Case studies

This case describes the experience of Kanpur Confectioneries Private Limited (KCPL), a family managed company, in being a contract manufacturer for A–One Confectioneries Private Limited. The alliance had worked to the advantage of KCPL. It had prospered as a profitable contract manufacturer. It had used the surplus to diversify into unrelated businesses. The family members, however had doubts regarding the employment opportunities provided by the move. They were not sure whether the progress was sustainable. Alok Kumar Gupta, Chairman and Managing Director of KCPL, along with his brothers and son, is required to review the strategy and performance of his company and develop a course of action for the future.

This case describes the experience of Kanpur Confectioneries Private Limited (KCPL), a family managed company, in being a contract manufacturer for A-One Confectioneries Private Limited. The alliance had worked to the advantage of KCPL. It had prospered as a profitable contract manufacturer. It had used the surplus to diversify into unrelated businesses. The family members, however had doubts regarding the employment opportunities provided by the move. They were not sure whether the progress was sustainable. Alok Kumar Gupta, Chairman and Managing Director of KCPL, along with his brothers and son, is required to review the strategy and performance of his company and develop a course of action for the future.

This case presents the dilemma faced by Danville Airlines’ management when one of its best pilots is found to have the inherited gene for Huntington’s disease. Although he inevitably will develop the physically and mentally debilitating disease, the pilot, who has yet to experience symptoms, does not want to step down from his position. Danville Airlines explores the complicated issues of employee rights versus public safety, employee rights to privacy, and genetic testing and its effects on employees and management.

Russ Clark is a successful NAPA Auto Parts franchisee in Yuma County, Arizona. He sees opportunity in the neighboring Mexican city of San Luis Rıo Colorado. But crossing the border with an after-market auto parts store will require building relationships with others, lots of learning to overcome the significant barriers, and some savvy decision-making in addition to the usual evaluation of business opportunities. Clark must consider a location decision, product mix, human resource issues, and how to promote the new business in an uncertain and unfamiliar context. Clearly, his current American business model will require a great degree of adaptation to make the venture a success. This case was developed from extensive field interviews and shadowing Mr. Clark for a day. In addition, Mr. Clark and his store manager, Rigoberto made classroom presentations describing their experiences surrounding the case situation.

East Texas Oxygen (ETOX) delivered high-pressure cylinders of gases such as oxygen and nitrogen to twelve wholly-owned branches scattered throughout East Texas and Louisiana. Employees loaded and unloaded individual high-pressure cylinders off of and onto trailers manually and the firm had never had a related accident. Robert Jenkins had been challenged to decrease the cost of supplying the branches with cylinders and other supplies. He was considering recommending the palletization of delivery operations which required numerous changes within the organization. This case required students to determine the best routing for the delivery truck(s) and to determine whether or not the number of trucks and drivers could be reduced under palletization. Students were then required to do a capital budgeting analysis and make a recommendation of whether or not to palletize.

This case is about the way Pragati Software Private Limited, a small but profitable software training company set up in Mumbai by an alumnus of Indian Institute of Management Ahmedabad sent away half its employees in three rounds of layoff in its tenth year.

The Indian electricity sector was opened to the private sector under the IPP policy. The NTPC, India's largest and perhaps most efficient generator had to respond to the changing scenario. It set out to set up the Simhadri project in Andhra Pradesh, going beyond to original mandate. The IPP policy, its perversities, the background of the power sector, the problems there in and the response of NTPC are discussed. Case (B) discusses the issues related to Project Planning and Implementation.

The ABB (A) case describes the situation leading up to a decision that has to be made concerning closing a manufacturing subsidiary of ABB and moving its operations to Thailand. The Plant/subsidiary manager is placed in a conflict position regarding this decision due to the matrix form of management structure employed by the parent ABB. His direct line manager in charge of the global product line wants the move to take place. He has the support of his supervisor, who sits on the Executive Committee of the parent company. The ABB Country Manager for Denmark wants the plant to stay where it is. The subsidiary manager also reports to him, as part of the matrix structure. The subsidiary manager has recently been promoted to his new position, with the support of the Country Manager. The previous subsidiary manager had been promoted to head up a larger, Danish subsidiary of ABB. The previous year, the Country Manager and the previous subsidiary manager had managed to over rule the same request, in no small part, due to their connections within ABB as well as within Denmark. The new subsidiary manager needs to make a recommendation as to what should be done. The ABB Transformers (A) case can be used separately, or in conjunction with the (B) case.

