Case studies

The subject area is international business and strategy. The case allows scope for the following areas: internationalisation, market strategy, emerging market multinational companies, and doing business in Africa.

The primary target audience for this teaching case is postgraduate business students such as Master of Business Administration (MBA), or postgraduate management programmes. The case is primarily designed for use in courses that cover strategy or international business.

This case centres on the international growth strategy of FMBcapital Holdings Group (FMB), the Malawian commercial banking firm. The case finds the founder and current group chairman, Hitesh Anadkat, in 2016, as he and the FMB board are about to decide on the next move in their Southern African strategy. Since opening the first FMB branch in Malawi and becoming the country's first commercial banker in 1995, Anadkat and his team have ridden a wave of financial deregulation across the region to successfully expand into neighbouring Botswana, Zambia, and Mozambique. Now, an opportunity to gain a foothold in Zimbabwe means the leaders must decide (1) whether they want to continue to grow the FMB footprint across the region, or focus on their integration and expansion efforts within existing markets; and (2) how they will realise this strategy.

International expansion – identifying the need to expand into new markets; identifying the combination of internal strengths and external conditions that make international expansion viable; and identifying and analysing each possible new market(s) and the decision-making process involved.

Political, social and economic factors in Africa – understanding how these external institutional factors present constraints, risks and opportunities for internationalisation and hence shape strategy; understanding that these factors may vary significantly across countries on the continent (in spite of their geographic proximity) and in some cases, within a single country; and understanding that by selecting markets with extreme socially and politically volatile contexts, the risk of a worst-case scenario transpiring (in which institutional forces trump business strategy) is appreciable.

Combination of resource- and institutional-based approaches – recognising that successful internationalisation requires capitalising upon both internal resources and institutional mastery.

Choosing expansion strategies – assessing the type of new market entry (e.g. greenfield or acquisition of existing operations) and its adequacy for penetrating a new market.

Using networks and local partners – to substitute and enhance the benefits that originally flow from a small (and sometime family-established) business, with an emphasis on acquisition of skills and networks in foreign countries.

Regional integration – optimising business operations through a sharing or pooling of resources and improved capital flow between subsidiaries, in some instances by taking advantage of economies of scale (this extends to enhancing the reputation and awareness of a brand across a wider region).

Family businesses – identifying the value that can be gained through establishing a family business with the support of many “close” stakeholders while also noting the limitation that exist as expansion and growth is required.

In the 1980s and 1990s, Nintendo was dominating the video game industry with a market share of 90 per cent. Since that time, market share has dropped substantially with new competitors, new technology and changing consumer preferences. This case examines the history of Nintendo including its loss of market share in a rapidly changing industry.

This case is suitable for undergraduate courses in strategic management where an instructor’s focus is on strategic decision-making.

Learning outcomes are as follows: to learn about the application of Bartlett and Ghoshal’s model of international strategy; to compare and contrast the global strategy of IKEA in India and China; and to understand how adaptability can create a new competitive advantage in emerging markets.

The case study enables discussion about the global strategy of a well-established multi-national company, IKEA in an emerging market. IKEA is a well-established and well-known brand in the international market in furniture retailing. It has decided to make a debut in India in 2017 with its first store in Hyderabad. However, it was yet to open it in 2018. The case emphasizes upon understanding the global strategy of IKEA, positioning itself in the fragmented Indian furniture industry, managing differences in emerging markets and adapting to the local environment of the particular country. The case highlights how adaptability can create a new competitive advantage in managing global strategy in different countries of emerging markets.

This case study is developed for post-graduate management programs as an MBA, Executive MBA and executive development programs.

Teaching Notes are available for educators only.

CSS 11: Strategy.

Micro organizational behavior – an individual level of analysis (i.e. motivation, personality, attitudes, learning, etc.). Meso organizational behavior – team/group level of analysis (i.e. communication, team dynamics, power, politics, etc.). Macro organizational behavior – an organizational level of analysis (i.e. strategy, structure, culture, control, etc.). Marketplace or external environment (PESTEL analysis).

The research was conducted by a consultant in the role of a participant-observer.

