and for whom, is not the business’s demand but the consumer’s demand. The business sells only what the market needs, not what it has. In the period of increasingly competitive conditions, stabilizing and expanding markets are a prerequisite for survival. If stability is seen as a “defensive” way, expansion is a “defensive attack” like trying to hold on the “pie” that the market gives to itself. This strategic action is to strengthen regular, close relationships with existing customers and establish new customers. As a result, the potential market is transformed into a target market. Hence, decision-making of which market, which method is the issue that a leader has to think the choice to avoid risks. Mr Hung, Viettire’s co-owner, suggests that Myanmar should be taken into account as a company’s new entry, thus exploring this potential market to increase the company’s growth and profitability. In the progress, Viettire’s marketing team had been doing a thorough tire market investigation in Myanmar. It was concluded that this emerging country, especially Yangon City, was the most suitable for those who were willing to embark on an overseas investment expansion. They believe this was a good opportunity to gain market share compared with other entrants and competitive rivals; if Viettire hesitated to invest, others definitely had jumped in with a first-mover advantage. However, the CEO, Mr Hoang, was worried about what strategic option he should adopt to approach this new market while ensuring a strategic fit to its company’s resources and capabilities and also to the overall market demands of the tire industry environment in both countries.

Understand the basic decisions that firms contemplating foreign expansion must make: which markets to enter, when to enter those markets and at what scale. Recognize the current strategic decisions an organization is facing: positioning, portfolio and market expansion approach. Learn how to develop an effective strategic plan. Be familiar with different strategies for competing globally and their pros and cons. Evaluate various strategic options and decisions in accordance with a company’s resources and capabilities.

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 11: Strategy.

This case focuses on the challenge of quantifying the return on investment (ROI) of a large technology project, enterprise resource planning (ERP), in the nonprofit environment of the San Diego City Schools. The school district does not generate a profit, so traditional revenue enhancement arguments do not work. Instead, the case discusses the internal processes re-design and system consolidation enabled by the new ERP system. The system ROI is composed of two major components: cost savings from removal of legacy applications and productivity improvements. The cost containment benefits are relatively straightforward to quantify, but do not justify the system. The productivity improvements are harder to quantify, and many can be categorized as soft benefits. Furthermore, many of the productivity and cost-saving benefits will not be realized without personnel reductions, which are especially difficult in school districts and government agencies. The case debrief therefore discusses the tradeoffs quantifying soft benefits and productivity improvements, best practices for management decision making, and the organizational change necessary to realize the ROI.

The case teaches students how to analyze ROI for a large enterprise IT system in nonprofit or government organizations. Financial ROI is applicable for the hard cost benefits but some benefits are more difficult to quantify, and students learn how to factor these into the decision making as well. In addition, organizational change can be particularly challenging in the government or nonprofit context; the case enables a discussion of strategies for workforce re-deployment in these settings.

Information technology (IT) project risks.

This case is suitable for the students who are enrolled in masters or executive programmes in management. Considering the masters programme in management, the case can be introduced in the MIS course in sessions related to IT project risks. The case will also be appropriate for discussion in elective courses, such as IT project management. Here the case can be introduced in discussions related to understanding IT project outsourcing risks. The case will also fit well with the audience of the executive programme in sessions on IT project risks. The assignment questions provided below are designed from the perspective of teaching this case to a business student audience. The case could certainly be adjusted to fit the needs of students in more technical disciplines.

This case presents an organization (Airosonic Travels Private Limited) which was set up in 1988. The organization provided travel-related services (i.e. ticketing, hotels bookings, car rentals and cruises to exotic destinations) to meet the requirements of corporate users such as organization employees, vendors, dealers and customers. The packages were provided though the portal www.corporatetravels.in/. With cut-throat completion from other vendors, the organization acquired the globally preferred airline reservation system Galileo to gain market share in the computer reservation system market. This acquisition, however, led to a series of deliberations on how the new system could be put to use and integrated with the portal so that it helped Airosonic to achieve efficiency in its day-to-day processes. The integration was necessary, as this would entirely eliminate third-party requirements (such as travel agents) and also make travel planning easy, cost-effective and hassle-free. The different alternatives available to the governing body were to develop and manage the entire thing in-house, outsource the development to a third part, or delegate the entire responsibility to the third party. The analysis of the case takes into account the different risks that are associated with each of these decision alternatives and the possible ways forward for the Airosonic management.

The objective of this teaching case is as follows: to understand the different risk elements that influence development of a software initiative, to differentiate between different categories of risks including project development risks and project management risks, to appreciate the differences in the types of risks that influence different project execution scenarios such as in-house development and outsourcing and to understand how an organization can address and manage the risks facing a software initiative.

Teaching notes are available for educators only. Please contact your library to gain login details or email support@emeraldinsight.com to request teaching notes.

Management Strategy.

Management Graduates and Post-Graduates.

Today, tourism is one of the fastest growing industries throughout the world. The tourism industry plays a very crucial role in the country’s economy, as it not only contributes towards the national income but also brings beneficial spillover directly or indirectly on the other industries. Tourism is the most important source of income for many emerging countries. India, a newly emerging economy, also depends, to a great extent, on tourist income. However, this sector continues to not make optimal contribution in India. In today’s competitive arena, the state tourism corporations must use all possible means to maximise growth and profitability through pegging up the rate of tourist arrivals. There is a general agreement in the tourism industry at the theoretical level about the imperative of a public – private partnership (PPP) in serving this objective. PPP aims to synergise the efforts of the two components in the general development of society and increase in competitiveness. The public–private partnership in tourism industry is at an emerging stage and could be developed in various ways. This case study highlights the key learning from Delhi Tourism’s experience on how PPP can be implemented in the tourism sector. This case study discusses an opportunity for Delhi Tourism which can alter the landscape of the tourism industry of India and also the rejuvenation of Delhi Tourism, a public sector corporation, through PPP.