The (B) case follows up on the (A) case. The decision was made to leave the plant in Denmark. It was revisited one year later, and the subsidiary manager is in even more of a quandary. The former Country Manager has been promoted to the Executive Committee of ABB. At a meeting of the new Country manager (not previously from within ABB), the Product Manager, his supervisor from the Executive Committee, the former Country Manager, and the subsidiary manager, the discussion is primarily between the new Country Manager and the Product Supervising Executive Committee Member, who has also been given added responsibility for all of Asia and the Pacific region. The former Country Manager, now responsible for European operations, remains quiet during the discussions. He later notes that this is a relatively small decision in the context of European operations. The subsidiary manager still needs to make a decision, but is now unsure of what has happened during the past year to allow this issue to be raised for the third time. The (B) case can be used to demonstrate how politics, promotions, and transfers can radically alter the environment within the context of a strategic decision. The focus is now on organization culture and power, and on the problems of operating within a matrix structure. The (B) case should be used in combination with the (A) case.

CavinKare Private Limited has emerged as an important player in the Indian fast moving consumer goods market. It has not only survived cut-throat competition from formidable multinational companies, but also has recorded sustained high growth over the years. Its business model has included converting important consumer insights into superior products, innovation and experimentation, value pricing, and extending distribution access. The case discusses the challenge before the top management to put in place a strategy to translate the vision of making CavinKare a billion-dollar entity (Rs 52,000 million) by 2012 into reality.

CavinKare was planning to introduce soaps and detergents product in the market. Owing to the ongoing price war in the detergent segment between Hindustan Lever Limited and P&G, the company's managing director and chief executive officer were weighing the risks and benefits of entering the soaps and detergents market. They had to decide whether to enter the market or delay the entry. Another option was to abandon the entry plan altogether. The case discusses the dilemma faced by the company on market entry due to the changed market conditions.

The organizers of a music festival may use video from the Friday concert to create a DVD to sell to those who come to the Saturday concert. Attendance on Saturday is uncertain, as is the percentage of those who attend on Saturday who will buy the DVD. Is this a good project? If so, what number of DVDs should be burned early Saturday morning and offered for sale at that evening’s performance? By that time, Friday attendance is known, as well as whether it rained on Friday, and there is a forecast for whether it will rain on Saturday. Historical information on these variables may help us predict Saturday attendance using multiple regression; together with the results of a marketing survey, such analysis will help us make better purchasing decisions. This case series (see also the B case, UVA-QA-0708) can be used to illuminate a multitude of concepts that are covered in basic decision-analysis courses. The series starts by examining the role of uncertainty in decision-making, proceeds through the estimation of probability distributions from sample data with multiple regression, culminates in the development of a full decision model, and ends with a qualitative and quantitative analysis (with a tornado diagram) of how to add value and reduce risk. Key pitfalls for students are failing to recognize both limits on sales (supply and demand), incomplete reasoning in the determination of the attendance probability distribution, and oversimplifying the full forecast model.

