Case studies

In 2007 Conseco's CEO, C. James Prieur, faced a complicated set of problems with his company's long-term care (LTC) insurance subsidiary, Conseco Senior Health Insurance (CSHI). CSHI faced the threat of congressional hearings and an investigation by the U.S. Government Accountability Office, triggered by an unflattering New York Times article alleging that CSHI had an unusually large number of customer complaints and was denying legitimate claims. This threat came in addition to broader systemic problems, including the fact that the entire LTC industry was barely profitable. What little profitability existed was dependent on the goodwill of state insurance regulators, to whom the industry was highly beholden for approvals of rate increases to keep it afloat. Furthermore, CSHI had unique strategic challenges that could not be ignored: First, the expense of administering CSHI's uniquely heterogeneous set of policies put it at a disadvantage relative to the rest of the industry and made rate increases especially necessary. Second, state regulators were negatively predisposed toward Conseco because of its notorious reputation and thus were often unwilling to grant rate increases. Finally, CSHI was dependent on capital infusions totaling more than $1 billion from its parent company, Conseco, for which Conseco had received no dividends in return. Faced with pressure from Conseco shareholders and the looming congressional investigations, what should Prieur do? Students will discuss the available options in the context of a long-term relationship between Conseco and state insurance regulators. Prieur's solution to this problem proved to be innovative for the industry and to have far-reaching consequences for CSHI's corporate structure.

After reading and analyzing this case, students will be able to: evaluate the impact of a regulatory environment on business strategy; and assess the pros and cons of various market strategies as well as recommend important non-market strategies for a firm in crisis in a highly regulated industry.

Discusses the structure of the Seven-Eleven Japan supply chain in terms of its facilities network, inventory management, distribution, and information.

To discuss how Seven-Eleven has made consistent supply chain choices to support its business strategy of providing convenience to customers. Points to how Seven-Eleven has used information and aggregation in transportation to improve supply chain responsiveness at a relatively low cost.

Trend Micro, an antivirus and Internet content security software provider, accidentally releases a flawed pattern file update that disables users' computers. The primary impact is on users in Japan, where 150,000 customers are affected. As the media press for answers and the stock price plummets, Eva Chen (CEO) and Akihiko Omikawa (president of Trend Micro Japan) must decide how to respond.

To consider a range of crisis management options, including apologizing, sharing information, and compensating harmed customers and illustrate the role of corporate culture in determining a company's response to a crisis. Trend Micro's strong customer orientation and collaborative culture guided its response and led to a full recovery in a short period of time.

A toy retailer plans to order a new product from an untested supplier for the winter holiday season. This exercise provides an opportunity for students to construct a model to determine optimal order quantity when demand is not known. Profits are calculated based on wholesale pricing, revenue-sharing, profit-sharing, and buyback contracts.

International business, Strategic management

BA and MA; courses: International business, Management courses with special focus on emerging and developing countries, Intercultural management, Strategic management.

Freetown, Sierra Leone, West Africa, June 2013 – Representatives of the London Mining Corporation and Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit GmbH were discussing the details about the official launch of the From Mines to Minds project. The From Mines to Minds project consisted of two components technical, vocational and educational training at St. Joseph's and functional adult literacy for people who could not benefit from the upgrade of St. Joseph's in 17 communities around the mine site. Each of them had committed 200,000 euros to the project. While the mining company favored an early launch due to internal and external pressures, the development agency evaluated that they needed to have a consolidated program before advertising it locally and nationally. This joint decision on the official launch revealed more structural issues in the “fit” between these two organizations in this cross-sectoral partnership designed to contribute to local and national sustainable development.

The purpose of the case is twofold. The first aim is to introduce students/participants to the challenges that arise when entering into a cross-sectoral partnership with another organization in a development project. The second aim is to expose students to the operational, business and strategic challenges related to operating in the volatile local and national context of a least developed economy.

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Cutts Floral Distributors, founded in 2004 by Dave Lambe, was a floral wholesaler in Lincoln, Nebraska. The firm became a top wholesaler in the Lincoln area and had expanded its delivery range (all accessed by the company's hand delivery system) up to 100 miles outside of Lincoln. The company credited its success to the expertise of its founder, a professor of horticultural entrepreneurship, and to the company's commitment to customer service. Dave Lambe came to believe that Cutts had exhausted the local market and began looking for growth opportunities within driving distance. Proposed locations for expansion included Kansas City (MO/KS), Denver (CO), and St Joseph (MO). The case provides an in-depth look at Cutts, its competitive advantages, and strategy as the firm faced a critical decision, made more difficult by the uncertainties of the economic recession. This case encourages students to think critically in order to answer the case's central questions: “Should Cutts expand? If so, where?” The complexity of an expansion decision and the multitude of factors that may influence an entrepreneur's decision to expand are illustrated throughout the case.

