bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Force Automotive – breach of code of conduct
Authors: Sharma Tanushree 
Published: August 2014

Subject area
– The case highlights the ethical dilemmas people face in various business situations. The case throws light on the causes and consequences of violation and the problems related to enforcement of shared organizational values/code of conduct.

Study level/applicability
– This case can be used in courses on human resource management, OB and corporate ethics and is suitable for the postgraduate and undergraduate students of business schools.

Case overview
– The case narrates the dilemma faced by the Vice President of human resources (VP-HR) of a company when he discovered a major violation of the company's code of conduct by the Vice President of research and development (VP-R&D). The VP-R&D is almost indispensable to the company given his unique expertise and criticality of the new Design Centre which he is spearheading single-handedly. Sacking the VP-R&D has the potential of delaying commissioning of the new centre and putting new business wins in jeopardy. On the other hand, not taking any action may erode employees faith in code of conduct and company values. The VP-HR must decide fast whether and how to take action on gross violation of company's code of conduct.

Expected learning outcomes
– The students will gain understanding of shared organizational values, code of conduct and ethics, know about the causes and consequences of violation of shared values, discover ways to institutionalize shared organizational values and resolve ethical dilemma.

Supplementary materials
– Teaching notes are available for educators only. Please contact your library to gain login details or email support@emeraldinsight.com to request teaching notes.
xCRUZA's portable solar cooker: eco-entrepreneurism challenges in Argentina
Authors: Massoud Jacob A. , Leeds Christopher 
Published: August 2014

Subject area
Entrepreneurship.

Level/applicability
The portable solar cooker case is appropriate for upper division undergraduate and graduate students in entrepreneurship, international, strategy or sustainability courses.

Case overview
xCRUZA, a small industrial design studio in Buenos Aires, Argentina, has experienced limited success and expansion since the company was founded in 2005. Focusing on eco design principles, xCRUZA has maintained an eclectic design mix pertaining to product development in children's toys, medicine, and cleaning products. Challenged by a struggling Argentine economy, a population not focused on environmental concerns, and a general lack of capital availability, the founders of xCRUZA chose to design, develop, market and sell a portable solar cooker. The cooker was originally designed by two of the founders while studying engineering at university. While innovative and award winning in design, xCRUZA's solar cooker has proven to be a challenge to the founders' success both in getting their product to market and fulfilling the mission of the studio.

Expected learning outcomes
The learning objectives for the case include: to explore the challenges of an entrepreneurial start-up dedicated to eco design and sustainability principles, to examine market opportunities and consider approaches to selling in dissimilar markets, generate a discussion on strategies that xCRUZA has and can employ, to analyze the mission and direction of xCRUZA. Are they on the right track?

Supplementary materials
Teaching notes are available for educators only. Please contact your library to gain login details or email support@emeraldinsight.com to request teaching notes.
One agricultural family's story
Authors: Rashid Amber Gul , Haroon Sharmain Zain , Nasir Amna 
Published: August 2014

Subject area
Entrepreneurship, agriculture, small business management and strategic planning.

Study level/applicability
This case is most relevant to undergraduates.

Case overview
This case is about Azad Ahmed who will soon graduate from his business school. He has the option of either landing in a high-paying job or joining his family business. Azad has the task of thinking for his family's future and turning the family business around. The case gives information on the condition of the agriculture sector in Pakistan, issues that the sector is facing, its non-traditional alternatives and the bright future it holds for the farmers who want to enter into agribusiness to capture international markets. The case also talks about how ownership structure of a family farm changes as the family expands further and baton is passed on to the future generations.

Expected learning outcomes
The case should get the students to define the term “family business” and weigh the perks and risks of working in a family business; recognize the importance of agriculture and farming in the Pakistani context; evaluate the dynamics of family expectations with respect to collectivistic society; identify the ownership transition stages and transition elements such as trigger points; define the term “agriprenuers”; and set up a business plan for agribusiness.

Supplementary materials
Teaching Notes are available for educators only. Please contact your library to gain login details or email support@emeraldinsight.com to request teaching notes.
Surabaya Zoo: a social enterprise on the cross road
Authors: Pratono Aluisius Hery , Lopez Mario Antonio , Saputra Ruswiati Surya 
Published: August 2014

Subject area
This case extends existing social enterprise theory about how an organization balances its mixed goals: financial, social and conservation. Both growing demand and management transition bought about the challenging issue of sustainability.

