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 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
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 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.
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
This note describes how the behaviors of competitive buyers and sellers interact to determine market outcomes—the price at which a product is sold, and the quantity of a product that is exchanged. It begins by defining supply, demand, and market equilibrium. It then derives firms’ sup
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
This technical note outlines what an employer brand is, how it relates to a consumer brand, and why it matters. It allows students to be able to put their knowledge to the test by evaluating the attribute ratings among seven different top employer brands. Finally, they will have a better understanding of how to assess, build, and enhance a company's employer brand.
This case presents the coming year's performance goals as established by Marietta Austin, the new president of Tractors, Inc. (a subsidiary of AA Equipment Corporation [AAEC], a fictional company), along with data pertaining to several years of actual financial performance. Austin has asked her direct reports to come to a meeting with specific ideas for actions that they plan to pursue in order to
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
This field-based case uses the challenges facing Fluidigm Corporation, a publicly traded biotechnology company, to explore and analyze innovation-driven growth. Facing a number of headwinds—product backorders, strong competition, declining product demand, missed earnings, and an 87% stock collapse over 10 months—new CEO Chris Linthwaite needs to devise and share his turnaround strategy with the b
These cases follow Emilia Nguyen—newly-appointed CEO of her family's third-generation real estate business in the historic district of Scott's Addition in Richmond, Virginia—as she prepares her proposal to renovate her family's 8,000 sq. ft., three-story Art Deco building. She plans to convert the building from traditional annual-lease office suites into a coworking space with five separate option
These cases follow Emilia Nguyen—newly-appointed CEO of her family's third-generation real estate business in the historic district of Scott's Addition in Richmond, Virginia—as she prepares her proposal to renovate her family's 8,000 sq. ft., three-story Art Deco building. She plans to convert the building from traditional annual-lease office suites into a coworking space with five separate option
How leaders behave in difficult situations are an important part of controlling their narrative. This public-sourced case provides students an opportunity to examine how one leader behaves while under scrutiny. The material presents the history of the former president of Stanford University, Donald Kennedy, who was accused of overbilling the government for indirect costs on research contracts. He
How leaders behave in difficult situations are an important part of controlling their narrative. This public-sourced case provides students an opportunity to examine how one leader behaves while under scrutiny. The material presents a short history of Lieutenant Colonel Oliver "Ollie" North, a US national security adviser under US President Ronald Reagan. North testified before Congress, and an an
This product is a component of the fall-term course 2020-0930 MAR 653, "Marketing Analytics," led by Professor Rajkumar Venkatesan. It is only intended for purchase by students enrolled in this course. For inquiries about adopting this simulation at your institution, please contact sales@dardenbusinesspublishing.com.
In March 2020, Jay Powell, Federal Reserve (Fed) chairperson, faced a daunting prospect that only a few months prior seemed like a remote possibility: massive expansion of the Fed's balance sheet. Over the past five years, the economy had experienced steady economic growth, permitting the Fed to reduce its balance sheet. The Fed's economists expected the trend to continue. But the rapidly spreadi
This case follows Heather Grant as she begins her new role as manager of the Staunton, Virginia, branch of Loom & Ferris, a mid-sized call center specializing in printing, branding, and logos for corporate clients. As the new manager, Grant's role is to increase morale among her employees and to improve sales and productivity. She decides to spend her first week observing the call center and getti
In early 2019, the executive leadership of Chipotle Mexican Grill, Inc. (Chipotle), gathered to discuss the company's 2018 performance and align the company's capital structure policy and its growth aspirations going forward. Over the previous year, the company had enjoyed a lot of success. Its same-store sales had increased 6.1%, fueled by a 2% rise in traffic, and margins that had risen to nearl
This note provides an introduction to financial ratios and financial forecasting. It examines principles in the art and science of thoughtful financial forecasting. In particular, it reviews the importance of understanding financial ratios.
The General Electric Company's (GE's) iconic Appliances division enjoyed a significant role at the company throughout the 20th century, representing one of the most recognized engines of the GE brand. By the 21st century, GE had changed its focus to technology and infrastructure businesses, and GE Appliances' contribution represented less than 5% of GE's revenue and profit.
This case examines G
This technical note discusses competitive dynamics: the various and evolving actions and reactions of two firms engaged in a rivalrous relationship. By allowing us to analyze interactions at this dyadic level, the competitive dynamics perspective provides valuable insights into a firm's behavior in a variety of competitive situations and contexts.
Entrepreneurs strive to solve problems and create value through partnerships. Studying how they do that led to the hypothesis that "asking" played a critical role in the success of an entrepreneur. This note addresses studies of expert entrepreneurs and how they differ from novice entrepreneurs, including discussion on type, method, and frequency of asking, as well as effectual reasoning.
University of Virginia (UVA) Health has seen strong financial health and sustained growth in recent years, and has just hired promising new leadership. But in early 2020, the COVID-19 crisis hit with little time to prepare and resulted in immediate and significant financial losses across the organization. Now, with looming losses, J. Corey Feist, CEO of the University Physicians Group (UPG) at the
Isabelle Davis, dean of the School of Nursing at Mountain View University, must develop a plan to support the mental health and well-being of the clinical workforce. She has spent the last three years working with the National Academy of Medicine on clinician well-being and burnout, and now the COVID-19 pandemic is adding a new stressor to the lives of clinicians, including doctors and nurses. Ens
This technical note discusses how a high-potential start-up entrepreneur should use equity in building and growing a new venture. One of the most crucial things for entrepreneurs to understand is equity: Most high-growth ventures grow through equity partnerships, but most new ventures fail because relationships between founding partners and other equity partners become conflicted and impossible to
A former teacher in Washington, DC, in her final year of graduate school pursuing an MBA is tasked with preparing a five-year financial forecast to support an application for a potential charter school being considered in the Washington, DC, area. The protagonist must make enrollment predictions, forecast revenues based on those predictions as well as DC Charter School funding expectations, and fo
This case uses Supreme, a skater-clothing brand from New York City, and a framework for understanding the concept of "coolness" (see "A General Theory of Coolness," UVA-M-0953), which is the cornerstone of the firm's success, to set the stage for analyzing consumer behavior. Written using public sources, the case discusses the firm's overall strategy, including limited supply, unique shopping drop
Darden Business Publishing is pleased to offer a webinar on October 29, 2020, featuring Professor of Practice Mary Gentile. "Introduction to Giving Voice to Values (GVV)" is a two-hour program. Tuition is $25.00 per seat, with an early-bird rate of $15.00 offered through October 16, 2020.
Program Overview
Giving Voice to Values (GVV; www.GivingVoiceToValues.org) is an innovative approach to value
