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Leadership, international business, financial reporting, entrepreneurship

The case study is aimed at undergraduate students at a 300 level.

Mr Badr Jafar, co-founder of the Pearl Initiative (PI), is the chief protagonist in this case study set in the Gulf Arab states. He launched this company at the United Nations in September 2010, and the launch was timely, as business leaders were looking to rebuild the global economy following the economic downturn. The Initiative was originally the idea of a number of leading company owners in the countries of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC). The company vision is to improve business practices for the benefit of business and society in the future, but the context is one of a highly competitive and secretive business environment. The mission of the PI is to improve private sector corporate culture to one of transparency and accountability. The PI approaches that mission through building a network of business leaders in the GCC, particularly those from the family-owned companies in the private sector. A biography of the founder and the background to the founding of the PI is given, followed by a rationale of the company structure. The potential influence of the network of companies and leaders on the socio-business climate is considered. The specific activities are outlined within the strategy of the PI to address four key business areas: anti-bribery and corruption; corporate governance; corporate reporting; and women in leadership The PI focuses on raising awareness about the potential benefits of social entrepreneurship for business and society. To what extent this relatively new model of business can be successful in the context of the GCC is a case dilemma. Key issues: There are two main issues raised in the case study: the rationale for the relatively new business model of social entrepreneurship and the extent to which PI can modify the past and current GCC business environment by addressing the four business areas.

Students will be able to: analyze the business case for social entrepreneurship and explain the contribution of PI activities for changing the business environment.

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Business ethics, sustainability and economic development.

This case is suitable for both advanced undergraduate and postgraduate levels.

The case presents a pioneering initiative run by the Egyptian General Authority for Investment (GAFI) to mitigate the implications of the 25th of January revolution on SMEs. The case describes the “Business Clinic” program that was designed to provide SMEs with world class consultancy services through the CSR programs of large local and multinational consultancy firms.

The case should help students in: defining corporate social responsibility and describing its importance; describing the role of SMEs in economic development; identifying the different growth obstacles that face SMEs; relating theories in different managerial fields that could be linked to CSR and development; investigating the Arab Spring and describing its repercussions on economic development and sustainability; and illustrating CSR role in solving SME problems.

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

Business Management, Global Marketing Strategy, Strategic Management, International Business, International Management.

The case is suitable for undergraduate and post-graduate business and management students. The case is based on secondary data collection and all the facts are real.

The expected learning outcomes include the selection of a foreign market; the determinants of the foreign mode of entry strategy; the process of integrating an internationalization strategy; how to choose the most appropriate partner; and the monitoring of international markets. The case provides a space to think about practice and help learners, therefore, to connect theory and practice.

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Aramex PJSC: carving a competitive advantage in the global logistics and express transportation service industry.

Entrepreneurship, International Business, Strategy.

Post-graduates, Practitioners.

This case chronicles the Aramex PJSC story of entrepreneur Fadi Gandhour. The case looks at the new start-up, its growth and financing plans for expansion and how it got a competitive advantage in an industry dominated by big players. Aramex, as of 2012, was the only Arab company to have successfully listed on the NASDAQ Stock Exchange. After 30 years at the helm of the company, Fadi Ghandour, the Chief Executive Officer (CEO), was stepping down and was being succeeded by regional head, Hussein Hachem, the CEO of Middle East and Africa. Aramex had a competitive edge in emerging markets, and Fadi and Hussein knew that the route to sustainable growth was to capitalize on this opportunity using organic growth, acquisitions and strategic alliances.

Strategy included looking at gaining a competitive advantage in the Middle East, North Africa, South Asia and other emerging markets. Lessons are provided on capitalization of opportunity, funding and creating an organization culture that is sustainable and reflects the Founder's ideal.

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

CF Industries’ products nitrogen fertilizers are a crucial input to making agriculture productive enough to feed the world. However, its products are undifferentiated commodities. Throughout parts of its history, CF has struggled to be consistently profitable, yet over the last decade it has been very profitable. The case provides an opportunity to examine how CF manages to create value and capture it as profits despite being in a commodity business.

Brand strategy, marketing strategy, service marketing, hospitality management and international marketing strategy.

Post-graduate-level students; practitioners from the hospitality sector, brand management, corporate social responsibility (CSR) and the arts and culture field may also benefit from the case.

Jumeirah Group is a luxury hospitality company that is implementing a global brand strategy after developing a strong-regional reputation. Jumeirah's strong cultural alignment to its Dubai heritage in the form of its hallmarks and communication tag line “Stay Different” is being translated into events, activities, sponsorship and more importantly in terms of service to create a symbolic and experiential brand strategy. For Alice Royton, the Director of Branding for Jumeirah Group, the dilemma was how to maintain the thrust forwards as a top luxury brand and keep brand synergy especially as Jumeirah was increasing its portfolio and the competitive arena heats up in the international market place.

