個案總覽

Sharmaji's Canteen was the only cafeteria on the campus of a prominent management institute in Gurgaon, India. The business had been operating since 1990 and its success depended on a captive residential population of primarily students and staff. The lockdowns imposed by the Government of India in March 2020 to control the spread of the COVID-19 virus led to the closure of the academic programs. During the pandemic, students had become accustomed to more choices offered by online food delivery that they felt Sharmaji's Canteen did not match. The business was losing sales and profitability was eroding. The owner needed to decide between three different revival strategies based on the data collected.

FlowerAura.com (FA)—established in 2010 in Gurgaon, India—was an online-first gifting company. FA offered door-to-door delivery of flowers, cakes, and gift items, along with personalized messages, across two hundred cities in India. In early 2022, the co-founder and chief executive officer of FA needed to revitalize the FA brand to drive sales and margins. He debated whether to (a) adopt a more aggressive sales initiative, which would elicit strong competitive retaliation, or (b) build the FA brand, which could increase the gross margins without a competitive response. The bottom line was that he had to make the best decision for his company in the short and long term.

In 2021, Apple Inc. (Apple), the global manufacturer and seller of consumer electronics, computer software, and online services based in California, was considering entering the domestic market in India. With Tim Cook as leader, the company sold some of the world’s most popular products, including iPad, iPhone, iPod, MacBook, iTunes, Apple Watch, Apple Smart TV, and Apple Music. The company sold its products both through online and physical retail stores across the world, as well as distributing its products through third-party wholesalers and resellers. In India, Apple operated only through third-party partners and authorized resellers, which meant that it was not taking advantage of the government’s foreign direct investment opportunities by operating directly within the Indian retail market. The main challenge Apple faced was the price sensitive Indian consumer, which contrasted with the company’s premium pricing strategy. Cook was eager to enter the lucrative and fast-growing Indian consumer technology segment. However, the company would have to make a decision, especially with strong competitors such as Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd. (Samsung) already dominating the Indian market. Should Apple retain its premium status and pricing strategy or lower its prices to appeal to more price sensitive Indian consumers?

Ehmke Manufacturing Company, Inc., a technical fabric products company established in 1929 in Philadelphia, United States, was facing challenges attracting and retaining employees. In the first half of 2022, issues such as critical open positions and an exponential number of resignations were being experienced across numerous industries around the globe. On June 1, 2022, the company’s chief executive officer met with his entire management team to discuss his company’s dilemma and various options, including the reputation of the company’s brand. He had to decide how to manage the increasing workforce challenge, despite unprecedentedly high demand for his company’s products and services. His company’s growth projections, from a relatively small company to a medium-size international business, did not account for customer disappointments due to product order delays, especially considering that the company manufactured products used for critical search-and-rescue, military, and other governmental applications in the United States and allied countries. The chief executive officer had three options: accept current conditions, increase wages and benefits, or outsource production.

Spreadsheet to accompany product #W31040.

FlowerAura.com (FA)-established in 2010 in Gurgaon, India-was an online-first gifting company. FA offered door-to-door delivery of flowers, cakes, and gift items, along with personalized messages, across two hundred cities in India. In early 2022, the co-founder and chief executive officer of FA needed to revitalize the FA brand to drive sales and margins. He debated whether to (a) adopt a more aggressive sales initiative, which would elicit strong competitive retaliation, or (b) build the FA brand, which could increase the gross margins without a competitive response. The bottom line was that he had to make the best decision for his company in the short and long term.

Women entrepreneurs (WEs) operate at all levels of society in Morocco. But, what it is really like to be a self-employed woman in this emerging economy? Does it matter where you live if you want to start your own business? What skills do you need? Where and how can you get start-up funds? Will anybody help you? Taking a marketing approach, this case study explores factors in the business environment of this emerging economy that Moroccan WEs face as they start their own businesses and struggle to become successful. Students will analyze elements of the operating environment of a wide range of WEs in Morocco. Then, they will integrate their understanding of women's entrepreneurship in an emerging economy by developing a set of recommendations for a social marketing campaign for the government. Goals for this campaign are to promote and support women's self-employment as entrepreneurs in Morocco in the short- (1-2 years) and long-term (5-10 years).

Philips, the Dutch multinational conglomerate, is assessing whether to enter the business-to-consumer (B2C) LED lightbulb market in the United States. Philips has already been serving the business-to-business (B2B) market with moderate success, but it has completely ignored the B2C market. Now, a change in energy taxes and possibly additional regulatory changes have the company reevaluating that decision. This case is designed as an exam case. It arose out of a joint effort between Darden and Boston Consulting Group to develop digital content that could be used both at universities and in certain industry applications. Please note that it assumes some familiarity with conjoint analysis. At Darden, this case has been used as an exam in a required "Marketing Management" course; it would also be suitable in courses focused on pricing or marketing strategy.

