Case Protagonists Research Articles

WaveTel – Introduction of AutoRecharge

The WaveTel case concerns distribution channel management, technology adoption and NPD issues in the Indian telecom industry. WaveTel, part of the JBL group, is the largest telecom operator in India. It entered a competitive market in 2016 and quickly rose to the top spot on the back of cheap data and call rates and a strong 4G network. The case is set in 2021 when the company has introduced AutoRecharge – a technology solution that automates the selling of prepaid recharge balance from distributors to retailers. The primary decision point that the case protagonist, Diwakar Kumar, CEO of StratG – the consulting firm that helped conceptualize and develop AutoRecharge for WaveTel – faces is how to salvage a launch gone awry. Should he recommend that WaveTel proceed with the rollout? If yes, then how does he overcome channel resistance and conflict? Or should he recommend killing the solution and going back to the drawing board?

Golden brush and evolving canvas—Navigating the digital art and Non-fungible tokens

Purpose: This case study explores the evolving landscape of digital art and non-fungible tokens (NFTs) through the journey of Niklas Elmehed, a renowned freelance artist responsible for the Nobel Laureate portraits. It delves into the challenges and opportunities presented by NFTs, touching upon topics such as data privacy, generative AI, and the changing nature of visual communication. Pedagogical Objective: The case aims to help learners understand the impact of NFTs on the art world, the cognitive theory of visual communication, and the influence of generative AI. It prompts critical thinking about the future of digital art, personal branding, and strategic choices for artists in the digital era. Case Positioning and Setting: This case is suitable for undergraduate and graduate courses in art, digital marketing, and entrepreneurship. It can be used to facilitate discussions on NFT adoption, the intersection of technology and art, and the implications for artists and collectors. The case protagonist is based in Stockholm, Sweden and the timeline is from 1997 to 2023.

Unravelling challenges of COVID-19 pandemic through risk and controls turnaround: the case of Dots & Lines

Research methodology The focused case is a “disguised case” developed based on a real-life apparel company in Sri Lanka. The authors have disguised the company name and have not revealed the identity of the key respondents and any data, which makes the firm obvious. However, the processes and practices reported represent the actual scenario of the company (gathered through interviews done mainly with the case protagonist, General Manager (GM) – Risk and Controls) and the authors have not fabricated any data. Case overview/synopsis Having established itself as a pioneer in the apparel industry in Sri Lanka, Dots & Lines reached the pinnacle of its performance in 2019. Following the outbreak of COVID-19, the situation turned unfavorable: global customers canceled orders by the end of the first quarter of 2020. It experienced settlement delays, increased freight charges and supply chain barriers. The virus spread among the operational staff, leading to health and safety issues and absenteeism. On April 2020, the executive committee gathered and decided to form a position titled “General Manager (GM) – Risk and Controls” and a team to turn around the company. Dots & Lines witnessed the harvest of the risk management turnaround measures pioneered by GM – Risk and Controls, from the first quarter of 2021 with impressive revenue and profit figures. It developed a pool of key strategic customers, while key performance indicators dashboards and the risk matrix provided vital insights in moving forward. Complexity academic level The case, Dots & Lines is written for use in undergraduate and graduate-level classes in business administration and management degree programs. The focus aligns with discussions on industry competition, controls and risk management. Of further importance, the case is applicable to discussions on topics in strategic management accounting courses.

