Case studies

This case study draws on secondary sources, which are cited in the case and included in the “References and Other Supporting Materials” section of the teaching note, as well as a semi-structured interview with the case’s protagonist to accurately portray the context, considerations and competing interests necessary for students to make an evidence-based recommendation about 5 Generation Bakers’ future. The case protagonist (Scott Baker) gave the author team written permission to use identifying information from the interview. As such, the authors made no attempt to disguise any names or facts pertaining to this case. As a descriptive incident, it illustrates widely used theoretical concepts and models. The case provides students the opportunity to identify theoretical concepts and practical management strategies moving forward in academic and management settings. No AI was used in writing either the case or teaching notes.

Scott Baker, owner of 5 Generation Bakers in McKees Rocks, PA, found himself in a difficult position in October 2015. Needing to find a new facility to expand his bakery business and meet the needs of the modern bakery industry, Scott was on his way to a meeting with officials from Cranberry Township promising a sleek, modern facility in an area with lower taxes and promising access to transportation. This tempting offer came at a cost: uprooting his loyal employees and abandoning McKees Rocks after several decades of his family operating a bakery there. On that October day, a twist emerged – the newly vacant lot of a recently closed Bottom Dollar store offered a chance to expand locally. Now, the family business owner had to decide: pursue the new facility in Cranberry, or revitalize his business and stay local. This case is widely applicable but is most directly relevant to modules related to ethics, corporate social responsibility, family business dynamics and stakeholder management analysis in management and leadership courses.

This case is most applicable to business students at the undergraduate or graduate level in entrepreneurship, business strategy, ethics, or related fields. The case is particularly relevant for modules in decision-making, corporate social responsibility, stakeholder management and family business dynamics.

This case analyzed a mix of publicly accessible primary and secondary sources ranging from blog posts to academic articles. Taken together, the case study shows the reoccurring arguments made by self-advocates.

Most of the videos and speeches mentioned in this case study are available online, and students can read/watch them in addition to reading the details presented here.

Autism Speaks entered the nonprofit scene in 2005 and rapidly became a powerful organization that raised substantial funds, collaborated with influential people and shaped public discourse on autism. However, from the beginning, the organization faced considerable criticism from self-advocates within the autism community who argued that the organization’s negative, medicalized narratives of autism undermined the neurodiversity movement’s goals of acceptance and inclusion. Tensions intensified over the next decade, with grassroots activists and disability rights organizations like the Autistic Self Advocacy Network demanding the inclusion of more autistic perspectives in the organization’s leadership and decision-making processes. The Autism Speaks controversy represents a powerful case study on how nonprofits should ethically represent their beneficiaries, collaborate with the community and engage with activist stakeholders.

This case study was designed for graduate or undergraduate students studying organizational ethics, nonprofit management or nonprofit funding and development.

After working through the case and the assignment questions, students will be able to:

▪ Examine Ecuador’s business environment where coffee shops and similar companies operate.

▪ Evaluate the marketing challenges for an enterprise, particularly for a café business operating in Ecuador.

▪ Explain the marketing strategy for a café company to attract a variety of new consumer segments domestically and abroad.

▪ Discuss relevant international market entry strategies given the specificities of the environment in which a company operates.

▪ Describe the advantage of contemporary marketing tools in sustainable market expansion of a café business.

Richard Peet and Soledad Hanna turned their coffee shop business, Sweet & Coffee, into a flagship brand in Ecuador. Their coffee shops successfully promoted the culture of consuming coffee and sweets throughout Ecuador and grew exponentially to 129 stores. However, Sweet & Coffee faced significant challenges entering new states in Ecuador, with considerable investment in central kitchens and logistics. Despite the challenges, Peet wanted to continue opening new Sweet & Coffee stores across Ecuador. However, owing to Ecuador’s fast-changing and unpredictable external environment, Peet needed to make new adjustments to its marketing strategy to reposition Sweet & Coffee for a bright future. International market expansion was an option.

This case is helpful for advanced undergraduate or graduate courses in marketing and strategy.

Teaching notes are available for educators only.

CSS 8: Marketing.

After completion of the case study, students will be able to analyze disaster response mechanisms and the strategic decision-making process in high-pressure environments; assess the intricacies of cross-sector partnerships and their impact on effective disaster response; provide recommendations for leaders of nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) on how to achieve sustainable growth without jeopardizing an agile disaster response; evaluate the role of an NGO in influencing policy, advocating for vulnerable communities and driving systemic change; and craft an innovative strategy for an NGO to enhance its agility and social impact.

