Case studies

The case study “PVR Limited at a Crossroads” has been designed with the requirements of strategic management. The learning objectives are as follows:

• Situational analysis – understand the global and Indian media and entertainment industry PESTEL.

• Strategic planning – internal and external environmental analysis – strength, weakness, opportunities and threats (SWOT) analysis helps in achieving the strategic plan.

• Strategy development – to accomplish the turnaround plan, various alternatives are developed; choosing from the possible alternatives is a part of strategic planning.

PVR Limited (PVR) is the largest premium film exhibition company in India. In their annual report for 2019–2020, Chief Executive Officer Gautam Dutta acknowledged, “It was the first time in our more than two-decade history that we witnessed over 100 million patrons entering our premises in a year”. However, with the onset of Covid-19 pandemic in January 2020, things changed for the entertainment industry in India. There were fears of an eminent third wave and the detection of a new Covid-19 variant, Omicron, added to these fears. Being a major player in the game, PVR felt the impact. And even when the business started to reopen, social distancing remained a concern and ticket sales were impacted. Over-the-top viewership rose dramatically at the cost of the multiplex. The lockdown halted film productions worldwide, leading to a shortage of content. Other revenue streams, such as food and beverage, convenience fees and advertising, also came to a halt. Given the circumstances, Dutta was facing the twin dilemma of how to bring customers back to cinema in a post-pandemic world without in any way compromising the security of its patrons and keeping costs under control while investing in social distancing, safety measures and entertainment infrastructure to enhance the cinematic experience.

This case was written for use in Strategic Management classes at the undergraduate and MBA levels. It can be used in both management studies and executive development programs. It is suitable for courses on strategic management and strategic planning focusing on a turnaround strategy. Additionally, the case could be used in consumer behaviour courses in management as the focus of the case is well aligned with discussions related to change in consumer behaviour.

Teaching notes are available for educators only.

CSS 11: Strategy.

■ Understand the functionalities of various social media platforms. ■ Choose social media platforms to align various business goals. ■Consider how to develop strategies for monitoring, understanding and responding to different social media activities.

Acuver Consulting Private Limited (Acuver) is a niche, self-funded IT consulting services start-up. Founded in 2013 with the aim of providing IT consulting services in the supply chain domain, Acuver delivers IT solutions to the world’s leading IT conglomerates, Fortune 500 companies and emerging players across multiple geographies and industries. Changing consumer buying patterns in recent years has forced retailers and supply-chain businesses to invest in digital transformation projects, providing ample growth opportunities for Acuver. To meet increased demand, Acuver needs to acquire direct engagements with clients and hire the right talent to help it ride this growth wave. This case described challenges faced by the start-up in building visibility to expand its reach. The case provided an overview of the IT consulting services industry and Acuver’s vision. It then detailed the reasons for the company’s lack of visibility, which was curtailing its growth opportunities. It described the dilemma and possible strategies to overcome the problem statement. It also discussed the limitations associated with the potential strategies, which needed to be contemplated by the reader.

This case is appropriate for MBA and Executive MBA courses on Management of Information System, Digital Governance, Strategic Management of IT and Managing Digital Transformation.

Teaching notes are available for educators only.

CSS 11: Strategy.

The case study should enable the student:1. to assess the complexities of the Indian quick service restaurants (QSRs) market and its competitive dynamics;2. to infer the factors which have contributed to the growth of Domino’s Pizza in India;3. to apply different tools and techniques to assess and refine strategy;4. to evaluate Domino’s Pizza India in the context of the value chain analysis; and5. to examine the strategic options available to Domino’s India for achieving its future growth in India.

The case details the growth story of American pizza chain Domino’s in India. Jubilant Food Works Limited (JFL), a part of the Jubilant Bhartia Group, operates the Domino’s Pizza chain in India. The first restaurant was opened in India in 1996 and, in the initial years, the focus was on promoting and popularising “pizza” as an interesting meal replacement option. Over the years, through memorable advertising, operational efficiency and product innovation, Domino’s emerged as the market leader in the organised pizza market in India. The growth in competition both from domestic and international brands and the challenge posed by the growth of food aggregators posed challenges to its prospect of maintaining market leadership. The nationwide lockdown because of the pandemic severely impacted the foodservice industry. Significant changes were seen in the operations of the QSR and rapid growth was witnessed in online food ordering especially through food delivery apps. The management at JFL believed that the demand for QSR would increase rapidly in the country given the possibility of closure of 30%–35% of conventional restaurants. This company had raised the store addition target for FY22 to 150–175 from earlier 135 as it believed that there would be a greater demand for trusted brands. The management believed that the domestic market had the capacity to absorb 3,000 Domino’s outlets compared with the earlier estimate of 1,800–2,000 outlets. In the first quarter of FY22, it added 20 new Domino’s stores. Was the management correct in anchoring its future success on new physical retail outlets? Was there a need to revisit the strategy?

The case has been written with the objective of enabling the students to understand the dynamics of a rapidly changing emerging market. It is structured for use at a Master’s level course and an MBA audience in the subject of Business Strategy/Retail Strategy.

Teaching notes are available for educators only.

CSS 11: Strategy.

This case facilitates the learning of marketing concepts like segmentation, targetting and positioning, marketing mix, branding strategies and digital marketing strategies.

The case is written based on the facts available in the public domain and hence it follows secondary data research design. The secondary sources include company websites, industry reports, newspaper articles, social media sites and other online articles and reports. The case is classroom tested with MBA students in digital marketing course and PGDM students in brand management course.

Cycle Pure agarbathi, the leading brand of NR Group, became the coveted brand among the households of India. This success amidst high competition can be attributed to the concerted effort on product development coupled with mindful branding. To keep abreast of time and competition the company opted to go digital with an e-portal. Cycle Pure had a digital presence much earlier through social media, but the e-portal www.cycle.in, was a novel attempt. All the fragrance products of the brand were available for consumers through www.cycle.in. Moreover, the product assortment consisted of a collection of top-quality products and auxiliaries linked to multiple categories such as invocation necessities, personal care, air care and lifestyle. Furthermore, using in-house fragrance research lab, the company experimented with local aromas through numerous variants and also extended to related products such as sambrani (benzene) and dhoops. With consistent product augmentations along with access to innovative sectors such as air fresheners, the company expected to grow at a rate of 15%–16% annually. However, the company targeted to grab one-third share in the total market within the next five years.

This case can be used in Marketing Management, Brand Management, Digital marketing and Strategic Marketing courses at the Master’s level. It is suitable for MBA and executive MBA students.

This paper aims to explain the theory of stakeholder, value chain analysis and triple bottom line sustainability approach.

The present case was developed from both primary and secondary data sources. The primary sources included visits to Global Enterprises and collected data through a structured interview. The secondary sources included enterprise annual reports and websites.

This case presents the innovative approach adopted by a for-profit social enterprise, utilizing locally available resources, changed products and an improved business model to deliver the desired social impact. It highlights the challenges social entrepreneurs face and how the people at the grass-root level are uplifted through the success of a social entrepreneurial venture. The case study is based on an interview conducted with the founder and managing director of Global Enterprises and other stakeholders (farmers, women artisans and employees). An interview schedule was used for conducting the interviews. The researchers tried to understand the business model deployed, stakeholders involved, challenges faced, competencies needed and strategic decisions made by the social entrepreneur that helped the enterprise become sustainable. The social problems identified by the entrepreneur include unavailability of quality raw material at a reasonable price on time; financial scarcity and massive dependence on non-institutional financial sources; lack of product development, market research and production; and the high price of handmade products compared to factory-made products. The case explains how the entrepreneur addressed the problems of cotton farmers, women artisans and local youths through his enterprise. The case also explains how he could make a social venture sustainable in the long run.

This case targets graduate-level students and is designed to be taught in Entrepreneurship, Social entrepreneurship, Rural entrepreneurship, Business administration and Entrepreneurship development. It can also be used for other programmes, where problem identification, opportunity recognition, stakeholder analysis and porter's value chain analysis are taught.

This case was created based on secondary sources available in the public domain (i.e. news articles). This case has been taught in an undergraduate course of principles of management under the chapter on ethics.

When the COVID-19 pandemic broke out, people panicked and rushed to purchase essential products such as hand sanitizers, antibacterial soaps, disinfectant wipes and face masks. The images of a panicked public inspired the brothers Matt and Noah Colvin who amassed and hoarded stockpiles of these essential products to make immense profit. They claimed that their trade approach was legitimate. Yet by an ironic twist of fate, their unorthodox acts were revealed in the media and consequences came in threes: the public vilified the hoarders, the online marketplaces kicked them out and the authorities opened an investigation about alleged price-gouging practices.

