Case studies

After having discussed the case, the reader will be able to analyse the dangers associated with product changes; contrast various strategic marketing issues that can be considered when implementing changes, including marketing communication and the use of social media; motivate an approach to customer complaints and comments on the launch of a new product; and comment on the ethical issues associated with new product launches.

Marketers are focused on satisfying customers’ needs, and no organisation would deliberately offend or alienate customers. Occasionally, organisations make decisions that anger customers as they do not understand the reasoning behind them. Sometimes, the decision is the correct one and once the company has clarified the reason behind it, the customer adjusts to the new situation. At other times, the consumer refuses to accept the decision and abandons the organisation or the specific product. This situation indicates some important negative outcomes for companies when making changes to product formulas. Social media allows customers to complain and comment, adding visibility to the situation. All these factors contribute to presenting management with a challenge in dealing with this situation, considering the needs of the company and balancing them with the customer reactions.

Third-year strategic marketing students MBA students (marketing courses)

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CSS 8: Marketing.

The learning outcomes are as follows: first, identify the characteristics of born-global SMEs, and how these characteristics facilitate their global expansion shortly after the company’s inception. Second, demonstrate that companies work with limited resources, typically and notably newly established companies, and that these resources should be allocated according to a carefully determined strategy. The resources focussed on in this case pertain to marketing. Third, examine entrepreneurial marketing and its various manifestations. An understanding of how this type of marketing is used by companies for international expansion is expected. Fourth, assess the role of digital marketing and how social media forms an important part of digital marketing. Particular attention is paid to the use of digital marketing, notably social media, in international expansion. Fifth, develop critical thinking skills with respect to strategic business decisions, such as whether to expand a business into foreign markets or to consolidate locally; and how best to penetrate foreign markets, given the nuances and complexities specific to these markets.

This teaching case is about The Duchess, a recently developed and launched virgin alcohol-free and sugar-free gin and tonic beverage. The adult soft drink was originally launched in South Africa, and just 18 months later became available in international markets (the UK and Belgium). The founders and protagonists of the case, Johannes le Roux and Inus Smuts, face the dilemmas of creating a competitive local brand while also looking to access new markets and internationalise as a born-global firm.

The target audience for this case comprises students enrolled in tertiary business education programmes who have already had some sort of work experience and hands-on exposure to real-world business. MBA and EMBA students, as well as those enrolled in post-graduate studies specific to marketing, international commerce and entrepreneurship, would be suitable candidates.

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CSS 8: Marketing

The purposes of this study included: recognizing the risks and challenges farmers face when growing a new crop, understanding agricultural marketing and its processes and developing a marketing strategy for a specialty agricultural product, such as quinoa.

The main focus of this case lies in identifying the risks faced by farmers in growing a new specialty crop and selecting the appropriate marketing strategies for targeting, positioning and channelling an agricultural product.

This case can be used in intermediate- to advanced-level marketing courses at the undergraduate and graduate levels in universities. It can also be used in agriculture and agribusiness–based courses in the undergraduate, graduate or executive level.

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Rehman, S.U., Selvaraj, M. and Ibrahim, M.S., 2012. Indian Agricultural Marketing-A Review. Asian Journal of Agriculture and Rural Development, 2(1), pp.69-75. Kotler, P., Keller, K.L., Ang, S.H., Tan, C.T. and Leong, S.M., 2018. Marketing Management: An Asian Perspective. Pearson.

CSS 8: Marketing

The learning outcomes are as follows: understanding online, traditional and omnichannel retail and the challenges and benefits of each method; evaluating the effect of consumer buying behaviour on a company’s growth strategy; assessing the effect of changing industry dynamics and technology on consumer behaviour; and understanding the role of consistent customer experience across different retail mediums.

This case looks at Yuppiechef, a successful e-commerce business, and their move from “clicks to bricks” with the introduction of retail stores. Founder and CEO of Yuppiechef, Andrew Smith, shares the current business status and considers how to maintain the brand’s culture with the growth of retail and being an omnichannel pioneer.

The primary target audience for this teaching case is postgraduate business students, especially students of digital marketing, strategy and e-commerce. This teaching case is intended to be used as case study in postgraduate business programmes such as Master of Business Administration (MBA), a specialist masters’ programme such as MM (Entrepreneurship), post-graduate diploma in management (PGDip), as well as selected executive education programmes.

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CSS 8: Marketing.

Marketing and brand management examples used in classes usually revolve around publicly traded corporations. Students are expected to learn how to deal with branding problems that can arise in new types of organizations as family businesses.

The case study discusses a brand identity and brand management problem facing the Founder of Habiba Community, Maged El Said. Habiba Community is an initiative focusing on sustainability and giving back to community. Many foundations were established under Habiba Community, such as its beach lodge, organic farm and learning center. The beach lodge and organic farm were more familiar to tourists and visitors than the other established foundations. The organic farm produced many organic products sold nationally and internationally. The founder was now faced with the challenge of whether to create one brand identity for Habiba Community as a whole or to go for separate brand identities for each of its foundations.

This case study is developed for students of the bachelor level in marketing and design studies. The case difficulty is regarded as intermediate as it includes new trends and ideas from the field of marketing and branding (as eco-branding and family business branding) and new trends in the tourism service industry (as voluntourism). Courses in which this case study can be used are integrated marketing communication, corporate identity, services marketing and brand management under marketing and graphic design studies. The case study is not designed for earlier courses in marketing and design, as students need to have basic knowledge in marketing and branding beforehand.

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The learning outcome is that it will help to sustain your startups in the ever-changing business environment especially in the context of emerging markets.

The present case is about Dilkhush Kumar from village Bangaon, India who developed a cab booking platform “AryaGo”, an innovative platform completely dedicated for rural road transport connectivity. AryaGo is the service line of Aryan Cabs and Rural Trans-solution Pvt. Ltd., a Startup founded in the year 2016 under Startup Bihar, a seed capital support scheme of State Government. The idea was to provide comfort, convenience, safety and affordability to all the commuters travelling from or within far-off villages. The biggest challenge during implementation in villages includes availability of updated geo-mapped images for app development and vehicle tracking. Company was foremost in providing the kiosk-based booking facility for its customers. It took the decision based on the profiling of customers and their preferred booking methods. When a customer booked a cab using IVR, they did not had access to app-based customer panel and hence they could not avail services such as, location tracking, SoS, real time tracking of vehicle. However, heavy invest in IT has put the company in financial stress and Kumar is wondering whether to expand fast or penetrate in the given target market. Should he re-design his business model so as it can really make a difference in terms of service delivery?

Post Graduate/ MBA.

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CSS 8: Marketing

This teaching case aims to stimulate the debate over the issue of arsenic in rice and prepares students to make a decision by evaluating trade-offs and aligning moral values in a business context.

Rice feeds people in many parts of the world. This teaching case focuses on an entrepreneurial food producer who has strong sustainability values built into his business model. The CEO, Johan Henriksson, of Vegoganic faces a dilemma when a press release by the Swedish National Food Agency potentially threatens the core existence of the business. It challenges the CEO to take a stand on food safety and food security, as well as personal and societal values.

It is a discussion case, developed with undergraduate students in mind, but could be taken to a graduate level by including more advanced literature and questions.

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By reading and understanding the case study, Students will be able to link the importance of healthy life style and the physical exercise to the fitness industry in the UAE society, to reduce the growing percentage of obesity and related diseases; identify the main challenges of Tone Fitness Ladies’ Studio (Tone); explore the market segmentation of fitness centers in UAE based on a benefits segmentation of fitness industry; identify the demographic segmentation of Tone Fitness studio and the effects of considering gender and age; and develop individual perspectives of how Tone Fitness ladies’ studio may overcome the challenges to compete in the UAE fitness market.

