Case studies

After working through the case and assignment questions, students will be able to understand the following: the functioning of the microfinance institutions (MFIs); how the importance of using information technology (IT) can generate a competitive edge; and how emergent technologies, business analytics play a significant role in the expansion of business by helping in decision-making and meet up the corporate social responsibility by ethical disposal of electronic waste.

Fusion Microfinance Private Limited is a start-up company with a vision to build a professionally managed MFI that can achieve a healthy amalgamation of social and financial sustainability. It is operational in the less penetrated North Central part of India spread across four states (Madhya Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Uttar Pradesh and Delhi). Fusion appreciated the importance of IT and gradually leveraged IT to help the automation of various functions. Fusion wants to further optimize the organizational outreach to its rural clients by integrating its core function with IT. IT facilitates its huge client network conveniently with the usage of IT. Fusion also aims further to reduce its carbon footprint, thus moving towards the goal of achieving environmental sustainability through IT.

Undergraduate- or graduate-level course on management information systems, environmental sustainability or emergent technologies.

Teaching Notes are available for educators only. Please contact your library to gain login details or email support@emeraldinsight.com to request teaching notes.

CSS 1: Accounting and Finance.

This case is based on Weatherford International’s settlement with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and the Department of Justice (DOJ). Both the SEC and the DOJ were critical of Weatherford for its violations of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act and for its “inadequate internal controls.” This case explores the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) violations and issues related to internal controls.

Case study.

This case is based on Weatherford International’s settlement with the SEC and the Department of Justice. Weatherford provided equipment and services in the oil and gas industry. Because international markets were growing faster than domestic markets, Weatherford made a strategic decision to pursue growth in international markets. The oil and gas industry has high levels of operating risk as did the countries that Weatherford decided to pursue operations in. However, despite the decision to take on additional risk, Weatherford failed to implement adequate systems of internal controls. The title of the case “A Perfect Storm” refers to Weatherford’s trifecta of operating in an industry with high levels of corruption risk, countries with high levels of corruption risk and failing to implement adequate internal controls despite those high operating risks (Department of Justice, 2013). Weatherford was ultimately assessed a $152m penalty for its violations of the FCPA that included bribery, volume discounts, improper payments and kickbacks.

Undergraduate and graduate auditing classes.

Poverty, business strategy and sustainable development. International development planning and poverty alleviation strategies have moved beyond centralised, top-down approaches and now emphasise decentralised, community-based approaches that incorporate actors from the community, government, non-governmental agencies and business. Collective action by Bottom of the Pyramid residents gives them greater control in self-managing environmental commons and addressing the problems of environmental degradation. Co-creation and engaging in deep dialogue with stakeholders offer significant potential for launching new businesses and generating mutual value. The case study rests on the tenets of corporate social responsibility. It serves as an example of corporate best practices towards ensuring environmental sustainability and community engagement for providing livelihood support and well-being. It illustrates the tool kit for building community-based adaptive capacities against climate change.

The field-based case study was prepared from inputs received from detailed interviews of company functionaries. Company documents were shared by the company and used with their permission. Secondary data was accessed from newspapers, journal articles available online and information from the company website.

The case study is about the coming together of several vital agencies working in forest and wildlife conservation, climate change adaptation planning for ecosystems and communities, social upliftment and corporate social responsibility in the Kanha Pench landscape of Madhya Pradesh in Central India. The case traces several challenges. First, the landscape is degrading rapidly; it requires urgent intervention to revive it. Second, the human inhabitants are strained with debilitating poverty. Third, the long-term sustainability of the species of tigers living in the protected tiger reserves of Kanha and Pench needs attention as human-animal conflicts rise.

The case would help undergraduate and postgraduate students studying sustainability and corporate social responsibility.

The learning outcomes are as follows: understand the mechanism of sourcing and allocation of funds in the Indian banking industry; compare financial indicators of Yes bank with the industry average and interpret the hidden stress; understand the role of NPAs in the banking industry and analyze Yes bank’s performance; and identify the possible red signals in the business model of Yes bank.

The case narrated the story of Yes bank which was considered as one of the most promising and rising banks of India. The stock of Yes bank had been the preferred investment choice for many investors because of its outstanding performance in almost all the important parameters of the industry since 2005. Since its inception, investors favored the stock with an assumption that this new generation bank had a unique as well as a sustainable banking model. However, after the year 2016, Reserve Bank of India (Indian central bank and banking regulator) found huge under-reporting of non-performing assets (NPAs) in the three (i.e. 2015–16, 2016–17 and 2018–19) out of its four annual regulatory inspections, casting doubt in the way Yes bank functioned. Risk and aggression seemed to be the two most important aspects of Yes bank’s culture and this case tried to narrate the same through various financial indicators. The ratio comparison with the industry average indicated the possible gray areas of Yes bank, which was once considered as the most promising bank of India. Unfortunately, even the change of guard at the helm of Yes bank did not change the fate of the bank.

MBA/PGDBA/Executive MBA.

Teaching Notes are available for educators only.

CSS 1: Accounting and Finance.

This case teaches participants to: identify evaluation feasibility criteria for project alternatives according to their typology (market, techniques, finances, environmental and social), starting from the analysis of the information available about them. Prepare a comparative project alternative evaluation table, applying good business analysis practices promoted by PMI® and other authors for selecting the most viable project option that will add the most value to the organization.

At the start of 2013, Acería Ecuatoriana, because of a million-dollar investment that had been started by its general manager, Pérez, increased its melting and steel production capacity from 100,000 tons per year to 220,000 tons per year. This implied a greater demand for industrial gases and require its main additional supplier to deliver. Demand increase caused Grupo Lindo Ecuador´s plant saturation, unit separation air 1. For this reason, Grupo Lindo Ecuador had to import considerable oxygen amounts and this increased its cost of production. This caused Cadena to seek the establishment of a strategic alliance with Acería Ecuatoriana, for the purpose of developing a project for gas production (oxygen, nitrogen and argon). In September of the same year, Nelson became interested but required to know the Grupo Lindo Ecuador project proposal before signing the strategic alliance.

The case is addressed to an audience made up of graduate students (graduation and Master’s Degree) who have managerial experience and would like to improve their project management empirical practices.

Teaching Notes are available for educators only.

CSS 9: Operations and logistics.

The learning outcomes are as follows: How to establish credibility of data sources; measurement scales of data; the importance of descriptive statistics and generating the following based on the type of data: mean, median and standard deviation; graphical methods; and test for differences: t-test and analysis of variance.

