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In 2011, two avid golfers were having a debate over whether scores were lower on Sundays. One of the golfers believed that courses were made easier on Sunday for viewers who wanted to see low scores. The other golfer countered that all the pressure on the golfers on Sunday would surely raise their scores and, in fact, the television coverage would make things worse.<br><br>Using a dataset from the 2011 season, various questions about golfers and golf tournament can be addressed. These include: Are scores different from the first day to the last day? Are scores different across the four rounds? Are young people doing better than those who are older? Do long hitters have lower scores? How important is driving accuracy in determining one’s score? Do people putt for dough and drive for show?<br><br>The dataset is available from the case author.<br><br>The dataset contains over 1,000 responses across the four generations (Veterans, Boomers, Gen X, Gen Y). It also contains enough responses to deal with the question of whether there were three sub-generations of Boomers.

On October 1, 2010, Scotiabank implemented changes to its organizational structure that realigned its business globally and positioned it for further growth. Under the new structure, the bank’s businesses were regrouped into four business lines: Canadian Banking, International Banking, Global Banking and Markets, and Global Wealth Management. The bank had to figure out how to help individuals improve on working together across business lines. The formalization of cross-collaboration was through the newly instituted leadership teams. Team members had a joint accountability to ensure that the bank achieved optimum results in the geographic region in which the leadership team operated. And it was up to the team to consider how it was going to leverage collaboration. These teams were a significant departure from the behaviours and activities expected only a few months ago – people reported up to their own business line and did not worry about what anyone else in the particular geographic market was doing. There had been anecdotal evidence that a number of the leadership teams had success during the first few months. Still the sentiment among the senior leaders of the bank was that the implementation of the leadership teams was associated with several challenges.

This case describes the creation of Dr. Tim’s Pet Food Company, a small company centred on providing superior nutrition for dogs used for athletic and competitive purposes. The company has developed a brand image of high quality and premium natural ingredients, and has gradually extended its product line while maintaining the quality of its original formula. Although the company has been very successful and has grown at an ever-increasing rate, its founder is concerned about the difficulties of expansion that Dr. Tim’s Pet Food now faces. Located in an isolated area of the Upper Peninsula of Michigan, the company is not easily accessible to sales representatives or larger populations. Furthermore, the company’s founder does not want the brand to lose its high quality or natural image, and is therefore resistant to the idea of distributing his company’s products in large discount retail outlets. In addition, the founder of Dr. Tim’s Pet Food Company runs a veterinary hospital and is therefore hoping to limit the physical expansion of his newest entrepreneurial project. While keeping all of these limitations in mind, the case presents four growth strategies open to Dr. Tim’s Pet Food Company: penetration, product development, market development and diversification. Students are asked to consider which option would be best suited to the company’s expansion based on the information provided.

This case concerns the bonus structure for a representative sales team. Pharma Talent, a contract sales company for pharmaceutical companies across Canada, promised its clients that its representatives would drive sales at a lower cost than what the client would incur if it had its own sales force. Historically, it had contracts with products that targeted physicians (e.g., prescription drugs or medical devices); however, a new contract in Ontario involved an over-the-counter (OTC) product. Pharma Talent currently had a pay-for-performance bonus structure that had already been revised three times. Nevertheless, due to the structure of the different territories in Ontario, many sales team members thought the bonus was unfair and very discouraging, while its pay-for-performance structure did not meet the clients' needs.

The case presents a role play between a buyer and a seller who must negotiate a price for a perishable but rare commodity. The case covers the dilemma faced by buyers and sellers when they are in possession of limited information but must still attempt to negotiate a best-case scenario for themselves. This case involves the seller and is used with The Cinnamon Case: Sales Negotiation (Role Play) - (B) The Buyer.

The case presents a role play between a buyer and a seller who must negotiate a price for a perishable but rare commodity. The case covers the dilemma faced by buyers and sellers when they are in possession of limited information but must still attempt to negotiate a best-case scenario for themselves. This case involves the buyer and is used with The Cinnamon Case: Sales Negotiation (Role Play) - (A) The Seller.

This case examines how a premium credit card company, American Express Canada (Amex Canada), is attempting to differentiate itself from its competition and to realize value for—and from—its cardholder members through a focus on providing apt quality services and servicing. In April 2011, the president and chief executive officer of Amex Canada is considering his options in sustaining the company's stance in the ultra-rich end of the premium payment cards segment in the face of competition from credit card companies that previously targeted the Canadian mass market. The situation is compounded by the after-effects of the economic downturn that began in the United States in 2008. Amex Canada has to develop a viable strategic and operational plan to realize its vision of becoming the most respected service brand, an ambition that is founded upon what it calls the Total Service Experience it provides to its card members. The case looks at the history of the company, provides an overview of the Canadian payment card industry, and explores core service and servicing issues salient to the design and provision of the Total Service Experience that Amex Canada hopes will not only satisfy existing cardholders but will attract new card members across its array of payment card options.

