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This is a field-researched case about a nonprofit organization, the Accelerated Cure Project (ACP), dedicated to accelerating advances toward a cure for multiple sclerosis (MS). Inspired by the successful open source software development platform, ACP brings the strengths of that platform into the medical research and development environment. At the opening of the case, Robert McBurney, an Australian scientist with extensive experience in the biotech world, has been named CEO. McBurney and his team want to use ACP's bio-sample and data Repository to drive innovation in the search for the cure for MS by fostering collaborative research and development across research institutions, pharmaceutical and bio-tech companies. To encourage such collaboration ACP waives its rights to potentially lucrative Intellectual Property. This decision to foster collaboration at the expense of revenue sources appears problematic, since ACP does not have the staff or resources to undertake fundraising at the scale needed to fund current projects. ACP chooses to serve instead as an open access research accelerator making an impact on the field by functioning as an innovation driver rather than a profit maker. Is this an innovative recipe for success in finding a cure for MS or a recipe for financial disaster for ACP?

Interviews provided the primary source of data for this case. Four semi-structured interviews were conducted with the CEO of ACP, the Vice President of Scientific Operations, and a member of the organization's Board of Trustees, a collaborating university researcher, and the President of a bio-tech company working with ACP. Interview data was supplemented with additional information from ACP's web site, news reports, McBurney's comments at Suffolk University's Global Leadership in Innovation and Collaboration Award event, and follow-up conversations.

This case is intended for use in an undergraduate course examining strategic management issues midway through the term. The case discussion can center on issues relating to: first, the development of the business model; second, revenue resources and fundraising. Students are expected to spend two to three hours of outside preparation reviewing concepts of change leadership and the collaborative enterprise business model. They should read the case materials and brainstorm options for improved change leadership. The case can be taught in one two-hour class period.

The purpose of this case is to introduce students to the strategic management and funding challenges faced by an organization that is using a non-traditional business model in an increasingly complex environment. As a result of discussing this case, students should be able to: first, examine strategic organizational strengths, analyze opportunities created by business, market and environmental factors, and strategize to minimize weaknesses and to address threats identify an organization's strategic focus; recognize and recommend options at crucial decision making junctures in a business situation; second, assess an organization's revenue model; analyze how this model can be improved; third, analyze the functionality and sustainability of an organization's business model.

The consumer-products division of a multinational company is facing a decision on the sourcing of product components: whether to stay in Taiwan or switch to Mexico. See also the supplement to this case, “Cost Analysis for Sourcing Alternatives for Emerson Electric Company ACP Division” (OM-0823).

This case is designed to present students with the challenges of formulating a discounted-cash-flow (DCF) analysis for a strategically important capital-investment decision. Analytically, the problem is representative of most corporate investment decisions, but it is particularly interesting because of the massive size of the American Centrifuge Project and the potential of the project to significantly affect the stock price. Students must determine the relevant cash flows, paying close attention to the treatment of input costs, selling prices, timing of investment outlays, depreciation, and inflation. An important input is the appropriate cost of uranium, which some students argue should be included at book value, while others argue that market value should be used. Although the primary objective of the case is to focus on the estimation of cash flows, students are provided with a straightforward set of inputs to estimate USEC's weighted average cost of capital. The case is designed for students who are learning, or need a refresher on, DCF analysis. Because of the basic issues covered, the case works well with undergraduate, MBA, and executive-education audiences. The case also affords the opportunity to explore a variety of issues related to capital-investment analysis, including relevant costs, incremental analysis, cost of capital, and sensitivity analysis. The case is an excellent example of the value of a firm as the value of assets in place plus the net present value of future growth opportunities.

The learning outcomes of the study are to analyze the launch of a new business line for Trend at the commercial and market levels; identify the potential of the green consumer in Peruvian emerging market; and apply strategic tools to analyze the viability of launching a new business line in a new market.

José Luis Galindo planned to launch a new line of toilets in the Peruvian market called EcoTrend, based on the analysis of the responsible consumption trend and the presence of a new green consumer. Therefore, he carried out a series of studies and estimates to define the feasibility of the value proposition of his ecological toilet. However, Galindo doubted if these studies and estimates were enough to carry out the launch and commercial success of the EcoTrend line. Galindo, founder and current general manager of a company called Cerámica Industrial Trend S.A.C, is broadly knowledgeable about the construction sector in Peru and has more than 30 years of work experience in the ceramic bathroom fixtures industry. Throughout his professional career, Galindo has managed three of the leading bathroom fixture companies in Peru. However, it was when he started Trend, a company focusing specifically on the manufacture of toilets, that his dream of becoming an entrepreneur came true. Trend is focused on its one-piece toilet line. These toilets are characterized by their high-quality workmanship, which is achieved through the efficient and distinctive production process of Trend’s workforce. The workforce stays on its toes due to constant, thorough training, a key to Trend’s market competitiveness. In addition, the new EcoTrend line sowed in Galindo uncertainty in the commercial viability because the product was new in the market and was going to bring a great challenge.

Depending on the scope of the course, different teaching objectives could be oriented toward entrepreneurship, management sciences, strategy and green marketing. The case can be used to teach higher level undergraduate marketing and management courses.

Teaching notes are available for educators only.

CSS 8: Marketing.

