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This case was written using primary data through various channels, including in-depth structured interviews with the CEO and other individuals at the Crisis Center of Tampa Bay (CCTB), as well as exchanging email messages and phone conversations with employees at CCTB. All interviews were recorded and transcribed. In addition, one of the authors took a tour of the main offices of CCTB and took notes on the physical facilities as well as the information provided by the tour guide. Public information from CCTB was used to enhance the information and provide background. All accounts presented in this case are real, and no information was altered or fabricated.

Clara Reynolds had been CEO of CCTB for over eight years. The agency had almost tripled its budget in the time she had been there. Her leadership style had positively impacted the culture of the organization. Employees valued her open and transparent leadership style. Employees saw her commitment to training employees, creating work–life balance and helping employees be exceptional at their jobs. There was an issue, however, with Transcare, the organization’s ambulatory service. The performance of the business was declining, and Clara wanted to update the board within 60 days at the next quarterly board meeting. She was not sure what she could do to increase engagement with Transcare’s staff, which would show the board that the staff was fully willing to do what was necessary.

This case is appropriate for teaching undergraduate or graduate-level courses in leadership, organizational behavior or principles of management. It is designed to be discussed during one class period. It will save time and improve the flow if the students read the case before class and are prepared when they arrive. Any information needed for the case discussion has been presented in the case; no further research by the students is necessary. Students should think about the role of leadership in a nonprofit. They should put themselves in the protagonist’s shoes throughout the reading of the case.

The learning outcomes of this paper are follows: students should be able to understand the complexity related to the provision of safe drinking water for disaster-hit areas and effective solutions to overcome this problem. Also, students should be able to evaluate the need for awareness about post traumas mental health especially in case of disasters and identify how technology can provide answers to such critical issues.

The case represents a unique scenario where the head of an organization has moved away from the financial prospect and invested time and efforts for the provision of safe drinking water to the inaccessible areas and devise strategies for the improvement of disaster relief operations.

Undergraduate and post graduate students.

Teaching notes are available for educators only.

CSS 4: Environmental Management.

The case intends for students to delve into aspects related to changes in the business environment, dynamics of competition in the airline industry, factors responsible for the collapse of an airline that had once remained a highflyer, and aspects related to change management in reviving a business that has undergone a trauma of crisis.

Jet Airways was all set to fly by the July-September quarter of 2022. The protagonist, Sanjiv Kapoor, had recently joined as the CEO of Jet Airways. Jet Airways was founded in 1993 when the Indian Government decided to liberalize the Indian skies. Flying highs and lows in its journey of 25 years, Jet Airways got grounded on 17 April 2019 because of a lack of funds. There were unsettled claims of ₹370bn against financial creditors and employees. Though liquidation of assets would have been a route to settle claims, it was decided to sell assets of the defunct airline by means of a formal resolution process. On 17 October 2020, the Committee of Creditors (CoC) approved the resolution plan of the consortium of Jalan and Kalrock Capital, which were the new promoters of the airline and were working to bring Jet Airways to its glory. These promoters appointed Kapoor to share the responsibility of Jet 2.0. Kapoor had to lead the change at Jet 2.0. Kapoor examined the idea of “look forward and reason back” as multiple challenges existed amongst opportunities for the carrier in its second chance at life. The case documented the entire saga of the rise, fall and revival of Jet Airways.

Undergraduate and Post Graduate Students

Teaching notes are available for educators only.

CSS 11: Strategy.

This case uses the concept of social entrepreneurship to analyze the entrepreneurial journey of Mr Suraj Prakash and his social enterprise, the Swasth Foundation. It further deepens our understanding of strategic decision-making by exploring the successful use of pivots.

The case was primarily developed through a series of interviews with the leadership team over a year. Secondary sources included literature about Swasth Foundation available on the internet and those shared by the founder.

In 2008, Suraj Prakash left McKinsey & Company after six and half years in the health and development sector as an engagement manager. Along with his friends, Aman Paul and Ankur Sharma, he established Swasth with the goal of building an ecosystem that delivered high-quality, affordable and accountable health services to low-income communities in India. Right from its inception, Swasth went through many fundamental shifts in terms of its business model, team composition and even the nature of its existence; however, this did not deter Suraj from pursuing his goal.

The case brings into focus the health-care system of India, especially in the context of the urban poor and the challenges they are facing, followed by the initiatives taken by Swasth Foundation and the impact it is trying to create. The remainder of the case delves into Suraj’s entrepreneurial journey and the three pivotal decisions that changed the course of his organization over 11 years. It will also provide a transpicuous view of the entrepreneurial decision-making process through the lens of pivoting. As Suraj and his team are trying to bring about the required changes through the third pivot, there remain some challenges that need to be addressed for a successful implementation.

The case is written for business management students and can be used in general management, entrepreneurship and strategy classes. The case can be used for discussions on leadership, social entrepreneurship and strategic decision-making. It is suited for both undergraduate and postgraduate levels.