Jan Jaśkiewicz was a successful small grocer in Białystok, Poland, a city of about 300,000. When Poland became a capitalistic nation again in the late 1980s, Jaśkiewicz was among the early entrepreneurs. In the late 1990s, multi-national grocery chains from across Europe began building new, large stores on the outskirts of most Polish cities, including Białystok. In early summer 2000, a few days before the case begins, local independent grocers had been called together by Lewiatan, a Polish wholesale grocer. Lewiatan could offer the smaller grocers the advantages of the chains: bulk buying, Lewiatan-branded goods, slotting fees, and cooperative advertising. The local grocers liked many of the benefits Lewiatan would bring, but were suspicious and wanted someone they knew to be the area representative before they would agree to join Lewiatan. They had called a second meeting to try and find someone to fill the role. Jaśkiewicz was a natural choice: he had been in both the retail and wholesale grocery business, had been in business longer than almost everyone else, and was well-respected. Jan was tempted. Not only did he want to grow his own business, he wanted other Poles to be successful business owners and felt that if he could help Lewiatan, Lewiatan could help others compete with the new, large, foreign-owned and professionally-managed stores.

In 2005, LPP SA was one of the fastest growing firms in Poland’s apparel industry, with popular brands such as RESERVED and CROPP. This case focuses on the apparel industry, LPP’s business and international strategies, and its internal capabilities. The case also offers a background on the communist rule in Poland and how it led to economic malaise that sparked the strikes by Solidarity under the leadership of Lech Walesa. These strikes eventually cascaded into the demand for reforms and the collapse of the communist regime. Thus, the case tracks Poland’s transition into an “emerging market” and the environment within which LPP developed. The case concludes by asking readers whether LPP needs to reorient its strategies and develop new capabilities to sustain its growth.

Workforce diversity is a reality and offers many benefits to business. Nevertheless, managing diversity poses numerous challenges. This case involves religious diversity, focusing on employers' legal duty to accommodate religious practices. In the case, the assembly line at Electrolux's Frigidaire plant in St. Cloud, Minnesota hummed with activity when suddenly a group of Somali workers walked off the line. The Somali employees were new immigrants and introduced cultural and religious customs which were for the most part unfamiliar to management. The employees were Muslim and left the work stations to observe sunset prayers, one of the five daily prayers central to the Islamic faith. The management dilemma presented in the case is balancing the demands of assembly line production with the religious requirements of Muslim workers in a legal and effective manner. There is a substantial epilogue detailing Electrolux response to the situation which can be used as the basis for further class discussion. To help guide this dialogue, a “mini-instructors manual” follows the epilogue.

Radio Mirchi is the flagship brand of Entertainment Network India Limited (ENIL). ENIL is the largest private FM radio broadcaster in India. ENIL was able to gain a stronghold in the market due to its strengths of innovativeness and creative content, large operating network, reach among listeners, high quality studio and strong advertisement sales capabilities. The case discusses Radio Mirchi's entry into the Kolkata market in 2003 amidst the competition from three other players—Red FM, Aamar and Power. Kolkata occupied a prime place in the company's growth plans. The case discusses the dilemma faced by the company on developing the entry strategy. Its top management has to decide on the market segment(s) it should target, and the design of the product.

A Confrontation of Mindsets: French Retailers Operating in Poland traces the history of French retailers setting up operations in Poland in the mid 90s. The case, however, is set in 2006 when a top retailing executive recalls the important watershed period of 1996-97 when the expatriate managers in charge of setting up the first hypermarkets encountered great difficulties with their new Polish recruits. The managers were not succeeding in transferring the practices and routines that were an essential part of their business model on the home market in France: their Polish employees displayed work attitudes that were the contrary of the initiative and responsibility for enlarged jobs that characterized employees back home. This situation called into question the very viability of their business model in Poland. The case poses very clearly the question of what actions the expatriate managers should decide to take to ensure the store launchings in Poland and future growth. The issues raised concern global versus multi-domestic internationalization strategies, business models, paradigms, corporate culture, management of expats, knowledge transfer and the link between strategic implementation and organizational behavior.

Regency Hospital Limited, a multi-specialty hospital in Kanpur, India was founded by Dr. Atul Kapoor in 1995. The hospital had grown over the years. However, there were a number of issues that were yet to be dealt with. The case describes the struggles that the founder went through in setting up this hospital. It presents the challenges from the perspective of the founder as well as the staff and doctors of the hospital. In the process, the case highlights issues on leadership, entrepreneurship, organizational culture, and management of change.

