PRISM case studies
The PRISM portfolio of 15 teaching case studies has been funded by the European Commission via IST project 2000-29665 ‘RESCUE’.
This portfolio was produced by specialist teams at
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University College Cork, Ireland
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Royal Technical College (KTH), Stockholm, Sweden
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TSM Business School, Enschede, The Netherlands
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Cass Business School, City of London, UK
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IESE Business School, University of Navarra, Spain
Each teaching case is comprised of an Abstract, the Case study, a Technical annex and a Teaching note.
Accessing the cases
Free samples: click on the links below each case synopsis for the Abstract and the Case study.
Licensed multiple copies: click on the link to the European Case Clearing House (ECCH) catalogue entry. Here Registered Users can view/order the Case (accompanied by the free Technical annex) and order the Teaching note.
[portfolio last updated 20 June 2003]
Case 9.1.1 (UCC)
Measuring and Managing Intangibles in Mobile Commerce: the potential of mediation standards
Authors: Dr Martin Fahy (National University of Ireland, Galway; Ireland), Dr Joe Feller, Dr Pat Finnegan and Prof. Ciaran Murphy (University College Cork)
Synopsis
Technology innovations are both forcing and helping telecom operators to change billing models from traditional measures such as call duration to more flexible measures such as data volume. Future plans in the sector focus on charging customers based on factors such as the intrinsic and price-sensitive value of information. It hoped that this will make billing for 3G services more representative of the value derived from the service rather than the time required to download the information. This case reports the experiences of Digifone (mmO2) in the lead up to the awarding of 3G licences in Ireland. In particular, it focuses on the role of eXtensible Markup Language (XML) in facilitating the billing models for 3G services.
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Case 9.1.2 (UCC)
NewsML: Creating Value throught News Content Management
Authors: Dr Martin Fahy (National University of Ireland, Galway; Ireland), Dr Joe Feller, Dr Pat Finnegan and Prof. Ciaran Murphy (University College Cork)
Synopsis
Reuters, the global news agency, integrates text, images and graphics produced mainly by freelance reporters and journalists. Until 1998 the fragments of a story arrived in various digital formats and integration was laborious. 'Breaking news' has high value but quickly becomes old news with very limited value. Reuters set out to develop an improved content management system using eXtensible Markup Language (XML) as the basis for a standard that it called NewsML. After rolling out NewsML to its suppliers, Reuters decided in 2000 to donate it to the news media industry as a standard for all news delivery.
This case reports Reuters' history of innovative application of technology and describes content management issues and the technology underpinning NewsML. The case sets out the problems that Reuters overcame during development of NewsML and examines the rationale for a company giving away such an investment to its competitors.
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Case 9.1.3 (UCC)
The Australian Prudential Regulation Authority: Managing Regulatory Complexity with XBRL
Authors: Dr Martin Fahy (National University of Ireland, Galway; Ireland), Dr Joe Feller, Dr Pat Finnegan and Prof. Ciaran Murphy (University College Cork)
Synopsis
In 1998 the Australian Prudential Regulation Authority (APRA) replaced
eleven agencies to provide integrated supervision across the entire
financial services sector so that like risks would be treated alike. The
case describes how APRA collaborated with the Central Bank and the
Bureau of Statistics to reengineer the reporting process and upgrade IT
systems using Extensible Business Reporting Language (XBRL) to enable
online reporting by the institutions.
This makes APRA one of the first public sector organisations in the
world to adopt XBRL. The new system means that each financial
institution now has to submit just one set of figures to meet the needs
of the all three agencies and allows APRA to concentrate on regulation
rather than data aggregation.
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Case 9.2.1 (KTH)
The Music Industry in a digital networked world. Three firms – two who didn't make it, one still hasn't quite made it
Authors: Professor Roger Wallis and Ola Wikstrom; KTH, Stockholm
Synopsis
The dynamic interplay between tangible and intangible economic factors is affecting many types of organisation. In the music industry this is characterised by tensions between physical and virtual business processes. This case compares three innovative attempts at value creation from music Intellectual Property Rights.
