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Entrepreneurship, organizational behaviour, managerial decision making, strategic management, leadership and managing change.

Undergraduate business and management and MBA/Master's level management courses.

The case, “Vasili” examines the life, career, and leadership style of a successful entrepreneur like Mr Vasili Naci.The case illustrates the management challenges faced in moving from a very centralized economy to a free market one. It also raises issues having to do with the management of changes that are viewed as radical by those being affected. There were significant changes taking place in early years of the twenty-first century in Albania. Vasili was determined to make the necessary changes to confront and respond better the challenges opposed to him by the new environment. In addition this case examines the importance of a right balance between education and experience in successful leadership.

The case is written to serve a number of purposes: Understanding the entrepreneurial mindset and what it takes to start an enterprise (especially in a post communist emerging economy like Albania). The transition/changes that all entrepreneurs have to go through as they grow and develop their business. Examining ways to foster leadership skills through organization and training the next generation of leaders.

Teaching note.

On completion of the case, the students will be able to understand the concept and importance of sustainability; understand how triple bottom line can help a company make a transition towards sustainability; evaluate the tensions between the three pillars of triple bottom line approach; assess the role of circular economy model as opposed to the conventional linear model in the transition of a company towards sustainability; and understand the sustainability challenge in an emerging market context.

Despite the promising growth potential of the plastics industry in India, it is faced with sustainability challenges owing to its detrimental impact on environment. To preserve the environment and human kind, the government made a bold announcement in 2018 to eliminate the use of highly polluting single-use plastics (SUPs) in the country. Amid this growing sustainability threat against plastics and the fall in demand of SUP items, this case illustrates that Sandip Patel, the plant manager of Cello Plastotech, is entrusted by the CEO with the responsibility of adopting a triple bottom line approach encompassing its three pillars, that is, people, planet and profits, as a response to the sustainability challenge. The strategic rethinking towards adopting sustainability required Patel to face the challenge of striking a balance between the three pillars of triple bottom line while also taking some valuable insights for plastic waste management from the circular economy model. While making a transition to sustainability, he needed to evaluate different options like stopping the manufacture of SUPs and look for alternatives, use of biodegradable raw material which was expensive but environment friendly or manufacture such durable plastic products that would replace SUPs.

The case is aimed at teaching the topic Triple Bottom Line approach in the courses of business strategy and sustainability in under-graduate and post-graduate level courses in the discipline of Management. It can also be used as a supplementary reading in courses like Corporate Social Responsibility and Circular Economy. In emerging markets’ context, these topics are generally taught to MBA students in courses like strategic management, sustainable business and business ethics.

Teaching notes are available for educators only.

CSS 11: Strategy.

The media consultant for the Reagan-Bush '84 campaign identifies his goal as stopping and reversing a strong decline in support for President Reagan. The case describes the results of some of the motivational research used, and introduces a framework for evaluating advertising strategies. The case also introduces the MECCAS framework for evaluating advertising copy and discusses theory-driven communication strategies.

In late 2011, Jerry Bertram, vice president and general manager of the fire retardant additives business of Huber Engineered Materials (HEM), a division of family-owned J. M. Huber Corporation, was preparing to present the potential acquisition of the precipitated alumina trihydrate (PATH) business to the environment, health, and safety committee of Huber's corporate board. He had convinced HEM's leadership of PATH's strategic value to their business and the urgency of the acquisition based on PATH's parent company's movement into Chapter 11 bankruptcy and its plans to close the PATH plant.

Winning board approval posed a major challenge. It was unclear whether the plant would remain operational, because HEM would have to enter a shared-services arrangement with PATH's parent company, which continued to use the site. In addition, acquiring PATH would mean integrating its specialized, unionized labor force into Huber, which had very few union workers. Finally, early due diligence had revealed tens of millions of dollars of potential environmental risk on the site. The last issue was particularly critical, given Huber's generations-long history of respect for the environment, and its executives' and directors' reluctance to take on any business with excessive environmental risk.

This case illustrates in depth the family business values that can promote consideration of an ostensibly unconventional and risky strategic move, and enable executives to push for approval of the same, as backed by comprehensive risk assessment and mitigation plans.

Leadership and team building, Human resource management, Organizational behavior.

The case may be most useful for MBA or any other PG level courses, particularly in human resource management, team leadership, motivation and morale. The Case could also be appropriate in the courses that cover General Management or Business Management, Executive Education Programs. This case can also be taught to the middle level and senior level managers in Management Development Programs.