Jeff Hotchkiss, President of the Assembly Test Division of Teradyne, Inc., the largest electronics testing company in the world, returned to the corporation where he had built his career after a three-year hiatus as CEO of a VOIP start-up. Teradyne's operation was struggling through the effects of a bad economy coupled with significant downturns in the electronics industry, and Hotchkiss encountered numerous problems specifically in the China operation, including customer dissatisfaction with service, price, and time required to implement changes. He assembled a strategic team to address these issues and to recommend and implement an accelerated turnaround in China. Students are challenged to design the turnaround plan.

In October 2004, Mr. Richard Sands, CEO of Constellation Brands, evaluated the potential purchase of The Robert Mondavi Corporation. Sands felt that Mondavi's wine beverage products would fit into the Constellation portfolio of alcohol beverage brands, and the opportunity to purchase Mondavi for a highly favorable price was quite possible due to recent management turmoil at that company. However, should it be purchased, strategic and operational changes would be necessary in order to fully achieve Mondavi's potential value. In making a decision, students need to consider the attractiveness of the wine industry, its changing structure, its share of the overall market for beverages, and rival firms' strategies. As rival bidders may emerge for Mondavi's brands, Constellation must offer a price that demonstrates its serious intent to acquire Mondavi.

Kolkata Port (KoPT) had achieved a turnaround from having made a loss of Rs 7.5 crores (cr) in the year 2000–01 to a net surplus of Rs 465.1 cr in the year 2006–07. A variety of initiatives had been taken during the intervening years with a focus on tariff rationalization, revenues from alternate sources, infrastructure development and productivity improvements. While these had yielded results, there was a fundamental issue of operational complexity and inability to compete due to the locational disadvantage. KoPT was a riverine port with two locations, 232 kms and 115 kms upstream on the Hooghly with draft limitations.

Two significant studies having implications for future strategies of KoPT had recently been submitted in March and November 2007. The top management of the port, including the Chairman who was responsible for driving many of the initiatives, was concerned that it may not be possible to achieve long term sustainable growth continuing with the strategies used so far. A well thought out future roadmap, breaking away from the present thinking, was essential sustained growth.

In December 2007, Sergey Nikolaev, founder and CEO of the Untsiya company, a tea shop chain in St. Petersburg, Russia, was facing a major decision about the future of his company: should he diversify the business or focus solely on tea sales via exclusive shops? Founded in 2002, the Untsiya Company had enjoyed dramatic growth and great success in the St. Petersburg market. By 2007, having directed the successful roll-out of his tea shop chain, Nikolaev wanted to grow to the next level and was prepared to revise his corporate strategy, even to the extent of changing his existing, stable organizational structure. Students are challenged to select a growth strategy and related organizational changes to implement that strategy.

Towards the end of 90s, mounting losses forced Madhya Pradesh State Road Transport Corporation (MPSRTC), the sole provider of public transport in Madhya Pradesh, to suspend their urban services. As a consequence, organized public transport services ceased to exist in Indore, the largest metropolitan city of the state of Madhya Pradesh. This void was filled by Intermediate Public Transport (IPT) consisting of minibuses, tempos and auto rickshaws. As of January 2004, 300 private minibuses, 150 tempos, and 10,000 auto rickshaws were plying as IPT, but with poor service levels. Lack of public transport was a catalyst for rapid increase in personalized vehicles, and high level of pollution and accidents. Worried over the rapid growth of personalized vehicles, and high levels of pollution and accidents in Indore, policy makers and administrators had made several attempts of reviving the public transport system in the city. In 2005, the Collector and District Magistrate of Indore decided to make another attempt of reviving the public transport. The two cases, Indore City Bus Transport Service (A) and Indore City Bus Transport Service (B) discuss the complexity involved in the planning, rolling out, and running of public transport services in Indore on a sustainable basis. Case (A) details the prevalent socio-economic condition, travel characteristics, and positions taken by various stakeholders on provisioning of public transport service in Indore as of November 2005. Case (B) discusses the challenges during the growth and operation of the services as of June 2008. Unprecedented rise in crude oil prices along with (i) increase in maintenance cost of buses, price of new buses, and bank interest and (ii) decrease/marginal increase in the fare box revenue (more people were shifting to passes) and advertisement revenue depleted the margin of the operators. The fares had not been increased since the launch of services in February 2006. It was clear that Indore City Transport Service Limited (ICTSL), the SPV created to run the transport system, would survive only if operators were able to survive. The readers have to take the position of the board of ICTSL and consider various options available to them for running the services on a sustainable basis.

