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The case data are from a mix of secondary sources, which included company documents, webpages and blogposts, autobiographies co-written by Schultz, newspaper stories, news media and other publicly available videos, magazine articles, photographs of signed unionization statements, and webinar interview.

In late autumn 2021, the global retail coffee and foodservice company Starbucks dealt with employees at a few USA stores who initiated unionization efforts in an attempt to change their workplace. Their actions triggered a wave of similar attempts at Starbucks stores across the USA over the next few years. Employees amplified their voices on social media, stating both their love for the company and their disenfranchisement. They claimed to have little input about policies and workplace decisions that affected them and that leadership had not heard or adequately responded to concerns with staffing, safety, equipment, and abusive customers. Walkouts were staged and employees at numerous stores pursued unionization. In 2023, Laxman Narasimhan replaced Howard Schultz as CEO. His tenure started with the challenge of reengaging employees who claimed their collective voice was unheard by leadership Readers will consider what employee voice means in the context of baristas working for a large corporation, and how their emotions, commitment to and respect for the organization, and their desire to be heard, related to efforts to unionize and maintain employment.

This case can be used as a unit review to cover several organizational behavior topics or can be used with specific concepts for graduate or undergraduate students. The placement within the semester plan depends on which unit/concepts the instructor will pair with it, such as emotions in the workplace, a module on loyalty, voice and exit, or the introduction of employee voice and engagement. It can also be used in conjunction with cross-level concepts such as trust and leadership. For courses focused on talent management, employee relations, or human resource development, the case could be used to introduce multiple concepts or as a concluding assessment. It would best pair with topics such as employee satisfaction, exit, voice and loyalty, inclusive decision-making or emotions in the workplace. For a course in labor relations, the case could introduce the idea that employees’ experiences, emotions, and perceptions may be related to efforts to unionize.

The learning outcomes of this case study are to understand the business-to-business (B2B) consumer outlook on mental health care in emerging markets; analyse the challenges faced in creating a need for mental health care in Indian workplaces; explore the business attractiveness of the B2B model and understand the business potential of the B2B segment at heyy,; and contemplate different innovative strategies that could change consumer mindset on mental health care in emerging markets.

Ankit, the founder and CEO of heyy, was facing a conundrum. “heyy,” was built on normalizing mental well-being at workplaces. His mental health-care app heyy, had crossed 50,000 subscribers within a few months of launch. The mobile app was designed to spread mental health awareness and provide various levels of mental well-being interventions. Business-to-consumer and B2B customer segmentation had been targeted by this start-up. The B2B space consisted of employees working with partner organizations. The adoption rates of employees using the features of heyy, declined after the initial app download. The employees had yet to fully become acclimatized to the features of heyy,. Exploring the business potential and investigating the business attractiveness of the B2B segment were the focus of the present study. Ankit contemplated various strategies he could adopt to increase user adoption of “heyy,” services by employees in his partner organizations. The case study strives to address the question – “What are the risks faced by organizations when entering the mental health-care industry in emerging markets like India, where mental health care is still not openly discussed?”

This case study is designed to be taught as part of the “entrepreneurship development” and “strategic management” courses for undergraduates, postgraduates and students of executive programmes in management. Students need to be aware of basic strategic management concepts such as BCG matrix, SWOT analysis and business canvas before working on this case study, so they could dissect the case from multiple perspectives to get a comprehensive outlook on the case.

Teaching notes are available for educators only.

CSS 11: Strategy.

Upon completion of the case discussion, students will be able to: identify the enablers of a mental skills coaching process and the broad outcomes as a result of a coaching intervention; understand the contributing factors towards creating greater psychological safety in a team and the impact this has on team performance; and identify positive leadership strategies to create an environment in which meaningful work and goal achievement increase engagement.

