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On completion of this case study, students will be able to describe a circular economy and cross-marketing; discuss the common strategies under the circular economy paradigm; describe the benefits and risks of cross-marketing brand alliances and their strategic implications; examine the role of growth strategy in driving the growth of an organization; classify what constitutes the elements of a strategy for HelpUsGreen LLP; and discuss measures to be considered while selecting a partner for a cross-marketing brand alliance.

HelpUsGreen LLP was a start-up founded by Karan Rastogi in 2019, which manufactured incense sticks using the circular economy model. After deflecting from his earlier partner in 2019 and after approximately two years of effort, Rastogi expanded his business of making incense sticks using a circular economy model. Students through this case can step into the shoes of Rastogi, who, as of 9 January 2023, was in Kanpur and was in an urgent need to replicate a similar circular economy model in different cities. With over 21,060 tonnes of temple flower waste recycled, 210 tonnes of chemical pesticides offset and 100% natural products delivered, multiple opportunities emerged at the cross-marketing brand alliance and new product segment levels. Rastogi entered into several cross-marketing brand alliance arrangements and tasted success. Rastogi believed that choosing the right partner for cross-marketing was key to successful cooperation. Considering cross-marketing as a way forward, he urgently needed to develop a strategy that aligned with his mission to take HelpUsGreen LLP’s circular economy model to other parts of the country. Students should take into consideration the data regarding the processes at HelpUsGreen LLP that helped Rastogi restart from scratch and make assumptions to decide the growth route for entering different cities.

This case can be used as an introductory case in a post-graduate class on growth strategy for a business based on the circular economy model, as it delineates the challenges faced by a firm while creating a circular economy and managing its growth phase. The case can also be used in an entrepreneurship management course and a strategic management course. This case allows students to learn about the circular economy and challenges faced by the company during the growth phase. Thus, the case can be used for covering multiple perspectives related to growth strategy (e.g. the application of Ansoff matrix), for defining what is cross-marketing brand alliance and discussing what measures need to be considered while selecting a partner for cross-marketing brand alliance, and it is ideal for teaching the elements of strategy.

Teaching notes are available for educators only.

CSS 11: Strategy.

The case study is based on field data including semi-structured interviews with the main protagonist and related stakeholders of Karan Handicraft, a leather craft artisan enterprise. After informed consent, the interviews with the craft artisan entrepreneurs of Karan Handicraft were conducted, transcribed and analysed verbatim in the respondents’ native language, Kutchi Gujarati. The authors also used archival data given by the company. In addition, secondary data from industry reports and business magazines was used to create the case.

The case investigates the impact of digital technologies on the small handicraft artisan entrepreneurs by focusing on a family-run business of a leather craft. It traces the evolution of Karan Handicraft, based in Kutch district of Gujarat, India from the year 2007 to 2023. The third-generation artisan entrepreneur Karan Marvada attempted exploring the new-age social media platforms to showcase the products, modified his product designs to attract a new customer-base and adapted to digital marketing. However, in the wake of the crowding in the handicraft cluster, the central business problem that Karan was grappling with was, if he should scale up his artisanal entrepreneurial stint using electronic commerce (e-commerce) as a medium. Another allied issue is in such a scale-up, should he use e-commerce, i.e. as a medium of communication only or as a medium of both communication and delivery. While the latter may lead to scale, it may raise the challenge of not being able to preserve the traditional values of his ancestral business.

This case involves various issues that arise in entrepreneurship management, such as decisions related to growth strategy (remain small and unique vs become large and mass scale), to maintain a physical presence vs digital presence and the form of digital presence, are dwelt upon. The case is aimed at graduate students in an entrepreneurship or family business course. It could also be taught in other courses that focus on innovation and social entrepreneurship.

The case is based on the data collected from various secondary sources only.

