Case studies

Tiffany & Company was the leading U.S. luxury jewelry brand, generating more than $2.6 billion in revenue through 167 retail outlets globally and from catalogue and Internet sales. For nearly 170 years, Tiffany had managed its brand. In February 2007, a hedge fund, Trian Fund Management LP, announced that it had bought a 5.5% stake in Tiffany, and became its largest shareholder. Trian believed that Tiffany was undervalued and stated that it wanted to help the company “improve its earnings per share by addressing various operational and strategic issues.” In response, Tiffany began to consider different actions to increase shareholder value.

The case revolves around a marketing/sales executive who works in the Ad Sales wing of a popular search engine. Over the course of the case, the protagonist realizes that their marketing strategy needs to refocus on a different vertical than the one they have been paying the most attention to. He had done the required data analysis and feels the data strongly points to a need for change in their strategy. However, he needs to convincing the higher management by put together a compelling pitch using storytelling elements, so that the message in his data gets across clearly, compelling them to act.

After a tumultuous five months, Nestle India was exonerated in the Maggi crisis just in time for Diwali. Although the mood was one of vindication, the leadership team with Suresh Narayanan at the helm, knew they faced a major challenge to regain lost glory. Stock price had plummeted along with consumer confidence which went down from over 90 to less than 5 per cent. Part B traces the efforts of Nestle India to not only reinforce the message of product quality but also to engage consumer trust. Through changes in product strategy, organizational structure, and multi-pronged communication, Maggi was able to rekindle the emotional connect with the consumer and surge back. On 30 November 2019 despite loss of market share, consumer faith and trust in 2015, Nestlé India was trading at INR 14,453/55 (NSE/BSE;~US$225) per share after hitting a record low of INR 4981 (~US$76) on 29 February 2016. Part B of the case outlines the measures Nestle India took to bounce back and asks if Nestle India's reputation out of the woods. Could the past come back to haunt Maggi or was the worst behind them? 1. Evaluate communication strategies available to organizations in a crisis situation. 2. Analyse the power and influence of consumer sentiment in reputation management.

Services Marketing: People Technology Strategy (Eighth Edition) By Pearson, Authored by Wirtz Jochen, Lovelock Christopher, Chatterjee Jayanta, 2017; Service-Marketing: Text and Cases (Second Edition) By Pearson, Authored by Harsh Verma, 2011.

Students will gain an understanding of business models, which has a positive impact on the environment.

This case study intends to help learners understand the concept of segmentation, targeting and positioning (STP) in the case of services. The idea of services is different from that of a product as in services; intangible elements dominate the value creation. By exploring the practical scenarios faced by the protagonist, in this case, readers would enhance their problem-solving abilities in similar situations.

Prerna is the founder of Ecoplore, an aggregator cum booking platform for eco-hotels. It onboards hotels only if they are made up of vernacular architecture and maintains at least 33% of greenery on its premises. Listed properties also harvested rainwater, used renewable source of energy, used sustainable options instead of single use plastic, composted organic waste. Most of these properties grow vegetables, fruits and herbs, and the visitors enjoy homemade organic meals. Ecoplore is the only aggregator platform to visit and verify these eco-hotels directly. Ecoplore is an early-stage startup; all customer queries were handled by Prerna, on-call or through a chat box. It included interacting with prospective clients, understanding their requirements, suggesting the most suited options and booking the eco-hotels. Prerna had to spend most of the time interacting with clients. Over time, she comprehended that only a few prospective clients became Ecoplore’s customers, and the conversion rate was low of owing to various reasons like ticket size, clients' age and psychology.

For students: This case is aptly designed for marketing students pursuing Bachelor’s in Business Administration and Master of Business Administration courses to understand and apply STP theory and service marketing concepts.

CCS 3: Entrepreneurship.

The learning outcomes of this study are as follows: this case deliberates the strategic design and business model that provides entrepreneurial opportunities to re-sellers and small business owners; this case discusses the complexities and opportunities related to using social media (Facebook) as a selling platform; this case provides a thorough understanding of the direct-to-consumer model; this case helps students understand the concept of social commerce in emerging markets; and this case discusses brand-building tactics, particularly for online businesses.

This case is about the entrepreneurial venture of three women on Facebook. A venture that started with the simple thought of creating a trusted selling and buying platform with convenience has turned into an opportunity for thousands of other women to become entrepreneurs and start their businesses with minimum investment and low risk. Shoppers Darbar is an online shopping portal on Facebook that started in 2016. This is a private group exclusively for women with more than 165,000 registered members, which saw a boom during the pandemic and merged as a parallel platform of e-commerce retail sites and physical stores and exhibitions. Although social commerce in India is still in its growing stage, it is facing indirect competition and an identity crisis. Hence, to build Shoppers Darbar as a brand and retain vendors, founders need to find methods within Shoppers Darbar’s limited means to sustain and create a community of sellers and buyers for getting more and more business for the vendors associated with them.

Postgraduate level.

Teaching Notes Consent Letter Annexure 1.

CCS 3: Entrepreneurship

This paper aims to describe the cross-channel challenges experienced by a leading US fashion retailer and illustrates the adaptation to consumer needs as led by a female divisional head and female executive.

The teaching objectives include to understand the assortment planning complexities experienced by merchandise managers; address critical issues surrounding channel strategies; identify the data needs for assortment improvement and cross-channel management; investigate responsive solutions for customer-focused assortment diversification; and explore the challenges associated with continual retail channel adaptation.

