case study for organization and management

Case Studies in Business, Management, and Organizations

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• Sage Business Cases This link opens in a new window SAGE Business Cases is a digital collection of business cases tailored to library needs – providing faculty, students and researchers with unlimited access to more than 4,850 authoritative cases from over 120 countries. SAGE curates interdisciplinary cases on in-demand subjects such as entrepreneurship, accounting, healthcare management, leadership, social enterprise, and more. Publishing partners include Yale University, Kellogg School of Management, Society of Human Resource Management, and more. For Instructors: additional teaching note material is available; please contact the library for more information on how to access this content.
• HS Talks Business & Management Collection This link opens in a new window Specially commissioned talks from leading experts in industry, commerce, the professions and academia. The collection also includes 20 peer reviewed vocational journals.

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• Business Source Premier --Abstracts for Harvard Business School Case Studies from 1942 to the present are available as part of Business Source Premier. Full text of the case is not available.
• Harvard Business School Case Studies The case method forms the basis of learning at Harvard Business School. It is a method designed to provide an "immersion" experience, challenging students by bringing them as close as possible to the business situations of the real world. Harvard Business School Publishing makes these cases and related materials available to improve and enhance business education around the world. They are available to purchase online for around $7.00.
• Case Depositories Page at GlobalEdge This section of the GlobalEdge database provides information about publishers or depositories of cases. Some sites list cases by that institution. Other sites act as clearinghouses and feature cases from a variety of sources.
• LearningEdge The case studies available on LearningEdge are teaching case studies, narratives that facilitate class discussion about a particular business or management issue.
• Darden Case Collection The Darden case collection provides numerous business and management case studies.
• European Case Clearing House The Clearing House distributes the European Collection from the Babson College Office including case collections of IMD, INSEAD, IESE, London Business School, Cranfield School of Management, Babson College and cases from independent authors. Cases cost about $3.50.
• Kellogg School of Management Case Study Abstracts The Kellogg School of Management is making available to academic practitioners and corporate trainers selected cases and teaching materials, developed by Kellogg faculty and taught in the Kellogg classroom. Information on how to order the case studies is included on the web site.
• Stanford Graduate School of Business Case Studies Abstracts This database contains abstracts and ordering information for case studies written and published by the Stanford Graduate School of Business. You may search by authors name, title, keyword, etc. Most cases in this collection are distributed by Harvard Business School Publishing and you will find a link to the HBSP site to place your order. Contact them for availability of other cases.
• Case Research Journal Available in Print: Case research journal. Published: [United States] : The North American Case Research Association (NACRA), 1980--present. Availability: TC Wilson Periodicals --Basement The Index to the cases in the print journal is available at the link shown above. This site from the North American Case Research Association also shows how to purchase the cases available in the journal.
• NASPAA Publicases Publicases is an online repository and marketplace developed by NASPAA (Network of Schools of Public Policy, Affairs, and Administration) as platform connecting students and faculty in public affairs schools around the world with simulations, case studies, data, and other experiential learning opportunities. Currently, case content is developed by the Evans School and the Humphrey School and is available without charge to member schools.

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Case Studies Collections

The library provides access to many case studies, but NOT Harvard Business Review studies. Below are a list of studies provided via the library and free sites.

• The Case Centre (free) A growing range of free cases produced by a number of prominent schools and organisations across the globe. Must register to access .

Login only with UNM NetID. For more information visit https://libguides.unm.edu/Safari

• Ivey Business School (free) Ivey at the University of Western Ontario provides Complimentary Cases.
• MIT LearningEdge (free) Cases cover the subjects: entrepreneurship, leadership/ethics, operations management, strategy, sustainability, and system dynamics.
• Stanford Business (some free) Use the Narrow Your Results option to select subjects and "Available to download at no charge."

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• Case Studies in Business, Industry & Government Statistics (free) Open Journal via Societe Francaise de Statistique. Cases are in English.
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Organization and Management case study

its case about pharmaceutical industry faced problem of meeting its competition and solution has been described Read less

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More related content, what's hot, what's hot ( 20 ), similar to organization and management case study, similar to organization and management case study ( 20 ), recently uploaded, recently uploaded ( 14 ).

• 1. Organization and Management case study By, Kishan k shenoy 4NM15MBA73 I MBA (Section B)
• 2.  Mr. Ganguly is the CEO of S R K Pharma Ltd.  On 12th December 2005 core committee meeting was held  The CEO S R K Ltd Mr.Gangly the Marketing manager Finance manager and Production manager were attend the meeting  In the meeting Mr. Ganguly expressed his fear of view regarding the competition in pharmaceutical industry and the company’s market share in the next decade  The members of core group committee has disused this problem for several days  At last they came up with strategy of diversification of there business to compete in market against there competitor  So they made strategy of introducing new medicine which is made out of extraction of plant which will add to there companies line of production mix Introduction to Case
• 3.   On February 2006 the company had made arrangement regarding to implementing strategy of production and marketing medicine based on plant extraction  Company plan was to start its commercial production on August 2006  The CEO of S R K ltd Mr Ganguly found that the employees of the company were lack in required skill available for the extraction of plant to produce medicine.  Hence company forced to delay there introduction of new strategy to Market and commercial production till October 2007  To train there existing employees and appointment of new employees CONT…
• 4.   According to me its correct decision because of introduction of new product mix in company it will help to compete in market  Because companies diversification strategy that is production of medicine from extract of plant this strategy will help the company to stable its market share in next decade 1. How far Mr. Ganguly correct in deciding on introducing a new plant extract based medicine in company’s product mix?
• 5.   Production of medicine with help of extraction of plant  Arrangements has made to implement the strategy with respect to production and marketing  The core group members came up with strategy of diversification of business  With introduction of new product mix after long deliberation and discussion 2. What exactly the business strategy introduced by the core group after days long deliberations and discussions?
• 6.   The company mainly failed deciding exact date of starting commercial production because  Lack of required skill was found in the employee of S R K Ltd to prepare medicine out of extract of plant  To train the existing employees and appointment new skilled employees 3. Why the company core group failed in deciding on the exact date of starting the commercial production?
• 7.   If I was in position of Mr Gangly I would have preferred to know how company can face competition and tackle situation with improvement in promotion of product and development of existing medicine  I like to suggest that if i would have preferred to introduce new strategy i would have outsourced the work for the skilled employees who knows how to produce medicine from extract of plant rather than training existing employees. Because its time consuming process we must meet the competition so we cant delay the process.  By outsourcing the work we will also share our risk along with profit which is one of good decision to meet competition in current situation 4.If, you were in Ganguly’s position, what would have been your strategy in deciding on the members of the core group and starting the commercial production?
• 8.  THANK YOU