This case study outlines the transformative journey of the Food Bank of Morocco (FBM), an NGO established in 2002, focusing on eradicating hunger, extending aid during natural disasters and improving education quality in impoverished, remote areas. Under the leadership of executive director Sanae Bennesser Alaoui, who joined in 2014, FBM doubled its outreach, addressing both hunger and the broader needs of communities in crisis. The narrative captures the organization’s rapid mobilization and impactful response to the COVID-19 pandemic lockdown and the September 8, 2023, Al Haouz earthquake in Morocco, reflecting its agility and the trust it garnered from the community and diaspora. Highlighting its evolution, the case study details the FBM’s strategic partnerships, innovative aid distribution and commitment to Sustainable Development Goals, emphasizing gender equality and education quality. It also underlines how FBM gained trust from the community and the global diaspora, setting a foundation for future expansion and enhanced support mechanisms for those in need. FBM’s successes include its designation as a public utility organization in 2022, which opened the door to larger contributions and greater visibility. However, the organization faced ongoing challenges in securing sustainable funding and expanding its volunteer base to maintain its growing impact. As FBM navigated these hurdles, it continued to innovate and build partnerships to support its mission of fostering sustainable growth while responding to an emerging market most pressing humanitarian needs.

This case study is suitable for senior undergraduate and graduate levels.

Teaching notes are available for educators only.

CSS7: Management Science.

The case study was developed based on secondary data from the publicly available initial accident report of PIA flight PK8303. The facts presented in the report were then analyzed in the light of the Human Factor Analysis and Classification System (HFACS).

The case revolves around the terrible aviation mishap that occurred on May 22, 2020, when Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) Flight 8303 crashed in a Karachi residential area. A total of 97 people lost their lives in this tragedy, and it was Pakistan’s 18th major aviation disaster. The case study explores the human errors and failures of ground handling agencies, air traffic controllers, regulatory agencies, airline employees and cockpit crew by using the HFACS. The focus remains on mistakes made by people, which revolve around inefficient and ineffective communication, and contempt of safety regulations at various stages of flight PK8303.

The case study is designed for the students of aviation management at undergraduate and graduate levels.

The learning outcomes are as follows: develop an understanding of challenges faced by organizations regarding strategic planning; examine the strategies formulated by organizations that can enable wider adoption of a service offering; analyse service quality gaps that will provide new insights; and evaluate the strategic choices that would impact the growth of the organization.

Peter Bushwash International (PBI) was an organization that managed 60 tennis centres in 25 countries. With a staff of 100 tennis coaches worldwide, over 3 million students participated in PBI’s tennis programs. Cesar Morales was appointed the Technical Director on a two-year contract for the PBI’s new tennis centre in Bangalore (India). Morales had to decide if a decentralized strategy (hub-and-spoke model) would create broader growth for the PBI tennis program instead of operating as a premium hub with fewer students.

The case was written for organizational strategy, marketing and service quality courses for undergraduate business students (BBA).

Teaching notes are available for educators only.

CSS 7: Management Science.

This descriptive case is drawn from the secondary sources by Mungaray (2018), a dissertation. The author, Kimberly R. Shannon (f.k.a. Mungaray) conducted the qualitative research over several months that included several dialogue or talking sessions with organization personnel. Additionally, she collected journals kept by the participants and conducted one-on-one interviews with each participant before and after the series of talking sessions. IRB approval was obtained prior to data collection. The people and places were disguised pursuant to the secondary sources. No AI was used in the writing of the case or Instructors’ Manual.

This descriptive case study considers the dynamics surrounding the promotion of women to top management (partner) in a Certified Public Accounting firm. The case study presents the perspectives of the current partner and the potential partners to help students recognize microinsults, microinvalidations and other privileged behaviors that perpetuate stereotype threat and learned helplessness, which thus creates barriers to career progression. These often unintentional comments and behaviors may further marginalize certain people (women, people of color and other marginalized identities, including an intersection of identities). The case concentrates on gender inequities and helps students develop an understanding of leadership implications while exercising their ability to consider multiple perspectives and motives. The case enables students to develop a plan of allyship.

This case is appropriate for undergraduate courses in ethics, organizational behavior, leadership, industrial psychology, sociology, women and gender studies, capstone courses in business or accounting and communications. Graduate courses in organizational behavior, leadership and women and gender studies.