The case is set during the COVID-19 pandemic and the South African Government’s response to the pandemic. A brief timeline is provided as part of the introduction to the case study, with the following being a timeline of the events: 14 March 2020, 114 South African citizens were repatriated from Wuhan the epicentre of the COVID-19 outbreak; 15 March 2020, South Africa’s President, Cyril Ramaphosa declares a National State of Disaster, and this includes various measures to protect against the spread of COVID-19, while the health-care system is geared up to deal with the pandemic. Among the measures implemented, travel bans from high-risk countries and closing of air-traffic, closing of land ports and banning of gatherings of more than 100 people; 23 March 2020, President Cyril Ramaphosa announced a national lockdown beginning on 27 March 2020 for three weeks; 9 April 2020, President Ramaphosa extends the national lockdown by a further two weeks. The World Health Organisation (WHO) had commended South Africa on the swift action taken to curb the spread of the virus. Individuals and organisational leaders are grappling to make sense of the spread of the virus, and the barrage of the information that is being communicated through multiple channels, formal and informal. To make sense of the information, the case is premised on getting access to the raw data and conducting the analysis based on the publicly available data. The central requirement of the case is to compare the number of positive cases per million, based on the population data contained in the data set, of South Africa to a comparable country.

Post-graduate students learning statistics as part of a degree programme. The case assumes no prior statistics knowledge and therefore is aimed at teaching the importance of the basics of statistical analysis and then progressing to tests for differences.

CSS 7: Management Science

Teaching Notes are available for educators only.

The learning outcomes of this paper is as follows: understand the issues that faced private Egyptian textile producers following the January 2011 revolution and how that impacted their business model. Evaluate whether Dice’s inorganic expansion through acquiring Alex Clothing Company is a sound strategic decision given the economic uncertainty in Egypt. Analyze the acquisition decision through projection evaluation techniques, including net present value (NPV), internal rate of return (IRR) and modified IRR (MIRR), to measure whether the acquisition will add value to Dice. Discuss non-financial issues post-acquisition that are not captured by traditional capital budgeting and project evaluation techniques.

Dice Manufacturing Company, an established and successful textile manufacturing family business, is facing an important investment decision with regard to inorganic expansion through the acquisition of Alex Clothing Company and its subsidiary United Dyers. The case is intended to be discussed in an undergraduate corporate finance class. The case setting is inside Dice Manufacturing Company, where one of the founders, Nagy Toma and his CFO Victor ElMalek are analyzing the acquisition decision in January 2015. The protagonist is Victor ElMalek, who has to recommend a course of action for the company owners. The case allows students to apply capital budgeting and project valuation methods to make a decision on whether the acquisition brings value to Dice and to analyze issues management can face post-acquisition. The case follows through the history of Dice, presenting its business model and changes that accompanied the 2011 revolution. It then moves on to outline the acquisition opportunity and provides data for students to analyze through traditional project valuation techniques, including NPV, IRR and MIRR.

Undergraduate.

CSS 1: Accounting and Finance.

Teaching notes are available for educators only.

Following are the learning outcomes: recognize the significance of project management as an integrated approach for managing projects in an unprecedented situation. Identify the issues related to managing contemporary projects such as shorter product life cycles, changing customer preferences and last-minute risks. Evaluate the role of sub-domains of project management such as project prioritization, project negotiation, project portfolio system, project risk assessment and management and project stakeholder management.

It is the year 2020, and the entire world is struggling to cope up with the crisis caused by the corona virus (COVID-19) pandemic. Normal life has come to a standstill. All industries have realized the significance of developing innovative strategies to move to the new normal situation. This case describes the plight of TVR Cinemas, a business vertical of Tiya Group, which caters to the business of production and distribution of Bollywood and Hollywood movies in India. With the lock-down of the Indian subcontinent, the multiplex business is badly hurt. With new norms of sanitation, social distancing, and a ‘stay home stay safe policy’ the company has to devise new ways to sustain in the market. This case invites students to put themselves in the shoes of the company project manager, Mr. Ramchandani, to provide recommendations about deciding ways to release seven pipe-lined Bollywood movie projects, deciding on the appropriate over-the-top (OTT) partner for tie-ups, and devising strategic steps to recover the reputation of the company by launching an OTT platform themselves.

The case is useful for introducing basics of project management along with decision making for projects in an uncertain situation. This case can be used for the students of undergraduate/postgraduate/executive level across the modules of project management/project risk management and negotiation management.

Teaching notes are available for educators only.

CSS 9: Operations and logistics.

The learning outcome is to understand the difference between correlation and causation.

The case is set during the period of the COVID-19 pandemic, globally a search for effective treatments were underway. An initial forerunner that was being considered was Bacille Calmette-Guerin (BCG), given its effectiveness in the treatment of tuberculosis and other pulmonary-related infections. While there were a lack of randomised controlled trials, initial data from publicly related secondary data sources indicated that, in countries with BCG inoculation policies, the severity of the spread and mortality of COVID-19 was muted. The case is centered around the available information on BCG and COVID-19.

Post-graduate students learning statistics as part of a degree programme. The case assumes no prior statistics knowledge and therefore is aimed at teaching the difference between correlation and causation.

CSS 7: Management Science

Teaching Notes are available for educators only.

The main objectives of this case are to provide an opportunity for case users to understand the organisational governance framework in a farmers' association and how to build an effective organisational board. More specifically, the teaching objectives of this case are as follows: to provide an overview of the functions of different types of governance structures in a farmers' association. To understand the importance of good governance practices in a farmers' association and for its stakeholders. To relate democratic theory, stakeholder theory, agency theory and stewardship theory with the governance practices of a farmers' association. To critically evaluate the board governance in a farmers' association and recommend measures to enhance the practices.

The teaching case presents the governance practices in a farmers' association in Malaysia, ZIX-PPK and the various governance challenges that emerged in the PPK subsequent to the appointment of politically affiliated directors. Prior to 2019, ZIX-PPK was an outstanding PPK under the helm of the General Manager, Khadijah. The PPK had continually been recognised as an exceptional and excellent PPK by the Farmers' Organisation Authority and the Muda Agricultural Development Authority. However, the Arahan Pendaftar Bil 1/2019 required changes to the governance structures of ZIX-PPK, with five new directors being appointed by the minister. The appointment threatened the independence and autonomy of ZIX-PPK and affected the dynamic of the board of directors. Khadijah had to search for measures that could improve the board governance in ZIX-PPK. The names, in this case, had been altered but the details were based on an actual event. The data were collected through interviews with key players and with reference to the minutes and other documentation of ZIX-PPK.

The teaching case can be used by students in higher education institutions at both undergraduate and postgraduate levels. The case may also be relevant for training purposes to farmers' associations and any non-profit organisations.

CSS 1: Accounting and Finance.

Teaching notes are available for educators only.

The fundamental concepts in strategic management including vision, mission and setting objectives, external and internal environment analysis, SWOT, stakeholders in strategic management, deliberate and emergent strategy and strategic leaders have been addressed through the case.

The case was developed using primary data gathered from observations, interviews and the experiences of the authors at Chimanbhai Patel Institute of Management and Research (CPIMR) and published sources.

This case is about CPIMR, a management institute in Ahmedabad, India, which was required to recraft their vision and mission statements in light of the compliance requirements of the All India Council for Technical Education and the other challenges including new skills requirement especially because of Industry 4.0 changes and competition in the business education market. The case examines the external and internal environment challenges faced by the institute director and the emerging issues: how should CPIMR recraft the vision and mission? What could go wrong? How to make them actionable? How to disseminate them? The case would help the participants to understand the process of external and internal environment analysis, formulation of the vision and mission statements, their key purpose of informing stakeholders and setting objectives. The case also encourages the participants to put themselves in the position of the director for undertaking the process of recrafting the vision and mission statements of the management institute in the event of a strategic change. While the case setting is that of a management institute, it might also be useful for discussion in other organization settings.

