Case studies

Tiffany & Company was the leading U.S. luxury jewelry brand, generating more than $2.6 billion in revenue through 167 retail outlets globally and from catalogue and Internet sales. For nearly 170 years, Tiffany had managed its brand. In February 2007, a hedge fund, Trian Fund Management LP, announced that it had bought a 5.5% stake in Tiffany, and became its largest shareholder. Trian believed that Tiffany was undervalued and stated that it wanted to help the company “improve its earnings per share by addressing various operational and strategic issues.” In response, Tiffany began to consider different actions to increase shareholder value.

The case revolves around a marketing/sales executive who works in the Ad Sales wing of a popular search engine. Over the course of the case, the protagonist realizes that their marketing strategy needs to refocus on a different vertical than the one they have been paying the most attention to. He had done the required data analysis and feels the data strongly points to a need for change in their strategy. However, he needs to convincing the higher management by put together a compelling pitch using storytelling elements, so that the message in his data gets across clearly, compelling them to act.

After a tumultuous five months, Nestle India was exonerated in the Maggi crisis just in time for Diwali. Although the mood was one of vindication, the leadership team with Suresh Narayanan at the helm, knew they faced a major challenge to regain lost glory. Stock price had plummeted along with consumer confidence which went down from over 90 to less than 5 per cent. Part B traces the efforts of Nestle India to not only reinforce the message of product quality but also to engage consumer trust. Through changes in product strategy, organizational structure, and multi-pronged communication, Maggi was able to rekindle the emotional connect with the consumer and surge back. On 30 November 2019 despite loss of market share, consumer faith and trust in 2015, Nestlé India was trading at INR 14,453/55 (NSE/BSE;~US$225) per share after hitting a record low of INR 4981 (~US$76) on 29 February 2016. Part B of the case outlines the measures Nestle India took to bounce back and asks if Nestle India's reputation out of the woods. Could the past come back to haunt Maggi or was the worst behind them? 1. Evaluate communication strategies available to organizations in a crisis situation. 2. Analyse the power and influence of consumer sentiment in reputation management.

The case can be used in the subject areas of finance and in particular investments, corporate governance, ESG, or responsible investments. It is suitable for students from all financial backgrounds, from a novice in the financial markets to an expert in finance. It is, however, expected that the class should have a sound fundamental grounding in financial analysis and valuations. The purpose of this case is to prepare students for future investments they would make in whatever capacity – whether in private or listed companies – and to prepare them for future roles on boards of directors. The examples of real-life events in this case study are used to prepare students for future similar situations in which they might find themselves.

This teaching case is aimed at postgraduate students pursuing an MBA or a specialist Masters in a finance programme. This case can be used as a master class in corporate governance, investments, or responsible investments. This case is also suited for an executive education class in management. It is particularly relevant to a module that focusses on investments, corporate governance, ESG, or responsible investments.

The case study chronicles meetings held on 8 November 2017 at a fictional South African asset manager, Active Investment Management (AIM). These meetings discuss the firm's investment in JSE-listed Steinhoff International Holdings. The case deals with the questions that active fund managers need to address when balancing financial analysis; environmental, social, and governance (ESG) analysis; portfolio management; and the need to comply with their fiduciary duty to clients. It also looks at the need for responsible investing in decision-making.

The understanding of the assessment around the complexities of asset management when it comes to responsible investment.

To determine why institutional investors should apply responsible investment principles when making investment decisions.

An understanding of the evaluation of the unique roles of the three pillars of corporate governance, namely asset managers, auditors, and the board of directors.

The ability to assess how to integrate financial analysis and ESG principles in making investment recommendations.

The subject area is international business and strategy. The case allows scope for the following areas: internationalisation, market strategy, emerging market multinational companies, and doing business in Africa.

The primary target audience for this teaching case is postgraduate business students such as Master of Business Administration (MBA), or postgraduate management programmes. The case is primarily designed for use in courses that cover strategy or international business.

This case centres on the international growth strategy of FMBcapital Holdings Group (FMB), the Malawian commercial banking firm. The case finds the founder and current group chairman, Hitesh Anadkat, in 2016, as he and the FMB board are about to decide on the next move in their Southern African strategy. Since opening the first FMB branch in Malawi and becoming the country's first commercial banker in 1995, Anadkat and his team have ridden a wave of financial deregulation across the region to successfully expand into neighbouring Botswana, Zambia, and Mozambique. Now, an opportunity to gain a foothold in Zimbabwe means the leaders must decide (1) whether they want to continue to grow the FMB footprint across the region, or focus on their integration and expansion efforts within existing markets; and (2) how they will realise this strategy.

