Case studies

The case explores Ayesha’s reasoning, who is also a financial expert, regarding how she approaches the question of Riba (interest) so that she can maximize her financial returns and remain true to her religious identity. The discussion in the case revolves around alternate rationalizations as to why Riba (interest) continues to remain important for many Islamic investors.

Historically, the prohibition of Riba (interest) prevented the exploitation of the poor borrower who was charged exorbitant interest rates by wealthy lenders. In the modern day, a banking system which operates in a regulated setup and charges market-based interest rates, the rationale regarding the exploitation of the poor seems less compelling. Furthermore, other economic realities such as inflation and currency fluctuations further lend support to protecting one’s investments through prudent financial decisions. In this case the authors approach this decision regarding the prohibition of Riba (interest) in Islam from the point of view of the protagonist, Ayesha Bhatti, who is religiously conscious and is faced with certain personal investment choices.

The case focuses on one of the core issues of Islamic finance (IF), that of the prohibition of charging Riba (interest) on debt and the reasons behind this ruling. The relevance of this prohibition to modern day financial markets is essential to understand IF.

Teaching notes are available for educators only.

CSS 1: Accounting and Finance.

This case introduces the context of seaport logistics supply chain management with a focus on the issues of risk management in handling and transportation of dangerous goods (DG). The authors present the following learning objectives under the overarching framework of Bloom’s Taxonomy as follows: To understand the severity of handling and transportation of DG in the export supply chain context. To understand the relevance of multi-criteria decision-making in risk assessment. To apply Delphi Technique to appropriately explain the process of risk assessment in a supply-chain context.

It was midnight on December 21, 2020, and Nishadh Amonkar, Chief Executive Officer, Yorokobi, was still awake recollecting his telecon with Tushar Rane, the Head-Materials, Western Maharashtra site of Crop Life Pvt Ltd. The organization was developing and manufacturing pesticides and other specialty chemicals for its clients worldwide. As new and diverse products were being manufactured in the organization, transportation of the products was becoming challenging. The case highlights the need for a data driven risk assessment approach to manage supply chains that were prone to product driven risks such as the handling and transportation of DG.

This course is suitable at the Master of Business Administration level for the following courses: Supply Chain Management (Focus/Session: Supply Chain Risk Management), Logistics Management (Focus/Session: Risks in Logistics and Supply Chain), Research Methodology (Focus/Session: Application of Delphi Technique).

Teaching notes are available for educators only.

CSS 9: Operations and logistics.

Applicable to both undergraduate and graduate courses in managing technology or sustainability.

Technology strategy.

Business Model evaluation.

Sustainable technologies.

In this case study, gas and electric utility holding company Southern Company has embarked on an ambitious experiment to learn more about energy usage at a household level, as well as community scale microgrids. Every minute, 62 homes in Reynolds Landing upload appliance and electrical outlet level data to Southern Company. How can Southern Company use this vast amount of data to promote energy efficiency? Are microgrids a key to creating a more sustainable and resilient energy future? At a higher level, how can microgrids impact or change traditional power generation business models like those used by Southern Company?

1. To explore why companies develop technologies that are counter to current business models.

2. To understand how new technology can lead to new business models for existing businesses.

3. To understand the drivers of company led R&D.

4. To discuss “technology push” applications. Where technology is developed and then a market or markets are sought.

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

Two parts here. The first is looking at sustainable energy solutions such as solar farms and micro-grids. The second is this case challenges students to ask how this research helps the 45% of consumers making less than $40,000/yr.

CSS 11: Strategy.

To understand the strategic importance of location selection within the organization. To analyze the constraints in decision-making for selection of location. To analyze the alternate options for a location selection. To understand the usage of the factor rating method.

Due to a countrywide anti-encroachment drive, Mr Mughal loses his shop. He had just received a notice that his shop including those of others near him was established on one of the amenity plots. The structure was declared as illegal and was to be demolished in 24 h. He had to vacate the shop and his display center to avoid the loss of his items. He along with other shop owners approached to Supreme Court of Pakistan (SCP) to stop this demolishing act and to prove that these shops belonged to them for decades and that they had already paid the price of shops at that time. However, the SCP rejected their appeal straightforward and the anti-encroachment drive was carried out. Now, Mr Mughal had to find out an alternate location to establish his display center and to resume his business operations.

