Abstract
It is our tradition to provide space to some of the highly commended cases presented and discussed earlier at the International Conference on Management Cases (ICMC). The Case conference, ICMC 2013 organized by Birla Institute of Management Technology, Greater Noida, India, jointly with School of Public Policy, George Mason University, Arlington, Virginia, USA was held at BIMTECH Campus on 5–6 December 2013. More successful than ever, it attracted, true to its name, more papers from overseas than from locals. The participating delegates came from five continents, namely Australia, Asia, Africa, Europe and Americas representing 15 countries and included academics, practising executives, consultants and public sector managers. Keeping up to its USP, the conference will not accept or consider such papers that were not presented and discussed in various technical sessions of the conference. The keynote addresses of this conference have always been the highlights. Scholarly, coming from some of the well known academics at global level, the keynotes have taken the audience to a thought process kindling the fire to know more. We have included two of them in this issue as thematic articles. The human capital dominated in various sub-issues such as HR, OD, leadership, appreciative intelligence, wellness programmes, sense of work and work practices. This issue is graced by seven cases first presented at the conference, revised and updated as a result of the discussion at the conference. Of the total eight cases in the issue, led by keynote address from Professor Katrina Rodgers, as many as six are founded in human capital.
Professor Katrina S. Rogers, in the first thematic article of this issue, raises pertinent issues faced by today’s human society in general and corporate world in particular. Raising the debate to a high intellectual pitch while addressing the delegates from academics and the corporate world at ICMC 2013, she observed that one striking feature in the sweep of history was the extent to which humans had manipulated the natural environment to serve our needs and desires. And she goes on to add that humans are on a runaway train; when it comes to environmental degradation, we must slow this rush to oblivion if we are to survive as a species. That was both a warning signal and advice to the young scholars at the audience embarking on careers soon ahead. Dr Katrina advised that we must create new economies that live within the natural means of the ecosystems upon which all life depends. Her essay is an invitation to challenge us as scholars and practitioners to seek understanding, as companies and other organizations take up their roles in a world that we are transforming irrevocably. Katrina’s article at core discusses ecology and the role of leadership. She refers to a long held notion that a small number of corporations controlled much of the world’s commerce and as such she reasons that organizational leadership could take a lead to create conditions for sustainability in their own organizations: she refers to the concept of ecological selves. This could be possible if for-profit companies are motivated and inspired to be a part of this change.
Professor Cliff Oswick in the second thematic article, resulting again from another keynote address at the case conference has a direct relevance to the case writing and also the aims of this journal. Dr Oswick’s article explores the narrative structure of management cases. The analysis considers the notions of: thematic framing and ordering; verisimilitude (i.e., coherence and plausibility); and the use of poetic tropes. The author has selected cases from well known case writers and goes on to identify and discuss common features and general characteristics revealed in both ‘conventional cases’ and ‘critical cases’. Professor Oswick explains that the primary aim of this analysis is not to question the value and utility of management cases but to derive insights into the overarching thematic patterns and common characteristics of management cases. Professor Oswick comes to some interesting conclusions of far-reaching advice to case writers. Amongst other issues, Professor Oswick finds that beyond expected similarities there are differences between stories and case studies: while stories typically attribute emotion, agency to objects and providential significance, these tropes were not embedded with case studies. In this regard, case studies are substantively different from stories; In addition, stories do not need to be ‘true’ or ‘real’, but case studies generally do. We believe that this article would prove to be a valuable guide to our readers engaged in case writing.
First case in this volume is a contribution from Kumudinei Dissanayake, who discusses work behaviour and changing expectations of young generations at workplace. Her study explores and unveils such practices in a Sri Lankan organization in the labour-intensive textile industry. Kumudinei adopting a qualitative theory development approach, reveals five non-conventional organizational practices; protecting and caring, exposing the reality, respecting worker values, facilitating self-organization and promoting self-development. The study proposes that these practices lead to several intrinsic outcomes for young workers while creating their sense of security, generic knowledge, individual image building, self-efficacy and enhancing employability. Kumudinei concludes that the intrinsic motivators seem to play a pivotal role in driving rural youth energy towards work commitments and suggests an approach that goes beyond a just ‘people centred approach’ in managing rural youth.
Eeva Aromaa and Päivi Eriksson next explore how the innovation practice of a small service company could be identified and developed from the managerial point of view. The authors carry out the case study utilizing observational and interview data. The results discover that the company under study practised five distinctive innovation processes initiated by different actors inside and outside of the company. This called for solving two problems: managing and organizing all five processes more efficiently and relaxing the CEO-centricity of the innovation practice to get full potential of the five processes. The authors conclude that innovation practice of a small service company is complex and requires fine-grained qualitative analysis. The analyzing and developing the innovation practice of a small service company is challenging because innovation-related activities are not always explicit, visible and easily recognizable even to the innovators themselves.
