Pascal Courty

Teaching Material

University of Victoria Webpage

Minicases for Managerial Economics

Retail Gas Price

Insurance Corporation of BC

Cranberry

Cost puzzle: Mountain bike and car rentals

Opaque Selling

Older Cases

easyEverything (ECCH prize winner)

Revenue management, pricing policies, price discrimination

easyCar (A) (B) (C) (D) (E) (F)

easyCar is a series of cases that tells the story of an innovative car rental company. The series focuses on easyCar’s first five years of existence reviewing how the company had to redefine itself several times to adjust to market realities. Cases A-F break down the company early history into 6 stages: (A) decision to enter the car rental market, (B) the 1999 business model, (C) competitive challenges, (D) the 2001 business model, (E) viability of the 2001 business model, (F) easyCar in 2005. The series also comprises a comprehensive teaching note, a mini-case focusing on the early business model, and a short case contrasting the experience of Enterprise rent-a-car in North America. The series can be used to address the traditional parts of strategy including market definition, competitive interaction and resource and capabilities, but it also provides an interactive springboard to discuss strategic innovation, creating new market spaces, and emerging strategies. While the cases are quite accessible to younger students, they are particularly well suited to MBA and executive audiences. The industry is clear enough to be grasped quickly, but there are also several non-obvious subtleties. The multi-part format works well, enhances the dramatic tension in the classroom, and provides an ideal forum to put innovative and disruptive ideas to a test.