個案總覽

A young entry-level employee starts work in the hotel industry in Eastern Europe. The case describes her experiences and shows the HRM practices in the particular hotel in which she works. The issue for analysis is less whether or not the employee should stay or leave this hotel, which has minimal pay and poor working conditions, and more the overall nature of human resources (HR) operations at this service organization, with regard to ethics and sustainability.

The purpose of this exercise is to assess students’ group leadership and followership skills. Participants prepare for the exercise individually by reading six mini-cases that describe people-management challenges and then selecting a solution for these challenges from the options provided at the end of each case. During the exercise, participants are randomly assigned to discussion groups of five to six members, where each person serves as a leader for one case and as a participant for the remaining five case discussions. The discussions give participants the opportunity to exhibit effective leader and follower group behaviours and to demonstrate their oral communication, judgment, and decision-making skills. Self-assessment and group observation forms are provided.

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.

This is a supplement to The Popcorn Predicament: Competition, Conflict and Buying Behaviour.

This is a supplement to The Popcorn Predicament: Competition, Conflict and Buying Behaviour.

This is a supplement to The Popcorn Predicament: Competition, Conflict and Buying Behaviour.

This is a supplement to The Popcorn Predicament: Competition, Conflict and Buying Behaviour.

This is a supplement to The Popcorn Predicament: Competition, Conflict and Buying Behaviour.

This is a supplement to The Popcorn Predicament: Competition, Conflict and Buying Behaviour.

This case depicts the start-up and business development challenges faced by a streetwise entrepreneur who has invented a unique fishing rod. The capabilities necessary to invent, prototype, and bring to market a limited quantity of product versus the challenges of larger-scale commercialization and management of a growing business are illustrated. The case primarily addresses why some entrepreneurial ventures succeed and grow while others stay insignificant, and why a majority of entrepreneurial initiatives eventually fail. Indigenous constructs such as entrepreneur- and organization-specific factors and exogenous constructs such as industry, location, and time-specific factors that may predetermine the outcome of an entrepreneurial venture are illustrated. A business plan, which has attracted angel investment, is presented for critical assessment. The case’s background story shows that all businesses face resource constraints and trade-offs and that managers must continuously adapt and upgrade their business models, competencies, and management styles to match evolving market standards.

The newly-promoted international operations director for ReedTrek Manufacturing, is trying to diagnose the issues at his company's under-performing China plant. While the operations director originally believed the loss-making operations suffered from technical issues, his visit to the plant suggests to him that there are leadership and management issues.

This is a supplement to ReedTrek Manufacturing (A) 9B12C051.

This is a supplement to ReedTrek Manufacturing (A) 9B12C051.

The district manager of Sodexo was faced with the task of increasing the company’s staffing levels in its food-service operations within the Ontario Power Generation plant facilities. He knew his team was anxious about the prospect of hiring more food-service workers in order to deal with the anticipated increase in the number of customers served. Such a recruitment initiative would be challenging given the perception that all possible recruitment channels had already been explored.

MSPL Limited was an iron ore mining and processing company in India. Owned by the Baldota Group, it also had interests in shipping, pelleting, and wind energy. In January 2012, MSPL’s businesses and operations were headed by Narendrakumar A. Baldota and his two sons. MSPL’s main source of revenue, the Vyasankere Iron Ore Mine (VIOM), was one of the largest iron ore mines in the private sector in India. MSPL had been progressive and proactive in its approach to sustainability and corporate social responsibility (CSR). Many of its initiatives predated government legislation related to environmental, employee, and community issues. MSPL’s policies towards environmental issues and local communities had been driven by the beliefs and vision of its founder and chairman, Baldota’s father. Baldota expanded MSPL’s initiatives related to the environment, employees, and communities. The case deals with the choices and decisions that Baldota had made regarding the numerous CSR and sustainability initiatives undertaken by the organization. Were there other initiatives that MSPL should have undertaken? Was it even necessary for the company to carry out CSR activities in the local communities?

This case series describes a general manager’s decision of whether to fire an employee at a performing arts company. The scope of the case includes the organization of the company, the decision to hire the employee, his performance, and the decision to end the employment relationship. The general manager’s selection practices are described, and two role-playing exercises are included.

This case is a supplement to Margaret Jefferson: Performance Issue at a Performing Arts Company (A).

This case examines methods to incorporate the best evidence into clinical practice. More particularly, it considers the issue of knowledge translation from the perspective of implementing an evidence-based hip and knee care pathway in Alberta, Canada. A secondary problem would be bringing together multiple stakeholders with different incentives to implement a large-scale health care change.

Beanz Espresso Bar is located in downtown Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island, Canada. It is operating in a market with high rivalry (11 other coffee businesses in a two-block radius). The economy in Prince Edward Island has seen several diners, restaurants, and coffee shops close their doors within the past few years, while simultaneously drawing in large corporate businesses such as Starbucks and Running Room. Beanz has thus far survived the major environmental changes and managed to keep its clientele and the owners, Lori and Doug, feel it is time to either sell Beanz and leave the industry, or exploit their competitive advantages to grow and capture more market share. Beanz specializes in high-quality, baked-from-scratch food and specialty coffee beverages. The café is known for its artistic vibe, warm atmosphere, and eccentric staff. After operating Beanz for 16 years, the couple has made few changes to the decor, menu, the set-up. Internally, the company faces several issues concerning management control systems, marketing, and strategic direction. Lori and Doug must choose between five different directions for the future of Beanz.

The Wang Group was created by Alfred Wang in Hong Kong after fleeing China during the turbulence at the beginning of the Communist regime. After successfully building up a diversified trading business and expanding to various other Asian countries, the business was taken over in 1995 by his second son, Charles Wang, a charismatic leader. Charles wished to create a more sustainable family business, attuned to global trends and run by non-family members. To this end, Charles hired an outside CEO to carry out his vision after implementing a far-reaching corporate change program. The global economic crisis that started in 2008, however, affected the company halfway through this reorganization, and brought losses and the departure of the newly hired CEO. Charles Wang had no other option than to again take up the top job himself, and he had to reconsider the path towards a sustainable future for the family firm.