Godi India, a lithium-ion cell manufacturing company in India, was working to design e-cell for electric vehicles (EV) which would be compatible with Indian conditions and reduce the cost of battery to the extent possible because e-cell contributes half of the electric vehicle’s price. Godi India was set up in January 2020 by Mahesh Godi. Looking for opportunities in India after having worked in the USA for 17 years, Mahesh found that even with the rise in EV the lithium-ion cell manufacturing in India was almost zero. Using innovation as its main strategy, the start-up started its operation with a team of 30 scientists. The start-up already registered 25 patents under its name with few awaiting. Most of the EV companies relied on Chinese lithium-ion cell. Local lithium-ion cell manufacturing was believed to be the key for EV industry growth in a country. Central government production linked schemes worth INR 18,100 crore were signed by major players like Ola electric, Reliance new energy and Rajesh exports to develop locally manufactured advance cells. The push from the government for locally manufacturing the cells was a major trigger for the rise in the EV industry. The case provides the analysis of the strategies applied by the company to grow in the lithium-ion cell manufacturing industry.

This case can be used in strategic management, entrepreneurship and general management courses/modules at the Undergraduate and Postgraduate level.

The case study offers a unique teaching tool to the instructor and learners. Very few cases offer a product and segmentation dilemma in a single problem. The discussion would enable learners to:

– conduct a situational analysis by using frameworks such as the 5C and SWOT;

– understand different kinds of segmentation options that a firm can consider;

– understand the nuances of making a viable and actionable new product launch decision;

– analyze the pros and cons of a segmentation decision and comprehend how the decision will impact the firm’s marketing and/or business strategy.

Sirona Hygiene Private Limited was a young startup founded in 2015 by Deep Bajaj. The firm had three brands under its umbrella, namely, female hygiene (Peebuddy), menstrual hygiene (Sirona) and protection and wellness (BodyGuard). Though the firm was recognized for feminine hygiene products, the pandemic boosted the sale of BodyGuard face masks and hand sanitizers.

The sanitizer market was growing, and protection and sanitization products were now part of every consumer’s daily ritual. As BodyGuard now had some brand recognition, Sirona could consider expanding the sanitizer line with a natural new product formulation. However, the expansion decision could have short- and long-term impacts on BodyGuard and Sirona Hygiene. The decision could be two-pronged, involving a product line expansion and revisiting the BodyGuard segmentation strategy. Currently, the BodyGuard range was focused on business-to-consumer (B2C) users, but volumes were higher in business-to-business (B2B). Second, BodyGuard was a forced fit brand amongst the Sirona family of feminine products

Thus, as Sirona considered a new product opportunity, assessing the viability of a possible move to the B2B segment may be prudent. However, the BodyGuard range also had mosquito repellents and baby products, which were essentially a B2C option, so was it more practical to stay as a B2C brand? Furthermore, if BodyGuard stayed a B2C brand, should it consider a demographic segmentation, or was a psychographic approach more beneficial in a cluttered commoditized space such as sanitizers? Which approach would build a consumer–brand connection? Or should the brand straddle both segments? Finally, the firm would also need to assess the BodyGuard segmentation strategy from the overarching Sirona business strategy.

The case can be used for a foundation course in Marketing and/or an advanced elective on Product Management or Marketing Strategy.

Teaching notes are available for educators only.

CSS 8: Marketing.

After completion of the case study, students will be able to understand general and specific challenges associated with carrying on a family business that faces market challenges including stiff competition from existing and newer players, understand the plywood manufacturing process and its supply chain management, understand the businesses operating in an organized versus the unorganized market, comprehend the marketing strategies adopted and identify a reasonable solution to address the challenges associated with the operations of a business.

This case study focuses on Gattani Industries (a plywood manufacturing company) located in the northeastern region of the Indian state of Assam. Headquartered at Cinnamara industrial zone of Jorhat district, Assam, the company began its operation in 1992 under the leadership of Makhan Gattani (Director). Gattani Industries catered to both residential and commercial demand. Its clients included the departments of central and state governments in India, public sector undertakings and civil contractors. The company had a wider distribution network across the country and adopted the one- and two-level marketing channels to reach consumers. It aimed to sell its products through dealers across the cities in India. However, in December 2019, Gattani faced the challenge of developing a growth strategy to overcome competition and use the upcoming market opportunities for business growth in the diverse and complex environment that existed in the country.