The fashion retailer Spirit & Free (S&F) (pseudonym) is a Fortune 500 retailer. As a multi-channel retailer, S&F is proud of the consistency of the brand’s identity across channels. However, recently, S&F has noticed a difference between their mobile (m-commerce, social commerce) and in-store/e-commerce customers. Through this case study, students will follow the Women’s Apparel Divisional Merchandise Manager and explore how the business will maintain a consistent brand identity and capture both sets of customers through assortment planning. Resources will be provided for assortment planning analysis, and students will be asked to consider assortment opportunities regarding category mix and pricing strategy.

The case would be relevant to upper-level undergraduate courses or introductory master's level course in retail, management, fashion merchandising and omni-channel retail.

Teaching notes are available for educators only.

CCS 8: Marketing

This case aims to assist students to learn about leadership theory and leadership effectiveness in terms of organizational change. It is best suited for undergraduate courses in leadership development, organizational behavior and specific teaching modules in Master in Business Administration courses.

Leadership and leadership effectiveness; organizational change.

This case is about a decade (2010–2020) of a transformation journey of the School of Business at Southern Connecticut State University (SCSU). Dr Durnin has been the first female Dean of School of Business in Connecticut State Colleges and Universities (CSCU) who made this transformation possible and continuing on. With listening ears and a supportive heart, Dr Durnin first moved faculty and staff members out of a “sick” office building and then created a supportive and collaborative culture to build the consensus among faculty and staff members to change for good. It has been her personalized influence, charisma and extraordinary upward negotiation that lead the School to shape its collective effort toward a multi-year Association to Advance Collegiate School of Business accreditation process since 2014. When dealing the uncertainty caused by the 2020 global pandemic, her autonomy-supportive approach once again connected people meaningfully together to excel the challenges brought by COVID-19 pandemic.

This case provides an example of female leader in higher education to illustrate a successful transformational leadership (TFL) example in the USA, as well as its implications on gender issues and leadership effectiveness. Upon completing the analysis of this case, students should be able to: – understand the TFL concepts, theory and its behavioral implications on gender and leadership effectiveness; and – assess and evaluate effectiveness of TFL styles in organizations.

Teaching notes are available for educators only. Please contact your library to gain login details or e-mail support@emeraldinsight.com to request teaching notes.

CSS 6: Human resources.

Transformational leadership, Organizational change, Gender and leadership effectiveness

Applicable to both undergraduate and graduate courses in managing technology or sustainability.

Technology strategy.

Business Model evaluation.

Sustainable technologies.

In this case study, gas and electric utility holding company Southern Company has embarked on an ambitious experiment to learn more about energy usage at a household level, as well as community scale microgrids. Every minute, 62 homes in Reynolds Landing upload appliance and electrical outlet level data to Southern Company. How can Southern Company use this vast amount of data to promote energy efficiency? Are microgrids a key to creating a more sustainable and resilient energy future? At a higher level, how can microgrids impact or change traditional power generation business models like those used by Southern Company?

1. To explore why companies develop technologies that are counter to current business models.

2. To understand how new technology can lead to new business models for existing businesses.

3. To understand the drivers of company led R&D.

4. To discuss “technology push” applications. Where technology is developed and then a market or markets are sought.

Teaching notes are available for educators only. Please contact your library to gain login details or email support@emeraldinsight.com to request teaching notes.

Two parts here. The first is looking at sustainable energy solutions such as solar farms and micro-grids. The second is this case challenges students to ask how this research helps the 45% of consumers making less than $40,000/yr.

CSS 11: Strategy.

The case is suitable for both undergraduate and graduate business students. The suggestions in the teaching note would suit classes of varying sizes and can be organized by teams or for individual work.

The case is suitable for classes discussing a range of topics including business ethics, values-based leadership and entrepreneurship. The case is told from the perspective of a Hispanic, first-generation female CEO in tech – a male-dominated field. As some of its decision points include discussions with other female entrepreneurs in similar positions, this case is also suitable for discussions on gender and minority leader representation.

This case tells the story of a female tech entrepreneur in Baltimore, how her personal values influenced the values of her company and how she successfully applied those values even in the early stages of her venture. It includes a discussion of her former career in the military and her experiences as a first-generation American.

The case offers several decision points where students are invited to anticipate and discuss the protagonists’ values and their application of them in her work. It likewise invites students to reflect on their own values and how they influence their business decisions. As the case is based on true events and uses real names, students may also perform research on the real business and its context to extend this case even further.

Teaching notes are available for educators only. Please contact your library to gain login details or email support@emeraldinsight.com to request teaching notes.

Women are chronically underrepresented in leadership positions and some choose to become entrepreneurs because it offers a surer path to CEO roles. Additionally, this case offers some perspective on the different leadership styles of women, such as this protagonist’s choice to allow her personal and corporate values to drive important early decisions for her business. The instructor and students also may wish to focus on aspects of the case related to the protagonist’s ethnicity and her family’s status as recent immigrants to the USA. Ideally, class discussions will consider the protagonist holistically, and her identities as intersectional.

CSS 3: Entrepreneurship.

Graduate or Undergraduate Entrepreneurship Majors

Entrepreneurship/Venture Capital (VC) Investing

The case highlights a women-founded venture capital firm that values investments in diverse entrepreneurs and an innovative retail business started by two minority entrepreneurs. Students will be asked whether the firm should invest in the venture and will also be asked to discuss models that may help transform the retail business into a VC-backed scalable technology business.

By the end of the discussion, students will be able to evaluate the feasibility and scalability of a new business venture; and evaluate the alignment between a venture capital company and a new venture.

Teaching Notes are available for educators only. Please contact your library to gain login details or email support@emeraldinsight.com to request teaching notes.

This case highlights the lack of resources for women and minority entrepreneurs as well as the underrepresentation of minority women in the VC industry.

CSS 3: Entrepreneurship