Author Profile
Grushka-Cockayne, Yael
Coding Data Models with AI
Cowan, Alex Grushka-Cockayne, Yael
OM-1825 | Published December 04, 2024 | 46 pages Technical Note
Collection: Darden School of Business
This note focuses on building models that allow for the effective organization and retrieval of data. It discusses the major steps of designing, creating, and maintaining a model that optimizes user e... Read More
Coding Algorithms with AI
Cowan, Alex Grushka-Cockayne, Yael
OM-1824 | Published November 20, 2024 | 15 pages Technical Note
Collection: Darden School of Business
This note focuses on creating controllers—algorithms, in coding speak. These essentially are the logic that tells the software what to do and how to respond to inputs from the user. This note assumes ... Read More
Coding for MBAs in the Age of AI
Cowan, Alex Grushka-Cockayne, Yael
OM-1822 | Published November 19, 2024 | 9 pages Technical Note
Collection: Darden School of Business
In this note, students will learn how to think about the process of going from design to code like both a general manager and an engineer. Designed for use by students of business who are familiar wit... Read More
Coding User Interfaces with AI
Cowan, Alex Grushka-Cockayne, Yael
OM-1823 | Published November 18, 2024 | 17 pages Technical Note
Collection: Darden School of Business
It’s a great time to be a creatively confident general manager, whether you're a product manager, a team lead, or in some similar role. AI has made it easier than ever to bring new ideas to life and r... Read More
Diagnosing the Economics of Your Code
Cowan, Alex Grushka-Cockayne, Yael
OM-1819 | Published October 17, 2024 | 18 pages Technical Note
Collection: Darden School of Business
Managers regularly have to contribute to technical decisions where the specific subject matter is substantially beyond their understanding. This applies even to managers who have a technical backgroun... Read More
Transgender Athletes: What Are the Rules of the Road? (A)
Mead, Jenny Elias, Allison Freeman, R. Edward Grushka-Cockayne, Yael Liedtka, Jeanne M.
E-0503 | Published March 15, 2024 | 10 pages Case
Collection: Darden School of Business
In the summer of 2023, Union Cycliste Internationale (UCI), cycling's international governing body, and USA Cycling (USAC), cycling's US governing body, faced a dilemma. Austin Killips, the first open... Read More
Transgender Athletes: What Are the Rules of the Road? (B)
Mead, Jenny Elias, Allison Freeman, R. Edward Grushka-Cockayne, Yael Liedtka, Jeanne M.
E-0504 | Published March 15, 2024 | 2 pages Case
Collection: Darden School of Business
This case is a follow-up to "Transgender Athletes: What Are the Rules of the Road? (A)" (UVA-E-0503). In the summer of 2023, Union Cycliste Internationale (UCI), cycling's international governing body... Read More
nPlan: Breaking Biases in Project Planning
Grushka-Cockayne, Yael Gruzdowich, Emily
QA-0969 | Published February 23, 2024 | 16 pages Case
Collection: Darden School of Business
Richard Palczynski, leader of the Transpennine Route Upgrade (TRU) project, had devoted the better half of the past five years to co-championing this project with senior leadership at Network Rail, th... Read More
Project Scoping
Grushka-Cockayne, Yael Ridgway, Griffith
QA-0960 | Published November 14, 2023 | 9 pages Technical Note
Collection: Darden School of Business
A project’s scope specifies the work needed to deliver a product, service, or result, given specified features and functions. At its core, scoping a project requires accurately predicting the allocati... Read More
Cryptocurrency and the Washington Nationals: Once Bitten, Twice Shy?
Grushka-Cockayne, Yael Hachem, Kinda Lenox, Michael Maiden, Stephen E.
