Case studies

SONY Online Entertainment (SOE) was planning to release a new version, EverQuest II®, of its popular online game, EverQuest®. The first EverQuest® game was very successful financially, generating approximately $5 million/month in 2002 for SOE. However, some issues surrounding addictions and corporate responsibility were interfering with the new product launch. These problems revolved around several deaths in which the EverQuest® game had been implicated. The case focuses on the dilemma faced by the Vice President of Marketing prior to the new product release: How far must a company go to protect possible misuse of a product by consumers?

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.

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.

Strategic management, international business, branding, innovation and retail management

Undergraduate, postgraduate business and management students.

Emerging Technologies was the first United Arab Emirates software application developer of Arabic (also available in English and Hindi) voice recognition solutions. Emerging Technologies developed and deployed fully automated voice recognition applications to meet specific business wants and needs. The case provides a practical example of a company which position itself well to be a raising star through proper strategy.

The students will be able to learn various business strategies that could be applied in emerging markets.

Teaching note available upon request.

Corporate strategy, growth strategy, diversification, integration, and external environment.

First year undergraduate Business and Management.

The Premium Industries Group, started in Dubai, in 1997 by entrepreneur extraordinaire George Martin, had grown exponentially in a decade into a conglomerate comprising 17 companies. The group had succeeded in capitalising the meteoric growth of Dubai. However, the change in the economic scenario prompted George to evaluate the company's past growth strategy and consider if it was appropriate for the future.

This case can be used to teach growth strategy, related and unrelated diversification, vertical and horizontal integration and impact of the external environment on corporate strategies.

A teaching note is available on request.

Islamic financial instruments, financial analysis, financial decision making.

Undergraduate Finance and Business.

This case highlights the financial decision making by the UAE Islamic Bank, regarding an investment with Towers company. It focuses on considering the appropriate Islamic mode of financing and computing the relevant financial ratios to make the right decision.

This case can be used to teach Islamic financial instruments, financial analysis and financial decision making.

A teaching note is available on request.

– It is related to managerial accounting including style of management, evaluation method, risk management, responsibility accounting and reporting.

– It is suitable for both Bachelor's degree and Master's degree students to apply their comprehensive knowledge of managerial accounting on the case with relevance for the courses including managerial accounting, cost accounting, cost analysis and managerial accounting seminars.

– Information given by the case informs about the decentralized management structure and style of a data communication company, Data Communication Company Limited. The delegation of authorization is used as the main control of the company to monitor the performance of each department. The case study describes the company's specific methods as well as the monitoring procedures and the reports. In addition, it also addresses the management's concerns regarding risks as it relates to the current market situation.

– To study managerial accounting courses by using this case, it certainly enhances effectiveness and efficiency of accounting curriculum. This case specifically provides a realistic perspective, comprehensive information and solution capability relevant to real world challenges, which can be applied to managerial accounting.

– Teaching note.

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.

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?

In 2013, Under Armour had $2.3 billion in sales yet only $500 million came from its women’s apparel, and the company was ready to expand into the female market segment. The “I Will What I Want” global women’s marketing campaign was the largest Under Armour had ever run. Founder Keven Plank and his team launched the campaign on a multichannel platform, with social media at its core. The campaign’s success surpassed what Plank had imagined, and he is left wondering where to take Under Armour’s advertising and marketing next. This case has been used successfully in a marketing course and would be suited for any class with a focus on interactive media, technology, and multichannel marketing.