Undergraduate.

Teaching Notes are available for educators only.

CSS 9: Operations and logistics.

This compact case study uses the marketing mix (product, price, place and promotion) and customer segmentation/targeting as theoretical platforms for the Amazon Go business concept. It reinforces the idea that these are important aspects in developing a successful marketing strategy especially when they are aligned with the core competencies of a firm. Additional concepts include localization strategy, loyalty and Maslow’s hierarchy. Localization focuses on merchandising and local partnerships. Customer loyalty is discussed in the context of loyalty programs and consumer trust. Maslow’s hierarchy is used as a way to connect the pandemic and safety concerns to the offline retail experience.

This case was developed from secondary sources readily available in the public domain including websites, news articles and social media sites. This case has been taught in undergraduate marketing management courses.

In 2018, Amazon opened high tech convenience stores across a number of metropolitan cities in the USA offering a checkout-free experience for customers. This case evaluates the marketing aspects of the move including industry structure, store format and customer loyalty. The underlying question is how will Amazon, the company that pioneered online shopping, perform in an offline retail marketplace that is highly competitive? Will Amazon be able to leverage its massive technology power and shake up offline retail? Will changing market forces caused by the pandemic reshape retail as we know it?

This case should be used in a marketing management course or a retailing course for undergraduate students. Applicable concepts include competitive advantage, marketing mix, customer loyalty and retailing in a digital world. This case could also be used to discuss or compare the differences between online and offline brand leadership.

The term emotional intelligence was coined by the researchers Peter Salavoy and John Mayer. The concept was popularized by Daniel Goleman through his book Emotional Intelligence published in 1996. According to Salavoy and Mayer (1990), emotional intelligence consists of a set of skills hypothesized to contribute to the accurate appraisal and expression of emotion in oneself and in others, the effective regulation of emotion in self and others and the use of feelings to motivate, plan and achieve in one’s life.

The case study uses two sources of information, namely, primary and secondary. Dr Dev, a senior training and development manager with a multinational company constituted the primary source. The secondary source consisted of information publicly available on various websites. The case has been disguised for various reasons.

Lady mosquito at NPS Mumbai is a case study on emotional intelligence, a much sought-after concept in management education, but not many case studies have been written on the topic. This case involves an interaction that took place between a facilitator and a learner, and it highlights the importance of emotional intelligence in day-to-day communication. The use of emotional intelligence will manifold improve the ability of the facilitator to understand the learners’ behavior in the classroom. This will further enhance the effectiveness of learning, as the motivated facilitator/trainer will be more committed to engaging the learners in their educational activities.

This case has been developed to be used in postgraduate and undergraduate management programs. This case can also be used in management development programs for executives. As the case provides a basic understanding of human behavior and thereby teaches to manage others just by managing oneself. As the case revolves around a facilitator and the learner, it can also be used in the trainer program for facilitators who desire to conduct training programs or want to take teaching as a full-time career.

This study paper aims to analyse a real life case based on Human Resource Management, specifically the concepts of the recruitment process and the grapevine.

The main topic is HRM related. Concepts introduced include recruitment process and grapevine.

The information for the case was attained from one-on-one interviews with the main case protagonist, Sabrina (name of all characters in the case and organisations have been changed as per request of the interviewee. However, all the happenings in the case are real).

This case deals with the tricky situation faced by Sabrina, an certain employee of an international development organisation, (an institution focussing on aiding development in economically underdeveloped countries), who finds herself in when she inadvertently comes across some negative information about a job candidate currently in the middle of the recruitment process, who, if successful, will become her colleague and work closely with her in future. It has taken months to find this candidate, and if hired should lighten Sabrina’s workload tremendously. The preliminary decision maker in the case is Sabrina, but the ultimate management decision will have to be made by her boss John Nash.

The case can be used at undergraduate and graduate level. The main topic is Human Resource Management (HRM) related. It is of preliminary level of difficulty. There are no specific prerequisites. Concepts introduced include recruitment process and grapevine.

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.

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.