Case Studies

A different organisation will be covered each week in tutorials.  These case studies are:

1.   Haier Group Corporation (week 2 beginning 21 July)

2.   Air New Zealand (week 3 beginning 28 July)

3.   Mainfreight (week 4 beginning 4 August)

4.   Toi Foundation and TSB Bank (week 5 beginning 11 August)

5.   Tatua Co-operative Dairy Company (week 6 beginning 18 August)

6.   Te Whatu Ora or Health New Zealand (week 8 beginning 15 September)

7.   Waikato-Tainui and Tainui Group Holdings (week 9 beginning 22 September)

8.   Z Energy and Ampol (week 10 beginning 29 September)

9.   Contact Energy (week 11 beginning 6 October)

Working in teams of 2 or 3 people, you must give a presentation in the tutorial in which team members are enrolled.  For each case study, there are two sets of questions, labelled as Team A or Team B.  In consultation with your tutor, your team must select a set of questions for one case to present.

The tutor will be presenting the first and second case study (Haier and Air New Zealand). This should be informative and help set expectations for the assessments. Your team can present one of remaining seven case studies.

Instructions and a marking schedule for the presentation is available under “Assessment” on the ACCT332 LEARN site.

For each tutorial, Team A and B must work together to prepare a report on the assigned case study. This report is due two weeks after your team’s presentation with two exceptions:

•   (1) Due to the mid-semester break, teams presenting on Tatua in week 6 have three weeks to submit their reports.  It is due in week 7 beginning 8 September.

•   (2) Due to UC assessment policy, teams presenting on Contact Energy in week 11 must submit their reports by 9:00pm, Friday 17 October. If your team has been assigned to Contact Energy, you should be proactive in preparing the presentation and the report.

Instructions and a marking schedule for the report is available under “Assessment” on the ACCT332 LEARN site.

The Case Study Method

General guidance on how to address the questions in a case study follows:

1.   Learn about the organisation by reading its “about us” section on its website (e.g. history, strategy, board of directors, executive team, etc.) and its Wikipedia page.

2.   Review assigned questions for the case study.  Think about what topics from ACCT222 and ACCT332 are relevant to the questions, and what information must be collected to address the questions.  The questions usually include links to some resources.  However, for the case study to which your team is assigned, you must search for and analysis additional information on the organisation.

3.  Additional information on the topics covered in this course can be found on the ACCT332 LEARN site (e.g. readings and PowerPoint slides) and in the UC Library.  For instance, aside from Eldenburg et al. (2019, 2025) Management Accounting, there is many textbooks on management accounting that can be accessed as a physical and electronic copy in the UC Library: Merchant and Van der Stede (2017) Management Control Systems; Atkinson et al.

(2020) Management Accounting; Macintosh  (2010) Management Accounting and  Control Systems; Simons (2010) Seven Strategy Questions; Lautour (2018) Strategic Management Accounting – Volume 1, 2 and 3; etc.

4.   Good sources of information about the organisations include:

•   The organisation’s website.

•   The organisation’s public disclosure, e.g. financial and sustainability reports.

•   Newspaper articles.  These may be found using a Google search or by visiting news sites  such  as www.stuff.co.nz  or www.nzherald.co.nz.    Alternatively,   NZ   and international  newspaper  articles  can  be  downloaded  from  the  Factiva  database (https://canterbury.libguides.com/az/databases?q=factiva).

•   Financial, market and news data on companies, including financial analyst reports, which are available via a few databases:

    NZX Company Research (canterbury.libguides.com/az/databases?q=nzx).

    Orbis (canterbury.libguides.com/az/databases?q=orbis).

    Refinitiv Eikon (canterbury.libguides.com/az/databases?q=eikon).

•   Brief articles and detailed reports prepared by accountancy firms, management consultants, professional bodies, industry associations and government departments. For example, TDB Advisory publishes a wide range of research reports on companies, industries, etc. (www.tdb.co.nz/reports-2/).

•   Employee reviews of companies such as www.glassdoor.com,www.indeed.com, and www.careerbliss.com.

•   Competitor websites and public disclosure.  Hint: Comparing the organisation under study to others provides insight into its relative strengths and weaknesses.

•   Academic journal articles (scholar.google.co.nz).  However, there are often no or very few articles on specific NZ organisations.

