MGMT1120 - INDIVIDUAL CASE ASSIGNMENTS 2023-2024 (20% = 2 x 10%)

The objective of the course is to learn about the management process while at the same time, hone your skills
in the ten key areas stated in the syllabus. The cases are from your textbook, but the questions you answer
are on this document.
The assignments are INDIVIDUAL not group assignments.

Each week several students will submit a case assignment. Students are responsible for submitting TWO
cases – one from the first half of the course and one from the second half. They will choose their case
via the Choose function on Moodle and submit the case via the drop box on Moodle. The students will
choose their cases during the first week of class. The topics and due dates of each case will be stated on
the Course Calendar. Note: this is an individual assignment, not a group assignment. You do not work
in groups on an individual case assignment.

How do you know when it is your turn to hand in the case assignment? You will choose when to hand in your
TWO cases via the Choose function on Moodle – the submission dates are on your course calendar.
There are limited numbers of submission slots per week, so choose your week carefully. Once the
submission slots are full, THAT’S IT.

Assignments will be graded and returned to you. If you have any questions regarding your assignment, you will
give me the assignment for review with your written notes and reasons why you believe additional grades are
merited. Do not ask me to simply review the assignment without your notes.

The Individual Case Studies are to be uploaded by 4:30pm on the day they are due – which is shown in your
course calendar. Once the drop box on Moodle closes, the assignment is ineligible for submission.
LATE CASES ARE NOT ACCEPTED. 

PLAGIARISM:
Plagiarism is a violation of the JR Shaw School of Business student code of conduct and a serious
academic offense. You may paraphrase but you cannot represent another person’s ideas or writings as your
own. Plagiarism can result in no grades assigned for the course. Your work will be held to the highest levels of
accepted academic standards. Please refer to NAIT’s Academic Honesty and Plagiarism Policy here:
http://www.nait.ca/docs/Academic_Regulations(1).pdf

READ THIS BEFORE HANDING IN YOUR FIRST CASE STUDY!

Specific Guidelines:

1. Answer the questions in a concise and relevant way. Use information from the case to showcase
the concepts addressed in each chapter – and stated in the questions.

2. You must submit all assignments / projects using APA format, IN MS WORD, which includes:
a. 1-inch margins on all sides
b. 12-point Times New Roman font
c. Double spacing
d. Indented paragraph style
e. All outside sources – whether quoted, paraphrased, or summarized – must be cited using both
in-text citations and a reference page.
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 f. Word formatted headings are to be used, where appropriate.
g. Page numbers

3. Appropriate parts of a report include:

a. Title Page, including full name of student submitting the report, name of the assignment / case,
date of submission, instructor’s name, course name and section number;
b. Table of Contents;
c. Introduction and Conclusion;
d. Headings and Subheadings throughout the body of the report; and a
e. References page.
f. Any exceptions to this guideline will result marks being deducted.

4. No point form or “bullet” statements. Use proper paragraph format. However, do not create
paragraphs that go on forever!

Individual Case Studies are due be uploaded by 4:30pm on the day they are due. Once the dropbox on
Moodle closes, the assignment is ineligible for submission. LATE CASES ARE NOT ACCEPTED. 

NOTE: The schedule is flexible and may be changed. There may also be changes to cases depending
on up-dates. Please refer to the Course Calendar on Moodle for any changes to the existing schedule.

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CASE ASSIGNMENT QUESTIONS:

Read the case from the text, then answer the questions below. You will submit ONE case from the Red
Cases, and ONE from the Blue Cases.

Chapter 1 Case: Vancity: On Top of Its Game – For Class Discussion Only

1. Vancity is a very successful organization as defined by several business criteria. Apply the
principles stated in “Working Today” pp. 2-7 to describe why Vancity has achieved this
distinction.
2. Describe how Vancity creates value for the customer using Figure 1.1. Follow one aspect of
Vancity’s service to the customer through this model.
3. Figure 1.2 helps to determine a company’s productivity using the criteria of effectiveness and
efficiency. Describe Vancity’s productivity using this model.
4. Discuss the management roles at Vancity by applying Figure 1.7. Give two examples of each
role from the case

Chapter 2 Case: Zara International: Fashion at the Speed of Light - For Class Discussion Only

1. How would you describe Zara as a network of systems as illustrated by Figure 2.5?
2. Discuss how Contingency Thinking will help Zara adjust to environmental problems in the future.
3. Would you describe Zara as a Learning Organization? How would being a learning organization
provide for a competitive advantage for Zara?
4. How does the principle of Evidence-Based Management apply at Zara? Give examples from the
case.

