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iQmetrix: The Customer Is Always Right
Chris Street; Darren Meister; Tracy ThibodeauCase IVEY-9B16M028-EEntrepreneurship, StrategyIn 2015, iQmetrix, a company founded in 1999, developed and sold point-of-sale (POS) software using the software-as-a-service model. Two iQmetrix enterprise account managers were discussing strategies for closing a software subscription deal with a large customer who asked for significant customization to be completed before the deal could be signed. The customization appeared to be critical for the customer, and the account managers thought the ...Starting at €8.20
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Challenges and Opportunities at the Protospace Makerspace
Chris Street; J. Robert MitchellCase IVEY-9B17M087-EEntrepreneurship, StrategyIn early 2017, the directors at Protospace, a makerspace in Calgary, Alberta, Canada, faced some challenges. The nine-year-old member-run organization operated as a “do-ocracy,” with a minimum of official oversight. However, the directors and some of the membership wondered whether Protospace could and should scale its growth by recruiting and accepting new members. Would a larger membership help or hinder the membership-driven makerspace? Should...Starting at €8.20
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Organizational Design at iQmetrix: The Holacracy Decision
Chris Street; Ann C. Frost; Clayton CaswellCase IVEY-9B17C045-EEntrepreneurship, Leadership and People ManagementSoftware development company iQmetrix Software Development Corporation (iQmetrix), headquartered in Vancouver, Canada, had enjoyed success and growth for over two decades. In July 2017, iQmetrix was confronted with the challenge of managing this growth while maintaining its organizational culture as a non-hierarchical, innovative, and open place to work—a place where the best ideas could come from anywhere and where people shared ideas openly and...Starting at €8.20
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The Tim Hortons Brier
Matthew Thomson; Jason MelhuishCase IVEY-9B11A041-EMarketingThe Tim Hortons Brier is the annual Canadian men’s national curling championship. In the case, students will assume the role of Peter Inch, chair of the 2011 Brier Host Committee, to create and finalize the promotional plan for the 2011 Brier, to be held in London, Ontario. Inch’s objectives are two-fold: i) create interest for the event and the sport of curling and ii) execute a safe and profitable event.Starting at €8.20
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iQmetrix and Straker Translations: Evaluating First Contact
Ann C. Frost; Chris Street; Maurice ThibodeauCase IVEY-9B18A069-EEntrepreneurship, MarketingUsing raw, uncut footage, this video case asks students to evaluate the effectiveness of the first contact that took place in November 2016 between representatives from two technology companies—iQmetrix and Straker Translations. The two firms are contemplating a business partnership in which Straker will provide iQmetrix with translation services. First contact calls generally precede every business partnership and are normally completed only aft...Starting at €8.20
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Banishing Performance Ratings at iQmetrix
Justin Feeney; Ann C. Frost; Chris StreetCase IVEY-9B20C006-ELeadership and People ManagementIn 2018, Software development corporation iQmetrix Software Development Corp. (iQmetrix), headquartered in Vancouver, Canada, had experienced exponential growth and success over the past two decades. The company’s head of People and Culture, was interested in the debate over the ideal performance appraisal process. After reading a few articles in the Harvard Business Review, she was considering dropping traditional performance appraisals and repl...Starting at €8.20
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Sam’s Pizzeria: Managing Peak Demand
David Wood; Ali Abdel-RazekCase IVEY-9B20D002-EEntrepreneurship, Service and Operations ManagementIn October 2018, the owner of Sam’s Pizzeria (Sam’s) in Orillia, Ontario, needed to determine how he should staff his business to keep up with an increase in demand on Halloween. Halloween had often been a source of frustration, as Sam's struggled to keep up with demand on that day. Providing customers with good-quality pizza and fast delivery was critical to Sam’s success. Not wanting to repeat the mistakes of the past, the owner knew that he wo...Starting at €8.20
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Selling at ServiceBox (A): Jon Clifford's Perspective
Chris Street; J. Robert MitchellCase IVEY-9B16M015-EEntrepreneurship, StrategyIn 2012, an entrepreneur and his business partner have created ServiceBox, a web-based software-as-a-service (SaaS) work order management system for use in plumbing and heating businesses. The product was developed in response to a request from a friend, who owns a plumbing business. The entrepreneur is now ready to sell this product, relying on a subscription-based SaaS business model for revenue. He has scheduled a meeting with a heating contra...Starting at €8.20
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Business Models and the Online Venture Challenge (A): The Decision Over Version 2.0
Chris Street; J. Robert MitchellCase IVEY-9B17M050-EEntrepreneurship, StrategyIn January 2016, two entrepreneurial brothers attended an academic conference on small business and entrepreneurship to sell their product, the Online Venture Challenge, a web-based software-as-a-service retail simulation system. The brothers also hoped to demonstrate their second product idea, Launchboard, an interactive product that enabled users to make development plans and record their progress. Both products were intended as tools for entre...Starting at €8.20
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Sunset Grill at Blue
John S. Haywood-Farmer; Dina Ribbink; Jason MelhuishCase IVEY-9B10D015-EEntrepreneurship, Service and Operations ManagementA partner and owner of the Sunset Grill at Blue Mountain in the ski village at Blue Mountain, Ontario, had very mixed emotions. The restaurant had just finished its first year of operation and had broken even, and had been named as the Business of the Year in the counties of Simcoe and Grey. Yet the owner knew that operations were still far from perfect. Queues of waiting customers were very long, food orders were delivered slowly, and tensions w...Starting at €8.20