This case study allows students to appreciate the value of standard operating procedures in customer management. This case study emphasises the role of employees in delivering superior customer experience. This case study explores many facets of customer experience, reputation, social class membership and standard operating procedures (SOPs). Students will be able to apply theories of customer experience, behavioural psychology and service dimensions relevant to the airline industry. After completing this case study, students will be able to do the following:1. Evaluate the value of SOPs in Customer ManagementThis case study refers to the need for adhering to SOPs to deal with complex situations. Students will be able to evaluate whether compliance to SOPs could have helped Air India avoid the crisis or was it possible that a culture of absolute commitment to customer wellbeing could have prevented the crisis.2. Apply the theory of defensive attribution in customer grievance handling. Discuss if reducing customer effort in getting their problem solved can result in superior customer service.The victim had attributed the blame for not insisting on filing a complaint to the crew. Air India crew had defended their actions or lack of it by stating that they had followed the rule book. Students will be able to appreciate the need for a swift redressal mechanism to protect the self-image and self-esteem of the person/group involved. They will also understand that customer service interactions designed to solve customer problems swiftly and easily can be a very simple dictum to guide all employees in their decision-making while handling a customer complaint.

3. Evaluate the relationship between customer satisfaction and customer experience and examine the value of net promoter score (NPS) to study customer satisfaction.

Air India Airlines was catering to varied customer groups such as the Indian diaspora, large student population pursuing education abroad, first-time flyers and the rising middle class with travel aspirations. Customer expectations vary across segments and change over their lifetime. Airline staff must trace customer corridors and deliver on customer expectation across the touch points that matter to them to ensure meaningful and relevant service delivery. Students will have an opportunity to evaluate the NPS in measuring customer satisfaction and debate whether it is a sufficient metric to guide the organisation on delivering and monitoring customer experience.

4. Examine why reputation risk management and not crisis management should be the focus of Air India in delivering superior customer service because nearly 70%–80% of market value for a company comes from its intangible assets such as brand equity and reputation.

Students will discuss crisis management i.e. handling the threat to reputation after it has occurred and reputation risk management i.e. proactively managing potential threats to its reputation by taking timely actions to avoid or mitigate it. There are three factors (reputation reality gap, changing beliefs and expectation and weak internal coordination) that determine reputational risks. Students can evaluate this model to determine if Air India should address these three factors to manage its reputation proactively.

This case study is set around an incident that happened on 26 November 2022, on Air India flight bound for Delhi from New York when an inebriated 34-year-old man had peed on a 72-year-old woman. The perpetrator of the crime had walked free, and the victim was left dissatisfied with how the cabin crew had handled her ordeal. Air India Airlines was launched in 1932 by industrialist JRD Tata and nationalised in 1953. In 2021, Tata Group acquired the 90-year-old Air India from the Government of India for $2.4bn (INR 18,000 crore) and appointed Campbell Wilson as chief executive officer and managing director. The incident brought to the fore the customer management issues that Wilson had to address. First on the list of Air India’s turnaround plan was delivering “exceptional customer experience”. How was it going to achieve it because the Indian aviation ecosystem lacked infrastructure such as airports, airspace, competition and customer preference-based services? There was also shortage of pilots, engineers, technicians, air-traffic controllers and technocrats to occupy positions within security agencies and regulatory bodies. With Air India’s acquisition, the Tata Group had to find innovative solutions to deal with decades of internal neglect, non-performance and labour union problems. This case study is relevant to address real issues of customer experience, consumer psychology, reputation risk management and standard operating procedures in service management.

This case is suitable for both undergraduate and postgraduate level students of business management. It can also be used for training service personnel of aviation industry.

Teaching notes are available for educators only.

CSS 8: Marketing

Examines the launch of Xigris, a breakthrough new pharmaceutical product for the treatment of sepsis. The newly appointed head of marketing for Xigris is reviewing the launch plan.

Since the late 1980s, Progressive Casualty Insurance Company has maintained a strong position in the nonstandard auto-insurance market (auto insurance for high-risk drivers). Progressive’s goals in the 1990s are to expand its insurance coverage to include standard and preferred customers (drivers with clean driving records and no accidents). The company never advertised before 1994; as a result, consumer awareness has been very low. Progressive faces strong competition in a varied insurance industry. Companies like Allstate, the nation’s largest underwriter of nonstandard auto insurance, and State Farm, with 21.1% total market share, present a challenge to Progressive as the company strives to make its products available to all drivers. The case focuses on building the company’s brand through advertising and enhancing product differentiation through technology. A teaching note is available to registered faculty, along with a video supplement to enhance student learning.

The learning outcomes of this paper are as follows: to uncover the social innovation in the peacebuilding model of the Children for Peace Initiative (CPI); to identify the key success factors of the CPI model; to discuss the sustainability of the model of CPI-Kenya; and to apply the contact theory and personal transformation theory to CPI model.