Three sisters from the United Arab Emirates (Hind, Mariam and Amna Mohamed Omer) have established a fitness studio for women in Al Maqta’a (formerly known as Bain al Jasrain) on the eastern side of Abu Dhabi. Each of them shared a passion for sport, which led them to realize their business idea of setting up a fitness studio specifically for women. An understanding of Emirati culture and the needs of women in their society inspired them to think of a special place where women could find relief from work and life demands while also exercising pursuant of a healthy lifestyle. They launched Tone Ladies’ Fitness Studio (Tone) in September 2014, the first fitness studio for women in Al Maqta’a. The studio is in the same building as a cooperative hypermarket – a very good location because it is visited by many people and has ample parking spaces. Partly due to growing interest among Abu Dhabi residents in fitness and health, new fitness studios opened nearby in 2016, with competitors offering excellent services at reasonable prices. While the demand for fitness and healthy lifestyle pursuits is high in the region, the market has also expanded greatly to meet this demand, with many high-quality options becoming available. As a result of this, businesses such as Tone are facing serious threats to their sustainability. Thus, first, how can the Omer sisters sustain their business and strategize to maintain customers in their market segment? Second, what could they do to improve the market position of Tone in the UAE fitness market?

This case study is suitable for advanced level of diploma certificate in marketing or undergraduate student of marketing field.

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The learning outcomes are as follows: understand the challenges and opportunities of an unorganized business/informal economy; compare and contrast the applications of customer engagement frameworks between small and big businesses; outline the steps in product design in a services context; discuss the services marketing mix as a part of the marketing strategy; and understand the need of scaling up the business operations in wake of new opportunity.

Sukhpal Dairy Farm (SDF) is a case of unorganized milk marketing in the Indian Emerging Market. Milk was sold as a commodity with a fragmented set of suppliers to only a small population. Changes in consumer demand, technology and supply chain presented huge opportunities to the small dairy farmer. But it was also a threat to him. The large corporater, players backed by strong logistics and supply chain operations support posed a big challenge to the small farmer who lacked scale and reach. Sukhpal, owner of SDF, struggled while considering the options to grow his business. He did not want to change the success factors of his existing business model that was based on word of mouth and customer engagement.

MBA students.

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CSS: 8: Marketing.

The teaching objectives of the case study are to provide students with an understanding of how strategic marketing tools are applied in an international marketing context and how brands, especially brands that come from emerging markets, are introduced and managed within modern versus traditional trade (e.g. ethnic shops).

This case illustrates the challenges and opportunities related to the introduction of a brand to a new market wherein the product (traditional coffee), although part of a very well-developed product category (coffee), may have been new to consumers in the new market. The brand itself, Zlatna džezva, is a flagship brand in its home country (Bosnia and Herzegovina) within a developing market. However, both the brand and the traditional coffee experience are relatively unknown to other markets. The case study focuses on Vispak’s CEO and CMO who are contemplating their next business move in the new market. Finally, the Dutch market and consumers are presented to facilitate the process of segmentation, targeting and positioning for students. The case study concludes with a task and dilemma for managers of the company.

This case could be used in a variety of undergraduate level classes, depending on what the instructor wishes to emphasize. The authors use the case for following courses: principles of marketing, marketing management and international marketing. In all courses, the case is allowing students to obtain the greater overview of the scope of the strategic marketing decision-making. Before starting with case analysis, students should have some familiarity with central marketing issues and concepts, specifically related to analysis of environment, segmentation-targeting-positioning, product and brand management.

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CSS: 8: Marketing.

The learning objectives of this case study are to understand business-to-business (B2B) marketing in a logistics organization; apply go-to-market (GTM) strategy in the logistics industry; design B2B distribution strategy so as to enhance geographic penetration; and develop digital marketing strategies in the logistics industry.

V-Xpress is a leading B2B player in the express cargo category in the Indian logistics industry. In March 2017, Sachin Nair, Head of V-Xpress Marketing, was presenting three different GTM strategies to the CEO for the new Assured Timely Movement services. He wanted CEO views on each of them so that he can choose the best one. Sachin was also trying to find a solution to backhaul problem in eastern India. The resolution of this problem would have helped V-Xpress to become a truly pan-India B2B logistics company. Sachin was also revamping the digital marketing strategy as part of ambitious V-Xpress marketing strategy. These initiatives were taken as part of CEO’s vision for reaching annual revenue of INR 10bn by 2020. Sachin was thinking about various options so as to implement these changes with least investments.

This case study can be used in B2B marketing, marketing management and marketing strategy course of an MBA program.

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By the end of the case and class discussion, students will be able to estimate project costs and benefits, both tangible and intangible, analyse enterprise environmental factors that may impact a project, identify the complexities of managing a multinational project and evaluate a project status and determine if continuation or cessation is the best option.

This case narrates the story to connect landlocked Botswana’s rich coalfields with the Namibian coast. In 2005, the Governments of Botswana and Namibia started discussions to bring forth a 1,500-km railway that traverses the two countries to the Port of Walvis Bay. In total, 10 years and many lengthy negotiations later, the Trans-Kalahari Railway (TKR) Project Management Office finally opened in Windhoek in April 2015. The project is expected to cost US$14.2bn and will be developed via a public-private partnership approach based on a DBOOT contractual arrangement, whereby a developer undertakes the financing, design, construction, operation and maintenance of the project. This case illustrates the complexities of managing a multinational project. After much slower than expected progress, the viability of the project is questioned.

This case is intended for post-graduate business students and MBA students who are studying in a management curriculum. It is primarily written for students in a project management course but may also be used for other courses, such as a negotiation class. The case can be used with undergraduate students by modifying the case questions.

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CSS 7: Management science.

Using this case, the students will be able to: understand the ethical issues such as “Management by Trust”, and having specific “Code of Conducts” in an organization; analyse the unethical behaviour that can occur inside the organization based on ethical theories such as egoism, utilitarian, deontology and virtue theory; discuss elements that promote fraudulent behaviour using the fraud triangle framework; explain how internal control contributes in deterring fraudulent employee behaviour; and analyse strategic approach to handle employee misconduct to reduce the risk of fraud.

The owner of Fortune Weddings, Anis, realized that his business was not as profitable as it used to be in the early years. He was suspicious of his employee Samera, for the sudden change of her luxurious lifestyle, but he did not inquire her as she was a hard working employee and customers were fond of her friendly attitude. Nissa, the wife of Anis, received message from customer to confirm the payment, but when she checked the bank account, the money was not there. Further investigation by Nissa revealed that it was Samera who was stealing money from the company. She used to give her personal bank account to customers to transfer their payment. Anis must decide the appropriate course of action to resolve the issues as soon as possible. Failing to do so will incur more incidences of stealing.

The intended audience for this case study are both undergraduate (BBA) and postgraduate students (MBA, MSc) who are taking the Business Ethics course.

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CSS 7: Management science.

This case study can help the reader to understand how to build an effective board for family business, and why evolving board structure can help family firm to sustain for a longer period in Market. Reader can also learn about role of independent director, CEO's Succession process and ways to deal with duality issue that family owned enterprise may face during a transition from generation X to Y.

This teaching case study describes various decision-making situations using example of a Pakistani family firm and entrepreneurs who started the business few decades back in France. This partially disguised case is based on actual events. The data are collected based on discussions with family business owners and minutes of meetings. The objective of study is to make sense of the family business theories e.g. socio emotional wealth stakeholder and agency. Case readers can also learn about the family’s business governance practices using diverse scenarios presented in this case.

This study is suitable for graduate and undergraduate studies.

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CSS 7: Management science.

An understanding of the competitive landscape and consumer dynamics of an emerging market, especially how a small local company learns to take on and deal with global players. Similarly, embeddedness within a market leads to increasing the competitiveness of local brands as they understand local consumers better than international ones. Local brands are also more likely to use home-based and innovative marketing strategies.

Bliss Chemicals, through their flagship brand, MAQ washing powder, captured market share from global multinationals during a price war. Nevertheless, their competitive landscape and their customer base are dynamic; the company cannot afford to rest on its laurels for long. The case provides insight into the marketing activities of both large and medium enterprises in an emerging market. It also demonstrates the type of marketing activation that engenders strong consumers’ response.

The case can be used in undergraduate, MBA and executive education courses on marketing, consumer behaviour, bottom of the pyramid or international marketing courses. It could also be used in business strategy courses on market entry, dealing with stronger competitors, price wars and doing business in Africa.