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Methodology

• What Is a Case Study? | Definition, Examples & Methods

What Is a Case Study? | Definition, Examples & Methods

Published on May 8, 2019 by Shona McCombes . Revised on November 20, 2023.

A case study is a detailed study of a specific subject, such as a person, group, place, event, organization, or phenomenon. Case studies are commonly used in social, educational, clinical, and business research.

A case study research design usually involves qualitative methods , but quantitative methods are sometimes also used. Case studies are good for describing , comparing, evaluating and understanding different aspects of a research problem .

Table of contents

When to do a case study, step 1: select a case, step 2: build a theoretical framework, step 3: collect your data, step 4: describe and analyze the case, other interesting articles.

A case study is an appropriate research design when you want to gain concrete, contextual, in-depth knowledge about a specific real-world subject. It allows you to explore the key characteristics, meanings, and implications of the case.

Case studies are often a good choice in a thesis or dissertation . They keep your project focused and manageable when you don’t have the time or resources to do large-scale research.

You might use just one complex case study where you explore a single subject in depth, or conduct multiple case studies to compare and illuminate different aspects of your research problem.

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Once you have developed your problem statement and research questions , you should be ready to choose the specific case that you want to focus on. A good case study should have the potential to:

• Provide new or unexpected insights into the subject
• Challenge or complicate existing assumptions and theories
• Propose practical courses of action to resolve a problem
• Open up new directions for future research

TipIf your research is more practical in nature and aims to simultaneously investigate an issue as you solve it, consider conducting action research instead.

Unlike quantitative or experimental research , a strong case study does not require a random or representative sample. In fact, case studies often deliberately focus on unusual, neglected, or outlying cases which may shed new light on the research problem.

Example of an outlying case studyIn the 1960s the town of Roseto, Pennsylvania was discovered to have extremely low rates of heart disease compared to the US average. It became an important case study for understanding previously neglected causes of heart disease.

However, you can also choose a more common or representative case to exemplify a particular category, experience or phenomenon.

Example of a representative case studyIn the 1920s, two sociologists used Muncie, Indiana as a case study of a typical American city that supposedly exemplified the changing culture of the US at the time.

While case studies focus more on concrete details than general theories, they should usually have some connection with theory in the field. This way the case study is not just an isolated description, but is integrated into existing knowledge about the topic. It might aim to:

• Exemplify a theory by showing how it explains the case under investigation
• Expand on a theory by uncovering new concepts and ideas that need to be incorporated
• Challenge a theory by exploring an outlier case that doesn’t fit with established assumptions

To ensure that your analysis of the case has a solid academic grounding, you should conduct a literature review of sources related to the topic and develop a theoretical framework . This means identifying key concepts and theories to guide your analysis and interpretation.

There are many different research methods you can use to collect data on your subject. Case studies tend to focus on qualitative data using methods such as interviews , observations , and analysis of primary and secondary sources (e.g., newspaper articles, photographs, official records). Sometimes a case study will also collect quantitative data.

Example of a mixed methods case studyFor a case study of a wind farm development in a rural area, you could collect quantitative data on employment rates and business revenue, collect qualitative data on local people’s perceptions and experiences, and analyze local and national media coverage of the development.

The aim is to gain as thorough an understanding as possible of the case and its context.

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In writing up the case study, you need to bring together all the relevant aspects to give as complete a picture as possible of the subject.

How you report your findings depends on the type of research you are doing. Some case studies are structured like a standard scientific paper or thesis , with separate sections or chapters for the methods , results and discussion .

Others are written in a more narrative style, aiming to explore the case from various angles and analyze its meanings and implications (for example, by using textual analysis or discourse analysis ).

In all cases, though, make sure to give contextual details about the case, connect it back to the literature and theory, and discuss how it fits into wider patterns or debates.

If you want to know more about statistics , methodology , or research bias , make sure to check out some of our other articles with explanations and examples.

• Normal distribution
• Degrees of freedom
• Null hypothesis
• Discourse analysis
• Control groups
• Mixed methods research
• Non-probability sampling
• Quantitative research
• Ecological validity

Research bias

• Rosenthal effect
• Implicit bias
• Cognitive bias
• Selection bias
• Negativity bias
• Status quo bias

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McCombes, S. (2023, November 20). What Is a Case Study? | Definition, Examples & Methods. Scribbr. Retrieved April 17, 2024, from https://www.scribbr.com/methodology/case-study/

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Top 40 Most Popular Case Studies of 2018

Cases about food and agriculture took center stage in 2018. A case on the coffee supply chain remained the top case and cases on burgers, chocolate, and palm oil all made the top ten.

Cases about food and agriculture took center stage in 2018. A case on the coffee supply chain remained the top case and cases on burgers, chocolate, and palm oil all made the top ten, according to data compiled by Yale School of Management Case Research and Development Team (SOM CRDT).

Other topics in the top ten included corporate social responsibility, healthcare, solar energy, and financial inclusion.

The annual ranking of the 40 most popular Yale School of Management case studies combines data from publishers, Google analytics, SOM class syllabi, and other measures of interest and adoption. This is the second year that SOM CRDT has published its Top 40 list.