Creation of stakeholder value, brand strategy looking at various brand levels, using arts and culture as part of CSR initiative; communication strategy, emotional touch points and moment of truth as part of interactive service strategy; CRM and loyalty.

Teaching notes.

Management, Strategy, International business.

Undergraduate or Graduates.

This case is suitable for students of international business and strategy at the advanced undergraduate-level or introductory masters-level courses. It can be used for organizational design, brand management and business-to-business management classes. It may be of interest to practitioners in the Middle East and North African (MENA) markets looking at managing cross-functional teams.

On completion of utilizing the case study as an exercise, students should be able to develop the following. Case-specific skills: Critically examine the importance of the international business and strategy in the Middle East and demonstrate this by analyzing real-regional/-examples using complex theoretical frameworks; identify examples of best practice and explain the dynamics toward international business and strategy with reference to a range of theoretical models and apply these in a meaningful way to the MENA region. Discipline-specific skills: Synthesize and critically evaluate a corpus of academic literature and government reports on international business and strategy; link international business and strategy concepts and theories to real-regional/world examples. Personal and key skills: Reflect on the process of learning and undertake independent/self-directed learning (including time management) to achieve consistent, proficient and sustained attainment; work as a participant or leader of a group and contribute effectively to the achievement of objectives in the field of international business and strategy.

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

In early 2012, an equity analyst, was examining the jet fuel hedging strategy of JetBlue Airways for the coming year. Because airlines cross-hedged their jet fuel price risk using derivatives contracts on other oil products such as WTI and Brent crude oil, they were exposed to basis risk. In 2011, dislocations in the oil market led to a Brent-WTI premium wherein jet fuel started to move with Brent instead of WTI, as it traditionally did. Faced with hedging losses, several U.S. airlines started to change their hedging strategies, moving away from WTI. But others worried that the Brent-WTI premium might be a temporary phenomenon. For 2012, would JetBlue continue using WTI for its hedges, or would it switch to an alternative such as Brent?

This case study is most suitable for a target audience of graduate-level students in leadership and/or change management classes. It will help students to apply a change management model to an existing problem/change and analyze its applicability, recognize different leadership approaches in practice and assess their appropriateness in different contexts and present key findings and ideas in front of an audience.

This case study examines the leadership of Dr. Mahmoud Khattab, CEO of B.TECH, during the turbulent times of the 2011 Egyptian Revolution. B.TECH was founded in 1997 as a subsidiary of the Egyptian home appliances manufacturer Olympic Electric, to enter the retail market. The morning after January 28, 2011, the “Friday of Rage,” Khattab found the company’s stores looted and seized, and the employees panicked. The company leader was pressured to decide the next steps quickly. Everything was condensed into a dilemma of whether to keep the stores open but potentially risk employee trust and safety as well as the company’s assets – or close them but lose revenue, the ability to pay workers and the company’s market leader position. Students should also identify and reflect on the elements of leadership that contributed to a business success in a turbulent political environment. This case study highlights critical leadership and management decisions during an unexpected crisis that threatened the company’s operations and diversification efforts. Khattab acted almost instinctively, using the interpersonal and creative skills he had acquired while running a family business in his native Egypt and while occupying various leadership roles.

This case study is particularly suitable for classes on change management and leadership for university students at the graduate level.

Teaching notes are available for educators only.

CSS11: Strategy.

We have used data mostly from published sources like The Economic Times, Forbes, The Times of India and the annual reports of Nestlé India Ltd. Because we classify it as a Teaching Case Study as per the guidelines of Emerald Publishing, we have ensured that any data presented in the case has been acquired only from published sources and is not internal company data. Citations have also been provided wherever necessary.

On 6 June 2015, Nestlé India’s top product Maggi instant noodles was banned nationwide for an unspecified period. The ban was imposed due to allegations of Maggi containing high amounts of lead and message, and consequently violating the food safety standards. What followed was the destruction of massive stocks of Maggi which had been taken off from shelves of stores countrywide. Furthermore, the company faced a huge blow financially as its sales plummeted. This case delves into how Nestlé India adopted relevant strategies to successfully avert the Maggi crisis. Some remedial measures included appointing a Managing Director who understood the market, improving the communication channel and boosting the churn out of new products along with greater emphasis on marketing and advertising.

This case is aimed mainly at undergraduate level students in the field of management studies and public relations management. This case is also relevant for students pursuing a specialization in Crisis Communication, Public Relations, Marketing and Organizational Change.