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This case study is focused on strategic management of Huawei in sustaining the competitive position in the smartphone market. The discussions in the case study begins with the big picture of “Made in China 2025” policy and China’s 14th Five-Year Plan 2021–2025 attempting to change the country’s image from imitation to innovation. The case study then focuses on Huawei, the major provider of network equipment and smartphones, with the alignment of the national policy. The case demonstrates the difficulties faced by Huawei as a result of US ban. The students are challenged to perform in-depth discussions on various issues guided by the instructor using this Teaching Note. The teaching objectives are as follows: students should be able to analyse Huawei business environment and its strategic capabilities in the smartphone market; students should be able to evaluate the extent to which the effects of US sanction would have on Huawei smartphone operation; and students should be able to evaluate the strategies for Huawei to regain a leading position and achieve competitive advantage in the global smartphone market.

Huawei is the leading company in the information and communications technology (ICT) sector. Ren Zhengfei, Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Huawei, has set the vision of building a global company that could rival the best in the world. Huawei’s heavy investments in research and development (R&D) have brought the company to be a leading brand in the international market. Huawei was charged as a security threat by the Donald Trump administration in 2019. The USA and its allies banned Huawei products, causing the smartphone shipments plummeted dramatically. The case presents a protagonist, Ren Zhengfei, CEO of Huawei, who built the business from a small company to a leading global ICT company. The growth of Huawei was struck by the US sanction with the supply chain being disrupted by a shortage of advanced chip technology to run the smartphone business. The dilemma addressed in this case study is concerned with how Ren Zhengfei could steer the company out of the crisis.

This case study was written for use in the courses of Innovation Management and Technology Strategy. The case is designed to support learning at various levels including the graduate, postgraduate and executive classes. Apart from the guided questions (assignment questions provided in the next section), the instructors should consider which specific areas of Huawei should be further explored to support the class discussions to benefit the students at different levels.

Teaching notes are available for educators only.

CCS 11: Strategy.

This case can be used in teaching business ethics, organizational behaviour and human resource management. More specifically, romance in the workplace, discrimination, absenteeism, sneaking and cyberloafing in the workplace.

This case can be used for both undergraduate and postgraduate students particularly for business ethics, organizational behaviour, human resource management and leadership courses. Students/participants are challenged to identify the major issue in the case and help the decision maker to make a decision.

This case demonstrates the unethical behaviour of Natacha and Noman Ali. Natacha refused to comply with the company’s code of conduct and breached the company’s rules and regulations. Natacha used the company’s resources to carry out her personal business and also cheated on her attendance records, and the Director of Enforcement and the Inspectorate Division, Noman, continued to back and support her. Madam Siti Hajar had consulted and advised her many times, but Natacha did not pay attention to her advice. Madam Siti was in a dilemma: whether to report this unethical situation to the top management or to tolerate this situation and remain silent.

Expected learning outcomes are as follows: to identify and describe major issues related to workplace unethical behaviour; to provide examples of the concepts of commitment, dedication, fairness, discrimination and ethical leadership; to identify and analyse individual and organizational factors that may affect individuals’ unethical behaviour; to instruct students of the scientific methods involved in making decisions; and. to help students to think thoroughly, deeply and critically to make decisions that can solve the problem at hand.

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 6: Human Resource Management.

Launched in 2014, Amazon's Echo and Echo Dot smart speakers led the category's rapid adoption by households and enabled the penetration of artificial intelligence (AI) voice assistants into the everyday lives of millions of people. By 2019, Alexa the virtual brains behind Amazon's smart speakers was able to play music, create reminders, get weather reports, control lights and other home appliances, shop, and do much more in response to voice commands. Amazon had developed significant new capabilities for Alexa, developed an entire ecosysgtem around it, expanded Alexa's user base to more than 100 million users, and made significant progress in monetizing its digital voice assistant. However, Alexa's progress also created new challenges for Amazon, its Alexa-enabled customers, and society at large. Amazon needed to identify and address these challenges in order to encourage continued consumer acceptance and preclude detrimental government or regulatory action.

The years 2011, 2012, and 2013 witnessed both significant developments and setbacks in global polio eradication efforts. On the positive side, January 13, 2012, marked a full year since India had detected a case of wild poliovirus. On the negative side, polio continued to be endemic in three countries-Pakistan, Afghanistan, and Nigeria-and in those countries the goal of eliminating polio seemed more challenging than ever. Between December 2012 and January 2013, sixteen polio workers were killed in Pakistan, and in February 2013, nine women vaccinating children against polio in Kano, Nigeria, were shot dead by gunmen suspected of belonging to a radical Islamist sect. In addition, after a 95 percent decline in polio cases in 2010, the number of cases in Nigeria rebounded in 2011. Recognizing that polio was unlikely to be eliminated in these countries in the near term, the Global Polio Eradication Initiative moved its target date for eradication from 2013 to 2018.

These setbacks sparked a debate about the appropriate strategy for global eradication of polio. Indeed, some experts believed that recent setbacks were not caused by poor management but were instead the result of epidemiological characteristics and preconditions that might render polio eradication unachievable. These experts argued that global health efforts should focus on the control or elimination of polio rather than on the eradication of the disease.

This case presents an overview of polio and the Global Polio Eradication Initiative and recounts the successful effort to eradicate smallpox. The case enables a rich discussion of the current global strategy to eradicate polio, as well as the issue of whether eradication is the appropriate global public health objective. More generally, the case provides a concrete example of a particular type of global public good, namely infectious disease eradication.