The case will give a clear understanding of the dynamics and environmental factors governing a mixed economy like India. The reasons for the PPP can be analysed through the case. Students can understand the strategic choice of taking a private partner by a public sector in a very dynamic industry, i.e. the tourism sector.

Teaching notes are available for educators only. Please contact your library to gain login details or email support@emeraldinsight.com to request teaching notes.

The learning outcomes are as follows: understanding the impact on company growth through identification and alignment of stakeholder priorities in a project for SME in an emerging market; analyzing the impact of stakeholder alignment and relationship management on the project outcome; and evaluating the importance of Stakeholder Management for effective Project Management.

The case of ‘Hospedia Medicare,’ a medical device manufacturing company based in India, was started by a family involved in the medical devices business for over two decades. The company began operations in a new avatar and focused on one medical device or product by 2013. The product was designed with quality features to solve customer problems, making the cost relatively high compared to other domestic peers. Creating new product lines or updating the existing product attributes was imperative for the company to attain its growth objectives. The protagonist was dealing with a dilemma involving managing various stakeholders, aligning the project scope to create a growth story for the company in line with its vision and managing the stakeholders by understanding and analyzing their needs, expectations and interest, thus influencing the project outcome. The case can be used by instructors to identify, understand and evaluate the importance of different stakeholders on project outcome or success. Furthermore, it can be used to analyze and critique the impact of stakeholders on project scope, which can affect the long-term sustainability of the company, as different stakeholders have different expectations and needs. The case also details how regular communication, collaboration and awareness became essential for the project's success. Lack of an effective engagement strategy at the project planning stage can have risks concerning cost and achieving the overall vision, which creates a positive outcome for all the stakeholders.

The case study can be introduced to graduate and undergraduate students to reflect on and critique the importance of Stakeholder Management in Project Management. It can be used for, entrepreneurship, project management, operations and strategy, particularly emphasizing for small and medium enterprises (SMEs).

Teaching notes are available for educators only.

CSS 9: Operations and Logistics.

Strategic Management.

The case is designed for a) MBA students b) Short-duration executive MBA courses.

The case refers to India’s leading steel company Tata Steel. Tata Tiscon, the steel rebar brand, is the organization’s leading retail brand. The case chronicles the period between the birth of the retail brand in the year 2000, its dramatic rise and dominance, to the end of 2013 when some of its initiatives had failed. Tata Tiscon was established as a pan Indian brand on the dint of a distribution network comprising 33 distributors and over 2000 retailers, many of them exclusive to the brand. The brand spawned a series of innovation in the category like “selling by piece”, fixed price concept and “free” home delivery. Together with its channel partners, the company achieved dramatic success which was reflected in its leading market share coupled with significant price premium in a category where price had traditionally being the only selling pitch. After 2010, the company saw an emerging challenge in the form of a new business model, where some companies were gearing to provide the complete portfolio of construction material including cement, steel, etc., and a turnkey construction solution for house builders. Tata Tiscon responded by attempting to enter the service space by launching a building design solution and later a construction supervision solution. Both of these initiatives failed. The protagonist of the case is Mr Keshav Viswanath (Chief of Marketing for retail business at Tata Steel), who is concerned with the failures of these key initiatives and is wondering how to ensure the “leader” status of Tata Tiscon in coming years.

The students are expected to understand how a core strategy like differentiation is implemented successfully in “practice”; understand the exploitation–exploration dichotomy in an organization; appreciate difference between radical innovation (based on new organizational routines, new business partners and new relationships) and incremental innovation based on fine tuning of existing organizational routines and relationships.

Rebar production: www.youtube.com/watch?v=J6n9sci8j-8; Tata TISCON AV: www.youtube.com/watch?v=89kOUsbnaYQ; TQM – The Toyota Way: www.youstube.com/watch?v=qf3gdrIMxRw; Disruptive vs. Incremental Innovation: www.youtube.com/watch?v=kOOL_GiaLTo; Approach to innovation is dead wrong: www.youtube.com/watch?v=pii8tTx1UYM

CSS 11: Strategy.

After reading and discussing this case, students will learn to identify the content and context of enterprise resource planning (ERP) implementation that is important from an operations standpoint. Through this case, student will discuss and evaluate the scenarios of ERP implementation arising from different deployment alternatives. Students will also learn to comprehend the case organization’s unique operational context and explore the challenges of introducing change into workplace environment and stakeholders’ overall expectations.

This case introduces students to the dilemmas of managerial decision-making that large companies face while implementing organization-wide technological upgrades, such as ERP. The case is set at a time point where ABC Mining Company – a large public-sector mining company – was trying to identify the most optimal ERP option based on its organizational structure and organizational processes. The information related to ABC’s organizational context included their business, structural and operational scenarios at the time. The information related to ABC’s stakeholders’ expectations reflected their perception about ERP and future implications. The information related to managerial conflicts reflected the understandings of the managers, in terms of need for ERP, needed skill to handle ERP and different types of ERP implementations that others have adopted. The case calls students for extensive analysis of the gathered information to identify and evaluate impacts and risks of all possible ERP alternates, and finally pick upon the most optimal ERP alternate. The case assumes a live 90-min class session conducted by an instructor. The instructor is recommended to assign the case to students for mandatory pre-reading before coming to class. The instructor is provided with a teaching plan to navigate the case.

The case is designed as an introductory case for an undergraduate or a graduate course pertaining strategic decision-making of ERP systems implementation.

Teaching notes are available for educators only.

CSS 11: Strategy.