Case studies

Hundreds of thousands of would-be hoteliers have been popping up all around the world, hoping to rent their own homes and apartments to complete strangers through a service called Airbnb. The goal of Airbnb’s aspiring hosts was to use the company’s website to attract guests who were willing to pay the highest rates to stay in their homes for a short time. For Airbnb, the goal was to improve customer review performance so it could, in turn, increase profits. How could the company achieve its goal? Enter text mining, a technique that allowed businesses to scour Internet pages, decipher the meaning of groups of words, and assign the words a sentiment proxy through the use of a software package.

In order for text mining to be useful for Airbnb, its marketing professionals first had to gain access to customer review data on the company’s own website. The team then had to analyze the data to find ways to improve property performance. Was the team going to be able to leverage this large amount of data to determine a strategy going forward?

The recruitment and selection process, human resource planning, talent management and succession planning.

The case has been tried and tested in the classroom setting with management students pursuing a Post Graduate Diploma in Business Management (PGDBM).

The case is set in the southern part of India in a manufacturing organization, Plomsom Ltd (a disguised organisation). Plomsom Ltd manufactures tractors and has a pan-India presence. The sale of tractors in India fluctuates over time. Sales are largely dependent on the seasonal harvests which in turn are heavily dependent on the monsoon rains. The case is designed for understanding the importance and necessity of finding the right man at the right time with the right skills in a manufacturing set up where production output is a factor of many interdependent variables.

The learning objectives of the case are: critical analysis of recruitment and selection; importance of job analysis in recruitment and selection; understanding the role of HR planning in running the operations; understanding problems in the manufacturing sector in an Indian context.

Teaching notes are available. Consult your librarian for access.

This case is intended to be part of a first-year MBA marketing course or a second-year elective in advertising, integrated marketing communications, market research, or marketing analytics. It provides students with two real advertising experiments and the challenges involved in executing them. It allows for discussion of the need for advertising experiments, and, at a more general level, the need to measure the return on marketing. Biases surrounding the field experiments provide an opportunity for discussion about the problems with establishing a causal relationship between advertising and sales.

Business Administration (Marketing).

MBA.

Although it has become fashionable to talk about how things business are changing at a nanosecond pace owing to hyper-competition, disruptive technologies and empowered consumers; the real change has been based on digital revolution and management of information. Most of the new introductions are entering a phase of facelessness from being innovative within a year of their appearance; whereas, as per one estimate, the breakeven volume is achieved after three years. This puts insurmountable financial pressure on marketing companies. In order to remain ahead of competition, they are introducing more and more new products in growth areas. In this paradoxical, complex situation; a reputed marketer in the pharmaceutical arena like Artichem entered a maturing market of Omeprazole whereas growth areas like Lansoprazole, Pantoprazole and Esomeprazole were still open to them. Did they make a mistake? Was it a bad idea to embark upon? Should they go for introducing new molecules even after a successful launch in the same segment?

The student shall be able to: explain the term “positioning” and shall be able to explain why he should go ahead with introducing a brand in an existing and maturing product category; explain the term “product life-cycle” and shall be able to take rational decision in the midst of pressing circumstances to manage a new product in a likely to decline market; and explain the term “new product development” and shall be able to apply the theories of new product development for brand success.

Nil.

Human resource management; primarily employment law impacting on employment relations.

Second year (or 200 level) students up to post graduate programmes in Business Management, Human Resources Management and Law.

The world is still fascinated by South Africas transition to democracy; what with stories of massacre (Sharpeville, etc.) of those who dared challenge white supremacy and the battle for prominence between the African National Congress and the Inkatha Freedom Party. Since gaining independence, South Africa has attracted investors from far and wide. Now and again, one hears news stories that report about forms of disgruntlement from whites and blacks, respectively. In some quarters, you may hear stories suggesting the white community has not completely gotten over their resentment of black leadership. In some other quarters, you are likely to hear the blacks insist that the South African land space belongs to them and as a result they should be in charge of the distribution of wealth, one must understand that much of the wealth of the South African land still resides with the Whites. In what is considered as a fair attempt to integrate all the citizens of the republic, the new government of Nelson Mandela came up with a constitution that is hailed as perhaps the best in the world. Carved out of the United Nations Human Rights Charter, it proposes a free society that recognizes all its inhabitants regardless of colour. Within the world of work, the constitution identifies seven very important statutes that not only give effect to and sustain the republics membership of the International Labour Organisation, but also help to realize and regulate the fundamental rights of workers and employers.

Test students understanding of the legal statutes that pertain to employment relations and human resource management in South Africa.

Understand the legislation affecting management and staff. Understand and apply the principles of recruitment and selection of staff. Identify and apply the options open to managers in staff training and development. Identify and apply the appropriate performance management systems. Understand and apply the strategic human resource planning process.

Teaching note.

Designed to teach conjoint analysis, this case challenges students to make tactical decisions based on marketing research. It should be paired with the technical note “A Practical Guide to Conjoint Analysis” (UVA-M-0675) and that note’s accompanying supplemental PowerPoint file (UVA-M-0675TNP). A National Basketball Association franchise is struggling to increase attendance. It contracts a marketing research firm to conduct a conjoint analysis focusing on several aspects of its season ticket offerings with the hope that it can profitably improve its attractiveness.

This case presents the challenges facing a new pastor at Whitney Avenue Congregational church. For many years the church has seen declining membership. Karl, the new pastor, is expected to help foster growth, but as he has learned, some organization members fear that he may want to change more than they would like to see changed. Karl must decide how to conduct himself at the next church council meeting. He also must decide on an approach to effect positive change in the organization.

David Walker, a senior attorney in a busy white-shoe law practice is involved in an in-office dispute between his administrative assistant and a respected colleague. He had spent numerous hours listening to both sides tell their stories and has no answers. How was he ever going to help two people he valued greatly work out a compromise between their extremely polar positions? The case provides opportunities to explore the sources of interpersonal conflict, causes of escalation, and ways of diffusing and resolving it.