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In early June 2020, the owner of BYKlyn, an exercise bike fitness studio in New York, was considering her response to the business disruption that the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic had caused the health and fitness industry. BYKlyn had recorded consistent annual growth since its launch in 2014. The fitness studio owner had been confirming her business expansion plans by moving into a larger space in the city when the pandemic struck in early 2019. Consequently, she was forced to shut down the business in mid-March 2019, in compliance with COVID-19 regulations. After a two-month lockdown, the New York state government announced phased-in reopening plans, and the fitness studio owner was considering three options for restarting her business: reopen at the existing premises; move to a virtual environment with a new business model; or set up an outdoor fitness club, which would offer fitness club members a completely new workout format.

<p style="color: white; background-color: rgb(3, 70, 56); font-size: 16px; display: inline-block; border: 0px rgb(197, 183, 131); padding: 4px 4px;"><a href="https://www.iveypublishing.ca/s/product/vcayr-managing-sexual-harassment-digital-learning-experience/01t5c00000Cd0NUAAZ" style="color: inherit; text-decoration: inherit;">AVAILABLE AS A DIGITAL LEARNING EXPERIENCE</a></p><br> VCayr was a not-for-profit social service organization that connected individuals through its social media platforms and community events. In January 2019, an organizational member and an active project manager at VCayr reported to a friend and board director that she was sexually harassed by another board director at VCayr. The friend and director had to decide how to manage the situation. He was aware of the severity of sexual harassment and the significant harm that it could have on all VCayr members and on the overall organization. Another sexual harassment incident was reported to him one year later by another member of VCayr. The board director had a second chance to rethink his strategies and to weigh in other options in light of the emerging information.

The Pratham Institute for Literacy, Education & Vocational Training (Pratham Institute) in India, ran vocational education and training (VET) centres that were engaged in skilling the rural youth of India to prepare them for vocational careers. In April 2020, the organization’s centre in Pilani, Rajasthan, along with several other chapters, had noted that a significant share of the institute’s trainees were failing to sustain their employment for a long period and were returning home to their native villages instead. Though the VET centres had seen several success stories, they were somewhat perplexed about why so many of their trainees were not staying in their careers, despite the promise of greater financial benefits and job security compared to farming-based livelihoods. Some of the common concerns of trainees included urban culture shock, family pressures to return home, sustenance worries, career ambiguity, and a lack of psychological readiness to cope with harsh city life. The head of the Pilani centre was left pondering how to tackle such psychological issues among the Pratham Institute’s trainees and thereby reduce the dropout rate and fully realize the positive impact of the training programs.

In 1989, Tracy Edwards, at age 26, led the first all-female crew in the prestigious and grueling 59,264-kilometre (32,000 nautical mile) Whitbread Round the World Race. Edwards had developed a deep love for sailing in general and for the Whitbread Round the World Race in particular. However, she soon found that it was impossible, as a woman, to participate as a fully integrated member of a crew. Hence, she sought to organize an all-female team to compete in the race. She located, bought, and restored an old racing yacht, which eventually was christened Maiden. The idea of a team of women racing in the Whitbread Round the World Race was unthinkable to many men in and around the world of yacht racing, so the backlash was predictable and intense, and the hurdles to successfully complete the race seemed insurmountable. This six-part case series chronicles the myriad challenges faced by Edwards and her colleagues before and during the race, including rampant sexism and misogyny. Each of the six cases sets the stage for the next challenge Edwards has to overcome.

Supplement for product 9B21C020.

Supplement for product 9B21C020.

Supplement for product 9B21C020.

Supplement for product 9B21C020.

Supplement for product 9B21C020.

In late 2020, Wendy’s was an iconic North American fast-food chain with a history of innovation. The corporation’s inventive approach to its promotions was particularly apparent in its use of social media, even more so in its unique management of the company’s Twitter account. In addition to using Twitter to provide customer support and advertise its products in an online setting – two traditional activities conducted by many a business on Twitter – Wendy’s had used the platform to regularly make fun of users and competitors, as well as respond to teasing and other playful challenges issued by Twitter users. Evaluating the company’s Twitter strategy proved difficult, however. How could Wendy’s chief executive officer determine whether the company’s approach on Twitter positively affected sales? How could he improve the company’s future social media strategy?

As 2019 ended, the founder and chief executive officer of Nudestix Inc. (Nudestix) had overseen phenomenal growth during the firm’s five years of operation. However, the company was about to encounter a series of issues as a result of the global COVID-19 pandemic that resulted in lockdowns, stay-at-home orders, and closures of non-essential businesses around the world. Nudestix, like many companies, suffered a severe decline in revenue. How could the company respond to this crisis in a way that would minimize its losses?

Presentation to accompany product 8B21M026.

Clarke Building and Supplies Limited was a multi-generational family-owned building supply and contracting company headquartered in the western region of the island of Newfoundland, Canada. After the death of the company’s founder and chief executive officer, it fell to the founder’s son to take the helm of the company. With his engineering background, this son noticed inefficiencies and lax controls within the company. He was especially worried about the possibility of a more tightly run national store entering the market and outcompeting his family’s business. Complicating any decision to tighten operations was the community culture of the business, which included many long-time employees, friends, and family members. He could see that there were issues in the company, but he lacked the business acumen and distance to separate symptoms from causes and develop a plan to keep the company healthy and strong for generations to come. He knew he needed to achieve buy-in from the managers so he could implement any solutions he devised.