Leanne Redding was the mental skills coach for Maccabi, a professional league soccer club in Johannesburg, South Africa. Redding had worked with the club’s players using mental techniques, the ultimate aim being to improve performance. Redding’s work was based on the premise of trust, lived values, self-respect and reflection. She believed that a strengths-based approach grounded in sports psychology and aligned with mental contrasting enabled resilience. Her process of holding individual and team sessions helped with sustaining motivation, overcoming limiting fears and encouraging focus on the greater good of the team. The result was Maccabi’s promotion to the professional league of soccer. However, not all of her broad stakeholder group had bought into the value of sports psychology coaching. The case explores Redding’s process and her belief of the importance and buy-in from all players of the team values which should inform behaviour. The case concludes with Redding contemplating what she should do to gain greater acceptance from the rest of the coaching staff for her work.

This case can be used in graduate and postgraduate level courses such as an MBA, in management development programmes or in short executive education courses focusing on organisational behaviour, leadership and human capital development and sports management.

Teaching notes are available for educators only.

CSS 7: Management Science.

The case will offer insight to the students regarding the idea generation and development of a viable sustainable venture. It will promote the understanding of students regarding SDGs and how SMEs can contribute towards their attainment. They will learn to develop the action plan for a green business venture and understand how each of the business activity in each phase of value chain contributes towards environmental, economic and social sustainability.

Rana Waseem, a young business graduate started a small ecopreneurial venture to offer sustainable food from raw material till disposal in developing nation context named as Dhuaan ‘n’ Dukhaan (D ‘n’ D) in Sargodha, Pakistan. He had an aim to create a model of business that not only supports the local economy in terms of offering decent employment but also promotes a food business that generates nutritional self-sufficiency as per the triple bottom line concept. This case gives an exploratory insight into the actual sustainable operations that have survived eight months successfully and on the path of growth without profit being the sole aim. D ‘n’ D has benefited the lives of people in Sargodha by offering job opportunities, a decent wage, healthy food at affordable rates, reduction in diseases, reducing food wastage and efficient resource usage with a positive impact on the environment.

The case is suitable for undergraduate and post graduate students studying entrepreneurship and small business management.

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CSS 3: Entrepreneurship

“I think I would like to write a case. What do I do now?” The purpose of this paper is to answer this often-asked question by presenting a useful guide for case writers which examines the entire process of case writing beginning with the initial idea and proceeding through required stages leading to the publication of case studies. Further, this guide seeks to emphasize that case writing is a form of research, not just story telling. Ultimately, the increasing interest of scholars in researching, writing, and publishing pedagogical cases provided the impetus for this paper. The four major case writing processes identified in this paper include ideation (idea generation), creation (crafting the case study), application (creating the Instructor’s Manual), and publication (publishing the case). Each of these four processes is presented in detail including examples, pitfalls, and resources. This work is intended to assist novice, as well as experienced, case authors who seek advice on crafting and publishing pedagogical cases in refereed journals. Resources presented in this paper should be helpful especially for aspiring and as yet unpublished case writers.

The paper is based partially on archival research, but most of the content is based on the substantial experience of the authors.

The paper is relevant for upper-level undergraduates as well as graduate students interested in pedagogically based research.

This is a field-researched case about a nonprofit organization, the Accelerated Cure Project (ACP), dedicated to accelerating advances toward a cure for multiple sclerosis (MS). Inspired by the successful open source software development platform, ACP brings the strengths of that platform into the medical research and development environment. At the opening of the case, Robert McBurney, an Australian scientist with extensive experience in the biotech world, has been named CEO. McBurney and his team want to use ACP's bio-sample and data Repository to drive innovation in the search for the cure for MS by fostering collaborative research and development across research institutions, pharmaceutical and bio-tech companies. To encourage such collaboration ACP waives its rights to potentially lucrative Intellectual Property. This decision to foster collaboration at the expense of revenue sources appears problematic, since ACP does not have the staff or resources to undertake fundraising at the scale needed to fund current projects. ACP chooses to serve instead as an open access research accelerator making an impact on the field by functioning as an innovation driver rather than a profit maker. Is this an innovative recipe for success in finding a cure for MS or a recipe for financial disaster for ACP?