Study level/applicability
The authors have applied the case for undergraduate and postgraduate programs.

Case overview
The central protagonist is Mr Samson, a local authority who has to make a decision on whether he should approve or reject the budget with aims to take over the Surabaya Zoo. This is about debate whether conservation social-enterprise should involve human intervention or follow the natural path.

Expected learning outcomes
This case introduces some concepts and implementations about social enterprise and public policy. For the undergraduate program, the case is designed to introduce the concept of social enterprise and public policy. For the postgraduate program, the students are encouraged to enhance their analysis through conducting feasibility studies including financial sustainability and ethical analysis.

Supplementary materials
Teaching notes are available for educators only. Please contact your library to gain login details or email support@emeraldinsight.com to request teaching notes.
To give or not to give? The ethics of small business philanthropy
Authors: Pence Jay 
Published: August 2014

Subject area
General: professional ethics; corporate social responsibility; charity. Specific: the ethical issues of philanthropy; corporate philanthropy; selection of a philanthropic organization; and how much corporate giving is appropriate.

Study level/applicability
MBA.

Case overview
C.P. Manuel Pérez-Sánchez, after reading an article about how famous businessmen in the USA are dedicating their fortunes to charity, begins to wonder about his own business' lack of charitable involvement. He wonders whether his own business, Biznet Norteamérica, located in Querétaro, México, is profitable enough to begin to give back something to the community. What he learns about corporate charity in México leaves him more confused than anything. He is left with the difficult decision of trying to determine whether, how much, and to whom should he donate some of his business' profits.

Expected learning outcomes
Ultimately, the case has a threefold goal. First, to raise awareness about the issue of corporate charity (as opposed to personal charity). Second, to fill a void in the literature of business ethics in México, especially regarding the question of corporate charity. And third, to allow future Mexican business leaders the opportunity to begin to discuss what and how they should think about the issue of corporate charity, particularly its ethical component. The case is real and reflects the actual struggle of a Querétaro business person with no ethics background to come to some tentative conclusions regarding this new (for him) issue. The case could appeal to many of the students because they, like the protagonist, would one day be a part of a moderately successful Mexican enterprise. This case could allow them be able to “put themselves in the shoes” of the decision-maker as a rehearsal for their own future decisions about business charity.

Supplementary materials
Teaching notes are available for educators only. Please contact your library to gain login details or email support@emeraldinsight.com to request teaching notes.
I can do better: Mexican direct sellers of beauty products
Authors: Fernández Reyes Lucía , Rajagopal Rajagopal 
Published: August 2014

Subject area
Marketing; direct sales and networking in marketing.

Study level/applicability
Undergraduate marketing students.

Case overview
What are the main problems faced by direct sellers in Mexico within a selling context based on social networking? This case has the objective to approach the difficulties direct sellers face in their operations in order to address potential bottlenecks inhibiting the flow of sales. In the present case, direct sellers expressed openly their personal views about the issues they generally had to deal with in order to survive in a highly competitive market, namely the market of cosmetic and beauty products. The decision of whether to implement changes to improve the flow of sells through the network created by direct sellers would eventually affect direct sellers performance given that they are the final appendix of the selling chain. This case helps to develop a direct seller typology for direct selling success. Accordingly, it highlights the importance of every element participating in a business. Summarizing, it strategically links direct sellers performance with the overall business performance.

Expected learning outcomes
The case contributes to the analysis of personality attributes of sellers and the elements affecting market penetration of cosmetic and beauty products. It is also interesting to observe how some foreign brands have become iconic in the local direct selling businesses. This case also contributes to developing tactical competition to strategic planning of marketing of direct selling in emerging markets. Particular learning objectives are as follows: analyse marketing planning from a perspective of decentralization and growth and explore creative possibilities for sustainable growth of this kind of business; stimulate strategic thinking concerning system operation and free bottle necks of selling channels by analysing the effect of system subordination of operations and training to upper levels of vendors; analyse the brand expansion process and loyalty development of customers in a competitive market of products that are sold in network.

Supplementary materials
Teaching notes are available for educators only. Please contact your library to gain login details or e-mail support@emeraldinsight.com to request teaching notes.
Does supply-demand law work for the ICBC stock price?
Authors: Qi Yue , Huang Junqi , Peng Xiaofeng 
Published: August 2014

Subject area
Investments.