On April 13, 2011, slightly more than three months before an annual conference of the Academy of International Business (AIB) was to be held in Nagoya, the program chair of the conference had to decide whether to go ahead with the conference as planned after a massive earthquake struck Japan on March 11, triggering a horrendous tsunami and subsequent radiation leak after damaging a nuclear plant. Each challenge posed a threat to the successful operation of the conference, and the interaction among them, combined with the element of time, rendered the program chair's decision-making process increasingly complex.

DLF was the largest real estate player in India, possessing a strong home market in Delhi and Gurgaon (the National Capital Region, NCR). The Indian real estate market was growing rapidly, and DLF wanted to convert this growth opportunity into a country-wide presence by building significant land reserves. With huge debt on its balance sheet, the company decided to raise finance through equity. The stock markets were on a rise, and the timing was perfect to raise funds from an initial public offering (IPO). The company filed its draft red herring prospectus (DHRP) in May 2006, but soon afterwards the stock market scenario changed, and the company faced complaints from its minority shareholders. The global macroeconomic scenario had become a cause of concern too. DLF was forced to withdraw its DRHP and put its IPO plans on hold. This case is positioned in January 2007, when DLF had resolved its minority shareholders’ issue and had added significant portions to its land reserves. At that juncture, DLF’s management began the process of trying to gauge the circumstances before reintroducing its decision to go public.

The chief executive officer of Royal Bhutan Airlines (Drukair) is concerned about growth and the seasonality of demand for Bhutan’s national airline. The Kingdom of Bhutan, with a population of approximately 700,000, is located east of Nepal between India and China (Tibet). It has recently embarked on a program of modernization, including a move to democracy and promotion of tourism.<br><br> <br><br>The tourism initiative is described as “high value, low volume,” meaning that tourists must contract with a local tourist operator and pay minimum daily tariffs. Drukair has witnessed a steady growth in passengers, which is correlated closely with tourist visits, mostly from the West and Japan. Tourist tickets are booked by in-country tour operators; there are no Internet bookings at the time of the case.<br><br>The CEO is wondering what can be done to improve overall business. He is considering interlining, the practice of joining with other airlines, in order to give passengers the opportunity to book tickets from their home countries. Marketing for growth is also a concern, and as Drukair is the only carrier in Bhutan, the CEO wonders if he should be promoting tourism in the country as part of his marketing plan.

Developed as a companion to the Red Brand Canners (RBC) case, the starting point in this case is the improvement in performance resulting from the optimization approach in the original case. However, RBC’s vice president of operations is concerned about the quality and quantity mix of the most recent tomato crop received from Greenfield Farms (GF). RBC’s preferred quality and quantity mixes differ significantly from the current harvest. To RBC, the issue is how to motivate the supplier to produce a crop more in line with RBC’s needs. Initially, both firms in the B2B section of the supply chain try to find a combination that would be mutually beneficial — an attempt that fails because of conflicts of interest. RBC’s objective might be accomplished by taking a supply chain approach and modifying the delivery contract by an appropriate pricing scheme. The task is to identify and calibrate a pricing scheme that will realize the supply chain’s maximum performance and lead to a stable win-win solution. The derivation of the supply chain optimal prices is carried out by developing and solving a linear optimization model.

HIGHLY COMMENDED CASE - Family Business Runner-up, 2012 European Foundation for Management Development (EFMD) Case Writing Competition. Scholtes Waterservices was a second-generation family firm in the Netherlands that specialized in installing and selling water pipes, primarily for the horticultural industry. In 2008, Rijk Scholtes Jr. and his brother, Ben, took over management of the firm from their father and gradually assumed ownership through a buyout plan. It soon became evident that their father, Rijk Sr., could not let go of the company. This especially affected Rijk Jr., as he worked in an office close to the place where Rijk Sr. lived. As a result, the relationship between father and son began to steadily deteriorate. Moreover, Rijk Jr. began to feel isolated as the relationship and collaboration between Rijk Sr. and Ben was not adversely affected. Instead, the once-strong relationship between the brothers began to deteriorate. Rijk Jr. was left wondering whether anything could be done to rectify the situation or whether it was time to leave the family firm.