Cases published in 2018 on the top 40 list included Marina Bay Sands Hotel (#13), AgBiome (#18), Canary Wharf (#20), Mastercard (#21), and Peabody Museum (#35). Both the Marina Bay Sands and Peabody cases were featured in major student competitions in 2018.

The cases on the Top 40 list represent a variety of different business disciplines, as Yale SOM cases tend to combine a variety of perspectives. For example, the top coffee case can be taught in marketing, operations, and strategy classes. The number two case on Shake Shack covers finance, strategy, and even innovation and design. The list features a number of cases related to the interplay of state and commerce and social enterprise, traditional strengths of the Yale SOM curriculum.

While there are many US-based cases among the top 40, a range of locales are highlighted among the top 40 entries. Cases set in France (AXA), Great Britain (Cadbury, Canary Wharf, George Hudson), Indonesia (Palm Oil, Golden Agri), China (Ant Financial, Alibaba), India (SELCO, Project Sammaan), Singapore (Marina Bay Sands), Canada (Air Canada, Potash Corporation of Saskatchewan), and South Africa (Project Masiluleke) made the top 40 list.

SOM CRDT has been working to increase the number of women featured as case protagonists. The 2018 list boasts 13 cases where women play prominent roles in the narrative.

The top 40 list also demonstrates a wide range of SOM faculty involvement. Thirty different faculty members worked as case supervisors on the top 40 cases.

Read on to learn more about the top 10 most popular cases followed by a complete list of the top 40 cases of 2018. A selection of the top 40 cases are available for purchase through our online store . 

#1 - Coffee 2016

Faculty Supervision: Todd Cort

Coffee 2016 asks students to consider the coffee supply chain and generate ideas for what can be done to equalize returns across various stakeholders. The case draws a parallel between coffee and wine. Both beverages encourage connoisseurship, but only wine growers reap a premium for their efforts to ensure quality.  The case describes the history of coffee production across the world, the rise of the “third wave” of coffee consumption in the developed world, the efforts of the Illy Company to help coffee growers, and the differences between “fair” trade and direct trade. Faculty have found the case provides a wide canvas to discuss supply chain issues, examine marketing practices, and encourage creative solutions to business problems. 

#2 - Shake Shack IPO

Faculty Supervision: Jake Thomas and Geert Rouwenhorst

From an art project in a New York City park, Shake Shack developed a devoted fan base that greeted new Shake Shack locations with cheers and long lines. When Shake Shack went public on January 30, 2015, investors displayed a similar enthusiasm. Opening day investors bid up the $21 per share offering price by 118% to reach $45.90 at closing bell. By the end of May, investors were paying $92.86 per share. Students are asked if this price represented a realistic valuation of the enterprise and if not, what was Shake Shack truly worth? The case provides extensive information on Shake Shack’s marketing, competitors, operations and financials, allowing instructors to weave a wide variety of factors into a valuation of the company.

#3 - IBM Corporate Service Corps

Faculty Supervision: David Bach in cooperation with University of Ghana Business School and EGADE

The case considers IBM’s Corporate Service Corps (CSC), a program that had become the largest pro bono consulting program in the world. The case describes the program’s triple-benefit: leadership training to the brightest young IBMers, brand recognition for IBM in emerging markets, and community improvement in the areas served by IBM’s host organizations. As the program entered its second decade in 2016, students are asked to consider how the program can be improved. The case allows faculty to lead a discussion about training, marketing in emerging economies, and various ways of providing social benefit. The case highlights the synergies as well as trade-offs between pursuing these triple benefits.

#4 - Children’s Premier

Faculty Supervision: Edieal Pinker

The case describes Children’s Premier, a popular group practice in Greenwich, Connecticut which, due to a change in the state’s vaccination law, decides to dramatically change its business model. Did the group make the right adjustments in order to stay competitive and cover their increasing costs? Should the new practices cause a newcomer to the practice to look elsewhere for his children?

#5 - Design at Mayo

Faculty Supervision: Rodrigo Canales and William Drentell

The case describes how the Mayo Clinic, one of the most prominent hospitals in the world, engaged designers and built a research institute, the Center for Innovation (CFI), to study the processes of healthcare provision. The case documents the many incremental innovations the designers were able to implement and the way designers learned to interact with physicians and vice-versa.

In 2010 there were questions about how the CFI would achieve its stated aspiration of “transformational change” in the healthcare field. Students are asked what would a major change in health care delivery look like? How should the CFI's impact be measured? Were the center's structure and processes appropriate for transformational change? Faculty have found this a great case to discuss institutional obstacles to innovation, the importance of culture in organizational change efforts, and the differences in types of innovation.

This case is freely available to the public.

#6 - AXA: Creating New Corporate Responsibility Metrics

Faculty Supervision: Todd Cort and David Bach

The case describes AXA’s corporate responsibility (CR) function. The company, a global leader in insurance and asset management, had distinguished itself in CR since formally establishing a CR unit in 2008. As the case opens, AXA’s CR unit is being moved from the marketing function to the strategy group occasioning a thorough review as to how CR should fit into AXA’s operations and strategy. Students are asked to identify CR issues of particular concern to the company, examine how addressing these issues would add value to the company, and then create metrics that would capture a business unit’s success or failure in addressing the concerns.

#7 - Cadbury: An Ethical Company Struggles to Insure the Integrity of Its Supply Chain

Faculty Supervision: Ira Millstein

The case describes revelations that the production of cocoa in the Côte d’Ivoire involved child slave labor. These stories hit Cadbury especially hard. Cadbury's culture had been deeply rooted in the religious traditions of the company's founders, and the organization had paid close attention to the welfare of its workers and its sourcing practices. The US Congress was considering legislation that would allow chocolate grown on certified plantations to be labeled “slave labor free,” painting the rest of the industry in a bad light. Chocolate producers had asked for time to rectify the situation, but the extension they negotiated was running out. Students are asked whether Cadbury should join with the industry to lobby for more time?  What else could Cadbury do to ensure its supply chain was ethically managed?

