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This case presents the staffing problem of Manuel Garcia, president of Saint Catherine School (SCS). He needed to incentivize quality teachers to stay with the school but he faced three challenges. First, the school is located in a far flung city in Mindanao, Philippines. Second, the city is economically depressed and the parents are price-sensitive. Third, the school is dependent on tuition revenue and collections barely cover school expenditures. Manuel would have to find creative solutions and defend his decision to the teachers and the Board of Trustees.

The researchers relied on primary data to write the case although the Chairman opted that the school name and all the characters names be disguised. The researchers interviewed individually the Chairman of the Board, President, Vice Chancellor for Academics, University Registrar, Finance Director, and Human Resource Manager of the school. The researchers also interviewed faculty members as a group. The information on the exhibits were culled from reports presented by the administrative team.

The short case is a learning tool for students taking a degree in educational leadership and management. It can be used as part of an integrating module for graduate students. By this time, students would have had prior lessons in financial, trend, and ratio analysis. The case can also be used to reinforce lessons in the following courses at the undergraduate or graduate level: human resource management, data-driven decision making, financial resource management, educational policy, and even communication. Further, the case is suited for school administrators attending executive development programs. Running a school is more than managing the curriculum. There is a business side that has to be considered. This case helps teachers-turned-administrators consider the financial implications of human resource management decisions. In this instance, salaries and benefits.

Human Resource Management

Postgraduate business students

The learning objectives to be drawn from the case are as follows: To discuss the challenges of a leader within a resource-constrained environment. Students are required to highlight aspects of transformational leadership and assess the leader against those criteria. To highlight the connection between employee mindset, actions, and organisational performance. Students need to identify the key issues underlying the personnel challenges facing the leader. To explore the influence of leadership on employee engagement. Students should identify the actions taken by the leader to engage employees and analyse the intention behind them, as well as the actual outcomes. To discuss the potential solutions that the leader may institute to achieve the overall transformational objective for the organisation.

This case puts students in the shoes of Siya Zwane, the newly appointed principal of Green Acres Primary School in the South Africa’s Eastern Cape. Having recently completed her PhD in education after 10 years of teaching, Zwane is well versed in the best practices for organisational development and eager to apply them in a public school setting. Her leadership is particularly relevant in the context of a struggling school system that faces, among other issues, an economically disadvantaged population, overcrowding in classrooms, poor infrastructure, and a general lack of resources, including qualified staff. As a newcomer to this school system, Zwane learns quickly how these systemic issues manifest in her teaching team and realises that her first priority must be to empower her staff and enhance employee engagement.

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 1: Accounting and Finance

This case describes the talent management practices of Kaivalya Education Foundation (KEF), a social sector organization that works in the domain of school education. The two year Gandhi Fellowship (GF) program run by KEF takes urban youth from the best graduate colleges in the country and creates a cadre of change leaders that will work to bring about social change in the nation. The GFs undertake a rigorous, hands-on journey through the two years that is transformational in many ways.

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

Corporate social responsibility (CSR).

Graduate, undergraduate and executive education.

The Institute of Management Technology, Nagpur, in the year 2013 started the Centre for Corporate Governance to emerge as an academic and research center for the industries in the vicinity of Nagpur and engage industries in CSR activities. On completion of one year of the center, the team responsible for execution of the programs was disappointed with the Centre’s progress. They decided to start an empowerment program with students from a poor village school. The initiative was well received by the school and its students. Now the team is facing the challenge of sustainability and scale up of the initiative.

To understand the concept and motives of CSR; to evaluate how a nonprofit-making entity can contribute to its communities; to explain the nuances of stakeholder engagement; social empowerment and inclusiveness; and student engagement and volunteerism.

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.

The case’s learning objectives to work on can vary according to the topic selected by the teacher. This case has been put forward with a particular interest in corporate strategy issues, specifically, on the joint management of businesses (in this case, academic programs). Therefore, students are expected to be able to understand the managerial dilemma on centralization and decentralization; recognize the peculiarities of a shared services center (SSC); and decide on which services to centralize in an SSC.

Centralizing or not centralizing is a frequent managerial dilemma. This is a challenge faced not only by business managers but also by corporate level areas responsible for jointly managing various businesses. Resources and capabilities allocation is an essential process for strategy execution, specifically in corporate strategy that must answer the question: How to jointly manage businesses? Sharing services is a collaborative strategy which aims to increase efficiency by centralizing some processes related to this joint business management. Mario, Dean of the Escuela de Administración in Medellín, Colombia, intends to optimize the school resource allocation processes so that there is more equitable support between the different academic programs. For this, he has thought of creating an SSC as it is a practice that he has seen in prominent companies in the city. His idea is to start operating the SSC in early 2018; however, the particular character of a management school leads him to ask himself: What to centralize and what not to centralize?