Chapter 4 Case: Patagonia – Leading a Green Revolution

1. Perform an external environment (CREST) analysis of Patagonia. Which environment provides

the most immediate challenge for Patagonia?
2. Stakeholder needs define what the organization must do to meet these needs. Apply Figure 4.2
to illustrate each of Patagonia’s stakeholder’s needs. Do we need to satisfy all stakeholders’
needs at the time? What issues could this present for Patagonia?
3. Come up with an innovation Patagonia could create that would give it a competitive advantage.
Take that innovation through the steps of the innovation process.
4. How has the Covid-19 pandemic affected Patagonia’s strong commitment to sustainability?

Chapter 7 Case: Amazon.com: One E-store to Rule Them All

1. Identify and define three possible problems Amazon will have to face in the next five (5)
years.
2. Choose one of the problems you outlined in question 1 and generate and evaluate three
possible solutions to that problem.
3. Decisions are made based on changes in the business environment. Choose your best
alternative in question 2 and explain why that would be the best direction for Amazon to
take. Consider the type of environment where Amazon has operated in the past, currently
and in the future. Consider the risk of failure and the type of decisions it has made / will
make in the future.
4. Amazon needs to grow. However, there is more competition now than in the past. Apply
Figure 7.6 to identify the steps that Bezos may undertake next to grow his company. Use all
parts of this model.

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Chapter 3 Case: Tentree International: A Canadian Firm Dedicated to Protecting the Planet

1. Apply Figure 3.1 to Tentree to determine its view of ethics. Is it in only one of the quadrants, or
is it in more than one? Explain.
2. Describe how Tentree has considered the Triple Bottom Line when exercising stewardship
decisions for Tentree.
3. In which Corporate Social Responsibility perspective would you place Tentree? Explain.
4. Apply Figure 3.8 to illustrate Tentree’s commitment to corporate social responsibility.

Chapter 6 Case: Shopify: Making Commerce Better

1. Describe Lutke’s entrepreneurial characteristics by applying Figure 6.1. Using a scale of 1 to 10

with 1 being the weakest, rate Lutke on each characteristic and determine an overall rating for
him.
2. Two years after Shopify was launched, the economy tanked. Apply each of the criteria in Figure
6.2 to determine the reasons why Shopify did NOT fail.
3. Describe in as much detail as possible, the stages in the life cycle of Shopify. Apply Figure 6.3
to conduct this analysis and use data from the case and elsewhere to back up your answer.
4. It appears from the case data, that Shopify has financed the company on several occasions in
keeping with its growth options. Discuss the financing used at each step of the life cycle.

Chapter 8 Case: Uber – Riding the Gig Economy

1. Apply the five steps of the Planning Process to Uber’s development of it’s app-driven online cab
service.
2. Outline the Strategic, Tactical and Functional plans Uber has concerning its new self-driving car
program. Show at least one plus and one minus within each of the plans.
3. Plans rarely absolutely go to plan! It is impossible as variables in the environment keep
changing and impact the company in different ways. What planning tools might Uber use to deal
with some of the unexpected issues Uber has faced with its online cab business model.
4. How might Uber use Management by Objectives to work with municipalities and provinces to
create the infrastructure and legislation needed to achieve its self-driving car goals?

Chapter 10 Case: HBC: From Fur to Fendi– For Class Discussion Only

1. Apply figure 10.3 to discuss the relationship between HBC’s mission and its stakeholders.
Identify HBC’s primary stakeholders and their specific demands.
2. Using the information in the case (and your own knowledge of HBC from visits) conduct a
current SWOT analysis for HBC.
3. Porter’s Five Forces Model is used to analyze the intensity of competition in an industry.
Conduct a Porter’s Five Forces Analysis using figure 10.5. Rank the forces as weak, moderate,
or strong. Provide a conclusion on the level of rivalry in the industry.
4. Using figures 10.6 and 10.7, identify and explain the corporate and business level strategies
HBC is using currently.

