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In 2011, Sherry Hunt was a vice president and chief underwriter at CitiMortgage headquarters in the United States. For years she had been witnessing fraud, as the company bought billions of dollars in mortgage loans from external lenders that did not meet Citi credit policy and sold them to government-sponsored enterprises (GSEs). This resulted in Citi selling to GSEs such as Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac pools of loans that were considerably defective and thus likely to default. Citi had also approved hundreds of millions of dollars' worth of defective mortgage files for U.S. Federal Housing Administration insurance. After reporting the mortgage defects in regular reports, notifying and working closely with her direct supervisor (who was subsequently asked to leave Citi after alerting the chairman of the board to these issues) to stop the purchase of defective loans, leaving anonymous tips on the FBI's and the Department of Housing and Urban Development's websites, and receiving threats from two of her superiors who demanded that she change the results of her quality control unit's reports, the shy and conflict-avoidant Hunt had to decide who she should tell about the fraud, and how.

The case gives students the opportunity to recommend how Hunt should proceed based on their analysis of the stakeholders involved. To aid instructors, the case includes Kellogg-produced videos of Hunt—the only on-camera interviews she has ever given—explaining what happened after she reported the fraud to Citi HR and, later, the U.S. Department of Justice. Within the case, students are also briefly exposed to legislation and bodies pertinent to whistle-blowing in the United States, including the Dodd-Frank Act, the Sarbanes-Oxley Act, and the SEC Office of the Whistleblower.

This case won the 2014 competition for Outstanding Case on Anti-Corruption, supported by the Principles for Responsible Management Education (PRME), an initiative of the UN Global Compact.

• Analyze stakeholders' motivations to prepare counter-arguments to the resistance one might encounter when reporting unethical behavior

• Write a script for who to tell, how, and why

• Discuss how incentive structures, management, and culture play roles in promoting or hindering ethical behavior in organizations

• Identify behaviors that help a whistle-blower be effective

• Gain experience resolving ethical dilemmas in which two values may conflict, such as professional duty and personal ethics

Analyze stakeholders' motivations to prepare counter-arguments to the resistance one might encounter when reporting unethical behavior

Write a script for who to tell, how, and why

Discuss how incentive structures, management, and culture play roles in promoting or hindering ethical behavior in organizations

Identify behaviors that help a whistle-blower be effective

Gain experience resolving ethical dilemmas in which two values may conflict, such as professional duty and personal ethics

This case study draws on interviews conducted with officials from the Rhode Island Department of Environmental Management (DEM), City of Woonsocket and Town of North Smithfield. Additionally, it pulls from relevant legal documents, recordings and minutes from meetings of the Woonsocket City Council and North Smithfield Town Council, City Council resolutions, state legislation and local press coverage.

From 2012–2017, the communities of Woonsocket and North Smithfield engaged in a protracted dispute concerning wastewater disposal. For 30 years, the two jurisdictions had maintained a signed service agreement. Following its expiration; however, Woonsocket imposed a new host fee on North Smithfield. Woonsocket needed to upgrade the facility to comply with mandates from the RI DEM. Over the next five years, leaders from both jurisdictions vociferously fought over the new fee. At the same time, leaders within communities experienced their own divisions. This case study highlights the challenges that decision-makers faced in both communities.

This case is appropriate for graduate and executive level courses in environmental policy, communication and leadership.

Data for the case came from public sources, including legal proceedings, court filings and Securities and Exchange Commission filings. The authors perused hundreds of court documents and identified 28 that were most relevant to this case. The authors also used press interviews with the women highlighted in the case. The authors have no relationship with the company and no one from the company has reviewed the information presented in this case. As the case is drawn from sworn legal testimonies, interviews and related documents in the public domain, the authors did not have to seek approval for publication.