Irene Kayoma and Ifedapo Adeleye in the case study that follows highlight several programmes initiated by May Clinics Ltd. (MCL), a leading health care organization today to transform the healthcare institution and position it as a leading healthcare organization in Lagos, Nigeria. The authors narrate major challenges that MCL management team faced to drive the expansion of the hospital. The team opted for mergers and acquisitions, using a hub and spoke model. The study brings out two strategic acquisition deals being considered that need to be prioritized, ensuring that decisions met not only the investment criteria and strategic objectives of his institution, but also those of the target institutions. There are conflicting points of view in relation to the deals. It is a typical teaching case that needs resolution of the conflicts.
Kohei Nishikawa in the next case discusses the change process in a large complex organization. Kohei traces the transformation of Japan National Railway (JNR) from sickness to a profit-making organization. JNR underwent serious deficit during the 1970s. After a lengthy political battle, JNR privatization bill was enacted in 1986 and finally JR Kyusyu was born in 1987. Kohei traces intriguing change processes. Enthusiastic small attempts for change proliferated in the early stage. Throughout the change processes, some who survived spread across the different parts of the organization like a pollination process. Learning back and forth across JRK went on running; consequently, swift change movement started to transform their old organizational culture to new one. Kohei brings out the change and he points out that it was the determined desire to bring about value for the customers, identity and innovation that made it possible.
The next study from Paul Lapoule is about the issues confronting Intermarché, the third largest French grocery retail company in choosing the important and fast drive-in model development. Paul Lapoule points out that the large French grocery retailers are investing heavily in the ‘click and drive’ format in order to avoid having to make home deliveries and bear the substantial costs associated with the ‘last mile’.Paul further mentions, ‘Investing in selected drive-in locations is a cheaper way for them to expand their area of coverage than investing in new outlets’. The difficult format presents a number of challenges from the strategic, logistic and marketing points of view. This case study provides an insight into the success of the grocery model developed by French grocery retail companies and allows understanding the basis of their competitive advantages.
Marcia A. Docherty next addresses change leadership in a case of hospitals. Marcia Docherty narrates that in the year 2008, the Alberta Government consolidated nine health regions and three provincial programmes to become the largest health authority in Canada. The consolidation came in the presence of opposition: the loudest opposition to the Medical Care Act came from private insurance companies and the Canadian Medical Association. The CEO hired to lead this new organization was terminated with less than 2 years in the position, for his inability to effectively address the political and cultural issues associated with leading and managing the largest health merger in Canada. The article reviews and explores the political and organizational issues that resulted in the termination of the CEO. The case illustrates that physicians are able to leverage significant public support for their agendas; effective change management must recognize and address front-line staff and research on the benefits of hospital consolidation is weak.
Gayla S. Napier next discusses road warriors, core to consulting services. These are consulting professionals who spend their workweek away from home at a client site. Inherent to the distributed nature of their work, road warriors are often dependent on technology-enabled communications to connect with members of their professional community. Gayla in this study explores how road warriors in a professional services firm engage with one another. The study goes beyond traditional descriptions of community to suggest that road warriors intermingle in a virtual third-place of communitas. The author suggests how a sense of communitas provides support for road warriors as they juggle family, friends and professional duties. The study has implications for how consulting services firms foster a sense of communitas in their ranks, and how in doing so they may increase retention of their consulting talent.
In the concluding case study of this volume, Omar Abdull Kareem and Khuan Wai Bing address issues related to management interventions in a higher education institution for improvement of student well-being. The authors point out that higher education institutions worldwide are competing for students by providing unique learning and well-being services to students. However, campus services often cannot cope with increasing demand for counselling or other forms of well-being treatment with the increased number of students in their campuses. The case explores the university management’s interventions towards a student who attempted suicide due to depression. This case further offers crucial points for providing awareness and the management of student well-being in university campus. The authors stress that education providers should also consider fostering a supportive campus environment by strengthening students’ resilience and coping ability through early intervention, preventive measures and other help-systems.
It is hoped that the cases provide insights, kindle a fire to know more and a desire to share cases written and developed by you and your network based on real experiences; we lay stress on understanding the difference that exists between a story and a case study in case writing.
We look forward to receive your critical comments and valuable suggestions for improvement of the journal, as always.