The rise (and almost fall) of Maneli Pets

Learning outcomes At the end of the case discussion, students should be able to:▪ analyse and discuss networks as a form of social capital;▪ identify and discuss alternative growth strategies for an small, medium, micro enterprise (SMME) in the context of prevailing challenges;▪ use the six domains of the entrepreneurship ecosystem to identify and discuss factors that enhance and challenge a business with particular reference to an SMME; and▪ analyse and understand the key dimensions of entrepreneurial behaviour using the case protagonist as an example. Case overview/synopsis Nhlanhla Dlamini, the managing director of Maneli Pets based in Johannesburg, South Africa had opened an office in Cincinnati in the USA in July 2019 to take over the distribution and marketing of the company’s high-quality protein pet treats. Just over eight months later, the COVID-19 pandemic exploded across the world resulting in unprecedented disruption to people’s lives, world trade and the global economy.Now, in June 2022, Dlamini contemplated the successes and challenges he had experienced since starting Maneli Pets in 2016, not least of which was parting company with US-based Novel Dog LLC, which had previously marketed and distributed the pet treats. He had built an internationally accredited factory from scratch, produced pet products and a brand that was appealing to the competitive international market, and exported to 12 countries around the world. However, Dlamini had also faced the retrenchment of a large number of staff, the breakdown of the relationship with Novel Dog, the difficulties of setting up a distribution business in the USA along with overseeing the South African factory, and in September 2019, his co-founder, Sipha Ndawonde, had left Maneli Pets.Maneli Pets had served Dlamini’s philanthropic purpose of creating jobs and contributing to the growth of the South African economy. Despite the setback of parting ways with Novel Dog, he hoped to continue to create jobs and return to and exceed the staff numbers he had achieved by 2018, regardless of the hard work involved.In his dual position of managing director of Maneli Pets, based in Johannesburg, and sales director of the distribution and marketing arm, Nandi Pets Inc. in Cincinnati, Dlamini had a global view of the companies’ financials that he realised had been missing initially. Would the new structure of Maneli Pets he had created in 2019 in a pre-pandemic world see the company profitable by the end of 2022? What else could he do to take the company to the next level? Complexity academic level MBA, Masters in Management, Postgraduate Diploma in Business, Executive Education short courses. Supplementary materials Teaching notes are available for educators only. Subject code CSS 3: Entrepreneurship.

Braithwaite – in search of a sustainable turnaround

Learning outcomes The learning outcomes of this study are as follows: ■ understand organizational turnaround and its sustainability;■ applying the understanding of turnarounds to distinguish between operational and strategic levers of a turnaround strategy; ■ analyze and evaluate past and present turnarounds from a sustainability perspective; and ■ formulate managerial actions to make turnaround sustainable. Case overview/synopsis Braithwaite Company Ltd. (Braithwaite) was a specialized engineering firm headquartered in Kolkatta, India. It primarily undertook structural steel fabrication to make railway wagons and bridge structures. It was incorporated as a private enterprise almost a century back. However, since its nationalization five decades ago, it has been operating as a public sector undertaking (PSU) under the aegis of Indian Railways, a department of the Government of India. The case documents the past three decades of the firm’s journey, during which it experienced three episodic turnarounds. Details of the first two turnarounds are presented as the background, in light of which sustainability of the third turnaround is to be examined. The case explores the sustainability of organizational turnarounds from the perspective of the current Chairman and Managing Director (CMD), the case protagonist. Braithwaite underwent financial and operational distress in 1992, 2005 and 2015 and negotiated them under different leaders. These leaders from diverse backgrounds used distinct tactics and strategies to bring about organizational turnarounds. The case provides data and information to assess the sustainability of the third turnaround. Hence, it allows a class to explore the paradoxical observation that while “turnaround” inherently implies sustenance of good performance over time, turnaround sustainability is not spontaneous in the real world. The case deals with the performance issues of PSUs, which make significant contributions to the national economy in the case of emerging economies (for example, 5%–8% of the Indian National gross domestic product is contributed by PSUs; https://swarajyamag.com/ideas/psus-are-crucial-for-indias-growth-but-only-if-they-play-a-strategic-role). Under government ownership and management, the poor performance of PSUs is often attributed to bad decision-making by its top management. In contrast, Braithwaite’s top management’s sound contextual decision-making resulted in a jump in its performance during each turnaround phase, but unsound fundamentals resulted in the unsustainability of the turnarounds. Hence, the case enables an exploration of the unique challenges faced by PSU that emanate from legacy roles, monopolistic markets and dual purpose – the concurrent pursuit of profits and social welfare. Consequently, the case allows an examination of the reasons for the distress of PSUs and the viability of turnaround strategies in the context of the broader Business–Government–Society landscape in emerging economies. Complexity academic level The case is written for use in the MBA elective course covering “Strategic Revival and Turnaround Strategies.” It can be used at the beginning of the course to identify reasons for organizational failure/distress or in the later part of the course to discuss the implementation of operational and strategic turnaround strategies. Supplementary materials Teaching notes are available for educators only. Subject code CSS 10: Public Sector Management.