S-0393 | Published March 13, 2023 | 15 pages Case
Collection: Darden School of Business
In May 2022, Jennifer Chen, vice president of strategic partnerships for the Washington Nationals, faced a dilemma. Just months before, the Nationals had embarked on a high-profile sponsorship partner... Read More
Norwegian Women's Beach Handball: Bucking the Bikini Bottoms
Freeman, R. Edward Mead, Jenny Liedtka, Jeanne M. Grushka-Cockayne, Yael Elias, Allison
E-0492 | Published March 01, 2023 | 7 pages Case
Collection: Darden School of Business
In the summer of 2021, as they prepared for the European Beach Handball Championship, the Norwegian women's beach handball team rebelled against wearing bikini bottoms as part of their uniforms. The b... Read More
Looking for the Fast Break: The WNBA Nears a Quarter Century
Freeman, R. Edward Mead, Jenny Liedtka, Jeanne M. Grushka-Cockayne, Yael Elias, Allison
E-0491 | Published March 01, 2023 | 10 pages Case
Collection: Darden School of Business
In 2019, as it approached its 25th year, the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA) faced many challenges. The players were disenchanted with subpar salaries, facilities, and amenities, as wel... Read More
Nike: Retaining Talent and Managing a Brand
Freeman, R. Edward Mead, Jenny Liedtka, Jeanne M. Grushka-Cockayne, Yael Guimaraes, Raphael A.
E-0485 | Published January 27, 2023 | 10 pages Case
Collection: Darden School of Business
In 2021, Nike had lost some of the top female athletes it had sponsored, including WNBA two-time champion Breanna Stewart and gymnast Simone Biles. The reasons for the departures, which had taken plac... Read More
Bystander Intervention: USA Gymnastics and Beyond (A)
Freeman, R. Edward Mead, Jenny Liedtka, Jeanne M. Grushka-Cockayne, Yael Santos, Grace
E-0482 | Published January 19, 2023 | 5 pages Case
Collection: Darden School of Business
This partially disguised, public-sourced case details the situation surrounding longtime USA Gymnastics team doctor Larry Nassar's abuse of athletes from the standpoint of someone who must decide whet... Read More
Bystander Intervention: USA Gymnastics and Beyond (B)
Freeman, R. Edward Mead, Jenny Liedtka, Jeanne M. Grushka-Cockayne, Yael Santos, Grace
E-0483 | Published January 19, 2023 | 4 pages Case
Collection: Darden School of Business
This partially disguised, public-sourced case, a follow-up to “Bystander Intervention: USA Gymnastics and Beyond (A)” (UVA-E-0482), details what happened after top gymnastics coach Megan Peterson repo... Read More
Billie Jean King: Serving Up Leadership
Freeman, R. Edward Grushka-Cockayne, Yael Liedtka, Jeanne M. Mead, Jenny
E-0488 | Published September 19, 2022 | 11 pages Case
Collection: Darden School of Business
Throughout a lifetime of athletic success, hard work, high visibility, and professional and personal challenges both on and off the tennis court, Billie Jean King, an icon of professional tennis, busi... Read More
ZS Associates: Refilling the Pipeline
Markou, Panos Grushka-Cockayne, Yael Chao, Raul O. Hattem, Joshua
OM-1775 | Published September 01, 2022 | 16 pages Case
Collection: Darden School of Business
ZS Associates, a global consultancy, has been hired by the head of marketing at the global pharmaceutical firm Rensselaer to identify a promising strategy to protect and grow Rensselaer’s oncology bus... Read More
Saving Griffin
Grushka-Cockayne, Yael Cowan, Alex Turse, Jason
OM-1717 | Published March 15, 2021 | 14 pages Case
Collection: Darden School of Business
This case is designed to introduce general management students to applied digital transformation at the program level. The Griffin Program is a midsized but high-stakes program in the US Special Opera... Read More
Agile Development
Cowan, Alex Grushka-Cockayne, Yael
OM-1711 | Published January 20, 2021 | 10 pages Technical Note
Collection: Darden School of Business
This technical note is designed to introduce general management students to the body of work associated with agile and its current state of practice. While anchored in a simple 68-word manifesto, agil... Read More
