Case studies

At the end of the case students will be able to:

1. Relate risk as one of the 12 principles in project management contemplated in the international standards of the PMBOK Seventh Edition guide.

2. Determine high-level risks by articulating the WBS and RBS of a construction project.

3. Perform a qualitative and quantitative analysis of the probability and impact of risks through the heat map tool and the Expected Monetary Value (EMV) technique.

4. Propose the different response strategies contemplated in the risk management through the formulation of a response and contingency plan.

MORESA S.A.S was a family company founded in 1994, whose value proposition focused on construction and permanent advice for the execution of innovative and contemporary projects with more than 27 years of experience in the city of San José de Cucuta, department of Norte de Santander, Colombia. The objective of the case is to Relate risk as one of the 12 principles in project management contemplated in the international standards of the PMBOK Seventh Edition guide; Determine high-level risks by articulating the WBS and RBS of a construction project; Perform a qualitative and quantitative analysis of the probability and impact of risks through the heat map tool and the Expected Monetary Value (EMV) technique and propose the different response strategies contemplated in the risk management through the formulation of a response and contingency plan. The teaching case is designed for academic programs in areas of knowledge of civil engineering, architecture and at postgraduate level such as: Master’s in civil engineering, Master’s in risk management, Master in project management or MBA. For this case, an expert judgment was developed with professionals belonging to different areas of knowledge. Likewise, secondary information was collected from the organization's strategic documents and the analogous estimation through the historical records of the project portfolio developed by the construction company. Finally, the case, classified in the Built Environment, a challenge that project managers must face in VUCA environment through risk management.

The teaching case is designed for academic programs in areas of knowledge of civil engineering, architecture and at postgraduate level such as: Master’s in civil engineering, Master’s in risk management, Master’s in project management or MBA. In the modules of risk management, project management, international standards, the case guides the applicability of methods and artifacts used in risk management considering the process identification, quantitative, qualitative analysis, and development of response strategies and contingency plans.

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CSS 2: Built Environment.

▪ Perform relevant analysis (financial and non-financial) related to investment decision-making.

▪ Make decision based on the analysis.

Jade Sdn. Bhd. (JADE), since its establishment, has been mainly involved in providing services in facility management and cleaning services. Apart from these main services, JADE was also involved in hospitality management, travel and tours, and agribusiness. The current involvements were already varied, and the Board was thinking of furthering the diversification activity to generate more revenues. As the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of JADE, Ahmad was required to conduct the necessary analysis and provide his recommendation to the Board whether JADE should proceed with the purchase of Tulip Garden Hotel (TULIP). He had one month to act before proposing his recommendation to the Board.

Undergraduate and Postgraduate

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CSS 1: Accounting and Finance.

▪ Identify and explain the factors that contribute to the success of a restaurant business.

▪ Analyse different sources of entrepreneurial finance.

▪ Identify and explain local entrepreneur’s expectations from a funding agency.

▪ Evaluate investment decision-making criteria for entrepreneurial funding agencies.

Kartikey Rajput, the promoter of a food park Urban Chowk, was waiting for the Covid regulations in the country to be relaxed. The entrepreneur in him found a business opportunity to provide hygienic food with a beautiful ambience and floated a food park (Urban Chowk) with the support of his wife Nikita Agrawal in 2017 and the second edition amidst Covid in 2020. The business model was well-appreciated by food vendors as well as customers. Rajput could see future growth potential in urban India. But his aggressive business plan to open five food parks in different cities in the next three years was disrupted due to the Covid pandemic. The expansion required huge investments, and post-pandemic challenges were plenty. The decision to go beyond Ahmedabad required the selection of cities besides the major challenge of the financing choice. The new cities might have huge footfall potential but finding the right location at the right price was a different challenge. Rajput was also concerned with the sources of getting the required finances. The entrepreneur was contemplating and evaluating the alternative sources of finance available to a start-up.

This case is appropriate for a graduate and post-graduate level programme in the courses like entrepreneurial finance, entrepreneurship and strategy. This case can also be used in an executive programme on management and Management Development Programmes (MDPs) on entrepreneurship or entrepreneurial finance.

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CSS 1: Accounting and Finance.

The learning outcomes of this study are as follows:1. Learn to analyze a hostile takeover bid from the perspectives of the acquirer, target firm’s management and a large institutional investor in the target firm.2. Review the structuring, financing, valuation, mode of consideration, legal and regulatory aspects of a hostile takeover.3. Understand the role of the target firm’s board in a hostile takeover transaction.4. Address “to sell or not to sell” dilemma of a large institutional investor in the target firm in the event of a tender offer given financial and non-financial considerations.

