Case studies

This case study will allow students to critically analyse and develop entry strategies into untapped foreign markets. The case study was designed to introduce students to identifying and analysing information related to target markets for expansions in international business.

The main objectives of this case are to evaluate and make the “Go Global” decision for the company; to take a position on entry timing for a company for entering an overseas market; to select a country for entry based on cultural, administrative, geographic and economic analysis and other relevant factors; and to evaluate a firm’s readiness for exports.

This case study on Satya Pharmaceuticals presents a typical dilemma faced by small and medium enterprises (SMEs) in emerging markets such as India while exploring the untapped overseas markets to expand their business. Satya Pharmaceuticals produced over-the-counter Ayurvedic medicines. With the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, the consumer preference for Ayurvedic products had increased globally. Home country governments’ emphasis on exports and conducive consumer preferences created an opportune time for such SMEs to explore uncharted markets with a propensity for herbal medicines. Amidst strict regulations regarding safety, efficacy, labelling and packaging norms, along with a subjective understanding of the consumers’ sentiments regarding alternate medicines, SMEs had to select their target market carefully for their products to be successful overseas. This case study presents the basic information that entrepreneurs needed to explore the foreign markets. It revolved around checking firms’ preparedness to explore foreign markets, identifying target markets, timing the entry and entering those markets.

This case is appropriate for graduate-level courses in management that offer subjects such as international business.

Teaching notes are available for educators only.

CSS 5: International business.

The objectives of the case study are to provide an overview of intellectual property rights and intellectual property rights in Indian context; understand the intellectual property rights implementation and challenges for implementing it in emerging economies; understand what would be the best approach that companies can adopt when the companies face backlash in such circumstances; and explore the scope for redefining the intellectual property rights in the changing global environment.

In December 2021, the Protection of Plant Varieties and Farmers’ Rights Authority (PPV&FRA) in India revoked the plant variety protection (PVP) certificate granted to PepsiCo India Holding (PHI) for its Lays variety potato (FL-2027, known as FC-5). The FC-5 variety possessed low moisture content which made it suitable for making potato chips. The controversy started with Pepsi suing the small and marginal farmers of Gujarat for alleged patent infringement and cultivating the patented variety. Pepsi’s legal suit against nine marginal potato farmers in Gujarat initiated the dispute over how intellectual property (IP) rights are used to intimidate small, marginal farmers and its infringement of farmers’ rights. But, on the other side, the interesting aspect was how IP infringement could be a setback for the companies that made the capital investment to develop the variety. The case study discusses the backlash Pepsi faced due to this IP rights legal suit and the punitive aspects of IP rights (IPR) law. Moreover, in the context of the global pandemic, the case study helped discuss the need to redefine the intellectual property rights regime keeping in mind global welfare.

The case is intended for use in postgraduate-level management courses in agricultural marketing, agribusiness, international business and economics. This study can help management students understand how IPR is defined, the apparent complexities associated with it and the adverse effect of it on small and marginal farmers in emerging economies.

Teaching notes are available for educators only.

CSS 5: International business.

Upon completion of this case study, students will be able to identify the main conceptual foundations of strategy in international business, determine the strategy of entry into a country through the analysis of dual pressures and propose the mode of entry into a country by analyzing the sources of competitive advantage in a firm’s value chain.

Café Galavis stood out as one of the most outstanding family businesses in industrial development, with a century-long trajectory in the production and sale of roasted and ground coffee in Cucuta, Colombia. However, in 2015, the diplomatic, humanitarian and economic crisis between the governments of Colombia and Venezuela led to the indefinite closure of the Colombian–Venezuelan border. As a result, the illegal coffee trade increased, and competition from traditional brands significantly affected sales, leading to financial difficulties and an urgent need for change in senior management. In addition, the demise of the manager who had been leading the company until 2018 exacerbated the business situation. Juan Francisco Yáñez, the new manager, joined the management of an emblematic company. From his first years of management, he implemented different strategies related to organizational policies, production, innovation and export of products to achieve stability. For the year 2023, the challenges for the new CEO were to lead a brand with more than a century of tradition and business roots and to enter new markets, owing to the high dependence on the Venezuelan market. Which countries should they enter in the internationalization process? Furthermore, what type of strategy and entry mode should Café Galavis implement to penetrate new markets? These were some of the challenges faced by the CEO; therefore, he required objective information to make decisions in consensus with his collaborators.

