Search results

Marketing of Services, Brand Management.

Graduate (MBA), Services Marketing Course.

The case highlights growth challenges faced by a fast food brand named Peri-Peri Original in a developing country context of Pakistan. The major presence of the brand is in two major cities of Pakistan – Karachi and Lahore where mostly youth and families are the target markets of this brand. However, there is no unique element in the minds of the target market because the brand faces a differentiation challenge in the realm of strong global competition from McDonald’s and Kentucky Fried Chicken (KFC). The management team at Peri-Peri has several environmental challenges to face as well. Internally, the brand is confused with its close competitor Nando’s as people perceive these two brands as the same. Second, there is growing concern among social activist groups and families in Pakistan that fast food consumption is causing diabetes, cardiovascular diseases and obesity among children. On the contrary, the global fast food chains especially McDonald’s and KFC are on top of the mind in the consideration set. With these challenges and concerns in mind, the brand team has two options on the table. One is to geographically extend the brand to other cities whereas the other option is to use the same outlets and dedicate a portion to the kids’ market segment to increase product variety and ultimately the store traffic. It is noticeable that the brand has a reputation of excellence in service quality; the employees are motivated and Peri-Peri have retained their staff over a period of time. Furthermore, the brand is a small scale restaurant with only limited budget and focused product mix which is its core spirit of branding – the chicken grilled in Mozambican sauces and a service attitude which no one can demonstrate; in a way, Peri-Peri is approaching to grow its brand equity.

To understand the brand positioning of developing countries’ organizations facing a growth challenge in a service environment. To understand the concept and application of Services Tangibility spectrum. To understand the decision-making process managers have to face when dealing with brand extension decisions.

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 8: Marketing.

“Starting up a new company” and “development of technology-based venture”.

The target audiences for this study are advanced business or non-business undergraduate students and MBA students taking courses of entrepreneurship, management of innovation and organization theory and design.

Yeayyy.com was a private limited company based in Bandar Baru Bangi, Selangor, a township located about 30 km south of Kuala Lumpur. It was founded by Mr Hazmin in early 2010 with a seed funding of RM150,000 (about US$50,000). By the end of 2014, its core businesses include developing mobile application (app), software and website, as well as conducting information technology (IT) training. The company had developed its own animation cartoon, Oolat Oolit, and had commercialized several mobile app inventions. These mobile apps include a Jawi (traditional Malay writing system) app, mobile games and Facebook apps which were compatible with most mobile operating systems. Since its inception, Yeayyy.com had aspired to follow the footsteps of the internationally acclaimed Malaysian home-grown animation production house, Les’ Copaque, which had produced the popular Upin Ipin series. Similar to Les’ Copaque, Yeayyy.com also planned to commercialize its in-house characters into TV series and to market related merchandises, along with its collaborative partner, CikuTree Studio. However, by the end of 2014, the company’s seed funding had depleted, thus forcing Mr Hazmin to strategize for the company’s future.

Understanding the process of entrepreneurship and technology-based venture development enables case analysts to apply the concepts in many situations involving business opportunities and company development.

CSS:3 Entrepreneurship.

Reflect on the influence of different lifecycle stages on the strategy of a family business; evaluate the impact of family, industry and company dynamics on the evolution of a family firm; assess the impact of ownership, governance and succession considerations on the sustainability of a family firm; and develop decision-making skills to overcome specific dilemmas and secure the family business longevity.

Five industries, three generations and one family business. What started off as an entrepreneur’s ambition, Almajid Limited has proven itself to a sustainable source of revenue and a diverse portfolio of businesses for multiple generations of a Saudi Arabian family. This case study offers an exclusive opportunity to follow the tumultuous journey of a Saudi family business and analyze the different phases of its evolution over seven decades and three generations. In particular, the case aims to highlight the complexities surrounding the management of a family firm and illustrate how various lifecycle stages stemming from a number of areas (e.g. family, company, industry, ownership and governance) simultaneously influence the family business strategy. Being deeply embedded in the context of Saudi Arabia, the case unveils the unique challenges of managing a family business in a conservative cultural setting. The case study is divided into four parts, with each of them putting the emphasis on a different lifecycle area of significance for the evolution of the family business. Each part culminates with the identification of an area-relevant dilemma that needs to be addressed for the family firm to be able to move into the next stage of its development. Part A focuses on the family area or axis, the Part B on the industry axis, Part C on the company axis, while Part D is based on the sustainability axis, which embraces as many as three dilemmas in relation to the ownership, governance and succession in the family firm. Moreover, each part incorporates a timeline of critical events that contributed to the emergence of a specific dilemma and a culturally-rooted anime that helps the readers visualize the story, picture somebody else’s reality, and empathize with the key protagonists of the case to achieve optimal decision-making.