Morning Star BrandCom: combating Covid-19 vaccine hesitancy

Learning outcomes This case is intended to help students of business communication and public relations to trace the effects of communication by public figures and understand essential elements of designing effective communication. After working through the case and assignment questions, the students will be able to:understand the drivers of vaccine hesitancy;analyze the effects of mass communication on public sentiment, in a fast-changing public health situation; anddesign interventions to influence public awareness and action, using a simple model (5W) for mass communication. Case overview/synopsis As the vaccines first arrived after the devastating first wave of the Covid-19 pandemic, Indians hesitated to take the shot. Vaccine hesitancy, a worldwide phenomenon, hampered the uptake of the first Covid vaccines despite the dark clouds of the lethal disease. The case looks at the massive problem of vaccine hesitancy and how an integrated communication strategy could overcome and mitigate the challenge. The case protagonist, the leader of a communications agency, looks at the messaging, medium and platforms needed for strategic communication pitch to combat this vaccine hesitancy. Complexity academic level The case was designed for use in a graduate-level course in business communication. This case may be positioned toward the middle or end of the course to illustrate mass communication strategy for pressing and sensitive challenges. The case may also be used in a course on public relations, both at graduate and undergraduate levels. Supplementary materials Teaching notes are available for educators only. Subject code CSS 8: Marketing.

SigmaTel: Adoption of distributor management system

The SigmaTel case deals with sales and distribution, channel management, and technology adoption issues. SigmaTel, part of a large and diversified corporate conglomerate, is the largest telecom operator in India. It entered a highly competitive market and quickly rose to the top spot on the back of cheap data and call rates and a strong 4G network. The case is set in 2021 when the company implements Distributor Management System (DMS)—a technology solution to streamline distributor operations. The primary decision point that the case protagonist, Sanjay Prakash, Head of Sales at SigmaTel, Delhi, faces is how to proceed in light of unexpected challenges that the initiative is facing. Should he recommend that SigmaTel proceed with the rollout? If yes, then how does he overcome distributor resistance and conflict? Failure to adopt DMS can impact the strategic business goals of SigmaTel.

Attitune music: the econometrics of jazz

Theoretical basis This study aims to use a variant from the family of discrete choice models, i.e. the logit model, to analyse the relationship between the Y dependent and X explanatory variables. This model addresses the linear probability model's main drawback by constraining the probabilities of the Y outcome between 0 and 1. The logit model also offers an extra advantage, in that it can provide odd ratio estimations. Research methodology This is a compact case written specifically to teach statistics, econometrics and research method. It has an accompanying data set for the case-users to do hands-on statistical analyses. The data set has been collected from a questionnaire survey from the students enrolled in Attitune, i.e. the music school that the case protagonist founded. Case overview/synopsis The case revolves around a relatively new music school, Attitune Music, established in July 2017 in the heart of the capital city of a northern state in Malaysia. Michael Lee Wei-Pin was the founder of Attitune Music Sdn. Bhd. He was also one of the four music instructors of Attitune Music. His speciality instruments were the guitar and the piano. The case opens with the case protagonist, Michael, pondering over Attitune’s performance in terms of its music students’ enrolment. Attitune faced a major challenge – its student enrolment had remained more or less constant since its establishment. Low and/or constant number of students could ultimately translate into stagnant or even worse, shrinking revenues for Attitune. To attract more students, Michael had been toying with the idea of injecting new elements into Attitune’s music lessons, something different from what other music schools were offering and that could be unique selling points for Attitune. With this in mind, Michael surveyed Attitune’s students to gather information that could help him gauge the potential and feasibility of his idea. Complexity academic level This case is well positioned to be perhaps the pioneer Malaysian teaching case to be written to teach courses in statistics, econometrics and research methods. The case can be easily adapted to teach at either the introductory or at an advanced level.