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The learning outcomes are as follows: to gain insights into an immigrant community with an emphasis on positioning stakeholders using power, legitimacy and urgency constructs; to help participants dwell on a decision-making process under challenging circumstances; and to help learners understand the level of commitment and efforts needed in initiating and sustaining a volunteer initiative. At the micro level, the case helps learners understand the nature of an interaction between two distinct social groups (ragpickers and volunteers). At the macro level, the case helps the learners understand the way marginalised migratory communities think and behave in the larger scheme of politics, religion and ever-increasing migration at the global level.

This case is about an informal educational activity initiated by a group of volunteers who intend to eradicate illiteracy amongst ragpickers’ children in Rohtak, a small city in Haryana, India. This town has a population of <0.4 million and houses several immigrant families who come from different regions of India. Most immigrant families are into construction and rag picking. The localites mostly perceive ragpickers as undocumented immigrants from Bangladesh. Usually, most ragpickers’ children engage in garbage collection and do not attend school. In this backdrop, a group led by Mohan set up an evening class in an open ground, which in turn attracted several children from both the ragpicker and local communities alike. However, after a few days, the harsh weather made the volunteer team to shift the classes to a closed room. The shifting from the open ground to the closed room infuriated the parents and resulted in the parents not allowing their children to go to school. In this context, the volunteer team has to decide whether to continue the voluntary school or shut it down.

Executive, Under-Graduation and Post Graduation

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CSS 7: Management Science

This case is designed to introduce students to organization culture and how employees are being affected by it. They should have some familiarity with organizational behavior (OB) issues, especially in relating to work culture. They need to be familiar with the related theories and models in organization behavior and development. More particularly, the learning objectives using this case are as follows. By using this case, the students should be able: to understand the real-life workplace scenario where fellow colleagues, like Catherine, can act bossy; to understand the problems because of communication barriers at the workplace. to be exposed on the concept of leadership style and organizational culture; and to understand the necessity of a leader’s interference in handling a chaotic situation in the organization.

This case illustrates the challenge faced by a young entrepreneur with regard to handling workplace chaos among employees. It highlights the importance of having a smooth communication flow and work culture in the organization. SWM was a swimming center in Southeast Asia founded by Ayyub, a young entrepreneur, in July 2014. Over two years, in 2016, SWM had designed different ranges of swimming programs for children and adults. The company’s culture gave employees freedom and flexibility to work. During 2015, the company’s growth was fast, thus encouraging Ayyub to recruit new staff to handle business operations. But hiring new staff caused problems among employees. On September 2016, Ayyub received numerous complaints from employees about a particular senior staff named Catherine with regard to her quarrelsome attitude and bossy behavior toward other junior employees. As a consequence, four employees left within a one-year period, and Ayyub started to receive complaints almost every week. However, because as Catherine was Ayyub’s friend and she was loyal to the company and technical skills, Ayyub fervently wanted to retain Catherine. Nevertheless, he was in dilemma how to fix this workplace miscommunication to maintain the harmony and peace in the organization. He was planning to open a new branch at Southeast Asia on February 2017, during Chinese New Year. He wanted to solve this problem before he starts his new branch. Taking into consideration the whole situation, Ayyub is now contemplating whether to conduct one-to-one meetings with Catherine on a continuous basis to train her with communication and leadership skills, isolate her in a department with less interaction with other staff, transfer her to the new branch or fire her.

The case target audience is for MBA students, particularly for OB and HR classes. Students/participants are challenged to identify the major issue in the case and help decision maker to make decision.

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CSS 7: Management Science.

The learning objectives of using this case are as follows: to understand the concepts of organizational structure, organizational culture and organizational change; to expose students to the problems that may encounter organization when it intends to bring changes in culture; to stimulate students’ understanding of the necessity to build positive organizational culture; to advance students’ knowledge about oil and gas industry; to develop students’ understanding of using Levin’s model of cultural change; and to illustrate the challenges that an organization might face while changing its existing culture.

This case teaches about the importance of boosting positive organization culture to accept organizational change. Stardust was established in 2013 as Petronas Carigali Sdn Bhd’s subsidiary. The company was established to manage small and marginal field in Malaysia which was under the oil and gas field that had smaller reservoir and lasted for four to five years. On 2014, Stardust was given an opportunity to take over one of the fields to manage. However, during the process of handing over the facility and field from the parent to the new company, the tanker caught fire in one of its pump in the pump room. The fire resulted substantial damage to the pump room; two out of four pumps were totally damaged. It delayed the oil production for more than a month. Total estimated damage due to the fire incurred RM19m losses. Direct cost included replacing two new 400 kW pumps, repairing the damaged pump room with new manifolds and painting, and cost of shutdown production for 40 days. Investigation was initiated to identify the causes of the fire which revealed that human error, mostly peoples’ negligence was one of the major reasons along with location, equipment and procedure. The Health, Safety and Environment department of the company was given the task to create ‘Living Safety’ culture among the crew. Being the head of this department, Tarmizi found it very challenging to inculcate the culture ‘Action Today, Perfect Day Tomorrow’ and was thinking how to instill this culture with zero failure by the end of the calendar year which is December 2016. The time was running fast as the parent company emphasized to handle the situation urgently and to ensure that the similar incident will not happen in the future. If it re-occurs, it will jeopardize the trustworthiness of Stardust with the other parties involved and also the parent company might not allow the company to operate other facilities, which will put the company at stake to remain competitive in the oil and gas business.

This case is suitable to use in advanced undergraduate level, MBA and MSc to teach organizational behavior and organizational theory courses.

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CSS 7: Management Science.

I would recommend the following two readings: Kotter, J. P. 2001. “What leaders really do” Harvard Business Review, vol, December 2001, pp. 85-96 and MIntzberg, H. & Waters, J. A. 1985. “Of strategies, deliberate and emergent” Strategic Management Journal, Vol. 6, pp. 257-272 Teaching Notes are available for educators only. Please contact your library to gain login details or email support@emeraldinsight.com to request teaching notes.

This case study aims to provide following four learning outcomes: enhanced understanding of organizational leadership style/approach in terms of rigidness or flexibility to bring modifications in organizational vision to tap current opportunities, enhanced understanding of the use of emotions and rationality in organizational decision-making to strike a balance between organizational needs and community needs in the context of organizational priority framework, enhanced understanding of issue of integration to meet community needs smartly particularly in social development organizations and enhanced understanding of leadership strategies for successful business diversification.

This case study highlights and discusses three issues: first, it explores issues related to change in organizational vision and aims keeping in mind the needs of community rather than sticking to organizational needs (flexibility versus rigidity). Second, it explores the role of emotions and rationality in organizational decision-making by its leadership. Third, it discusses the role of leadership in successfully transforming one-dimensional organization into multidimensional organization by adding new avenues for future growth by mobilizing existing organizational strengths and competencies. Finally, this case discusses theories of leadership and change management in the context of social development organizations to align their activities with community’s emerging needs.

Master Level - Master of Business Administration and Master of Management. This case provides sufficient material to be discussed at master level courses such as change leadership and change management in social development organizations.

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Management science

To familiarize the students with a process of international expansion within an emerging market scenario encompassing countries such as India, Sri Lanka and a developing country like Kazakhstan. Mostly cases in international marketing are central to developed nations, as that is where the MNCs emerge and grow. In this case study, though Polaris originally is an US-based MNC, the focus lies on Polaris India going international. Hence, it looked at empowering an emerging market for regional development. To provide a situation for choice of entry mode strategies involving strategic alliances and various kinds of non-equity based partnerships. Here there is scope for tremendous learning with reference to institutional voids and market failures prompting a certain mode of entry strategy versus another in international marketing. Though this topic has been researched widely, this case is the first ever tribute to a real-life situation in an emerging market. The case is focussed on experiential marketing as the new tool for sales and communication. This is unique to Polaris, and worth replicating in its internationalization. The crucial question emerged: adaptation of experiential marketing techniques as per local market.

synopsis This case investigated the process of internationalization for Polaris India, a US-based MNC, making for an interesting study in how emerging markets can become hubs for effective regional market expansion. The case simultaneously explored the concept of experiential marketing in a new light referring to the issue of communication adaptation in international marketing. The company had successfully used Polaris Experience zones as their promotion and distribution tools. The PEZ had weaved its magic on Indian customers to bring about significant positive change to the perception of a brand now extending the brand promise to other emerging markets. Polaris India started as a wholly owned subsidiary of Polaris Industries USA Inc in 2011 with Mr Pankaj Dubey, as the Country Head. Polaris specialized in building world class off-road vehicles and was a global leader in the same. The case study provided an opportunity to discuss behind the scenes role played by channel partners in targeted foreign markets – Sri Lanka and Kazakhstan. In international marketing, strategic alliances are of tremendous significance as a method of entry strategy and the knowledge, depth, expertise can make all the difference to achievement of success in the local market. Polaris despite having to market a product with no readymade market and combating the perceived notion of a super-premium product in emerging markets, managed to weave its own success story. The case is about, how Polaris India went International with its choice of strategic partners and communication tools.