The primary objectives of the case study are to get the participants exposed to the issues of working capital which even profitable companies face on a day-to-day basis; give the participants an understanding of how to balance the, at times, conflicting objectives of increasing profits and sales through favorable credit terms; and expose them to the impact of increase in inventory levels and average collection period on margins in a period of slow growth. They will also learn about the concept of factoring and its uses.

The case study is about a group of companies engaged in education, steel fabrication and oil businesses owned by a single proprietor. The company was based in Fatehnagar which was part of Hyderabad district in the state of Telangana, India, and the case study traces the origins of the group from 1960s to 2021. The group was invested the surplus cash flows from the oil business to initiate and expand other businesses during this period. The economic downturn due to the COVID-19 pandemic had hit the company, particularly its oldest business – Noble Chemical Agency. The oil business was facing issues related to its growth and profitability, and the uncertainty around COVID-19-related restrictions had only augmented the fears of the management. The case study looks at issues and the dilemma which the owner of the company faced. The case study highlights various issues related to working capital management, especially related to receivables management and inventory levels faced by businesses during the slow-growth phase. It demonstrates how working capital management issues, if not resolved in time, can lead to insolvency of even a successful company with a sound business model.

The case study is meant for teaching in postgraduate management programs (Master of Business Administration and Postgraduate Diploma in Management) in the following courses: corporate finance/financial management course in the first year (the case study should be taught towards the end of the course); and management accounting courses in first year (the case study should be positioned in the middle of these courses). The case study can also be used to highlight issues related to working capital and small business management in a Management Development Programme (MDP) course for “Finance fundamentals for non-finance executives”.

Teaching notes are available for educators only.

CSS 1: Accounting and finance.

Prayas is a unique healthcare initiative, launched in India by Sanofi-Aventis, a French multinational pharmaceutical company, with the objectives of updating the medical knowledge of doctors in semi-urban and rural areas, bridging the gap between diagnosis and treatment, and making available quality medicines at affordable prices. This case discusses the evolution of the Prayas model from its inception to its current state, and the company's business strategies around it. Cognizant of the success of Prayas, many competitors of Sanofi-Aventis are actively developing and implementing similar models. The company's top management team has to respond to the competitive threat.

Crisis management.

Graduate and MBA.

This case analyzes the event of disappearing flight MH370 belonging to Malaysia Airlines which attracted worldwide attention from a third-party perspective. This case describes clearly the entire process of the crisis, mainly focusing on the decisions made and action taken by the Malaysian Government, and then illustrates the assessment and diagnosis of the crisis.

This case not only provides a sample for the teaching of strategic and crisis management but also supplies effective guidance for the measures a nation can take regarding a huge crisis.

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

Agricultural Trade, Farm Management, Economics of Food Safety

Both undergraduate and postgraduate studies in Agribusiness and Agricultural Economics.

The pineapple production sector plays a very significant role in the Ghanaian horticultural industry. Production and export of fresh pineapple has been Ghana’s most developed high-value supply chain. However, the introduction of the GlobalGAP food safety standard in 2007 resulted in a fall in smallholder farmers’ participation in exportable pineapple production and subsequently led to declining trends in pineapple exports. The Ghanaian horticultural industry received quite a number of interventions over the years aimed at revitalizing the horticultural export sector and enhancing international competitiveness. However, the pineapple export sub-sector is still constrained with production and market access challenges meaning the sector struggles to survive.

The GlobalGAP standard compliance case is an appropriate way of explaining how smallholder farmers make informed decisions concerning the adoption of new farm practices. The case presents a careful evaluation of technical, institutional and socio-economic factors influencing a farmer’s decision to comply or not to comply with the GlobalGAP standard. Students should be able to apply farm management decision-making concepts and tools such as profit maximization and binary choice modelling techniques to explain a farmers’ final decisions on GlobalGAP standard compliance. This case should enable students to appreciate key factors constraining agricultural export trade performance in developing countries. The case should also contribute to students’ understanding of smallholder farmers’ decisions on food safety standards compliance, particularly GlobalGAP, and the challenges associated with the entire compliance process. Moreover, this case should provide students with possible policy considerations geared towards making food safety standards compliance easier, effective and sustainable in developing countries so as to enhance market access while ensuring food quality and safety along high-value food supply chains.

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CSS 7 Management Science

Innovation Strategy/Entrepreneurship.

The case can be used in an MBA/postgraduate management program for a course on Innovations Strategy with a focus on disruptive innovation, specifically in relation to disruption in the value chain with the adoption of new technologies or for a course on Entrepreneurship focusing on the opportunities created by the Internet-based technologies for start-up businesses. Alternatively, it can be used in a course on e-commerce strategies, particularly to demonstrate the efficiency of online distribution vis-à-vis physical channels.

The case illustrates how Medknow Publications created a profitable e-commerce model out of a struggling conventional business, namely, the learned society journal publishing. It also provides a useful ground to discuss the challenges faced by the conventional scholarly journal publishing models, the current crisis in scholarly journal publishing and how Medknow, a disruptive business model innovation, would address these issues. Besides, the case illustrates how Medknow created a sustainable “for-profit” alternative to the prevailing not-for-profit models of open access publishing.

After the analysis and discussion of this case, students will be able to: appreciate how technological innovation can disrupt existing business models; understand how digitization helps improve the efficiency of value chain in the content industry, particularly the scholarly journal publishing industry; and appreciate that the flexibility of digitized content and the global reach of the Internet have the potential to transform the scholarly journal publishing industry for good.

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