Case studies

This case was developed from both secondary and primary sources. The secondary sources include the company’s website and social media, social media sites and PR news reports. Primary sources include in-depth interviews with Nafigate Cosmetics executives. This case was classroom-tested with graduate students in an International Marketing course in Autumn 2021 and Spring 2022.

Nafigate Corporation is a small Czech company with a global presence and a solid organizational philosophy to create a better world through scientific knowledge and active use of technology. With innovative new products, Nafigate is poised to revolutionize the cosmetics industry. The case explores elements of branding, strategic decision-making and how to balance competing priorities during a company’s growth phase.

This case was written for use in International Marketing classes at the graduate level. In addition, the case could be used in International Marketing Communication courses and in CSR subjects. Students are encouraged to discuss building a competitive advantage, portfolio decisions in terms of brand differentiation, branding strategies, and most importantly, understand the complexity of the business decision-making process.

The theoretical basis for this case is a focus on ethical decision-making based upon a decision-making tree proposed by Bagley et al. (2003). Once multiple options are determined as ethical, integrating authentic leadership into the decision-making process can help leaders made difficult decisions.

The authors conducted extensive research through IBISWorld, EBSCOhost, and academic journals to review ethical decision-making and authentic leadership. The authors successfully piloted the case with over 100 undergraduate and graduate students enrolled in leadership courses.

The case describes an ethical decision a young commanding officer must make. A soldier under their leadership has been charged with an inappropriate relationship with a minor. The officer must decide between two actions that are legal within the military justice system. Each decision has ramifications that will significantly affect the organization.

The case is best taught in undergraduate and graduate leadership courses. Course participants do not need a detailed understanding of military leadership or military law to apply fundamental concepts.

Undergraduate, postgraduate and corporate education.

This case describes Ayanda Mbatha’s response, attitudes and beliefs after retrenched from his position as a technician and draughtsman at Rheinmetall Denel Munition during the COVID-19 pandemic. Mbatha responded with resilience to losing his job. Mbatha’s attitudes and beliefs enabled him to creatively search for a new job amidst escalating retrenchments. The case examines the factors important for resilience and demonstrates why resilience is an essential skill for individuals dealing with adversity. The case dilemma involves the choices Mbatha had to make during and after the retrenchment process initiated by his employer.

We designed this case to facilitate the understanding of what is resilience and why resilience is an essential skill for individuals facing adversity. Specifically, the case aims to help students to: 1. Describe the construct of resilience in the context of individuals. 2. Identify factors that promote resilience. 3. Explain what resilient individuals do in the face of adversity. 4. Evaluate the importance of resilience during adversity. 5. Evaluate the role of prior adversity in the development of resilience.

Teaching Notes are available for educators only.

CSS 6: Human Resource Management.

Consumption and consumer behaviour are driven by social and cultural factors. The global movement against racism and skin colour bias has created a situation where companies need to relook at the way they are marketing skin lightening and cosmetic products in an emerging economy like India.

The case study was developed by collecting data from news articles and published research.

Johnson and Johnson in June 2020 decided to stop selling products under the category of Skin lightening popularly known as fairness creams in Asian markets, especially India. This created a dilemma for popular brands like Hindustan Unilever (HUL), Loreal and Procter & Gamble which have brands under this category. Among all these brands the biggest challenge is for HUL which is a major player in this segment. The case discusses the cosmetic industry in India and how HUL responded to this situation.

The case is intended for use in graduate-level courses in consumer behaviour, new product development, integrated marketing communication and marketing. Market environment, cultural and social factors and the importance of considering these factors in developing the product and marketing strategy is the focus of this case.

The information presented in this case was gathered through interviews and observations carried out during the time Ms Joy attended the Initiative for A Competitive Inner City business support program in 2017. In addition, focus groups that took place after the program provided important information and insights into her decision-making process and business goals. Additional interviews were conducted in 2018 and 2019 after the business program ended to gain in-depth knowledge of Ms Joy’s entrepreneurial journey.

This case details the experiences of Winsome Joy in recognizing market opportunities in the child care industry and then expanding into the educational materials industry. The case focuses on challenges related to founding and sustaining her business and the ways in which Ms Joy engaged in “opportunity recognition” and “effectuation” to become a successful entrepreneur. The case points out the challenges of the child care and early education field in terms of professional training, hiring practices and retaining qualified staff. It provides an aspirational role model who has overcome these challenges by finding and recognizing new market opportunities.

This case is relevant for undergraduate and graduate courses in entrepreneurship.