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Chapter 11 Case: Nike – Spreading Out to Win the Race

1. What type of organizational structure would work the best for Nike? Explain your answer
thoroughly.
2. Draw (yes, draw a picture) the organizational structure you have chosen for question #1 – be
as complete as possible. What improvements could be made to this structure? Explain your
choices.
3. Which type of organizational design would be the best for Nike? Why?
4. Is Nike on the leading edge of trends in organizational design? Apply the concepts in
section11.4 to determine leads or lags in implementing new trends in design at Nike.

Chapter 12 Case: Gamification – Finding Legitimacy in the New Corporate Culture

1. Would a company need to take a top down, bottom up or integrated view to achieve
gamification in an organization? Justify your choice.
2. Considering the Organizational Change Pyramid in Figure 12.6, Outline how either a
transformational or incremental change would be used to implement gamification in an
organization.
3. Which of the three types of Change Strategies would be the most appropriate for
implementing gamification in an organization? Be specific and give examples from the
case.
4. Use Lewin’s Three Phases of Change to show how implementing gamification would be
implemented successfully in an organization.

Chapter 13 Case: RealRecruit – Protecting Student Athletes

1. What impact can the presence of a company like RealRecruit have on the culture and
operational activities of athletics departments at universities? Which parts of an
organization’s legal environment will the use of RealRecruit affect the most?
2. How would the use of RealRecruit affect both the external recruitment of athletes and sports
management personnel (coaches, trainers, etc)?
3. Post-secondary sports must maintain safe working conditions for both its staff and students.
How has RealRecruit helped and hindered the development and maintenance of staff and
students in post-secondaries that use RealRecruit?
4. What challenges does anonymity present to a data-driven tool like RealRecruit? What are
the possible advantages and drawbacks of using anonymous surveys in the workplace?

Chapter 14 Case: Broadband TV – Shahrzad Rafati’s “Rapid-Fire” Drive

1. Considering the leadership behaviours in 14.1, which type(s) of leadership would you
attribute to Shahrzad Rafati? Explain your reasons.
2. Using the concepts in 14.2, what leadership traits describe Shahrzad Rafati best? Why?
3. Apply Figure 14.4 placing Shahrzad Rafati on the Classic Leadership Styles grid. Which
quadrant(s) did you place her? Why? Note: the two variables.
4. Shahrzad Rafati has sold 51% of her company to another group. Is her leadership approach
something that could be replicated by her successors, or do you think it is only something
only Shahrzad Rafati could present at Broadband TV specifically? Explain your reasons.

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Chapter 9 Case: Electronic Arts – Inside Fantasy Sports

1. Describe in detail how Electronic Arts (EA) could strengthen its feedforward controls to
improve performance at the leading edge of this industry.
2. Describe in detail how EA can use concurrent controls to improve the process of game
development and sales.
3. Develop some feedback controls that will give EA immediate information on how the
company is performing relative to its competitors.
4. Consider the four steps of the control process in section 9.2. Go through the four steps of
the control process with one of the processes shown in the case.

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 MARKING RUBRIC FOR INDIVIDUAL CASE STUDY ASSIGNMENTS

Content

 All questions are completed thoroughly

 Answers are presented in a clear, easy-to-understand way
 Important issues have been identified and addressed
 Clear evidence of critical analysis, recommendations and argument-building
 Contains introduction and conclusion, table of contents.

Total /7

Formatting

 1” margins, double-spaced, 12-pt Times New Roman font, indented paragraph

style, consistent headings and subheadings, page numbers
 Title page, full name of student submitting the report, name of the assignment /
case, date of submission, instructor’s name, course name and section number
 Reference page.
Total /1
Written Expression

 Attention has been paid to grammar, sentence structure, spelling, and

punctuation
 Content is presented professionally; there is evidence of proofreading.
 No plagiarism
Total /2

TOTAL /10