Course: Strategic Management Level: Post Graduate Level.

The case learning objectives and discussion questions relate very closely to several theories related to branding, including brand positioning, brand growth, brand management, customer value proposition, brand matrix and brand identity.

The information provided in this case was gathered by the author through personal interviews and email exchanges with Jordan Boyes, managing broker and owner of Boyes Group Realty Inc. Secondary research was also conducted to gather relevant academic materials, as well as industry and competitor information.

Jordan Boyes opened Boyes Group Realty Inc. in 2015 after working as a Realtor® at another private realty firm in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan for several years. They offered buying and selling services in the areas of commercial, residential and farm real estate. Over the past five years, they had experienced strong sales numbers and growth in the number of new agents joining the company. However, Boyes saw untapped potential in the marketplace and wanted to develop a brand strategy that took the best advantage of brand extension opportunities to drive the continued growth of his company.

This case is suitable at the undergraduate level for a branding course, marketing strategy course or services marketing course. The case is best used to apply the concept of developing brand identity and making strategic decisions in a service-based organization.

Roger Cagle, the co-founder and deputy CEO of SOCO International, watched the dreary London rain outside his office window one February morning in 2015. Never had SOCO, the oil-and-gas exploration and production player that ranked among Britain’s top 200 companies, experienced such a public backlash against its operations. For nearly 20 years, Cagle had helped steer his company’s projects around the world—often in volatile regions where others feared to tread, such as Vietnam, Russia, and Yemen—while delivering significant returns to investors. But the international uproar surrounding SOCO during the past year had been nothing short of mind-boggling.

The case can be used in the subject area of strategy particularly with a focus on emerging markets.

This case is aimed at use in MBA- or Masters-level courses, or executive education programmes in strategy, entrepreneurship or business modelling. It will also provide insights into small to medium enterprises operating in emerging markets.

Devil's Peak is the largest craft beer brewer in South Africa. This case provides context to the craft beer market in South Africa, a highly fragmented and diverse yet dynamic market. The case further explores the business strategy behind Devil's Peak's success, the importance of strategic decisions, growth decisions, and product portfolio selections' impact on business strategy. Devil's Peak experienced rapid growth phases that have come with various trials and tribulations and the case explores the issues and decisions around rapid growth businesses.

– To analyse a market before entering it using Porter's Five Forces or other tools.

– To assess, as well as understand, the complexities and issues arising from rapid growth in entrepreneurial operations.

– To evaluate different growth strategies — organic growth versus inorganic growth, like acquired growth.

– To make product portfolio selection decisions and the strategic importance of which products to invest in and grow, using tools like the Boston Consulting Group (BCG) growth-share matrix or other tools.

After practicing the case students will be able to; understand the importance of recruiting the right person in retaining employees. Understand the underlying causes of employees’ turnover. Formulate retention strategies.

The case presents the situation of high turnover in Case Research Center (CRC), Sukkur IBA University. The protagonist, Dr. Waheed Ali Umrani, Head CRC was concerned about the retention of Research Associates in the CRC. The case also highlights the reasons for the turnover of early-career female research associates in an academic setup of Sukkur IBA University. This case will involve students to critically think and come up with retention strategies and measures that recruiters, in this case, should consider before and after the selection of Research Associates.

Graduate.

Teaching notes are available for educators only.

CSS 6: Human Resource Management.

After the successful release of the first Hunger Games film in 2012, the film's distributor, Lionsgate, was preparing to release the next movie in the series, Hunger Games: Catching Fire. Fan expectations had grown after the success of the first film, and Lionsgate faced the challenge of keeping moviegoers interested and engaged in another Hunger Games movie. In an era marked by the rising popularity of digital and social media, Lionsgate knew that attracting fans to a sequel meant pushing the boundaries of traditional marketing tactics.

Digital brand storytelling is about using digital media in a holistic way to tell a brand story and build excitement for an audience. Brand storytelling seeks to make a connection with the audience by giving them an emotional experience that resonates with them. While Lionsgate was aware that traditional marketing would need to be blended with a digital campaign to bring in moviegoers, it also needed to strike a careful balance between the two and choose the appropriate platforms to tell a cohesive story. Should Lionsgate launch a brand storytelling campaign to appeal to fans? Lionsgate's comparatively small marketing team gathered to brainstorm about how to execute such a campaign and position the film for another big success.

The learning outcomes are to remember the overall context of global supply chain management from a stakeholder perspective, to understand the context of material handling movement in a mining industry, to apply the overall knowledge of linear programming in a supply chain context, to analyze the different constraints with flow of goods at different nodes in various location hubs and convert the same into the optimization problem and to evaluate carefully the different costs associated at different levels and then finding the optimal solution that minimizes the total cost.

This case proposes a mixed integer multi-echelon analytical model integrated with the scenario tree analysis. The integrated model is used to optimize the allocation of volumes at various stages of the supply chain of exporters of bulk materials like iron ore from Goa, India, to various countries in Asia. The scenario tree analysis is then used to evaluate decisions under certainty with demand as the stochastic parameter. The proposed integrated model has potential for collaboration in the supply chain and facilitating network design, inventory and transportation planning and policy analysis.

This course is suitable at the MBA level for the following courses: Operations Research (Focus/Session: Applications on Supply Chain Management), Supply Chain Management (Focus/Session: Global Supply Chain Management, Logistics Planning, Distribution Network), Logistics Management (Focus/Session: Transportation Planning) nd Operations Strategy (Focus/Session: Location Node Strategy).

Teaching Notes are available for educators only.

CSS 9: Operations and Logistics.

The learning outcomes are as follows: educate the students about the challenges in the development sector in general and in work of organizations working for women empowerment in particular; understand the overall concept of women empowerment vis-à-vis social entrepreneurship; explain the importance of technology in entrepreneurship, social entrepreneurship and development sector especially in marginalized communities in developing countries; and learn operational-level resource management in a resource-constrained setting of a non-profit sector.

Kaarvan Crafts Foundation (referred to as Kaarvan henceforth) worked for women empowerment in Pakistan with a focus on creating economic opportunities for rural women entrepreneurs. The case shares different initiatives by Kaarvan for creating opportunities for economic empowerment of rural women entrepreneurs. The main focus of the case is a program “Digitize to Equalize” in which Kaarvan offered digital literacy training to rural women entrepreneurs. The program involved developing an ecommerce platform where rural women entrepreneurs could sell their handicrafts and other products. A comprehensive training activity was designed as part of the program to facilitate trainees to sell their products on a purpose-built website. The training covered different activities ranging from using smartphones, basic product photography to order handling. Even in the initial phase, the challenges were somewhat unexpected for the team as they grappled with diversity of learning among the trainees. Few trainee women were able to learn the skills quickly and requested their trainers from Kaarvan to train them on widely popular skills of social media marketing. At the same time, other trainees were struggling with basic skills and needed more time to get basics right. Because the program had limited resources, Kaarvan’s management found themselves in a fix. The mission-oriented organization wanted to ensure the best possible opportunities for the trainees but the resources did not permit to create separate cohorts for different training areas.