The case explores Ayesha’s reasoning, who is also a financial expert, regarding how she approaches the question of Riba (interest) so that she can maximize her financial returns and remain true to her religious identity. The discussion in the case revolves around alternate rationalizations as to why Riba (interest) continues to remain important for many Islamic investors.

Historically, the prohibition of Riba (interest) prevented the exploitation of the poor borrower who was charged exorbitant interest rates by wealthy lenders. In the modern day, a banking system which operates in a regulated setup and charges market-based interest rates, the rationale regarding the exploitation of the poor seems less compelling. Furthermore, other economic realities such as inflation and currency fluctuations further lend support to protecting one’s investments through prudent financial decisions. In this case the authors approach this decision regarding the prohibition of Riba (interest) in Islam from the point of view of the protagonist, Ayesha Bhatti, who is religiously conscious and is faced with certain personal investment choices.

The case focuses on one of the core issues of Islamic finance (IF), that of the prohibition of charging Riba (interest) on debt and the reasons behind this ruling. The relevance of this prohibition to modern day financial markets is essential to understand IF.

Teaching notes are available for educators only.

CSS 1: Accounting and Finance.

This case introduces the context of seaport logistics supply chain management with a focus on the issues of risk management in handling and transportation of dangerous goods (DG). The authors present the following learning objectives under the overarching framework of Bloom’s Taxonomy as follows: To understand the severity of handling and transportation of DG in the export supply chain context. To understand the relevance of multi-criteria decision-making in risk assessment. To apply Delphi Technique to appropriately explain the process of risk assessment in a supply-chain context.

It was midnight on December 21, 2020, and Nishadh Amonkar, Chief Executive Officer, Yorokobi, was still awake recollecting his telecon with Tushar Rane, the Head-Materials, Western Maharashtra site of Crop Life Pvt Ltd. The organization was developing and manufacturing pesticides and other specialty chemicals for its clients worldwide. As new and diverse products were being manufactured in the organization, transportation of the products was becoming challenging. The case highlights the need for a data driven risk assessment approach to manage supply chains that were prone to product driven risks such as the handling and transportation of DG.

This course is suitable at the Master of Business Administration level for the following courses: Supply Chain Management (Focus/Session: Supply Chain Risk Management), Logistics Management (Focus/Session: Risks in Logistics and Supply Chain), Research Methodology (Focus/Session: Application of Delphi Technique).

Teaching notes are available for educators only.

CSS 9: Operations and logistics.

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

To understand the strategic importance of location selection within the organization. To analyze the constraints in decision-making for selection of location. To analyze the alternate options for a location selection. To understand the usage of the factor rating method.

Due to a countrywide anti-encroachment drive, Mr Mughal loses his shop. He had just received a notice that his shop including those of others near him was established on one of the amenity plots. The structure was declared as illegal and was to be demolished in 24 h. He had to vacate the shop and his display center to avoid the loss of his items. He along with other shop owners approached to Supreme Court of Pakistan (SCP) to stop this demolishing act and to prove that these shops belonged to them for decades and that they had already paid the price of shops at that time. However, the SCP rejected their appeal straightforward and the anti-encroachment drive was carried out. Now, Mr Mughal had to find out an alternate location to establish his display center and to resume his business operations.

Undergraduate.

Teaching Notes are available for educators only.

CSS 9: Operations and logistics.

This compact case study uses the marketing mix (product, price, place and promotion) and customer segmentation/targeting as theoretical platforms for the Amazon Go business concept. It reinforces the idea that these are important aspects in developing a successful marketing strategy especially when they are aligned with the core competencies of a firm. Additional concepts include localization strategy, loyalty and Maslow’s hierarchy. Localization focuses on merchandising and local partnerships. Customer loyalty is discussed in the context of loyalty programs and consumer trust. Maslow’s hierarchy is used as a way to connect the pandemic and safety concerns to the offline retail experience.

This case was developed from secondary sources readily available in the public domain including websites, news articles and social media sites. This case has been taught in undergraduate marketing management courses.

In 2018, Amazon opened high tech convenience stores across a number of metropolitan cities in the USA offering a checkout-free experience for customers. This case evaluates the marketing aspects of the move including industry structure, store format and customer loyalty. The underlying question is how will Amazon, the company that pioneered online shopping, perform in an offline retail marketplace that is highly competitive? Will Amazon be able to leverage its massive technology power and shake up offline retail? Will changing market forces caused by the pandemic reshape retail as we know it?

This case should be used in a marketing management course or a retailing course for undergraduate students. Applicable concepts include competitive advantage, marketing mix, customer loyalty and retailing in a digital world. This case could also be used to discuss or compare the differences between online and offline brand leadership.