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1 – 10 of 168Mohanbir Sawhney, Ashuma Ahluwalia, Yuliya Gab, Kevin Gardiner, Alan Huang, Amit Patel and Pallavi Goodman
Microsoft Office was facing an uphill task in engaging the undergraduate student community. Attracting this audience—the most tech-savvy generation ever—was critical to the future…
Abstract
Microsoft Office was facing an uphill task in engaging the undergraduate student community. Attracting this audience—the most tech-savvy generation ever—was critical to the future of the Microsoft Office franchise. Microsoft's past advertising efforts to reach this audience had proven lackluster, while its key competitors were gradually entrenching themselves among this demographic. Microsoft's challenge was to determine the best tactics that could successfully connect with this audience. The (A) case describes Microsoft's dilemma and briefly addresses what college students mostly care about: managing homework, creating great-looking schoolwork, preparing for the workplace, and collaborating with friends and classmates. It also provides competitive information, chiefly Google's increasing presence in universities and its focus on the higher education market and the growing influence of Facebook among students and its evolution into a productivity tool. The (B) case describes the qualitative research tools that Microsoft used to get a better understanding of college students: day diaries using Twitter, technology diaries using the Internet and smartphones, focus groups, and one-on-one interviews with students. The case helps students understand the value of ethnographic and qualitative research techniques, draw inferences from the data, and subsequently make recommendations. It illustrates how ethnographic and observational studies enrich research by generating deeper consumer insight than traditional methods.
Students will learn: - How online tools in ethnographic and observational research offer new insights not revealed by traditional survey research - How different qualitative market tools are used to collect data, as well as the pros and cons of different ethnographic research techniques - To interpret and synthesize data from qualitative and ethnographic research - How research can influence a firm's marketing and advertising tactics
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Mohanbir Sawhney, Ashuma Ahluwalia, Yuliya Gab, Kevin Gardiner, Alan Huang, Amit Patel and Pallavi Goodman
Microsoft Office was facing an uphill task in engaging the undergraduate student community. Attracting this audience—the most tech-savvy generation ever—was critical to the future…
Abstract
Microsoft Office was facing an uphill task in engaging the undergraduate student community. Attracting this audience—the most tech-savvy generation ever—was critical to the future of the Microsoft Office franchise. Microsoft's past advertising efforts to reach this audience had proven lackluster, while its key competitors were gradually entrenching themselves among this demographic. Microsoft's challenge was to determine the best tactics that could successfully connect with this audience. The (A) case describes Microsoft's dilemma and briefly addresses what college students mostly care about: managing homework, creating great-looking schoolwork, preparing for the workplace, and collaborating with friends and classmates. It also provides competitive information, chiefly Google's increasing presence in universities and its focus on the higher education market and the growing influence of Facebook among students and its evolution into a productivity tool. The (B) case describes the qualitative research tools that Microsoft used to get a better understanding of college students: day diaries using Twitter, technology diaries using the Internet and smartphones, focus groups, and one-on-one interviews with students. The case helps students understand the value of ethnographic and qualitative research techniques, draw inferences from the data, and subsequently make recommendations. It illustrates how ethnographic and observational studies enrich research by generating deeper consumer insight than traditional methods.
Students will learn: - How online tools in ethnographic and observational research offer new insights not revealed by traditional survey research - How different qualitative market tools are used to collect data, as well as the pros and cons of different ethnographic research techniques - To interpret and synthesize data from qualitative and ethnographic research - How research can influence a firm's marketing and advertising tactics
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Social entrepreneurship, Business Strategy.
Abstract
Subject area
Social entrepreneurship, Business Strategy.
Study level/applicability
MBA/MS.
Case overview
The case discusses about Evans Wadongo, a Kenya-born engineer and social entrepreneur, and his efforts of lighting up the rural communities of Kenya through his MwangBora solar lanterns. Wadongo through his social enterprise Sustainable Development for All-Kenya (SDFA-Kenya) economically empowered women, educated children and empowered youth by creating employment opportunities for them. By 2012, SDFA-Kenya had successfully impacted the lives of 1,20,000 people, benefited more than 60 community groups and set up around 30 economic ventures.
Expected learning outcomes
Concept of social entrepreneurship, business model innovation, product innovation, bottom of the pyramid as a market, sustainable development, triple bottom line.
Supplementary materials
Teaching notes are available for educators only. Please contact your library to gain login details or email support@emeraldinsight.com to request teaching notes.
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This is the fourth in a series of articles about case research, writing, teaching, and reviewing. In this article, the protagonist, Prof. Moore, consults experienced case teachers…
Abstract
This is the fourth in a series of articles about case research, writing, teaching, and reviewing. In this article, the protagonist, Prof. Moore, consults experienced case teachers and learns many different approaches to use in the classroom. The article is written as if it were a case; it is fictitious.