In terms of complexity, this case study is suited for business students enrolled in senior undergraduate, graduate programs and executive MBA programs.

Teaching Notes are available for educators only.

CSS 7: Management Science.

Learning outcomes are as follows: students will discover the importance of process orientation in management; students will determine the root cause of the problem by applying root cause analysis technique; students will identify the failure modes, analyze their effect, score them on a scale and prioritize the corrective action to prevent the failures; students will analyze the processes and propose error-proof system/s; and students will analyze organizational culture and ethical issues.

Purpose: This case study is intended as a class-exercise, for students to discover the importance of process-orientation in management, analyze the ethical dilemma in health care and to apply quality management techniques, such as five-why, root cause analysis, failure mode and effect analysis (FMEA) and error-proofing, in the management of the health-care and service industry. Design/methodology/approach: A voluntary reporting of a case of “radiation overdose” in a hospital’s radio therapy treatment unit, which led to an ethical dilemma. Consequently, a study was conducted to establish the causes of the incident and to develop a fail-proof system, to avoid recurrence. Findings: After careful analysis of the process-flow and the root causes, 25 potential failure modes were detected and the team had assigned a risk priority number (RPN) for each potential incident, selected the top ten RPNs and developed an error-proofing system to prevent recurrence. Subsequently, the improvement process was carried out for all the 25 potential incidents and a new control mechanism was implemented. The question of ethical dilemma remained unresolved. Research limitations/implications: Ishikawa diagram, FMEA and Poka-Yoke techniques require a multi-disciplinary team with process knowledge in identifying the possible root causes for errors, potential risks and also the possible error-proofing method/s. Besides, these techniques need frank discussions and agreement among team members on the efforts for the development of action plan, implementation and control of the new processes. Practical implications: Students can take the case data to identify root cause analysis and the RPN (RPN = possibility of detection × probability of occurrence × severity), to redesign the protocols, through systematic identification of the deficiencies of the existing protocols. Further, they can recommend quality improvement projects. Faculty can navigate the case session orientation, emphasizing quality management or ethical practices, depending on the course for which the case is selected.

MBA or PG Diploma in Management – health-care management, hospital administration, operations management, services operations, total quality management (TQM) and ethics.

Teaching Notes are available for educators only.

CSS 9: Operations and Logistics.

The learning outcomes are as follows: to teach the concept of mutual fund as whole, how mutual fund works and who are the investors; discuss how any asset management company can work and what is their investment process; discuss how mutual funds are affected by changes in economic outlook/macro-economic variables; discuss the alternative risk-adjusted measures of performance evaluation, such as the Sharpe ratio, Treynor, Jensen’s alpha and measure of risk-adjusted performance; and discuss which index to use as a benchmark and how to improve funds’ performance.

In April 2019, Khaldoon Bin latif, Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Faysal Asset Management, reflected on the changes that had occurred during his two and a half years at Faysal. He was quite pleased with the recent performance of Faysal Funds and the company’s relationship-oriented approach to money management for individuals with high net worth. Yet, he wanted to ensure that both the investment-process and performance-evaluation measures that he had implemented at Faysal would continue to provide superior returns. Latif also wanted Faysal to outperform the relevant indices, not only on an absolute basis, but also on a risk-adjusted basis. He pondered which indices and models Faysal should use in the future based on their performance.

Undergraduate/graduate

Teaching Notes are available for educators only.

CSS 1: Accounting and Finance.

The learning outcomes are as follows. Students can assess effective business strategies, determine the role of business in shaping informal institutions, understand managing issues in social enterprises, from talent management to expansion to mission drift, and develop deeper understanding of the African context.

The case presents the challenges facing the award-winning CEO/Founder of Tanzanian social enterprise Girls’ Technical Education (GTE). GTE provides technology and coding skills in Tanzania, focussing on educating women and girls. GTE has experienced significant success – expanding into neighbouring Malawi. GTE has a strong vision and mission, clearly articulated and prioritised by the Founder and his Board. Hybrid organisations, blending a social and financial mission, are expected to experience management tensions or mission drift, yet GTE seems to have avoided this. As an emerging organisational form, social enterprises – like GTE – often face hurdles regarding legitimacy and acceptance in the markets in which they operate. GTE is working to understand the Tanzanian and regional contexts and challenges in these ecosystems, seeking to influence norms and bring about positive impact.

Postgraduate courses including MBA, Executive Education and courses focussing on Organisation Studies, Management and Strategy.

Teaching Notes are available for educators only.

CSS: 7 Management Science.

The case provides an insight on the provisions of the IND AS 115 (largely converging with IFRS 15), financial impact of alternative accounting practices and dynamics of a revenue recognition decision. MBA students can use the knowledge derived from the case at their workplace when they encounter accounting of “revenue from a contract with customers”.

Saifudin Rehman, one of the promoter of Suprajeet Corporation (SUC) had been engaged in electrical installation contract business. The firm had been doing well in the field of small contracts and was having steady growth. People in the firm were also quite acquainted with the kind of contracts they were doing. However, Saifudin always wanted to get into a big contract business. For getting into big installation contracts, the corporation needed more working capital and needed to satisfy the criteria of having a high amount of turnover in the preceding year. The case will be looked into from the perspective of accounting procedure to see the possibility of increasing the revenue by changing the method of accounting in relation to revenue recognition. The case provided the opportunity to evaluate the benefits and the costs involved in changing the accounting method in SUC.

Commerce Graduates and MBA I.

Teaching notes are available for educators only.

CSS 1: Accounting and Finance.

The learning outcomes are as follows: to understand the process of procurement and describe the process of supplier selection; to understand the importance of vendor selection criteria and develop the same; and to develop the framework for steps involved in vendor selection.

Jelani was working in his office over weekends to select the supplier and finalize the contract for installation of SMD LED screen. It was going to be one of its kind in town, and the first ever project for the organization. He was working as procurement manager at Universal Ad Agency and based in their office at Hyderabad. Jelani had already missed the deadline of installation, and he knew that he was not going to get any extension in deadline for the second time. He had visited the markets of Lahore and Hyderabad to source out the best supplier. He had to prepare a strong case and present to CEO. With all the data available, would Jelani be able to select the best evaluated supplier from among the recently sourced out suppliers?

MBA elective courses of Purchase & Supply Management, and Operations Management.

CSS 9: Operations and Logistics

Teaching Notes are available for educators only.

John Dong, the founder and CEO of Kaffee Kostuum developed the idea of Kaffee Kostuum in his own MBA capstone project five years ago. Shortly after graduation, he received seed money from business angels, as well as a favorable bank loan. His value proposition was clear from the beginning: “Be a provider of an unlimited variety of affordable suits, directly available from stock.” The idea sprang from his frustration with two less-than-ideal circumstances: He either had to wait four weeks to get a pricey tailor-made suit or purchase from among the limited selection of affordable suits in his local department store. To keep his company's prices down, Dong worked with a production unit in Vietnam.