Pinterest touted itself as “the nicest place on the Internet.” It had an almost 80% female user base and purported to have an inclusive culture that embraced diversity. However, in June 2020, in the wake of the Black Lives Matter protests, two former female employees of color violated their non-disclosure agreements (NDAs) to publicly accuse Pinterest of racial and gender discrimination. In August 2020, Pinterest’s former Chief Operating Officer, Francoise Brougher, filed a lawsuit charging the company with gender discrimination, retaliation and wrongful termination, and authored a public blog post titled, The Pinterest Paradox: Cupcakes and Toxicity, detailing her own experience with the company’s discriminatory culture. Three days later 236 of Pinterest’s 2,545 employees staged a virtual walkout and 445 employees signed a petition in an attempt to change Pinterest’s policies and culture. The case provides a brief overview of Pinterest, including its mission, values and organizational culture, and details several incidents and complaints by female and minority employees. The case questions whether employee complaints are a relatively narrow issue involving disgruntled former employees who did not fit at the organization or a much broader issue involving discrimination and managerial neglect in creating and maintaining a nondiscriminatory, inclusive culture. Students are encouraged to evaluate the situation in which Co-Founder, Board Chair and Chief Executive Officer, Ben Silbermann finds himself, evaluate the actions taken and decide if Silbermann should take any additional actions to address the discrimination claims and ensure a positive culture for all employees.

This case is appropriate for graduate and advanced undergraduate level courses in organizational behavior, human resource management and business law or any course where discrimination and workplace culture are discussed.

Cipla-Medpro acquisition: the pre- and post-merger story.

The learning outcomes are as follows: to develop a deeper understanding of the pre- and post-merger factors that should be considered in an M&A transaction; to develop an appreciation of the human capital and organisation cultural aspects involved in cross-country M&A’s; to develop an understanding of the role of leaders and an integration team to make an M&A realise the intended value; and to develop a sensitivity for doing an M&A in a developing country like South Africa.

This case study creates opportunities for discussing both pre-merger and post-merger dynamics to create a sensitivity that multiple factors contribute to a successful merger and acquisition strategic move. It is intended for classroom discussion only and does not represent correct or incorrect handling of the situation.

The complexity is MBA level. This case is primarily focussed on M&A’s as part of a course in Strategic Management (MBA level) but can also be considered for a course on Strategic HRM.

Teaching Notes are available for educators only.

CSS: 11 Strategy.

After decades of successful expansion, The Reader's Digest Association's products were mature. With an average readership age for the flagship Reader's Digest magazine of 50.3 in 2004, efforts to develop new products had so far failed to entice a significant number of younger customers. Following a financial downturn in 1996, positive financial results remained illusive. Several major changes instituted by Thomas O. Ryder, CEO since 1998, including acquisitions, re-capitalization, restructuring and systematic re-engineering of the corporate culture, had proven mildly successful, but RDA, as well as the entire publishing industry, faced a persistent decline in profitability. Could RDA fulfill its stated mission to create “products that inform, enrich, entertain and inspire people of all ages and cultures around the world”, and could it do this by continuing to rely on the 80-year old Reader's Digest magazine?

Two recently graduated MBA students are tasked with developing an ad-serving learning algorithm for a mobile ad-serving company. The case illustrates the way in which hypotheses can be tested in an A/B format or “horse race” in order to establish customer preferences and superior profitability. The case was written for a course elective covering hypothesis testing.

The case was written using information and data from secondary sources. It describes real people and the situations experienced by them. It does not use any fictitious names, scenarios or organizations.

The case study “Melanie Perkins: Poised to Redesign Canva from Tech Unicorn to Tech Giant?” describes the entrepreneurship journey of Melanie Perkins (she) (Perkins), the CEO of Australia-based tech unicorn and graphic design company, Canva Pty Ltd. (Canva). The case starts with a brief look into Perkins’ background and documents her entrepreneurial spirit, which, at the age of 19, led her to identify a hitherto unserved market (yearbooks) in the graphic design industry and offer an online design system through her venture, Fusion Books (Fusion). Fusion was completely bootstrapped and became a runaway success within five years. That encouraged her to envision setting up a one-stop-shop design site that would make design accessible to everyone.

However, when she tried to raise funds, Perkins encountered multiple rejections from venture capitalists. She persevered and continually refined her strategy. Eventually, she managed to raise venture capital funding and establish her design startup, Canva, in 2013. Canva then went on to disrupt the graphic design industry. The case describes in detail the reasons for Canva’s success, which went on to be one of the few profitable unicorn start-ups. The case also throws light on how Perkins used Canva as a tool to change society with her two-step plan. Despite its market success, Canva faced heavy competition in the design and publishing space from well-established players. Can Perkins challenge the competition and ultimately make Canva a software giant in the future?