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Marketing.

This paper aims to understand the changing landscape of media and entertainment industry, to understand the difference between display advertising and native advertising, to know the standing of BuzzFeed in the industry and to know the strategic actions of BuzzFeed under the current competitive business environment.

Founded in 2006 as a viral lab, by Jonah Peretti and John S. Johnson, with the aim of tracking viral content, it caused disruption in the market with its entry and grew very rapidly. It was valued at $1.5bn in 2015, having raised money from numerous investors. The revenue of BuzzFeed was driven by the concept of native advertising. Catchy headlined articles conveyed the sense that BuzzFeed might be charging advertisers on basis of clicks, but this was not entirely true. Instead, BuzzFeed charged a fee from its clients for creating custom content targeting the customer base of the client. However, the year 2015 went tough for BuzzFeed when, as per the reports by Financial Times, it fell short of achieving its targeted revenue of US$250m by US$80m. It forced the company to revise and lower its target revenues for the year 2016 as well. The combined worldwide traffic to BuzzFeed saw a decline of up to 14 per cent. As Claire marketing head looked out of the window and pondered over the slashed revenue projections and the content related issues, the question on her mind was would native advertising sustain BuzzFeed in the longer run? BuzzFeed was known for its viral content and native advertising would involve finding a balance between what is good for the advertisers' brand and what will become viral. Buzzfeed ran a risk of losing brands to other modes of advertisement if they felt that native advertisement, which disguises the product within the content, was not meeting their expectations.

The case is targeted at students of post-graduation and under-graduation programs in Business Administration.

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Marketing

The students will get a hands on research techniques like mental mapping, laddering and means end chain (MEC) model for value proposition and survey techniques.

Market Research has always acted as one of the major driving force behind the successful launch of any product in any market. There are several evidences of how market research and thorough understanding of the consumers in and out has lead companies reach new peaks and acquire market share. This case deals with a company called Eco-Remedies, based in Nashik, India, which is in the business of providing eco-solutions to different health ailments and also general purpose health supplements like health drinks. The major concentration is on the product called “AnjaNeya-The Graviola fruit drink” from Eco-Remedies, where in different research techniques were used to gather information so that appropriate strategies could be implemented in order to increase the market share of the product and create a strong position in the minds of the customers. The case deals with gathering consumer insights and then developing appropriate positioning strategies for Eco remedies based on consumer value proposition using the MEC theory, mental mapping, blind tests and general consumer survey.

The study is applicable to Masters level Marketing Management and Marketing Research Studies.

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Marketing.

The case will help students to understand the challenges faced by the organisations with respect to implementing social reforms; develop an understanding in creating sustainable solutions to the social problems; identify leadership challenges faced by such enterprises; and understand grassroots challenges of establishing such enterprises in India.

The case deals with the dilemma and challenges of Col. Nirban Singh, in-charge of Midday meal of QRG Foundation at Alwar. The foundation was based on the vision of creating a positive impact in communities through social service. They follow a socially positive agenda and work consistently to contribute to the betterment of the society and its future. Their initiatives revolve around their concerns for the nutrition, health and education of children. It was decided that out of the three programmes on environment, sanitation and the mid-day meal (MDM) for school going children, the later will be the flagship CSR activity of Havells. The programme began with coverage of 1,500 students in 2005. In 2015, ten years since inception, the Havells MDM scheme catered to over 58,000 students from 688 schools every day in the Alwar region of Rajasthan. Till February 2017, Havells has served over 66 million meals to students and impacted lives of millions of Children (Source: Havells). The case illustrates innovative model of automation in food preparation and cooking operations adopted by the company with minimum human intervention, to maintain hygiene and thereby with the help of special vans owned by the company quickly distribute freshly cooked food to schools at lunch time. The case highlights the purpose behind this initiative, challenges that company face in day-to-day activities and the impact of this initiative on the children in Alwar district at Rajasthan. QRG is at the crossroad: Col. Nirban must identify the way forward without compromising on the quality of the services provided. His available options are replicate the programme in the new state, upscale their services in Rajasthan and focus on the existing project and work on the ways to make it sustainable.

The case can be used in both undergraduate and graduate levels in entrepreneurship, management and leadership classes to discuss corporate social responsibility, social entrepreneurship, NGO and responsible business. The case provides practical challenges faced by the social enterprises/NGOs in running the programme, implementing the policies on the ground, replicating and sustaining it. The case can be used in strategy, innovation and ethic classes.

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Management science.

The learning outcomes are as follows: understand the factors that go into the assessment of a distributor performance; understand the criteria that may be useful to distributors while choosing distributorship of a fast-moving consumer goods (FMCG) company; understand the various parameters that define a distributor performance; and understand the critical aspects that sales force consider while staying with an organization on the long term.

This case is about how a FMCG Company in India – Patanjali Products is handling its sales and distribution management strategies. The FMCG segment in India is very competitive and is dominated by big multi- national players such as Unilever and Procter & Gamble as well as other Indian players such as Marico, Dabur, Cavinkare and Himalaya herbal. This industry is characterized by frequent product launches and the trade/ distributors play a key role in providing reach and visibility to the end users. Patanjali Products is a relative new entrant but has rapidly found success in this category. Through a product range that is positioned on “naturalness”, the company has achieved a turnover of US$735m in a span of six years. The case is written from the perspective of Anil Gupta, one of the distributors of the company. He is currently faced with the challenge of evaluating whether he should continue with the distributorship or go back to his old company Himalaya herbal. With this background, the case intends to elaborate on the specific aspects of distributor management and sales management. Some key questions discussed in the case are as follows: What are the aspects that determine the performance of a distributor? What are the parameters that a distributor needs to take into account while selecting a company? How does one calculate the financial return on investment for a FMCG distributor business? What are the elements that contribute to sales force loyalty?

Undergraduate and Post Graduate students of management Sales workshops Corporate training on sales management Particularly it can be taught under the course “Sales and Distribution Management”. The other courses where it can be a part of are: Retail Management, FMCG Sales and Marketing, Channel Management

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Marketing

The subject areas are e-commerce, brand management, marketing strategy, digital marketing and supply chain management strategy.

Medium, can be used for undergraduate marketing electives and graduate core courses.

Jumei, founded in 2010, had already become China’s biggest online retailer of beauty products. Its 31-year-old Founder and Chief executive Officer (CEO) Leo Chen had become the youngest CEO of any NYSE listed company in 2014. However, Jumei was currently facing a major milestone. Could it become a mega-commerce hub like Alibaba? Or should it stick to its core product line – cosmetics – which was already being challenged by luxury retailers and other horizontal e-commerce competitors?

The case will provide the students the opportunity to conduct a situational analysis Identify and prioritize generic business and marketing strategies, review concepts of brand/line extension and conceive new product ideas, assess Jumei potential as a business-to-customer platform and assess brand equity and potential by comparison to another diversified brand.

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CSS 8: Marketing.

Marketing Management, Marketing Strategy and Marketing Communication.

The case is targeted at students of post-graduation and under-graduation programs in Business Administration, specializing in Marketing Management or Marketing Strategy.

Mukesh Ambani’s announcement about the launching of Reliance Jio at the 41st Annual General Meeting (AGM) of Reliance Industries Limited (RIL) in June 2015 sent shock waves in the telecom industry. Everyone, including the customers, competitors and the entire telecom industry, was excited to know whether Reliance Jio would be able to make a dent or fizzle out like a weak firecracker. Was it time for the top players to be worried and pull their socks up or will it be an inconsequential ripple in the ocean? Mukesh Ambani saw the telecom sector from a new viewpoint and proposed a complete set of solution in the form of Reliance Jio SIM card that addressed the different needs of customers through various applications. This has spread rumors of a merger between Idea and Vodafone in India, which can have a huge impact on Reliance Jio and the telecom sector in general. The profitability indicator that was earlier determined as the average revenue per user (ARPU) will continue to dominate. The companies will be scrambling to find different ways to increase the ARPU to maximize the returns. This would also lead to a downsize in the cost in such a way that their operations do not suffer and profitability is also not negatively affected.