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Case 9.2.2 (KTH)
Newspapers on the web – Giving it all away?
The dynamics and relationships between digital and printed products at three Swedish newspaper companies
Authors: Karl Wesslau, Professor Nils Enlund and Professor Roger Wallis; KTH, Stockholm
SynopsisMany newspaper publishers experimented with online versions of their printed editions and are impatient for evidence of a return on their investment. This case study describes how executives at three newspapers are addressing this issue. Consumer reactions indicate that an online presence enhances the printed edition. The added value lies in the complementarities between the printed and digital offerings. Current and potential methods used in the newspaper industry for gauging these ‘difficult to measure’ values might be applied to any product that could be supplied in digital form.
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Case 9.2.3 (KTH)
The development of and support for the intellectual capital of individuals and regions
Authors: Alex Jonsson, Claus Knudsen, Johan Maticand Professor Roger Wallis; KTH, Stockholm
Synopsis
This case study describes how authorities in Scandinavia are fostering economic regeneration in rural regions by sponsoring IT-mediated distance learning. Two initiatives at post-graduate level that have been running for some five years are reviewed. One enables students in a small Swedish town to participate remotely in courses held in the capital, Stockholm. The other links students at a small college in Norway with teachers at a leading university in Sweden. Both enable talented people to develop their academic and entrepreneurial skills without needing to relocate from their home towns.
The case incorporates a comparative study of physical and non-physical learning at university level to highlight values created and values lost in education-at-distance.
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Case 9.3.1 (TSM)
Creating and justifying intellectual capital value: entrepreneurial networking
for business development on the WAP protocol
Authors: Dr Aard Groen, Ingrid Wakkee and Dr Carla Millar; TSM Business
School, University of Twente, The Netherlands
Synopsis
This case describes an initiative to promote entrepreneurship and economic
regeneration in the Twente area of The Netherlands. For many years the steel
and textile industries provided the economic backbone of this region. Following
the rapid decline of these industries, efforts have focused on fostering
and attracting high technology businesses. As part of this, a consortium
comprised of large and small firms, research institutions, a student body
and regional development agencies set up an informal business network as
a forum for technology and knowledge transfer. Following meetings and workshops
the consortium decided to focus on wireless technologies and the WAP protocol.
A website was set up to bring together all available information on the
subject.
The case describes the lessons learned from the initiative – which
has led to a regional cluster of some 20 small businesses and several completely
new ventures.
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Case 9.3.2 (TSM)
Banking and Entrepreneurship: assessing and fostering the value of intangibles
Authors: Dr Peter van der Sijde and Dr Aard Groen; Dutch Institute for Knowledge Intensive Entrepreneurship, NIKOS, University of Twente, The Netherlands
Synopsis
This case study highlights the importance of intangible assets both in the business plans of start-up enterprises and for the economic regeneration of depressed regions. The case tells how two Dutch entrepreneurs struggled to obtain bank support in setting up TeleCats, a firm in the high technology field of interactive voice response systems.
The case also describes Rabobank's 'Be your own boss' programme, an initiative to foster new businesses in a depressed rural region of The Netherlands. Business start-ups typically have few tangible assets. This banking co-operative has re-trained its branch managers to take account of the intangible assets in entrepreneurial business plans. It backed TeleCats and the firm is now well established.
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Case 9.3.3 (TSM-NIKOS)
The Exploitation of Biotech Innovations: networking for survival and
success
Authors: Dr Peter van der Sijde, Patrick Bliek and Dr Aard Groen, Dutch
Institute for Knowledge Intensive Entrepreneurship, NIKOS, University of
Twente, The Netherlands
Synopsis
The pharmaceutical industry thrives on product innovation but it is a
harsh environment for start-up firms: only one in 200 becomes
profitable. This case study describes how one entrepreneurial biotech
start-up is breaking the mould by developing a collaborative business
network of specialist firms to bring innovative products to market.
The story begins with a veterinary practitioner who saw how a standard
treatment for racehorses could be greatly improved. His research led to
a patent and the formation of a firm to exploit the new technology.