This case serves as a useful backdrop for discussing a few important conceptual frameworks in the field of finance. The dilemmas are still evolving for Sharīʿah-compliant asset management company (AMC); i.e. Al Meezan, and may seem complex to the students – particularly in the Pakistan’s financial structure – but framing the discussion from a market perspective ought to help the students of finance.

This case study focuses on Al Meezan Investment Management Limited (Al Meezan) journey since inception. Al Meezan is a full-fledged Sharīʿah-compliant AMC and one of the major players in the mutual funds industry of Pakistan. Al Meezan offers a comprehensive range of Sharīʿah-compliant investment solutions especially designed to meet the financial goals of their existing and potential clients. The case study covers all the key events before the inception of Al Meezan, from late 1990s till March 2020. The case is based on interview with chief executive officer (CEO) (the protagonist) of Al Meezan. The case also covers various challenges faced by Mohammad Shoaib, CEO and his senior team, to make Al Meezan a vibrant institution offering Islamic financial services.

This case is aimed at undergraduate students in their final year (i.e. taking electives in the field of Finance/Islamic Finance) or graduate students majoring in Finance/Islamic Finance.

Teaching notes are available for educators only.

CSS1: Accounting and Finance.

This case study aims to provide students with: an understanding of the unique challenges companies in Africa face in attracting and retaining highly-skilled human resources. The ability to critically evaluate various talent recruitment, development and retention options available to companies in Africa.

This case study examines the talent management challenges faced by Chijioke Dozie, CEO of Nigeria-based financial services company One Finance (OneFi). Under the brand name Carbon, OneFi operated a digital financial services app that offered loans, bill payments, an investment platform and an electronic wallet. However, Nigeria did not have many professionals with experience in consumer lending and certain technical skills, particularly data scientists and software engineers, was hard to find. Data scientists, for instance, were not only in short supply in Nigeria but also they were in high demand globally. OneFi, therefore, competed against top employers throughout the world, but with a start-up budget. OneFi’s talent management dilemma is a common challenge faced by companies operating within under-developed African economies. The insights and learnings from this case are, therefore, also applicable to other businesses on the continent.

MBA Post Grad.

Teaching notes are available for educators only.

CSS 1: Accounting and Finance.

Recognize the interest groups of the business as stakeholders and shareholders. Understand the role of strategic corporate social responsibility (CSR) in attaining competitive advantage for the firm. Apply the techniques of financial statement analysis such as common-sized financial statements and ratio analysis. Analyze the overall financial position of the company such as its liquidity, solvency and profitability position. Evaluate the appropriateness of various CSR activities given the size of the company, its business model and financial position. Create a suitable CSR policy draft incorporating the critical elements of a CSR policy that enables the firm to operationalize it and fulfill the disclosure norms.

The management of Ball Industry Limited (BIL) had overlooked the mandatory requirement of CSR policy formulation. The company had not yet spent anything on CSR since the regulation had come into force. The company’s financial position was not healthy. Still, it fell under the regulatory clause as a borderline case and must spend 2% of its average three years’ profit on CSR activities. The company had previously ignored the requirement of formally drafting a CSR policy and deciding about the actions it might want to carry out. Now that the regulator had started sending show-cause notices to several companies who had not yet begun CSR, BIL was under immense time pressure to draft its CSR policy and initiate the relevant CSR activities. Emily, the chief operating officer of BIL, was assigned the task of preparing the blueprint of the CSR policy of the company and made it available for discussion in the upcoming meeting. The task at hand was to formulate a sound CSR policy under the constrained financial state considering its strategic planning, including the SWOT analysis, competitive environment and the overall general market and economic conditions. She submitted that rather than a vanilla CSR activity, strategic CSR would support the firm to differentiate itself from competitors. She was struggling to formulate a CSR strategy that could achieve both economic and social goals.

The case will be most suitable for use in undergraduate and graduate courses.

Teaching notes are available for educators only.

CSS 1: Accounting and finance.

Gaining skills in analyzing context during a crisis situation, using a political, economic, social, technological, legal and environmental framework understanding strategic leadership engagement with stakeholders to cultivate an environment for emergent change gaining skills in drawing up a strategic communications plan.

On 15 May 2020, Alec Moemi, Director-General of the South African Government’s Department of Transport (DoT), contemplates how his department can use the opportunity that COVID-19 presents to transform the transport system and to maintain relationships with business and the taxi industry beyond COVID-19? The nation was just reeling from a first: the President announced a “lockdown” which meant that all economic activity except “essential services” could operate. Life almost ground to halt and South Africans faced a new reality. No movement out of your property unless it was a medical emergency or if you needed to buy food. The minibus taxi, an economic enabler to millions of South Africans also had to stop operating. The South African DoT had a mammoth task of communicating to a range of stakeholders. However, the most sensitive being the minibus taxi owners, drivers and their related associations. How would they accept the news that they will not have a livelihood for the next few weeks or perhaps even months? Given the nature of industrial shift patterns and need for a more flexible transport system for workers, some organisation’s such as Nestlé contracted private transport services to ensure their staff travelled to work safely. Nestlé also had their own compulsory sanitizing protocols in place to support private transporters.

Postgraduate programmes, including MBA, MPhil Corporate Strategy and Masters’ Public Administration and Executive Education Programmes.

Teaching notes are available for educators only.

CSS: 7 Management Science.

The learning outcomes are as follows: identifying and prioritising of stakeholders’ needs during crises; gaining insight into applying contextual intelligence in leaders’ decision-making on philanthropic investments; and evaluating initiatives by differentiating between creating shared value and corporate social responsibility.

On 15 March 2020, Bruno Olierhoek, Chairman and MD, Nestlé East and Southern Africa considers his dilemma of where to focus his community support initiatives during COVID-19, which could reflect their company’s purpose of enhancing quality of life and contributing to a healthier future in their response to the crisis? Also, creating shared value (CSV) was in their DNA as a company, and they wanted to do more than philanthropic gestures; therefore, they had to decide carefully about leveraging their strategic partnerships in the relief effort. The case highlights existing community involvement projects, pre-COVID-19, which illustrate multi-stakeholder collaboration. These existing trust relationships and partnerships are then leveraged during the COVID-19 pandemic. The case highlights unintended consequences of Nestlé’s gesture of donating food products to the 5,000 frontline health-care workers for specific stakeholder groups, such as the positive emotional responses of Nestlé’s own employees. These events in the case relate to existing theoretical frameworks, such as corporate citizenship which elicits pro-organisational behaviour in stakeholder groups.

Postgraduate programmes MBA or MPhil.

Teaching Notes are available for educators only.