In this case, the situation is a classic duopoly. Two shipping firms are in a price war over the market for containerized shipping to and from a small Caribbean island. The case presents a table of contributions to both firms as a function of their prices. This table serves as a basis by which the class can explore the concepts of Nash equilibrium, price leadership, and prisoner’s dilemma. It is also available with the case as a student spreadsheet (QA-0355X). See also “Lesser Antilles Lines (B)” (UVA-QA-0641) and “Lesser Antilles Lines (C)” (UVA-QA-0670).

This critical incident offers students the opportunity to develop an understanding of the issues associated with intellectual property (IP) law and the ways to protect a business from its employees and potential unfair competition. Using a restaurant setting students can learn to apply IP concepts, discuss the issues of trademark, as well as develop a legal IP check list.

Small to medium-sized enterprises, SMEs, play a critical role in the global economy. They comprise 90% of the global firm population and employ more than 50% of the labor force in the private sector. This case study examines issues related to sustainable supply chain management and social entrepreneurship in the SME context. Being small does matter and the efficiencies of small to medium-sized companies struggling for competitive advantage in the global marketplace warrants consideration. Philosopher's Wool Co., located in Inverhuron, Ontario, Canada, is a woolen producer and woolens product manufacturer that partners with other Ontario wool producers and American wool processors and distributors. Its sustainable vertical supply chain system increased local woolen farmers' revenues contrary to the “conventional” price wisdom in the Canadian woolen industry and turned by-product cost into profitable end use. It also effected social change in its local business community and in global customer relations through resource efficiency and socially responsible employee and consumer policies. However, the struggle to maintain a foreign distribution network and remain competitive and profitable was problematic. Students are challenged to solve the problems of an SME operating in a global economy.

This case, “One Mission, Multiple Roads: Aravind Eyecare System in 2009” is a sequel to the earlier case, “Aravind Eyecare System: Giving Them the Most Precious Gift” (BP 0299). It describes the new challenges facing AECS in 2009. It presents the strategic choices facing a mission driven organization like AECS. For its future growth it had the option of several paths. Following any of these paths would not dilute its mission and yet it could not pursue all of them at the same time. It would have to prioritize them. The case encourages participants to develop criteria for this prioritization.

The case describes how Radio Mirchi dealt with competition in the Bangalore FM radio market. Radio Mirchi's market share in Bangalore started declining within a few months of its successful launch, following the entry of new competitors in the market. The case discusses strategies adopted by the company to regain its market share and become the market leader. It describes the initial product offering of the channel, why it felt the need to redesign its product mix, and eventually how the company changed its product offering. The focus of the case is on the dilemma faced by the organization while shifting to a new product and service design in the face of emerging competition. The case highlights the importance of continuously monitoring the market environment and developing a keen understanding of the consumers' behaviour for an organization to gain and sustain its leadership position in the marketplace.

In May 2005, the Committee on Infrastructure took a decision that the Ministry of Railways, in consultation with Planning Commission, would prepare a policy for permitting private and public sector operators to run container trains through the Indian Railways (IR) network. CONCOR, a listed subsidiary of IR, was the only container train operator at that time. RITES, another subsidiary of IR, was awarded a study to prepare a scheme towards this. RITES submitted its final report in September 2005. The recommendations of the report included entry requirements, classification of routes into various categories based on existing and anticipated traffic volume, regulating entry for each route and minimum traffic commitment by the operators. The representatives of the Planning Commission, Ministry of Railways, Ministry of Commerce and Industry, and Ministry of Shipping were to meet in October 2005 to discuss the RITES recommendations to work towards framing a policy document for running container trains by private and public sector operators on the IR network. This case provides a background for this meeting.

