Author Profile
Grushka-Cockayne, Yael
nPlan: Breaking Biases in Project Planning
Grushka-Cockayne, Yael; Gruzdowich, Emily
QA-0969 | Published February 23, 2024 | 16 pages. Technical Note
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; Lenox, Michael; Maiden, Stephen E.; Hachem, Kinda
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
Liedtka, Jeanne M.; Mead, Jenny; Grushka-Cockayne, Yael; Freeman, R. Edward; 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
Liedtka, Jeanne M.; Mead, Jenny; Grushka-Cockayne, Yael; Freeman, R. Edward; 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
Liedtka, Jeanne M.; Mead, Jenny; Grushka-Cockayne, Yael; Freeman, R. Edward; 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)
Liedtka, Jeanne M.; Mead, Jenny; Grushka-Cockayne, Yael; Freeman, R. Edward; 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)
Liedtka, Jeanne M.; Mead, Jenny; Grushka-Cockayne, Yael; Freeman, R. Edward; 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
Liedtka, Jeanne M.; Mead, Jenny; Grushka-Cockayne, Yael; Freeman, R. Edward
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
Chao, Raul O.; Grushka-Cockayne, Yael; Markou, Panos; 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
Growth Hacking Online Education
Grushka-Cockayne, Yael; Cowan, Alex
OM-1719 | Published April 29, 2021 | 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
Saving Griffin
Grushka-Cockayne, Yael; Cowan, Alex; Turse, Jason
OM-1717 | Published March 15, 2021 | 15 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
Grushka-Cockayne, Yael; Cowan, Alex
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
Loutskina, Elena; Lichtendahl, Kenneth C. Jr.; 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; Yemen, Gerry; Hoang-Le, Thanh-Trang; Baber, Will
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
Keep It Cool
Grushka-Cockayne, Yael; Saxena, Aneesh; McFarland, Nate
QA-0898 | Published June 13, 2018 | 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
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
Lichtendahl, Kenneth C. Jr.; Grushka-Cockayne, Yael; 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
Lichtendahl, Kenneth C. Jr.; Grushka-Cockayne, Yael; 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
Carraway, Robert L.; Grushka-Cockayne, Yael; 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; Tang, Elizabeth; Crama, Pascale; 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
Lichtendahl, Kenneth C. Jr.; Grushka-Cockayne, Yael
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
Mead, Jenny; Grushka-Cockayne, Yael; Harris, Jared; 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
Lichtendahl, Kenneth C. Jr.; Grushka-Cockayne, Yael; 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