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There are a range of business evaluation methods that can be applied to determine the value of a business. Ultimately, the valuation of a business is what someone will pay for it when the sale transaction is completed. When determining the value of their own business, business owners are often influenced by how hard they have worked to start and build up the business, what the business represents and their projections for the future (Hawkey, 2017). This case provides an opportunity for students to consider exit strategy planning and how to establish a fair market price for a business, how to consider the value of good will and, in particular, the value associated with running an environmentally conscious bakery operation. The trend toward environmental responsibility and green practices in the small business community has started to have an impact on the value of small companies (Inc. 2021). Finally, the case raises the issue of the personal values of the owners and the related implication of finding a buyer with similar values and interests for a bakery business.

This case was field researched and the company and individuals are not disguised. One of the authors interviewed the two owners of The Royal Bakery. There were three interviews over a six-month period. The interviews were audio recorded. An ethical review for this research was completed at the co-authors’ institution, and a case release was signed.

The Royal Bay Bakery presents Dave Grove and Gwen Snyder who, with over 30 years in the bakery business, had started to consider next steps toward retirement. Royal Bay Bakery was profitable and growing. As they prepared to retire and sell the business, they were unsure about how to maximize the value of the business. They also wanted to find a buyer who would recognize and continue their business commitment to environmental and social sustainability.

This case may be taught in a class on exit strategies for small family businesses in the context of a small business course. This case is appropriate for both undergraduate seniors and graduate students. The case may be used to help students understand small business valuation, family ownership and exit strategies and environmental practices in small businesses. Instructors may choose to emphasize specific conceptual tools, including SWOT analysis, and business valuation. The case may also be used to reinforce applications of exit strategy for small, family-owned businesses.

1. To analyze the various business models and choose the best model to contribute maximum profit to the company.2. To understand the importance of customer management with the help of the Net Promoter Score in the food retail context.3. To develop customer loyalty strategies and implement them to improve customer management?

39 Bakers, a multi-outlet bakery chain in Jammu, India, is run by its founder Gagan. 39 Bakers, through its retail outlets across the Jammu region, offers a variety of products, ranging from bakery items that include blends of Indian and Italian cuisines, offering more than 1000 stock keeping units (SKUs). Through its high-quality offerings at an affordable price range, the brand has carved a niche in the hyper-competitive bakery market of the Jammu region. Gagan, has closely seen the Jammu market and customer preferences and strongly perceived that the customers in the Jammu region are very price sensitive. Thus, he has always been very reluctant to increase the prices of his product offerings at 39 Bakers. He has always believed that any drastic price rise may lead to immediate dissatisfaction and customer churn and therefore has not increased the prices at 39 Bakers for two years in a row. While this decision of Gagan paid off in terms of its popularity and recognition as one of the highly recommended bakery chains among customers, it drastically impacted the bottom line (i.e. profitability) at 39 Bakers, especially in the year 2020–21. Getting popularity at the cost of dipping profitability made Gagan rethink his decision to be protective of price increases at 39 bakers. How can he measure customer satisfaction and loyalty? Which loyalty strategies will work for the huge customer base of Jammu? Should he change his business model from B2C to B2B? How can loyalty be established? How can he manage his existing and loyal customers through price increases?

The case study is suitable for undergraduate and postgraduate courses in Marketing Management and Retail Marketing. The case study’s focus can be on the importance of pricing, business model evaluation, customer management analysis, customer loyalty, Customer Loyalty analysis, and net promoters score. The case can also be useful to entrepreneurs and regulators.

Teaching notes are available for educators only.

CSS 3: Entrepreneurship.

Retail marketing: it can be discussed in a retail marketing course to explain the growth and expansion of the retail chain and illustrate the features of a retail model that can consider franchise as a method to expand or distribute its branded merchandise in other retail outlets. The case will also help assess the financially viable growth. Marketing Management: It can be useful for a comprehensive yet straightforward explanation of marketing mix price, promotion, place, and product, also at the same time it serves to explain the importance of customer service in terms of retailing. Strategic Marketing: The case provides varied growth options that are being considered by retail organizations, which gives the student real-time opportunity to arrive at strategic decisions by considering financial viability, internal strengths (SWOT analysis), franchising as a growth option.

This case can be used in foundation course on retail marketing or even in strategic marketing in postgraduate management program, or the dilemma can be explained as a part of a marketing course for postgraduate, executive programs, management development programs.

Kanwar, the owner of 39 Bakers, was one of the fastest-growing retail outlets in Jammu, India. He had been successful in carving his pie for himself with its unique bakery products of more than 1000 variety of, break-even point price, everyday surprise product (EDSP), reasonable price, open kitchen concept, hygiene, excellent customer service. Within three years, 39 Bakers had grown from one to eight outlets, and revenue had increased to US$68,621, and vision was to achieve US$2m within the next three years. To achieve his vision, he made two business expansion plans either to start product distribution to other retailers like an FMCG company or to go ahead with the business format franchising model. The investors needed a detailed planned within three days. But Kanwar had to decide should he expand geographically and start with franchise model or shall he establish his brand with product distribution, and then go for the franchise model, which plan would make him reach his vision by 2023? Which strategy would be efficient? He indeed wanted to go for the franchise model, but the question is when?

This case will help entrepreneurs to decide on services and retail industries to expand their business and explore available growth options. It offers a platform to talk about how often franchising used to fuel growth. Either you select to be a franchisee or independent business owner or provide franchising opportunities or start your distribution network, a detailed business plan is one of the most critical decision-making activities. Without adequate details, it can make your life's most expensive option. After students have worked on the case and the task questions, the students can analyze whether a company should grow through product distribution, franchise or both; appreciate the significance of a business plan and to recognize all aspects of a retail operation, including the marketing mix; carry out strengths, weakness, opportunities, threats analysis and can develop Internal and External Factor Evaluation Matrix (IFE AND EFE); and examine various franchise options available for business expansion in a developing econ.