This case study is designed for use in graduate or undergraduate programs. This case study can be used in strategy, supply chain and marketing courses at Bachelor of Business Administration and Master of Business Administration levels.

Teaching notes are available for educators only.

CSS11: Strategy.

The learning outcome of this study is to bring to the table of a wider intellectual audience, a unique model of community-based entrepreneurship, which is working wonders with its unique selling points (USPs) in promoting sustainability and conserving the ethos of villages and, at the same time, generating livelihoods through traditional farming techniques adopted by the rural population residing in the Himalayan region of India.The proposed case study can be used as a replicable model in other parts of rural India and other emerging economies to start and scale up a similar “integrated rural development model” through effective policy advocacy and public–private partnerships and to develop sustainable farmlands and livelihoods for rural India. It has a definite potential to be used as a pedagogical tool in postgraduate programmes offering courses in microfinance, financial inclusion, social and community entrepreneurship, sustainability, entrepreneurship, community development finance and rural immersions and public policy.

This case study is set in the backdrop of 2023 having been declared by the UN as the International Year of Millets and India being the homeland for millet cultivation. The objective of the case study is to bring to the table of a wider intellectual audience, a unique model of community-based entrepreneurship operating in the Himalayan region of rural India. The community-based entrepreneurship model works on the USP of promoting sustainability and conserving the ethos of villages and generating livelihoods through traditional farming techniques. This case study traces the journey of Roopesh Rai (protagonist and the founder of Bakrichhap), the community-based entrepreneur and his challenges in setting up the enterprise. The narrative is built in the light of a series of interviews with Rai, the main protagonist and the founder of Bakrichhap, as well as the people of Goat village by Komal, a post-doctoral fellow in the area of community-based enterprises (CBEs). Through this narrative, the case writers’ endeavour was to understand how CBEs such as Bakrichhap were providing a means of integrated rural development in the hilly region of Uttarakhand, India. Also, how such enterprises were thereby curbing distress migration, unemployment and a large-scale erosion of the cultural heritage and traditional and indigenous farming techniques of the land. In the first seven years of the operations of this uniquely curated CBE, Rai endeavoured to iron out many bottlenecks. This case study also highlights the gamut of challenges faced by community-based entrepreneurs like Rai in designing strategy for growth and expansion. What strategy should Bakrichhap follow for expansion to the other regions of the country? Should all the three existing verticals of the enterprise be scaled up parallelly or should each individual vertical be expanded one after the other in a phased manner? Stemming out from the main dilemma of strategic expansion were the related issues of funding (finance) and the formation of an effective team (HR).

This case study can be used in undergraduate, graduate and executive programmes offering courses in microfinance, financial inclusion, social and community entrepreneurship, sustainability, entrepreneurship, community development finance and rural immersions and public policy.

This comprehensive case study is written by using the triangulation of data collected through a series of personal interviews, website information, news articles, personal observation and field visits. The research design used is single case (holistic; Yin, 2003, 3rd edition). The timeline of this case study is 2021 to 2022 and place is Nag Tibba, Uttarakhand, a Himalayan state in North India.

Teaching notes are available for educators only.

CSS 3: Entrepreneurship.

What started as a FMCG distributor in 1967 in Kenya as Export Finance Company, is now a dynamic global conglomerate across 48 countries and 5 continents — Export Trading Group. ETG was taken over by the then CFO Mahesh Patel after exit of the founding stakeholders. It was then when the company shifted its focus to being a key regional player. In the next 35 years, the company grew systematically. Business focus evolved when Patel saw an opportunity in logistics in remote sub-Saharan Africa. This was followed by business expansion with supply chain diversification and significant infrastructure investments. All the different businesses amalgamated under a single group for better operations and ease of scaling up. They were later divided into six separate verticals for better management. Vamara (FMCG vertical) was launched in 2018 as the company moved towards digitalisation — externally and internally. ETG plans to focus on new business opportunities and continue to diversify across geographies and portfolios.