To better understand the entry strategy of firms in highly volatile business situations. To know about the competitors and their contribution to the operational and strategic changes of a new entrant. To understand the proceedings associated with marketing communication for establishing a product in a highly competitive market. To know about the impact of joining hands with the competitors on a new entrant.

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CSS 8: Marketing.

The case could be used in many courses in the field of business and management, for example, environmental management, strategic management, corporate strategy, green or sustainable marketing and international business.

The case has a difficulty level of being appropriate for undergraduate and postgraduate students. However, in utilizing this case as a required component of business courses at various levels, the authors have discovered a different approaching between undergraduate students and postgraduate students in answering those discussion questions. Undergraduate students have tended to focus on the more conceptual and basic approaching based on understanding the main concepts of environmental upgrading. Postgraduate students have a better application and critical thinking based on a better understanding of the fundamental knowledge and concepts. Accordingly, the case has been developed in a manner that will allow students to realize the importance of environmental issues and analyze the company’s main issues as detailed in the case and then suggest opinions and any ideas for the strategy the company should consider and pursue in future. Furthermore, students should identify several points on the company’s chosen strategies and actions for environmental upgrading.

This case is written in the form of an interview with the Chairman and chief executive officer of VIYELLATEX Group, one of the leading firms which embarked upon environmental upgrading in the apparel industry of Bangladesh and in the world. This is an analytical case and not a decision-making one. The main theme of the case revolves around analyzing what drove VIYELLATEX Group to upgrade environmentally, how the group upgraded, the challenges that VIYELLATEX Group has faced and outcomes of environmental upgrading. Environmental upgrading implies an improvement in environmental performance through changes in technological, social and organizational processes and avoiding or reducing the environmental impacts of businesses. In summary, the VIYELLATEX case is an investigation of a leading company in Bangladesh to implement environmental standards and management practices being part of the apparel global apparel industry governed by global retailers and brand marketers.

The learning outcomes are understanding of “corporate sustainability” as a corporate social responsibility of business philosophy, understanding of key features of the apparel industry in Bangladesh, understanding of the main issues and challenges faced by the apparel firms (suppliers) involved in international business regarding environmental upgrading, understanding of the relationship with primary stakeholders, in particular buyers of apparel firm (defining stakeholders and how to cooperate with stakeholders) and understanding of the environmental upgrading in terms of its drivers, processes and outcomes.

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CSS 4 Environmental Management.

Entrepreneurship, Entrepreneurial Marketing and Services Marketing.

The New Wella Salon case (B) is suitable for teaching at MBA level and last-year students of undergraduate-level courses in services marketing and entrepreneurship.

This case discusses the challenges faced by a young entrepreneur Mr Meer, who has successfully brought a new trend in the salon industry of Sukkur City. The new trend focuses on trendier and sophisticated services keeping in mind the changing mindset of consumer and services provided by leading salons of Pakistan. Though, the new salon has proved to be a great success. But recent developments have badly shaken the well-established brand. The most challenging issue was the loss of customers to competition, showing a negative sign for the future of this leading brand of local salon industry. He was confused and upset about the future of the leading salon brand of the local industry. He knew that he has to make some strategic decisions to secure his career and family business but appeared to be confused about how to operationalize these. He soon realized that word-of-mouth publicity and running a Facebook page would not be enough to promote his business effectively; so, he has to explore some new ways to promote his unique and nascent service other than advertising. But what should those be? To capture the growing demand of trendy services and scattered populations as a result of growing competition from similar salons, Meer has chalked down two different options: open another salon at a promising avenue and/or offer more services.

To identify and differentiate between traits of an entrepreneur and traditional businessman. To discuss how services companies can create and sustain competitive advantage. To understand the various strategic aspects of the small businesses that lever their decision-making. To work out strategic choices available to a new entrepreneurial firm, evaluate the alternatives and devise strategies for successful expansion of the business. To assess the usefulness of traditional and non-traditional marketing channels for promoting a small business.

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CSS 8: Marketing.

Non-governmental organization (NGO) intervention in poor communities using information and communication technology (ICT).

BBA, MBA courses on marketing management, social entrepreneurship, rural marketing, marketing to bottom of pyramid.

In 2009, Digital Empowerment Foundation (DEF) along with Media Labs Asia and the Ministry of Information and Communication Technology (MICT) established the Chanderi Weavers ICT Resource Centre (CWIRC) as a self-sufficient community information resource center involved in skills’ enhancement of weavers at Chanderi in Madhya Pradesh. The next three years of CWIRC resulted in an overall growth of the project with progress in the various domains of handloom industry through ICT-enabled development of weavers and weaving. The project not only aimed at the handloom industry revival and development, but also advanced in other sectors such as education, health and tourism. Osama Manzar, the DEF founder, is in a dilemma as to whether the local community of weavers in Chanderi would be able to continue with the sustainable ecosystem created in Chanderi. Is it the right time to exit Chanderi?

Issues related to the market development at the bottom of the pyramid; managing local communities and building their capabilities for marketing; marketing strategies of community marketing efforts; and key success factors for ensuring successful completion of any developmental project.

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CSS 8: Marketing.

Brand Management, Branding Strategy, Strategic Management.

The case study is suitable for postgraduate management programs, such as MBA, Executive MBA and executive development programs.

This case study provides a detailed analysis of Amazon India’s branding strategy by way of analyzing popular branding campaigns such as “Try to kar”, “Aur Dikhao”, “Kya Pehnu” and “Apni Dukaan” that enabled the global brand to reach to the masses of Tier-II and Tier-III cities in India. Facing fierce competition from existing market leaders such as Flipkart and Snapdeal, Amazon India strategizes to attract Indian consumers by rightly capturing their behavior in terms of demanding “highest power of options”, “fashion choices”, “originality” and “trust” with its local flavored advertisement campaigns enabling it to create a “trusted, reliable and local” brand identity. With the help of sufficient data and numbers about the industry, company and competitors, the analysis presents a clear picture of the current status of Amazon in the Indian e-commerce space and leaves the readers with food for thought concerning whether this “culture-specific” branding strategy will enable Amazon to become the number one choice for Indian online shoppers in the near future.

This case study helps students to understand how global MNCs use unique branding strategies to capture mass-markets in e-commerce business, the role of culture-specific aspects in developing differentiation strategies and the role of local flavors in branding strategies and internationalization.

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CSS 8: Marketing.

Marketing, Pricing, Strategic marketing.

The case is developed for an MBA-level program.

In May 2017, the telecom industry in India witnessed an intense price war over 4G (fourth generation) data prices. Gopal Vittal, CEO of Bharti Airtel was exploring various options on how best to respond to the situation. He had to take a final call regarding Bharti Airtel’s marketing team’s counter move to tackle this price war by Jio – should Bharti Airtel ignore it, accommodate it or retaliate with even lower prices? Bharti Airtel strongly believed that Jio pricing structure had violated “fair pricing” norms, and its pricing was anti-competitive. It had filed a case with the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) and the Competition Commission of India (CCI) to restrain Jio from further giving “free” promotional offers and penalize it for it. Could the legal recourse by Bharti Airtel dampen Jio’s consistent subscriber growth rate?

The case provides the students with an insight into how the competition focused on pricing happens in the telecom industry. The pricing war affects the profit margin of all competing companies. It changes the customer reference point for evaluating the competing products and services. The students would also learn practical applications of positive-sum pricing, pricing war, fair pricing and legal aspects of pricing. This case provides the students with an opportunity to understand the pricing war and how to respond to it in a particular situation; understand positive-sum pricing and negative-sum pricing in telecom industry context; understand legal aspects of pricing; and how to leverage data for gaining newer customer insights.

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CSS 8: Marketing.