This case study is suitable for students of postgraduate academic programs in knowledge areas of international management, international business or MBA.

Teaching notes are available for educators only.

CSS 5: International business.

Madan Mohanka set up Tega Industries Ltd in 1976 to manufacture abrasion-resistant rubber mill lining products used in the mining and mineral processing industries. In 2006, as part of its inorganic expansion strategy, Tega bought a mill-liner company in South Africa. Buoyed by this growth, two acquisitions were made in Australia and Chile in the year 2011. However, post-acquisition, several managerial, legal and commercial problems crept up in its manufacturing facilities in Chile, leading to financial downturn in Tega's fortunes in 2016 and compelling it to either plan a revival or divest its interest in its Chilean Plant.

What started as a FMCG distributor in 1967 in Kenya as Export Finance Company, is now a dynamic global conglomerate across 48 countries and 5 continents — Export Trading Group. ETG was taken over by the then CFO Mahesh Patel after exit of the founding stakeholders. It was then when the company shifted its focus to being a key regional player. In the next 35 years, the company grew systematically. Business focus evolved when Patel saw an opportunity in logistics in remote sub-Saharan Africa. This was followed by business expansion with supply chain diversification and significant infrastructure investments. All the different businesses amalgamated under a single group for better operations and ease of scaling up. They were later divided into six separate verticals for better management. Vamara (FMCG vertical) was launched in 2018 as the company moved towards digitalisation — externally and internally. ETG plans to focus on new business opportunities and continue to diversify across geographies and portfolios.

Jarsh Safety received an order of 500 units of its Model S helmet. However, the order must be delivered within 15 days. Jarsh Safety was founded by three engineering college peers, who conceptualized air-conditioned, industrial safety helmets. This innovative revolutionary product offered industrial workers not only safety but aesthetics and comfort. The founders hoped that the product could change the perception of safety helmets from mandatory wear to desired wear. The case details the production process, staffing, raw material required and procurement lead time.

This case describes the growth of ReNew Power during its first decade of operation. Sumant Sinha, a first-generation entrepreneur and former banker, founded the company, which grew from a modest generator-cum-developer of wind energy-based electricity to one of India's largest companies in the renewable energy sector. With the entry of large, well-funded players such as Tata Power and Adani Green into the Indian renewable sector by the end of 2020, Sinha had to make a strategic decision: should ReNew continue to organically scale up its presence in an increasingly competitive yet expanding Indian renewable energy sector, should it diversify geographically, or should it pursue emerging opportunities for vertical or horizontal integration within the sector? The case provides an opportunity to discuss how alternative business models and competitive scenarios may facilitate or inhibit the growth of a player in the renewable energy sector.

Sunit Raj was the Vice President, Marketing of Schematic Software Company (SSC), a Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) company. He was pondering how to preserve the company's growth momentum it had achieved over the last few years. In the third quarter of 2021, the company's valuation reached USD 25 billion, representing a year-over-year gain of 50%. Within 12 years of operation, it had over 50,000 employees worldwide and over 100,000 paying customers in more than 150 countries. Raj had to decide the company's future direction among new territories, buyer segments and product categories that would bring revenue and aid in sustaining its growth.

Indian Railways (IR) has been slow in innovation. The competition from other modes of transport has posed new challenges to IR. Railways worldwide have taken help from startups to develop innovative solutions to improve railway operations. Such collaborations have helped in leveraging the technical expertise of startups in domains which are non-conventional for railways to develop in-house. These collaborations have been made possible by funding startups through various investment channels.

Nicolas Dupont, the owner of Chateau de Montana, a struggling (and old) boutique hotel in Crans-Montana Ski Resort, Switzerland, wished to renovate and reposition his family-owned hotel to target higher room rates. Dupont commissioned Olga Mitireva and Yulia Belopilskaya as consultants to assess the proposition. The consultants had to extract cues for the room rate of the repositioned hotel from comparable hotels. However, the room rates varied significantly across similar hotels due to their differing characteristics and locations. It was a cognitive challenge to read the patterns from a few comparable hotels. They collected the data of 200 hotels from similar locations and simulated room prices using hedonic regression models.