This case study may be used in classroom discussions on the concepts of hoarding and price gouging in the following academic programs: bachelor’s in business administration, master of science in business administration and MBA programs. This case study may be used in the following academic courses: ethics in business, responsible management, fundamental of management and organizational behavior.

Ethnographic interview/observation; analysis of public data; literature review.

As of 2020, camping was growing in popularity among new and experienced travelers. The growth of the outdoor accommodation type led to for-profit and nonprofit campgrounds operating at or near capacity during peak season. Camping Coast-To-Coast (CCTC), a for-profit camping business that managed approximately 500 campgrounds in the USA, was struggling to meet growth objectives because they too were operating at or near capacity at most of their campgrounds. This case analyzes a newly proposed strategy: developing glamping campgrounds (i.e. glampgrounds) near CCTC’s existing traditional campgrounds. Glamping is a luxurious form of camping characterized by modern amenities and services. The chief executive officer (CEO) was not only able to identify several opportunities that would support a recommended pilot glampground but also identified several threats and firm weaknesses that could deter travelers from paying premium prices for luxurious glampground accommodations. The CEO was left wondering: should I recommend a new glampground development to investors and board members at an upcoming annual meeting or not?

The case was developed with two purposes in mind: to be taught in an outdoor tourism management course (junior level) and to be used for association to advance collegiate schools of business master of business administration accreditation to measure four learning objectives: decision-making, problem-solving, application of business frameworks and writing. Thus, this case is optimal for upper-level undergraduate or graduate management and tourism courses including principles of management, strategic management and tourism management.

The case proposes a discussion of the time value of money and capital budgeting concepts, including determining the effective overall cost of capital, estimating working capital requirements, consideration of all relevant cash flows – including opportunity costs, finding the present value of future cash flows (annuities and lump-sum cash flows) by linking the concepts of weighted average cost of capital and working capital and net present value (NPV) and internal rate of return (IRR).

Jehan Wadia, a newly appointed finance manager of Tembo Global Industries Ltd., is facing a dilemma in recommending an investment decision to Mr Variava, Chief Finance Officer. Implementation of the project requires an investment of INR 82m. Ms Stella, funding division head, proposed financing through equity and term loans in the proportion of 3:2, respectively. Mr Shrinivasan, handling the short-term financial needs of the firm, suggested a finance mix having a higher weight-age of debt. Mr Variava desires to maximize the wealth by taping the opportunity. The case is written for an experience in the capital budgeting dichotomy faced by managers in real-life situations.

This case can be used in various contexts – as a preparatory case in a foundation course of Financial Management at the graduate level to instill the fundamentals for evaluating long-term investment decisions or in courses of Strategic Financial Management or Corporate Finance at the undergraduate or graduate level as a capstone case to reinforce the application of multiple concepts in strategic financial decision making.

This case offers the students to see the impact business ethics concepts, including corporate social responsibility, ethical obligation, ethical strategy, alienation, corporate activism, sociopolitical activism, symbolism, transparency, integrity, decoupled organization, opportunism, moral muteness or moral exclusion, etc. Through the student’s own ethical sensitivity, they can then make an informed decision grounded in fundamental ethical theories such as Utilitarianism, Kantianism, Ethics of Care, Virtue Theory, Confucianism, etc.

Data for this case has been gathered entirely from publicly available secondary sources, including online resources, mainstream media reports, biased (opinion-based) media outlets, social media statements from all stakeholder groups (students, business, university) and meeting minutes from campus organizations. None of the named individuals nor entities, in this case, have ever been contacted by the authors.

In Fall 2020, Boise State University contracted a locally owned and operated coffee shop to open a location on-campus. The shop owner was engaged to a police officer who had been permanently injured in an altercation with a dangerous fugitive. For his sacrifice, this police officer was awarded the Medal of Honor from the City of Boise. To support her fiancé, the coffee shop owner displayed a Thin Blue Line flag on the front door of her off-campus location. Students heard of this display and began to voice their objections through administrative and social media channels. The business countered back at claims that they supported racism and ultimately asked to be released from their contract with the university. They closed their on-campus business, having operated the location for less than two months. Media representation of this case created a vocal response both from those who support the business’ use of this imagery and those who support the student’s decision to boycott this business on ethical grounds.

Business ethics: 300–400 level; Business strategy: 300–400 level.

Ethic code moral and ethic dilemma.

The case study is based on a series of in-depth interviews carried out with the owners and directors. The data were complemented by documentary analysis, including descriptions of internal processes, and industry information. The teaching note opted for an exploratory study using the open-ended approach of grounded theory.It is important to mention to the students that although the names of the characters and the company were modified for confidentiality reasons, the case actually happened.

Roberto Rodarte, an employee of Internet Architects Interactive, won a luxury car in a raffle from the hotel where he was staying in a business trip. Roberto decided to keep the car and did not inform the company of what had happened.The company did not have any established policies for these situations. Manuel de la Torre, a partner, thought that it would be fair if either Roberto give the car to the company Roberto, thought that the car belonged to him.The company decided to fire him. What could be done to avoid similar situations arising in the future?

The case can be used by administrative program students and Master of Business Administration students in courses such as management, good management practices, human resources, leadership and business ethics.

To evaluate Thomas Cook’s financial condition, students deploy financial analysis techniques including comparative analysis. The role of financial reporting in impressions management is considered in two respects: firstly, the use of separately disclosed items by companies; and secondly, the treatment of goodwill on acquisition.

The case draws on a range of public data from Annual Reports and secondary sources including the Department of Business Energy and Industrial Strategy investigation into the failure of Thomas Cook.

Thomas Cook Group plc’s (Thomas Cook) was one of the oldest travel firms, yet its apparently sudden failure on 23 September 2019 left 600,000 holidaymakers stranded and sparked the largest ever peacetime repatriation of British citizens at cost of £83m to the Department of Transport. Around 9,000 employees who had expected to be paid on 30 September were left unpaid.Could CEO Peter Frankhauser have addressed the challenges faced by Thomas Cook more effectively during his tenure or was the company locked into a flightpath to failure? The case highlights the importance of context when performing financial analysis and encourages students to evaluate the challenges posed by the current standards related to accounting for goodwill and corporate reporting of underlying performance.

This case can be used in undergraduate financial reporting and current issues in accounting courses/modules at the postgraduate level.

This case uses agency theory and decision usefulness approach to justify whether the change in accounting standard from IAS 17 Leases to IFRS 16 Leases favourably or adversely affects AirAsia’s financial reporting.

This case was written based on secondary data contained in industry reports, company annual reports, company websites, news reports and accounting standards. The case has been classroom-tested with undergraduate students taking advanced financial accounting and reporting module.

AirAsia Group Berhad (AirAsia), a Malaysian multinational low-cost carrier, was required to adopt IFRS 16 Leases (equivalent to MFRS 16 Leases), effective from 1 January 2019. The new standard, superseding IAS 17 Leases, was expected to provide investors and creditors with a richer insight into AirAsia’s leasing transactions and financial situations. In view of AirAsia having a substantial fleet of leased aircraft, the adoption of IFRS 16 Leases would change the way AirAsia had to report its borrowings which could subsequently have an impact on its bottom line. Thus, this case requires students to examine the financial implications of adopting IFRS 16 Leases by AirAsia and to determine whether the change in accounting standard favourably or adversely affects AirAsia’s financial reporting.

This case is intended for use in intermediate and advanced financial accounting and reporting modules at the undergraduate level.

Prepared based on Secondary Sources of Published Information.

Mondelez International launched Cadbury Plant Bar in UK in 2021. It was a plant-based chocolate made using almond milk as a substitute to the conventional product to target vegan consumers. The Indian subsidiary of Mondelez International, always known for its various dairy-based products, had many sub-brands in chocolates and related categories, which were targeted at children and adults effectively. Though the company had been the market leader for about 60 years, it was yet to plan for the launch of any vegan products in the country. However, there were several new marketers who had proactively launched their respective vegan products in India, whereas large companies like Mondelez were shying away from plunging into this game. This case explores the market available for Cadbury Plant Bar in India and whether Mondelez can introduce a similar version in India.

The case is suitable for use in the Marketing Management course of MBA programmes. It can also be used in elective courses related to Brand Management and Integrated Marketing Communication.