Entrepreneurship, Marketing management, Consumer behaviour

Undergraduate students, taking courses of entrepreneurship, marketing management and/or consumer behaviour that cover the topics related to entrepreneurial challenges, institutional support, growth strategy, market segmentation and marketing promotion strategy.

This case demonstrates the dilemma of a founder, cum entrepreneur dealing with the issue related to a change in operating days that would affect her business profitability in the kindergarten industry. The case begins with the problem faced by Azizah Ayob, the founder and entrepreneur of Taska Kyrana when she hears that the state minister of Johor has announced that business operation days will be changed from Sunday to Friday with effect from 1 January 2014. The change would be applicable to government institutions in the state. However, businesses and corporations in the private sector can choose to continue observing Saturday-Sunday weekends or switch to the new official rest days of Friday-Saturday. As customers of Taska Kyrana consist of parents working in public and private sectors, as well as Singaporean parents, Ayob needs to choose either to follow the state requirement or to maintain the usual operation days.

Using this case, the students should be able to understand the need for institutional support for an entrepreneur; understand a possible growth strategy to cope with the volatile situation; understand the importance of a proper segmentation strategy to target the right group of customers; and understand the importance of a promotional strategy to attract new customers and to retain the existing one in a volatile situation.

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CSS 8: Marketing.

The case deals with project management principles that are required for implementing a social project in India.

The study has been carried out at primary schools in an underdeveloped state, namely, Odisha, in India.

The case illustrates a project management approach for improving primary education in a government set up. The bureaucracy set up in education in a state like Odisha, India, needs to undergo radical changes. To be effective, an education system requires an optimal integration of the three main components, namely, people, infrastructure (this includes technology) and pedagogical processes. Using a public–private partnership model, American India Foundation (AIF) through its Digital Equalizer (DE) Program has been able to make a positive impact in an underdeveloped tribal dominated district like Keonjhar. The case study also illustrates the detailed execution plan predicated on total system planning, required to achieve this amount of success. The case study also explains how to measure success through different metrics where intervention has to be at multiple levels. The learning from the case study can also be adopted for designing an implementation strategy in other states.

Expected learning outcomes are as follows: how to approach implementation of technology-based intervention with involvement of all stakeholders; learn project management techniques related to digital learning model implementation; understand the DE methodology; and understand the challenges faced while implementing the DE Program.

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CSS 7: Management Science.

Information technology, management science and strategic management.

The case has been developed for use in “e-government Management and Leadership” and “Strategic IT management” courses and is appropriate for MBA and Executive Development Programs, as well as corporate training programs incorporating information system and e-government dilemmas. The case is appropriate for courses that deal with e-government development.

Ajman Digital Government (ADG) was established in 2017. It is a new government entity intended to deliver the Ajman e-Government Project to increase government efficiency and productivity, as well as transforming public services to meet citizen expectations of digital experiences and satisfying the UAE Federal e-government standard. The current UAE federal e-government ranking includes only two emirates, Abu Dhabi and Dubai. ADG intends to be part of the UAE federal e-government ranking and participating in the world digital competitiveness ranking. Many challenges lie ahead for ADG, which intends to add Ajman’s e-government to UAE’s federal e-government, supporting the digital competitiveness of UAE worldwide and participating in increasing the ranking for UAE federal government in IMD’s World Digital Competitiveness Ranking; in addition to this challenging goal, there are significant new obstacles to the implementation of the new digital government in Ajman. ADG requires specific ingredients for the maintenance and support of the UAE e-government standard to position the project toward the success. Study of the strategic positioning of ADG would help support success of the development of e-government and weigh which technology should be used and how the project should proceed strategically. The case also provides a very useful ground for discussing all challenges faced and how the innovative business model of e-government will address these issues and create a sustainable e-government environment.

The case is structured to achieve the following learning objectives: Students can recognise the dilemma faced by the Ajman Government in managing citizen expectations, stakeholder expectations and the wider implications of its actions on developing a coherent communication strategy. Students can recognise and critically evaluate the role of leadership and communication in using e-government strategies in hyper technology market. To bring out the challenges in the digital government and repositioning strategies in a highly competitive and dynamic technology environment. Differentiation and repositioning strategies in a highly competitive technology market. Learn how to effectively communicate the value of a digital government to the targeted citizens. Understand how to strike a balance between short-term objectives and long-term goals in e-government development. Analyse the environment, competition, industry and IT product positioning. List alternative IT strategies and e-government positioning. Understand the primary drivers of interaction in e-government.

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CSS 7: Management Science.

Organizational Development; Change Management; Leadership; Healthcare Management Operations; Supply Chain.

MBA; Masters in Healthcare Management; Post-graduate Diploma in Leadership; MPhil in Strategic Leadership.

On April 16, 2016, the CEO of Prince Mshiyeni Memorial hospital, Kwa-Zulu Natal, South Africa, Dr Sandile Tshabalala reflected as he drove through the winding hills of the Cato range. In recent years, the hospital had been a subject of negative publicity with horror stories about patients collapsing while waiting for their medication at one of Durban’s largest hospitals. The case features a number of stakeholders and their demands and even threats. Contextual leadership intelligence requires accurate identification of relevant stakeholders and then involvement in solutions. The case illustrates how these demands had been listened to and how the stakeholders had been involved in finding solutions. A remarkable solution was to realize that the bottleneck at the pharmacy was actually caused by a problem early on in the process, for example, the late start of administrative staff who had to submit patients. A further solution was to utilize the primary health care clinics and even churches for dispensing chronic medicine.

Gaining insight and foresight into the operations and supply chain dilemmas in public health care. Developing understanding of the impact of various stakeholders in the healthcare sector. Understanding buy-in when leading change. Acquiring contextual leadership intelligence in the public health environment.

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CSS 7: Management Science.

Marketing, Brand management, Social media marketing, Digital marketing.

The case can be taught in MBA courses and executive education programs.

Dufil Prima Limited is the manufacturer of Indomie noodles and a market leader in the noodles market of Nigeria that exports products to Congo, Ivory Coast, Ghana and Benin Republic. However, the company has experienced a drop in the market share from 78 per cent in 2010 to 54 per cent in 2015. This drop is largely due to rising competition, Nigeria’s economic downturn and the inability to grow a consumer base in Northern Nigeria. Kenneth Iruonagbe, a social media executive of the company, is responsible for developing a social media and digital marketing strategy for the company to increase the market share position by 16 per cent in the next three years. Kenneth is convinced that a growth in the Northern Nigeria market share is critical for improving the market position in the entire country and facilitating the market penetration in the other four countries. A number of options are being considered to address the current problem. Because of the sharp differences in the consumption habits, cultural values and lifestyles of consumers of noodles in the northern and southern parts of Nigeria, the options may be difficult to implement. Dufil needs to engage in the delicate task of crafting a social media and digital marketing strategy that will be consistent with the values of the Indomie brand and yet prevent the risk of brand confusion and alienation on the part of consumers. The company has one month to roll out its plan.

Highlight how cultural branding through social media applies to consumer markets in Africa Explain the fundamentals of brand building and also introduce the concepts of integrated marketing communication, below-the-line, above-the-line, social media and digital marketing. Explain how social media and digital marketing could be used to move consumers from brand awareness to brand loyalty. Explain how to craft social media and digital marketing strategies that are relevant to countries facing an economic downturn. Highlight the lessons from internationalizing a brand across various African countries.

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CSS: 8: Marketing.

Marketing Channels.

The case was developed to stimulate the discussion about decisions and strategies of channel and was recommended for MBA students in courses such as Marketing Channels or Trade Marketing in Business Administration.

The case reports the dilemma experienced in 2013 by Osmar Buzin, one of the partners of Cervejaria Noi, whose specialty beers had achieved prestige among their customers, mainly in the city of Niterói, RJ, where the company was born. This success aroused the interest of other markets that wanted to sell their products. The opportunity for expansion brought together the need to decide how to meet these new markets: deliver directly to the points of sale, as it did before; or use distributors. Osmar knew that he could count on Gilmar Gutbrodt, his partner and brewmaster, along with Bianca Buzin, the General Manager of the brewery to evaluate together the best strategy for reaching new markets.

It is expected that at the end of the discussion of the case, students will be able to achieve the following learning outcomes: to design the path-to-market, identifying the role of intermediaries; to identify distribution alternatives and key channel members; and to perceive the advantages and disadvantages of intermediation and its unfolding in channel management.