Tweets, Retweets, and Entrepreneurship
Lichtendahl, Kenneth C. Jr. Grushka-Cockayne, Yael Friedman, Sasha Greenfield, John
QA-0838 | Published March 06, 2020 | 6 pages Case
Collection: Darden School of Business
This case looks into how to effectively engage audiences through social media marketing. Specifically, the case addresses how entrepreneurs can use Twitter to generate community awareness through twee... Read More
Fannie Mae's Data Dynamics
Lichtendahl, Kenneth C. Jr. Loutskina, Elena Grushka-Cockayne, Yael Yemen, Gerry Boatright, Benjamin
QA-0903 | Published February 13, 2019 | 12 pages Case
Collection: Darden School of Business
This case uses one of Fannie Mae’s credit-risk transfer instruments (CRT) to explore its data set platform and predict loan defaults through machine learning algorithms. The CRT, called Connecticut Av... Read More
Roast, Grind, Brew, Kickstart
Grushka-Cockayne, Yael Koes, Alexander Reiss, Mathew
QA-0900 | Published August 06, 2018 | 12 pages Case
Collection: Darden School of Business
This case describes an entrepreneur who turns to Kickstarter to help launch a product and satisfy investor requests to prove the market. The case discusses the decisions that need to be made with rega... Read More
Strategy at Yuhisai Koudoukan: Reading the Tea Leaves
Grushka-Cockayne, Yael Hoang-Le, Thanh-Trang Baber, Will Yemen, Gerry
S-0303 | Published July 09, 2018 | 14 pages Case
Collection: Darden School of Business
This field-based case uses a Japanese teahouse and cultural space to discuss broader themes in strategy formation. The material would work well to conduct a strategic capability analysis. Sotatsu Ot... Read More
Project Management and Transparency for Capital Projects
Grushka-Cockayne, Yael McKlindon, Rachel Cornell, Jess
QA-0899 | Published June 12, 2018 | 15 pages Technical Note
Collection: Darden School of Business
Program- and project-management best practices are typically implemented when a corporation aims to work efficiently and effectively to deliver its projects to the customers on time and to maximize sh... Read More
Getting Rich on Crypto
Grushka-Cockayne, Yael Goelz, Charles Willingham, Davis Le, Shawn
QA-0897 | Published June 07, 2018 | 9 pages Case
Collection: Darden School of Business
Dan Nickerson, a private wealth manager at a big firm, had just begun taking on his first set of clients when one of them asked his advice on whether he should add bitcoin to his investment portfolio.... Read More
TeeGolf Company: To Exit or Not to Exit—Team 2
Grushka-Cockayne, Yael Molloy, Nick
QA-0895 | Published April 13, 2018 | 8 pages Case
Collection: Darden School of Business
Kris Alexander is a newly appointed partner at the private equity firm Kohlberg & Co. Alexander is preparing an exit proposal for one of Kohlberg’s portfolio companies, the TeeGolf Company. Alexander ... Read More
TeeGolf Company: To Exit or Not to Exit—Team 1
Grushka-Cockayne, Yael Molloy, Nick
QA-0894 | Published April 13, 2018 | 9 pages Case
Collection: Darden School of Business
Kris Alexander is a newly appointed partner at the private equity firm Kohlberg & Co. Alexander is preparing an exit proposal for one of Kohlberg’s portfolio companies, the TeeGolf Company. Alexander ... Read More
UnbeLEAFable Snacks
Wilcox, Ronald T. Grushka-Cockayne, Yael King, Nick White, John
M-0911 | Published December 21, 2017 | 11 pages Case
Collection: Darden School of Business
In this case a business school student, Kate Maxwell, must decide whether to accept a job offer in wealth management or pursue her dream of building her own company around healthy gummy snacks for chi... Read More
HealthCare.gov (B)
Grushka-Cockayne, Yael Carnahan, Elizabeth Kim, Hyeongjin
QA-0888 | Published November 21, 2017 | 4 pages Case
Collection: Darden School of Business