5.   Strategic and financial analysis is a great starting point for any case study.  Such analysis will be less detailed if there is not a specific question on  strategy or financial performance. Nevertheless, making notes an organisation’s strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats as you collect information (see above) will provide you with detailed insights.

6.   How you analyse the information you have collected on the organisation will depend on the assigned questions.  There are hints for some questions.  While lecturers and tutors cannot answer the questions for you, they can advise you on how to collect and analysis information on an organisation.  Ask for help if you are unsure how to proceed!

7.   Do not use of AI tools (e.g. ChatGPT) and other software to generate answers to the case studies.  This does not help you learn.  For the presentation and report that your team will submit for assessment, you must attest that the answers are a result of your team’s efforts. Sources of information must also be listed on the last slide of the presentation and at the end of the report.  UC Library’s website has a guide on how to cite and reference your sources (www.canterbury.ac.nz/study/study-support-info/citations-and-referencing/apa-style).

8.   For additional guidance, see the instructions on the presentation and report under “Assessment” on the ACCT332 LEARN site.

Case 1: Haier

●   Topic: Strategic and Financial Analysis

●   Overview: Founded in 1984 as Qingdao Refrigerator Co., Haier Group Corporation (or Haier) is a multinational enterprise, which is headquartered in Qingdao, China.  Haier manufactures a wide range of products in the home appliances and  consumer  electronics  industries. Following Haier’s acquisition of GE Appliances in 2016, it became one of the world’s largest manufacturers in home appliances industry.   Haier also  acquired NZ’s Fisher & Paykel Appliances in 2012.  Haier continues to operate a R&D centre in Auckland, NZ.

●   Purpose: You will learn about Haier’s RenDanHeYi model of organisation and how this has enabled it to expand and grow rapidly over time. Throughout the course, you should compare Haier’s RenDanHeYi model to other approaches covered in lectures and tutorials.

●   Resources:

    The “About Haier” section of the company’s website details its history, culture, brands etc. (www.haier.com/global/about-haier/history/).

    Haier’s 2024 Annual Report, particularly the note on operating segments on pages 223 to 231 (smart-home.haier.com/en/gpxx/iv/P020250429760264303771.pdf).

    Haier’s 2024 environmental, social and governance report (www.haier.com/global/csr/ – scroll to the bottom of the page to download)

    “A business of its times: Haier’s self-evolving organization” on pages 62 and 63 of McKinsey       &        Company’s       The       State        of       Organizations       2023 (www.mckinsey.com/~/media/mckinsey/business%20functions/people%20and%20or ganizational%20performance/our%20insights/the%20state%20of%20organizations%202023/the-state-of-organizations-2023.pdf)

    Using Google, other information on Haier and its competitors in the white goods appliances industry can easily be found on various websites.

Team A’s Questions

●   1. Who are the leading companies in the white goods appliances industry (choose about 5 including Haier)?  What are strategies of the chosen companies? How well are the chosen companies performing? Do the chosen companies appear to be similar or different?  Hint: Consider Porter’s strategic positions (cost leadership, differentiation and focus).

●   2. How do Haier’s accounting and management practices (or systems) help it to execute (or implement) the firm’s strategy?

Team B’s Questions

•   Note that there is no Team B for this case study.  Only the tutor is presenting.

Case 2: Air New Zealand

•   Topic: Strategic and Financial Analysis; and Strategic Investment Decisions

•   Overview: Air New Zealand is the national airline of New Zealand and headquartered in Auckland.    It  operates  international  and  domestic  air  routes  for  passengers  and  cargo. Following its acquisition of Ansett Australia in 2000, Air New Zealand nearly collapsed a year later. Ansett Australia was shutdown.  With losses of over $2 billion from 2000 to 2002, the NZ Government had to bail out Air New Zealand with $885 million for an 82% shareholding.

Since then, Air New Zealand has been managed very well and won many prestigious awards. However, the graph below shows Air New Zealand has never recovered from the failure of Ansett Australia with its share price declining 89% from 2000 to 2025 (blue line), while Singapore Airline’s share price declined 24% (green line) and Qantas’ share price rose 195% (red line).  On the other hand, Air New Zealand has paid a lot of dividends to investors.

•   Purpose: Drawing on strategic and financial analysis, you will learn about the causes and consequences of Air New Zealand’s loss of $1.4 billion in 2001.  This case study shows that well-qualified and experienced people do not always make rational decisions.  Reflect on this case study again when strategic investment decisions are covered later in the course.