Graduate audience: Master of Business Administration or Master of Global Entrepreneurial Management.

Teaching Notes are available for educators only.

CSS 11: Strategy.

Leadership style and organizational change.

The case study level is rated medium to difficult depending on the depth of the analysis undertaken. Managers and executives who undergo training in leadership related issues will benefit from the case study through development of analytical- and decision-making skills. In addition, this case study is written for high level managers and postgraduate students in business courses.

This case study revolves around a man whose name is Rozano Saad. He was a man with strong will, imagination, and ready to explore the new world of Huntsman Tioxide. To him, development of people was necessary. Development of people is the process of getting people to progress from dependent to socially and economically self-reliant. This man with positive views saw difficulties with enthusiasm and noted obstacles as opportunities. He was brave enough to go that extra mile into moulding the organization in the “right pattern.” He was an optimistic angel who was sent to the bleak area of Teluk Kalong, though others might just pack their bags and leave. He was eager for improvement and never stopped looking for ways to make the situation better.

The target users of the case study are expected to:

• Identify the critical success factors (CSFs) of successful leader.

• Examine the leadership and decision making styles employed by the leader.

• Develop the competencies or capabilities of a leader.

• Determine programmes or initiatives and strategies used by the leader in transforming the organization.

• Apply the lesson learnt of a successful leader to their organization.

Identify the critical success factors (CSFs) of successful leader.

Examine the leadership and decision making styles employed by the leader.

Develop the competencies or capabilities of a leader.

Determine programmes or initiatives and strategies used by the leader in transforming the organization.

Apply the lesson learnt of a successful leader to their organization.

Teaching notes.

I would recommend the following two readings: Kotter, J. P. 2001. “What leaders really do” Harvard Business Review, vol, December 2001, pp. 85-96 and MIntzberg, H. & Waters, J. A. 1985. “Of strategies, deliberate and emergent” Strategic Management Journal, Vol. 6, pp. 257-272 Teaching Notes are available for educators only. Please contact your library to gain login details or email support@emeraldinsight.com to request teaching notes.

This case study aims to provide following four learning outcomes: enhanced understanding of organizational leadership style/approach in terms of rigidness or flexibility to bring modifications in organizational vision to tap current opportunities, enhanced understanding of the use of emotions and rationality in organizational decision-making to strike a balance between organizational needs and community needs in the context of organizational priority framework, enhanced understanding of issue of integration to meet community needs smartly particularly in social development organizations and enhanced understanding of leadership strategies for successful business diversification.

This case study highlights and discusses three issues: first, it explores issues related to change in organizational vision and aims keeping in mind the needs of community rather than sticking to organizational needs (flexibility versus rigidity). Second, it explores the role of emotions and rationality in organizational decision-making by its leadership. Third, it discusses the role of leadership in successfully transforming one-dimensional organization into multidimensional organization by adding new avenues for future growth by mobilizing existing organizational strengths and competencies. Finally, this case discusses theories of leadership and change management in the context of social development organizations to align their activities with community’s emerging needs.

Master Level - Master of Business Administration and Master of Management. This case provides sufficient material to be discussed at master level courses such as change leadership and change management in social development organizations.

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

Management science

Entrepreneurship, Business Strategy.

The case is designed for business students at the undergraduate or MBA levels in courses that deal with social entrepreneurship. The case describes the future growth potential of the exotic vegetable/fruit market in emerging economy India and lends itself for use in Rural Management courses as well.

