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Looks at the merger of two Chicago-based nonprofits that share similar missions and clientele, but have different strategies and capital structures. They also operate in the highly competitive job training/temporary work field, where organizational survival is at stake. Suburban Job Link is a fee-driven, largely commercial nonprofit, and STRIVE/CES is a philanthropic-based nonprofit dependent on grants and government for revenue. Explores alternatives to a merger and proceeds from merger discussions to post-merger outcomes.

To discuss strategic collaboration and alliances; how to get “more mission” through resource combinations; and how nonprofits compete in highly competitive industries.

Marketing.

This case study would suit any class that deals with the interaction between the nature of business and society and is rooted in a specific basis in developing Asia. The particular nature of the class could be used to shape the subsequent discussion if necessary: a marketing class would focus on the need for development of the local market and consumer behaviour, while a management class might be more interested in the issues relating to an appropriate ownership structure in an emerging market in a company based on an amalgamation of smaller units likely to have been run by technicians (farmers) or party functionaries.

Vinamilk is a Vietnamese company that has grown from humble beginnings as a collection of small-scale dairy co-operatives until the current time when it is one of the largest and most successful companies in that country and recognized as a significant developing Asian success. It has managed this while operating in a product category that has had very little tradition in Vietnam and for which demand has had to be created in order to enable the company to expand. The success of Vinamilk has now made it possible to imagine an international or a transnational future in which it would no longer be tied to its Vietnamese home or to be required to support government-supported developmental goals such as supporting employment and using local inputs. A debate is taking place, therefore, about the nature of the continuing relationship between firms and the public sector in a rapidly developing nation.

The objectives include: evaluation of the nature of the business-state relationship; evaluation of the nature of the home environment with respect to its attitude to business; and understanding better the nature of emerging markets and their interaction with international markets.

Teaching notes are available for faculty. Please consult your librarian for access.

The subject areas are marketing, entrepreneurship, strategy or organisational design, operating in emerging markets and social entrepreneurship.

The study is applicable to MBA students, masters-level students and students of executive education.

The case outlines the context and current decisions and dilemma facing Essay Gifts, which is a successful enterprise based in Cape Town, South Africa, supplying a local market in corporate gifting since 2006. The emerging market is facing economic decline and rising unemployment sitting at 25 per cent and up to 48 per cent in the youth market. After seven years of operating from a home-based office, Beatrice has moved into an office block in an upcoming area in Cape Town as they anticipate bullish targets for the upcoming year. The decision facing her now is whether to also sign a lease for a vacant retail shop downstairs from her office to sell ready-made gifting solutions. To meet the social mission, Essay Gifts is using township-based suppliers to develop the products, and this is proving an often unreliable and inconsistent source of supply and the current orders may not even be met at this particularly busy end-of-year period. How does Beatrice scale the business and what business is she in after all? Is she an entrepreneur, striving to increase the size of her business and her revenue, or is she a social entrepreneur creating employment opportunities for others?

The paper enables to identify the determining features of a social enterprise and the dynamics involved in balancing the social and commercial missions; understand the complexities of entrepreneurial operations in emerging markets; identify scaling up and strategic growth strategy options for social enterprises and small and medium-sized enterprises; and distinguish entrepreneurial marketing strategies in contrast with traditional marketing strategies.

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 3: Entrepreneurship.

By the end of their studies, students are expected to: undergraduate level. Learning objective 1: Describe the concept of social entrepreneurship. Learning objective 2: Explain the sources and challenges of funding social entrepreneurial activities. Learning objective 3: Discuss the different strategies that social entrepreneurs may use to raise funds. Postgraduate level. Learning Objective 1: Use theory to explain the concept of social entrepreneurship. Learning objective 2: Discuss the role of social capital in facilitating resource acquisition for social entrepreneurial activities. Learning objective 3: Evaluate the current action for fundamental change and development (AFFCAD) funding model and propose strategies that may be used by a social enterprise to achieve financial sustainability when donor funding expires.

