Case studies

Venture capital and private equity.

This case is suitable for II MBA/Executive MBA (venture capital and private equity/entrepreneurship/business models/managing family business) courses.

Soliton is a technology and software services company with operations in India and the USA providing machine vision products and virtual instrumentation services. Soliton was started by Ganesh Devaraj in 1998 after his return from the United States after higher studies. Ganesh hails from a business family in Coimbatore that had interests in the textile spinning sector. The family had been in the textile business since the early 1940s and had revenues of Rs 400 million and employed about 700 people. Ganesh, not wanting to continue in the traditional family business, ventured into the technology sector using his academic and professional experience. His family was supportive of his venture and funded his company for the first two years of operation and for scaling up operations. Ganesh is now evaluating various sources of raising additional capital at a time when there was general slowdown in the automobile sector as a result of the global financial crisis.

The goal of this case study is to illustrate the complexities that exist in financing growth of companies in uncertain times. This following are the expected learning outcomes: discuss and understand the nuances between different sources of early stage funding: personal wealth, family, and angels; compare and contrast the differences between family funding and venture funding; and highlight the benefits and limitations of family funding.

Teaching notes are available.

Humanitarian logistics, aid response.

Master/advanced level; courses in: humanitarian logistics; port operations and management; supply chain management and logistics.

Recently, the humanitarian organization Global Food Aid (GFA) has received criticism for slow response to the on-going drought in East Africa. One of the reasons is the long lead times to transport and distribute food. Therefore, GFA has launched a project called “Strategic stock” where food will be pre-positioned in strategic locations around the world. Because of its importance as a gateway for East Africa, the Port of Mombasa has been selected as the pilot project. Headquarters of GFA has engaged a team of logistics and warehouse experts to plan, run and evaluate the pilot project in Mombasa.

Through this case, the students (who take on the role of the experts) will gain knowledge in a wide range of areas. First, they will gain a thorough insight to coordinating a port operation in one of the major ports in Africa. Second, the case increases the understanding of working with logistics in a humanitarian aid context. Third, the students will learn how to work with logistics both on a strategic level (planning the implementation of strategic stock) and on an operational level (handling the different events that occur throughout the case). There is also a learning element related to risk management.

Teaching notes are available.

The application of activity based costing (ABC); calculating the cost of a CNC Process using ABC; designing a pricing strategy.

The case can be used in the following courses: MBA program with specialisation in finance (to teach students the application of costing in services sector); MBA program in general management (to highlight the concept of activity based costing and its application); and under an elective course on management control systems in MBA programs (to highlight the strategy to determine price effectively).

The case highlights the application of activity based costing in arriving at cost and finally leading to development of price to be charged by KK Metals. The company wishes to compute the activity based cost of CNC process and develop the selling price for 194 precision turning services scientifically as opposed to the present strategy of being a price taker, largely on the basis of what essentially is prevalent in the local market within which KK Metals operates. The case gives an insight to numerous control variables that the management can consider while pricing its services.

The case can be used to understand management concepts such as ABC, pricing and the role of efficiency in business processes. It can be used to: teach complexities involved in identifying activity driver(s) in case of ABC as far as application to service sector is concerned; help understand the use of costing as an effective tool in pricing strategy of the company; and help students realize the significance of inputs used for calculating per hour cost.

Teaching notes are available. Consult your librarian for access.

The case covers capital budgeting practice in a real estate company in Vietnam.

The case is ideally suited for participants in MBA, Executive MBA, and Masters in Finance programmes. It can be taught near the end of a course on corporate finance/financial management. It can also be taught as an advanced topic in financial management courses.

A real estate company in Vietnam has prepared a capital budget for, what it claims is, a 600 billion VND project. The weighted average cost of capital used by the company is 10.64 percent. An analyst in a consulting company is asked to thoroughly review the capital budget of what appears to be a project that is too good to be true. Lending rates in Vietnam at this time were around 15 percent.

Participants will learn how to correctly apply the principles of computing: net after tax cash flows from a project; and weighted average cost of capital, particularly in the context of real estate companies.

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

Accounting and finance, entrepreneurship and business strategy.

The case is suitable for the following courses: post graduate programs in entrepreneurship; executive training programs for middle and senior level employees; and MBA/post graduate programs in management in strategic management.

The case deals with an entrepreneurship venture whose initial business model appeared to be faltering with the founder wondering about the future of the company. After Ommune Solutions' (founded 2010) initial business plan failed, the company started offering IT outsourcing services to Indian customers. However, the company was spending more that it was earning and the CEO generated additional revenues through independent consulting. By 2012 a customer relationship management (CRM) tool was also ready for release. The company was another IT start up yet to find a firm footing. The CEO wondered whether he should continue to build the company and, if so, in which direction?

These include: the use of SWOT analysis as a tool to aid strategic decision making along with Porter's five competitive forces model and the BCG matrix; using cost benefit analysis for evaluating business decisions; understanding the complexities involved in a strategic planning process; and identifying unnecessary cost and increasing revenue generation for expansion and maximizing profitability.

The case provides insight on challenges faced by a venture at an early stage in the business environment and the venture is analyzed in depth. It gives students a perspective on decision making and adapting to scenarios where initial business plans appear not to have succeeded.

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

Operations management.

Management post graduate and corporate executives.

