Mary Risley was as stunned as the rest of the country by the rapid shutdown of the economy in early March of 2020 in response to COVID-19. Risley was the founder of Food Runners, a San Francisco-based nonprofit that helped match the excess in the food industry with the social need of feeding the hungry. Before the pandemic hit, the organization had over 250 active volunteers who brought food, whic
Mary Risley was as stunned as the rest of the country by the rapid shutdown of the economy in early March of 2020 in response to COVID-19. Risley was the founder of Food Runners, a San Francisco-based nonprofit that helped match the excess in the food industry with the social need of feeding the hungry. Before the pandemic hit, the organization had over 250 active volunteers who brought food, whic
Olga Zimmerman was the clinical operations director of the Quincy Lake Clinic (QLC), a provider-based primary and specialty care clinic. For the past four months, Zimmerman had been learning her new role and trying to change the organization using Lean concepts. She had many process-improvement opportunities and had been recording her observations during her frequent gemba walks. She had created a
This case follows Anisha Anderson, who has had three of her customer service representatives (CSRs) quit. Her job is to think about how she can adjust the CSR training and bonus program to promote retention in the department, which has been a cause of concern for a while.
This case provides students with a rare opportunity to understand the relationship between brand positioning design and delivery. While strategic challenges are often attractive to students, this case helps reinforce the importance and difficulty associated with implementing strategy effectively.
In the A case (UVA-M-1004), students had to integrate consumer, competitor, company, and brand image d
This case provides students with an opportunity to analyze and define a desired positioning for Procter & Gamble's (P&G's) US employer brand. In addition to enabling students to actively engage in assessing and creating a brand positioning, this case gives students a rare opportunity to analyze the type of brand image data that brand managers use. Considered highly confidential, few cases enable s
As he closed the books on September 2020, Mark Nelson breathed a sigh of relief. He and his business partners had just successfully raised $8.7 million of capital for their business venture, Perishable Shipping Solutions (PSS). The company had only recently seen its first month of profitability, and the cash infusion was crucial. Nelson had his sights set on $80 million of revenue in the next year
This public-sourced case uses Apple Inc. (Apple) and its Mac line of personal computers to allow for an analysis of competitive positioning and the building of sustainable competitive advantage. In the spring of 2020, as Apple evolves its various product offerings, a product manager at Apple must think about how the Mac fits into its broader product portfolio. What is the future for desktop and la
WillowTree began as a small digital products company in 2007. By 2020, it had more than 500 full-time team members operating out of offices in four locations, and it had launched hundreds of digital products, including mobile apps, websites, voice assistants, and TV experiences. But also in 2020, WillowTree was facing the most significant challenge in its 12 years of corporate existence—a global p
These cases follow Peter Wong, general manager of Borealis Suites in Niagara Falls, and Susan Vanderpole, contract negotiator at Cartwell Tours, as they attempt to negotiate doing business together during the next tourist season. Students are tasked with stepping into the role of one of the parties, and analyzing the data provided to approach the meeting and come away with the best possible contra
These cases follow Peter Wong, general manager of Borealis Suites in Niagara Falls, and Susan Vanderpole, contract negotiator at Cartwell Tours, as they attempt to negotiate doing business together during the next tourist season. Students are tasked with stepping into the role of one of the parties, and analyzing the data provided to approach the meeting and come away with the best possible contra
Alisha Bhandari, vice president of operations at a successful and well-respected global supplier of paints, coatings, specialty materials, and optical products, had watched during her ten years at the company a subtle disintegration of workplace culture. Her own observations, coupled with a recent employee survey, had revealed an overall mindset of complacency, lack of motivation, inflexibility, a
