Publication database

The 12-minute video demonstrates a peer coaching conversation between John (a peer coachee) and Petra (a peer coach). John and Petra first met in the same Executive MBA program, the current coaching conversation takes place at an Alumni meeting several years after graduation. The conversation serves as a vivid demonstration of the practice of peer coaching and can be used as a supplement to the introduction of the principles of peer coaching for a managerial audience.

This video demonstration offers a vivid and concrete example of a peer coaching conversation and helps these participants to overcome the anxiety associated with the belief of not fully understanding the necessary concepts. Thus, the peer coaching demonstration aims at achieving the following learning objectives: The illustration of the method of peer coaching and concepts relating to it and the illustration of the GROW model. The video can be used as part of a preparation package or during a classroom session, primarily to prepare participants to exercise peer coaching themselves, either in the context of the same education intervention or thereafter.

Launched in early 2005, Zopa is a peer-to-peer online brokerage that couples British residents who want to lend with those who want to borrow. The company represents a new business model in the retail financial services industry, and since Zopa is not technically a bank and does not lend money itself, the capital requirements to run the business are relatively small. Compared to a traditional full service bank Zopa concentrates on only a few steps of the value chain. This case study provides an overview of how Zopa, a value innovator, has developed a unique position in the market through an innovative business model. This case enables students to develop a good understanding of the elements of a value innovation and how technologies have the potential to shake up an established industry structure and its key players. Students also get to discuss the sustainability of competitive advantage in a business in which network effects play an important role. Finally, the case can be used to address the topic of how incumbent firms should respond to innovative new business models.

The case helps students to develop a deeper understanding of the concepts of positioning, value innovation, sustainable competitive advantage, and responding to new market entrants. It is intended for MBA courses in strategic management, innovation, and marketing and can also be used in executive education programs as part of a competitive strategy program to discuss issues related to positioning, value innovation, and sustainable competitive advantage. The case is especially suitable for financial services managers in traditional retail or online banking facing the threat of market entry by low-cost or more focused firms.

The teaching objectives for this four-part case series lie at two distinct levels. Ostensibly the main teaching objectives relate to understanding Danica Purg's own entrepreneurial leadership style and its appropriateness for her own as well as other small and large organizations. But never far from the surface are underlying questions and related teaching objectives about the type of managers, leaders, and entrepreneurs that the world (and particularly her part of the European world) will need in the future, and how the needed capacities can best be developed- a subject on which she has strong and provocative opinions.

The teaching objectives for this four-part case series lie at two distinct levels. Ostensibly the main teaching objectives relate to understanding Danica Purg's own entrepreneurial leadership style and its appropriateness for her own as well as other small and large organizations. But never far from the surface are underlying questions and related teaching objectives about the type of managers, leaders, and entrepreneurs that the world (and particularly her part of the European world) will need in the future, and how the needed capacities can best be developed- a subject on which she has strong and provocative opinions.

The teaching objectives for this four-part case series lie at two distinct levels. Ostensibly the main teaching objectives relate to understanding Danica Purg's own entrepreneurial leadership style and its appropriateness for her own as well as other small and large organizations. But never far from the surface are underlying questions and related teaching objectives about the type of managers, leaders, and entrepreneurs that the world (and particularly her part of the European world) will need in the future, and how the needed capacities can best be developed- a subject on which she has strong and provocative opinions.

The teaching objectives for this four-part case series lie at two distinct levels. Ostensibly the main teaching objectives relate to understanding Danica Purg's own entrepreneurial leadership style and its appropriateness for her own as well as other small and large organizations. But never far from the surface are underlying questions and related teaching objectives about the type of managers, leaders, and entrepreneurs that the world (and particularly her part of the European world) will need in the future, and how the needed capacities can best be developed- a subject on which she has strong and provocative opinions.

The case deals with a dramatic series of suicides at France Télécom between 2008 and 2009. Over a period of 18 months preceding the date of the opening lines of the case, 23 France Télécom employees took their lives. Many of the deceased had left notes blaming work-related stress or management decisions as the reasons for their extreme actions. The French government found it necessary to intervene and demand France Télécom’s management to indicate to the workforce and society that they were taking the situation seriously. The case briefly describes the history of France Télécom, the change initiatives following the deregulation of the European telecommunications industry, and the development of the attention of the French nation and international public toward the company in the aftermath of the suicides and suicide attempts. The case closes citing the response of the government, the company, the unions, psychologists, and stock analysts after a crisis meeting between French Labor Minister Xavier Darcos and France Télécom’s PDG (Chairman of the Board and CEO) Didier Lombard in September 2009.

The case serves as a fertile basis for discussion on responsible leadership, corporate culture, human resources management practices, adaptive change management, corporate social responsibility, or business ethics. It puts the students in a deep thinking mode on questions about the responsibility of organizational leaders for creating healthy working cultures, the impact leadership decisions have on people’s lives, and their own choices as managers or employees in difficult organizational situations. The case can also be used as introductory stimulus material for in-company management training programs on workplace health or suicide prevention.

The case study shows the development of Chinese technology company ZPMC, which entered the container crane market in 1992 and, in the space of 15 years, achieved a global market share of over 70 percent. The case gives particular insights into the strategic decisions that led to ZPMC’s competitors being pushed aside in a market previously dominated by Western providers. It also clearly illustrates the risks and limitations facing companies that are strongly focused on growth.

The case study is designed to give insights into how technology companies from emerging and developing countries can establish themselves over the long term in a market dominated by Western companies. The aim is for students to gain important knowledge about approaches to competitive strategy in the market entry phase, during the growth period to market leader, and in diversification in new markets. Non-Chinese students in particular will gain increased awareness of developments in Chinese companies. Chinese students in particular will become more familiar with the pitfalls associated with the rapid growth of Chinese companies.

The case focuses on three primary objectives. Firstly, students should identify the interests of the parties involved in a company acquisition and gain insights into the financial perspectives of the seller, the political and strategic perspectives of the buyer and, the competitive strategic perspectives of the managers in charge of operations. Secondly, students should gain an understanding of corporate thinking in Western and Chinese technology companies. Thirdly, they should use this mutual understanding as the foundation for future profitable co-operations.
This case is withdrawn and no longer available.

In this note you will find a summary and an overview of the principles of branding, as well as an illustration of application of these principles to build personal brands. We will review the principles of branding, apply these concepts, and generate a tangible and useful outcome – your personal brand plan.