After analyzing and discussing the case, students will be able to:

• Understand the nature of a global public good

• Perform a back-of-the-envelope benefit-cost analysis of polio eradication

• Discuss the appropriate strategy for eradicating an infectious disease

• Apply game theory to analyzing which countries would be likely to contribute funds toward global polio eradication

• Discuss the role of private organizations in the provision of global public goods

Understand the nature of a global public good

Perform a back-of-the-envelope benefit-cost analysis of polio eradication

Discuss the appropriate strategy for eradicating an infectious disease

Apply game theory to analyzing which countries would be likely to contribute funds toward global polio eradication

Discuss the role of private organizations in the provision of global public goods

By reading and understanding this case study, students are expected to: 1.Able to understand and review the impact of unethical practices from accounting perspective; 2.Able to make an analysis of how one unethical act triggers a series of forced unethical acts (ripple effect); 3.Identify the unfair practices as well as be proactive in preventing unfair practices in the business day to day affairs; 4.Able to relate the function of various ratios (current ratio, quick ration, debt to asset ratio, debt to equity ratio etc.) and its impact on the business performance; and 5.Able to apply various lean quality tools, doing the root cause analysis in identifying and solving problems.

T.M. Exports (TME) was an India-based privately owned and operated enterprise. The company had a brilliant employee named Sanjay, who was a 12-year veteran. TME’s Business Intelligence (BI) department at TME head office, Kanpur, India, ostensibly learned on April 8, 2019, from the rumors about a brand-new vehicle dished out to Sanjay by his friend who made fortune worth of millions from certain transactions. To add fuel to the fire, another incident surfaced concerning a warehouse keeper, Mohit, who was also involved in embezzlement in one of the sales offices. On May 16, 2019, BI reported these two incidents to the internal auditor who launched an internal investigation to get to root of this case. Consequently, the company owner, Tariq Mahmood got himself caught up in a dilemma to fire both Sanjay and Mohit only or restructure the organization for better transparency and integrative approach in future. Moreover, the newly appointed Chief Executive Officer had the dilemma of keeping high safety stock to maximize service level or keeping conservative safety stock and rely on-spot market-buying if demand spiked. He decided and instructed all the warehouses to keep higher inventories to meet the forecasted demand, considering unexpected spikes in demand witnessed historically. Thus, increase in inventory caused panic in the sales department as demand was sluggish. He, therefore, offered high discounted prices to liquidate the stock. This study integrated the theories of accounting/financial ratio metrics, accounts reconciliation, business ethics and lean tools. It was demonstrated in this case that the irregularities in sales accounting and their inability of reconciliation had a serious impact on business performance. The concept of total reward was also invoked to understand the disruptive and unscrupulous practices.

This case has been particularly focused on undergraduate and postgraduate early-stage-level students pursuing business or commerce program, particularly those specializing in accounting (sales accounting) and human resource management courses.

Teaching notes are available for educators only.

CSS 1: Accounting and Finance.

Management: human resources management.

Undergraduate and postgraduate.

This case gives critical insights in the complex issues surrounding the management of employment relationship in Africa, specifically focusing on Botswana. It is set in the context of explosive industrial relations involving Debswana Diamond Mining Company and the Botswana Mine Workers Union over the contentious issues of pay bonus and collective bargaining. Failure to reach an amicable compromise by both parties' results in a debilitating strike which costs the company millions of funds and affected it's the corporate image contrary to its well crafted social responsibility. More painfully, the end game is a loss of employment and dreams shattered for 461 dismissed workers who depended solely on this work as their only source of income.

At the end of reading the case students are expected to: understand the limits of managerial prerogative and the right to manage; appreciate the inherent conflict of interests between labour and capital; consider more equitable compensation schemes in dealing with collective bargaining; and discuss the concept of social responsibility in the context internal customers-employees.

Teaching note.

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 case describes the dilemma a young leader, First Lieutenant Toomey, faces after arriving at a new organization. Toomey’s subordinate (sergeant first class Rodgers) is more experienced and accomplished and has enjoyed a degree of autonomy under Toomey’s predecessor. Rodger’s demeanor and the physical setup of the joint office space speak to a dysfunctional dynamic in an organization that values a traditional hierarchy and relatively high power distance between supervisor and subordinate. The potential for conflict exists as Toomey contemplates how to address the dysfunctional norms he has observed while maintaining a functional relationship and reputation as an effective leader in his new unit.

The case was created via an interview of the protagonist.

This case is designed for use in undergraduate and graduate level courses on leadership and management. The case is useful for teaching lessons (or electives) on power, influence, conflict management, culture and leading change.

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

Change is hard for all but perhaps more difficult for school leaders and other nonprofit organizations. The role that culture plays in a mission-driven organization can often be an impediment to change. This case uses a unique education institution, St. Martin dePorres School of the Cristo Rey Network, to illustrate the importance of culture in implementing change. It demonstrates how leaders can articulate a vision and create a strategy to change an organization and move toward success. The case focuses on the leadership team of Principal Mike Odiotti and Assistant Principal Judy Seiberlich and how they used cultural change as the key driver to school success. That success was defined by improved academic performance, greater accountability for students, teachers and staff and stronger empowerment of constituents. It includes an overview of how the school's leadership team used data to drive decision making. This case is ideal for MBA students, executives in nonprofit management or school leadership and can be used to illustrate change management, nonprofit leadership, culture change, mission-driven strategy or school leadership. It addresses critical issues that organizations face and provides tools and tactics that can be applied to mission-driven enterprises.

Understand the role culture plays in creating change in an organization Gain an appreciation and comprehension for the relevance of shaping culture when implementing a vision Recognize norms guide people's behavior in organizations. Learn to identify the norms that promote positive cultures and those that create toxic environments Learn how to diagnose organizational culture using the “Iceberg Model” Build a repertoire of skills needed to successfully change and shape an organization's culture