business essay case studies

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The case studies below provide you with an opportunity to critically analyze events that are taking place in real-life businesses. This helps to develop your critical thinking and research skills as you research each of these scenarios.

For this assignment, you will review four case studies, one from Chapter 9, one from Chapter 10, one from Chapter 11, and one from Chapter 12. Then, you will evaluate the studies and respond to each of the questions below, using both critical thinking and theory as well as supporting documentation.

In Chapter 9, read the case study ”Soma Bay Prospers with ERP in the Cloud” on pages 345–346 of the textbook. Then, address the prompts below.

  • Describe the problem that Soma Bay encountered in this case study.
  • Why was an enterprise resource planning (ERP) system needed to solve the problem?
  • What are some challenges that this ERP system poses?
  • Will this ERP system help the company achieve operational excellence? Why, or why not?

In Chapter 10, read the case study “A Nasty Ending for Nasty Gal” on pages 414–416 of the textbook. Then, answer the questions below.

  • Was it a good idea to use social media as a marketing and social tool for Nasty Gal? Why, or why not?
  • What were the management, organization, and technological issues that contributed to the failure of Nasty Gal?
  • If you were hired as the new chief executive officer (CEO) of Nasty Gal, what would you have done differently to keep the company from filing for bankruptcy?

In Chapter 11, read the case study “Can Cars Drive Themselves–And Should They?” on pages 453–455 of the textbook. Then, address the prompts below.

  • Discuss some benefits and disadvantages of automated automobiles. Be sure to include a discussion of ethical and social issues presented by automated automobiles.
  • If you were the CEO of a major auto manufacturer, would you invest resources in the development and marketing of automated automobiles? Why, or why not?

In Chapter 12, read the case study “Anthem Benefits from More Business Intelligence” on pages 480-481 of the textbook. Then, address the prompts below.

  • Discuss the problem with the old human resources (HR) system at Anthem.
  • Describe the new People Data Central (PDC) portal adopted by Anthem. What does it do, and how does it improve data analytics capabilities at Anthem?
  • How will the new PDC portal help the HR department make better decisions?

When formatting your case analysis, do not use the question-and-answer format; instead, use an essay format with subheadings. Your APA-formatted case study must be at least four pages in length (not counting the title and reference pages). You are required to use a minimum of three peer-reviewed, academic sources that are no more than 5 years old (one may be your textbook). All sources used, including the textbook, must be referenced; all paraphrased material must have accompanying in-text citations.