ProdVal Flow Controls Pvt Ltd was company in the SME sector in India. The company focused on quality products and timely delivery. The major challenge for ProdVal was increasing their production capacity. They had no control over their existing suppliers resulting in delay in raw materials delivery. Retention of vendors had an effect on inventory carrying cost. The company had limited production facilities and the workers were outsourced. The company operated with unskilled workers. The case presents the various issues faced by the company based on which strategies to practice and plan the company's future plans could be designed. This is a disguised case and all excerpts from interviews have been anonymized.

This case study will give an insight to students to understand how inventory management; impacts production. It even gives an idea about how ProdVal has used the strategy of outsourcing of technology and labour and maintained a good growth rate.

Production-related outsourcing.

Production management in small scale industry.

Organization structure of a manufacturing unit.

Concept of outsourcing HR and technology in an SME.

Teaching notes are available, please consult your librarian to access.

Supply chain management.

The case is suitable for post graduates in management, and for those managing small sector supply and manufacturing systems.

ACPL is an organisation which moved from trading to manufacturing a technology product instrument transformers (ITs) for power utility companies for 11 years, competing with the best in industry, reducing internal costs, and modernising the supply chain. ACPL was started as a trading organisation in electrical items in Delhi by Munish Kumar, an engineer by profession in 2001. In 2004 he ventured into manufacturing, which expanded in two locations in Ghaziabad, NCR Delhi. Later his two sons, engineer and management graduate, respectively, joined the organisation. In less than a decade, by 2007, ACPL had grown to be a private limited organisation. ACPL manufactures ITs required by power boards and companies for conversion and usage of high voltage (11 kV/33 kV) transmitted power into 220 V single phase/440 V three phase power. From tender/enquiry through manufacturing to inspection and despatch takes a long supply chain cycle time holding space as well as inventory. An interview with the chairman of ACPL in the case highlights issues affecting its margins and growth. The long process to delivery time may be in vogue in this type of industry but this holds up a huge inventory. The company management has been working to resolve this crisis along with an urgent need to grow in a competitive environment. The problem is being addressed.

This case study should help students to understand the concept of the supply chain and supply cycle, in a manufacturing company in particular. It has been found that students understand the supply chain as part of the marketing function dealing with finished stocks, warehousing and delivery to end customers as per agreements, and arranging payments from customers. The supply chain also deals with in bound materials management. Raw materials planning, purchasing, inventory management are crucial for effective business operations management in any organisation.

Teaching notes are available; please contact your librarian for access.

This case study intends to add knowledge and understanding of supply chain management particularly with respect to international logistics.

The case study can be used in both undergraduate and postgraduate levels. Students pursuing Master of Science in Logistics, Supply Chain Management and those doing bachelor degrees in the same areas can have a better insight and special interest of the case. Professional boards may also use the case to empirically make students understand this area.

The railway sub-sector in East Africa – Tanzania in particular – is an important transport mode but has a declining performance. The market share is estimated at only 4 percent of the freight market. Still knowledge about traffic, particularly for freight, is scant. The main dilemma is whether traffic of the central corridor is more intra- or inter-Tanzania. The case studies techniques appropriate for meaningful traffic forecasting and through a simple regression model it resolves the freight conflicts between Kenya rail and the Central Corridor. It provides students with applied traffic forecasting tools.

The case focuses on techniques of traffic forecasting, development of traffic scenarios and on issues related to intermodal transport especially between road, rail and ocean. At the end of using this Case students should be able to: explain the methods, techniques and models used in traffic forecasting; understand intermodal linkages in international Logistics; use different approaches to make logistics market assessment; and forecast traffic in all modes using different scenarios.

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

Non-profit management and corporate strategy.

The case is appropriate for teaching undergraduate students, executive MBAs and graduate students. The case is useful for an overview of hospice and palliative care in the developed and developing world, and for class room discussions of external analysis of non-profit organizations' ecosystems, funding needs and industry analysis.

Hospice care in the developed parts of the world is well established but in most developing countries, there are no organized hospice care facilities. This case focuses on a charitable organization, Brthya – Add Value to Life (Brthya – AVTL), that established and operates hospice care in Chennai, India. The Indian context for hospice care, and the ecosystem needed to sustain ongoing operations, are described along with a summary of four different models of hospice care used in other parts of the world.

The case will help students to understand: what hospice care is and its various forms; management issues related to funding and operating hospice care in particular and a non-profit in general; ecosystems that make non-profits sustainable in emerging economies; and managing expansion and growth in non-profit organizations, in emerging economies and globally.

Teaching notes are available; please consult your librarian for access.

Corporate finance, financial management.

The case is suitable for Master's level corporate finance or financial management courses. Sufficient prior theoretical knowledge of corporate finance concepts is required.

Väätsa Agro AS is an Estonian dairy farming company. Although the company had operated successfully in the past, its ownership changed significantly in 2006 leading to changes in the company's capital structure. Starting from 2008 milk prices on global markets decreased and this trend had also affected the company's profits. As a result of these developments the company's financial situation had deteriorated since 2008 and towards the end of 2009 the company had problems in meeting its obligations. On 1 September 2009 its owners hired a consultancy firm represented by Karl Kukk to tackle the company's problems.

The case should help students to: understand the risks of LBOs; understand the importance of an appropriate capital structure of a firm; evaluate a company's financial situation and compare it with competitors; understand the alternatives facing firms in financial distress; and choose the best course of action for a distressed firm considering the pros and cons of each alternative for each stakeholder group.

Teaching notes are available; please consult your librarian for access.