On June 14, 2019, Pulak Prasad, Founder and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) at Nalanda Capital, in consultation with other managing partners at Nalanda Capital, had to decide whether to tender a 10.6% equity holding in Mindtree Ltd. in an unsolicited open offer made by Larsen and Toubro (L&T) Ltd. Until then, Nalanda Capital, led by Prasad, had aligned with the Mindtree founders and had led a campaign to thwart L&T’s bid to acquire Mindtree; L&T’s offer to acquire 31% of Mindtree shares was because of open on June 17, 2019 and it is time for Prasad and the management team to take a reasoned call – whether to stay in Mindtree or to exit? Associated aspects included – What could be the consequences of not selling the stake? What could be L&T’s game plan? Could Mindtree continue to create wealth for its shareholders under L&T?

This case is appropriate for Mergers & Acquisitions and Strategic Financial Management courses in modules focused on structuring, financing and takeover defence techniques in a hostile takeover transaction. The case is appropriate for graduate MBA and EMBA programmes.

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CSS 1: Accounting and Finance.

This case aims to help students achieve the following learning objectives: ■ to apply the Emergence of Social Enterprise in Europe (Emergence des Enterprises Sociales en Europe – EMES) Network definitional framework to the case, and in doing so, have a useful framework to define social enterprises in emerging markets; ■ to identify the factors that can play important role in making strategic decisions in social enterprises; ■ to evaluate the sustainability of a social enterprise; and ■ to address the unique funding and financial challenges faced by social enterprises.

This case study discusses the dilemmas related to business expansion faced by Waste4Change (W4C), a waste management organization based in Bekasi, Jakarta, Indonesia. W4C was founded in 2014 by a group of young men who shared the idealism of changing the world by doing the right things. This principally involved protecting the environment and educating communities while maintaining economic profitability. However, idealism can sometimes create dilemmas within decision-making as an organization attempts to prevent market logic from dictating its direction. This case examines two different types of decision: the problem of securing a waste management contract when a permit had not been granted by the local government; and the problem of selecting the appropriate funding sources to enable the organization to grow. The first decision occurred in the context of a dilemma in 2017 when W4C expanded their waste management services to several regions in Indonesia but without having succeeded in securing a permit from the local government to provide such services. Attempts to provide such services without a formal legal permit would have been considered a violation of the law, even though the clients needed them (be it residents or companies) and the nature of the service in question had a positive connotation (i.e. maintaining the cleanliness of the city through waste management).The second decision concerned W4C’s plan to go public around 10 years from now. The CEO, Mohamad Bijaksana Junerosano, also known as Sano, has been considering this option since 2020 in a bid to grow the social enterprise. W4C differed from other startups; however, in the sense that while many startups will approach a plan to go public as an exit strategy, Sano wanted to preserve the idealism that had been a cornerstone of the enterprise since its inception. In other words, for W4C, going public was not just a means to an end.

Undergraduate as well as graduate courses that focus on sustainability, accounting, financing and strategy.

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CSS 1: Accounting and Finance.

The learning outcomes are as follows: Students/participants can understand the type of financial fraud pertaining to the case; Students/participants can analyse the case using the fraud triangle perspective; students/participants can describe detection/anticipation strategies to prevent such acts from taking place in the future; students/participants can evaluate the case using the ethical decision-making framework; and students/participants can comprehend the importance of financial literacy when investing, especially in this digital era.

This case discusses the investment funds mismanagement accusations addressed to PT Jouska Finansial Indonesia (Jouska). Jouska is a financial planner business that was immensely popular among Indonesian young investors. It actively posted interesting content on its social media accounts, gaining attention from the millennial and Gen Z generations. However, in 2020, many of its clients reported and filed complaints that their portfolio values decreased significantly because of Jouska’s decision to invest their funds in low-quality stocks. Jouska was also alleged to violate its role as a financial planner by being able to perform several activities that fell under the authority of investment managers. This case attracted the attention of authorities so that the Investment Alert Task Force (SWI) stopped Jouska’s operational activities and initiated an investigation into the case. SWI also blocked Jouska’s websites, applications and social media accounts, in cooperation with the Ministry of Communication and Information. Despite settlement agreements that Jouska claimed had been offered to several clients, at the end of 2020 some of its clients and former clients filed a formal lawsuit. As of January 2021, several alleged criminal actions attributed to Jouska were still under investigation, comprised of money laundering, clients’ funds embezzlement, fraud, and insider trading. In October 2021, Aakar’s status was a suspect in the allegations. This case is another example of investment misconduct or fraud; to put it another way, it is the effect. It is expected that the participants can deliberate other perspectives during the discussion that could be the cause of such a case, hence viewing it holistically.

Undergraduate level.

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CSS 1: Accounting and Finance.