Ichalkaranji: India’s Manchester needs to weave magic

Supplementary materials The case includes links to video clips on textile and apparel manufacture to familiarize students with the textile manufacturing process. The case also provides links to audio and video clips of the case protagonist discussing the strengths and weaknesses of the cluster at IK. Learning outcomes The case offers opportunities for the learner to analyze the situation from three cases as follows: industry, cluster (broadly location) and firm. Specific teaching objectives are as follows: How to identify and analyze the drivers of competitiveness of a cluster. Assess the strength of clusters using Porter’s Diamond framework. Map the linkages between players of a cluster as follows: across firms, industries and public organizations. Benchmark and compare clusters to identify opportunities for upgrading competitiveness. Case overview/synopsis The case describes the challenge facing Mr Nikunj Bagdia, the owner and chief executive of Ken Enterprises Private Limited (Ken), a textile manufacturing unit located in the town of Ichalkaranji (IK), in October of 2019. IK boasts the largest number of cutting-edge air-jet looms in India and Ken is IK’s largest exporter of woven textile fabrics. However, IK lags the textile and apparel manufacturing cluster of Tiruppur, in another region of the country. The case enables a microeconomic analysis of the business environment of industrial clusters and a cluster mapping exercise, which helps identify opportunities for enhancing IK’s textile cluster. As the case closes, Nikunj is trying to prioritize opportunities that could emerge from the analyzes. Complexity academic level Masters/MBA level courses on competitiveness, strategy for economic development and microeconomics of competitiveness. Subject Code CSS 11: Strategy.

Promprylad.Renovation: impact investing in emerging markets

Learning outcomes The learning outcomes of this paper is as follows: to structure the impact investing phenomenon and distinguish it from traditional investing or philanthropy, including the motivation of investors in impact investing projects; to analyse stakeholders in impact investing projects according to four main categories; to structure the implementation model of the theory of change in the context of impact investing; to build managerial decisions concerning the development of impact investing projects in crisis situations. Case overview/synopsis The case describes the development path of the Promprylad.Renovation project from its concept to the critical moment at the end of 2018. Yuriy Fyliuk – the case protagonist, acts as the main ideologist and leader of the project, the essence of which is the establishment of an innovation centre on the area of the old Promprylad plant in Ivano-Frankivsk. Impact investing was selected as the main project development tool, as it allows for attracting investors who share the aspiration for positive change of the city and potential financial benefit. The project is implemented in several stages as follows: partner involvement (Insha Osvita, MitOst, Pact Ukraine and LvBS), vision finalisation and research (together with Stanford Research Institute, Zotov & Co, FORMA Architects, Moris Group, etc.), the launch of the pilot floor (attracting more than $683,000 from allocated grants and more than $590,000 of private investments). Open equity crowdfunding and the purchase of the entire plant, with its subsequent renovation, should be the next stage. As of 2017, agreements have been reached to pay fully for the purchase of the plant by the end of 2019. After a successful pilot and lengthy negotiations, it was agreed that $1,000,000 should be paid by the end of 2018 and $2,000,000 by the end of 2019 to complete the buyout. However, as of the end of 2018, martial law was proclaimed in Ukraine. Hence, considering the risks, a major US investor refuses to contribute. The main dilemma is either to find a suitable solution to complete the buyout of the plant or to stop the project. Complexity academic level This case can be used in the master’s programmes of business schools (MBA, Executive MBA, Entrepreneurship, etc.), as well as in training programmes for public and state sector managers. The case study will be particularly useful for mixed groups with representatives from different sectors of the economy. This case study might be taught in the following disciplines: social entrepreneurship, social investing, leadership and crisis management. The subject of impact investing allows recognition of the benefits of combined cross-sectoral efforts over joint projects. Supplementary materials Teaching notes are available for educators only. Subject code CSS 7: Management science.