CSS: 7 Management Science

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

The case presents a lot of information, directly and via references and Web-based links, about the economic consequences of the virus. Several themes are evident: As an opening theory-base, the decades-long stakeholder versus shareholder debate is invoked – but does this extend beyond “stakeholders” to the “public good”? There are contexts (generally wars) in which governments are empowered to instruct private companies to engage in the public good – but how far should/must they voluntarily go? The underlying macro-economic issue is: where will we get the capital? Central banks have not recovered from the 2008 global financial crisis and have limited “ammunition” to address the anticipated economic problems introduced by the virus. The case presents data on selected financial metrics (interest rates, debt levels, risk pricing, etc.) and outlines the conventional stimulatory steps used: lowering short-term rates (monetary policy) and investment in assets (fiscal policy) and the less-conventional Quantitative Easing “QE”.

The coronavirus appears to herald a devastating blow to lives and to the world economy – its impact is yet unknown, but likely to be comparable to war and pestilence of biblical proportion. This case focuses on the possible economic trajectories as a consequence of the virus, with emphasis on bailing-out (restructuring) struggling companies and restoring jobs. Within the framework of a world desperately in need of capital, it raises questions about accountability and responsibility. Should retrenched workers in restaurants, banks and airlines feel the consequences of their poor career choices? Must shareholders (read pensioners) shoulder losses to support the public good? Ought governments bail-out whole industries – using tax-payer money? Or do we allow central banks to conjure-up billions and hope for the best? The case does not attempt to provide answers to these questions but presents several vignettes and offers a context in which participants can debate the merits of these problems.

MBA and Exec-ed.

Teaching Notes are available for educators only.

CSS: 1 Accounting and Finance.

The case describes the fall of Eskom, which in 2001 was named the Financial Times’ Power Company of the Year, but by 2019 was suffering from “systemic corruption, malfeasance, fraud and state capture” that had “compromised the credibility of the organisation and eroded investor confidence”. Eskom’s incompetent management lays the ground for reasonable doubt as to whether the force majeure notice was indeed irresistible. The case suggests several methods available in financial markets to hedge risk – but to what extent are these relevant and appropriate? The main objective of the case, however, is to examine and assess the criteria required to claim force majeure. Two aspects are questionable: Was the virus unforeseeable and was it irresistible? Eskom is “bleeding” R².5m per month because of significantly reduced electricity demand, and while it clearly benefits Eskom to break their supply contract, the consequences for Exxaro are far more dire. And, if carried to conclusion, how would such actions impact the entire economy?

In April 2020 South Africa’s stated-owned electricity utility Eskom sent a pre-cautionary force-majeure notification to Exxaro Limited’s Grootegeluk Coal Mine. The notification, citing COVID-19 as an unforeseeable, external and irresistible event, would have disastrous consequences for the mine’s 25 m tonnes pa coal contract to supply Eskom’s Medupi power station. Not only was the legality of the force-majeure questionable, it was unethical, and not in the spirit of President Ramaposa’s call to businesses to continue paying contractors. The case briefly describes Eskom’s troubled history following South Africa’s 1994 democratic election. It examines the force majeure clause common in contracts, and questions whether COVID-19 meets the criteria of an “unforeseeable, external and irresistible” event.

MBA and Executive Education

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CSS 7: Management Science.

The case describes the origins of money, touching on the gold standard, the Fed’s 1942 purchase of US debt to fund the “war effort”, Bretton Woods (1944), Nixon’s 1971 pulling the currency peg and descent of money from gold to fiat. It also touches on theories of inflation and deflation, quantitative easing (QE) post the 2008 crisis and the “swamp” of (unorthodox) modern monetary theory (MMT). Aside from providing a brief history of monetary policy and economics, the case study seeks to widen students’ understanding of key economic issues including: fiat money, QE, government funding mechanisms, taxation, economic stimulation, inflation/deflation – and of course, the need for an ombudsman to limit excess.

In May 2020, South Africa’s deputy finance minister David Masondo announced that he would support the South African Reserve Bank’s lending to the government. This statement followed President Ramaposa’s earlier announcement of a R500bn COVID-19 stimulus package. The case explores the economic history of money, from barter to gold to cryptos. The case examines the origins of central banks’ printing of money, initially to support the Second World War effort and more recently the 2008 global financial crisis and now the COVID-19 crisis. In particular, the case raises the question of central bank independence – “democratically elected governments always need money, is it appropriate for central banks provide it? And are there limits?”

MBA and Executive Education

Teaching Notes are available for educators only.

CSS: 1 Accounting and Finance.

Students should be able to use the case study in debate apply theories relating to the subjects specified.

The case is based on a fictitious South African company going through emergency response conditions analogous with what many businesses are encountering during the COVID crisis. The protagonist is struggling with structural challenges imposed on the business by unpredictable and uncontrollable external pressures and needs to make transformative decisions which might impact the culture, organisational design and digitisation of the business.

Post-graduate general management.

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CSS: 7 Management Science.

The present case study would help readers to understand paternalistic leadership behavior with its underlying theory. Readers would be able to appreciate the nature of experiences employees may have while working with a paternalistic leader high on authoritarianism. This case study would motivate readers to work out appropriate strategies for working under paternalistic bosses. The teaching note sensitizes readers about the complicated relationship between paternalistic leadership and culture.

Pyramid Globe Management Institute (PGMI) is struggling to generate revenue. PGMI founder, Tugmanshu Lakhani, has to find out new sources of revenue to keep the institute functioning. He constitutes a team of three professors for starting a new academic program with a foreign university. The initial success of the team brings favor from the founder but jealousy from the colleagues reeling under job threat. High authoritarianism and interference of the founder create a problematic situation for the three professors. When the new program starts showing promising results, the founder gets apprehensive about whether the new course may hurt the enrolment in the flagship program of the institute. The authoritarian and erratic behavior of the founder had a demotivating effect on the team working for the new program. Some team members resign under pressure while three professors stay to ensure the launch of the program. The professors have to resolve the conflict between their commitment toward PGMI in a troubled time and a career uncertainty if they continue working for it. Anticipating no change in the behavior of the founder and an uncertain future with PGMI, three professors quit after the start of the new program. The founder may continue losing committed employees if he is unable to balance his authoritarianism with benevolence and moral behavior. It will create more problems for PGMI in the future.

This case can be used in organizational behavior, leadership and team-building courses in the regular Master of Business Administration (MBA) programs. The case can further be used in the executive development program, especially for analyzing the leadership problem in higher education organizations.

Teaching notes are available for educators only.

CSS 7: Management science.

The learning outcomes are as follows: successful students will demonstrate an understanding of challenges in producing and delivering a product in emerging economies; they will be able to analyze the tradeoffs in operational decisions of a social enterprise; and students will apply supply chain principles to solve social and environmental challenges.

Carbon Roots International is a social enterprise in Haiti producing and selling charcoal from sugar cane waste. Their operational challenge is designing a supply chain, which enables them to accomplish their social goals while building a profitable enterprise.

This case can be used in graduate operations management and supply chain management courses. The company in the case is a social enterprise.

Teaching Notes are available for educators only.

CSS 9: Operations and Logistics

The case presents students with the opportunity to do the following: students can pre-work questions; understand the relevant factors to be considered in the decision to expand; and list out the industry and macro-environment factors affecting the expansion decision. Assignment questions help understand the various measures used to evaluate the financial performance of the company; understand the practical implication of incremental analysis to estimate the profit; assess the operating profit and margin of safety of the restaurant Shri Sagar with and without expansion; and critically evaluate the impact of uncertainty on projected sales using the sensitivity model.