Neither he nor his two partners had worked in the pharmaceutical
industry. The case tells how the firm was able to bring its first
product to market without external finance and without attracting the
attention of predators.
Case 9.4.1 (Cass)
A Case Study on Measuring Skills in Technological Leadership
Authors: James Brown and Professor Chris Hendry (Cass Business School, City of London – formerly City University Business School)
Synopsis
Competitive pressures and technology shifts can cause vital skills to wax and wane rapidly. This case examines Thales Optics, a successful hi-tech firm that focuses attention on process management and trade secrets in preference to patents. The case also describes the recent takeover of the original business – an event that provides insights into the market valuation of intangible assets not on the balance sheet.
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Case 9.4.2 (Cass)
Skills and Organisational Competencies for Managing Intangibles in Small Management Consultancies
Authors: Sally Woodward and Professor Chris Hendry (Cass Business School, City of London – formerly City University Business School)
Synopsis
Consultancy firms succeed by creating value from knowledge both for their clients and for themselves. This case study features a knowledge-intensive firm with a 12-year track record of embedding the consulting industry skills of its founders and associates into training courses for other consulting firms. However, the owners are concerned that the personal nature of this knowledge is constraining their firm’s ability to grow. In highlighting this problem the case points to a firm offering comparable services whose rapid and profitable expansion has been underpinned by a comprehensive method for managing intangible assets.
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Case 9.4.3 (Cass)
The Changing Face of Product Design: making real returns from intangible assets
Authors: James Brown and Professor Chris Hendry (Cass Business School, City of London – formerly City University Business School)
Synopsis
Design consultancies offer creative design capabilities. Traditionally, this intangible asset has been rentable for an hourly rate. In response to increasing complexity, product design skills are being automated with IT - and made more tangible. This has shifted the competitive edge towards firms that have the capability to manage the product design process.
This case study describes how a young design practice, PDD, identified and capitalised on an opportunity successfully to create a completely new service offering - innovation consultancy. At each step in its transistion PDD has been able to increase the way it works with clients to produce more innovative products. Most design firms submit tenders to win work. Today, PDD builds its order book by interesting clients in novel ideas that they develop for mutual profit.
For free download:
Case 9.5.1 (IESE)
A Case Study of Knowledge Management at Cap Gemini Ernst & Young
Authors: Emma Lara, Professor Rafael Andreu and Professor Sandra Sieber;
University of Navarra, IESE; Spain
Synopsis
The context of knowledge invariably means that Knowledge Management initiatives are company-specific. This case considers if, when organisations merge, technology expertise is sufficient to integrate and preserve the business value of their knowledge and shows some of the most frequent challenges for knowledge integration in global companies.
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Case 9.5.2 (IESE)
Unión Fenosa Corporate University: Teach and Learn from Experience
Authors: America Grau, Emma Lara, Professor Rafael Andreu and Professor Sandra Sieber; University of Navarra, IESE; Spain
Synopsis
This case documents how Unión Fenosa, a Spanish regional utility, developed an intellectual capital model and set up a corporate university to promulgate its values. The company's top management anticipated the fierce competition that has followed liberalisation of energy markets and has consistently championed and prioritised the model. Since 1999 the company has published an annual IC appraisal. The ethos of the Corporate University has channelled the knowledge and experience of the workforce from the shrinking original business into new ventures that have tripled overall activity levels. In the process Unión Fenosa has transformed itself into a successful multinational energy group.
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Case 9.5.3 (IESE)
Knowledge Management at Siemens Spain
Authors: Professor Rafael Andreu, America Grau, Emma Lara and Professor
Sandra Sieber; University of Navarra, IESE; Spain
Synopsis
This case describes the creation of various communities of practice in
Siemens Spain and how they fit into the global Knowledge Management
strategy of Siemens AG. It also describes the strong support given to
the projects by top management, who, through the so-called knowledge
strategy process, define the steps the company has to take in order to
become a truly knowledge-based company.
The case tackles issues of measurement, which are the indicators and
measures to evaluate the performance of different communities of
practice, as well as the overall impact of that strategy on business
financials.
For free download:
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