#8 - Palm Oil 2016

Faculty Supervision: Kenneth Richards in cooperation with National University of Singapore Business School and David Bach

The case looks at the palm oil industry in Indonesia and how the industry effects deforestation and native rights. The case focuses on a proposal forwarded by leading palm oil traders and environmental NGOs that would ban the sale of palm oil from deforested land. The proposal is opposed by elements of the government, and smaller palm oil companies. Some voices in the Indonesian government are suggesting an agreement to end deforestation needs to be scrapped. What should companies and NGOs do?

#9 - Ant Financial

Faculty Supervision: K. Sudhir in cooperation with Renmin University of China School of Business

In 2015, Ant Financial’s MYbank (an offshoot of Jack Ma’s Alibaba company) was looking to extend services to rural areas in China by providing small loans to farmers. Microloans have always been costly for financial institutions to offer to the unbanked (though important in development) but MYbank believed that fintech innovations such as using the internet to communicate with loan applicants and judge their credit worthiness would make the program sustainable. Students are asked whether MYbank could operate the program at scale? Would its big data and technical analysis provide an accurate measure of credit risk for loans to small customers? Could MYbank rely on its new credit-scoring system to reduce operating costs to make the program sustainable?

#10 - SELCO

Faculty Supervision: Tony Sheldon

The case looks at SELCO, an Indian company that specialized in bringing solar electric products to the poor. In 2009, the company needed a new growth strategy. As students consider the company’s dilemma, the raw case allows them to view video interviews with company leaders and customers, inspect maps of SELCO’s service areas, see videos describing how SELCO’s products were being used, consider articles on India’s electricity grid and socio-economic conditions, read about the company’s founding, consult the company’s organization charts, income statements and balance sheets, inspect the company’s innovative products, review the company’s business models, read news articles about the company’s success, etc.

SELCO, India's innovative solar electric company, was at a strategic crossroads. Should it go “deeper” and serve even poorer people or go “wider” and expand beyond its current geographical areas?

40 Most Popular Case Studies of 2018

Click on the case title to learn more about the dilemma. A selection of our most popular cases are available for purchase via our online store .

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Case Study of Conflict Management: To Resolve Disputes and Manage Conflicts, Assume a Neutral 3rd Party Role

Here is a case study of conflict management emphasizing the importance of hearing all sides in a dispute.

By PON Staff — on January 11th, 2024 / Conflict Resolution

In their book Difficult Conversations: How to Discuss What Matters Most (Penguin Putnam, 2000), authors Douglas Stone , Bruce Patton , and Sheila Heen tell us how to engage in the conversations in our professional or personal lives that make us uncomfortable by examining a case study of conflict management. Tough, honest conversations are critical for managers, whether they need to change the group culture, manage conflict within a team, give a negative performance evaluation, disagree with others in a group, or offer an apology.

To set the stage for a productive discussion, open a difficult conversation with the “Third Story,” advise the authors of Difficult Conversations . The Third Story is one an impartial observer, such as a mediator, would tell; it’s a version of events both sides can agree on. “The key is learning to describe the gap—or difference—between your story and the other person’s story. Whatever else you may think and feel, you can at least agree that you and the other person see things differently,” Stone, Patton, and Heen write.

Claim your FREE copy: The New Conflict Management

In our FREE special report from the Program on Negotiation at Harvard Law School - The New Conflict Management: Effective Conflict Resolution Strategies to Avoid Litigation – renowned negotiation experts uncover unconventional approaches to conflict management that can turn adversaries into partners.

Suppose two regional sales reps share responsibility for sending weekly updates to their manager. Brad always submits them on time, but Frank often turns them in late. Saying, “Frank, you’ve turned in the sales reports late again” would only put Frank on the defensive. Instead, Brad opens the conversation this way: “Frank, you and I place a different value on deadlines. I want to explain why meeting them is important to me, and then I’d like to hear your take on them.”

Brad learns that Frank, when faced with the choice of possibly making a sale or compiling the report, thinks he should focus on the sale. With this insight, Brad proposes another way to share responsibilities: Brad will complete the report when it’s Frank’s turn to do so, as long as Frank gives Brad two hours’ notice and a share in any commission Frank earns as a result of being able to continue pursuing a lead.

What are your favorite conflict management methods?

Related Conflict Resolution Article: Conflict Management Skills When Dealing with an Angry Public – Here is some negotiation advice drawn from a case study of conflict management dealing with an angry public.

Adapted from “How to Say What Matters Most,” by Susan Hackley (former managing director, Program on Negotiation), first published in the  Negotiation  newsletter.

Originally published in 2010.

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Guhan Subramanian is the Professor of Law and Business at the Harvard Law School and Professor of Business Law at the Harvard Business School.

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An enhanced TPM solution and ongoing managed services help streamline operations and boost revenue

Hershey's trade promotion management transformation yields sweet rewards

• April 16, 2024

If you’ve ever been tempted by a sweet deal on holiday candy or impulsively grabbed a two-for-one treat from the display by the cash register, then you know the power of good trade promotion. For a major consumer packaged goods (CPG) company like The Hershey Company (Hershey), trade promotion management (TPM) is a crucial piece of the business model, affecting revenue and operations at nearly every link in the retail supply chain. To continue delivering value and prepare for an upcoming ERP upgrade, Hershey decided to transform its TPM program enterprise-wide. PwC helped design and implement an SAP-based TPM platform, then helped integrate it into SAP S/4HANA and shifted into providing ongoing TPM managed services. As a result, Hershey can make better decisions — helping drive significant improvements in trade spend efficiency, forecasting and revenue growth — and make customers’ lives a little sweeter, one Kiss at a time.