The case study describes the leadership lessons drawn from the role of Kattappa in the movie Baahubali. He took bold decisions to save the Mahishmati kingdom from Bijjaladeva. Being a slave and agile swordsman, he obeyed all the orders of the king of the realm. He made strategic decisions which resulted in positive outcomes for the kingdom. His leadership style can be linked with the theories of servant leadership style. The case tells us about some selected instances from the movies Baahubali: The Beginning and Baahubali 2: The Conclusion, which had happened with Kattappa which can be used to understand the different principles and philosophy of servant leadership.

The expected learning outcomes are as follows: to understand the different dimensions and essential skills of servant leadership; to analyze and learn the servant leadership style from the role of Kattappa; and to evaluate the appropriateness of servant leadership in context to other leadership styles.

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.

Wawa, a $4 billion privately held firm, is arguably the most successful convenience store operator in the United States. Explores how senior management decided to build an entirely new gasoline retailing business within the 100+-year-old firm's core business of high-quality prepared foods and beverages. Charges students with defining the business and organization strategy necessary to “mainstream” the newly proven gasoline retailing concept throughout the company.

To understand how corporate entrepreneurship occurs within established firms; redefine the core business—understanding organic growth beyond the core; and examine the critical role of leadership in any large-scale change process.

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

Dick Mayo, one of the most celebrated value investors in America was puzzled by the New Economy's continuous bias toward growth investment strategies. He examines the basics of his philosophy versus that of a growth orientation by evaluating the long-term expected returns of several value and growth stocks. This case can be used to pursue several objectives: (1) to define value and growth investing-where the differences lie and whether one approach is superior to the other or whether both have merit; and (2) to discuss issues related to consistency of one's investment philosophy. Should one stay true to one's philosophy even when the market seems to run counter to it for a prolonged period of time? Can value investing deliver value in this New Economy or is it only an Old Economy concept? The students are instructed to perform basic valuations of Cisco Systems (a growth company), CVS, R.R. Donnelley, and Manor Care (value companies) and compute their long-term expected returns. The case comes with an Excel spreadsheet containing the data and relevant valuation ratios for the above firms. The valuations are straightforward, but they tell an interesting story: the expected returns of glamorous stocks in reality may not be so glamorous.

The cases describe the demise of Arthur Andersen, a firm that had long set the industry standard for professionalism in accounting and auditing. Once an example of strong corporate culture with a commitment to public service and independent integrity, Andersen saw its culture and standards weaken as it grew explosively and changed its mode of governance. The (A) case describes a crisis precipitated by the admission of Waste Management, a major Andersen client, that it overstated its pretax earnings by $1.43 billion from 1992 to 1996. The resulting Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) investigation ended with Andersen paying a $7 million fine, the largest ever levied against an accounting firm, and agreeing to an injunction that effectively placed the accounting giant on probation. Students analyze the causes of Andersen's problems and advise Andersen leadership. The (B) case covers Arthur Andersen's relationship with Enron, one of the great success stories of the “new economy” boom. When Enron's aggressive use of off-balance sheet partnerships became impossible to hide in autumn 2001, news reports stated that Andersen auditors had engaged in extensive shredding of draft documents and associated communications with Enron. Students are asked to act as crisis management consultants to Andersen CEO Joe Berardino. The (C) case details Andersen's collapse following its indictment and conviction on criminal charges of obstructing justice in the Enron case. Its conviction was later overturned by the U.S. Supreme Court on narrow technical grounds, but by then Andersen had ceased to exist, eighty-nine years after Arthur E. Andersen had taken over a small accounting firm in Chicago. Students can focus on the impact of media on a reputational crisis.

Students will: Identify the teachable moment in a crisis that leaders can leverage as an opportunity to improve a firm's reputation or core identity, to reinforce values, and to drive change, Understand the impact on crisis management of the media landscape and regulatory decision-making, Realize the fragility of corporate cultures and the need to actively maintain them, especially during difficult times,

Marketing.

The case study is intended for undergraduate students pursuing grades in business, management, environmental, and sustainability areas. It can be used in marketing, entrepreneurship, market research and sales management courses.

This case deals with the events surrounding the sales patterns and the marketing practices at a firm that commercializes clean energy equipment, specifically, solar water boilers. Ren-Er Co was founded by Mr Vega and Mr Flores two year ago in a mid-sized city close to Mexico City. At first everything seemed to be going well but as time went by, sales were not reaching the stated objective. In a meeting called by Mr Vega to address this issue many ideas were delivered. Above all, Mr Vega had to collect all relevant information to design a feasible marketing plan that allows the firm to revamp its precarious competitive position. He needed to convince Mr Flores, his partner, to continue operations instead of getting out of the market.

These include: enhanced ability to perform marketing analysis; development of alternative approaches to selling and marketing problems; development of effective marketing campaigns.

Teaching notes are available; contact your librarian for access.