•   Resources:  The historical annual reports of Air New Zealand and BIL (its major shareholder in 2000) are available via the NZX Company Research database.  Using Google, there are also  many  newspaper  articles  on  this  corporate  scandal  that  can  be  easily  found,  e.g. www.airlineratings.com/articles/ansett-australia-20-years-great-airline-lousy-business.

Team A’s Questions

●   1. Carry out a strategic and financial analysis of Air New Zealand prior to its acquisition of Ansett Australia of 2000.  Was Air New Zealand’s acquisition of Ansett Australia justified? Why or why not?

●   2. Extend the strategic and financial analysis of Air New Zealand after its acquisition of Ansett Australia.  Also, consider BIL’s influence on Air Zealand.  Who or what was responsible for Air New Zealand’s near collapse in 2001?  Why?

Team B’s Questions

•   Note that there is no Team B for this case study.  Only the tutor is presenting.

Case 3: Mainfreight

•   Topic: Strategic and Financial Analysis; and Strategic Management of Costs and Revenues

•   Overview: Mainfreight is logistics and transport company, headquartered in Auckland with over $5 billion in revenue.  It is a multinational with 22% of sales in New Zealand, 32% of sales in Australia, 21% of sales in the Americas, 4% of sales in Asia, and 21% of sales in Europe.   Beginning  in  1978  and  listing  on  the NZX in  1996,  Mainfreight has delivered outstanding returns for investors.  Arguably, New Zealand’s most successful company over the  long-run,  Mainfreight  manages  its  strategy  and  operations  very  differently  to  most organisations.  For example, Mainfreight does not practice traditional budgeting.

•   Purpose: You will learn about why Mainfreight has been very successful.  Also, you put yourself in the shoes of others, e.g. a Mainfreight branch manager.  Finally, you will apply a range of strategic, financial and cost concepts to Mainfreight.

•   Resources:  See Mainfreight’s website for information and reports including team review newsletters.   Also, see UC Library databases for other information.   Use  Google to  find various  articles,   e.g.  Investment  Master  Class   (2023),  Learning from  Bruce  Plested’s Mainfreight,mastersinvest.com/newblog/2021/11/20/dqvfj9uyssey1j88fvc5kv4uccr2if.

Team A’s Questions

●   1.  Undertake  an  historical  strategic  and  financial  analysis  of  Mainfreight.     Why  has Mainfreight been successful?

●   2.  Undertake  a  current  SWOT  analysis  of  Mainfreight.     What  is  Mainfreight’s  most significant weakness and threat?  Why?  How could Mainfreight address this weakness and avoid this threat?

Team B’s Questions

●   3. What is Mainfreight’s position in the industry value chain?   How does Mainfreight  add value along its value chain?  Hint: Review pages 22-29 of Mainfreight's 2025 Annual Report.

●   4. Mainfreight has 337 branches in 27 countries.  Mainfreight manages its business by region and within regions, by service line including warehousing, regional transport (e.g. road) and international transport (e.g. air and sea). There are many branches for each service line within each region. Branch managers report to a regional service line’s general manager on a weekly basis about financial and non-financial aspects of performance.   This frequent reporting – colloquially known as “weeklies” – is described as follows:

“Weeklies provide BMs [branch managers] with near real-time feedback on the impact of recent decisions on branch profits. BMs closely examine their weekly results, compare them to the results for the same week last year and assess how performance has changed, consider whether the branch is on track to achieve its profit target and whether overhead costs are under control. Weeklies  also  reveal  whether there  is  under-used  capacity  and  prompt  BMs  to consider how to manage it. The weekly is a tool for enhancing BMs’understanding of branch operations (internal transparency) and assessing their ability to manage performance.”

(Source: page 238 of O’Grady, W., 2019, “Enabling control in a radically decentralized organization”,

Qualitative Research in Accounting and Management, 16(2), pp. 224-251)

What cost and operational information do you imagine would be most relevant for branch managers at Mainfreight?  How would this information help branch managers to add value and ensure “overhead costs are under control”?