Nisarg Nirman Agro Products Private Limited (hereafter referred as NNPL), a social farming venture, was started by Anjali Churi in the year 1997 in India. Churi, an agriculturist at heart, was always interested in experimenting and conducting research on new crops. What started as a small research experiment soon prospered to become a commercial venture producing and selling exotic vegetables to the Indian business customers, such as the five-/four-star hotels, premier clubs, hypermarkets, etc. NNPL was one among the pioneers to start the cultivation of exotic vegetables in the country. Their indigenous produce was of high quality. Their business customers were benefitted by the freshness of their products as well as competitive pricing as compared to their earlier imports. In her journey to commercial prosperity, she adopted co-operative farming, thus providing employment and livelihood opportunities to Indian farmers. Over the period, NNPL was invited to provide agriculture consulting to some of the other countries, such as Maldives, Thailand and Israel. In 2014, the company boasted of an indigenous produce of 95 different varieties of exotic vegetables and fruits, with 34 clients across the country, revenues to the tune of INR40 million and touching lives of more than 600 farmers across the country. The Indian exotic vegetables market had a promising future. Churi desired to expand her venture but in a manner that could systematically impact and generate employment opportunities for the rural Indians. She was at crossroads to deciding what could be such a venture, agro-processing or agro-tourism? Any such expansions required substantial investments for agricultural research activities. The case is structured to achieve the following pedagogical objectives: a social entrepreneur's ability to identify and exploit the market opportunity for growing own venture as well as generating a larger social impact; understand the industry's change trajectory and its impact on the venture; understand the importance of such business models of cooperative farming in populous emerging economies such as India where 70 per cent of the population resides in rural India.

The case that maps the growth/challenges of a social farming venture and allows students to: understand that small social venture also has the ability to generate a larger social impact; evaluate the venture's strategic positioning and scope in a competitive environment; and evaluate the need and potential of business models as cooperative farming to generate employment at the base of the pyramid in populous emerging economy as India.

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

This case serves as a useful backdrop for discussing a few important conceptual frameworks in the field of finance. The dilemmas are still evolving for Sharīʿah-compliant asset management company (AMC); i.e. Al Meezan, and may seem complex to the students – particularly in the Pakistan’s financial structure – but framing the discussion from a market perspective ought to help the students of finance.

This case study focuses on Al Meezan Investment Management Limited (Al Meezan) journey since inception. Al Meezan is a full-fledged Sharīʿah-compliant AMC and one of the major players in the mutual funds industry of Pakistan. Al Meezan offers a comprehensive range of Sharīʿah-compliant investment solutions especially designed to meet the financial goals of their existing and potential clients. The case study covers all the key events before the inception of Al Meezan, from late 1990s till March 2020. The case is based on interview with chief executive officer (CEO) (the protagonist) of Al Meezan. The case also covers various challenges faced by Mohammad Shoaib, CEO and his senior team, to make Al Meezan a vibrant institution offering Islamic financial services.

This case is aimed at undergraduate students in their final year (i.e. taking electives in the field of Finance/Islamic Finance) or graduate students majoring in Finance/Islamic Finance.

Teaching notes are available for educators only.

CSS1: Accounting and Finance.

To understand the challenges of building a successful business in an emerging market like Yola, Nigeria. To understand the role of micro-finance banks in doing business in Yola, Nigeria. To comprehend strategies adopted in market segmentation and sales of products or services to the customer. To apprehend strategies adopted to sustain and compete in Nigeria – both rural and urban.

Standard Microfinance Bank Limited (SMFB) was a private micro-finance bank situated at Yola, Adamawa State of Nigeria. It initially started as a community bank in 1992 to provide loans to individuals and small business owners in Adamawa. It started with the services of payment service and savings account with a limited lending capacity. It had become a full-fledged retail bank and was grown to 13 branches across Nigeria. It planned for expansion such as market development, product development and diversification by the year 2020. It had a customer base of 60,000 till the end of December 2018. Vazheparambil Mani Francis was the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the SMFB. The SMFB faced challenges such as operating the remote villages, lack of financial literacy among people, recovery of the loan amount, submission of false credentials and change of customer identity after loan by their customer. It was not going to be an easy task for him to operate the business of SMFB in Nigeria. However, in December 2018, Francis was facing a dilemma about the future success of SMFB business in Nigeria by looking into the challenges and complexities of business. Francis was determined to figure out the appropriate growth strategy for managing the challenges.

