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Health Management and Leadership, Marketing Social Causes, Strategy, International Business.

Post-graduates, Practitioners.

General Electric has been operating in the Middle East, North Africa (MENA) region for over a century. GE is committed to corporate citizenship having launched ecomagination in 2005 and healthymagination in 2009. For sustainability, GE believes that both innovation and localization are critical. This case deals with contextualization of breast cancer campaign for the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia through healthymagination. Rania Rostom, Communications Director, Middle East, North Africa and Turkey region, GE, reviews the campaign implemented and looks at roll-out across the MENA region. The situation is unique, as breast cancer strikes women in the region ten years earlier than the West, and the cultural context does not allow the discussion of the topic in public. One of the peculiarities of this region was the high penetration of social media and its large adoption rate by the young. GE used a unique Facebook campaign to drive awareness on the topic, encourage screening appointments, seek treatment and reduce the discomfort associated with the process.

On completion of utilizing the case study as an exercise, students should be able to gain case-specific skills – critically examine the importance of the consumer behavior, health marketing, marketing strategy and aspects of international business in the Middle East, KSA, in particular, and demonstrate this by analyzing real regional/world examples using complex theoretical frameworks; identify examples of best practice and explain the dynamics toward consumer behavior, health marketing, marketing strategy, international business with reference to a range of theoretical models and apply these in a meaningful way to the MENA region – discipline-specific skills – synthesize and critically evaluate a corpus of academic literature and government reports on consumer behavior, health marketing, marketing strategy, international business – and personal and key skills – reflect on the process of learning and undertake independent/self-directed learning (including time management) to achieve consistent, proficient and sustained attainment; work as a participant or leader of a group and contribute effectively to the achievement of objectives in the field of consumer behavior, health marketing, marketing strategy, international business.

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 Greenland case describes the experience of four young Norwegian men determined to set a world record for unsupported crossing of Greenland. The case describes the team, their preparations, and their experiences as they crossed in “good” weather that was often whiteout blizzard conditions with temperatures dropping as low as −78 degrees F. Throughout the case, one of the team members reflects on things he learned about himself, about the team, and about leadership from the experience (recorded in italics). The teaching note (available to registered faculty) is supplemented by a PowerPoint presentation that helps introduce the expedition to Greenland, other “risky recreation,” and the concepts related to resonance or flow. A video supplement is also available. The case lends itself to a profound discussion of leadership on its own and leads in nicely to a discussion of world-class performance and the purpose of life, which both startles and pleasantly surprises most students and participants.

This case is based on a project carried out in a tertiary care hospital of the Northeastern region of India for a period of eight months and is written by Dr Ankit Singh, Dr Meenal Kulkarni and Mr Avinash Poojari. The case was developed with the help of the hospital’s management team, disguised on request as Mr Raghugopal Ramalinga (Chief Hospital Administrator), Mr Suresh Kumar (Chief Engineer), Ms Linney Krubah (Chief Nursing Superintendent), Dr Premanand Ale (Chief Medical Superintendent) and Mr Srikrishna Shukla (Chief Finance Officer).

This case is about Trident Hospital, which faces issues pertaining to oxygen supply. Oxygen supply at Trident Hospitals is through three options as highlighted in the case, but due to the lack of preventive maintenance and no risk assessment done for the crucial medical oxygen, interruptions and additional work for the staff became a common phenomenon. The existing situation can lead to patient harm or death and can attract medico-negligence suit against the hospital, threatening the overall existence of the hospital. The hospital administrator is currently viewing the problem from only the cost perspective, which is a high-risk and a short-term approach.

Students pursuing full time/part time/diploma programme in health-care management, hospital administration/hospital operations; and undergraduate and post-graduate level students.