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CSS: 8: Marketing.

Agricultural Trade, Farm Management, Economics of Food Safety

Both undergraduate and postgraduate studies in Agribusiness and Agricultural Economics.

The pineapple production sector plays a very significant role in the Ghanaian horticultural industry. Production and export of fresh pineapple has been Ghana’s most developed high-value supply chain. However, the introduction of the GlobalGAP food safety standard in 2007 resulted in a fall in smallholder farmers’ participation in exportable pineapple production and subsequently led to declining trends in pineapple exports. The Ghanaian horticultural industry received quite a number of interventions over the years aimed at revitalizing the horticultural export sector and enhancing international competitiveness. However, the pineapple export sub-sector is still constrained with production and market access challenges meaning the sector struggles to survive.

The GlobalGAP standard compliance case is an appropriate way of explaining how smallholder farmers make informed decisions concerning the adoption of new farm practices. The case presents a careful evaluation of technical, institutional and socio-economic factors influencing a farmer’s decision to comply or not to comply with the GlobalGAP standard. Students should be able to apply farm management decision-making concepts and tools such as profit maximization and binary choice modelling techniques to explain a farmers’ final decisions on GlobalGAP standard compliance. This case should enable students to appreciate key factors constraining agricultural export trade performance in developing countries. The case should also contribute to students’ understanding of smallholder farmers’ decisions on food safety standards compliance, particularly GlobalGAP, and the challenges associated with the entire compliance process. Moreover, this case should provide students with possible policy considerations geared towards making food safety standards compliance easier, effective and sustainable in developing countries so as to enhance market access while ensuring food quality and safety along high-value food supply chains.

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CSS 7 Management Science

Leadership and Health Care management and Organisational Development and Talent Management.

Postgraduate level for honours or master’s programs in courses on public health, executive leadership and management, organisational development and public administration leadership.

The case study offers an account of Ms Xolani Ngumi’s Chief Director, Enola District Health Services, South Africa, who was driving from her newly constructed modern district hospital to one of the municipal clinics that she was overseeing. It highlights the dilemma of the general practitioners (GP’s) that refused to be relocated, leading to many clinics being without clinical support.

Expected learning outcomes are as follows: Identification of stakeholders in a particular dilemma to aid leaders’ decision-making; developing the competence of balancing conflicting needs of stakeholders by juggling complex systems; and analysing staffing issues and offer recommendations to enhance talent management.

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CSS 7: Management Science.

Marketing in an emerging market.

The case is aimed at MBA students in a marketing strategy class on marketing at the bottom of the pyramid or on branding.

A young brand manager faced the challenge to increase drastically a brand market share to 8 per cent in 2015 in a context of a new emerging market with large number of consumers living with no more than US$1.25 a day.

Expected learning outcomes are as follows: to familiarize students with emerging markets characteristics; to illustrate the challenges of marketing a brand to local consumers with limited financial resources to craft a marketing strategy for Pepsodent with a clear positioning, allowing the Pepsodent brand to differentiate itself and to leverage its brand equity; and to develop a marketing-mix aligned with the brand positioning.

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CSS 8: Marketing.

The Toyota Hilux case has been designed to show the complexities associated with managerial decision-making in a highly competitive vehicle market in South Africa. The case centres on the challenges the Toyota Hilux faced in sustaining its market leadership position amid intense competition from its rivals and changing customer preferences.

The case is suited to marketing and strategy students who are eager to demonstrate their critical thinking and managerial decision-making skills as part of their Masters of Business Administration (MBA) and Executive MBA academic programmes, and delegates on Executive Education programmes.

The teaching case focuses on the Toyota Hilux brand and the various business dilemmas that Calvyn Williams, sales and marketing manager, and his team experience prior to the launch of the next Hilux: the fierce competition from other brands and the various marketing strategies used.

The objective of this teaching case is to afford students a “hands-on” understanding and appreciation of the challenges faced by market leaders in sustaining their dominance and selecting the most appropriate strategies for market leaders to adopt in extremely competitive environments such as the South African vehicle market.

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CSS 8: Marketing.

This case can be used in teaching Marketing Management, Principles of Marketing and Consumer Behavior. More specifically, marketing strategies, growth strategies, market segmentation.

This case is designed for undergraduate and MBA students.

This case illustrates the challenges a woman faces taking on the running of her family business, without any prior experience. Hema is a well-educated girl with a diploma in childhood education from UTM-Johor; she was happily working as a school teacher. Her parents are entrepreneurs Encik Sittumalai and Puan Rani. Her Mother Puan Rani set up a business in 2005, under the name of Blitz, producing and selling Indian cookies. In 2010, Blitz was one of the best homemade Indian cookies in the market of Johor Bahru, and supplied their products to five main Indian restaurants. In March 2012, Rani was diagnosed with final stage colon cancer and as a result the business was halted, and the organization was not able to pay employees’ salaries. Hema found herself left with no choice but to resign from her teaching job and take care of the family business.

From this case, it is expected that the students will be able to: understand the fundamental functions of marketing; learn about the four Ps of marketing including product, price, promotion and place; learn about different techniques and strategies to analyze organizations and market situation including SWOT and Porter’s five forces; gain knowledge about market segmentation and growth strategies; identify problems and challenges faced by a new manager in running a company; analyze a situation whereby a new manager needs to adapt to a new role, duties and responsibilities; analyze the external and internal environment using SWOT; understand competition using Porter’s 5 forces; think thoroughly, deeply and critically to make a decision that can solve the problem in hand.

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CSS 8: Marketing.

Marketing Management, Product & Brand Management, Entrepreneurship.

This case can be taught effectively to MBA/BBA students as part of Marketing Management, Product & Brand Management, Entrepreneurship.

The case talks about the marketing mix strategy of India’s fastest growing fast moving consumer goods (FMCGs) brand Patanjali, with a tremendous revenue growth rate of 100 per cent for the past five years, leaving major FMCG companies insomniac. Patanjali Ayurved Limited riding on Baba Ramdev’s brand equity positioned itself as an authentic Ayurved brand with ancient Indian roots. Patanjali’s product line ranges from healthcare, personal care, home care, to food and more. Patanjali’s products were priced 10-40 per cent lower than that of its competitors. Run by franchisees, Patanjali had a three-tier distribution system. These included Patanjali Chikitsalayas which were franchise dispensaries and clinics along with doctors, Patanjali Arogya Kendra which were health and wellness centres and Swadeshi Kendra, non-medicine outlets. The company has 15,000 exclusive outlets across India and plans to grow to 1,00,000 exclusive outlets by 2020. Patanjali amazed the world by achieving phenomenal success without spending much on advertising in its nascent stage. Recently Patanjali adopted the multinational corporation (MNC) style of advertising by hiring two top advertising agencies McCann and DDB Mudra to prepare the company for the next phase of growth. Patanjali diversified into various segments of the market, ranging from FMCG products, Ayurvedic medicines, Ayurvedic hospitals and a medical college. Patanjali plans to enter various categories of products including the beauty products segment to compete with major MNCs, the baby care segment to compete with Johnson & Johnson, and the sports segment to compete with Nike and Adidas. Patanjali as a brand has a strong positioning in the minds of consumers as a natural and Ayurvedic brand. Will Patanjali’s foray into so many diversified segments lead to a brand extension trap and confused positioning? Because Patanjali as a brand, solely rides on Baba Ramdev’s image, if Baba Ramdev ever finds himself at the centre of a controversy, will Patanjali’s brand equity take a hit? Will it affect the brand Patanjali? Even if Baba Ramdev does not get into any controversy, what will happen to the brand Patanjali when Baba Ramdev is no more? Who should be the next face of Patanjali? Can the brand survive without a face?

The case is designed to enable students to understand the following key learning points: The concept of marketing mix. Product mix, Promotion mix branding (especially “Person as a Brand”), customer-based brand equity (CBBE) model or brand resonance pyramid.

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CSS 8: Marketing.

International Marketing, Marketing Strategy.

Postgraduate Programs.