This case of decision (Ellet, 2007; Sánchez et al., 2013) can be used to promote student learning of strategy courses both at advanced undergraduate levels and in graduate programs. Likewise, it can be used in workshops with executives and administrative personnel of companies that face the centralize–decentralize dilemma. These types of topics are the subject of study by both corporate strategy theorists who address the question of how to jointly manage business (Menz et al., 2015; Michael Porter, 1987) and consultants (Deloitte, 2012). It is desirable, although not mandatory, that students have some knowledge or experience in strategic issues and challenges associated with the administration of companies made up of various businesses (multi-business firms).

Teaching Notes are available for educators only.

CSS 11: Strategy.

Marketing, Brand management, Social media marketing, Digital marketing.

The case can be taught in MBA courses and executive education programs.

Dufil Prima Limited is the manufacturer of Indomie noodles and a market leader in the noodles market of Nigeria that exports products to Congo, Ivory Coast, Ghana and Benin Republic. However, the company has experienced a drop in the market share from 78 per cent in 2010 to 54 per cent in 2015. This drop is largely due to rising competition, Nigeria’s economic downturn and the inability to grow a consumer base in Northern Nigeria. Kenneth Iruonagbe, a social media executive of the company, is responsible for developing a social media and digital marketing strategy for the company to increase the market share position by 16 per cent in the next three years. Kenneth is convinced that a growth in the Northern Nigeria market share is critical for improving the market position in the entire country and facilitating the market penetration in the other four countries. A number of options are being considered to address the current problem. Because of the sharp differences in the consumption habits, cultural values and lifestyles of consumers of noodles in the northern and southern parts of Nigeria, the options may be difficult to implement. Dufil needs to engage in the delicate task of crafting a social media and digital marketing strategy that will be consistent with the values of the Indomie brand and yet prevent the risk of brand confusion and alienation on the part of consumers. The company has one month to roll out its plan.

Highlight how cultural branding through social media applies to consumer markets in Africa Explain the fundamentals of brand building and also introduce the concepts of integrated marketing communication, below-the-line, above-the-line, social media and digital marketing. Explain how social media and digital marketing could be used to move consumers from brand awareness to brand loyalty. Explain how to craft social media and digital marketing strategies that are relevant to countries facing an economic downturn. Highlight the lessons from internationalizing a brand across various African countries.

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: 8: Marketing.

The case deals with project management principles that are required for implementing a social project in India.

The study has been carried out at primary schools in an underdeveloped state, namely, Odisha, in India.

The case illustrates a project management approach for improving primary education in a government set up. The bureaucracy set up in education in a state like Odisha, India, needs to undergo radical changes. To be effective, an education system requires an optimal integration of the three main components, namely, people, infrastructure (this includes technology) and pedagogical processes. Using a public–private partnership model, American India Foundation (AIF) through its Digital Equalizer (DE) Program has been able to make a positive impact in an underdeveloped tribal dominated district like Keonjhar. The case study also illustrates the detailed execution plan predicated on total system planning, required to achieve this amount of success. The case study also explains how to measure success through different metrics where intervention has to be at multiple levels. The learning from the case study can also be adopted for designing an implementation strategy in other states.

Expected learning outcomes are as follows: how to approach implementation of technology-based intervention with involvement of all stakeholders; learn project management techniques related to digital learning model implementation; understand the DE methodology; and understand the challenges faced while implementing the DE Program.

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 7: Management Science.

Strategic management.

The case is suitable for undergraduates, MBA, and executive MBA courses.

This case on Satya Bharti School Program, an initiative of the Bharti Foundation, highlights the journey, achievements and challenges faced during the implementation of a noble vision. The case maps the strategy implemented from multiple vantage points and aims to show how the compelling need of providing quality education in rural India transformed the way people look at corporate social responsibility (CSR) activities.

The case analysis aims to help students comprehend and understand: the concept of corporate social responsibility; the strategic decision-making process amidst constraints in the context of not-for-profit organizations; how organizational excellence models are embedded to improvise practices and processes; the concept of the multi-stakeholder framework; and how external and internal issues can affect the success of a CSR program.

Teaching notes are available; links to videos are provided.