The case has the following learning objectives: to assess the importance of the business environment, its impact on the organization and how the organization responds to the changes in the business environment; to apply the resource-based view of the organization and resource dependence theory; and to apply and analyze the organization’s strategic initiatives within the framework of the political, economic, social and technological analysis model, Porter’s five forces of business analysis and to make recommendations based on the above analysis.

The paradigm shift in technology has an impact on business. With 155,015 Post Offices, India Post has the most widely distributed postal network in the world. This case captures the journey of India Post from inception to its current form. Over its life, the organization has evolved because of multiple changes. But the recent changes have threatened to disrupt the organization. These changes have been induced by three major forces: technology, the rise of competition, especially foreign players, and social changes in urban and rural India because of changing consumption patterns as incomes rise and online retail grows. The organization has reacted to this threat by leveraging its resources to offer new products according to customer tastes by entering more unique industries and product categories. They have started logistics services in association with Indian railways and started offering retail services such as bill collection and college application forms. Also, they have created a financial division, “Payment Bank.” Thus, they have evolved from being a single entity of postal-related services to various services. The case poses a dilemma if these product diversifications are thriving as the organization’s product portfolio has diversified, given its existing capabilities and ability to create newer capabilities, particularly the payment bank.

The case is ideally suited for the discussion of resource-based view of the firm in the subject strategic management and organizational theory. The case can be used to discuss resource dependence theory as well. It is equally well suited to discuss the impact of environment in business in the subject organization theory and the impact of technology on change in the subject organizational change. The case is meant for MBA. The case can be used for executive audience as well.

Teaching notes are available for educators only.

CSS 11: Strategy.

The aim of this study is to make students understand the significance of strategy formulation and the impact of internal and external factors on the strategy adopted by the firm. Upon the completion of this case study, the students will be able to achieve the following: • map out relevant macro-environment strategical factors of an organization; • assessing organizations industry and competitive environment; • outline strategic group maps to assess positions of key competitors; • develop issues priority matrices; • testing competitive power of resources; and • identifying an organizations internal strengths and external threats.

Across the globe, the COVID-19 pandemic left few organizations untouched and many entrepreneurs fighting to stay afloat. Here we look at the survival dilemma faced by the founder of Little Birds Kindergarten, in Doha, Qatar. Founded by a local Qatari businesswoman, the kindergarten offered a British-style curriculum and an Early Years Foundation Stage structure; with her profound passion for technology, the founder (here called Fatma) has always believed that integrating technology into a child’s early learning opens the door to limitless opportunities and potential. Therefore, she ensured that the kindergarten consistently invested in advanced educational technology and the accompanying software. Yet, while the reputation of Little Birds Kindergarten stayed high, the COVID-19 pandemic stunted the growth in enrolments. Fatma stopped paying herself a salary and even drew on her own savings to keep the kindergarten going but it still did not earn enough to compensate for her initial investment. So, despite her passionate concern for the kindergarten, she worried about being unable to keep it afloat for much longer. The purpose of this case study is to shed light on the strategic posture, performance and market position of one kindergarten. From there, it surveys the opportunities in the education industry that are unique to student enrolment and highlights what a kindergarten can do to develop a survival strategy.

The case is suitable for teaching basic and advanced courses at the undergraduate and post-graduate levels.

Teaching notes are available for educators only.

CSS 11: Strategy.

The learning outcomes are as follows: to assess the competitive position of a small business-to-business (B2B) company to remain competitive in a developing country; to identify and shape the business opportunity that represents serving small and medium enterprises that would lead to competitive positioning in the B2B environment; and to compare innovation and commercialization projects through strategic dimensions related to managing a technology company in a way that fosters business profitability and growth.

Margarita Kaplun, founder and CEO of Kapter, a small company providing country-wide technical and consultant services on thermography to industrial hubs in Mexico, had positioned the company as a reputed provider. However, the company had experienced razor-thin margins. Margarita needs to decide whether they pursue the following grant to fund a project on technology development that will source the competitive position or pursue a commercial project that help them achieve a larger customer base to reap higher income.

The case is oriented for an undergraduate audience, attending entrepreneurship, innovation and industrial organization courses. It depicts issues of technology-based entrepreneurship and is suitable for students in business, management and engineering.

Teaching notes are available for educators only.

CSS 11: Strategy.

Students are expected to integrate decision-making tools and frameworks to create decisions under uncertainty. Students are expected to understand the general business process of fuel retail industry.

PT. Pertamina Retail (PTPR) is a subsidiary of PT. Pertamina, an Indonesian state-owned oil and natural gas company. In the first quarter of 2020, PTPR’s sales volume decreased due to the COVID-19 pandemic’s large-scale social restrictions. Iin Febrian was just appointed as President Director in March 2020; he must formulate a survival strategy facing COVID-19 pandemic uncertainties. The case elaborates on PTPR’s decision to expand immediately or hold. Scenarios and expected values have been given to simplifying the calculation of a decision tree. The case also challenges students to think critically on providing a strategy to survive during the COVID-19 pandemic and beyond using decision tree analysis and BCG Matrix or Ansoff Matrix.

BA level and MBA program in Decision Analysis Course or Strategic Management Course.

Teaching notes are available for educators only.

CSS 11: Strategy.

This paper aims to first, identify the external and internal factors that a company needs to analyze when formulating its digital platform strategy. Based on the framework of PESTNPG (political economic social and culture technological population and globalization) and internal analysis a company should analyze both internal and external factors to formulate its digital platform strategy. For companies from emerging markets the institutional-based market created by national or local governments is important for digital platform strategy. Second dynamic capability theory and its linkages to digital platform strategy. The dynamic capabilities view is considered as a primary theoretical lens in the strategy literature to analyze a company’s strategies to achieve sustainable competitive advantages. To carry out a successful digital platform strategy companies need to build strong dynamic capabilities to capture or create opportunities and reconfigure their resources simultaneously. Third the advantages and disadvantages of different digital platform strategies (i.e. an independent digital platform and online–offline integration platform) and the possible consequences and risks of different strategies. It is important to evaluate different types of digital platform strategies that require different capabilities in terms of business structure product structure revenue structure organizational structure and technology architecture. A company needs to link these capabilities to a digital platform strategy to enable the integration (or separation) of online business with offline business. It also increases the accuracy and efficiency of online business. Fourth key points of digital platform strategy implementation. Companies need to identify key profit models for their digital platform to promote business growth and financial returns. It is equally important to increase customer value by leveraging its digital exhibition platform and to learn to use digital technology to foster organizational dematerialization.

Zhejiang Meorient Commerce & Exhibition Inc. (hereinafter referred to as “Meorient”) was a leading company in the exhibition industry in China. The unexpected outbreak of COVID-19 plunged Meorient into a state of emergency that forced it to fight for survival. Further, China had launched a national strategy of Digital China, which created new market opportunities for Meorient. As a result, Meorient gradually developed and launched its digital exhibition services in 2015. Meorient suffered significant losses in 2020 due to COVID-19 and had to formulate a new strategy based on a digital exhibition platform in 2021. Chairman Pan Jianjun had two options. One was a purely digital platform strategy without the original offline exhibition business. The other one was an online and offline integration strategy. Which option was the best way forward for Meorient? Pan had to make a choice. Some of the top management team members believed Meorient should completely transform into a digital platform company and provide comprehensive online digital exhibition services. Over the previous 20 years, Meorient had accumulated a large amount of data from domestic and foreign exhibitors and professional buyers and had gradually developed a digital exhibition platform. It was one of the companies that pioneered digital transformation within China’s exhibition industry. More conservative thinking held that Meorient's strategy should focus more narrowly on the integration of online and offline exhibition businesses. Toward the post-pandemic era, China’s national strategy of “Digital China” accelerated the development of digital infrastructures. During such critical transitional period, Meorient had to choose wisely if it was to sustain its profits or even survive.

The case is aimed at students in undergraduate, MBA, short course executive, EMBA or other executive education programs, especially where digital transformation is featured subject matter.

Teaching notes are available for educators only.

CSS 11: Strategy

After completing the case, students will be able to understand the reasons for the lack of successful strategy implementation in companies, especially engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) and general contractors in Iran’s oil, gas and petrochemical industry; understand the importance of alignment as an organization capital in successful strategy implementation and familiarize themselves with assessing the alignment readiness of companies; understand the importance of leadership as an organization capital in successful strategy implementation, comprehend one of the most essential theories of leadership in the world of management and familiarize themselves with assessing leadership readiness using this theory; and understand the importance of leadership as an organization capital in successful strategy implementation, comprehend one of the most essential models of organizational culture in the world of management and understand how to assess the readiness of organizational culture in companies.