Consumer markets

SAP Managed Services

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Hershey PwC SAP video

accuracy in trade investment forecasts as a result of TPM upgrade

basis point improvement in trade spend efficiency since implementing the new system

reduction in incidents in TPM system operations with the help of PwC’s Managed Services

A cloud-based TPM solution helps improve analytical rigor and operational efficiency

Hershey's recipe for success

Discover Hershey's recipe for Trade Promotion Management (TPM) success, resulting in improved trade spend efficiency, enhanced data accuracy, collaboration between the business and IT, and more.

Pour in milk

Tpm strategy.

Hershey relies on TPM to help boost revenue and coordinate retail marketing, pricing and displays. Working with PwC, Hershey adopted SAP’s TPM platform – offering more scalability, integration and analytics capabilities for improved performance and data handling.

Stir in sugar

Successful tpm platform implementation.

Hershey, PwC, and SAP collaborated to create a user-centric TPM platform with in-memory databases, ensuring efficient data handling and scalability as complexity grew.

Add in chocolate

Pwc’s managed services support.

Hershey trusts PwC to manage its TPM platform. PwC’s one-team approach offers dedicated and customized support, including day-to-day stabilization, issue management and ongoing enhancements.

The complete Hershey bar

The cohesive tpm system.

Select results:

• Achieve a 700+ basis point increase in trade spend efficiency
• Improve data accuracy and provide better insights for informed decision-making
• Help streamline front and back-office operations, improving collaboration
• Create win-win-win promotions for customers, retailers and Hershey

The cohesive TPM system helped Hershey:

• Streamline front and back-office operations, improving collaboration

Getting s’more out of trade promotion

Imagine you’re at the grocery store, checking items off your shopping list, when an end cap display of heart-shaped Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups catches your eye. The packaging and display feature fun, seasonal designs, and the sign says they’re “buy one, get one free.” It’s too good a deal to pass up. You buy two for your upcoming Valentine’s Day party and get two more free. That’s what Hershey might call a “peanut butter coup”: creating moments of goodness for its customers through successful trade promotion.

As one of the major CPG companies, Hershey relies on TPM — the orchestration of retail marketing activities like special pricing, in-store displays, etc. — as a central element of its business model. From product pricing, volume forecasting and supply chain planning to solving disputes, issuing payments and influencing the company’s financial statements, TPM plays a critical role in enterprise-wide operations. Having an accurate, efficient and well-managed TPM system helps set the bar high, giving Hershey more confidence in its data, its pricing and promotional decisions. It also helps Hershey differentiate in an increasingly competitive retail landscape. To continue to grow while also flexibly adapting to a future SAP S/4HANA ERP platform, Hershey decided to upgrade from a TPM system reliant on disparate, often outmoded processes to a streamlined, cloud-based solution.

Embracing the challenge

Because TPM touches virtually every aspect of the business, it is inherently complicated, requiring vast amounts of data to travel from account managers to retailers and back daily. For everything to run smoothly, all the data in the system must be correct; any inaccuracies can create a ripple effect, impacting analytics, decision-making and financials across the entire company. Hershey knew that to succeed it needed the guidance of a seasoned advisor. PwC’s wealth of experience with TPM and SAP implementations made it a fitting choice.

Get more on this topic

Next in consumer markets 2024: Tech-powered business models for a new era of growth

Unwrapping efficiency: How Hershey leveraged SAP to revolutionize trade promotion

Unwrapping success with SAP S/4HANA and PwC Managed Services

PwC and Hershey collaborated with SAP to develop a TPM system capable of accurately handling massive amounts of data efficiently and at speed. User adoption was one of the key focuses in the design. TPM implementations often fail because of what some call “the adoption spiral of death” — when technology is too slow or inefficient, users learn to work around it, reverting to ad hoc processes and offline spreadsheets. Before you know it, your expensive, state-of-the-art TPM platform has become a burden rather than an asset.

Integration amid a move to SAP S/4HANA

To avoid that problem, the team implemented the newest version of SAP trade management, a technology designed to help drive faster, more predictable system performance. Using in-memory databases, the SAP-based platform was well-equipped to handle massive simultaneous data aggregations and segregations across Hershey’s many products. And as the amount of data in the system grew over time, the platform could accommodate the increased complexity.

Throughout the build, PwC, SAP and Hershey continued to work in lockstep, developing a range of critical features which then influenced SAP’s standard TPM offerings. PwC shared observations about capabilities that would help Hershey merchandise more effectively with retail partners like grocery and convenience stores, enabling SAP’s product team to tailor the solution to Hershey’s needs in real time. With enhanced speed and purpose-made technical improvements as key ingredients of the new platform, Hershey aimed to keep user satisfaction high and process breakdowns low.

The one-team approach

Following successful implementation, Hershey folded the ongoing maintenance of the platform into a larger enterprise contract with its existing managed services provider. However, the complexity of managing a TPM platform makes maintenance an especially delicate process. Hershey realized that to keep the platform running at its fullest potential, it needed a team of highly specialized SAP TPM professionals with a deep understanding of both its technology and its business process. Having helped with the technology implementation and upgrade, PwC’s Managed Services team was fully equipped to lead the day-to-today management of Hershey’s TPM operations.

PwC’s dedicated one-team approach helps Hershey have a direct line of backup for any problems that are unusually complex and dedicated support to make continuous improvements. For example, after observing Hershey’s yearly challenge of rearranging product organization hierarchies on New Year’s Eve, PwC’s Managed Services team created a process efficiency program to help automate the arduous process of making master data changes. A consistent provider across design, implementation and management can keep the platform running effectively and stabilize day-to-day incidents quickly, taking pressure off the company’s business and IT teams and improving operations companywide.

The triangular collaboration between Hershey, PwC and SAP continues to prove mutually beneficial. Hershey receives swift, targeted support as PwC manages an industry leading TPM platform, including innovating solutions specific to its needs; SAP garners valuable, real-time client feedback, allowing it to continuously enhance its products; and PwC enjoys direct access to industry leading SAP technology as it’s developed.

Unlock your digital future with SAP

How can a new equation for business application evolution change everything?