The past decade has seen the emergence of many social enterprises from disadvantaged communities in low-income countries, seeking to provide solutions to social problems, which in developed countries would normally be addressed by government sponsored welfare programmes. The social entrepreneurs behind such initiatives are typically drawn from the disadvantaged communities they serve. They are often young people committed to improving the lives of their most disadvantaged community members. Being poor themselves and located in the poorest communities, establishing their enterprise faces fundamental challenges of obtaining resources and if accessed, sustaining the flow of resources to continue and grow their enterprise. Targeting external donors and mobilizing social resources within their community is a typical route to get their enterprise off the ground, but sustaining momentum when donor funding ceases requires changes of strategy and management. How are young social entrepreneurs dealing with these challenges? The case focusses on AFFCAD, a social enterprise founded by Mohammed Kisirisa and his three friends to support poor people in Bwaise, the largest slum in Kampala city. It illustrates how, like many other similar social enterprise teams, the AFFCAD team struggled to establish itself and its continuing difficulties in trying to financially sustain its activities. The case demonstrates how the youngsters mobilised social networks and collective action to gain access to donor funding and how they are modifying this strategy as donor funding expires. From an academic perspective, a positive theory of social entrepreneurship (Santos, 2012) is applied to create an understanding of the concept of social entrepreneurship. The case uses the social capital theory to demonstrate the role played by social ties in enabling social entrepreneurs to access financial and non-financial support in a resource scarce context (Bourdieu, 1983; Coleman, 1988, 1990). The National Council for Voluntary Organisations Income Spectrum is used as a tool to develop the options available for the AFFCAD team to sustain their activities in the absence of donor support. The case provides evidence that social entrepreneurs are not limited by an initial lack of resources especially if they create productive relationships at multiple levels in the communities where they work. However, their continued success depends on the ability to reinvent themselves by identifying ways to generate revenue to achieve their social goals.

This case study is aimed at Bachelor of Entrepreneurship students, MBA, MSc. Entrepreneurship and Masters of Social Innovation students.

Teaching Notes are available for educators only.

CSS 3: Entrepreneurship.

• Identify challenges of operating a start-up business. • Understand the social enterprise and role of gender (women entrepreneurship). • Assess the responsibility of unskilled women entrepreneurs and the challenges faced by them. • Describe business and marketing strategies adopted in market segmentation and product promotion. • Discuss strategies adopted to sustain a small business.

Yola EcoSentials (YES) was a social enterprise originated from the American University of Nigeria, Yola, capital city of Adamawa, Nigeria. It was established in September, 2012. It started with the mission to improve the environment, reduce waste and empower women. It engaged in production of hand bags, wallets, table mats and iPad bags from the recycled waste items such as nylons. YES was founded and spearheaded by Charles Reith (Chief Executive Officer). YES faced certain major challenges in expanding its business, namely, maintenance of quality products and accountability of business operations including personal income savings plan and source of new customers. Moreover, YES was having a serious concern of project sustainability because of the availability and division of insufficient raw materials to operate their business. To overcome these challenges, in December 2016, YES planned to devise its growth strategy to operate their business run by local women in Yola, Nigeria.

Undergraduate and graduate early stage programme.

Teaching notes are available for educators only.

CSS 3: Entrepreneurship.

The information used in the case study was obtained from secondary sources, such as internal documents, reports, news, and organization websites. Three of the four authors played a hands-on role in the case.

The COVID-19 pandemic exacerbated the global challenge of hiring and retaining health-care workers. To address its own challenges, Mayo Clinic decided to fundamentally transform its 30-year-old tuition assistance program: from a model centered on the premise that tuition assistance was an employee benefit for professional development purposes, to one that was more driven to meet the business needs of the employer by preparing internal talent for important roles throughout the institution. Herein, this case study first describes how the COVID-19 pandemic impacted health-care organizations like Mayo Clinic. Next, this study provides details on the original employee tuition assistance program, and then, focuses on the reasons for its need to be changed. Afterward, this study introduces the new tuition assistance programs. Finally, this study follows with examples of how both Mayo Clinic and its employees navigated through initial challenges, such as resistance to change and lack of engagement. In sum, this case study provides critical insight into designing workforce education programs that provide professional development for meeting the workforce needs of the organization.