Pressure was mounting on the project managers responsible for the development of the federally facilitated marketplace (FFM) for HealthCare.gov. Two years had passed since President Barack Obama signe... Read More
Ariake Arena
Grushka-Cockayne, Yael Hasegawa, Tatsuya
QA-0889 | Published October 13, 2017 | 2 pages Exercise
Collection: Darden School of Business
Shimizu Corporation, a Japanese construction company, has been selected as the prime contractor to build a gymnastics arena for use in the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games. Based on company cost estimates, th... Read More
DigiPlex: Future-Ready Data Centers
Grushka-Cockayne, Yael Yemen, Gerry
QA-0880 | Published October 03, 2017 | 15 pages Case
Collection: Darden School of Business
This case is based on DigiPlex, the largest data center provider in Scandinavia. The company plans to build another data center just outside of Stockholm, Sweden. The case asks students to evaluate a ... Read More
Lumi Juice: Concept to Store
Grushka-Cockayne, Yael Lewis, Hillary
QA-0845 | Published November 10, 2015 | 5 pages Case
Collection: Darden School of Business
Lumi Juice was founded in April 2013 in Charlottesville, Virginia, by Hillary Lewis, a second-year MBA student at the Darden School of Business. Lewis’s vision was to build a fully functioning manufa... Read More
HealthCare.gov (A)
Grushka-Cockayne, Yael Ward, Brian
QA-0836 | Published August 26, 2015 | 13 pages Case
Collection: Darden School of Business
This case follows the rollout of HealthCare.gov, the website that allows consumers to compare plans and purchase health insurance online as part of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act. The ... Read More
Opening Casino Jack
Grushka-Cockayne, Yael Lichtendahl, Kenneth C. Jr. Green, Andrew Fennell, Temple
QA-0827 | Published August 07, 2015 | 3 pages Case
Collection: Darden School of Business
Temple Fennell, CEO of ATO Pictures, recalled the distribution of ATO’s first U.S. film, Casino Jack, starring Kevin Spacey. He reflected on the red carpet thrills during the opening week in December... Read More
SunRay's Photovoltaic Power Plant
Grushka-Cockayne, Yael Mexis, Georgios
QA-0837 | Published July 29, 2015 | 9 pages Case
Collection: Darden School of Business
SunRay, a solar company, is about to embark on its biggest project yet?the construction of a photovoltaic plant at Giordano Mall, a big shopping complex outside Rome. The project manager's first task ... Read More
A/B Testing at Vungle
Grushka-Cockayne, Yael Lichtendahl, Kenneth C. Jr. De Reyck, Bert Fragkos, Ioannis
QA-0821 | Published April 13, 2015 | 7 pages Case
Collection: Darden School of Business
Two recently graduated MBA students are tasked with developing an ad-serving learning algorithm for a mobile ad-serving company. The case illustrates the way in which hypotheses can be tested in an A/... Read More
Flex Technology
Grushka-Cockayne, Yael Carraway, Robert L. Sorenson, Travis
QA-0811 | Published February 18, 2014 | 10 pages Case
Collection: Darden School of Business
After years of development, William Krause knew that 2014 was the year to “go big or go home.” His Flexible Herbert Screw, a medical device intended to support the healing of fractured collarbones (cl... Read More
New York City Department of Parks and Recreation
QA-0815 | Published February 17, 2014 | 3 pages Case
Collection: Darden School of Business
In January 2013, John C. Liu, New York City’s comptroller, wrote to the residents of the city about his audit of the New York City Department of Parks and Recreation (DPR). Liu summarized his office’s... Read More
Set in Stone
Grushka-Cockayne, Yael Crama, Pascale Tang, Elizabeth Banerjee, Arup
QA-0814 | Published February 11, 2014 | 10 pages Case
Collection: Darden School of Business
In 2013, the new general manager at Dominion Granite and Marble (DGM), a successful Virginia granite-fabrication company, was convinced DGM would benefit from substantially speeding up its sales proce... Read More
Surveying Professional Forecasters
Grushka-Cockayne, Yael Lichtendahl, Kenneth C. Jr.