The case was developed from interviews with the couple. Josh is a coauthor. The other coauthor was incorporated to offer an unbiased perspective. The names and banking institutions are disguised, but the financial information represents the couple’s actual financial situation at the time.

This case centers on Josh and Selene Stone, a real couple whose identities have been disguised. They are striving to optimize their budget and save for a better home. The case outlines the couple’s goals and details their income and expenses by providing their bank and credit card statements for a 3-month period. Students are tasked with applying their financial planning knowledge and skills to create a budget for the couple and make recommendations to optimize their spending patterns.

The case was designed for use in an introductory undergraduate Personal Finance course where personal budgeting is discussed. The case is best positioned following a lecture/discussion on personal budgeting such as:▪ Chapter 2 of Focus on Personal Finance by Kapoor, Dlabay, Hughes and Hart.▪ Chapter 3 of Personal Finance by Garman and Forgue.▪ Chapter 2 of Personal Finance by Keown.▪ Chapter 5 of Personal Finance by Siegel and Yacht.This paper has seen Personal Finance offered at a general education level, as an elective for Business Administration majors, or even as a required class in a specialized Financial Planning curriculum. Positioning a case in Personal Finance can often be challenging because of the diverse nature of these audiences. In this case, this paper has tried to use plain language whenever possible to make it accessible to a broad range of students while providing enough data for business students to make informed financial planning recommendations.

The case was developed using a combination of primary and secondary data collection. The main source of primary data collection was an interview with the founder of The Hair Addict, Doaa Gawish, in August 2023, with later follow-up calls to clarify some aspects of the business model and obtain more specific information. For secondary sources of information, the authors relied on the company website, as well as a couple of published interviews with the founder in an online business magazine [1] and an independent news website that covers Egyptian news, culture and lifestyle topics (Makary, 2021). The case also relies on macroeconomic and industry data obtained from various databases and research report providers, which are referenced in the case and teaching note.

This case study explores the decision a woman business founder, Doaa Gawish (she), needed to make with her team regarding her firm’s growth strategy. Gawish founded The Hair Addict (THA) in 2018 in Egypt with a mission to provide all-natural hair products to women, motivated by an online hair challenge movement that encouraged women to defy social norms and embrace their curls. Following the success and growth of the business in Egypt, Gawish had to decide on her next expansion strategy, given the country’s various economic and financial challenges. The case allows students to evaluate the growth decision by conducting a full-fledged market sizing, sales and financial forecasting to compare two scenarios: growth by further penetrating the Egyptian market with new product offerings for a different segment or growth through venturing into a new country while leveraging on her experience with women needs. The case is intended for an undergraduate capstone business class or a graduate strategy class to expose students to real-life market challenges facing women entrepreneurs and businesses in an international context. Students will use quantitative and qualitative analysis to defend their recommendations. An Excel workbook is provided to aid with their analysis.

This case can be relevant for an undergraduate capstone business class or a graduate strategy class that uses a practical pedagogical case-based approach. The case allows students to apply and integrate prior knowledge in business strategy, international marketing, marketing strategy and finance in a holistic, multidisciplinary approach to make a strategic business decision within the context of women’s entrepreneurship in developing economies.

The learning outcomes are as follows: understand the concept and importance of UGC in marketing campaigns; analyze the benefits and challenges of incorporating UGC as a marketing strategy; and evaluate the effectiveness of Nykaa's UGC marketing campaign.

The case focuses on Nykaa, India’s premier beauty and cosmetic e-commerce platform, and its innovative use of user-generated content (UGC) in social media marketing. Being a marketing intern, the objective is to critically evaluate the effectiveness of Nykaa’s UGC strategy compared to brand-generated content in terms of reach, engagement and brand attachment. The case examines the objectives behind Nykaa’s UGC campaign, which aimed to leverage authentic customer experiences to build trust, increase brand visibility and drive sales. Students will explore the reasons why Nykaa chose UGC as a marketing strategy. The case also delves into the challenges associated with implementing a UGC campaign. Additionally, the case highlights the role of social media platforms in facilitating UGC campaigns and explores the strategies adopted by Nykaa to encourage customers to participate actively. Students will evaluate the effectiveness of these strategies and their potential applicability to other industries and brands.

The teaching case is aimed at the students of postgraduate academic programs in the areas of knowledge of marketing, social media marketing and digital marketing. The case will help in understanding the user and brand-generated content and how to help companies with its solution.

Teaching notes are available for educators only.

CSS8: Marketing.