Case studies

This case focuses on the issue of additional fleet acquisition by Ispaat Parivahan Limited (IPL) for its contract obligation fulfilment with Solid Steel Limited. As per contract, IPL was to transport overall 15,000 tons per month (tpm) till July 31, 2015 to the North and West. But IPL failed to uphold its part of the contract and fell short of the target for the North. IPL could transport only 12,800 tpm, leading to a penalty payment. To avoid this, the company proposed acquisition of more fleet. One of the issues was additional time due to return loads. The Board wanted IPL to assess scenarios with and without return loads.

GiveIndia is an online donation platform that bridges the gap between the donors and credible Non-Governmental Organizations. The focus of GiveIndia has been on individual donations with a vision to create a culture of giving, where every Indian donates at least 2% of their income for the poor. In 2013, the Government of India introduced Corporate Social Responsibility Bill, which mandates corporates to invest at least 2% of their profits in CSR activities. At present, GiveIndia has not been seeking corporate, but now they find themselves at the right position to exploit this opportunity. Dhaval, the CEO faces a dilemma. Corporate donations could significantly increase his funding; however, it could also lead deviations from the mission to creating a giving culture. There were other problems to contend with, such as the question of investing in GiveIndia brand, how to pitch business reasons for philanthropy and employee compensation and retention issues.

IFCI Limited-a non-banking financial corporation in India was struggling with issues of negative Capital Adequacy Ratio and high non-performing assets till 2007. The company had not done any business for a decade until 2007. July, 2007 was the time when Atul Rai joined the company as the CEO. This case revolves around the various strategic initiatives taken by Rai and his team to help the firm turnaround. The main focus of the case is on the implementation of some of the key strategic decisions. The case gives opportunity to review IFCI's strategy and make recommendations for future expansion.

The case provides an opportunity to students to learn about the basic concepts in Project Management using a situation that can be easily understood by all. The case provides the instructor an opportunity to demonstrate to the students as to how precedence relationships are to be generated from assertions made about a project by the project in-charge – a feature that is generally missing in most cases on the subject. The case also provides an opportunity to develop a Linear Programming (LP) model for the project. The teaching note accompanying the case provides a simple, innovative LP formulation and outlines as to how it can be used to identify the critical path and the critical activities. The case can be taught in one session (if LP formulation is not covered). Else, since it is suitable for two sessions, the model can be developed and solved in the class in the second session.

The ‘CSIR-Tech: Facilitating lab to market journeys’ case is designed to teach students the strategic intricacies of an organizational network. The case also throws light on the formation and design of a collaborative inter-organizational network. CSIR, a premier R&D organization in India, was plagued with challenges in the commercialization of technologies developed in its constituent laboratories. CSIR-Tech was established as a private-limited company to catalyse the technology development and commercialization process. The case analyses formation of CSIR-CSIR-Tech alliance and discusses how the alliance can help in overcoming challenges associated with commercialization of technologies being developed at CSIR.

Launched in 2005, Aava natural mineral water is one of the key brands in the natural mineral water market in India. It had sales of over Rs. 15 crore (150 million) in 2012 and it is the second largest brand and a volume leader in the natural mineral water category. The case discusses the dilemma faced by its Managing Director and his team in light of the emerging competition. The company needs to take important decisions related to customer segment selection, product mix and introduction of new product offerings.

Since the concept of rental clothing business was new for Indian market and very few players were dealing in it, ‘Wright & Company’ consulting did an exploratory research to understand the model. Through two expert interviews and extensive survey of the business model of existing players across countries, they developed better understanding of kinds of business models, range of products offered, customer expectations and concerns regarding such service and business challenges. The research showed the purchase intention but further detailed primary research was required to validate the findings. To conduct the quantitative survey they designed a questionnaire but was not sure of the appropriateness of the questionnaire and thus wanted to pre-test it and construct a final detailed questionnaire. Vishal also wondered if he needed to do more extensive in-depth qualitative research.

Wright & Company conducted a market research for ‘Fashion Destination’ to determine the consumer purchase intention for a clothing and accessories rental service. Based on secondary research and expert interviews, the consultants came up with a preliminary business model for the service. And through qualitative research they found that consumers indeed had a purchase intention for a clothing and accessories rental service. To validate the conclusion they conducted a primary research by administering a detailed questionnaire and prepared a codebook. The consultants now had the challenge to make an analysis plan to draw appropriate inferences vis-à-vis the objectives of the research.

In 2013, ‘Fashion Destination’, a well-established clothing retailer considered setting up a clothing and accessories rental service. They hired a market research agency ‘Wright & Company’ to conduct a research on the sustainability and profitability of such a business model. The consultants collected primary data and did an extensive analysis for Fashion Destination. Based on the secondary research, expert interviews, extensive qualitative and quantitative research the consultants recommended the management to start a clothes and accessories rental service but suggested that the product offering be limited to formal clothes only and offer accessories. Vishal had doubts despite of the go-ahead signal from consultancy. He wondered what recommendations should he accept and which needed further verification.

Acme Inc, a large retailer, explores the use of Data warehouse for addressing their decision support infrastructure Challenges. Acme plans for a pilot study to assess the feasibility and evaluate the business benefits of using Data warehouse. The focus of this case is to ascertain the steps involved in design, development and implementation of a Data warehouse.