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The case was developed from secondary sources. This descriptive case was classroom tested in undergraduate organizational behavior courses.

The 94th Academy Awards ceremony, which honored movies released in 2021, was held on March 27, 2022, at the Dolby Theater in Hollywood. Prior to Chris Rock announcing the winner in the category of best documentary film, Rock was assaulted on stage by Will Smith. On April 8, 2022, the Academy’s board of governors met to discuss disciplinary actions for Smith’s behavior. The Academy’s board decided to ban Smith from all Academy events for the next 10 years. Theories of individual behaviors and social processes can provide explanations for behaviors of Chris Rock, Will Smith, the producers and the Academy.

This descriptive case is most appropriate for undergraduate-level organizational behavior courses. The primary topics in this case align well with individual behaviors relative to emotional intelligence (EI) and motivation. The secondary topics in this case align well with social processes relative to decision-making, conflict and culture.

In recent years Lehman Brothers, one of the five largest investment banks in the United States, had grown increasingly reliant on its fixed income trading and underwriting division, which served as the primary engine for its strong profit growth. The bank had also significantly increased its leverage over the same timeframe, going from a debt-to-equity ratio of 23.7x in 2003 to 35.2x in 2007. As leverage increased, the ongoing erosion of the mortgage-backed industry began to impact Lehman significantly and its stock price plummeted. Unfortunately, public outcry over taxpayer assumption of $29 billion in potential Bear losses made repeating such a move politically untenable. The surreal scene of potential buyers traipsing into an investment bank's headquarters over the weekend to consider various merger or spin-out scenarios repeated itself once again. This time, the Fed refused to back the failing bank's liabilities, attempting instead to play last-minute suitors Bank of America, HSBC, Nomura Securities, and Barclay's off each other, jawboning them by arguing that failing to step up to save Lehman would cause devastating counterparty runs on their own capital positions. The Fed's desperate attempts to arrange its second rescue of a major U.S. investment bank in six months failed when it refused to backstop losses from Lehman's toxic mortgage holdings. Complicating matters was Lehman's reliance on short-term repo loans to finance its balance sheet. Unfortunately, such loans required constant renewal by counterparties, who had grown increasingly nervous that Lehman would lose the ability to make good on its trades. With this sentiment swirling around Wall Street, Lehman was forced to announce the largest Chapter 11 filing in U.S. history, listing assets of $639 billion and liabilities of $768 billion. The second domino had fallen. It would not be the last.

This case covers the period from the sale of Bear Stearns to JP Morgan to the conversion into bank holding companies by Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley, including the Lehman Brothers bankruptcy and the sale of Merrill Lynch to Bank of America. The case explains the new global paradigm for the investment banking industry, including increased regulation, fewer competitors, lower leverage, reduced proprietary trading, and-potentially-reduced profits.

MentorMob had sprung from the passions---for web development and for online communities---of the company's co-founders, Kris Chinosorn (CEO) and Vince Leung (COO). The company pursued the ambitious goals of reinventing the way people learn and becoming the world's utility for learning about anything. The website leveraged a crowdsourcing model for information sharing, teaching, and learning. By enabling participants to learn---and to crowdsource from each other while learning---the site sought to both engage users at different stages of learning and to develop a compelling experience unobtainable without a crowd. Chinosorn and Leung needed to prioritize in order to achieve the growth and scale needed to become world's utility for learning. What should they do next to keep MentorMob's growth on track? What issues should get their greatest attention?

The case teaches more than merely the act of prioritization of strategic goals in a startup. Walking through the issues faced by the founders will introduce students to several additional lessons and concepts about Web 2.0 firms. After analyzing the case, students should be able to:

The case compares two U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) programs from the 1970s and 1980s: (1) “stealth” combat aircraft, capable of evading detection or engagement by anti-aircraft systems, and (2) precision attack of hardened ground vehicles from “standoff” distances, i.e., far behind the battle lines. Conceived at roughly the same time, motivated by the same strategic challenge, and initially driven by the same DoD organization, stealth combat aircraft progressed from idea to deployment in less than eight years---an astounding pace for a complex military system---while a demonstrated system for standoff precision strike against mobile ground targets was not fully implemented. The case highlights the critical role of the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA), part of the DoD, regarded as one of the most innovative entities in the U.S. federal government.

