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After completion of the case study, the students will be able to understand the different risks associated with a business, focusing on price risk and the importance of price risk management in business; understand and evaluate the products available for hedging price risk through exchange-traded derivatives in the Indian scenario; and understand and evaluate the different strategies for price risk management through exchange-traded derivatives in the Indian scenario.

The case study pertains to a small business, M/s Sethi Jewellers. The enterprise is being run by Shri Charan Jeet Sethi and his son Tejinder Sethi. The business is located in Jain Bazar, Jammu, UT, in Northern India. The business was started in 1972 by Charan Jeet’s father. They deal in a wide range of jewelry products and are well-established jewelers known for selling quality ornaments. Tejinder (MBA in marketing) was instrumental in revamping his business recently. Under his leadership, the business has experienced rapid transformation. The business has grown from a one-room shop fully managed by Tejinder’s grandfather to a multistory showroom with several artisans, sales staff and security persons. Through his e-store, Tejinder has a bulk order from a client where the client requires him to accept the order with a small token at the current price and deliver the final product three months from now. Tejinder is in a dilemma about accepting or rejecting the large order. Second, if he accepts, should he buy the entire gold now or wait to buy it later at a lower price? He is also considering hedging the price risk through exchange-traded derivatives. However, he is not entirely sure, as he has a few apprehensions regarding the same, and he is also not fully aware of the process and the instruments he has to use for hedging the price risk on the exchange.

The case study is aimed to cater to undergraduate, postgraduate and MBA students in the field of finance. This case study can be used for students interested in commodity derivatives, risk management and market microstructure.

Teaching notes are available for educators only.

CSS 1: Accounting and finance.

This case study has been prepared after thoroughly studying the Indian wine industry. Secondary data for the value of wine imported in India has been taken from the website of the Ministry of Commerce and Industry, Government of India. Data for GDP per capita for India has been taken from World Development Indicators, World Bank. Data for revenue generation of top five countries have been sourced from Statista Report on Indian wine market. Fictitious names are used for the Winery (Romaniszyn) and the individual (Harish G.) working there.

This case revolves around accounting complexities for starting a winery in India. A new vineyard comes with the challenge of the gestation period (five years), during which it would not generate revenue. Harish G. was adept at business development and had experience working with an Italian winery. He was unaware of how difficult accounting decisions would be, including determining the quantum of funds required, ascertaining different financial options to purchase assets and meeting cash requirements. He knew he would not be able to generate any sales for five years at the newly formed winery; the grapevines imported from New Zealand took that long to reach maturity. Furthermore, given that Harish was starting a new brand of wine, he also faced constraints with attracting new customers.

This case can be used in teaching undergraduate and postgraduate students in the introductory session of a financial accounting course. It is designed to approach basic accounting concepts, permitting the class to discuss and focus on the principal thought process of starting a real business and accounting for the transactions as and when they occur rather than only on mathematical computations. The objective of this case study is attained by involving the students in recording various accounting transactions and decisions the winery’s management must take over the time from early plantation to bottling of the wine. Every decision assesses the students’ comprehension of accounting concepts by making them analyze and resolve the accounting issues raised.

The purpose of this paper is to study the market efficiency, unbiasedness and the direction of causality among four agricultural commodity futures contracts for a forecasting horizon of 28 days, 56 days and 84 days which are traded at National Commodity and Derivatives Exchange Ltd.

To analyse the efficiency of futures market in Indian scenario, we focus on maize, chickpea, soybean and wheat which are among the most important agricultural commodities traded in India. In the first step, Augmented Dickey-Fuller test and nonparametric Phillips-Perron approaches have been used to examine the stationarity of all futures and spot price series. After testing the presence of cointegration in futures and spot series using Johansen’s Cointegration approach, the joint restrictions of β ₀=0, β ₁=1 and β ₁=1 on the cointegrating vectors were imposed to test whether the futures price is an unbiased predictor of spot at contract maturity. In the next step, linear Toda and Yamamoto (1995) and the nonparametric Diks and Panchenko (2006) causality tests were applied to examine the direction of causality. Finally, nonlinear test were applied on the vector error correction model (VECM) residuals to investigate whether any remaining causality is strictly nonlinear in nature.

The results of cointegration tests between futures and spot prices of the selected agricultural commodities indicated a long term relationship do exist in three out of four futures contracts. However, the Wald tests results on the cointegrating vectors indicate markets as inefficient and biased. Further, analysis of short-term relationship using alternate tests of causality do not give consistent results for same commodity series indicating that results may vary due to alternate measures and specifications. Finally, if we consider the results of Diks-Panchenko test on the filtered VECM-residuals, results provide evidence that if cointegration is taken into account; neither spot nor future leads or lags the other consistently.