This case discusses the reasons for strategy implementation failure at PetroSahand International Group, one of the most prominent EPC and general contractors in the oil, gas and petrochemical industry in Iran. This case also examines organization capitals such as alignment, leadership and organizational culture, the three most important factors for the successful implementation of strategies, at this company. PetroSahand is an international, project-oriented company that has been able to successfully complete more than 100 large domestic and international projects during its four decades of activity. However, the company is currently facing many difficulties such as overdue debts and projects.

The target audience of this case are graduates and undergraduates in the courses of Strategic Planning, Strategic Management, Strategy Implementation, Strategy in Action and Change Management. Additionally, this case study can be useful for senior managers of companies and can help in the successful implementation of strategies as well as improving their company’s alignment, leadership and organizational culture.

Teaching Notes are available for educators only.

CSS 11: Strategy.

The case dwells with the following theoretical concepts: Appreciate the different need dimensions required to motivate different employee types based on need theory (Alderfer, 1969). Identify the functional needs as per Maslow’s need hierarchy (Hall & Naougaim, 1968) for the permanent and contractual workers. Outline why only hygiene factors are insufficient to arrest worker absenteeism during a pandemic like COVID-19. Apply need theory and “Herzberg’s two-factor theory” (Herzberg, 1966; Herzberg et al., 1957) to enumerate the measures that need to be implemented to build supply chain resilience by reducing absenteeism by motivating employees.

The case is based on primary research carried out by the authors at Alkem Laboratories Ltd., Sikkim unit in India, during the COVID-19 pandemic that hit the company leading to high absenteeism of contractual workers.

Alkem Laboratories Ltd. is a leading pharma major from India with a global footprint. At the break of COVID-19 pandemic, the manufacturing unit of the company at Sikkim is facing the scare of mass absenteeism, especially among the contractual workers who account for 60% of the workforce of the unit. Ashok Priyadarshi (Vice President, Human Resources) and his team along with the think tank of the unit have to find a solution to the problem at hand. What shall be the measures that the think tank will propose? The team sets out to find an answer to these questions so that Alkem could seize the business opportunity at the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic.

The case is suitable for undergraduate- and graduate-level courses in organizational behavior, organizational change and development and supply chain risk management. The case can also be positioned for executive education and training modules in companies on employee motivation and commitment.

This case was developed from both secondary and primary sources. The secondary sources include the company’s website and social media, social media sites and PR news reports. Primary sources include in-depth interviews with Nafigate Cosmetics executives. This case was classroom-tested with graduate students in an International Marketing course in Autumn 2021 and Spring 2022.

Nafigate Corporation is a small Czech company with a global presence and a solid organizational philosophy to create a better world through scientific knowledge and active use of technology. With innovative new products, Nafigate is poised to revolutionize the cosmetics industry. The case explores elements of branding, strategic decision-making and how to balance competing priorities during a company’s growth phase.

This case was written for use in International Marketing classes at the graduate level. In addition, the case could be used in International Marketing Communication courses and in CSR subjects. Students are encouraged to discuss building a competitive advantage, portfolio decisions in terms of brand differentiation, branding strategies, and most importantly, understand the complexity of the business decision-making process.

Later in the discussion, the options for long run strategy in dealing with a possible takeover offer and other strategic options can be discussed by the class. Lack of familiarity by students with the role of the outside potential acquirer of the camp (in this case, a hotel chain) and the lack of familiarity with the role of an investor who is a family investor, who may wish to sell stock and use the proceeds for another purpose, or a small investor who invests because he or she uses the camp and takes advantage of the stockholder’s discount will probably preclude role playing, except in executive MBA classes where students have sufficient experience in possible takeover situations or in investment management, Emphasis should probably be placed on discussing the major issues, such as social and cultural issues and on marketing and public relations issues and on financial issues, including the options available in the event of a possible takeover effort. All of these issues are impacted fully by the COVID-19 pandemic.

Instructors will need to play an active role in teaching this case. It is recommended that the instructor give a short lecture or discussion at the beginning as to how a camp such as Camp Teddy functions. The authors recommend that the instructor then begin the case discussion by asking students questions about such issues as social and cultural issues and marketing and public relations issues.

Camp Teddy is a seasonal camp for families in rural Connecticut adjacent to New York City and suburbs in New York and Connecticut. It is technically a for-profit organization but operates more like a nonprofit organization because many of the campers own shares and have used the camp sometimes for several generations. The camp has traditions that are liked by many of the shareholders and campers. Although net income has increased in the past year, there does not seem to be enough funds to support necessary capital expenditures to improve facilities for the future. The largest stockholder has recently died. His immediate heirs’ control 300 of the 1,000 shares and other family members control 400 shares with the remaining 300 shares in the hands of small shareholders, many of whom use the camp each summer. A large hotel chain is interested in possibly acquiring the camp through a buyout or perhaps a hostile takeover, with a potential large gain to shareholders. The board of directors must consider a number of issues to insure good occupancy of the camp in the future and must decide what to do about a potential takeover attempt.

This case can be used in several courses, including investment management, hospitality management, corporate finance and business strategy. There are ethical and societal issues in the case, so that the case might also be used in courses looking at business, environment or business ethics. The case is best used at the graduate level, but it might be suitable for some advanced undergraduate courses.

The novelty of this case is the multidisciplinary focus where the aspects of entrepreneurship, marketing strategy and finance are mixed together. Students are expected to apply their knowledge of Business Model Canvas and Marketing 4.0, as well as learn about the new type of entrepreneurial finance such as crowdfunding. The setting of this case is novel too – the new quest games industry in Russia. Finally, the novelty of this case is its format where the protagonists’ interview is available as a podcast, and thus, the students will need to review only the tables and the appendices.

This decision case was field researched by the authors who interviewed the founders of this start-up and the business incubator (BI) director. No information was disguised in any way. Also, the secondary research on the main trends in the development of the international and Russian quest markets was completed by the authors in the preparation of this case.

Paranoiabox.ru case presents an entrepreneurial and strategic marketing decision situation. In May 2019, in Moscow, Russia, two young residents of the MGIMO University BI, Anastasia and Max, founded the start-up business called Paranoiabox.ru. This project was a quest in a new format with home delivery: a mixture of escape, detective and board game. The player received by post a box containing various objects. Interacting with them, he/she unraveled the plot thread, found clues and gradually approached the final clue. The game with complex copyright puzzles had a built-in hint system and provided mechanisms for interaction online. By July 2019, 30 boxes for their first quest were sold. The subscribers were waiting for a new quest. Despite the first sales, Anastasia and Max had no budget for hiring freelancers or outsourcing. They were faced with an urgent and challenging dilemma: whether to concentrate on the current product sales and spend all the budget on promotion or, alternatively, to launch a series of new quests and focus on the target market with high brand awareness. There was an additional funding dilemma: should they apply for crowdfunding?

This case is a multidisciplinary case with the aspects of entrepreneurship, marketing strategy and finance. This case is intended primarily for a course in entrepreneurship at the undergraduate or graduate level. This case is also ideal to be used as a capstone project in a degree programme for entrepreneurs.

The purpose of this paper is to provide a medium for in-class discussions on trade-offs in investments in different marketing activities.

This case used both secondary and primary sources. An examination of the marketing academic literature on corporate social responsibility and news articles were the main sources of secondary sources. An in-depth interview with Mike Maughan, initiator of the 5 For The Fight campaign and Qualtrics’ Head of Brand Growth and Global Insights provided additional information and support for the case. The interview offered strategic insights from the initiator of 5 For The Fight that were unavailable through secondary sources alone. The interview also detailed insights into the strategic thinking of Qualtrics CEO, Ryan Smith and Jazz President, Steve Starks.

This case examines Qualtrics, a company that took an unprecedented approach to social responsibility. Qualtrics paid millions of dollars and provided significant promotional and administrative support for cancer research without directly identifying itself as the sponsor on the Utah Jazz National Basketball Association jersey patch.

This case is suitable for undergraduate and graduate courses in marketing, management and strategy. This case would also be of interest in a sports marketing course, as it includes an initiative by the National Basketball Association. Moreover, this case will be valuable for courses that include advanced discussions on corporate social responsibility. The case can also provide invaluable insights into innovative strategic planning for marketing and management practitioners. A portion of this case has been tested in a few undergraduate marketing courses.