Heard it through the Grapevine

Purposes This study paper aims to analyse a real life case based on Human Resource Management, specifically the concepts of the recruitment process and the grapevine. Theoretical basis The main topic is HRM related. Concepts introduced include recruitment process and grapevine. Research methodology The information for the case was attained from one-on-one interviews with the main case protagonist, Sabrina (name of all characters in the case and organisations have been changed as per request of the interviewee. However, all the happenings in the case are real). Case overview/synopsis This case deals with the tricky situation faced by Sabrina, an certain employee of an international development organisation, (an institution focussing on aiding development in economically underdeveloped countries), who finds herself in when she inadvertently comes across some negative information about a job candidate currently in the middle of the recruitment process, who, if successful, will become her colleague and work closely with her in future. It has taken months to find this candidate, and if hired should lighten Sabrina’s workload tremendously. The preliminary decision maker in the case is Sabrina, but the ultimate management decision will have to be made by her boss John Nash. Complexity academic level The case can be used at undergraduate and graduate level. The main topic is Human Resource Management (HRM) related. It is of preliminary level of difficulty. There are no specific prerequisites. Concepts introduced include recruitment process and grapevine.

Towny: a new business model for a mobile economy

Research methodology This case was developed from interviews the author held with Nathan Baumeister, the protagonist in the case and Towny CEO; Hannah Franzen, a Towny marketing employee discussed in the case; and Mallory Franzen, Hannah’s sister-in-law and the company representative for Boomn, the digital marketing agency discussed in the case. In addition, secondary research on the USA retail industry was performed by the author. The case was class-tested four times by the author, with Hannah Franzen and Mallory Franzen initially visiting as case protagonists. This resulted in the case of refinements based on student discussion. Case overview/synopsis Towny: A new business model for a mobile economy shares the context and issues surrounding CEO Nathan Baumeister in the spring of 2018 at Towny, a unique business helping local businesses connect with their consumers over mobile devices. The company began going to market based on the vision of its owner and Nathan’s boss, Don Shafer. It had quickly approached local business clients and consumers in five key markets. The purpose of the case is to allow students the opportunity to discuss key new venture creation concepts and scenarios such as customer value proposition, competitive advantage and digital marketing. Complexity academic level This case was developed to be used in an undergraduate course in entrepreneurship. The particular course, new venture finance: the entrepreneur’s perspective, teaches the general subject of entrepreneurial finance through financial models such as free cash flow and valuation, case discussions with entrepreneurs visiting as facilitators and protagonists and business concept planning and forecasting. This case helps train students on how to incorporate online marketing costs into their business concept plans. Relevant courses and topics also include small business management and entrepreneurial financial management.

Advertising or branding: it is different

Supplementary materials Teaching Notes are available for educators only. Learning outcomes The learning outcomes are as follows: to understand the linkage between brand development and advertising/marketing communications plan; and to understand the critical role of branding for organizations and its clients against competition in a business-to-business environment. Case overview/synopsis The case presents a very dilemma faced by firms such as Bharat Oil Company in developing economies such as India. The public sector entities in India have always enjoyed state-vested power, authority and control. Employees in the organizations lack the appreciation for concepts such as branding and marketing communications. It is a similar situation with the case protagonist Deepak Dixit. The company has completed its first phase of marketing communications/advertising exercise for Prosell, the petrochemical brand. Deepak’s boss Aakash wants Deepak to prepare the marketing communications plan for the second phase of Prosell. Deepak’s meeting with the customers and line managers left him perturbed about the success of the first phase of brand Prosell. The case ends at a point where Deepak has to come up with a branding and marketing communications plan rather than an advertising plan. Research methods: this case is based on data gathered from primary interviews with the case protagonist (name disguised), five line managers and eleven actual business customers of the Bharat Oil Company. Secondary data has been collected from published reports and company website. The name of the company has been disguised. Complexity academic level Postgraduate, Executive, Undergraduate. Subject code CSS 8: Marketing.