The results are based on the sample of four agricultural futures commodity contracts. The study can be extended to a larger sample of contracts and relative efficiency of each contract can be explored.

There are very few studies that have explored the efficiency, unbiasedness and direction of causality using both linear and nonlinear techniques for Indian agriculture commodity futures market for different forecasting horizons.

At the end of the case discussion, students would be able to: design key account selection criteria for the organization’s vast clients; analyse the application of key account management (KAM) strategies in a business-to-business (B2B) segment for revenue growth for a medium-scale enterprise; recognize the significance of KAM in a B2B space for a scale enterprise; and assess the proficiency of Univ Manufacturers (UM) for KAM in addressing the existing challenges and managing business growth.

Tarun, the proprietor of UM, has recently received two big orders, one from Ram Enterprise, a long-standing client since 2011 of INR 2m (10% profit margin) and another order from a new client based in Chennai, a growing pharmaceutical products company, of order size of INR 2.3m (15% profit margin). Both the orders were required to be completed within 15 days. The new client with higher value and better returns could help UM enter the south India market, whereas business from the existing client was also profitable. Despite both orders being necessary for business survival and expansion, fulfilling them on schedule posed a huge challenge. Tarun wanted to fulfil both orders. He knew similar situations might arise in future. He advocated prioritizing customers, which made him contemplate KAM. On what basis he should categorize his customers was a big question. Tarun felt that it was time for UM to strategize relationship management with his customers. He wanted to optimize the partnerships. Tarun knew he wanted to introduce KAM, but was firm-level internal capabilities were enough for key account execution. What would be the feasible outcomes if KAM is applied at UM? What must he do to prevent such situations in the future?

This case can be used in B2B marketing and sales management courses. The dilemma can be explained as part of a marketing course for postgraduate and executive programs.

Teaching notes are available for educators only.

CSS 8: Marketing.

The paper analyzes the volatility transmission within the cotton markets by utilizing commodity futures prices from the USA, China and India, encompassing important global events that have significantly influenced the global cotton markets, like the China-USA trade dispute, the COVID-19 outbreak and the Russia–Ukraine conflict.

The authors employ a volatility spillover measure developed by Diebold and Yilmaz (2009, 2012, 2014). Additionally, the methodology proposed by Baruník and Křehlík (2018), which divides the overall volatility spillover into short, medium and long-term segments has been used. To investigate the volatility connectedness, weekly (close-to-close) returns of the cotton futures contracts that are traded on the Chicago Board of Trade Dalian Commodity Exchange National Commodity Exchange of India (NCDEX), and Multi Commodity Exchange (MCX) are considered.

The paper identifies the presence of long-term volatility transmission among the three cotton futures markets. It demonstrates that a global shock like the Russia–Ukraine conflict has a greater impact on volatility in other markets than USA–China trade disputes. It also highlights the weakening role of the US cotton futures markets as a price leader for Indian and Chinese markets.

Since only three major markets have been studied, the future studies can explore the interconnectedness by including other important markets including Brazil, Turkey, Bangladesh, etc. Further, the moderating role of relationship between other important variables such as cotton production, harvest, inventory, exchange rate, oil price, trade policies, etc. can be examined. Furthermore, the interconnectedness with the regional spot markets in India can also be examined to study how the volatility from the futures market can affect the volatility in the spot markets and vice-versa.

The understanding of domestic food price volatility and its transmission from international to domestic markets is crucial for designing effective policies to address excessive volatility and protect vulnerable groups like producers, consumers, etc.

The findings emphasize on the substantial market dependence with the US and the Chinese markets which have a significant impact on the Indian markets with considerable implications for hedgers, producers and exporters, particularly during periods of higher volatility.

This study assesses the interdependencies among three major cotton-producing countries and the influence of factors like the USA–China trade tensions in 2018, the COVID-19 crisis and the Russia–Ukraine conflict in order to gauge the degree of volatility interconnection among these key players in the cotton market.

The purpose of this paper is to optimize the processing conditions of ready-to-eat (RTE) milk “coagulum” rings.

Milk “coagulum” rings were prepared from milk coagulum. Milk at four different level of milk fat (0.1, 1.5, 3 and 4.5 percent) were used to obtain milk coagulum of four different fat level for preparing milk “coagulum” rings. Unripe banana powder (UPB) and banana peel powder (BPP) were incorporated at three different levels separately. The incorporation levels were also optimized to be 11 percent for UPB and 6 percent for BPP on the basis of sensory evaluation.

