Case studies
Teaching cases offers students the opportunity to explore real world challenges in the classroom environment, allowing them to test their assumptions and decision-making skills before taking their knowledge into the workplace.
Timothy Calkins and Karen White
Supplements the (A) case.
Abstract
Supplements the (A) case.
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Tim Calkins, Kara Palamountain, Aniruddha Chatterjee, Robert Frantz, Elizabeth Hart, Sean Mathewson and Gabriela Perez-Hobrecker
It is January 2014, and the case protagonist, David Milestone (senior advisor at the Center for Accelerating Innovation and Impact at the U.S. Agency for International…
Abstract
It is January 2014, and the case protagonist, David Milestone (senior advisor at the Center for Accelerating Innovation and Impact at the U.S. Agency for International Development's Global Health Bureau), is preparing for a meeting of global stakeholders and pharmaceutical manufacturers who are interested in reducing mortality caused by childhood pneumonia and are prepared to donate $10 million to support this effort.
Milestone's goal is to propose a strategy to address childhood pneumonia in Uganda, toward which the $10 million donation would go. In addition to effectively and sustainably reducing childhood pneumonia deaths, the plan must align the interests of various stakeholders behind the problem. A successful strategy in Uganda could be a model for interventions elsewhere. The United Nations Commission on Lifesaving Commodities for Women and Children recently identified Uganda as a “pathfinder” country, meaning it could serve as the example for other countries wrestling with the same issues. This is a remarkable opportunity to change the lives of children in Uganda—and all around the world.
After reading and analyzing the case, students will be able to:
Perform a stakeholder analysis
Appreciate the challenges involved in improving public health, especially in developing countries
Create a patient journey and use it to identify potential impact points
Perform a stakeholder analysis
Appreciate the challenges involved in improving public health, especially in developing countries
Create a patient journey and use it to identify potential impact points
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Denise Akason, Bill Bennett and Louis Merlini
The case puts students in the position of a young analyst working for a Chicago-based student housing developer. The premise is that the analyst, Tricia, must prepare a report for…
Abstract
The case puts students in the position of a young analyst working for a Chicago-based student housing developer. The premise is that the analyst, Tricia, must prepare a report for the firm's partners detailing her recommendations regarding a variety of green upgrades for a potential value-added acquisition project. The redevelopment project is based on two multifamily student housing redevelopment projects in Denton, Texas (led by Iconic Development). The case focuses solely on the operating expense reduction that took place at the property and does not address potential changes to property revenues.
The objective of the case is to provide a framework for students to evaluate various sustainable retrofitting projects in a multifamily property. Students must analyze the energy impact, cost, financial returns, and environmental impact of each potential property upgrade, and then decide which upgrades to recommend to management.
Tim Calkins and Aggarwal Nayna
This case looks at an important business task: forecasting a new product. The case can be used to teach finance, marketing (new product introduction), and healthcare strategy. The…
Abstract
This case looks at an important business task: forecasting a new product. The case can be used to teach finance, marketing (new product introduction), and healthcare strategy. The product is one of Amgen's most important new products: denosumab. On the surface, the case is fairly easy; students simply have to do some simple mathematical calculations. However, the challenges of forecasting quickly become apparent; every forecast depends on some critical assumptions, and the answer can vary dramatically.
Highlight the importance of forecasting as a business task. Give students the opportunity to create a forecast, using logical assumptions to generate an answer. Illustrate how dramatically forecasts can vary. Demonstrate why sensitivity analysis and customer understanding are both critical when trying to forecast a new product launch.
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Karl Schmedders and I. Campbell Lyle
EuroPet S.A. was a multinational company operating gas stations in many European countries. There was a growing propensity for supermarkets to attach gas stations to their retail…
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EuroPet S.A. was a multinational company operating gas stations in many European countries. There was a growing propensity for supermarkets to attach gas stations to their retail operations, which was developing into a major threat to EuroPet. As a result, in the mid-1990s, the company began to develop and brand its own convenience stores co-located with its gas stations. However, the company was spending much more on advertising the convenience stores than its competitors did. Management now had to decide if the increase in sales attributed to advertising efforts justified the advertising spend by analyzing the market data from one large metropolitan area: Marseille, France.
Students will learn: how to use cross-tabs and other marketing research tools to identify segmentation descriptors; how to analyze data and interpret results; and how these research results could guide new product development and positioning strategies in order to effectively target relevant customer segments.
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Kent Grayson, Sachin Waikar and Gene Smith
A senior product manager for a telecommunications company has been asked to propose ideas for generating new revenue from video gamers who use his company's Internet services. The…
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A senior product manager for a telecommunications company has been asked to propose ideas for generating new revenue from video gamers who use his company's Internet services. The manager has commissioned the development of “experience maps” for three subsegments within the gamer segment. The experience maps, which are reproduced in the case, provide students with an opportunity to generate customer insights based on real qualitative data.