The case study is based on field research and also on secondary data. A primary survey is included in the case study. Simple frequency and factor analysis as statistical tools have been used.

Family businesses, like that of Kiran Rai’s, owning a local Mom and Pop store in an emerging city were faced with a serious problem of sustaining their businesses. These family businesses countered immense competition from: their own types, i.e. from other local Mom and Pop stores within the same cities; online stores; and the organised stores.The choice of the customers to buy goods from the neighbourhood shops has remained largely as an age-old tradition in the households. With the millennials and the Generation Z (Gen Z) exposed to an array of brands, can they become the first choice of young customers for shopping for all kinds of products and varieties? Can the local Mom and Pop stores spread their wings across the young generations, particularly the Millennials and Gen Z through inexpensive social media channels? What are their growth options? How can the social media serve this purpose? The case uses the social cognition theory and the use gratification theory to throw light on the new concept of Social Shopping.

The case is meant to be discussed in courses like Fundamentals of Marketing, Digital Marketing and Retail Marketing in a 90-min session in the Post Graduate as well as in the Working Executives’ Management programmes. The case analysis will expose the students to the use of social media and its benefits to the small businesses. The students will also be able to analyse and understand the different types of Online Consumers’ Shopping Personalities. This would enable them to strategize for different stages in the decision-making processes.

The theoretical basis of the teaching note is grounded in theory associated with macroeconomics and foreign direct investment (FDI); in particular why FDI is important to a developing country.

A secondary research methodology was used for the research and writing of this case study. Data (news articles and relevant readings) was obtained via the internet.

The case highlights the interrelated factors (civil society infrastructure, local and political unrest and community instability) that led to global mining company Rio Tinto announcing the halt of its operations and force majeure at its only South African business, Richards Bay Minerals (RBM). RBM was the largest business and employer in the province. Following the destruction of some of its equipment, civil unrest such as blocking of roads and intimidation of staff and the murder of one of their executives, Nico Swart, RBM management consequently announced all supplier contracts and operations would be halted until it was safe for work to be resumed.The case allows students to consider the interrelated factors that multinationals operating in developing countries are subject to in terms of different sub-national institutions and the potential impact of a large multinational ceasing operations in a local economy, both directly and indirectly. It concludes with considerations of what needs to be in place for RBM to continue operations.

This case can be used in undergraduate- and graduate-level courses, in management development programs or in short executive education courses focusing on the environment of business, macroeconomics and FDI.

The learning outcomes of this study are as follows: use advanced frameworks and tools to convey complex ideas related to corporate social responsibility and ethics; apply relevant concepts and theories of ethics and corporate governance to a practical situation while making decisions; demonstrate understanding of the importance of stakeholders when developing socially responsible thinking; and analyze ethical and legal conflicts that need to be considered by employees in situations of whistleblowing.

Sara Khan was a Pakistani-American who had moved to Dubai in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) in 2015 to pursue her Bachelor’s degree in accounting. After graduation, she started working for a baked products manufacturer, Dough Fresh, which was a business unit of Dubai-based Fresh Foods Co. Three years later, she enjoyed her work in the company that embraced strong ethical values and socially responsible practices. She was recently given the task of delivering a financial statements’, investment projections’ and cost-cutting presentation to the senior management of Dough Fresh. Her performance at completing this task was of critical importance for her obtaining the eagerly awaited promotion to the senior accountant position. One day, while Sara was looking through some files to update the financial statements’ records, she came across a deleted purchase order of poppy seeds that amounted to AED 680,000. While poppy seeds were widely used as ingredients in baked products in other countries, they were illegal in the UAE. After approaching her colleague from the purchasing department, she realized that the purchasing manager, who was the grandson of the chairman, was closely involved in the matter. Moreover, it appeared that poppy seeds were used unwashed, which triggered deleterious health consequences and made them highly dangerous to consume. As Sara spent more time researching about poppy seeds and whistleblowing laws in the UAE, she questioned whether she should divulge this information or keep it for herself. Making this decision was extremely challenging. Because the UAE laws regarding whistleblowing were not comprehensive and constantly evolving, she was not certain whether her identity and reputation would be protected in case she decided to blow the whistle. Even more, she worried immensely about the prospect of her colleagues losing their jobs if this information became public, as many of them needed the money to support their families back home and to finance expensive health-related treatments of their relatives. At the same time, she was also aware that if poppy seeds were consumed by people unknowingly, this could lead to serious and even fatal health consequences. All things considered, Sara was caught between deciding what was the right thing to do.

This case study can be used in a higher level undergraduate business course on Business Ethics and Corporate Social Responsibility.

Teaching notes are available for educators only.

CSS 11: Strategy.

The learning outcomes of this study are as follows: 1) identifying challenges confronting small businesses in emerging markets using the SWOT framework; 2) the application of the Porter’s five forces model in analysing industry dynamics for small businesses; and 3) evaluating business expansion decisions using the force field analysis framework.

Freshood Express Store was a convenience store owned and managed by Mr Cuthbert Tsikira. Freshood Express Store operated grocery convenience stores in partnership with a government-owned fuel retailer in Zimbabwe. It operated two grocery convenience stores in Harare and Bindura. Its business environment was a complex and highly competitive industry with large retailers such as OK supermarkets and TM-Pick n Pay. These large retailers enjoyed massive discounts from powerful suppliers, which enabled them to charge low prices in the market. However, Freshood Express Store, as a small business, sourced their stock from the same suppliers on a cash basis. The playing field was thus uneven. In early 2021, Freshood Express Store was offered two sites to open new establishments. These two sites were more than 200 km out of Harare, the major supplier hub for Freshood Express. In addition, large retailers had existing operations in the two proposed sites, thus adding serious competition. The dilemma confronting Mr Tsikira was as follows: Could he direct limited resources to existing establishments or new markets? He wanted a sound business analysis of the attractiveness of the proposed two markets before making a management decision to invest resources. The case focuses on the need to perform industry analysis before making strategic decisions. The use of the Porter’s five forces model and the force field analysis model to validate decisions after an industry analysis is the high point of the case.

This case study can be used to teach the environmental analysis topic in emerging markets in the small business management course.

Teaching notes are available for educators only.

CSS 11: Strategy.

At the end of this study, students should analyze the re-orientation of innovation music business model strategy to create a new market using the Blue Ocean Strategy of Sun-Eater Records Company. Furthermore, they should be able to implement the business model transformation in the music industry in this digital media era based on data and technological capability. Students should analyze the digital content strategy that is relatable and relevant to music customers/users through content creation. Finally, they need to create the content strategy applicable to promotion and marketing innovatively in the music business.

This study analyzes how a Jakarta-based independent music company, Sun Eater Records, changed its strategy in response to the Covid-19 pandemic. The adverse effect of the pandemic on this company included a massive drop in sales of products and revenues from tours, festivals and outdoor music performances. Music industry stakeholders were confused and frustrated because of the restriction and the implementation of the social distancing policy, as most of their business models depended on live music showcases and selling records. The protagonist of this study, Kukuh Rizal Arfianto, is the director and co-founder of Sun Eater Records. Kukuh’s experience during the pandemic is used to capture the dilemma faced by the music industry players in Indonesia. This agile businessman transformed this music company by embracing digitalization. Inspired by the business models of Disney and 88 Rising (Music Management), Sun Eater Records developed various derivatives digital products. The company did not only sell music through digital content, it also developed several complementary products with music as their main theme. These innovative creations include mini-documentary, virtual concerts, compilation albums serial, digital comics, and Covid-19 Campaigns. The company is quite active in leveraging digitalization to survive in this business compared to other industry players. This study provides communication and design students opportunities to analyze how to draft an effective content strategy in the industry, in this case, the music industry.

This case is designed mainly for Management, Innovation, and Digital Communication course at the Bachelor's level program.

Teaching notes are available for educators only.

CSS 11: Strategy.

This case enables students to understand the nature of a typical crisis and manage a crisis drawing insights from the protagonist handling of the crisis and from the various crisis management models in the literature. The rich description of the impact of COVID-19 pandemic on the world in this case enables students to understand the nature of a typical external crisis. The critical appraisal of the protagonist’s plans and actions to overcome the crisis enables students to appreciate the various crisis management frameworks or models. In addition, students get perspectives about the leadership skills and competencies required during a crisis. In this way, students will not only learn about the theoretical concepts related to the crisis but also the practical know-how to effectively handle the crisis.