Undergraduate and graduate early-stage program.

Teaching notes are available for educators only.

CSS 11: Strategy.

The learning outcomes are as follows: to evaluate the suitability of Surplus business model from accounting, finance, strategy and cultural perspectives; to identify the factors that contribute to the reluctance of business partners to join Surplus ecosystem and to suggest solutions; to identify the factors that contribute to the reluctance of consumers to join Surplus ecosystem and to suggest solutions; and to address unique funding and financial challenges faced by Surplus.

This case study discussed the challenges faced by Surplus Indonesia, a company founded upon the belief that a harmonious balance can be achieved between profitability and environmental stewardship. Stemming from the founder’s encounter with leftover food going to waste after buffets, Surplus embarked on a pioneering initiative using an application technology to address food wastage at the consumer level. Collaborating with various stakeholders such as retail outlets, restaurants, bakeries, cafes and hotels, the goal was to combat food waste while supporting Sustainable Development Goals 2, 12 and 13: Zero Hunger, Responsible Consumption & Production and Climate Action, respectively. Each meal saved through the Surplus app not only translated to reduced expenses for businesses but also contributed to reducing greenhouse gas emissions from landfills. Surplus’ overarching mission was to cut food waste and loss in Indonesia by half by 2030, fostering an environment where food waste is virtually nonexistent in the nation.

Undergraduate as well as graduate courses that focus on sustainability, accounting, financing and strategy

Teaching notes are available for educators only.

CSS 1: Accounting and Finance.

The key teaching objectives of the case are the following:▪ to develop an awareness of a megaproject’s external environment (through PESTLE) in terms of challenges from each source;▪ to introduce theory that allows students to identify, characterise and describe factors that can lead to inter-organisational conflict during construction projects;▪ to develop the ability to apply the typology of causal factors (identified in Objective 2) to a given context, answering why each factor may have contributed to the given contractual dispute;▪ to develop an understanding of the procurement and contract management process wherein contracts are not only the logical outcome of the procurement process but also the primary vehicles for clarifying responsibilities (for task completion) and risk transfer; and▪ to understand specific dynamics of construction projects that make disputes inevitable and ways to overcome these.

Priced at US$1.63bn (in 2015), the Orange Line Metro Train (OLMT) project in Lahore was one of Pakistan’s earliest (and costliest!) transport infrastructure megaprojects ever undertaken. Devised to ease congestion in Lahore, promote ecofriendly, efficient, modern and affordable transport systems and lead to improved mobility across Lahore, the OLMT was a socially, politically and economically important project.The case is seen through the eyes of the protagonist, Uzair Shah, a seasoned public servant and an experienced Transport Engineer. At the time of the decision, Shah was General Manager – Operations at the newly established Punjab Metrobus Authority (PMA – the project sponsor) and was also the project lead of OLMT’s Project Management Unit (PMU). Through Shah’s eyes, students approach the project at a juncture when the most serious contractual dispute in the project’s history has erupted. The parties at the interface were Lahore Development Authority (LDA), PMU’s technical interface with contractors and consultants and Maqbool-Colson Joint Venture (MCJV), one of the two civil work contractors hired for OLMT’s civil works.While quality issues had been emerging with MCJV for a few months, LDA had maintained unilateral communications and remained considerably adversarial in their dealings with MCJV. Eventually, in October 2016, this relationship had soured to such an extent that it appeared irreconcilable. It was only then that LDA had recommended Shah to take the contractor to court for non-performance.The decision that Uzair faced was whether to take LDA’s advice and take the contractor to court (terminate the contract, claim performance guarantee and appoint a new contractor) or negotiate and continue with the current contract. The decision had huge financial, legal, reputational, political and schedule-related implications. The decision needed to be taken by the protagonist in the context of all these factors.

The case was initially developed for use within a Procurement and Contracts Management course for a (business) executive audience. The case is intended for the business school audience or students enrolled in courses related to the construction management discipline.Courses where the case can be used include Construction Project Management, Public Sector Projects, Contracts and Procurement and Strategic Projects and Practice (or similar). The case can also be used within an MBA setting.

Teaching notes are available for educators only.

CSS: 9: Operations and Logistics.