This case can be used as teaching material in relevant undergraduate- and MBA-level courses, such as human resource management, human resource development and compensation and benefits. This case allows students to critically analyze workforce education programs (e.g. tuition assistance programs) and to plan how to strategically align those with the workforce needs of the organization.

This case describes what happened when three Boston area hotels, the Hyatt Regency Boston, the Hyatt Regency Cambridge, and the Hyatt Harborside, decided, during the 2009 recession, to layoff all their housekeepers and replace them with employees from an outsourcing company headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia. The action created a public relations nightmare for the company. In 2009 many other organizations had implemented layoffs with little reaction from the public. Students are asked to think about why the Hyatt Hotels had been singled out. Was the main problem their decision, or the communication and implementation of their decision, and what could they have done differently?

By reviewing the case study, readers are expected to understand the constraints of competitive strategies in a shifting environmental landscape; the difficulties of foreign companies to sustain in an emerging market with government interventions; the subtlety of joint venture (JV) formation by partners with very divergent background, priority and agenda; evaluation of behavioural orientations of partnership and JV operational arrangements as determinants of a successful JV strategy.

High-tech companies can enjoy super profits from their products when only a few competitors can compete with them technologically. However, these companies also nurture a high-cost operational culture that sets a constraint for their further growth when superiority of the technology can no longer be maintained. High-tech companies may reposition their businesses with a strategic shift from differentiation strategy to cost focus strategy. The attendant shift as well as synchronization problem in an organization may require a larger effort to revamp. This case describes a global telecom infrastructure company with successful business performance in China in her early establishment with a pre-emptive technological edge. Mitigation of technological superiority and the rise of local competitors have forced the Company to opt for a cooperative strategy with a local player in the establishment of a low-cost joint venture. Does the new joint venture facilitate the strategic shift or just create an illusion of cooperation?

Undergraduate students and post graduate students taking strategic management course.

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.

Tourism and hospitality management, strategy, economics and customer service.

Undergraduate students studying hospitality management, customer satisfaction, customer service and economics.

Dubai International Airport is one of the most celebrated airports worldwide. It was constructed by order of Sheikh Rashid bin Saeed Al Maktoum in 1969 and has developed significantly in all sections over the years. Passenger numbers and profits have increased dramatically and the airport has received many awards from various countries and organizations, contributing greatly to economic and tourism development. Dubai International Airport offers unique services and facilities to customers, including the Airport Medical Centre, special needs services, Dubai International Airport Hotel, transportation, lounges, a children's play area, smoking rooms, Al Majlis services, executive flight services, Ahlan services, a modern baggage-handling system and Dubai Duty Free. The quality of service is one of the significant concerns of an international company, including Dubai International Airport, as a high quality brings many benefits to the organization, such as increased customer satisfaction and revenue. Thus, to maintain a high-quality level and compete with other international airports, Dubai International Airport needs to ensure the development of its service.

This cast study will help understand both the services offered by the airport and their features and understand the concepts of increasing value to customers in lieu of money, the contribution of the airport to economic growth, exceeding customers' expectations, intonation in providing services, some factors of competitive advantages, the application of customer satisfaction theories, the services market triangle and providing a role model to other airports.

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 main topics covered by this case are marketing strategies in a saturated market, human resource management, small enterprise challenges and constraints and corporate strategy.

The intended audiences for this case are upper-level undergraduate and graduate students. Students getting their degrees in business, international labor relations, marketing or public policy/administration are the main targets for this case. Students also interested in in agriculture, international development and race relations will benefit from studying this case.

The international wine market is highly competitive. Innovative strategies are needed for new wineries to stand out in this saturated market. Both the product quality and its life story are important to consumers. Seven Sisters is exploring two new markets – Nigeria and Sweden – to expand their international presence. Also explored are marketing strategies for deeper penetration of the domestic market in South Africa. The case study illustrates the challenges and opportunities facing a small, women-owned enterprise from an emerging economy that is exploring international markets.

The specific teaching objective of this case is to teach students the importance of marketing and corporate strategy in a highly saturated market, such as South Africa. Analyzing this case, students will be exposed to value chains, formulating corporate strategy and devising marketing strategy.

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