This B2B role-play case, with its six supplements, is a six part interaction between competing Original Equipment Manufacturers, Distributors and End Users, each with their own business priorities. It is an excellent case to explore organizational buying behaviour, the discipline of the selling process, and the management of sales resources (time) as an asset. It can be included in an introductory marketing course at the MBA or undergraduate level. It is equally effective for executive development. It also fits in a B2B marketing course to explore organizational buying behaviour, or in the introduction module of a sales management course.
In 2001, the Yellow Tail brand of wines, launched in partnership with Australia's Casella Wines, achieved considerable success in the US market, despite intense competition from Californian, Italian, and Chilean wines. However, although Yellow Tail's first years were marked by exceptional growth-early batches sold out so quickly that extra bottles had to be shipped by plane-sales began to slow by the decade's end. Should Yellow Tail change its strategy? And should it consider investing in other products, or even product categories? In this case, students analyze how a brand like Yellow Tail can regain its momentum.
This case explores the turnaround and corporate renewal of the Chicago Blackhawks professional hockey team, which transformed from one of the worst-run organizations in all of professional sports in 2007 to one that won the Stanley Cup (the National Hockey League championship trophy) in 2010. W. Rockwell "Rocky" Wirtz was faced with making critical decisions shortly after inheriting the team from his father, who was the individual most associated with the organization's decline. The team faced financial trouble and had narrowly avoided missing payroll; the previous customer relations strategy (which included refusing to televise home games or to conduct effective marketing) had resulted in significantly diminished brand value; and management and player personnel were devoid of effective leadership. At its nadir, the team was named "The Worst Franchise in Professional Sports" by ESPN in 2004. After assuming control, Rocky embarked on an ambitious corporate renewal strategy that included the following components: • Leadership: Install a new management team with clear goals and creative ideas about how to turn around the organization • Culture: Reward players for accomplishing their goals and establish a performance-based culture • Financial: Seek new corporate sponsorships and increase ticket prices once the team established a winning recordBrand and Marketing: Send a clear message that the team was intent upon winning the championship and design a customer-focused marketing strategy
Examines the career of Marc Rich, the world's leading commodity trader before his criminal indictment in the United States in 1983. The case surveys the historical growth of commodity trading, especially in metals, from the late nineteenth century, and its evolving forms as governments intervened in markets after 1945. Rich joined Philipp Brothers, then the largest commodity trader, in 1954. He formed his own firm two decades later. He was instrumental in the creation of a spot market in petroleum, and assumed a pivotal role in the industry during the 1970s by selling Iranian oil to Israel and South Africa. The case provides a means to explore the rationale and advantages of giant commodity traders, as well as enabling students to debate corporate use of tax havens.
In February 2007, Jonah Nobleza started Marina Gana Vida ("MGV") in the Davao coastal area in the Philippines, which historically had been the home of many subsistence fishermen living in poverty. MGV sold hatchery-bred fry fish seed stocks, fresh fish and packaged fish products produced in its own processing plant. The main social objective of MGV was to help the poor living in the area through job or business opportunities so that some day they could lift their households out of poverty. Since 2009, MGV had been gradually meeting its social, environmental and economic goals. It provided direct and indirect employment to many poor households. Nobleza faced conflicting goals as he tried to scale up MGV's production. Should he replace the women workers with machines that could produce more jars of processed fish products per day? Without a sizable business, he would have trouble proving his successful business model to those who would be willing to provide the much-needed funds to MGV. What could he do to balance his philanthropic and business goals in a social enterprise such as MGV?
It was April 10, 2011, when the head of Whirlpool's Asia International Procurement Office in Shanghai was informed by his colleagues that the company was about to launch a new energy-efficient refrigerator model in just six months. For the new refrigerator model, the basic difference was in the motor; the current AC motor would need to be replaced with a DC motor, which was more efficient but also more expensive. He would have to find a suitable supplier of DC motors in a very short time. Delayed sourcing of components would cause delays in the production of a new refrigerator, and thus, a later launch of new products. Within the home-appliance industry, the fierce level of competition meant that any delays in launching new products would result in a loss of sales for the stragglers. How should Whirlpool go about the process of finding a suitable supplier for the required DC motor parts? Should the company explore the possibility of developing their current supplier, or should they quickly engage an existing supplier of DC motors?