The focus of the case is a disguised nonprofit organization, the American-Netherlands Foundation (AmNet), based in Chicago. The organization faced leadership and organizational challenges related to conflicting strategic and operational priorities among the board of trustees, the president and staff. An unexpected contribution of $750,000 increased the salience of these differences. The case provides students an excellent opportunity to apply their analytical skills and knowledge gained in a management and business course.

Organizational behavior; organizational design; organizational development; and organizational theory. Levels – upper-level undergraduate through first-year MBA students.

Formular un análisis externo de INAPOL. Desarrollar un análisis estratégico para identificar alternativas estratégicas.

INAPOL es una empresa manufacturera dedicada a la fabricación de mangas de polietileno y confección de bolsas plásticas, que enfrentó una crisis por la nueva normativa medioambiental en Chile. Esta norma prohíbe la entrega de bolsas plásticas en el comercio, lo que conlleva directamente a una disminución en la demanda de bolsas por parte de sus principales clientes. Es por esto que es necesario realizar un análisis estratégico y reformular un plan de desarrollo. El presente caso de estudio presenta una baja complejidad y podrá ser aplicado en cursos introductorios de estrategia o gestión de empresas para estudiantes de pregrado en ingeniería, administración y negocios. Se espera que el lector sea capaz de identificar los factores externos que limitan a la empresa, y los factores internos que afectan a la empresa. Además, se espera que el lector desarrolle herramientas de análisis estratégico tales como PESTAL (PESTEL) y FODA (SWOT) e identificar antecedentes necesarios para proponer alternativas estratégicas.

El presente caso de estudio presenta una baja complejidad y podrá ser aplicado en cursos introductorios de estrategia o gestión de empresas para estudiantes de pregrado en administración y negocios.

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 11: Strategy.

The following theoretical concepts are applicable to the case and its learning objectives: Stakeholder Power-Interest Matrix and Carroll’s Pyramid of Corporate Social Responsibility.

Information was obtained in three separate interviews with PSEG. In February 2018, an introductory phone conference was conducted with a number of senior managers within PSEG, including the Director of Development and Strategic Issues, Kate Gerlach. In April 2018, an onsite interview was conducted with Gerlach, who connected the author with Scott Jennings. A phone interview was conducted with Scott Jennings in May 2018 and follow-up communication with him was handled via e-mail. The information obtained from these interviews was supplemented by material obtained from secondary sources. None of the information in the case has been disguised.

Scott Jennings, a Vice President at PSEG, the diversified New Jersey-based energy company, was the project leader for a large commercial wind farm that was to be built off the coast. The project, Garden State Offshore Energy, a joint venture between PSEG and Deepwater Wind, an experienced developer of offshore wind projects, had been announced over six years earlier, in late 2008. In the time that had passed, the Garden State Offshore Energy project team had waited for the New Jersey Bureau of Public Utilities, which had been tasked by Governor Chris Christie to evaluate the project costs before it could authorize the actual construction of the wind turbines. Justifying the project on a cost basis proved to be difficult; despite the growing public sentiment in favor of projects that utilized renewable energy sources such as wind power, the Garden State Offshore Energy team was unable to move the project forward. Scott needed to decide whether it made sense to continue to hold regular meetings with the Garden State Offshore Energy team. Scott’s colleagues suggested that Scott speak with senior management at PSEG to find out if the resources that had been dedicated to the Garden State Offshore Energy project could be shifted to other projects that might be more feasible.

This case is suitable for courses in Sustainability. It is appropriate to use the case in undergraduate courses to illustrate decision making in a regulated industry. Sufficient information is presented in the case to debate both sides of the offshore wind authorization issue.

The purpose of this paper is to help readers better understand the psychological impact of employees feeling underutilized in the workplace.

The case is based on primary data collected from Jonathan and describes his actual experience in the workplace. Mark also provided input on the situation. Because Jonathan and Mark are still employed in the same institution, the names have been disguised to protect their identity.

Jonathan is a highly motivated and successful employee who was promoted into a position that had no real responsibility. His manager would not restructure the job to make it more challenging or rewarding, so after three years of frustration, Jonathan has to decide if he should keep trying to fix the job, coast until retirement or resign.

This case is applicable for undergraduate business courses in organizational behavior, principles of management, principles of human resource management or leadership.