All cases

October 2020

The Marketing Process – Background Note

By Nader Tavassoli

The Chartered Institute of Marketing in the UK defines marketing as: “The management process responsible for identifying, anticipating and satisfying customer requirements profitably” 1 This note describes the marketing process...

October 2020

Brand Value and Valuation – Technical Note

By Nader Tavassoli

Brand valuation is the process of estimating the financial value of a brand. The valuation of brands as intangible assets emerged in the 1980s, when brands were first capitalized on post-M&A balance sheets. Brands are also valued for non-reporting purposes...

October 2020

COVID-19: Pret a Manger’s Fight for Survival

By Nader Tavassoli, Jessica Spungin

The case describes how Pret a Manger—a London casual-dining institution—was significantly adversely impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic, and how they tried to pivot by launching several business experiments in fast succession. The long-term outcome of these experiments was far from certain, but th...

October 2020

The World Trade Organization and Tobacco Plain Packaging: Is Packaging Adverting and Does It Influence Consumption?

By Nader Tavassoli

On June 29, 2020, a dispute settlement panel convened by the World Trade Organization (WTO) rejected the appeal regarding its findings in the report “Australia – Certain Measures Concerning Trademarks, Geographical Indications and other Plain Packaging Requirements Applicable to Tobacco Products...

October 2020

Reinventing performance management at Allen & Overy

By Herminia Ibarra, Carrie J. Fletcher

By early 2019, Magic Circle law firm Allen & Overy (A&O) had replaced its longstanding, traditional annual review system with Compass, a state-of-the-art performance management process based on real-time feedback and planful career development discussions. As Managing Partner Andrew Ballheim...