Sweet support: PwC's Managed Services helps Hershey protect and improve its investment

A solution chock-full of efficiencies

The new platform helped transform the sales and trade planning process to drive improved trade efficiency and TPM operations from front to back. Unifying disparate processes onto a single cloud-based platform dramatically improved TPM data accuracy, reducing the friction and complexity of day-to-day operations while enabling more data-backed decision-making. Meanwhile, PwC’s Managed Services support helped keep the platform running smoothly, resulting in a more than 50% reduction in incidents in TPM system operations. With fewer incidents and more efficient processes, employees were able to spend less time on administrative work related to weekly volume and promotion updates, assortment maintenance, process constraints, incident management and reporting. Instead, they were able to reinvest that time in more meaningful areas — including a deepened focus on driving customer attraction and loyalty.

Outcomes obsessed = sweet results

Hershey’s new TPM platform has helped to drive significant bottom-line benefits. By injecting another level of analytical rigor and insight into its TPM system, Hershey compels employees to demonstrate, in granular detail, how their plans are built toward company goals. Advanced data analytics tools like A/B testing deliver deeper insights about consumer shopping behaviors, driving more efficient, impactful trade promotions such as customized candy displays and engaging environmental retail design. As an added benefit, Hershey can work with its retailers to create win-win-win promotions: where the customer, Hershey and the retailer all benefit from incremental volume while offering its sweet treats at lower prices.

The advanced analytics also enable more effective financial decision-making and revenue growth management. Hershey has experienced significant benefits from the program within its first five years, with consistent growth in customer return on investment (ROI). As the company looks to the future, its accurate, efficient, well-run TPM continues to deliver value and enable Hershey to do what it does best: delivering sweet experiences and moments of goodness to customers everywhere.

Equipping consumer markets organizations to thrive in a changing world

Beyond the back office: How managed services partnerships drive outperformance

“Having one provider handle the design, implementation and management of our TPM platform has been a real game-changer. PwC's one-team approach gives us confidence in both the technology and the people behind it.” Michael Auslander VP, Commercial IT, The Hershey Company

Reinvent your business model and meet the future

In today's rapidly evolving market, it's crucial for businesses to adapt and innovate.

Explore PwC's Case Study Library  

See how we're helping clients build trust and become outcomes obsessed in our case study library.

Are you ready to drive TPM transformation?

• Transformation

Tranformation Leader

As an outcome-driven leader, your role is to champion ongoing change and foster a strong culture of transformation. Trade promotion management is an area ripe for disruption and bold thinking. Break down silos, align initiatives and streamline a critical business function that impacts the entire organization. Embrace the opportunity to revolutionize TPM. Consider solutions like SAP’s TPM platform and PwC’s Managed Services support to help you get there.

Chief Information Officer

You understand the need to leverage cloud-based platforms and data to uncover insights, as modernization is key to growth. A comprehensive platform can dramatically improve TPM data accuracy and drive more informed strategy and decision making. As you adopt cloud technology, keep the user experience in mind to enable easier adoption and future productivity.

Chief Operating Officer

Discover the power of an upgraded TPM solution to achieve your goals: supply chain resilience, digital solutions, task automation and upskilling the workforce. Trade promotion management unifies processes and significantly improves data accuracy. Managed correctly, it can help build trust in technology, boost efficiency and deliver bottom-line benefits.

Chief Marketing Officer

In the competitive retail landscape, personalized customer experiences require a blend of art, science and digital transformation. Every buying decision is data-driven, so it's crucial to use insights to build consumer trust. A top-notch TPM platform is essential for strategizing retail promotions, connecting with partners, creating memorable experiences and boosting sales.

Ethan Dameron

Principal, Strategy&, PwC US

Bill Strasser

SAP AES Leader, PwC US

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4 Reasons Why Managers Fail

• Swagatam Basu,
• Atrijit Das,
• Vitorio Bretas,
• Jonah Shepp

Nearly half of all managers report buckling under the stress of their role and struggling to deliver.

Gartner research has found that managers today are accountable for 51% more responsibilities than they can effectively manage — and they’re starting to buckle under the pressure: 54% are suffering from work-induced stress and fatigue, and 44% are struggling to provide personalized support to their direct reports. Ultimately, one in five managers said they would prefer not being people managers given a choice. Further analysis found that 48% of managers are at risk of failure based on two criteria: 1) inconsistency in current performance and 2) lack of confidence in the manager’s ability to lead the team to future success. This article offers four predictors of manager failure and offers suggestions for organizations on how to address them.

The job of the manager has become unmanageable. Organizations are becoming flatter every year. The average manager’s number of direct reports has increased by 2.8 times over the last six years, according to Gartner research. In the past few years alone, many managers have had to make a series of pivots — from moving to remote work to overseeing hybrid teams to implementing return-to-office mandates.

• Swagatam Basu is senior director of research in the Gartner HR practice and has spent nearly a decade researching leader and manager effectiveness. His work spans additional HR topics including learning and development, employee experience and recruiting. Swagatam specializes in research involving extensive quantitative analysis, structured and unstructured data mining and predictive modeling.
• Atrijit Das is a senior specialist, quantitative analytics and data science, in the Gartner HR practice. He drives data-based research that produces actionable insights on core HR topics including performance management, learning and development, and change management.
• Vitorio Bretas is a director in the Gartner HR practice, supporting HR executives in the execution of their most critical business strategies. He focuses primarily on leader and manager effectiveness and recruiting. Vitorio helps organizations get the most from their talent acquisition and leader effectiveness initiatives.
• Jonah Shepp is a senior principal, research in the Gartner HR practice. He edits the Gartner  HR Leaders Monthly  journal, covering HR best practices on topics ranging from talent acquisition and leadership to total rewards and the future of work. An accomplished writer and editor, his work has appeared in numerous publications, including  New York   Magazine ,  Politico   Magazine ,  GQ , and  Slate .