In October 2005, the representatives of the Planning Commission, Ministry of Railways, Ministry of Commerce and Industry, and Ministry of Shipping met to discuss the RITES recommendations to work towards framing a policy document for running container trains by private and public sector operators on the IR network. Starting with this meeting until January 2006, various aspects of the RITES report were debated by the Planning Commission and Ministry of Railways to evolve a policy statement. There were concerns raised by the Planning Commission on the proposals by RITES which had implications such as entry barriers and denial of a level playing field with the incumbent, CONCOR. Other specific issues including entry criteria, entry fees and revenue share, and maintenance were questioned. In January 2006, a policy statement titled ‘Policy to permit various operators to move container trains on Indian Railways’ was released by the Ministry of Railways which stated the terms and conditions for running container trains by private and public sector operators on IR network. Subsequent to this, 14 parties signed up with the IR for container train operations. The empowered subcommittee of the Committee on Infrastructure was to meet in February 2006 to discuss the process for finalizing a Model Concession Agreement between Indian Railways and the container train operators. This case provides a background for this meeting.

Disinvestment of government shareholding in Public Sector Undertakings, through Public Offers, is a common occurrence in many economies. This case describes such a process of disinvestment of the government of India's stake in a large power utility, National Thermal Power Corporation (NTPC) in India. In addition to process details, the case contains information and data that make it possible to rigorously analyze the response of market participants and the resulting changes in the prices of shares of NTPC before, during and after the public offer.

A family business founded by Chinese immigrants grew into a $133 million toy and costume maker by exploiting seasonal niche segments in the highly competitive, global toy industry. Sales of traditional toys stagnated when replaced by game consoles and electronic toys. Unable to compete in high tech toys, MegaToys moved instead toward seasonal products. In 2007, brothers Peter and Charlie Woo were about to pitch what they hoped would be $63 million in Easter basket sales to Wal-Mart. If Wal-Mart took the full order, it would come to represent over half of MegaToys' revenue.

The company was faced with the dilemma of how to grow, and at what pace. Charlie Woo knew that MegaToys could continue to grow as long as it was able to satisfy Wal-Mart's demands. Peter Woo wondered if this was the smartest way to grow the business. “Growth is a good thing as long as you don't sell your shirt to get it,” he noted. Should MegaToys continue to increase its sales to Wal-Mart, or would dependence on Wal-Mart eventually threaten the firm's success? Were there other, untapped opportunities for MegaToys that were well aligned with its strengths, resources, and capabilities?

The Case takes place at the headquarters of Genesee & Wyoming, Inc. (GWI), one of the leading short line railroads in the United States. The Case revolves around three executives - Mortimer B. Fuller III, Chairman and CEO, Mark Hastings, CFO and Treasurer, and Alan Harris, Senior Vice President and Chief Accounting Office - and the dilemma over whether to pursue international expansion.

GWI has generally pursued a strategy of diversification through acquisition. However, there are other approaches to diversification, including international expansion. With increasing deregulation and privatization of railroads around the world, GWI and its competitors must weigh the risks of internationalization with the rewards. GWI fears that a failure to move quickly might result in missed opportunities as competitors acquire railroads around the world.

An opportunity has recently arisen in Australia, where the government is selling Australian National Railway. GWI believes Australia might be a good initial foray into the international market given the similarities of the country and its railroad industry to the United States and its railroad industry. The Case asks the question, “Should GWI enter the bidding?”

Hospitality and tourism management; strategic management; marketing, transportation system management and human resource management.

Undergraduate in business and management and hospitality and tourism management.

This teaching case outlines the historical background, successes and challenges of the national airline of Jamaica. It shows how a national airline, which is a heritage asset and one that has provided nostalgic and sentimental value to the Jamaican people and its passengers, had to be divested. The airline has been faced with several challenges; the major one being high-operating costs, especially in light of the global economic recession. The case also highlights the various procedures carried out by the Government of Jamaica before and after the divestment arrangement and also by the acquirer, Caribbean Airlines.