This case study describes the functioning of the International Delhi Public School (IDPS) Akhnoor, Jammu, and Kashmir, India, through the COVID-19 global crisis. The IDPS academic operations were disrupted because of the COVID-19 global crisis in March 2020. The protagonist, KCS Mehta, the school principal of IDPS, faced with the crisis, takes various steps to ensure the smooth transition of school’s academic operations from the physical mode to the online mode. This case explains the nature of an external crisis that completely crippled the organization’s day-to-day operations and how the organization’s leader tried to manage the crisis to revitalize the organization’s operations. The case can be used for teaching of alternate Models of Crisis Management and Change Management.

The case is developed to teach the courses of Executive training programs and MBA programs in business schools.

Teaching notes are available for educators only.

CSS 11: Strategy.

The case will help learners to analyse how effective handling of an extended marketing mix of 7Ps (product, price, place, promotion, physical evidence, participants and processes) makes a startup profitable in its initial years of inception; understand the significance of the online marketing strategies like digital marketing and social media marketing implemented by firms to attain a competitive edge amongst established local and global competitors; examine the strategic challenges faced by a business enterprise while entering an emerging market; analyse the growth strategies of a startup relative to various market constraints; and propose long-term strategies for sustainable growth for a startup operating in the wearables market.

Founded in 2016, Boat Lifestyle is a Delhi-based Indian startup in fashionable consumer electronics. In the past five years, Boat earned remarkable profits and emerged as one of the most promising startups through its innovative products offerings and promotion. Aiming at its target customer segment, the millennials, it promoted its products through social media marketing such as influencer marketing and brand tie-ins with sports teams and music events. The case focuses on the dynamics of the Indian wearables market that is facing tough competition from global and local players. To ensure continued growth prospects, while maintaining a tight focus on product differentiation, quality, and customer satisfaction, there is a greater need for Boat to rethink its market development and growth strategies regarding new innovations and adopting long-term orientation like diversification and global expansion.

The case aims for teaching business management students at the Undergraduate, Postgraduate, and Executive education level. In addition, the case can be related to the Strategic Management course curriculum and Marketing course curriculum.

Teaching notes are available for educators only.

CSS 11: Strategy

The case study “Maruti Suzuki – toward cleaner mobility” has been written keeping in view the requirements in the field of strategic management. The key learning objectives are as follows:• Analysis of business environment.• Product development strategy – creating market segment to gain competitive advantage by leveraging available organizational capabilities.• Strategic decision-making – understanding strategic decision-making process in a complex and highly competitive business scenario.

Maruti Suzuki, a leader in Indian automotive market with around 50% market share in passenger cars, was likely to face intense competition because of disruption by electric vehicles. As electric vehicles adoption was increasing globally in developed countries, automotive companies shaped their strategy accordingly to stay relevant. Maruti Suzuki was yet to be ready with electric vehicles and approached this space differently than other competitors. However, with Indian Government pushing toward cleaner mobility, it was yet to be seen how the company would manage to comply with legislations and compete effectively in marketplace. Indian Auto major, Maruti Suzuki, was on the edge to decide future strategy on electric vehicles to sustain its leadership position. The Indian automotive sector was going through the transformation where auto original equipment manufacturers were bringing electric vehicles and supporting policies from government likely to accelerate its adoption. Maruti Suzuki was striving to counter the competition with available resources to create competitive advantage in changing environment and continue to remain profitable with leadership position in Indian automotive market. The company had successfully maintained its leading position over three decades and transformed the automotive space with its strategies ahead of the curve. Now the company was standing at crossroads with regard to future technology on cleaner mobility. Mr Bhargava had to decide whether to throw the hat in EV ring or wait for other alternate technology disruption.

Management studies and executive development programs.

Teaching notes are available for educators only.

CSS 11: Strategy

The SAVE framework introduced by Richard Ettenson, Eduardo Conrado and Jonathan Knowles can be used to address the problem of content saturation and to plan content strategies for the brand Nabhi Sutra. The framework focuses on the solution, access, value and education instead of the traditional four Ps of marketing.

The research methodology involved conducting structured interviews with the protagonist. The responses were recorded and analysed for the case development. The supplementary information was taken from the brand’s website “nabhisutra.com” and its Facebook and Instagram pages.

The case is classified in the category of a short case addressing the identification of the problem of content saturation and guidelines to avoid it. The case narrates the story of Nabhi Sutra, a health-care start-up that offers “Ayurveda” remedies in the form of oil to be applied to the navel to cure health issues. Ms Vakharia, the owner of Nabhi Sutra, mentioned that her social media posts and campaigns are not reaching the desired target audience.

The case can be used for teaching undergraduate, postgraduate as well as certificate and executive development programs to teach courses on digital marketing, content marketing and social media marketing to cover the concept of content saturation. The case can be of value addition to the entrepreneurship and digital marketing practitioners.

This study aims to use a variant from the family of discrete choice models, i.e. the logit model, to analyse the relationship between the Y dependent and X explanatory variables. This model addresses the linear probability model's main drawback by constraining the probabilities of the Y outcome between 0 and 1. The logit model also offers an extra advantage, in that it can provide odd ratio estimations.

This is a compact case written specifically to teach statistics, econometrics and research method. It has an accompanying data set for the case-users to do hands-on statistical analyses. The data set has been collected from a questionnaire survey from the students enrolled in Attitune, i.e. the music school that the case protagonist founded.

The case revolves around a relatively new music school, Attitune Music, established in July 2017 in the heart of the capital city of a northern state in Malaysia. Michael Lee Wei-Pin was the founder of Attitune Music Sdn. Bhd. He was also one of the four music instructors of Attitune Music. His speciality instruments were the guitar and the piano. The case opens with the case protagonist, Michael, pondering over Attitune’s performance in terms of its music students’ enrolment. Attitune faced a major challenge – its student enrolment had remained more or less constant since its establishment. Low and/or constant number of students could ultimately translate into stagnant or even worse, shrinking revenues for Attitune. To attract more students, Michael had been toying with the idea of injecting new elements into Attitune’s music lessons, something different from what other music schools were offering and that could be unique selling points for Attitune. With this in mind, Michael surveyed Attitune’s students to gather information that could help him gauge the potential and feasibility of his idea.

This case is well positioned to be perhaps the pioneer Malaysian teaching case to be written to teach courses in statistics, econometrics and research methods. The case can be easily adapted to teach at either the introductory or at an advanced level.

This case study is a compilation of data gathered from secondary data sources.

Roger Federer has won a record setting 20 grand slam titles in his career and has an impressive 103 ATP singles titles to his name. He has stood the test of time and is widely acknowledged as one of the most distinguished players of all times. His personal charisma, classic shot making abilities and consistent stylish on-court performance over a long period of time has created a brand – Roger Federer. Inevitably, as he will have to wind down his career, it would be challenging to brace the brand and identify ways for its endurance. Various models of brand management, namely, Brand Identity Prism and Customer-Based Brand Equity model, have been applied for the brand – Roger Federer. An analysis of brand-building practices can help to understand how sportspersons build brand equity and factors which characterize personal brands that develop in a professional arena. This case study also helps to dwell on how human brands will sustain themselves after the players retire.

This case is designed to teach the concepts of brand in courses such as brand management, marketing management and sports marketing to both undergraduate and postgraduate classes of business management. This case can also be used in various executive programs and in customized short-term courses.

The authors believe the theoretical foundations for this case study lie in the following two disciplines, primarily, but could be expanded to religion and organizational culture:i. Ethical decision-makingii. Cross-cultural competenceiii. Leadership

This is an actual case, and the fact pattern and timeline occurred as depicted. The first author is the protagonist, Lieutenant Colonel (LTC) Shawn Browning. The names of case characters have been disguised. The second and third authors are colleagues of the first author. This case was tested in three undergraduate organizational behavior and leadership classes at the United States Military Academy at West Point.

This disguised case follows US Army Officer LTC Shawn Browning, leader of a prominent US Army base located in Germany. As the commander of US Army Garrison Schweinfurt, LTC Browning was responsible for the health and welfare of 10,000 residents, including soldiers, family members and civilian employees. A community member lodged a complaint against a brothel named Haus One (a legal establishment under German law) located adjacent to the base and near family housing and the base elementary school. LTC Browning had the authority to render the brothel off-limits to US personnel, and he took the necessary steps prior to rendering a decision, including the appointment of a review board to investigate the situation and provide a recommendation. The board recommended not placing Haus One off-limits. The case focuses on LTC Browning’s values and his desire to ensure the welfare of his community while adhering to local legal and cultural norms. Cross-cultural and ethical issues surface throughout the case, which concludes with LTC Browning’s pondering of how to make a final decision.