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Integration of Lean Six Sigma with Internet of Things (IoT) for productivity improvement: a case study of contactor manufacturing industry

• CASE STUDIES
• Published: 04 July 2023
• Volume 14 , pages 1990–2018, ( 2023 )

Cite this article

• Santosh B. Rane 1 ,
• Sandesh Wavhal 1 &
• Prathamesh R. Potdar   ORCID: orcid.org/0000-0001-8896-5322 2  

499 Accesses

2 Citations

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In today's era of digitalization and competitive market environment, organizations are more focused on manufacturing quality products at optimum cost to capture maximum business as a variety of options are available to customers for purchasing goods and services. In this scenario, the latest technologies-based productivity improvement can help organizations to achieve set targets of production and ensure the quality of products. In this study, the contactor manufacturing industry has been considered to demonstrate integrated Lean Six Sigma with the Internet of Things (IoT) approach for productivity improvement. A systematic literature survey was performed to understand the concept of Lean Six Sigma (LSS), Define Measure Analysis Improve Control approach and IoT technology. The implementation of the LSS approach reduced the rejection rate of contactors and saved the total production cost (Rs. 51,88,260/-) annually. The annual consumption of grinding wheels has been reduced by 8 quantities to produce the same quantity of contactors. The surface quality of magnets has been identified as a root cause for contactor rejections as it contributes 53.4% of total rejections. The improvement measures are recommended based on the expert's suggestions as grinding wheel dressing must be performed after the completion of a batch of 20,000 parts. The condition monitoring and IoT approach implementation are done by monitoring grinding speed (650–950 RPM), grinding wheel thickness reduction by 0.4–0.6 mm after dressing and dressing of grinding wheel after completion of 20,000 for reducing rejections. This study concluded that industries should implement the Lean Six Sigma approach with the latest technologies and appropriate tools at each stage to set processes to world-class standards and industries should identify opportunities for process and product improvement.

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Rane, S.B., Wavhal, S. & Potdar, P.R. Integration of Lean Six Sigma with Internet of Things (IoT) for productivity improvement: a case study of contactor manufacturing industry. Int J Syst Assur Eng Manag 14 , 1990–2018 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s13198-023-01980-7

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DOI : https://doi.org/10.1007/s13198-023-01980-7

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How federal agencies are reducing cybersecurity risk from suppliers

Building and streamlining C-SCRM capabilities for a hyper-federated federal organization through the lens of people, process and technology

• 1. Better question
• 2. Better answer
• 3. Better working world

How EY can help

The better the question

What risks are suppliers introducing to your organization?

Early detection of supplier risks will enable risk-informed decisions.

New technologies are accelerating the pace of digital change and the broad-scale use of automation, data analytics and the cloud. Government and public sector organizations are increasingly concerned about their resiliency capabilities and are looking to provide a safer, more secure and affordable approach to managing their systems and data. A breach from a supplier or third party could be one of the greatest risks they face.

A federal agency engaged Ernst & Young LLP (EY US) to establish its enterprise cyber supply chain risk management (C-SCRM) program, focusing on helping leaders make risk-informed supplier decisions, reduce supplier risks and meet multiple federal compliance requirements. Doing business with a supplier that provides services, products or software and – knowingly or unknowingly – could be breached presents a major risk. This may result in financial loss, intelligence leaks, stolen intellectual property or reputational harm.

With a focus on information, communication and technology (ICT) and other department services and products, the federal agency wanted a better understanding of the potential risk that a supplier could pose to the organization across multiple risk lenses, such as cybersecurity and foreign interest. By understanding the potential risk, a leader will be able to make a risk-informed decision prior to securing a procurement.

In addition to the risk elements, there are many regulations and executive actions designed to protect organizations from breaches or supply chain attacks. Both risk and regulatory compliance have driven C-SCRM to be a top concern for this entity and other federal agencies today.

The better the answer

Enterprise C-SCRM services drive results and reduce supplier risk

Establish the processes. Train people. Apply technology and the right tools. Focus on what’s important.

EY US is recognized for its extensive risk and regulatory experience, system implementation and superior service delivery in SCRM services. It brought these capabilities to its engagement with a federal agency.

The EY approach helped the entity establish the processes and implement a C-SCRM program by driving innovation and leveraging two leading-edge technology platforms:

Supplier assessment platform

Utilizing commercial best practices honed from 15+ years of experience, EY teams developed tailored processes and implemented a supporting technology solution for this federal agency. The SCRM processes are risk-based so that the level of diligence conducted increases based on the risk the supplier presents to the organization. The established process is accompanied by the ServiceNow Vendor Risk Management application, which EY teams tailored to:

• Meet federal requirements while driving efficiency through an easy-to-use process
• Enable entity customization to meet the needs of a hyper-federated federal department made up of more than 50 independent entities
• Establish a centralized data set of supplier information providing enterprise visibility

The combination of best-in-class processes and a tailored technology solution set a new standard that government agencies are able to use to establish a leading-class C-SCRM program.

Business Relationship Economic and Threat Analysis

Business Relationship Economic and Threat Analysis (BRETA) is an automated tool that enables risk scoring by culling publicly and commercially available data sources from government and public sector resources to assess risks. It provides a multidimensional overview of threats in business relationships across six categories: financial, cybersecurity, geopolitical, technical, supply chain, and regulatory and compliance.

Working with the federal agency, EY teams used BRETA in combination with government data sources and analysts, conducting a detailed C-SCRM assessment to identify potential threats, monitor suppliers and offer actionable insights for risk mitigation. 

A more resilient suppler ecosystem

From a risk perspective, the federal agency is now able to:

• Make informed, risk-based decisions. Prior to acquiring products and services, the agency can now assess suppliers against multiple risk levels while addressing the impact on the organization.
• Reduce risk and provide secure, quality services. By making risk-based decisions, ongoing supplier monitoring and risk remediation, the agency can negate working with suppliers that present an unacceptable risk to the enterprise. This helps improve supplier security and negate potential supplier breaches that could have a large-scale impact on the department.
• Meet federal compliance. Due to recent breaches in the supply chain, regulators step in and introduce new regulatory requirements. The C-SCRM program is helping this federal agency meet and exceed numerous SCRM federal laws, regulations and standards while promoting transparency and better decision-making in governance, risk and compliance. 