This article is a continuation of the article entitled “A Primer on Case Reviewing” published in The CASE Journal, Volume 1, Issue 1. Used in conjunction with the article “Case…
Abstract
This article is a continuation of the article entitled “A Primer on Case Reviewing” published in The CASE Journal, Volume 1, Issue 1. Used in conjunction with the article “Case Research and Writing: Three Days in the Life of Professor Moore”, this article should help both case writers and case reviewers understand the critical elements of what a reviewer should look for in the case and the teaching note.
Todd Wilson, manager of partner development at Educational Technology Corp., needed to determine the targeting, positioning, and selling strategy for its innovative Interactive…
Abstract
Todd Wilson, manager of partner development at Educational Technology Corp., needed to determine the targeting, positioning, and selling strategy for its innovative Interactive Mathematics software for the college market. This required determining what types of colleges to target and which stakeholders to focus on within institutions. His task was complicated by the unclear objectives of nonprofit institutions and the differing motivations of teachers, students, and college administrators in adopting software-based learning technology. Highlights the difficulties in innovation adoption within large nonprofit institutions and the challenges in marketing to institutions with complex decision-making processes, multiple influencers, and conflicting motivations.
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Ian Macleod, Adrian David Saville and Theresa Onaji-Benson
The study enables students to critique the internationalisation strategy of an African business including elements of macroeconomic analysis, company fit with jurisdictions…
Abstract
Learning outcomes
The study enables students to critique the internationalisation strategy of an African business including elements of macroeconomic analysis, company fit with jurisdictions, non-market strategies and mode of entry.
Case overview/synopsis
Roland van Wijnen was the chief executive officer of Pretoria Portland Cement Company Limited (PPC), a 130-year-old cement maker based in South Africa. He joined after the business had embarked on an international expansion strategy that had taken the business to countries of Rwanda, the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Ethiopia in a matter of years. This expansion caused the deflation of the Johannesburg-listed company’s share price. The company failed to appreciate a number of success factors in each jurisdiction. The challenges included cultural misalignments, macroeconomic analysis and mode of market entry. The case dilemma involved the choices that van Wijnen faced in re-evaluating the international footprint of the business.
Complexity academic level
Undergraduate or postgraduate level.
Supplementary material
Teaching notes are available for educators only.
Subject code
CSS 5: International business.
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Keywords
Entrepreneurship, Corporate sustainability, CSR, Supply chain.
Abstract
Subject area
Entrepreneurship, Corporate sustainability, CSR, Supply chain.
Study level/applicability
Master's courses: Entrepreneurship, Strategic management.
Case overview
In 2002, potential risks deriving from emerging normative demands in the CSR debate prompted Axel Springer (AS) to rethink their supply chain strategy for Russian wood. Being one of the first movers in CSR in the publishing business, AS realized that current practices could spark future public discussion that might put pressure on AS, a key player in these supply chains. In early 2002, AS and one of their main suppliers, Stora Enso, started a joint initiative to redesign the supply chain processes in two of the major Russian logging regions to improve their social and ecological performance. Sometime later, other major players in the publishing sector as well as critical reviewers from several non-governmental organizations (NGOs) were invited to participate in the design of the new voluntary sustainability initiative called “Tikhvin Chalna project”, the second phase of which was accomplished by the end of 2006.
Expected learning outcomes
Learn that organizations (specifically high-brand owners) are responsible for practices within their entire supply chains (social as well as environmental performance).
Explore proactive corporate sustainability, CSR strategies are market but also institutional driven; Strategizing involves forming and transforming the rules, norms and standard models of customers as well as institutions such as NGOs or governmental bodies. Whether the initiator of such strategy is successful in increasing or manipulating demands is dependent on its resources and capabilities as well as on its network position. The case supports students in understanding resources being used to successfully transform or create institutional arrangements.
Discover that the value of a business' relationships and its network position.
Supplementary materials
Teaching note, Video files
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This case is appropriate in a MBA module for the accounting process and is also an excellent exam case. It provides a diagram of the three basic financial statements (balance…
Abstract
This case is appropriate in a MBA module for the accounting process and is also an excellent exam case. It provides a diagram of the three basic financial statements (balance sheet, income statement, and statement of cash flows) used to capture, codify, and communicate the effects of a series of typical business events. The case also gives students the opportunity to prepare a simple statement of cash flows using two sequential balance sheets and to work backward from a balance sheet and statement of cash flows to craft the beginning of the year's balance sheet.
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Personal interview.
Abstract
Research methodology
Personal interview.
Case overview/synopsis
In an interview with Dr Mary Foster, Mr Steven Rogers, Finance Instructor at the Harvard Business School (HBS), discussed his views on diversity, inclusion and the value of teaching cases which feature black protagonists. Mr Rogers estimates that fewer than 1 percent of HBS’ 10,000 or so teaching cases feature a black executive as protagonist, or central decision-making figure, despite US Census estimates that about 9 percent of US companies are now black-owned. Mr Rogers decided to address this imbalance; he has lead the development of 24 business cases featuring African-American business people over the last two years.
Complexity academic level
This article can be used to any undergraduate or graduate course where you would like to discuss diversity and inclusion.
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