EDP – Portugal’s main energy producer that everyone loved to hate

Research methodology This study has used public sources, interview with one of the case protagonists. Case overview/synopsis This business case portrays the problems that an energy producing company faced in Portugal, in its transition from being a public company to becoming privatized. The Portuguese Government issued EDP with generous subsidies to guarantee its future profits and privatization success, but a few years later, after EDP was fully privatized, there was great political pressure to downsize such subsidies. The case describes the main steps taken by EDP from its creation and privatization, culminating at the end of 2017, where it was heavily criticized by media and political parties due to a high value of subsidies that had been granted to the company by the Portuguese Government in the past, while it was still a public company, and the renegotiation of those same subsidies after it had been privatized. EDP’s President António Mexia was under police investigation due to having led the renegotiation talks in 2007, and it was feared that EDP’s investors could refrain from investing in the company. Should EDP campaign to clear its good name, or would it be better to let the matter fall with the passing of time? Could the share value be affected? Should EDP prepare itself for loss of revenue due to an eventual downsizing of the subsidies? Complexity academic level This study covers energy sector, privatization issues and government support. The relevance of this study is good for use in Business Schools and MBA courses.

Pedagogical Discussion Cases in Higher Education: The Role of Knowledge Sharing in Students’ Learning

The research incorporates a knowledge sharing approach, in an undergraduate classroom, using discussion cases to investigate the role of knowledge sharing on students working in groups to find solutions for the cases. The goal is to provide empirical evidence as well as additional information on knowledge sharing among students in group settings using discussion cases. A survey was adopted to investigate the relationships between the environmental factors, motivational factors, students’ individual characteristics, the lecturer’s role, the industry representative’s role and knowledge sharing - outside and inside of the class - on students’ learning experiences and outcomes. The framework was modified from existing frameworks and current literature’s lessons learned on knowledge sharing approaches in educational contexts. The results showed that environmental factors positively influenced the students’ knowledge sharing motivation. In addition, the industry representatives (case protagonists) active involvement in the classroom had a significant impact on the students’ knowledge sharing behaviour. This finding contributes to future directions on developing strategies to improve knowledge sharing in higher education classrooms through enhancing classroom environment as well as involving industry representatives when designing the classroom experience.

Employment of Persons with Disabilities (PWDs) in Malaysia: Moving Policy Rhetoric into Action

The case portrays a macro-view of human resource management (HRM) at the national policy level. The case is imbued with concepts to promote responsible HRM, social and workplace inclusion of marginal groups. Set against a canvas of general rights and challenges of persons with disabilities (PWDs), the case showcases the Malaysian government’s initiatives spearheaded by the Social Welfare Department (JKM) to boost PWD employment in its public service. The case revolves around the case protagonist, Aleeya Tan, the head of assistant director of the division of PWD career development in JKM. Relatively inexperienced in PWD employment, Aleeya was tasked to oversee the progress of an affirmative policy on PWD employment that required every public department to employ at least 1 per cent PWDs in their workforce. The catch—the policy remained rhetoric even three decades after it was passed. Following Malaysia’s recent economic blueprint, the policy was once again resurrected and put under public scrutiny. The case describes personal, institutional, structural, legal and social problems faced by the protagonist to outline strategies to meet the policy overdue target. The case is suitable for postgraduate courses in HRM and/or Employment Policy in Masters in Business Administration. Case learners will acquire conceptual knowledge on the subject, problem-solving skills and develop positive values towards the PWD community.

SmartPooch: pre-venture opportunity assessment

Synopsis In an MBA capstone project course, a team of four mid-career, working professionals had assessed the feasibility of a new venture idea. All four were dog-lovers who had been frustrated by the ineffectiveness of the various dog training programs and products in which they had participated. Their idea was to utilize a novel technology to assist dog owners in the training process. After completing the course, the team met to determine whether SmartPooch was just an interesting idea—or alternatively was a sufficiently promising opportunity that one or more of them would continue to explore it. Research methodology The four students who are the case protagonists conducted both primary and secondary research. In addition, the case writer conducted additional secondary research and consulted with the four students during the development of the case study. Relevant courses and levels Introductory Entrepreneurship course at Master’s or Undergraduate levels Theoretical bases Frameworks from which feasibility analysis questions were derived include Mullins’ New Business Road Test and Osterwalder’s Business Model Canvas. The discussion of opportunity recognition starts with the definition of opportunity drawn from Hansen, D.J.; Shrader, R.; and Monllor, J. (2009), “Composite definitions of entrepreneurial opportunity and their operationalizations: toward a typology”, Frontiers of Entrepreneurship Research, Vol. 29 No. 17.