This case study will allow students to understand and analyse the process for conducting equity valuation by building a three-statement financial model, to understand and apply the workings of discounted cash flow (DCF) valuation methodology and its components, to apply the concepts related to the calculation of the weighted average cost of capital in the determination of discounting rate, to understand the terminal value calculation and assumptions thereof and to analyse the intrinsic valuation for the target company using the traditional multi-stage DCF model for investment decision-making.

In July 2019, Kapil Agarwal, an equity analyst operating out of Mumbai, India, was carefully looking over the financials of Asian Paints, a leading paints company in India. As an equity analyst, Kapil was constantly on the lookout for fundamentally strong but undervalued companies that could create long-term wealth for his equity fund. To decide upon the right valuation of Asian Paints, Kapil conducted fundamental analysis using the DCF method on the basis of available financial information. This case study puts students in an investment analyst role wherein they forecast financial statements and conduct DCF valuation for Asian Paints to discover potentially undervalued stocks for investment decision-making.

This case study is designed for use in an undergraduate or postgraduate programme in business management, particularly in a course on business valuation or investment management or security analysis.

Teaching notes are available for educators only.

CSS 1: Accounting and Finance.

After working on the assignment questions, the learners can achieve the following learning outcomes: understand the buying behavior towards sustainable products in the context of mindful consumption and product characteristics, appraise the market segmentation and positioning strategy of a sustainable business, understand the application of 5C’s framework for a sustainable business and critically evaluate a new sustainable business’s challenges in the emerging business environment.

Dr Joe Fenn, founder and director of PFoods, with extensive experience in the pharma industry overseas, observed a decline in the consumption of traditional dairy foods. Alternative plant foods come as a savior to people who are lactose intolerant and offer a host of health benefits with low environmental impact. Riding on the waves of veganism and sustainable foods, he saw an opportunity in India. PFoods developed and launched two products, namely, Just Plants (plant-based milk alternative) and Plotein (plant-based protein alternative), in collaboration with scientists at the Indian Institute of Science, a premier scientific institution in India, and PMEDS (PreEmptive Meds), a US-based nutraceutical Company. PFoods launched and pilot-tested Just Plant, a dairy alternative substitute for milk in select reputed organizations in Bangalore. The upcoming challenges for Fenn would be to select the right segment, educate the market and position the product that would resonate well with the target customers.

The case study suits undergraduate and graduate courses such as marketing management, sustainable marketing and sustainable business. The case study can also be used in entrepreneurship management and entrepreneurial marketing courses to introduce the challenges of a sustainable startup. The case study highlights the marketing challenges faced by the disruptive and growing plant-based foods or alternative dairy industry in emerging markets.

Teaching notes are available for educators only.

CSS 8: Marketing.

This case study outlines the strategic and organisational issues faced by an entrepreneurial firm operating in an emerging economy. This case study has been written to equip students with how entrepreneurs can overcome certain barriers and use technology to achieve product–market fit, taking the Indian laundry sector as an example. The following are the key learnings for the case: start-ups need to continuously assess the product–market fit to organise a highly unorganised sector; market entry and expansion modes require proper evaluation of available entry and expansion modes before pursual; franchising decisions require firm-specific and location-specific considerations; and careful consideration given to celebrity endorsement will result in increased sales.

The Indian laundry market was a highly unorganised market and presented an untapped opportunity. While the market opportunity was enormous, the existing solutions comprised local vendors that may not provide end-to-end services (washing, ironing, etc.). The case study described how a young entrepreneur, Arunabh Sinha, overcame certain challenges to achieve a product–market fit for metro cities and later expanded to Tier 2 and Tier 3 cities in India as well. However, the challenges remained, as the firm expanded by using a franchise model, and other modes of business were required to be evaluated as well.

The case study is suitable for students pursuing MBA courses in marketing, service marketing and entrepreneurship development.

Teaching notes are available for educators only.

CSS3: Entrepreneurship.