Mary Kay is one of the best-known direct sellers of women's cosmetics in the world. Its channel strategy is to use independent beauty consultants, who are independent distributors, to sell directly to consumers. Its compensation plan is multilevel, providing commissions to distributors on their own sales as well as the sales of the distributors they recruit. At the time of the case, the company is grappling with a well-established change in consumer behavior—the decline of the stay-at-home mom as she returns to the workforce—combined with the opportunities offered by Internet selling. Focuses on the company's efforts to move with consumer demand and behavior, while remaining true to its core goal of “Improving Women's Lives.” Discusses ways Internet technology can be used throughout the company's channel and supply chain structure, not just as a route to market.

Service innovation, ICT-enabled services, museum, cultural and creative industries.

Graduate-level courses of “Innovation Management,” “Service Innovation,” or “Cultural and Creative Industries”.

In 2006, the National Palace Museum (NPM) in Taipei, Taiwan, announced its new vision “Reviving the Charm of an Ancient Collection and Creating New values for Generations to Come”. In recent years, the NPM has been shifting its operational focus from being object-oriented to being public-centered, and the museum has held not only the physical forms of artifacts and documents but also their digital images and metadata. These changes would inject new life into historical artifacts. In addition, archives as its collections would be given a refreshingly new image to the public and become connected with people's daily lives. Among these endeavors for displaying historical artifacts online and prevailing Chinese culture in the modern age, the key issues are related to digital technology applications and service innovations. The service innovations would be further divided into information and communication technologies (ICT)-enabled ones and non-ICT-enabled ones. These shifts clearly claim that adopting digital technologies and innovative services can bring positive impacts to the museum. The NPM administrative team wants to keep infusing life into ancient artifacts and texts, sustaining curiosities of the public for Chinese culture and history, and invoking their interests to visit the NPM in person. However, to develop for the future while reviewing the past, the NPM administrative team has to meditate on the next steps in terms of implementation of service innovations.

Students will learn motivations of digital establishment and service innovations from the organization perspective and the necessities of technological implementation. Students will understand the difference in innovations between ICT-enabled services and non-ICT-enabled services. Students would be able to understand the process of developing a new service. Students will be aware of challenges the organization would face in developing a new service.

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: identify and evaluate the impact of risk factors for health-care organizations during crisis; evaluate the role of different organizational factors in building resilient health-care organizations; define organizational resilience in a health-care context; and apply the effect-strategy-impact resilience framework.

September 2022 found Ranjan Thakur, the Hospital Director at Manipal Hospital, Jaipur (MHJ) reflecting on MHJ’s resilience toward future health-care crises. MHJ was established in the capital city Jaipur of the Indian state of Rajasthan in 2014, as a 225-bed multispecialty unit of the nationally renowned Manipal Health Enterprises Ltd. As the Hospital Director, Thakur had been responsible for navigating his team and the hospital through the multiple health-care related challenges exacerbated by the multiple waves of the Covid-19 pandemic in a large Indian state with a sizable rural and semiurban population. Though Thakur and his team of doctors had worked through the vulnerabilities of their health-care ecosystem, mapping the risks and mitigating the same, Thakur asked himself if they had done enough. He wondered how a health-care institution such as theirs could sustain effective health-care delivery during future crises situations to deliver high-quality health care to the vulnerable communities. Had they effectively mapped MHJ’s vulnerabilities and built resilience into the hospital’s functioning? The backdrop of the case is public health in the state of Rajasthan (Jaipur), and the case is rich in detailing social factors such as behavior issues of patients, doctors and nurses; operational factors such as standardization of treatment and standard operating procedures, availability of resources, clinical concerns; leadership and management of the hospital through the pandemic. This case can be used by instructors to teach organizational resilience building in the health-care context.

Graduate- and executive-level courses in managing change during crisis in health-care context; health-care management/leadership.

Teaching notes are available for educators only.

CSS 7: Management Science.