Case 4: Toi Foundation and TSB Bank

•   Topic: Strategic Management of Costs and Revenues; and Value Chain Issues

•   Overview: Toi Foundation (formally, TSB Community Trust) is a charity, headquartered in New Plymouth, whose purpose is to support communities in the Taranaki region. It is funded by about $30 million in dividends from its controlling interests in TSB Bank (100%) and Fisher Funds Management (66%). While TSB Bank is the 7th largest bank in NZ, it is a small bank with its total assets only 5% of ANZ (1st) and 24% of Kiwibank (5th).  Interestingly, Toi Foundation’s dividends from TSB Bank have not grown much over time with a dividend of $7 million in 2006 and $10 million in 2025.

•   Purpose: You will learn how to apply principles of cost management to a not-for-profit entity, Toi Foundation and a for-profit entity, TSB Bank.

•   Resources on Toi Foundation: There is a lot of information on the Toi Foundation’s website including its strategic plan and annual reports (toifoundation.org.nz/about-us/).  There are a lot of newspaper articles on the Toi Foundation and their impact on the community, which can be accessed via the Factiva database.

•   Resources on TSB Bank:  There is a lot of information on TSB Bank’s website including its annual report (or disclosure statement) and climate statement (www.tsb.co.nz/about).  There are a lot of newspaper articles on TSB Bank, which can be accessed via the Factiva database. As  the  regulator,  the  Reserve  Bank  (RBNZ)  has  a  lot  data  on  TSB  and  other  banks (www.rbnz.govt.nz/regulation-and-supervision/cross-sector-oversight/registers-of-entities- we-regulate/registered-banks-in-new-zealandand bankdashboard.rbnz.govt.nz/summary).

Team A’s Questions

●   1. Review Toi Foundation’s Strategy Framework (1 April 2025), recent Annual Reports and grant applications process. With over a thousand grant applications approved in 2024 (see the next page), Toi Foundation must decide if costs listed in grant applications are reasonable, and then if the money given to applicants has been spent responsibly and resulted in positive outcomes.   How should Toi Foundation evaluate grant applications and then monitor grant applications which have been approved?  Why?

●   2. From Toi Foundation’s 2024 Annual Report, it has operating expenses (other than grants paid) of $3.6 million and assets of $48 million.   How  should Toi Foundation manage its operating and capital expenditure?  Why?

Team B’s Questions

●   3. Until recently, TSB Bank was consistently rated as NZ’s best bank by customers and others. With the appointment of a new CEO, Kerry Boielle in January 2024, TSB Bank appears to have  shifted  its  focus  as  has  been  reported  in  the  news   (e.g. www.thepost.co.nz/nz- news/360744194/new-customers-and-ruthlessly-prioritising-raise-profit-tsb).    Assess   TSB Bank relative to its competitors.  How can TSB Bank grow revenue, profits and dividends?

●   4. TSB Bank’s net interest income has risen from $72m in 2006 to $192m in 2025 (i.e. an increase of 2.7 times), while its operating expenses have risen from $35m in 2006 to $136m in 2025 (i.e. an increase of 3.9 times).  With cost outpacing income, TSB Bank’s dividends to Toi Foundation have barely increased over the years.  Consider the applicability of the range of costing concepts, methods and systems covered inACCT222 and ACCT332 to TSB Bank. In terms of managing cost, what do you recommend TSB Bank do to improve its operating cost-efficiency without compromising its strategy or service quality?  Why?

Case 5: Tatua Co-operative Dairy Company (or Tatua)

•   Topic: Value Chain Issues

•   Overview: NZ’s economy is heavily dependent on agriculture, particularly the export of dairy products. Milk production rose dramatically from 1.2 billion kilograms of milk solids in 2004 to 1.9 billion kilograms in 2014.  It has been flat since with 1.9 billion kilograms in 2024.

To be successful, the conventional wisdom has been that dairy manufacturers must add value, e.g. differentiated products such as ice cream and chocolate are thought to have higher profit margins than commodities such as milk solids or milk powder.  However, this conventional wisdom has not been true for NZ’s largest dairy manufacturer, Fonterra.   To improve its financial returns, Fonterra is selling its consumer goods division, Mainland Group.

On the other hand, the conventional wisdom has been true for Tatua.   From revenue of $76 million in 2000 to $486 million in 2024, Tatua has grown at 8% per annum.  The question is how has Tatua succeeded while others have struggled?

Note that the farmers who supply milk to Fonterra and Tatua are also the owners.  These are co-operative  companies.    Their  purpose  is  to  maximise  returns  to  farmers,  rather  than maximise profits to investors.