The case is about a non-profit organization located in Manchester, England. As a regional association helping smaller voluntary organizations and groups survive and grow, the organization itself depends on fundraising and donations and runs on project-based funding. The projects normally run for three to five years. Hiring and training new employees every two to three months is common. Due to project timelines, employees leave as soon as they find another job. Many complain about the lack of development opportunities within the organization. The chief executive officer has seven people working for him and needs to make a plan to retain his employees for the whole life of each project. For this purpose, he has decided to devise training and development programs for them. There are different options available for this purpose, each with pros and cons. Considering scarce funding, small project tenure, and his goal to provide fair opportunities for all, he must decide which option best fits his organization’s needs and resources.

As a birthday present, Mike has just been given a new smartphone by his girlfriend, Molly. However, it is not the phone he wants. Over the course of a few days, Mike struggles with the decision of whether to return the phone and get the one he wants, or keep the one he received as a gift. The case is written from the perspective of the consumer, and deals with consumer behaviour issues such as anticipatory regret. It would be useful in an introductory marketing or undergraduate consumer behaviour course.

Facebook’s director of policy communications was faced with a situation caused by a YouTube video posted by the non-governmental organization (NGO) Greenpeace. This video publicly critiqued the environmental sustainability of Facebook’s decision to build a new data centre, its main objection being that the new facility would be connected to a local utility provider that supplied electricity mainly from the burning of coal, one of the largest sources of global warming. This video was only the latest of a series of actions, commenced by Greenpeace eight months earlier, immediately following Facebook’s decision to build the new facility. Greenpeace had dubbed these actions the “Unfriend Coal Campaign,” which now had 500,000 followers and had generated numerous media stories. Greenpeace’s goal was to pressure Facebook into adopting cleaner energy policies by leveraging Facebook’s own social media against the company. As Facebook had no plans to stop building the facility, its director needed to figure out the best course of action to take in response to the mounting pressure from Greenpeace, in order to alleviate the increasingly negative attention from media and consumers.

Souk el Tayeb, Lebanon’s first weekly farmers’ market, and Tawlet, a farmers’ restaurant — the former adopting the legal structure of an NGO and the latter being an income-generating company — were joined by one vision to “celebrate food and traditions that unite communities and support small-scale farmers and producers and a culture of sustainable agriculture.” Souk el Tayeb’s founder, Kamal Mouzawak, first launched Souk el Tayeb in May 2004 in Beirut, Lebanon. The idea was to create a communal space for farmers across the country to sell their organic produce and products. The overarching vision was to create a platform that joined different people celebrating food, culture, and traditions and promoted and supported the agricultural sector in Lebanon. Mouzawak and his business partner were in the process of brainstorming ways to grow the impact of their business without compromising quality standards, all while meeting the ever-looming challenge of financial sustainability.

This is one exercise in a 4-part series entitled Job Offer Negotiation Exercises. This exercise gives participants the opportunity to act as the Maximum Motivation candidate in a job offer negotiation.<br><br>The purpose of this role-play case series is to give participants the opportunity to experience a job offer negotiation as both the job candidate and the employer. The exercise involves two distinct negotiation scenarios, allowing participants the opportunity to play both roles and to practice and apply concepts and skills learned in the first negotiation session. If desired, only one of the two scenarios can be negotiated if only one hour is available for the activity. One negotiation occurs for a job with a company called Maximum Motivation (A and B cases) and the other is for a job with a company called People Power (C and D cases). Participants work in pairs, with one playing the role of the job candidate and the other playing the role of the company representative. In both scenarios, the company considers the candidate to be the top applicant and would like to finalize the hire. Also in both scenarios, the job candidate has an acceptable alternative — another job offer from a rival company called PerformanceMax — and needs to accept or decline the PerformanceMax offer the next day. Thus, it is important that both sides reach an acceptable employment arrangement during this negotiation, or the candidate will not be hired. When both sides have negotiated an acceptable agreement, or when either partner decides to end the negotiation, the negotiation is over. After group discussion, participants find a different partner who last played the opposite role, switch roles, and complete the second negotiation scenario.

This is one exercise in a 4-part series entitled Job Offer Negotiation Exercises. This exercise gives participants the opportunity to act as the Maximum Motivation representative in a job offer negotiation.

This is one exercise in a 4-part series entitled Job Offer Negotiation Exercises. This exercise gives participants the opportunity to act as the candidate in a job offer negotiation with People Power.

This is one exercise in a 4-part series entitled Job Offer Negotiation Exercises. This exercise gives participants the opportunity to act as the People Power representative in a job offer negotiation.