The key learning objectives are as follows: analyze Mamaearth’s growth trajectory in the Indian market, illustrate the meaning of a direct-to-consumer (D2C) brand, analyze the importance of social media in building a D2C brand, analyze the challenges and advantages associated with a D2C brand, analyze growth and expansion options available with Mamaearth and evaluate the strategies for Indian start-ups in the beauty and personal care space.

In 2016, what began as a quest to find safe baby care products for the first-time parents Varun and Ghazal, turned into an entrepreneurial opportunity. The couple started Honasa Consumer Private Limited at Gurugram, which owned the brand Mamaearth. Conceived as a D2C brand for mothers opposed to harsh baby care products, it debuted with just six baby care products with exclusive online availability. For the brand to grow, it recreated the marketing mix to be perceived as a brand for all ages. The step successfully garnered a customer base of over 1.5 million consumers in 500 cities and a valuation of INR 1bn within four years of operations. In February 2021, Mamaearth became a brand with INR 5bn annualized revenue run rate and aspired to double it to INR 10bn by 2023. Though Mamaearth debuted as a D2C brand, after tapping around 10,000 retail stores, the Alaghs realized that many consumers still preferred transacting in the offline space. Alaghs decided to expand by acquiring a robust offline space in 100 smart cities in India. Would it be wise for Mamaearth to take forward their offline expansion plans? Alternatively, would an aggressive product innovation coupled with a more substantial online presence be a more sustainable proposition?

The case study is appropriate for Post Graduate Diploma in Management/Master of Business Administration level courses of second year in strategic brand management, digital marketing, integrated marketing communication and marketing strategy. The case stuudy may also be useful for prospective entrepreneurs planning to embark upon a D2C venture. The case study elaborates on the emergence, marketing and branding of Mamaearth. The case study helps students understand the meaning of a D2C brand and the growth options available in the Indian market for a D2C brand from the perspective of Mamaearth.

Teaching notes are available for educators only.

CSS 3: Entrepreneurship.

The case can be taught to MBA/PGDM students to give them experiential learning in the course on entrepreneurship. The case can be used to specifically make the student understand the challenges faced by women entrepreneurs in the male-dominated business sector and recognize the entrepreneurial competencies needed to run a business.

Entrepreneurship.

Shany Jalal, Promoter and Managing Director of Servicecare Pvt. Ltd., and the protagonist of the case proud owner of Servicecare Pvt. Ltd. reminisced the circumstances that drove her to start the business venture in Bangalore, India. At the age of 17, a personal setback instilled in Shany a strong desire to become self-reliant and independent. Backed with a degree in hotel management and a meager loan amount of INR 10,000 provided by her father on certain terms and conditions, Shany deep dived into the soft facility management sector business way back in the year 1999 and since then there has been no turning back. Today, Shany Jalal is proud that her venture by starting a proprietorship company “Service Care”, and later converted it into a Private Limited Company, “Servicecare Private Limited” in 2011. Shany Jalal was proud that her venture is a name to reckon with in Bangalore. She has had a team of 4,200 employees, which operates Pan India, providing top-notch corporate cleaning solutions. Her motto was not to compromise on quality and she continues to provide the highest level of service to her esteemed clients, some of them even dating back to the days of inception. Her determination powered by a strong value system is what keeps the company a cut above the rest. Being in the soft facilities management service for almost 20 years, Shany Jalal feels she has achieved her dream. Today, she is a highly successful woman entrepreneur. As she retraces her career path, she owes her success earned through years of dedication, commitment, hard work and timely intervention of some kind-hearted individuals. Since 2011, the company witnessed an average growth of 41% year on year. Though there was stiff competition from domestic and multinational property management companies, Shany sailed through. However, in the global pandemic of 2020, when her business was impacted, Shany realized that to sustain organizational growth, she had to integrate technology with service. She contemplated ways and means of integrating technology with services to meet the clients’ demands. However, Shany believes that to sustain organization growth, technology must be integrated with service. She is currently contemplating ways to introduce and integrate technology with services to efficiently and effectively meet clients’ demands.