•   Purpose: You will learn about New Zealand’s dairy industry including some of the major manufacturers. Also, you will apply concepts on strategy and value chain to Tatua.

•   Resources:   Tatua’s   website   provides   a   lot    of   information   about   the   co-operative (www.tatua.com/our-company/  and    www.tatua.com/sustainability/)  including  its  annual reports (www.tatua.com/our-company/our-news/). Additional information on Tatua and other dairy manufacturers can be easily found using Google or UC Library databases (e.g. Orbis). There are many newspaper articles, statistics and reports on the dairy industry in New Zealand and globally that you may wish to skim read (e.g. TSB Advisory’s 2020 report on NZ dairy companies,  www.tdb.co.nz/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/TDB-Advisory-Dairy-Companies- Review-online-version.pdf)

Team A’s Questions

●   1. Undertake research on dairy manufacturers in New Zealand (e.g. Fonterra and Yili).  Why have some companies been successful, while others have been unsuccessful?

●   2. Carry out a SWOT analysis of Tatua Co-operative Dairy Company.  What is Tatua’s most significant weakness and threat?   How  could Tatua address this weakness and avoid this threat?  Why?

Team B’s Questions

●   1. Review Tatua Co-operative Dairy Company Ltd’s website and 2024 Annual Report. What is Tatua’s position in the industry value chain? How does Tatua manage its value chain to add value?

●   2.  How   could  supplier,  customer  and  competitor  analysis  and  strategic  management accounting be applied at Tatua? What are the costs and benefits of implementing these tools? Which, if any, of these tools do you recommend for Tatua?  Why?

Case 6: Te Whatu Ora or Health New Zealand

•   Topic: Strategy; and Strategic Management Control – A Lean Perspective

•   Overview: Te Whatu Ora delivers primary healthcare services in New Zealand.   It manages 88 hospitals with nearly  11,000 beds  and employs over  100,000  staff.   In  2024,  the NZ Government’s annual funding for Te Whatu Ora was $26.5 billion.   Despite this, Te Whatu Ora recorded a loss of $722 million and a cash outflow from operating activities of $300 million. To say the least, there is high and growing demand for healthcare services but limited taxpayer funds to pay for these services.  From a strategy perspective, Te Whatu Ora would welcome losing market share to private health care providers!  From a costing and control perspective, Te Whatu Ora must become more efficient, i.e. learn to do more with less.  In fact, activity-based costing has been used in public hospitals for many years.

•   Purpose: You will learn to apply advanced concepts in strategy, costing and control to a public sector entity, Te Whatu Ora.

•   Resources:

    An overview ofTe Whatu Ora (en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Te_Whatu_Ora).

    “About us” section of Te Whatu Ora’s website (www.tewhatuora.govt.nz/corporate- information/about-us)

    Te  Whatu  Ora’s  plans  and  annual  reports  (www.tewhatuora.govt.nz/corporate- information/planning-and-performance).

    Newspapers  articles,  opinion  pieces,  statistics  and  reports,  and  academic journal articles on healthcare in New Zealand can easily be found using Google or UC Library databases.

Team A’s Questions

●   1. Drawing on advanced strategy concepts covered in Week 7’s lecture and reading, undertake a strategic and financial analysis ofTe Whatu Ora.  Prepare a SWOT analysis.  What are Te Whatu Ora’s most significant weaknesses and threats? Why?  Hint: Te Whatu Ora is a public sector entity and is not aiming to generate a profit!

●   2. Prepare a new  strategic and financial plan for Te Whatu Ora.   How can Te Whatu Ora become more efficient and effective in its delivery of healthcare services?  Hint: Highlight how your plan differs from the current plan.

Team B’s Questions

●   Hint:  Undertake   some  research   on  how   lean  principles   and  advanced  costing/control techniques are applied in healthcare.

●   3. How could Te Whatu Ora use total quality management and cost of quality reporting to improve efficiency and health outcomes?  What are the pros and cons of doing so?  Drawing on your research, what do you recommend for Te Whatu Ora?

●   4. How could Te Whatu Ora use theory of constraints and throughput accounting to improve efficiency and health outcomes?  What are the pros and cons of doing so?  Drawing on your research, what do you recommend for Te Whatu Ora?