Each year The CASE Journal presents the Emerald Best Case Award recognizing the best case published in the journal during the previous year.  The editor of the journal nominates up to eight cases for consideration for the award.  The nominated cases and their accompanying teaching notes are then reviewed by a panel of former editors, CASE fellows and the CASE President.  This year, the reviewers were Peggy Naumes (Former TCJ Editor, CASE Fellow and Past-President), Gina Vega (Former TCJ Editor, CASE Fellow and Past-President) and Miriam Weismann (Current CASE President).  Our thanks to these three reviewers for taking on this important task!

Three finalists were recognized:

• Lumina S. Albert, Grace Hanley Wright, Thomas J. Dean, (2016) “The Neenan Company: rebuilding from a crisis”, The CASE Journal, Vol. 12 Issue: 2, pp.310-318.  
  
  The Neenan Company is a construction firm based in Fort Collins, Colorado, known for their efforts in pioneering the advancement of the design/build approach to construction. With a history of industry leadership, innovative contracting methods, and ethical business practices, the company now faces management, customer relations, and financial challenges. Serious structural problems were discovered in a number of public schools and other buildings built by the company. Thrown into a whirlwind of shock, Randy Myers, President of the company, must consider how to respond to the crisis, and how to prevent these issues in the future. Written from his perspective, this case provides a platform for considering the challenges that can result from industry innovation, ethical decision-making, and crisis management.
  
  
• Joe Anderson, Susan K. Williams, (2016) “Stanton Convention Centre”, The CASE Journal, Vol. 12 Issue: 1, pp.122-130.  Used hypodermic needles were found in Stanton Convention Centre. The Centre’s department heads suggested installing secure needle receptacles. June Patterson, General Manager, quickly learned this was a divisive issue. Heated arguments focussed on two opinions: first, the Centre owed employees a safe working environment and needles constituted a significant risk to safety. Second, other department heads believed that presence of needle boxes would diminish customers’ perceptions of the Centre. According to one, “You wouldn’t find needle boxes in nice restaurants or golf courses.” Having promised a decision by the next meeting, Patterson mulled the question over and wondered how to proceed.
• Rebecca Wilson-Mah, (2016) “The Empress”, The CASE Journal, Vol. 12 Issue: 1, pp.3-26.This case encourages students to consider how they would communicate and support the implementation of a company’s policy for annual performance reviews. Analysis may include considering how to build commitment from line management for the process and practice of colleague performance reviews and an exploration of the relationship between appraisals and performance management, human resources (HR) strategy and business strategy. Managers may perceive that performance reviews are taking them away from the more important and pressing tasks that directly relate to their own performance on the job – and not appreciate the strategic significance of the appraisal process.

These cases all provide strong, well-written learning opportunities for students.  The associated instructor’s manuals provided excellent analysis and theoretical linkages.

Ultimately, Rebecca Wilson-Mah’s case “The Empress” was chosen as the winner for the 2016/2017 Emerald Best Case Award.  Rebecca received a plaque and a $1,000 prize from Emerald Publishing Group.  The award was presented at The CASE Association annual meeting in May in Baltimore, Maryland.  Congratulations, Rebecca!

A second award was presented in Baltimore, MD to recognize The CASE Journal Outstanding Reviewer for 2016/2017.  This award was selected by the journal editor to recognize the strong contributions of an individual reviewer in terms of the quantity of reviews completed during the year, the quality of those reviews and the timeliness of the reviews.  Statistics from the Scholar One system were used to identify the most prolific reviewers for TCJ and then the individual reviews were evaluated.  The choice for the award winner was very easy–Rebecca Wilson-Mah completed 12 reviews during the year and received a perfect rating for all of her reviews.  She provided detailed constructive feedback to the authors of some of the most challenging cases while demonstrating her expertise in pedagogy and theoretical linkages.  Congratulations, Rebecca and many thanks for your contributions to TCJ!

Getting to Know Rebecca Wilson-Mah:

Here’s a brief bio of our double award winner–

Rebecca Wilson-Mah, MSc is Assistant Professor and a Chartered Professional in Human Resources (CPHR) with The School of Tourism and Hospitality Management, Royal Roads University, BC, Canada.  Rebecca is a Board member of the CASE Association and a past member of The Case Journal Editorial Board.  At Royal Roads University, Rebecca initiated and supports an interdisciplinary case research group between the Faculty of Applied and Social Sciences and the Faculty of Management.  This group meets regularly as a community of practice building internal case research expertise while also connecting disciplines and perspectives. Rebecca is currently engaged in EdD studies in higher education.