International expansion – identifying the need to expand into new markets; identifying the combination of internal strengths and external conditions that make international expansion viable; and identifying and analysing each possible new market(s) and the decision-making process involved.

Political, social and economic factors in Africa – understanding how these external institutional factors present constraints, risks and opportunities for internationalisation and hence shape strategy; understanding that these factors may vary significantly across countries on the continent (in spite of their geographic proximity) and in some cases, within a single country; and understanding that by selecting markets with extreme socially and politically volatile contexts, the risk of a worst-case scenario transpiring (in which institutional forces trump business strategy) is appreciable.

Combination of resource- and institutional-based approaches – recognising that successful internationalisation requires capitalising upon both internal resources and institutional mastery.

Choosing expansion strategies – assessing the type of new market entry (e.g. greenfield or acquisition of existing operations) and its adequacy for penetrating a new market.

Using networks and local partners – to substitute and enhance the benefits that originally flow from a small (and sometime family-established) business, with an emphasis on acquisition of skills and networks in foreign countries.

Regional integration – optimising business operations through a sharing or pooling of resources and improved capital flow between subsidiaries, in some instances by taking advantage of economies of scale (this extends to enhancing the reputation and awareness of a brand across a wider region).

Family businesses – identifying the value that can be gained through establishing a family business with the support of many “close” stakeholders while also noting the limitation that exist as expansion and growth is required.

This case centres around a senior vice-president in a private bank, who becomes aware of a potential sexual harassment (SH) case within his team. The case captures his reactions, right from his initial attempt to understand the scenario, to his conversations with the woman concerned, and his eventual attempt to minimise the incident. The purpose of the case is to explore how such incidents can play out in the Indian corporate sector, where socio-cultural factors and gender role expectations influence the way organisational members perceive and respond to the complaints. Influence of factors such as gender role expectations, power dynamics, office politics, individual differences, and business concerns in a) perception of harassment incidents and b) attributes related to harassment incidents

The case revolves around a change initiative introduced in the Indian division of a US-based organization operating in the field of building and composite glass materials. The case has been written from the perspective of Sreenath, who has recently joined as the country head, and has identified a four-point change agenda as part of his aggressive growth strategy. These changes pertain to shift in market focus, revised annual targets, reorganization of the sales and marketing vertical and revised compensation structure with increase in variable pay. However, Sreenath's communication with his team regarding the changes indicates that he is likely to face resistance during change implementation.

The transparency and consistency of Zerodha provided them mileage and the business model certainly disrupted the Indian brokerage industry. The zero-commission model was successful in attracting consumers and provided tough competition to other brokers. However, competitive advantage coming solely from low pricing may not always be sustainable in the long run. This case explores the sustainability of the business model and looks at alternatives that are important for a long term scale-up of Zerodha.

The case tells the story of a first generation entrepreneur, Dhirendra Singh, and his struggle for 15 years to establish a mango pulp based beverage marketing company without any external support and funding. The case highlights the travails that Dhirendra goes through in marketing an undifferentiated product, a mango drink. He survives, largely due to his grit and some lucky breaks, until an external funding agency notices him 15 years after he started his journey.

With growth and stability (in 2017, it was the fourth largest packaged beverage in India) come new issues for the enterprise to grapple with. The case leaves the reader to reflect upon these challenges that the company encounters. Can the company overcome these hurdles and thrive? How, is the question that remains unanswered.

This case presents the hybrid business model of a social venture Gramshree. It provides arich description of an actual decision situation faced by the board of trustees regarding the selection of marketing channel for Gramshree for bringing sustainability to the business. Gramshree aimed at empowering women artisans by ensuring a steady income for them so that they could become catalyst for sustainable economic development and social change. However, with growing competition and difficulties in selling, to generate market demand was a key challenge for Gramshree. This case illustrates the strategies for development and value creation of a hybrid social business model. It also describes the challenges faced by social organizations. The case provides an opportunity to evaluate the current situation and proposes a decision for sustainability of the organization.