Shri Sagar (Central Tiffin Room – CTR) was started by Y.V. Subramanyam and his siblings (Y.V. Srikanteshwaran, Y.V. Krishna Iyer and Y.V. Ramachandran) in the 1920s, specialised in Benne (Butter) Masala dosa, Maddur Vada and Mangalore Bajji. In Bengaluru, there are few restaurants, which have the legacy of more than 50 years such as Vidyarthi Bhavan, Mavalli Tiffin Rooms and Shri Sagar (CTR). Shri Sagar has witnessed three different ownership right from 1920 to the present. Ganesh, an MBA graduate, took the active participation in the business from 2018 and found there are potential opportunities to expand the business. Although business was doing well, Ganesh wanted to assess his company’s financial strength before proceeding. He would require a financial forecast that took into account the strength of the competition and the peculiar nature of the restaurant business in Bengaluru. Ganesh wanted to assess the expansion plan; to address the proposed plan, the case had used cost–volume–profit analysis and sensitivity analysis techniques to make the students understand how these techniques can evaluate the alternatives.

This case is best used while teaching Managerial Accounting, which is a core course in MBA program with a module on break-even-analysis or it can also be used in an executive education class with a similar purpose. The teaching plan can be used for MBA students and entrepreneurial training programmes, which involve training on important managerial decisions, which includes business expansion, estimating business profits/revenue targets, etc. It assumes some basic knowledge of cost–benefit analysis concepts where participants have already exposed some basic understanding of break-even analysis and what-if analysis.

Teaching Notes are available for educators only.

CSS 1: Accounting and Finance

Operations Research and Operation Management.

Undergraduate/MBA/Postgraduate.

The case depicts an opportunity for students to be exposed to optimization techniques using linear programming (LP). This case intends to: generate the LP model (identification of objective function and constraints); apply MS-Excel solver to arrive at an optimal solution; analyse manufacturing scenarios; and plan decision dependencies.

VBK Fibreo Tech Industries was a manufacturer of fibre reinforced plastic (FRP) products for industrial and domestic applications. Despite being a new entrant, it managed to exhibit great performance and attract a loyal base of customers. This case brings to light the problem that the company was facing that is demand exceeding capacity. The protagonist of the case Madhav, the Production Manager, was tasked to solve the problem of “product mix”. He was in a dilemma on how to fulfill customer orders while minimizing losses for his company. He knew that while losses were inevitable in the current scenario, they could be minimized with appropriate planning. Students are expected to use data and facts from the case and exhibit to formulate LP, by identifying the objective function and the constraints. They are also encouraged to use MS-Excel solver to find the optimal product mix and understand the decision dependencies.

This case can be used to teach LP in an undergraduate/postgraduate-level course on operations research. Students are exposed to the creation of a mathematical model for optimization and along with devising the implementation plan.

Teaching notes are available for educators only.

CSS 9: Operations and logistics.

Identify, compare and contrast current and aspirational organisational cultures. Describe desired leadership capacities and how these contribute to building a culture and strategy. Describe ways to align culture with strategy including building an ambidextrous organisation.

Growth remained flat for Tech SA towards the end of 2016. As a subsidiary of a global information technology services firm, Tech SA was under pressure to meet its growth plan. With this in mind, a new culture and values framework to be more innovative, collaborative and responsive had been adopted. This was to match the demands of the volatile, uncertain, complex and ambiguous world the company finds itself in. While the organisation had a tradition of serving long-standing clients and contracts to high standards, it was not used to working with radical change and disruptive innovation. To achieve this, significant changes in leadership behaviours were required. The organisation had recognised the need for these changes and a leadership development programme was devised to enable 200 of its top leaders to make the required cultural and behavioural shifts to lead in these times. Although the leadership programme was well into its second year, the targets of the growth plan had not been achieved and the leadership behaviours had not yet been instilled across the business. If the growth plan was not achieved, John would need to consider cost-cutting and retrenching. This was the last thing John wanted to do as he had worked alongside his colleagues for 12 years. What else could John do and say to the leaders to make the required changes urgently needed as a matter of survival? What would it take to deliver to existing clients and explore new products and markets?

Masters, Masters of Business Administration (MBA), Executive MBA and Executive leadership.

Teaching Notes are available for educators only.

CSS 7: Management Science.

Students should be able to: identify the elements of business processes; analyze efficiency measures; identify and define causes of poor efficiency in business process; analyze the results of a simulation model; propose process redesign alternatives based on the analysis; and acknowledge the challenges for improving public service processes.

The process to get a passport seems to be very simple, but Jose Hernandez, a Manufacturing Plant Director, has had bad experiences the past three times he has visited the passport office. He and his family have spent more than 3 h to get the passport for his little daughter, Maria. In this case, the authors illustrate the process analysis performed by Jose to find effective and efficient solutions to the problems that he found. The case study guides students through the analysis of a business process in public service from the perspective of the users. The students participating in the case analysis will not only learn to diagnose and describe the process but also to redesign it to achieve significant improvements. Furthermore, the students will realize that adding more resources to the process may not solve the fundamental issues, but analytical and creative skills are needed. In addition, the teaching notes provide a discussion about the existing challenges to improve public service processes.

Management and engineering undergraduate programs, operations management and business process design in Master of Business Administration programs.

Teaching Notes are available for educators only.

CSS 9: Operations and Logistics.

Through the discussion of this case, students will have better understanding of the conceptual stakes related to accounting treatment for goodwill and factors determining goodwill impairment testing. The case also discusses the determination of the cost of capital and the impact of taking into account certain factors related to country risk for determining the discount rate in an international framework.

Greenfields Company continues to expand through acquisitions in emerging markets. The company aims to overcome the complexity of measuring goodwill subsequent to the initial recognition. The case was written to illustrate challenges of estimating the appropriate discount rate to be used in the goodwill impairment testing as investments in emerging countries give rise to many discount rate measurement problems such as the availability of statistical data and the risk assessment to be considered.

The case can be used at undergraduate or postgraduate level and it requires fundamental knowledge in accounting and corporate finance.

Teaching Notes are available for educators only.

CSS 1: Accounting and Finance.

32-year-old Heather Wilson was about to become a property investor. After years of painstaking savings, she had finally reached agreement to purchase her first buy-to-let property, a 1 bedroom flat in London's sought-after Kensington and Chelsea neighborhood. She looked forward to a lifetime of building wealth through property investments. Of course, some of the income the property would generate would be owed to Her Majesty's Revenue and Customs (HMRC). But such was the nature of life. Unfortunately, the tax laws had only recently become less favorable for property investors, but Wilson expected to negotiate a lower purchase price as a result and so she felt confident that her investment remained solid.