SCRM programs are essential to improving the overall cyber posture of an organization – what makes this solution so compelling is the speed to market to stand up a program, the unique risk assessment capability of the BRETA tool, the alignment to NIST compliance standards and ultimately the ongoing monitoring capability to capture new risks over time.

Scott Smith

Principal, EY US Government and Public Sector Cybersecurity, Ernst & Young LLP

The better the world works

Understand the threats. Measure the risks.

Delivering an enterprise service that integrates risk assessment and risk treatment into the supplier management life cycle

EY teams worked with a federal agency to define what would be its end process: risk-based assessment process, entity onboarding, monitoring activities, mitigating identified risks, understanding how to handle new requests for suppliers, training users and suppliers, and integrating the service with other entities outside of the CISO. The integration helped with the change management efforts by embedding the C-SCRM services into existing procurement approval processes (e.g., the  Federal Information Technology Acquisition Reform Act ) and helped enrich the assessments by enabling intelligence teams to conduct a classified evaluation of high-risk suppliers.

After more than two years supporting this agency, EY teams has assessed over 2,000 supplier ICT or other department products and services. The C-SCRM assessments have helped change behavior while meeting government C-SCRM program requirements. Before the C-SCRM program, entities would have limited ability to assess a supplier and essentially would be “accepting” the risks present within the supplier – now leaders can make risk-informed decisions.

This was one of the first federal government agencies to stand up a C-SCRM program, and it is helping to set a standard for other government entities as they build their own programs to manage supplier cybersecurity risks at an enterprise level.

Our clients are facing increased uncertainty and disruptions, which is driving them to reassess their strategic imperatives and think differently about their operating environments. EY BRETA, coupled with our people, skills and experience, enables them to assess and monitor potential threats to their businesses and transform their decision-making from reactive to proactive.

Managing Director, Advisory Services, Ernst & Young LLP

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MIT Technology Review

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Taking AI to the next level in manufacturing

Reducing data, talent, and organizational barriers to achieve scale.

• MIT Technology Review Insights archive page

In partnership with Microsoft

Few technological advances have generated as much excitement as AI. In particular, generative AI seems to have taken business discourse to a fever pitch. Many manufacturing leaders express optimism: Research conducted by MIT Technology Review Insights found ambitions for AI development to be stronger in manufacturing than in most other sectors.

Manufacturers rightly view AI as integral to the creation of the hyper-automated intelligent factory. They see AI’s utility in enhancing product and process innovation, reducing cycle time, wringing ever more efficiency from operations and assets, improving maintenance, and strengthening security, while reducing carbon emissions. Some manufacturers that have invested to develop AI capabilities are still striving to achieve their objectives.

This study from MIT Technology Review Insights seeks to understand how manufacturers are generating benefits from AI use cases—particularly in engineering and design and in factory operations. The survey included 300 manufacturers that have begun working with AI. Most of these (64%) are currently researching or experimenting with AI. Some 35% have begun to put AI use cases into production. Many executives that responded to the survey indicate they intend to boost AI spending significantly during the next two years. Those who haven’t started AI in production are moving gradually. To facilitate use-case development and scaling, these manufacturers must address challenges with talents, skills, and data. Following are the study’s key findings:

• Talent, skills, and data are the main constraints on AI scaling. In both engineering and design and factory operations, manufacturers cite a deficit of talent and skills as their toughest challenge in scaling AI use cases. The closer use cases get to production, the harder this deficit bites. Many respondents say inadequate data quality and governance also hamper use-case development. Insufficient access to cloud-based compute power is another oft-cited constraint in engineering and design.
• The biggest players do the most spending, and have the highest expectations. In engineering and design, 58% of executives expect their organizations to increase AI spending by more than 10% during the next two years. And 43% say the same when it comes to factory operations. The largest manufacturers are far more likely to make big increases in investment than those in smaller—but still large—size categories.
• Desired AI gains are specific to manufacturing functions. The most common use cases deployed by manufacturers involve product design, conversational AI, and content creation. Knowledge management and quality control are those most frequently cited at pilot stage. In engineering and design, manufacturers chiefly seek AI gains in speed, efficiency, reduced failures, and security. In the factory, desired above all is better innovation, along with improved safety and a reduced carbon footprint.
• Scaling can stall without the right data foundations. Respondents are clear that AI use-case development is hampered by inadequate data quality (57%), weak data integration (54%), and weak governance (47%). Only about one in five manufacturers surveyed have production assets with data ready for use in existing AI models. That figure dwindles as manufacturers put use cases into production. The bigger the manufacturer, the greater the problem of unsuitable data is.
• Fragmentation must be addressed for AI to scale. Most manufacturers find some modernization of data architecture, infrastructure, and processes is needed to support AI, along with other technology and business priorities. A modernization strategy that improves interoperability of data systems between engineering and design and the factory, and between operational technology (OT) and information technology (IT), is a sound priority.

Artificial intelligence

Large language models can do jaw-dropping things. but nobody knows exactly why..

And that's a problem. Figuring it out is one of the biggest scientific puzzles of our time and a crucial step towards controlling more powerful future models.

• Will Douglas Heaven archive page

Google DeepMind’s new generative model makes Super Mario–like games from scratch

Genie learns how to control games by watching hours and hours of video. It could help train next-gen robots too.

What’s next for generative video

OpenAI's Sora has raised the bar for AI moviemaking. Here are four things to bear in mind as we wrap our heads around what's coming.

The AI Act is done. Here’s what will (and won’t) change

The hard work starts now.

• Melissa Heikkilä archive page

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