Study level/applicability
The case is suitable for students with diverse backgrounds – from different countries with different cultures, and from different programs (undergraduate or graduate). The case will be used for an all-English course “The research of Chinese stock markets” and has been used for the course “Portfolio theory and management” (junior student level) at Nankai University.

Case overview
The case introduces Chinese stock markets' uniqueness that there exists a huge number of previously nontradable shares. The release of the shares radically changes the markets' balance and causes the absolute dominance of stock supply over stock demand. Based on the analysis for ICBC, the case demonstrates that the dominance can explain the drop of ICBC's stock price by supply-demand law but fundamental analysis cannot.

Expected learning outcomes
The case will help students to understand the uniqueness of Chinese stock markets and the applicability of supply-demand law in the markets and then be able to make investment decisions.

Social implications
The case can help to educate not only students but also Chinese and foreign investors about the uniqueness of Chinese stock markets and arm the students and investors with the supply-demand methodology to analyse the markets and the reasoning of when and how to invest.

Supplementary materials
Teaching notes are available for educators only. Please contact your library to gain login details or e-mail support@emeraldinsight.com to request teaching notes.
Industrial relations in Botswana – workplace conflict: behind the diamond sparkle
Authors: Marobela Motsomi Ndala 
Published: August 2014

Subject area
Management: human resources management.

Study level/applicability
Undergraduate and postgraduate.

Case overview
This case gives critical insights in the complex issues surrounding the management of employment relationship in Africa, specifically focusing on Botswana. It is set in the context of explosive industrial relations involving Debswana Diamond Mining Company and the Botswana Mine Workers Union over the contentious issues of pay bonus and collective bargaining. Failure to reach an amicable compromise by both parties' results in a debilitating strike which costs the company millions of funds and affected it's the corporate image contrary to its well crafted social responsibility. More painfully, the end game is a loss of employment and dreams shattered for 461 dismissed workers who depended solely on this work as their only source of income.

Expected learning outcomes
At the end of reading the case students are expected to: understand the limits of managerial prerogative and the right to manage; appreciate the inherent conflict of interests between labour and capital; consider more equitable compensation schemes in dealing with collective bargaining; and discuss the concept of social responsibility in the context internal customers-employees.

Supplementary materials
Teaching note.
Developing a customer knowledge-based measure for innovation management
Authors: Belkahla Hakimi Wafa , Triki Abdelfattah , Mjahed Hammami Samiha 
Published: August 2014

Purpose– The purpose of this paper is to introduce the concept of customer knowledge-enabled innovation (CKEI) and suggests a scale for its eventual measurement. The process of the scale development is presented in detail following the Churchill (1979) paradigm. CKEI is defined as the capacity of the organization to introduce new products and services on the basis of effective management of customer knowledge. It reflects the degree to which the company is endowed with the expertise of managing properly customer knowledge in order to enhance innovation.Design/methodology/approach– The CKEI raw scale is mainly composed of 57 items. In an effort to purify the scale measurement, test and validate its psychometric specificities, two surveys were administrated among two independent samples. Respondents were new product managers or marketing managers. One manager per firm was interviewed. The convenience sampling method was applied.Findings– The CKEI scale has been intended to be uni-dimensional. It encompasses three main facets: the integrative capacity of the firm, the structural capacity and the internal management capacity. The developed scale is valid and highly reliable (composite reliability=0.90; variance extracted=0.5). After exploratory factor analysis and confirmatory factor analysis, a pool of ten items was retained for the eventual measurement of the CKEI scale.Research limitations/implications– CKEI has been tested in a Tunisian context; continued refinement of the proposed CKEI scale is, undoubtedly, possible and even desired, based on further research in other business environments. Such refinements and modifications could necessitate the inclusion of new items, or the deletion of original ones. In some cases, the hypothesized factor structure may need modifications. To keep abreast with the ever-changing business environment, the paper strongly urged to incorporate these relevant aspects in the scale into the future research, so that a valid measure of CKEI can be ensured on an ongoing basis.Practical implications– The scale is offered to provide managers with a practical tool for the evaluation of their forces and weaknesses in managing customer knowledge in organizations. It is considered as a barometer allowing them to adjust and to modify continually their innovation strategies focusing on the intellectual capital management.Originality/value– CKEI is a new concept that is introduced in this research as a knowledge-based capability which helps companies to sustain competitive advantage. The relevance of the CKEI is that it is considered as a dynamic capability integrating both innovation and customer knowledge management theories.
Recognising emotional expressions of complaining customers
Authors: G. Tombs Alastair , Russell-Bennett Rebekah , M. Ashkanasy Neal 
Published: August 2014