After reading and discussing this short case, the instructor should do the following: to enable the students to select and evaluate the main strength (sustainable competitive advantage) of an evolving brand whose leading manager needs to appreciate how it can be used to achieve the strategic objective of franchising it despite its challenges; to guide the students in choosing the most appropriate brand name that will sustainably reflect the parent organization’s identity and also retain its growing attractiveness to more event sponsors and other key partners in an environment of conflicting interests; to facilitate the students in choosing the appropriate strategy for strengthening the readiness to franchise and adapt a similar teaching and examining (annual event’s) model in a related course unit from among any of the target audience’s master and bachelor degree at another university elsewhere.

This short case shows how the annual Makerere University Business School (MUBS) hospitality day has evolved into a potential event franchise, which is attracting more VIPs, the media and demand to also be held in the country’s Vision 2040 cities where the respective campuses are located.

Bachelor (BA, BBA, BSc) and MBA/master degree level.

Teaching Notes are available for educators only.

CSS 12: Tourism and hospitality.

In late 2019, Dr. Hiroaki Kitano, the president and director of research at Sony Computer Science Laboratories (Sony CSL), had decided he would be stepping down from his position soon. Sony CSL, a small blue-sky fundamental research facility funded by Sony, had always operated on the strength of the trust between Sony's CEO and the lab's director. Sony had been hands-off in its management, leaving Kitano to hire, fire, fund, and evaluate the lab's researchers and project portfolio at his own discretion. Now that he was stepping down, however, he worried that Sony CSL could not withstand his departure. Kitano wanted to make a transparent plan for the organization's future before he handed off Sony CSL to his successor. That plan involved three key decisions. First, what should be the optimal structure and governance of Sony CSL? Should it maintain its independence and autonomy, or should it align more closely with Sony's business priorities? Second, how could Sony CSL scale its impact on Sony and society at large, given its small size? Finally, should Sony CSL establish some standard methods of measuring project success and strength of the portfolio? In making these decisions, Kitano wanted to ensure that he preserved the unique culture that had allowed Sony CSL to pursue path-breaking research and innovation.

The learning outcomes are as follows: to describe the possible problems in cross hierarchical and cross-functional coordination; to illustrate the month/year-end closing operations related issues at logistics and warehousing end; to analyze the importance of supply chain resilience/ contingency plan; and to compare the role of the tradeoff in decision-making: ethics (policies) vs operations.

Mr Azhar Ali working as a regional distribution manager was waiting for the finalization of sales orders, it was the last working day of the financial year. He had to fulfill all the orders to achieve his personal and organizational goals. He was excited as he was supposed to be promoted and transferred to Head Office on a national role, after a successful annual closing. It was not too late when his excitement turned into anxiety when he received a never expected direct call from Director Sales. Around 7:00 p.m., he was informed of some new orders for an important institutional customer, which was out of his own region. The orders were placed in Ali’s region because of stocks’ availability. Ali had no time to plan this huge order and there were no dispatch trucks available at that time. Should Ali take risk of organizational goals and his promotion and cancel those orders? Should Ali generate sales invoices to record sales and dispatch the stocks on next day compromising the organizational core values and policies?

BBA.

Teaching Notes are available for educators only.

CSS 9: Operations and logistics.

Learning outcomes of this paper are to analyse, record and classify financial transactions; prepare unadjusted trial balance; record the adjustment and closing entries and prepare post-closing trial balance; and prepare financial statements.

The case aims to induce users to draw up financial statements from the details provided. The complete accounting process is covered through solving the case. The case follows a start-up company from its first set of financial transactions to preparing the first set of financial statements. The case will help in application of accounting concepts, principles and the processes for recording transactions and preparation of financial statements.

The case is best suited for senior undergraduate- and graduate-level students of management/business schools in the courses of introductory financial accounting, intermediate accounting and financial reporting.

Teaching notes are available for educators only.

CSS 1: accounting and finance.

Identify the types of innovation that Gastón Acurio’s proposal has created. Understand the key strategies developed to grown and consolidate Peruvian food as a category internationally and as part of Acurio’s business. Identify elements of the business model using the business model canvas. Explain how elements of a business model are related, reinforce each other and drive results. Evaluate strengths, opportunities, weaknesses and threats to a business model. Analyze changes to the model that can capitalize upon or mitigate these factors based on evidence.

Gastón Acurio is a successful Peruvian chef and restauranteur who was key in shaping the country’s gastronomic industry. His innovative business model distinguished him from other Peruvian restauranteurs and allowed him to grow and take advantage of opportunities in Peru and internationally. His success and growth attracted US$52m in investment funding. However, his model’s challenges surfaced during a difficult restaurant launch exacerbated by a harsh review in the New York Times. Students must identify and analyze the key elements of Acurio’s business model to evaluate and propose changes to better take advantage of its strengths and opportunities, as well as to mitigate weaknesses and threats.

Master’s or MBA.

Teaching Notes are available for educators only.

CSS 12: Tourism and hospitality.

The learning outcomes are as follows: developing an understanding of financial statement analysis among students; students would be able to calculate various ratios, understand their meaning and interpret them to take a financial decision; and exploring the relationship between financial leverage and risk.

Amtek Auto is a leading auto-components manufacturer established in 1988 which entered into bankruptcy in through the order of Reserve Bank of India in 2017. The company started with a humble beginning and later on the promoter decided to expand exponentially both through organic as well as inorganic growth in past 15 years. To grow a company kept on taking debt which made it riskier and deteriorated its financial position over a period. The case covers a 10-year timeline from 2008 to 2017. It gives an opportunity to analyze its financial statements to understand how its decisions shaped its performance

The case aims for students to take a comprehensive view of the financial statement analysis of Amtek Auto including the following: vertical and horizontal analysis; comprehensive ratio analysis including liquidity, profitability, leverage and turnover ratios with special emphasis on debt as a double-edged sword; analysis of Armtek Auto’s financial performance over a period of 10 years.

Teaching Notes are available for educators only.

CSS 1: Accounting and Finance.

The learning outcomes of this paper is to understand the working capital finances offered by bank; comprehend application by the company, loan proposal and bank procedure for additional finance; compute, analyze and interpret financial statements of company and its peers; and assess various factors to be considered while taking loan sanctioning decisions.

Sunshine had expanded its business by starting in-house manufacturing of a few stages of production of fasteners. Sunshine was in urgent need of additional finance for working capital and had applied to Rajya Bank of India Ltd. (RBIL), requesting to enhance working capital finance limits and other changes. Ruchit Mehta, Relationship Manager of S.G. Highway Branch of RBIL have to assess this request and include his evaluations in the proposal, which he had to present to Assistant General Manager of RBIL.

MBA or related program in finance courses such as financial management, corporate finance, financial statement analysis, bank management/finance and training program on “credit management” for bank employees.

Teaching Notes are available for educators only.

CSS 1: Accounting and Finance

Harley-Davidson's first-ever chief marketing officer has his work cut out for him as the classic American motorcycle manufacturer seeks to curb slowing sales from aging customers. The dilemma: what to do with its less known and unprofitable Buell brand, which has a younger customer base? Which of five options continue its dual-brand strategy, double down on Buell, operate Buell as an endorsement brand, sell it, or discontinue the brand entirely will best attract younger buyers without alienating current diehard customers?