In January 2022, the Tata Group acquired Air India and Air India Express from the Indian government, marking the culmination of a long privatization process of the government-owned airlines. Before the Air India acquisition, the Tata Group already operated two airlines in the Indian market: Air Asia India and Vistara. Air India was a full-service domestic and international carrier with a large fleet; Vistara was a premium full-service domestic and international carrier with a limited fleet; and Air India Express and Air Asia India were low-cost carriers (LCCs). The Tata Group urgently needed to reduce operating costs and maximize synergies across its airline portfolio, as all four airlines were losing money. Tata wanted to capitalize on the massive growth potential in the Indian airline market by augmenting and modernizing its aircraft fleet, expanding the route network, and improving the brand image of Air India. Some of Tatas decisions were constrained by conditions imposed by the Indian government. The Tata Group would need to move quickly, as customers and investors had high expectations for the turnaround of Air India.

It is September 2021, and Kalshi is a new, Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC)-approved trading platform for event contracts. Kalshi went online just a few months earlier, after a successful round of Series A funding. Sumer Sao, the first (and at the time the only) member of Kalshi’s growth team, realizes that the key to the company’s sustained success is to quickly grow the number of daily active users to increase liquidity on the trading platform. To achieve that, Kalshi needs to find the right pricing structure that can potentially attract different target segments while also encouraging trading.

In the summer of 2022, the Lyric Opera of Chicago (Lyric), a major opera company, is facing a deepening challenge. Lyric has seen ticket sales decrease, declining from 54% of revenue in 1998 to 33% by 2018. Since 2010, the primary source of this decline has been a loss in subscribers--high-value patrons who attend several operas per year. This subscriber lack is concerning not just for the lost ticket sales but also because subscribers are far more likely than single-ticket buyers to make gifts (a stream that now constitutes 51% of Lyric's revenue). As it plans to counter this downward trend, Lyric's marketing team has two questions to answer: First, the team must decide which audiences to focus on to fill its empty seats--past subscribers, "opera-primed" lookalikes of past subscribers, more diverse audiences closer to Chicago's urban core, or millennials; then, once the team chooses a target audience, it must determine how Lyric should address that audience with its product, customer experience, and opera programming choices.

A new series of studies shows that cat owners are drawn to products that reduce risk and prevent problems, while dog owners prefer products that promise gains. That has implications for the messages marketers craft and even for policy makers trying to influence consumer behavior.

Controversy has swirled around psychological targeting-the practice of influencing people's behavior by mining their digital footprints, identifying their personality traits, and then tailoring messages to them. Because it was misused to try to sway votes during recent elections, some have made it out to be a brainwashing tool. That's simply a myth, explains Sandra Matz, a leading expert on it (who actually helped break the election story). Psychological targeting can't radically change minds, she says. However, marketers can use it to shift opinions and attitudes, create demand where there was none, and engage with customers on a much more personal level. In this article she describes how companies can employ it in a way that creates the maximum value for them and their customers-and adheres to fundamental ethical principles.

Data cleaning, data preparation, and model development are the crucial steps in data analytics. The first two steps aim to improve data quality for higher accuracy, improved productivity, and better efficiency in modelling and obtaining results. The last step, model development, seeks to improve accuracy of prediction, especially in predictive modelling. In this technical note, we use a sample to illustrate how to work with a multivariate dataset in Python. This dataset’s massive number of variables requires different approaches to data cleaning, preparation, and model development, such as data normalization and dimension reduction.

Data cleaning, data preparation, and model development are the crucial steps in data analytics. The first two steps aim to improve data quality for higher accuracy, improved productivity, and better efficiency in modelling and obtaining results. The last step, model development, seeks to improve accuracy of prediction, especially in predictive modelling. In this technical note, we use a sample to illustrate how to work with a multivariate dataset in Python. This dataset's massive number of variables requires different approaches to data cleaning, preparation, and model development, such as data normalization and dimension reduction.

In early May 2022, Collie Turner, founder of award-winning non-profit organization Heroic Gardens, was looking to obtain additional revenue streams in order to expand the organization’s programming. The mission of Heroic Gardens was clear: help veterans experience the healing power of nature. The pivot to a new campaign during the COVID-19 pandemic was successful, and the number of organizations and veterans reaching out for services was increasing.<br><br>Heroic Gardens was looking for funding and new ways to scale in order to grow its programs and hire employees to support that growth. As Turner was preparing for a financial and program review with her board—and knowing that the organization was 99 per cent volunteer run—the challenge was understanding and finding a way to increase funding in order to support Heroic Gardens and the veterans it serves.

Presentation to accompany product #W31043.

In March 2022, the Swatch Group launched the MoonSwatch, born out of a secret in-house collaboration among its street Swatch and its luxury Omega brand, in tribute to one of Omega's most legendary watches. The launch created a frenzy among watch fans worldwide, with huge lines forming outside of the select Swatch stores selling the product and with social media channels lighting up. The case discusses some of the initial reactions to the hyped Omega X Swatch product launch, which represented a break with the distinctive brand positioning strategy that the group had been known for so far.