Purpose– This study aims to test service providers’ ability to recognise non-verbal emotions in complaining customers of same and different cultures.Design/methodology/approach– In a laboratory study, using a between-subjects experimental design (n= 153), we tested the accuracy of service providers’ perceptions of the emotional expressions of anger, fear, shame and happiness of customers from varying cultural backgrounds. After viewing video vignettes of customers complaining (with the audio removed), participants (in the role of service providers) assessed the emotional state of the customers portrayed in the video.Findings– Service providers in culturally mismatched dyads were prone to misreading anger, happiness and shame expressed by dissatisfied customers. Happiness was misread in the displayed emotions of both dyads. Anger was recognisable in the Anglo customers but not Confucian Asian, while Anglo service providers misread both shame and happiness in Confucian Asian customers.Research limitations/implications– The study was conducted in the laboratory and was based solely on participant’s perceptions of actors’ non-verbal facial expressions in a single encounter.Practical implications– Given the level of ethnic differences in developed nations, a culturally sensitive workplace is needed to foster effective functioning of service employee teams. Ability to understand cultural display rules and to recognise and interpret emotions is an important skill for people working in direct contact with customers.Originality/value– This research addresses the lack of empirical evidence for the recognition of customer emotions by service providers and the impact of cross-cultural differences.
Snowball to avalanche
Authors: Chiu Hung-Chang , Pant Anurag , Hsieh Yi-Ching , Lee Monle , Hsioa Yi-Ting , Roan Jinshyang 
Published: August 2014

Purpose
– This paper aims to investigate the determinants of successful online viral marketing. More companies in recent years have reduced their advertising expenditures on traditional media. Instead, they focus more on word-of-mouth marketing to reach their potential customers.

Design/methodology/approach
– A 2 (high/low utilitarian message context) × 2 (high/low hedonic message context) × 2 (message source: strong/weak tie strength) × 2 (channel: e-mail/blog) between-subjects experiment was conducted. A total of 363 completed questionnaires were collected in Taiwan.

Findings
– The findings are fourfold. First, the greater the tie strength between the sender and the receiver, the more actively they share information. Second, an audience is more willing to share a message with others when the message contains higher degrees of utilitarian or hedonic values. Third, those who are highly involved with the products are more willing to share information than those who are less involved. Fourth, those who access the information via blogs are more willing to share information with others.

Research limitations/implications
– The first limitation pertains to the issue of external validity. Also, to maximize internal validity, hypothetical scenarios and experimental designs were used rather than actual e-mail/blog experiences as stimuli. The results of this study provide some key strategic implications for companies that are seeking to enhance a successful viral marketing campaign.

Practical implications
– This study suggests there is no “one size fits all” answer. A successful viral marketing campaign is specific to individual characteristics and the approaches used.

Originality/value
– The present study combines related research – including communication theory, consumer value and involvement theory – to investigate the determinants of individuals’ intentions to share marketing information.
International market segmentation
Authors: G. Budeva Desislava , R. Mullen Michael 
Published: August 2014

Purpose– This paper aims to investigate the influence of economic and cultural factors, separately and combined, on international country segments and to reveal the stability of factors and country segments over time.Design/methodology/approach– Principal component analysis is used to develop three economic factors and two cultural factors borrowed from the World Value Survey. Cluster analysis is used to form country clusters based on the economic and cultural factors, separately, and then combined, to detect whether both economics and culture need to be included as bases for macro-country segmentation. Further, the authors look at these issues across time, the beginning of the decade (1990) and then at the end of the decade (1999).Findings– Results support the hypotheses that economics and culture are both necessary for country-level segmentation but reject the hypothesis of cultural convergence as a consequence of technological development and industrialization. The authors confirm that cultural values and beliefs, although persistent, may change gradually under the influence of environmental forces such as economic development. The results support the instability of country segment membership when analyzed over one decade. Economic changes in some countries lead to their movement across segments.Practical implications– Results suggest that managers concerned with international segmentation should include both economic and cultural variables and reevaluate country segment membership continuously rather than relying on results obtained in a single period.Originality/value– Many international segmentation studies have used macro-level, secondary data to identify country clusters based on similarities in political, economic, geographic or cultural variables for a single period. This study extends existing international segmentation models by examining economic and cultural variables (separately, and then combined), and segment membership over time.