QA-0805 | Published June 27, 2013 | 6 pages Case
Collection: Darden School of Business
This case illustrates how averaging point forecasts harnesses the wisdom of crowds. Students access data from the Survey of Professional Forecasters (SPF) and compare the performance of the crowd (i.e... Read More
Fair Play at Chisholm University
Grushka-Cockayne, Yael Harris, Jared Mead, Jenny Adams, John Shankar, Meera
QA-0789 | Published August 23, 2012 | 10 pages Case
Collection: Darden School of Business
Chisholm University's new athletics director must reallocate the athletics budget in its entirety, balancing legal obligations with broader educational and financial goals. A committee appointed to wo... Read More
Ocean's Dilemma
Grushka-Cockayne, Yael Lichtendahl, Kenneth C. Jr. Gupta, Rohit
QA-0798 | Published July 27, 2012 | 6 pages Case
Collection: Darden School of Business
The case is intended for a class relatively early in a decision analysis or a risk analysis class module. The case can be used as the very first case in the course if students are familiar with the co... Read More
Scoring Expert Forecasts
Lichtendahl, Kenneth C. Jr. Grushka-Cockayne, Yael
QA-0772 | Published July 12, 2011 | 5 pages Technical Note
Collection: Darden School of Business
This technical note, based on the more comprehensive note, "Eliciting and Evaluating Expert Forecasts" (UVA-QA-0734), provides a streamlined presentation of Brier and log scores as tools for assessing... Read More
Ballis's Benchmark (A)
Lichtendahl, Kenneth C. Jr. Grushka-Cockayne, Yael
F-1621 | Published February 04, 2011 | 9 pages Case
Collection: Darden School of Business
In this case series, Margaret Ballis, a soon-to-be Darden School of Business graduate, is about to begin her dream job at a leading investment management firm. On her way to becoming a fund manager, s... Read More
Ballis's Benchmark (B)
Lichtendahl, Kenneth C. Jr. Grushka-Cockayne, Yael
F-1622 | Published February 04, 2011 | 3 pages Case
Collection: Darden School of Business
In this case series, Margaret Ballis, a soon-to-be Darden School of Business graduate, is about to begin her dream job at a leading investment management firm. On her way to becoming a fund manager, s... Read More
PriceMax
Lichtendahl, Kenneth C. Jr. Grushka-Cockayne, Yael
QA-0748 | Published July 21, 2010 | 10 pages Case
Collection: Darden School of Business
A large general-merchandise retailer misses its fiscal year earnings-per-share guidance, so its CFO is charged with improving the firm's forecasts. This case presents the use of probability distributi... Read More
Toward a Single European Sky
Grushka-Cockayne, Yael De Reyck, Bert
QA-0736 | Published March 26, 2010 | 16 pages Case
Collection: Darden School of Business
To meet rising traffic projections over the next 20 years, Eurocontrol must develop Europe's first uniform air traffic control standards. This case illustrates the usefulness of management science met... Read More
Growth Hacking Online Education
Grushka-Cockayne, Yael Cowan, Alex
OM-1719 | Published | 29 pages Case
Collection: Darden School of Business
This case explores the work of a Darden faculty member, Alex Cowan, to assess the demand for a public version of the software development course he taught at Darden. It was no secret that with the tec... Read More
Keep It Cool
Grushka-Cockayne, Yael Saxena, Aneesh McFarland, Nate
QA-0898 | Published | 8 pages Case
Collection: Darden School of Business
It was a scorching summer day in Charlottesville, Virginia, and Nate McFarland, director of communications at Generation 180, was losing sleep. One month ago, Generation 180, a nonprofit organization,... Read More