The case is written to address the issue of intercommunity peacebuilding between the Pokot and Samburu. It focusses on social innovation in peacebuilding implemented in seven villages among the Pokot and Samburu. The activities revolve around the involvement of children as key actors in peacebuilding and the exchange of heifer between the communities to sustain the peace. The heifer is one of the sources of conflict. In this case, this powerful cultural symbol is used to create bonding and friendship between the conflicting communities. While there were many peacebuilding attempts in the pastoralist communities, CPI-Kenya introduced a model that focusses on building a new human relationship between the communities. It includes all the social groups of the communities, making it more successful and sustainable than other previous attempts.The two co-founders, Monica Kinyua and Hilary Bukuno, narrated the story of how the CPI-Kenya started, highlighting the uniqueness of their peace-building approach and the strategy they adopted to build a new relationship between the communities. They shared powerful stories of how CPI managed to bring a peaceful living between the Samburu and Pokot in Baragoi, particularly in Amaya and Longewan villages.In the beginning, the main challenge for the CPI-Kenya team was finding the right approach to implement their peace innovation by making children become the catalyst of peace in their communities. With children at the centre of the CPI model, the best approach was getting entry through schools. The school is an accepted social system that has over time gained trust from all parents who send their children there.The case provides the students with the element that is essential for social innovation in the community. The students can learn from the case the importance of collaboration for social initiative, community engagement and inclusive peacebuilding. It portrays a unique strategy in community leadership and management. Further, the students will learn one concrete application of the human contact theory and personal transformation theory. The case highlight how cultural symbols that are sources of conflict can be turned into the symbol of peace. Starting with one group of people in a community and growing into other groups in the same community through a ripple effect.

The case can be used for Master’s and Doctorate.

Teaching notes are available for educators only.

CSS 11: Strategy.

The subject areas are business communication, human resource management and health care.

The case was designed for use in a first-year MBA-level course in business communication but would serve well in a course for executives or for advanced undergraduates. It might also be assigned in general management courses to evoke discussion on communication skills required in sensitive and critical situations; human resource courses; and course on health care.

Palliative care is a specialized medical care focussing on improving the quality of life of patients suffering from life-threatening illnesses. It addresses symptom management and psychosocial and spiritual concerns of the patient and its caregivers. With the intent to alleviate the sufferings of terminally ill patients, Rajbala Foundation, a non-government organization (NGO), works at the psychosocial and spiritual levels. While training their volunteers in effective palliative care communication, it often encounters challenges such as socio-cultural variations, organizational challenges, appropriate verbal and nonverbal communication, etc. This teaching case focuses on the communication challenges faced by the volunteers of Rajbala Foundation. It would lead to a broader discussion on communicating empathically during critical situations. The case has a focus on NGOs, and non-profit organizations, public sector management, health-care management and human resources management. There is significant literature on communication skills for medical practitioners in palliative care. As an increasing number of NGOs step in to provide the second level of care to critically ill patients in non-physical domains, there is a need to understand the role of effective communication for such care providers. This case deals with non-medical care providers in palliative care; the issues of communication they face as they interact with patients; and the skills they require to address the emotional and spiritual needs of patients and their families.

The aim of this case is to raise awareness of the complexities involved in the communication process during an emotional and sensitive interaction. It aims to encourage volunteers involved in palliative care to reflect on good communication practices when communicating with patients and family members. After reading this case, the students should be able to discuss the complexities involved in the communication process when communicating in situations with high emotional involvement; understand the core elements of emotional interactions for effective practice; and emphasize the need for the development of communication skills within palliative care.

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

This case is designed to enable students to understand the role of women in artificial intelligence (AI); understand the importance of ethics and diversity in the AI field; discuss the ethical issues of AI; study the implications of unethical AI; examine the dark side of corporate-backed AI research and the difficult relationship between corporate interests and AI ethics research; understand the role played by Gebru in promoting diversity and ethics in AI; and explore how Gebru can attract more women researchers in AI and lead the movement toward inclusive and equitable technology.

The case discusses how Timnit Gebru (She), a prominent AI researcher and former co-lead of the Ethical AI research team at Google, is leading the way in promoting diversity, inclusion and ethics in AI. Gebru, one of the most high-profile black women researchers, is an influential voice in the emerging field of ethical AI, which identifies issues based on bias, fairness, and responsibility. Gebru was fired from Google in December 2020 after the company asked her to retract a research paper she had co-authored about the pitfalls of large language models and embedded racial and gender bias in AI. While Google maintained that Gebru had resigned, she said she had been fired from her job after she had raised issues of discrimination in the workplace and drawn attention to bias in AI. In early December 2021, a year after being ousted from Google, Gebru launched an independent community-driven AI research organization called Distributed Artificial Intelligence Research (DAIR) to develop ethical AI, counter the influence of Big Tech in research and development of AI and increase the presence and inclusion of black researchers in the field of AI. The case discusses Gebru’s journey in creating DAIR, the goals of the organization and some of the challenges she could face along the way. As Gebru seeks to increase diversity in the field of AI and reduce the negative impacts of bias in the training data used in AI models, the challenges before her would be to develop a sustainable revenue model for DAIR, influence AI policies and practices inside Big Tech companies from the outside, inspire and encourage more women to enter the AI field and build a decentralized base of AI expertise.

This case is meant for MBA students.

Teaching Notes are available for educators only.

CCS 11: Strategy