Supply chain management and particularly the significance of vendors as a strategic decision making tool.

The case is suitable for use in the following courses: MBA programs with specialisation in operations management where it can be used to teach students the significance of vendor selection and vendor rating in supply chain management (SCM); marketing research in management where it can be used to highlight the concept of multi attribute utility theory (MAUT) and its application; advanced statistics for multi criteria decision making (MCDM); and MBA/post graduate programs in management in strategic management where it can be used to introduce the concept of SWOT analysis and Porter's five forces model. An understanding of business process improvement will enable students get a comprehensive view about the case.

This case showcases the concepts of MCDM and SCM in manufacturing industry. The company wanted to select vendors and rate them in each category of raw materials in order to have a competitive advantage over competitors. Since there are multiple attributes (often contradictory in nature) based on which the vendors would be selected Kaul, Vice-President, Commercial uses multi-attribute utility theory (MAUT) to help solve the problem. The case has implications for manufacturing industry in selecting vendors to meet a raw materials need.

The case can be used to understand management concepts such as market research, supply chain management and multi criteria decision making. It can be used to: teach complexities involved in identifying attributes for vendor selection and vendor rating; help understand supply chain management in business process improvement; help students understand the application of MCDM; and help MBA students studying marketing research. The case will also be useful to students in understanding the application of MCDM in operations management. Some knowledge about cigarette manufacturing will help students to realize the depth of the case.

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Public management, sustainability.

The case is suitable for undergraduate and masters' courses.

The case is about the dilemma between the lucrative economic profit from swiftlet farming and the invaluable heritage and social wellbeing of the residents in a world heritage city. In 2011, the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) issued a letter to the Malaysian government expressing concern over the issue of the swiftlet industry in Georgetown, Penang. Swiftlet farming is a lucrative agriculture sector in Malaysia and is considered one of the key projects under the Malaysian Economic Transformation Program. Yet, this industry posed a threat to the well being of George Town due to its impact towards the city's heritage status. The operation of swiftlet farms in shop houses in George Town not only forces residents to coexist with thousands of swiftlets in the populated city, but also deteriorates the condition of its heritage buildings. A quick solution by the government authorities is needed in order to respond to UNESCO's enquiries. A fair consideration looking at the aspects of economy, environment and society is vital in ensuring the future of the city.

These include: understanding the complex issues of trade-offs between economic profit vis-à-vis the environmental social heritage; understanding and appreciating the conflicting governmental objectives and the way to address the conflicting demands of the stakeholders (NGOs, industry and business association and the general public); identifying and determining ways to align environmental interests with economic interests in order to formulate sustainable solutions; and formulating an action plan and providing practical recommendations to solve the problem.

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This case provides useful material for discussion on topics such as sustainability, business continuity, corporate social responsibility and green IT.

The case could be used in different areas of business management such as general management, information systems and business strategy.

The case presents the progressive evolution of Infosys Limited from its beginnings through different stages of innovation and consolidation in the IT services industry. Senior executives at Infosys believe that the sustainability initiative at Infosys is not a new movement, but a logical extension of the company's long standing commitment to society and environment. Sustainability was a key agenda at Infosys and it was deeply ingrained in the company's ethos and the way in which it operated. The case also articulates the company's commitment to sustainability as evidenced by the involvement of the top management in providing leadership. From an academic standpoint the case provides pointers to look at how the IT services industry has responded to sustainability practices and how sustainability practices are different or similar across various firms.

The case can help students to answer the following questions: How is sustainability different from corporate social responsibility? What is the context in which Infosys' attention turned towards sustainability? How is top management involved in Infosys' sustainability initiative? What are the elements of Infosys' sustainability strategy? How does it build on its core strengths? What are the structural mechanisms the company has provided to implement its sustainability strategy? What internal challenges to change while implementing green solutions were foreseen and overcome by Infosys? How competitive is Infosys' sustainability practices with respect to its competitors? How does it help the company in competing in the market?

Teaching notes are available for educators only. Please contact your library to gain login details or email support@emeraldinsight.com to request teaching notes.