The case highlights factors that facilitate rapid, successful implementation of radically innovative or disruptive concepts. Students are introduced to the organizational realities facing such projects, including issues of strategic clarity, interdepartmental competition and cooperation, executive leadership, and timing. Comparing the differences in implementation of the two programs in the case reveals issues relevant to any large organization seeking to bring innovative concepts to fruition.

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

At the end of the session, learners are expected to be able to evaluate the detrimental impact of stress on blue-collar workers’ well-being in Attainer Engineering Sdn Bhd; develop effective strategies to improve stressful conditions experienced by blue-collar workers in Attainer Engineering Sdn Bhd; analyse and select appropriate approaches that can help maintain the motivation levels of blue-collar workers in Attainer Engineering Sdn Bhd; analyse the impact of Attainer Engineering Sdn Bhd’s extensive investment in training new blue-collar workers, alongside the subsequent high turnover rate, on the decline in sales and profit; identify the critical changes that the managing director should have implemented to prioritize employee retention among blue-collar workers at Attainer Engineering Sdn Bhd; discuss the strategic implementation of mechanization, specifically in the context of automating repetitive processes, as an innovative solution to address the challenges faced by the ship repair and maintenance service industry heavily reliant on blue-collar workers in emerging markets; cultivate thoughtful debates on ways to keep blue-collar workers in the shipping repair and maintenance industry, as well as active learner participation and group interaction; develop learners’ analytical and critical thinking skills by guiding them through the analysis of a real-world case study in the shipping repair and maintenance industry, concentrating on the difficulties and potential solutions for blue-collar worker retention; and equip learners with practical knowledge and insights on implementing effective human resources strategies for retaining blue-collar workers in the shipping repair and maintenance industry, emphasizing the conversion of theoretical concepts into workable solutions.

This teaching case study centres on Attainer Engineering Sdn Bhd, a Malaysian conglomerate that bestows ship repair and maintenance services. Regrettably, the corporation has been subjected to a decrease in profitability and productivity owing to its high turnover rate of blue-collar workers. The ship repair and maintenance service industry is accountable for delivering comprehensive repair and maintenance services to ships, including their engines, hulls, machinery and other related components. The fundamental aim of this case study is to ascertain the rudimentary factors that contribute to this issue and foster effective strategies to enhance the motivation and retention rate of blue-collar workers in the ship repair and maintenance service corporation, using appropriate management theories, models and concepts. The case study brings to light the importance of discovering the most suitable approaches to retain blue-collar workers in the corporation to improve its profitability and productivity in a highly competitive market. This teaching case study will be beneficial for students and practitioners who want to grasp the disputes associated with retaining blue-collar workers in the ship repair and maintenance service industry and learn how to apply management theories, models and concepts to address these disputes effectively.

This case discussion would be highly suitable for undergraduate and postgraduate university students who are pursuing their studies in management or related fields and are eager to delve into the nuances of the ship repair and maintenance service industry. Furthermore, trainers from both private and public agencies who are keen on gaining a deeper understanding of the issues pertaining to retaining blue-collar workers in this particular industry and devising result-oriented strategies to tackle these concerns would also find this case discussion immensely helpful.

Teaching notes are available for educators only.

CSS 6: Human resource management.

Human Resource Management (HRM), Industrial Relations, Labor Law (Indian business context), Organizational Behavior, Trade Union and Employer-Employee Relationship.

Academic students (MBA and BBA), management trainees, HR managers and top management of organizations interested in understanding the importance HRM practices.

This case describes an Industrial Relations situation in an automobile company in India. It begins with the mention of Maruti Suzuki India Limited's (MSIL) brush with an unprecedented labor violence that rocked its Manesar facility on July 18, 2012, eventually leading to the lock out of the same on July 21, 2012. Further, it describes the background of the company, employer-employee relationship, a series of strikes experienced by the company, incidents that led to the violence, incidents that happened on the day of violence and finally actions taken after the violence by the company, the government and the union. With such details, the case raises questions on the prolonged people management issues afflicting MSIL. It endeavors to educate the discussants on the specifics of an industrial relations system and the role of each actor toward maintaining industrial peace.

Understanding the role of actors of industrial relations toward effective HRM in the organization. Analyzing the compliance of the actors under the existing labor laws as applicable to the organization. Comprehending the attitude of employees, employers and industry toward each other and also toward the job. To understand the nuances of people management function and its contribution toward the violence that eventually resulted in lockout. To comprehend various organizational behavior concepts that shall help synergize the employees' objectives and employer's goal. To analyze the complete incident with relevant organizational and industrial relations (IR) theories.

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