The authors believe this is targeted at undergraduate students with some background in ethical decision-making, organizational culture and cross-cultural competence.

This case is based on using the fraud triangle, theoretical aspects like rationalization and motivation for understanding the financial pressures and corporate greed lead to accounting fraud. Building on the corporate governance’s weakness, the case explores the challenges and the changes that the company has to make to survive.

The case study has been entirely based on published resources. The case explores out the reasons why the companies commit accounting fraud using the motivations, financial pressures and the opportunities exploited due to a weak governance system.

The case deals with a RMB 2.2bn accounting fraud at Luckin Coffee Inc. (L.K.), a US-listed Chinese company, which led to a steep fall in its share price by more than 80% in April 2020. The company’s CEO had to resign in light of the accounting fraud, which involved fabricating the transactions in 2019, the same year it got listed on the NASDAQ stock exchange. The case is a classic example of greed, corporate ambition and flaws in the corporate governance that led to the fraud while framing a course of action for the company moving forward. The case allows the learners to dive deep into the facts to find out why the fraud happened and its repercussions for the company and its various stakeholders. The case can be useful in Accounting, Corporate governance or Ethics modules for both undergraduate and postgraduate students.

The case can be used for both postgraduate and undergraduate financial accounting or corporate governance modules or the executive development programmes explicitly dealing with ethical challenges and accounting fraud.

The primary focus of this case is on group dynamics, including group development, interpersonal conflicts, and team effectiveness. Appropriate theories and frameworks are drawn upon from the literature on group dynamics and conflict management to discuss and address these issues.

This case is completely based on real-life events and the information was attained from interviews with the case characters. Name of the organization and all characters in the case have been disguised.

This case deals with a student work group facing intragroup conflicts while pursuing Master of Business Administration (MBA) at a prominent Indian B school. Three members of the group approached Hemant Patel, Organizational Behavior Faculty, and Suhas Shah, Program Chair, for seeking help to resolve the conflict. Patel and Shah conducted interviews with group members and organized a workshop on group dynamics at the larger, class level. However, a few members informed them that dynamics were still poor. Patel and Shah are contemplating what to do next.

This case can be used in courses on organizational behavior, human resource management (with a focus on group and team performance) or general management (with a focus on group and team effectiveness). The primary focus of this case is on group dynamics and conflict management. This case was written keeping in mind graduate course/MBA students but it should do well with undergraduate students and executive education participants as well.

This case is underpinned by multiple motivational theories, including Maslow’s Hierarchy, Alderfer’s existence relatedness growth, equity theory, expectancy theory and Herzberg’s two-factor theory.

This data was gleaned from the protagonist and corporate documents. Names have been changed to conceal the identity of the firm and its employees.

Vivienne consistently earned high-performance ratings at her firm. She designed the internal firm university, a permanent learning program. She then noticed other employees being promoted based on her work. She was not offered a promotion, so she conducted a job analysis. Based on those findings, Vivienne decided to develop and present a retitling proposal for her promotion to a title better aligned with the level of work she performed. This case analyzes Vivienne’s organization, the firm university program, and her retitling proposal using management theories, human resources laws, and concepts, and it leads to an important career crossroads.

Undergraduate courses: organizational behavior and human resource management.

Transnational entrepreneurs (TEs) are individuals that migrate from one country to another, concurrently maintaining business-related linkages with their former country of origin and currently adopted countries and communities. TEs are active social actors who enact networks, ideas, information and practices for the purpose of seeking business opportunities or maintaining businesses within dual-social fields, which, in turn, force them to engage in varied strategies of action to promote their entrepreneurial activities (Drori, Honig & Wright, 2009). This case research focused on the ethic, legal and cultural challenges TE has been facing when operating their business across boards.

The data used in this case were collected from mainly third-parties, including the office de la protection du consommateur; Office of consumer protection (OPC), securities and exchange commission (SEC) reports, news as well as marketing materials posted on public media by Sinorama Corp. and Vacances Sinorama. The authors conducted interviews with former employees of Vacances Sinorama to gain the understanding of the owners and the business challenges faced during the years of operation. The authors also communicated with the OPC through to obtain specific case-related information through the Canadian freedom of information channels. Triangulation of such information from multiple resources had been conducted to validate and support the details described in the case content.

A Chinese immigrant couple migrated to Canada and started Vacances Sinorama Inc. (“Vacances Sinorama”) in 2005. The focus of this case is on the expansion of their travel businesses after 2015. In 2016, they established a financing shell company, Sinorama Corporation (“Sinorama Corp.”), in Florida, USA, which became the holding company to the operation subsidiaries. Born during the 1970s and raised in Mainland China, the owners were culturally traditional and operated the company with the values and norms from their heritage culture. Vacances Sinorama successfully penetrated the local tourism market using Web-based technology and aggressive low-pricing strategies after the scaling-up strategies. However, Vacances Sinorama was operating in the red for several consecutive years (2015–2018). Sinorama Corp. received additional capital of US$4.4m by listing a portion of its shares on the NASDAQ over-the-counter market during 2016 and 2017. Canadian regulators began to investigate its operational and financing activities in 2017. They found a comingling of client and operation funds, which directly violated Canadian consumer protection laws. As a result of these violations, the license for Vacances Sinorama was nonrenewed in August 2018. The majority of owners fought to overturn the regulators’ decision and failed at all levels of appeal, administrative and judicial. This entrepreneurial endeavor ended with Vacances Sinorama declaring bankruptcy in October of 2018.

This multipurpose teaching case aims to assist students from an integrated approach whom are learning about entrepreneurship, international business, business law and business ethics. It is best suited for advanced undergraduate courses in entrepreneurship, business ethics, international business and business law as well as specific teaching modules in MBA courses.

Discussion of the case will enable students to identify the cornerstones of industry development using simple frameworks like PESTLE and five forces that shape strategy. They will be able to identify critical success factors and evaluate how a firm gets competitive advantage. They will also be able to assess whether the advantage is sustainable for the firms and along which dimensions they have only competitive parity. The issues of contemporary firms growing through the use of network strategies is also highlighted and students will learn to appreciate the role of platforms and connectivity for gaining sustainable advantage.

This case describes the growth strategy of NoPaperForms, a start-up in the domain of enrolment automation for higher education in India. Naveen Goyal, the founder CEO sensed an opportunity in this growing industry segment and acquired it from the founder, Vishal Shah in 2017. The ultimate objective of an educational institute was to attract talent, Goyal evolved a comprehensive enrolment solution starting with the time a prospective student made an inquiry for enrolment till the time he/she paid for enrolment. It was a complete panel, bundled and packaged in a single system taking care of lead management, lead nurturing, application management, fee payment, post-application management and enrolment. He developed it into a unique blend of a customer relationship management (CRM), which was unique in the country. At this juncture, Goyal was exploring growth avenues. On the client side, he had the alternatives of focusing on the B2C segment or diversifying from B2B to B2C. Geographically, he had the options of expanding to tier II and tier III cities, which were the next growth hubs. The option of growing internationally was also on the cards. The purpose of the case is to analyse the opportunities in the education technology sector, specific to student enrolment and leverage the competencies of the firm to detail the future strategy of the firm.

The case can be used in a MBA program for a course in Strategic Management in the module of strategy formulation after fundamental concepts and theories of Strategic Management have been discussed.

Teaching notes are available for educators only.

CSS 11: Strategy.

This case is meant for MBA students as a part of their leadership/information technology and system curriculum. It is suitable for classes in both offline and online mode.

Human resources management/information technology and systems.

The case discusses how Poppy Gustafsson (Gustafsson) (she), Cofounder and Chief Executive Officer of Darktrace plc, one of the world’s largest cyber-AI companies, is reinventing enterprise security by using artificial intelligence (AI) to detect and respond to cyberthreats to businesses and protect the public. Darktrace’s technology leverages the principles of the human immune system to autonomously defend organizations from cyberattacks, insider threats and AI warfare. In addition to leading a cutting-edge cybersecurity company, Gustafsson evangelizes gender diversity at Darktrace where 40% of employees and four C-level executives are women, a number nearly unheard of in the tech sector.The case chronicles the journey of Gustafsson and how she led the company to growth and success. Under her leadership, Darktrace has grown into a market leader in the AI cybersecurity space serving 5,600 customers in 100 countries, as of June 2021. Gustafsson not only redefined the cybersecurity space but also inspired women to pursue a career in the field of cybersecurity. She also collaborated with a social enterprise called WISE to encourage more girls to consider STEM careers.However, along the way, she faced several challenges including growing competition, procuring funds from investors, cybersecurity talent shortage and training personnel. Going forward, some of the challenges before Gustafsson would be to meet the changing cyber protection demands of customers; hire, train and retain highly skilled cybersecurity personnel; beat the competition in a saturated cybersecurity services space; sustain revenue growth; and post profits as Darktrace had incurred losses every year since its inception.