This case investigated the effectiveness of experiential marketing on Indian customers and how it can be used to bring about significant positive change to the perception of a brand and its brand promise in emerging markets. Polaris India was a wholly owned subsidiary of Polaris Industries USA Inc. it was founded in India in 2011 with Mr Pallav Dubey as Head of the organization. Polaris specialized in building world class off road vehicles (ORVs) and was a global leader in the same. India did not have a ready-made market for ORVs as such. Mr Dubey was entrusted with the task of creating a market for the product and successfully sell it in the Indian market. There was no production facility in India and all the products were imported as Completely Built Unit (CBU) from US-based production facilities. Mr Dubey tried different communication adaptation methods using traditional styles of marketing which gave limited success. However, the concept of Polaris experience zones, which used the concept of experiential marketing was a hit and started yielding returns. The case study provided an opportunity to explore the reasons behind the success of Polaris India despite having a product whose price was affected by currency fluctuations, a product which was majorly used in agricultural areas in USA but was perceived as a premium product in emerging markets. The case also looked into the question of product adaptation and communication adaptation for successfully selling a product in the global market especially in emerging markets. The role of the chief protagonist Pallav, his contribution to the previous stints at different organizations and the role of a leader in this scenario has been brought to the forefront.

The case is expected to deliver answers to the following questions in an effective manner: How to price a product effectively in the International Market? What is Experiential Marketing? How is International Marketing strategy different in an emerging market?

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CSS 8: Marketing.

Leadership; Political Economy; Strategy; Entrepreneurship.

Masters in Business Administration (MBA); MPhil in Strategic Leadership.

On 5 February 2016, South African entrepreneur Jannie Van Eeden faced a dilemma about whether to expand his current businesses or not. He had to choose between focusing exclusively on hospitality and tourism or dividing his time and resources between the tourism business and expanding his existing logistics business. Expansions to his logistics business would entail investing in a warehouse and supplying fresh produce to the lodges in the wider area of Lake Malawi where he was based. Van Eeden realised that he needed to take into account the political economy of Malawi in unpacking the contextual variables related to his decision. Various stakeholders’ roles are illustrated in the case, for example the government’s role in enabling entrepreneurial businesses as well as the investments made by foreign organisations and international donors.

Development of leaders who can take contextually intelligent decisions. Insights into conducting Political Economy analysis to enable doing business in Africa.

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CSS 7: Management Science.

Public Health; Leadership; Organisational Development; Organisational Behaviour; Public Administration Management.

Postgraduate level for honours or masters programmes in courses on public health; executive leadership and management programmes; MBA level.

The case unpacks decentralisation as a means to promote and improve local decision-making and accountability through community participation and engagements. Ayanda Nkele was a programme manager in a health district in South Africa. He was faced with many challenges when trying to implement his programme, most of which were related to local authority, responsibilities and decision-making abilities at his level. This case describes briefly the South African health system. and how it functions. It describes the proposed changes to the health system and its transformation towards Universal Health Coverage. The decision space analysis as discussed in the case illustrates the types of decentralisation in the country and how this also applies to Nkele’s level.

Understanding the concepts and principles of decentralisation within the context of strengthening district health services, the re-engineering of primary health care (PHC) and rolling out a National Health Insurance in South Africa. Applying the “decision space” approach to analyse the extent of decentralisation. Grasping the requirement of leaders to be “contextually intelligent” and identify the important contextual variables to take into account when analysing public health care.

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CSS 7: Management Science.

Islamic Banking has been in the limelight since the recession of 2008. Although around for a long time, it is enjoying a renaissance of sorts. This case provides an introduction.

EMBA and/or MBA introduction to banking, senior semester undergraduate, specialization in Islamic Banking.

This case is written in the form of an interview with Meezan Bank, one of the leading financial institutions in the Islamic banking sector. It is based on primary as well as secondary data obtained via interviews and documentary analysis.

This is an analytical case and not a decision-making one. The main theme of the case revolves around analysing what Islamic banking is, the challenges that Meezan has faced, the pros and cons of doing business this way and the future issues it can face.

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CSS 7: Management Science.

Marketing.

This case may be used by instructors to teach undergraduate, post graduate and executive level programmes in management. It may be used in basic marketing, branding or marketing strategy courses. The case may serve as a platform for the instructor to discuss the concepts and issues related to positioning and repositioning.

Tata Chemicals, a subsidiary of the Tata group, launched the “i-Shakti” brand six years ago for its low-cost “solar-evaporated” salt for rural customers. In 2010, the company extended the brand equity of i-Shakti to a premium segment and launched a new brand “Tata i-Shakti” with a range of unpolished pulses. Changing the brand name and customer base from “i-Shakti for rural market” to “Tata i-Shakti for premium market” created a dilemma among customers in the market. To overcome this problem, in October 2015, the company’s portfolio of pulses, gram flour and food grade soda under “Tata i-Shakti” label has migrated into a new brand “Tata Sampann”. The company also launched a range of spices under the brand name of “Tata Sampann”. This new brand “Tata Sampann” was launched to serve the premium segment with an aim to “enrich everyday meals with extra nutrition and extra joy”. Also, this brand recreation was made by the company with anticipation to make avenues for future launches in the staples and food segment under Tata’s consumer products business. It has been almost a year since Tata Sampann was launched in the market. Given the tough competition and expected growth of the spices market in India, it remained to be seen whether “Tata i-Shakti” was rightly rebranded or repositioned with “Tata Sampann”.

To make participants understand the basic concepts of branding such as umbrella branding, brand repositioning and rebranding. To make participants learn about various brand elements and how they contribute in communicating the value proposition of the brand. To make participants appreciate various marketing and brand related strategies.

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CSS: 8: Marketing.

Choice Behavior.

The case study deals with cross-gender analysis of impulse buying behavior in apparel shopping in India. Any extrapolation of this study to other markets should take into account that Indian consumers are price sensitive. The buying behavior in apparel shopping may not be directly related to other retail categories such as ready-to-eat food, consumer electronics, etc.

Mr Khuswant Chaddha’s family business is in tatters. Market dynamics have changed over the years and his textile mill is no longer the cash cow it once was. His son, Gaurav Chaddha, a recent engineering graduate, plans to save the business by venturing into branded apparel retailing. A key component of this strategy is to figure out impulse shopping behavior in apparel purchases. The gender angle is used to better comprehend the differences in impulse buying emotions so that males and females can be targeted with greater success. A survey of shoppers belonging to suitable demographics is used as the backbone of this study. The analysis of the data presents several dilemmas in some critical business decisions.

The objectives of the case include: understanding how marketplaces change over time; realizing the fact that businesses should evolve over time and even highly profitable business models can become obsolete pretty fast; studying the factors which influence the choice of an apparel store; understanding impulse buying behavior and how gender plays a decisive role in it and analyzing post purchase behavior with respect to gender.

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CSS 8: Marketing.

Marketing management, consumer behaviour, rural marketing and integrated marketing communications.

The case is for the use of undergraduate and also postgraduate students of management in courses of marketing management, consumer behaviour, rural marketing and integrated marketing communications. This case may also be used in human resources’ management course lectures which focus on social capital.

This case on the Centre of Science for Villages (CSV), Wardha, attempts to identify how value can be co-created through innovative technology and how social capital can be developed for rural markets through the use of integrated marketing communications tools, particularly word-of-mouth and the influence of opinion leaders. Effective campaigns can be designed for the target audience based on the 3A framework (Awareness, Adoption and Addition of Value) and McGuire’s Model of Persuasion. The CSV has been typically chosen for the study because its products are unique, innovative and eco-friendly and blend well with the rural lives. It has been able to enrich the lives of rural population by generating employment and in creating entrepreneurial opportunities. The biggest challenge, however, lies in educating rural consumers to accept and adopt its innovative technology in their daily lives.

The case study has been written to enable students to understand the concepts of value co-creation and social capital in the context of Indian rural markets. The students will learn the dynamics of rural markets by pondering over these points: understand the concept of value co-creation for rural markets; comprehend the creation of social ecology for managing knowledge in an organisation; identify the development and role of social capital and use it as a promotional tool, particularly word-of-mouth and opinion leaders(reference groups); recommend the use of different marketing mix variables for an organisation, operating in rural markets; and connote designing of effective campaigns for the target audience, based on the 3A framework and the Persuasion Model (6 steps) suggested by McGuire.

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CSS 8: Marketing