The case is intended for use in teaching the subjects “Entrepreneurship Development,” “Business Strategy,” “Leadership Skills and Change Management” and “Positive Psychology for Managers” in both graduate and post-graduate programs.

Jeff Hotchkiss, President of the Assembly Test Division of Teradyne, Inc., the largest electronics testing company in the world, returned to the corporation where he had built his career after a three-year hiatus as CEO of a VOIP start-up. Teradyne's operation was struggling through the effects of a bad economy coupled with significant downturns in the electronics industry, and Hotchkiss encountered numerous problems specifically in the China operation, including customer dissatisfaction with service, price, and time required to implement changes. He assembled a strategic team to address these issues and to recommend and implement an accelerated turnaround in China. Students are challenged to design the turnaround plan.

Marketing strategy, strategic innovation.

Strategic brand management or marketing strategy courses at MBA level.

It seemed likely that a company with the highest number of product variants would consider product innovation to be its key source of sustenance in a crowded marketplace. Especially so, when the local and global competition was hotting up to a new launch every week. In the case of Micromax, a mobile handset maker from India tried to drive home the point that sustainability in emerging markets did not lie in inventing a new technology like Apple or Nokia or Sony did, albeit accompanied with a premium price tag. For the emerging markets, it was important to optimize the offering for the consumers. Strategic optimization could result from bridging the gaps in performance, infrastructure and organization design, which came naturally to this marketing-savvy mobile maker. Any company could make a cost-effective phone, but few could position, brand and sell it the way Micromax did. Shubhodip Pal, Head of Marketing at Micromax Informatics Pvt Ltd, India, pondered the marketing strategy which could pave the way into maintaining the company's national leadership position while creating a roadmap for its global foray. For Micromax, marketing strategy innovation, and not product innovation, would fulfil the goal of long-term growth in India and overseas markets.

The students studying this case are expected to learn: marketing strategy in emerging markets such as India, marketing strategy as the critical success factor for upcoming Indian companies rather than product innovation and doing business in emerging markets.

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

This case talks about the role that can be expected to be played by a disabled woman in an organization and shows how a disabled woman can assume a leadership position and be a role model.

This case identifies the qualities that help a person from a minority group succeed in the corporate environment; examines the contribution that a disabled person, especially a woman can make to an organization; analyzes transformational leadership; assesses the importance of inclusive design in today’s products; and recognizes the corporate role in ensuring an inclusive culture that encouraged disabled people.

The case “Sumaira Latif at P&G: pioneering inclusive design and accessibility to all” provides an in-depth look at the efforts of Sumaira “Sam” Latif (she), Accessibility Leader at P&G, to incorporate inclusive design in the company’s product packaging. Sam – a blind woman and mother of three – had always struggled to use various everyday products. Her personal struggles drove her to find ways to fix such problems for people with disabilities. So, after a decade of experience at P&G, when she got an opportunity to interact with the top management, she convinced them that catering to the disabled was not charity, but a smart business move. Sam also put forth the role she could play in helping P&G make products with an inclusive design. Impressed with her, P&G made her Special Consultant for Inclusive Design, a position specifically created for her. Sam created the widely lauded tactile indicators which helped the blind differentiate between shampoo and conditioner bottles. P&G then promoted her to the position of Company Accessibility Leader, wherein she played a pivotal role in bringing inclusive design to more of P&G’s products. Sam also played a critical role in making P&G adopt certain technologies to help the blind shop for the company’s products independently, apart from ensuring that all P&G ads were audio-described. However, Sam had an ambitious vision to infuse inclusive design into all products, which required her to bring about a culture change in the CPG industry. She was also faced with the predicament of how to ensure that audio-described ads became a media buying standard, considering the wide-scale resistance to it. How can Sam succeed in making the CPG industry develop inclusive design, the way she convinced P&G to do it?.

Graduate and post-graduate programs.

Supplementary materials Teaching Notes are available for educators only.