Ivey Business School (Canada)
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The Red Hen Controversy
Jana Seijts; Benjamin BigioCase IVEY-9B19M091-EEntrepreneurship, StrategyOn June 22, 2018, Stephanie Wilkinson, co-founder of the Red Hen, a small farm-to-table restaurant in rural Virginia, was caught off guard when a frantic call from her chef told her that the White House press secretary, Sarah Huckabee Sanders, had just sat down to eat at Wilkinson's restaurant. Staff at the Red Hen were tense because they fundamentally disagreed with Sanders's support of the Trump administration on issues such as immigration and ...Starting at €8.20
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o.b.: The Case of the Missing Tampons
Mary Weil; Jana Seijts; Paul BigusCase IVEY-9B12M096-EStrategyThe chief executive officer (CEO) of a large consumer health conglomerate faces a controversial situation. Loyal consumers of a feminine hygiene product are outraged when they learn that a highly coveted product has been permanently discontinued. Unable to find their favourite brand in stock, consumers create a website and post online petitions to boycott, or rather “girlcott,” all products made by the company. The company has already suffered se...Starting at €8.20
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Disrupting Wall Street: High Frequency Trading
Derrick Neufeld; Brad EvansCase IVEY-9B14E021-EInformation TechnologiesMichael Lewis’s book Flash Boys, published in 2014, revealed to the public numerous controversial Wall Street trading practices made possible by advances in technology as well as regulatory changes that were (ironically) intended to improve pricing fairness in the financial markets. Lewis’s story focused on the man who blew the whistle: Brad Katsuyama, a Canadian banker who ran the New York trading desk for the Royal Bank of Canada. In 2010, he h...Starting at €8.20
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The Obamacare Website
Derrick Neufeld; Ning Su; Brad EvansCase IVEY-9B14E005-ECorporate GovernanceIn October 2013, the Health and Human Services Secretary of the United States is tasked with making decisions about a website project, Healthcare.gov, that is a critical component in delivering the Affordable Care Act, or “Obamacare,” to the American people. The act is a cornerstone but controversial policy of the Obama administration aimed at increasing access to health care services by providing health insurance to uninsured Americans. Unfortun...Starting at €8.20
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Mountain Dew: The Most Racist Soft-drink Commercial in History
Jana Seijts; Paul BigusCase IVEY-9B13A021-EMarketingPepsiCo faces criticism after releasing a series of online advertisements for Mountain Dew that featured an angry Mountain Dew–drinking goat, a battered white woman on crutches and the goat in a police lineup of all black men. Critics are offended by the advertisement’s portrayal of violence toward women and racial stereotypes. As the public outcry spreads, Mountain Dew’s senior brand manager needs to devise a course of action or risk damage to o...Starting at €8.20
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Toyota: Accelerator Pedal Recall (B)
Jana Seijts; Paul BigusCase IVEY-9B11M078-ELeadership and People Management, Marketing, StrategyThis case is a supplement to Toyota: Accelerator Pedal Recall (A).Starting at €5.74
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Netflix: The Public Relations Box Office Flop
Jana Seijts; Paul BigusCase IVEY-9B12M049-ELeadership and People Management, Marketing, StrategyOn the morning of September 19, 2011, the chief executive officer (CEO) of the online movie provider Netflix Incorporated became witness to growing public discontent and media criticism directed at the company. The previous evening, the CEO had announced on the company blog that Netflix would be splitting into two separate entities. With the proposed change, the Netflix DVD-by-mail service would be spun out and renamed Qwikster. The move would le...Starting at €8.20
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Domino’s Pizza
Jana Seijts; Paul BigusCase IVEY-9B11C016-ELeadership and People Management, StrategyThe vice president of communications of Domino’s Pizza International faced a significant threat to his company’s reputation due to negative social media exposure. A video had been posted on YouTube two days earlier by a Domino’s employee that showed two Domino’s employees at a North Carolina franchise tampering with customers’ pizza and sandwich orders. The employee stuck cheese up his nose, sneezed on the food prior to boxing it up, and could be...Starting at €8.20
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McDonald's Twitter Campaign: Hype Versus Reality
Jana Seijts; Paul BigusCase IVEY-9B13M123-EStrategyIn early January 2012, the director of social media for the McDonald’s Corporation (McDonald's) was challenged with a tall order. The corporation had just launched a large public relations campaign using the Twitter hashtag “#MeetTheFarmers” to promote connections with family farms and local suppliers. Maximizing a Twitter Promoted Trends expenditure, the director had switched the hashtag from “#MeetTheFarmers” to “#McDStories” halfway through th...Starting at €8.20
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Toyota: Accelerator Pedal Recall (A)
Jana Seijts; Paul BigusCase IVEY-9B11M077-ELeadership and People Management, Marketing, StrategyIn January 2010, global automotive manufacturer Toyota faced the task of notifying customers of a recall that involved a faulty accelerator pedal on 1.7 million vehicles. Toyota had already come under intense public scrutiny the previous year over a floor mat recall that affected 4.2 million vehicles. In an attempt to reach the masses for the current recall, Toyota created a letter to customers that was featured in major newspapers and on its web...Starting at €8.20