The learning outcomes are as follows:• demonstrate an understanding of the fruit farming process;• compare the pros and cons of farming different fruits;• understand the general characteristics of entrepreneurs and identify the issues they face;• compare the risk and returns from two types of investments;• apply capital budgeting techniques to ascertain the best available investment option; and• perform sensitivity analysis based on different anticipated situations for a new business.

Since his birth, Mr Bashir Khan, a 45-year-old father of four, lived as a farmer in Kallar Kahar, Pakistan. He owned 15 acres of land which he used to cultivate wheat and millet. He decided to start fruit farming after harvesting wheat in April 2021 to satisfy his long-standing desire to own a garden. He recently met a friend who was earning well from grape farming, who suggested that Khan set up a vineyard farm which could become a profitable venture for him. At the same time, Khan learned that the government had declared the Potohar region of Pakistan an olive valley, and was giving massive subsidies on olive cultivation. Khan now had a choice of fruits to plant on his land. One of his relatives, Omar Khayam, was an accountant at a firm. Khayam offered to conduct a feasibility analysis for Khan, to provide the relevant data, and help Khan select a high profit-yielding fruit farm.

Introductory finance courses at the undergraduate and postgraduate levels as well as executive training courses focused on the agri-finance discipline.

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CSS 1: Accounting and Finance.

Learning objectives are as follows: Analyze the reasons for the implementation of retrospective taxation by the Government of India; infer the dynamics of international tax laws and the settlement process of international taxation disputes; critically analyze the factors that led to the Indian Government’s decision to scrap the retrospective tax; and infer the relationship between a country’s taxation system and its potential to attract foreign direct investment.

This case is an analysis of the Indian Government’s decision to scrap the retrospective taxation amendment. The case discusses the underlying factors that led the incumbent government to take this sudden decision. The case discusses in detail the causes for the introduction of the retrospective taxation amendment and the tax terror unleashed by this draconian law. The case also discusses the embarrassment faced by the Indian Government because of a series of adverse decisions against it and in favor of Cairn Energy and Vodafone in the international courts. It also discusses the adverse effect on Indian banks in case of ailing telecom conglomerate Vodafone Idea Ltd failure.

The case is best suited for postgraduate and executive students studying Taxation subjects in Commerce and Business Management streams.

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CSS 1: Accounting and Finance.

The learning outcomes of this paper is as follows: to understand and analyze the turnaround model of Pearce and Robbins (1993); to familiarize with parameters and actions in the Prompt Corrective Action (PCA) framework of Reserve Bank of India (RBI); to comprehend the probable situation warranting turnaround; to identify the key ratios which signal the financial health of a bank; and to understand the applicability of the turnaround model in bank’s revival.

The case explores various challenges faced by Mr Prashant Kumar during the turnaround process of Yes bank. The youngest bank started its operation in 2004, and in the first six years of operations, Yes bank registered a compound annual growth rate of 100% on the balance sheet, becoming the fourth-largest private sector bank in the country. However, the irony is that this shine and glitter was a short-lived phenomenon and after the regulatory inspection of 2016, Yes bank collapsed like a house of cards. This case has incorporated the three major phases of Yes bank i.e. the rise, the fall and the revival. The turnaround process led by Mr Kumar was explained using the turnaround model given by Pearce and Robbins (1993) and the PCA framework of the RBI. The conditions which warranted the need for the turnaround in Yes bank and the factors responsible for the same are discussed. The multiple challenges faced by Mr Kumar and the strategic responses adopted by him were incorporated in great detail. What were the outcomes of those strategic choices? Should he continue with similar approaches? Was he successful in stabilizing the bank which was broken from the core? What next if stability is achieved? How Mr Kumar should lift Yes bank to the recovery zone? And most importantly, will Mr Kumar be able to change the poor public image of Yes bank? The reflections of all the above questions are narrated with the actions of Mr Kumar.

The case is intended to be taught in the class of strategic management for postgraduate-, master- or executive-level participants of business administration. As the case is focused on a banking organization, it also can be taught in banking class.

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CSS 1: Accounting and Finance.

This study will help students determine the economic value of a firm particularly in case of a small business. The crux of the case is to help students estimate an enterprise value for a company and figure the actual worth of the company to aid in decision-making.

This case is about a decision dilemma faced by Shashi Hegde, Director, Hycons Renewable Private Ltd, a company ventured into the production of Bio-CNG. It is about a recent proposal received by the firm from APL Ltd for equity investment with 40% stake in the firm. The case reflects the dilemma faced by small businesses to choose between investment or loss of control. Accepting the proposal will bring in additional funds, whereas the Board loss control on the firm. The case revolves around this dilemma. To help Hegde in this task, he seeks advice from his CFO and his confidant Kumar.

This case is most appropriate for a core finance class for both under-graduate and graduate programs.

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CSS 1: Accounting and Finance.