After students have analyzed the case, they will be more comfortable analyzing unstructured consumer insight data with limited direction, as well as with the inductive reasoning necessary to develop marketing insights based on qualitative research results. They will also have a better understanding of how customer insights can drive product development decisions and a greater understanding of experience maps as a consumer research tool
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Pharmaceutical company Genzyme has created a new drug, Renvela, which is a phosphate binder designed to be used primarily by patients with kidney failure. Renvela is a slightly…
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Pharmaceutical company Genzyme has created a new drug, Renvela, which is a phosphate binder designed to be used primarily by patients with kidney failure. Renvela is a slightly different version of Genzyme's highly successful Renagel. Company executives must now decide how best to launch Renvela. Should it replace Renagel? Should it be a premium version of Renagel? Is it worth launching the product at all? The case appears rather simple on the surface, but the questions are challenging to work through.
This case, launched with great success in the 2009 Kellogg Biotech and Healthcare Case Competition, can be used to teach growth strategy and new product strategy. It also provides an introduction to the pharmaceutical industry. Students will be given the opportunity to think critically about the role of innovation, risk, and ethics in healthcare-related firms.
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Neal J. Roese and Mohan Kompella
In July 2007, Mark-Hans Richer became Harley-Davidson's first chief marketing officer. Its riders were aging, which the company saw as an existential threat. Although…
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In July 2007, Mark-Hans Richer became Harley-Davidson's first chief marketing officer. Its riders were aging, which the company saw as an existential threat. Although Harley-Davidson had a record sales year in 2006 and had maintained a commanding share of the heavyweight motorcycle market for the previous decade, it needed to take new action to sustain its growth.
Richer needed to deliver a new generation of riders and a more diverse customer base, all without losing current Harley-Davidson customers. He also knew that he could not relax: the average tenure of a CMO in 2007 was only 27 months and a complete new product development cycle would take a minimum of four years.
After analyzing the case, students should be able to:
Recommend marketing decisions for a brand with extremely high loyalty in light of various consumer behavior indicators gleaned from market research
Understand the power of leveraging existing assets as opposed to innovating new products
Understand the psychological basis of customer loyalty, including drivers and metrics of loyalty
Recommend marketing decisions for a brand with extremely high loyalty in light of various consumer behavior indicators gleaned from market research
Understand the power of leveraging existing assets as opposed to innovating new products
Understand the psychological basis of customer loyalty, including drivers and metrics of loyalty
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Denise Akason and William M. Bennett
The case puts students in the shoes of Todd Davis, founder and CEO of a boutique brownfield redevelopment firm, Hemisphere Development, in 2010. Davis is wrestling with decisions…
Abstract
The case puts students in the shoes of Todd Davis, founder and CEO of a boutique brownfield redevelopment firm, Hemisphere Development, in 2010. Davis is wrestling with decisions and processes surrounding the potential acquisition and redevelopment of the former Delphi Automotive plant in Columbus, Ohio. When making the investment decision, Davis (and students) must consider various factors: What is Hemisphere's implicit investment strategy, and what are the firm's core competencies? How should the firm finance this transaction to achieve an acceptable return?
Practice creatively structuring and financing unique transactions
Describe the importance of baseline analysis in dealing with contaminated or potentially contaminated properties, and understand that the timing of baseline analysis can be crucial in determining the viability of a transaction
State the importance of each type of constituent in public-private transactions
Recognize the benefits of specialized/niche expertise in deal-makin
Practice creatively structuring and financing unique transactions
Describe the importance of baseline analysis in dealing with contaminated or potentially contaminated properties, and understand that the timing of baseline analysis can be crucial in determining the viability of a transaction
State the importance of each type of constituent in public-private transactions
Recognize the benefits of specialized/niche expertise in deal-makin
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Julie Hennessy and Evan Meagher
This exercise is one in a series intended to help students learn how to perform financial calculations in marketing contexts.Helmut Schmidt, product manager for Hohner…
Abstract
This exercise is one in a series intended to help students learn how to perform financial calculations in marketing contexts.
Helmut Schmidt, product manager for Hohner Musikinstrumente GmbH & Co. KG, the world's foremost manufacturer of harmonicas, accordions, melodicas, and ukuleles, was sitting at his desk reviewing his first assignment from the company's senior executive team. Schmidt had been asked to calculate the break-even point for the company's flagship product, the Marine Band harmonica, under a number of different scenarios.
After completing the exercise, students should be able to:
Calculate unit contribution and margin
Calculate break-even units and market share
Calculate unit contribution and margin
Calculate break-even units and market share
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Case length
Case provider
- The CASE Journal
- The Case for Women
- Council of Supply Chain Management Professionals
- Darden Business Publishing Cases
- Emerging Markets Case Studies
- Management School, Fudan University
- Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad
- Kellogg School of Management
- The Case Writing Centre, University of Cape Town, Graduate School of Business