Fighting Childhood Pneumonia in Uganda

It is January 2014, and the case protagonist, David Milestone (senior advisor at the Center for Accelerating Innovation and Impact at the U.S. Agency for International Development's Global Health Bureau), is preparing for a meeting of global stakeholders and pharmaceutical manufacturers who are interested in reducing mortality caused by childhood pneumonia and are prepared to donate $10 million to support this effort.Milestone's goal is to propose a strategy to address childhood pneumonia in Uganda, toward which the $10 million donation would go. In addition to effectively and sustainably reducing childhood pneumonia deaths, the plan must align the interests of various stakeholders behind the problem. A successful strategy in Uganda could be a model for interventions elsewhere. The United Nations Commission on Lifesaving Commodities for Women and Children recently identified Uganda as a “pathfinder” country, meaning it could serve as the example for other countries wrestling with the same issues. This is a remarkable opportunity to change the lives of children in Uganda—and all around the world.After reading and analyzing the case, students will be able to: Perform a stakeholder analysis Appreciate the challenges involved in improving public health, especially in developing countries Create a patient journey and use it to identify potential impact points

The Opening Section: Warner-Lambert and Comvia Networks

The opening section of a business case study is more than an introduction. We want readers to put themselves in the role of the case protagonist, so key pieces of information need to be in it. This note offers two different opening paragraphs from actual cases written by the same author. The material provides an opportunity to compare and discuss each. Although the note was written to generate a discussion on writing an effective opening section for case writing workshops, it is useful for anyone new to case writing. Excerpt UVA-PHA-0066 Apr. 12, 2012 The Opening Section: Warner-Lambert and Comvia Networks Readers first encounter your work through the title and the opening section, which is typically one or two paragraphs. Like the beginning of a good novel, the beginning of a case should draw readers in and entice them to continue. It should also introduce the case protagonist, his or her position, organization, and location, a historical context of some kind, and a trigger—a source of tension on which the reader can focus. The two sample openings in this note are drawn from actual business case studies. Please read each and consider where it falls on the continuum of effectiveness. How important is the title? . . .

Marketing a Pure Play E-Tailer: Historical Emporium Inc

The material in this case provides customer data that were available to the case protagonists to make data-driven decisions. From their garage to a 16,000-square-foot warehouse and office in San Jose, California, Chris and Alicia Allen built a business, Historical Emporium Inc. (HEI) that generated nearly $8 million in sales in 2015. They both had previously worked in the technology field. In true techie fashion, the pair continually thought about ways they could use digital tools to increase sales and enhance customer experience. One of the main drivers of HEI's rapid growth had been the steampunk trend that started back in 2006. Initially there were few competitors in the space but as the size of the market grew, so did the competition. Noticing the dip in their sales, the Allen's wanted to pursue avenues to backfill the loss of that business. They returned to the analytics—what should they concentrate on to draw new customers and keep existing customers engaged? Excerpt UVA-M-0901 Rev. Sept. 19, 2016 Marketing a Pure Play E-Tailer: Historical Emporium Inc. Chris Allen, CFO of Historical Emporium Inc. (HEI), had always wanted to become an entrepreneur, though he had never envisioned himself in the historical clothing retail business. He was a financial professional who had worked for Hewlett-Packard and several start-ups and consultancies in Silicon Valley. His father, Terry, had become a Civil War reenactor and operated a small traveling store that offered Civil War–style clothing for men throughout the U.S. Midwest. Chris's wife, Alicia, a techie with a business degree, worked as a product development consultant and helped develop business websites. By the time Chris and Alicia had two children, they were ready to pursue a business that would offer more flexibility than the average start-up in Silicon Valley. So in 2003, Alicia and Chris decided to take a crack at selling historical costumes and took over the business but added a twist—instead of a traveling store, they would become an online retailer. From their garage to a 16,000-square-foot warehouse and office in San Jose, California, the Allens built a business that generated nearly $ 8million in sales in 2015. And in true techie fashion, the pair continually thought about other ways they could use digital tools to increase sales and enhance customer experience. The number of available online marketing campaigns was vast, but each one cost money and the Allens were looking for the best bang for their click. . . .