Management practices of Russian companies. Vol.2

Recommended for publication by the Academic Council of the Graduate School of Business, https://elibrary.ru/hrbxqi National Research University Higher School of Economics

Reviewers:

S. Starov, PhD, Professor, Department of Marketing, Graduate School of Management, Saint-Petersburg State University;

V. Evseev, PhD, Executive Director, Association of Managers

Authors:

M. Akim, V. Boltrukevich, E. Buzulukova, L. Cheglakova, A. Demin, M. Dvoryashina, A. Gabrielov, N. Guseva, S. Kiselev, M. Maron, G. Minnigaleeva, Y. Morozov, U. Podverbnykh, N. Pushkareva, S. Smeltsova, I. Tsarkov, T. Vetrova, O. Zelenova

Edited by

S. Kushch, Doctor of Sciences, Professor, Deputy Dean for Research,

HSE Graduate School of Business

© National Research University Higher School of Economics, 2022

SERGEY KUSHCH

Professor, Deputy Dean for Research, HSE Graduate School of Business

Dear Readers!

You are holding the second volume of cases from the HSE Graduate School of Business, produced as a part of a large-scale project of creating a collection of cases that reveal the specifics of doing business in Russia. We tried to diversify the collection by including cases, which describe the challenges of various areas of modern management theory and practice, such as business process optimization, talent management, digitalization of business models, building the development of social networks, consumer behavior management.

The HSE Graduate School of Business continues the practice of involving professors from different departments in the development of educational cases. The second group of faculty members has already been trained in desinging and writing educational compact cases. Moreover, it is especially encouraging that not only the representatives of the pedagogical staff, but also the university researchers are involved in the development of these cases.

The case method as an educational method is gradually taking up one of the leading roles in teaching business disciplines in Russia. Realizing this trend, we strive not only to develop educational cases, but also to strengthen the competencies of our professors in using cases in the educational process. All the cases included in the collection were tested either on basic educational programs or on leader training programs.

The ten study cases that make up this collection consider challenging situations in management through the prism of different subject areas of science.

Thus, three cases are devoted to the choice of strategic alternatives in present turbulent business environment. The “Aeroflot: how high and where to fly?” case is focused on the issues of strategic management in conjunction with marketing, when one of the most famous Russian brands is faced with the task of developing a new strategy in ever-changing, volatile environment. The “Is the customer always right?” case emphasizes the difficulty of having a personal brand for a recruiter when recruiting for a third-party company. The “Winners and losers, or were the terms of Sberbank and Yandex’s divorce mutually beneficial?” case allows you to dive into the specifics of strategic transactions in detail, considering various methods for estimating the company’s value.

Three other case studies focus on consumer journey research. Moreover, each case of this group is focused on a separate specific industry. Thus, the “Supra: Georgian restaurant in Vladivostok” reveals the specifics of the restaurant business, the “Pushkin Museum’s value: looking for tomorrow” case reflects the specifics of the work of museums, and the “Conquering a younger audience: the case of Gillette in Russia” focuses on the changing market, which has undergone significant changes during the COVID-19 pandemic. Two cases reflect the structural changes in the company when deciding to radically switch its business model. The authors of the “Food Road to Yandex: What does a startup do to become a part of a national IT giant?” case highlighted the typical challenges faced by aspiring entrepreneurs in the process of large businesses acquiring assets all around the world, also emphasizing the specifics of the Russian market. Other aspects of studying the structure of a company are considered in the “Innovation Studio: on the threshold of a new market” case, where the main task of the company is to enter new markets.

One of the cases reveals the specifics of the company’s internal processes. `The “When The Ways we work do not work, what do we do? Raising the bar of `Talent Management’ at AbbVie, Russia, and CIS” case reflects the issues of changing the company’s business strategy driven by the need to revise the talent management system.

All cases included in the collection are designed in accordance with international standards and with the support of experts from The Case Centre. In November 2021, the HSE Graduate School of Business launched its own collection of case studies based on the international The Case Centre platform. The collection is dedicated to the experience of management of Russian companies and transnational corporations doing business in Russia. The cases of this collection will also be registered in the near future and will be available on The Case Center platform.