1. Understand the gender issues in India and its impact on women entrepreneurs. 2. Analyse the ecosystem that supports supported women entrepreneurs in creating a new venture. 3. Identify the leadership traits and style, entrepreneurial competencies and capacities of the women entrepreneur in this case. 4. Recognize the challenges faced by women entrepreneurs in the facilities management business sector. 5. Explore various options of integrating technology to improve facilities management services provided to the clients.

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

Shany was able to face the challenges that came her way successfully with grit and courage. She was able to expand her business. Her business helped lighten the lives of many people as she provided a means of livelihood to the underprivileged. Shany was also able to motivate her husband to start a business venture and stood by him. She encouraged women to stand on their own feet especially motivating women to set up their own businesses. She is also in constant touch with other like-minded women entrepreneurs who share similar experiences in handling crises. This gives her more insight to take proper decisions.

Women entrepreneur, Facilities management services, Technology supported services

CSS 3: Entrepreneurship.

The subject areas are business communication, human resource management and health care.

The case was designed for use in a first-year MBA-level course in business communication but would serve well in a course for executives or for advanced undergraduates. It might also be assigned in general management courses to evoke discussion on communication skills required in sensitive and critical situations; human resource courses; and course on health care.

Palliative care is a specialized medical care focussing on improving the quality of life of patients suffering from life-threatening illnesses. It addresses symptom management and psychosocial and spiritual concerns of the patient and its caregivers. With the intent to alleviate the sufferings of terminally ill patients, Rajbala Foundation, a non-government organization (NGO), works at the psychosocial and spiritual levels. While training their volunteers in effective palliative care communication, it often encounters challenges such as socio-cultural variations, organizational challenges, appropriate verbal and nonverbal communication, etc. This teaching case focuses on the communication challenges faced by the volunteers of Rajbala Foundation. It would lead to a broader discussion on communicating empathically during critical situations. The case has a focus on NGOs, and non-profit organizations, public sector management, health-care management and human resources management. There is significant literature on communication skills for medical practitioners in palliative care. As an increasing number of NGOs step in to provide the second level of care to critically ill patients in non-physical domains, there is a need to understand the role of effective communication for such care providers. This case deals with non-medical care providers in palliative care; the issues of communication they face as they interact with patients; and the skills they require to address the emotional and spiritual needs of patients and their families.

The aim of this case is to raise awareness of the complexities involved in the communication process during an emotional and sensitive interaction. It aims to encourage volunteers involved in palliative care to reflect on good communication practices when communicating with patients and family members. After reading this case, the students should be able to discuss the complexities involved in the communication process when communicating in situations with high emotional involvement; understand the core elements of emotional interactions for effective practice; and emphasize the need for the development of communication skills within palliative care.

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

The purpose of this case study is to illustrate how Dianne Savastano, founder and CEO of Healthassist, Inc., a US-based health-care advocacy firm, successfully led her clients and team through the COVID-19 pandemic of 2020. To gather the data for this case study, the authors interviewed the protagonists, the members of her team and two clients. The authors read Healthassist Newsletters and the firm’s documents; and in fact, they included one Newsletter and several documents in the Exhibits of the case study. The authors conducted a literature review for articles in newspapers and journals about the newly developing field of “health-care advocacy,” a field which Savastano helped to create.

The authors illustrate how Savastano, using the five practices of exemplary leadership by Kouzes and Posner, in The Leadership Challenge, led her team through the pandemic of 2020. This is a story of a woman leader, using traits such as warmth, empathy, analysis and decisiveness, keeps her small business afloat when so many other firms collapsed in 2020.

The authors conducted seven interviews and literature searches on the topics of health-care advocacy; women leaders; leading through a crisis; and COVID-19.

The case study illustrates how a woman founder and CEO can lead her firm through a crisis.

This is an example of how a woman leader managed through the 2020 pandemic.

CSS 3: Entrepreneurship