The yield, ash, moisture and total dietary fiber content of products with optimized level of UPB and BPP were significantly higher as compared to control while the protein and fat contents were lower. Incorporation of extenders resulted in a significant reduction in the color value of the treated products. The water activity was highest for T₂ and lowest for control at the end of 42 days. TBARS as lipid oxidation parameter was highest for control and the microbial count was comparable in T₁ and T₂ where as it was higher in control. The sensory scores of the control was higher than the two treated products during the entire storage period.

The shelf stable RTE milk coagulum-based snack using 1.5 percent fat can provide a nutritious, palatable and healthy product to the consumers.

The aim of this study was to explore the feasibility of formulation, quality characterization and acceptability of rice flour- and black gram flour-incorporated mutton snack among consumers. Cereal-based snacks, which have very less nutritional value, are highly popular among Indian consumers. Malnutrition and protein deficiencies can be overcome by supplying nutrient-dense meat-incorporated cereal-based snacks to them. On this background, it was planned to incorporate easily available sheep meat to popular snack to improve the nutritional quality, acceptability and functionality of traditional snack.

Mutton-based snack formulation was standardized; rice flour (Treatment-I [T-I]), black gram flour (Treatment-II [T-II]) and their combination (Treatment-III [T-III]) were used along with lean meat for the preparation of mutton snack. Microwaving and frying process of cooking was applied, and various physicochemical and sensory properties of both raw and cooked snack were evaluated.

Emulsion stability and expansion percentage increased significantly (p < 0.05) in all treatment products in both cooking process except in T-III. Significant (p < 0.05) decrease in protein percentage and increase in fat percentage has been recorded in all treatments and cooking process in comparison to control. The overall acceptability scores increased significantly in all the treatments except T-III in comparison to control. On the basis of physicochemical and sensory attributes the microwaved black gram flour-added mutton snack (T-II) was adjudged as most acceptable and was stored for a period of 45 days at ambient temperature. It was concluded that optimized product could be stored at room temperature in LDPE pouches for 45 days without marked deterioration in quality on the basis of evaluations of physicochemical (pH and thiobarbituric acid reacting substances value) and microbiological parameters (total plate count, coliform count and yeast and mould count).

Future research may benefit from attempting to modify shelf life of the snack in room temperature by modifying storage and packaging condition.

Although incorporation of meat in cereal-based traditional snack and the effect on its quality characteristics have been extensively examined, limited research has focused on this aspect. Additionally, limited qualitative research has examined the storage characteristics of meat-incorporated snack at room temperature in eating quality context.

The primary learning objectives/outcome of case discussion is to apply design thinking principles to design innovative and socially responsible strategies that promote financial sustainability for organizations serving unique societal needs. The secondary learning objectives/outcome of case discussion is to gain a deeper appreciation for the potential social impact of their innovative ideas and understand the complexities and ethical considerations in social entrepreneurship, especially when working with individuals with special needs.

The case study describes the challenge facing Anil Kumar Kundra, the founder and trustee of Autism Ashram and Autism Guardian Village in Hyderabad and Gujarat, an organization that provides shelter and care for individuals with autism and residential facilities for their parents. Autistic individuals often lack social skills and may face challenges in reading, writing and communicating. In addition, they may experience behavioral issues, making it difficult for them to obtain employment or run their own ventures, resulting in a lifetime financial dependency on their guardians. In August 2023, Kundra, in pursuit of sustainability, aims to empower autistic individuals in the ashram to attain financial independence. He envisions Autism Ashrama as a self-sustaining entity, no longer dependent on contributions from parents. The dilemma facing Kundra is the need to identify innovative ideas that will enable these autistic individuals to contribute to revenue generation. The challenges faced by autistic individuals in their day-to-day lives make Kundra’s decision-making complex. While he acknowledges the challenge, he firmly believes that a handful of transformative ideas can bring about a revolutionary shift in the ecosystem for autistic individuals, rendering this business model truly sustainable. The case study invites students to help Kundra identify innovative ideas using design idea techniques, such as the Stanford d.school model.

This take-home assignment is suitable for both undergraduate and postgraduate students and is designed to explore the integration of sustainable business practices and design thinking in a real-world context.

Teaching notes are available for educators only.

CSS 7: Management science.

The 12^th South Asian Games were held in India in Guawhati and Shillong in February 2016, after repeated rescheduling. There were a number of challenges to organizing the games such as lack of infrastructure, legacy of corruption from past games, shortage of time etc. However, the games were held within 90 days of the announcement of venues and final dates. Sri Yadav, the Secretary, Department of Sports wants to understand the key drivers of success behind organizing the event. He also wants to understand how the success of Indian athletes at SAG could be leveraged for success at larger events.