The student should be able to: first, differentiate among the various strategic management terms and concepts used in the case; second, explain the importance of strategic decisions versus emotional decisions; third, assess the environmental factors that impacted Air Jamaica's operation; fourth, analyse the environmental factors that should have been considered by Caribbean Airlines before making the decision to acquire Air Jamaica; fifth, carry out a comparative analysis of the various corporate-level strategies to identify the best option for the Government of Jamaica; sixth, propose reasons why Caribbean Airlines acquired Air Jamaica.

Teaching note.

This paper covers marketing strategy, retail management, branding, customer value, and competitive analysis.

The paper is applicable to undergraduate and postgraduate business and management level.

This case spotlights Al Ain Dairy in Dubai, UAE. It focuses on the launch of the new product – “Long Life Juice” in Dubai 2010. Al Ain Diary is the UAE's largest dairy company by market share but now wants to replicate success in both the regional market and the fruit juice market. The case highlights the challenges of increasing production capabilities; product innovation; supply chain management; and brand building in newer markets.

This case can be used to teach marketing strategy, retail management, branding, customer value, competitive analysis, and potentially elements relating to international business strategy.

A teaching note is available on request.

The paper covers strategic planning and strengths, weakness, opportunities and threats (SWOT) analysis.

This paper is applicable to undergraduate and graduate management students.

In November 2009, Mr Vaidya Raghwan, one of the founders of AquaChemie LLC was contemplating the company's expansion into Qatar. The recent financial crisis had affected the company's growth plans. He wondered if this was the right time to move forward. This case examines the decisions taken by AquaChemie LLC and strategic analysis undertaken in preparation of entering a new market.

This case is suitable for the introductory section of the strategic planning course. The case is intended to expose students to the process of developing a business plan. Students are expected to carry out an analysis of the SWOT of the business and identify possible options of expansion. Students are also expected to identity the additional information they require to evaluate the expansion options identified.

A teaching note is available on request.

This case study considers the supply chain redesign of a multinational company, with specific emphasis on production lot sizing, inventory policy and transportation decisions.

The material is intended for senior level students of business administration, logistics and similar departments. An intermediate knowledge of supply chain, purchasing and inventory concepts is required; therefore, the case is better suited for students who have taken one-semester courses on supply chain management and inventory management. This case can be used in graduate courses as part of discussions on physical distribution, supply chain design/redesign, risk pooling through process optimization.

Within the global market, establishing the right business model where cost of operations is optimized has become key for competitiveness. This necessitates the simultaneous consideration and reevaluation of production, inventory and transportation interactivities within the integrated supply chain. We first discuss the business procurement model of a multinational company with emphasis on critical aspects of the current structure. An alternative model brought into consideration by the managers of the company considers consolidation of shipments through supply hubs and distribution to regional manufacturers. We present an analysis based on perspectives of company managers for and against this new business model. We finally provide numeric evidence on relevant costs of both models in order to enhance further discussion on redesign decisions.

The discussion regarding the case will provide a better understanding of key concepts of supply chain integration and coordination as well as the significance of the optimization of underlying processes.

Teaching notes.

Manufacturing, Western management theories and Japanese management practices.

This case can be used in project management or management-related courses at tertiary institutions at Undergraduate and Postgraduate level.

This case provides students with an opportunity to find out what make Toyota so successful in manufacturing through its famous production system as well as the underlying Toyota Way principles. All students are expected to understand the Toyota Way model with a balanced view that goes beyond a set of lean tools such as just-in-time. This case opens a historical account for the Toyota Way model by connecting with possible Western management theories and Japanese management practices.

It is expected to significantly benefit students with industry experience with the intention of initiating appropriate changes in their own industry and/or organization by applying what they have learnt from the Toyota Way, through bridging with Western management theories.

Teaching notes.