Interviews provided the primary source of data for this case. Four semi-structured interviews were conducted with the CEO of ACP, the Vice President of Scientific Operations, and a member of the organization's Board of Trustees, a collaborating university researcher, and the President of a bio-tech company working with ACP. Interview data was supplemented with additional information from ACP's web site, news reports, McBurney's comments at Suffolk University's Global Leadership in Innovation and Collaboration Award event, and follow-up conversations.

This case is intended for use in an undergraduate course examining strategic management issues midway through the term. The case discussion can center on issues relating to: first, the development of the business model; second, revenue resources and fundraising. Students are expected to spend two to three hours of outside preparation reviewing concepts of change leadership and the collaborative enterprise business model. They should read the case materials and brainstorm options for improved change leadership. The case can be taught in one two-hour class period.

The purpose of this case is to introduce students to the strategic management and funding challenges faced by an organization that is using a non-traditional business model in an increasingly complex environment. As a result of discussing this case, students should be able to: first, examine strategic organizational strengths, analyze opportunities created by business, market and environmental factors, and strategize to minimize weaknesses and to address threats identify an organization's strategic focus; recognize and recommend options at crucial decision making junctures in a business situation; second, assess an organization's revenue model; analyze how this model can be improved; third, analyze the functionality and sustainability of an organization's business model.

The case authentically illustrates a common problem encountered within the business scope of an agent who is representing a European food ingredients manufacturer in an emerging market. The case describes the kind of legal set-up and contracts that are necessary to safeguard the long-term prospective of the business for both parties, the agent and overseas supplier. It explains what each party has to observe in case of a termination of the agency agreement.

This is a longitudinal case study of a market entry by a European food ingredients manufacturer through a foreign-owned third agent. The authors studied how sales developed over the first few years and then concentrated the investigation on the fact that after the sales volume was reached, the overseas manufacturer wants to cancel the agency agreement and do the business directly without getting the agent involved.

This case describes and explains a common problem encountered frequently by overseas manufacturers who want to enter an emerging market through a third-party agent representation. The overseas supplier uses the agent’s service and solid reputation to enter an emerging market with limited exposure to costs and risk. The agent works towards guarding the relationship with the overseas supplier for as long as possible. The development of the relationship illustrates what kind of conditions have to be stipulated in advance to provide an acceptable solution to both parties concerned once they part ways.

This research is based on a European food ingredients manufacturer, who was expanding its business in different Asian emerging markets, namely, Vietnam and Cambodia. The agent was a long-time established trading house who acted frequently as agent for overseas companies that wanted to get a foothold in these promising Asian emerging markets.

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CSS 5: International Business

Economics, business management

The case study is relevant for MBA, Master's and under graduate (economics, international and business economics) students.

Biocon is one of the top 20 companies from India in the Forbes list of “Best under a Billion” companies. It has emerged from being an enzyme-producing firm to a biotech powerhouse under the guidance of Ms Kiran M. Shaw. It is an innovative company with a varied scientific skill base and progressive manufacturing facilities for developing and commercializing biopharmaceuticals. This study attempts to explore the international foray of Biocon using the eclectic OLI framework. Entrepreneurship, need for integrated business model, innovation, quality control, etc. constituted the ownership (O) factors, important for Biocon to earn the more than compensating advantage in the overseas market. The locational factors were less important in case of Biocon as the global expansion was driven by a motive of either market seeking or cashing in on the cost advantage of its operations. The dominant mode of entry has been the joint ventures. The overseas patterns exhibited by Biocon can be captured fully by the O-L-I framework.

To understand the economic theory of OLI and the ownership, locational and internalisation advantages, link the OLI framework with the international foray of Biocon, Biocon's internationalization journey, major overseas deals signed and the economic rationale behind the deals.

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