Group Business Services (GBS), a shared services organization predominantly based in India, provided support services to Koninklijke DSM NV (Royal DSM), a multinational corporation headquartered in the Netherlands, which produced nutrition- and health-related products. When the COVID-19 pandemic created a set of “new normal” circumstances for business organizations, GBS India, like many businesses, introduced remote working for all of its employees during the pandemic lockdown. The company experienced a series of challenges from March to July 2020. While some employees and managers offered positive feedback, many expressed doubts and misgivings about remote working. The challenges they reported compelled the GBS leaders to debate whether or not to continue remote working in the post-lockdown period. More importantly, they had to decide how best to establish a balance between employees’ concerns related to remote working and the need to maintain business continuity in the context of the COVID-19 crisis. They needed to design the optimum working model for GBS India in this new-normal era.

In the summer of 2019, the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health (CAMH), Canada’s largest mental health teaching hospital, found itself at the centre of a high-profile media crisis after three patients absconded from care at its forensic mental health unit. The events had led to public concern from the community, the media, and the government, putting CAMH’s reputation at risk. Much of the concern manifested through stigmatizing statements due to a common misunderstanding and ignorance towards mental health, especially in the forensic area. CAMH’s chief executive officer, Dr. Catherine Zahn, and her team had to decide how they would address the crisis both externally with the public and internally in their own organization.

During a strategic planning process in early 2018, the chief executive officer of St. Joseph’s Health Care in London, Ontario, Canada encountered various challenges that tested her values-based leadership style and innovative approach to stakeholder engagement. She had not anticipated the skepticism from the senior management team that surfaced when she attempted to finalize the strategic plan for presentation to the board of directors. Although she faced resistance to the detailed wording of the proposed aims, she was opposed to diluting the language in the strategic plan. She found it important for all engaged stakeholders to see that their input had shaped the resulting plan. However, successful implementation of the strategic plan would depend on the support of her team members, who were accountable for its implementation. Overruling a management recommendation could potentially jeopardize the good working relationship she had established, but failing to deliver a plan to stakeholders that reflected their input posed a reputational risk for the organization. The chief executive officer had to decide how to move forward.

When Peter Moyo was appointed as chief executive officer (CEO) of Old Mutual Emerging Markets (Old Mutual), one of South Africa’s largest and oldest financial institutions, in 2017, the chair of Old Mutual, Trevor Manuel, and the Old Mutual board were optimistic, as Moyo seemed like the ideal candidate. However, less than two years into his tenure, Moyo’s employment was terminated owing to a conflict of interest and a breakdown of trust between Moyo and the chair and board. From the moment he was suspended, Moyo made the dispute very public, and appeared to be orchestrating a media campaign against Old Mutual and the directors, especially Manuel. A protracted and bruising legal battle ensued, and many corporate governance lessons were learned. It was now incumbent on the board to identify and appoint a new CEO of Old Mutual. Given the local and international environment, and in view of internal and external challenges, they needed to consider what kind of CEO would be appropriate for Old Mutual; what criteria they should set for this crucial position; and what the right timing and communication process would be around the new CEO’s appointment.

Rodey Wing, a partner at global management consulting firm Kearney, had to decide what to recommend to a struggling retailer client with over 200,000 employees. With the client’s optometry division suffering from an excess of employees partly due to a pandemic downturn, Wing had initially planned to cut 1,500 employees from the division---laying off those with the lowest performance review ratings. However, a disproportionate impact assessment of the plan showed that employees from protected classes would make up a much larger share of terminated employees than expected. Wing had to determine how this information should impact his recommendations to the important client.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, Jeff Bezos, the chief executive officer of Amazon.com Inc. (Amazon), became the world’s richest person by adding US$6 billion to his net worth by the end of March 2020. While the worth of other billionaires was decreasing because of the unprecedented market volatility created by the pandemic, retail sales surged to a record level for Amazon. To meet the additional workforce requirements created by the sudden rise in demand, Bezos announced a new hiring drive for Amazon’s warehouses and delivery network. The announcement came when Amazon’s labour practices were under the scrutiny of New York State and New York City authorities for the disputed “wrongful termination” of a warehouse worker. Amazon’s conduct was vehemently condemned by labour unions, labour supporters, the media, and New York City authorities. At the same time, Amazon employees expressed their concerns about the hiring of additional workers, as more workers could further aggravate the workplace safety issues at the company’s warehouses. Bezos vehemently claimed to be committed to workers’ health and safety and announced new paid sick leave and hazard benefits policies for workers who were not working from home. Was the authorities’ scrutiny of Smalls’ termination and the workplace safety measures at Amazon’s facilities a signal of legal battles looming for Amazon? Was Bezos protecting the wellness of his employees? Did the new policies and safety measures point toward a change in Bezos’s crisis management strategy? How could Amazon move from a greed/profit perspective to a profit with purpose perspective? How should Amazon manage in an almost permanent crisis-like situation?

Atrae Inc. was a Japanese software firm providing platform matching services for job recruitment in the software engineering industry. As compared to traditional Japanese firms, Atrae adopted a unique approach to managing its employees. Instead of the rigid hierarchy and top-down management approach that typified a Japanese firm, Atrae had a flat organizational structure and heavily relied on decentralized decision-making and individual motivation. The company’s unique culture was viewed as a key driver of its business success—success that the company’s founder and chief executive officer wanted to advance with a public listing on the Tokyo Stock Exchange. However, while the public listing would allow Atrae to grow substantially, it would also necessitate formal organizational checks and balances that could harm the company’s organizational culture. Would a public listing propel Atrae to greater heights or would it result in the company’s demise?