It was April 10, 2011, when the head of Whirlpool’s Asia International Procurement Office in Shanghai was informed by his colleagues that the company was about to launch a new energy-efficient refrigerator model in just six months. For the new refrigerator model, the basic difference was in the motor; the current AC motor would need to be replaced with a DC motor, which was more efficient but also more expensive. He would have to find a suitable supplier of DC motors in a very short time. Delayed sourcing of components would cause delays in the production of a new refrigerator and result in a later launch of new products. Within the home-appliance industry, the fierce level of competition meant that any delays in launching new products would result in a loss of sales. How should Whirlpool go about the process of finding a suitable supplier for the required DC motor parts? Should the company explore the possibility of developing its current supplier, or should it quickly engage an existing supplier of DC motors?
This case deals with a dilemma faced by the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) in 2007. Following the elimination of India from the knock-out phase of the World Cup 2007 championship, the BCCI and team sponsors found themselves at a crossroads. Others were vying with cricket for the advertising budgets of companies, and spectator interest for cricket was on the wane. The vice president of the BCCI had to perform a situation analysis after the backlash from fans and assess the way forward for the sport after the team’s poor performance in the World Cup. The case facilitates an analysis of the environment for cricket in India in 2007 and an assessment of the need for next steps for the game to regain its preeminent status among sports fans in the country.
Annapurna Mahila Mandal (AMM), Mumbai, is a trust that provides micro credit and other services to poor working women. It was established in 1975 by a veteran Goa freedom fighter and social entrepreneur and her late husband, a union leader, in the wake of a decade-long millworkers’ strike in Mumbai. Though AMM was a pioneer in the field of urban microfinance, by 1982 it slowly started losing its focus on microfinance and diverted to other social activities, which were difficult to scale up and thus started to turn unviable. In 1993, when AMM’s chairperson began looking after the operations, she realized that the external environment was evolving quickly with changes in regulations, rising competition, rising aspirations of microfinance clients, etc. If not tackled on time, these potential threats could jeopardize the survival of the organization. AMM needed to develop a very clear vision as to which direction it should grow in in order to become sustainable without losing its focus on the core objective — the empowerment of poor women.
This case deals with a dilemma faced by the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) in 2007. Following the elimination of India from the knock-out phase of the World Cup 2007 championship, the BCCI and team sponsors found themselves at a crossroads. Others were vying with cricket for the advertising budgets of companies, and spectator interest for cricket was on the wane. The vice president of the BCCI had to perform a situation analysis after the backlash from fans and assess the way forward for the sport after the team's poor performance in the World Cup. The case facilitates an analysis of the environment for cricket in India in 2007 and an assessment of the need for next steps for the game to regain its preeminent status among sports fans in the country.
This case deals with cricket in India following the 2007 World Cup and leading to the early manifestations of the Indian Premier League's Twenty20 cricket championship (IPLT20). Following the elimination of India from the knock-out phase of the World Cup 2007 (One Day Cricket) championship, the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) and team sponsors found themselves at a crossroads. Other sports and entities were competing with cricket for companies' advertising budgets and, in this setting, the IPLT20 was born. As the IPLT20 caught the imagination of viewers, the Sahara Group, an Indian conglomerate, was faced with an opportunity to bid for a new franchise, which could be one of two additional teams to join the existing eight-team IPLT20. The Sahara Group had been apprehensive about continuing its sponsorship of the Indian test team in the past and had missed the opportunity to own a franchise at the launch of the IPLT20 two years earlier. This case allows for an analysis of the Indian cricket environment in 2007 and the evolution of the IPLT20, as well as an assessment of a bid by the Sahara Group to enter the IPLT20.
Annapurna Mahila Mandal (AMM), Mumbai, is a trust that provides micro credit and other services to poor working women. It was established in 1975 by a veteran Goa freedom fighter and social entrepreneur and her late husband, a union leader, in the wake of a decade-long millworkers' strike in Mumbai. Though AMM was a pioneer in the field of urban microfinance, by 1982 it slowly started losing its focus on microfinance and diverted to other social activities, which were difficult to scale up and thus started to turn unviable. In 1993, when AMM's chairperson began looking after the operations, she realized that the external environment was evolving quickly with changes in regulations, rising competition, rising aspirations of microfinance clients, etc. If not tackled on time, these potential threats could jeopardize the survival of the organization. AMM needed to develop a very clear vision as to which direction it should grow in in order to become sustainable without losing its focus on the core objective - the empowerment of poor women.