This case is designed to enable students to: understand the issues and challenges women face in the field of cybersecurity; understand the qualities required for a woman leader to lead a technology firm; study the leadership and management style of Gustafsson; understand the importance of transformational leadership in management; understand the role of Gustafsson in Darktrace’s growth and success; analyze the traits that Gustafsson possesses as a tech leader in an emerging cybersecurity space; understand the importance of gender diversity in cybersecurity; and analyze the challenges faced by Gustafsson going forward and explore ways in which she can overcome them.

CSS: 11 Strategy.

MBA/MS/Executive Training.

Business and society; sustainability; women business leaders.

This case is about the development of sustainable viticulture in Israel. Michal Akerman, a viticulturist and agronomist, implemented out-of-the box ideas at Tabor Winery, Israel, and was successful in developing organic and sustainable vineyard. However, she faced challenges in terms of improving the quality of grapes as she looked forward to growing some of the best quality French grapes in Israel in the challenging conditions of the Negev desert region.

The expected learning outcomes are: to analyze the environmental impact of viticulture and sustainable viticulture through Tabor’s example, to examine how leaders can drive businesses to be involved in sustainable practices and challenges involved in implementing sustainable practices and to develop a framework for female leaders working in male-dominated business environments.

This case captures Michal Akerman’s (Michal) endeavours to develop organic and sustainable viticulture at Israel-based Tabor Winery. The traditional practices followed to grow the vineyards were proving adverse to the biodiversity. Unsustainable practices wiped out rare plants, and micro-organisms, which were essential for cultivation of grapes. The imbalance and unnatural ecosystem ultimately posed a threat to the very sustenance of the vineyards. As a seasoned viticulturist, Michal was of the view that a stable, diverse and balanced ecosystem prevented diseases among plants, and improved the quality of grapes.

Teaching Notes are available for educators only.

CSS 4: Environmental Management.

This case study discussion will enable students to: • Understand and evaluate the steel industry’s nature, opportunities, threats and challenges in an emerging market such as Bangladesh.• Review the techniques used to analyse competition and attractiveness of an industry using Porter’s five forces model. • Identify the corporate-level strategic decisions that can impact the survival and growth of a single business/product company in a highly competitive market. • Evaluate amongst different types of corporate-level growth strategies and their appropriate applications. • Synthesise various internal, industry and market-related information into the selection and justification of any particular corporate-level growth strategy.

BSRM group established Bangladesh’s first-ever steel mill in 1952. For around 70 years, BSRM had been leading the steel industry of Bangladesh with a single product – long steel. Over the recent decade (2010–2020), Bangladesh had been one of the world’'s fastest-growing economies. As the economic development was closely tied with the consumption of steel products, per capita steel consumption in Bangladesh became more than double. Moving from 24 kg in 2010, per capita steel consumption became 55 kg in 2021. Industry experts predicted the per capita steel consumption to be 75 kg by 2024, indicating an enormous scope for the steel industry to grow. Moreover, the industry’s growth momentum was predicted to continue until the nation became a developed one in 2041. This growth momentum kept attracting new competitors to this business. Nevertheless, BSRM maintained the market leadership by dint of its first mover’s advantage, superior quality, branding, innovation and large-scale operations and ultimately accumulated substantial free cash flow over the years. Now, Aameir Alihussain, the Managing Director and CEO of BSRM, was concerned about managing the growth of his business. Would BSRM continue to concentrate on producing steel and building forte by the backward and forward integration of the value chain? Or should the firm opt for some related diversification? Alternatively, was it the right time for BSRM to consider opportunities for unrelated diversification? While opportunities were many, the amount for investment was limited. Thus, Alihussain was in a dilemma pursuing the right corporate-level growth strategy for the overall sustainability of his business in the long run.

This case can be taught in the corporate-level strategy chapter of a core course on strategic management at the undergraduate programs. This case would facilitate students to comprehend the context of corporate-level strategies in managing the growth of a business in an emerging market.

Teaching Notes are available for educators only.

CSS 11: Strategy.

Womenomics is the idea that women’s economic development will lead to improving the economy as a whole

The case is a primary case. Gender equity is about treating men and women fairly, data for the case was collected through interviews with the protagonist Ms Kalpana Anand.

Although women are capable of writing their own destiny regardless of what they are and where they come from, Kalpana Anand, the Executive Director of Avaneetha Textiles, believes that education plays an essential role in empowering women. Accordingly she is determined to offer shop floor jobs to young underprivileged women aspiring dropouts that provides them an opportunity to learn while they earn. Established in the year 2004 in Coimbatore, Avaneetha Textiles is currently being managed by two sisters Uma (Managing Director) and Kalpana. Although this business model supports around 900 young women, not all have made the most of it. Only 25% of their employees benefitted from the “learn-while-you-earn” program promoted by the company. Kalpana realized that such a conduct would hinder the achievement of empowering women. Therefore, the challenge before her was to motivate more women to enroll for different courses and thereby improve the quality of their life.

Graduate or post-graduate level of courses in management, commerce, sociology, social work and related subjects.

During the COVID-19 pandemic micro-, small- and medium-sized businesses were hit hard. This was specially so in the restaurant business where physical lockdown and social distancing norms were challenging. Thus, small business performance was a concern (Akpan, Udoh, & Adebisi, 2020). This case study addressed this theoretical aspect. Zhang, Gerlowski, & Acs (2021) had highlighted the challenges of business continuance and enterprise sustenance, during the COVID-19 pandemic. This case study provided insights regarding how these aspects of business continuance and enterprise sustenance were addressed by “Café Tato”. Bhattacharyya and Thakre (2021) had deliberated regarding how firms through strategic initiatives and tactical responses were required to manage COVID-19 pandemic and economic lockdown. Café Tato case study was in line with these recommendations for firms. Barbieri et al. (2020) and Reardon et al. (2021) had outlined steps regarding maintaining business operations reliance given a business crisis situation like during the COVID-19 pandemic. Café Tato case study described this. Café Tato case study accommodated perspectives regarding business crisis situation, business continuance, enterprise sustenance, operations reliance, organizational strategic versus tactical initiatives and finally small business performance.

The teaching case study was written based upon primary data collected from the owners of Café Tato. Furthermore, secondary data was used for building the case.

Café Tato was the most popular and the oldest tea cafés in Goa, India. It had a presence in Panjim and Margaon in Goa. On 24 March 2020 India went into an economic and physical lockdown because of COVID-19 pandemic related crisis. One week down the line on 31 March 2020, Mr Pranav Dhuri (hereby referred as Pranav), one of the owners of Café Tato, was contemplating how to ensure business continuance once there was semi-normalcy restored. What would the initiatives that need to be undertaken was critical for success of Tato the legendary café in Goa was playing in the mind of Pranav.

This teaching case study could be used in the class for strategy planning and implementation in the course of strategic management. This case study could apply for teaching both bachelor’s and master’s students of business management. The case could also be taught to management students for helping them understand how small business firms, while confronting challenges of COVID-19, planned and implemented strategies in the course of strategic management. This study helped strategic management students understand the importance of organization culture in any business as it directly influenced the profitability and sustenance of business. The Dhuri family had all along laid stress on keeping the culture alive by taking various steps at critical times in improvising and maintaining the standards. The study also helped to understand the importance of good leadership and its direct impact on the employees in a crisis situation (COVID-19) work environment and ensure business sustenance.

The case focuses on the following theoretical basis: • conflict management and its resolution; • multiculturalism and workforce diversity through the lens of Hofstede model; and • the Policies, Legal, Universal, and Self model of ethical of building an ethical organization.

Field study with the leadership team as well as with the key talent (people).

Conflictorium, situated in Ahmedabad since 2013, is a museum which acknowledges and discusses conflict through various art forms. Since its inception, the museum has fostered values like diversity, transparency and care reflecting in how it deals with its people and finances. Now, as the museum plans to reach out to new audiences, it is confronted with a challenge to preserve its cherished values and still expand its activities.

This case study is intended for graduate and postgraduate management students.