Position in course – This case can be used in foundation course on retail marketing or even in strategic marketing in postgraduate management program, or the dilemma can be explained as a part of a marketing course for postgraduate, executive programs and management development programs.

Teaching notes are available for educators only.

CSS: 8 Marketing.

Tihar Jail (TJ), one of the largest prisons in the world also functions as a reformation and rehabilitation centre. As a part of this effort, it operates a factory and a baking school in its premises. A consultant had been employed by Tihar Jail to find solutions for the stagnation in sales revenue despite marketing quality products and garnering good reviews from customers. This case is suitable for first-year MBA-level course in marketing management as well as for more-focused courses in product marketing strategy, business strategy, consumer behaviour, organizational behaviour, sales and distribution, or public policy.

This case study can be used for courses under marketing management, international marketing or public relations.

This case study may be suitable for courses which discuss decision-making and/or executive actions and execution, at both undergraduate and graduate levels. It could also be used in graduate classes as some open-ended questions are also included to illicit critical thoughts and fresh ideas.

Companies can be boycotted for many reasons; for example, a company may be associated with or engage in egregious acts which trigger a consumer boycott. However, it is unusual for racial and political elements to form the basis of a consumer boycott. This paper describes how a current leader in the packaged bread market, Gardenia Bakeries Sdn Bhd (GBKL), responded to one such online campaign. This case study highlights the importance of effective communications and marketing strategies for responding to sensitive issues involving racism and politics.

Students are introduced to the concept of consumer boycotts and how this may affect a business. Students are exposed to the development of appropriate public relation strategies and explore creative methods to combat bad publicity and/or a smear campaign. Students can learn to appreciate the sensitivity of allegations of racism in a multi-ethnic country and understand how multi-ethnic consumers respond to these types of issues. Students are exposed to the effects of political and socio-demographic influences on purchase behavior in a particular market or country. Students may explore the effects of consumer activism on a company's brand image.

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

At the end of the case study exercise, students will be able to evaluate a company’s competitive standing and formulate business growth strategies based on internal and external environment analysis, develop business strategies for a company to strategise product offerings and recommend promotional strategies for a company to best market new product offerings.

This case study is about the Central Production Unit (CPU), a wholly owned subsidiary of Sirah Heritage Holdings Sdn. Bhd. (owner of the popular restaurant brand “Tuuu […] Dia Pak Tam”), which was initially set up to standardise production for the whole company. However, ever since the subsidiary was set up, the management realised a few pertinent issues that needed their attention. Firstly, the CPU was underutilised even with the large number of Tuuu […] Dia Pak Tam restaurants across Peninsular Malaysia. Furthermore, the CPU was also tasked to introduce new products and services that could attract consumers and increase the visibility of their restaurants, but the company had no idea how to promote its new products. This study aims to look at the issues faced by the CPU by applying analytical tools such as SWOT analysis, Ansoff matrix and promotion mix.

This case study is designed for undergraduate and postgraduate students who are taking courses such as strategic management, marketing management and business development. This case study can also be used by training departments, corporate trainers and other relevant managers to improve growth strategies using business theories.

Teaching notes are available for educators only.

CSS 8: Marketing

Arjun Sekri, a professional-turned-entrepreneur, set out to establish the first branded gourmet industrial bakery in Bengaluru, India in late 2002. His lack of experience in the unorganized food and beverages industry did not deter him from establishing a highly popular industrial and retail bakery chain called “Daily Bread”. The case is about his roller coaster ride in establishing a premium retail food brand in India. Though many of the stores did reasonably well, many things went wrong predominantly on the operations front due to the severe impact of global price inflation, manifested by high real estate rentals, raw material, packing and logistics costs and wage costs. After two years of rapid expansion, in order to curb the bleeding bottom line, Arjun decided to shut down all the newly created stores and production units except the one in Bengaluru which was doing well. By late 2009, the dilemma Arjun faced was what should he do next?

The case study is based on primary data collected from the protagonist and a few other stakeholders involved in the case along with secondary data from published sources.

Entrepreneurship courses at MBA level or executive programs.

The case deals with the life cycle management of a venture with special emphasis on opportunity evaluation, setting up, funding and stakeholders selection.

After reading this case study, the students will be able to analyze an external environment using the PESTLE framework for identifying key factors and assessing their impact on strategic decision-making, evaluate the importance of the company, competitors and customers in strategic decision-making and how the 3Cs model provides useful insights in a competitive environment and get useful insights from PESTLE and the Ansoff matrix for making well-informed strategic growth decisions.

The Indus Bakers, led by Suresh Kumar, Ajeet Kumar and Kareem Ahmed, faced stagnant sales in Sukkur’s bustling bakery industry. Expanding from Larkana, the bakery grapples with fierce competition from newcomers and home-based bakers. Managers discuss concerns over market shifts and cost constraints, placing Suresh in a pivotal decision-making role. He must decide whether to introduce specialized dietary offerings, set up kiosks at transport hubs, explore local tea culture or target corporate clients. Each path poses challenges and opportunities. As the Indus Bakers stand at this critical juncture, Kumar’s choices will define its role in Sukkur’s evolving bakery landscape, blending tradition with adaptability in a dynamic market.

This case study is suitable for teaching the graduates of management sciences, Bachelor of Business Administration and Master of Business Administration programs, particularly in the courses of corporate strategy, marketing management and entrepreneurship. It offers valuable insights to students and helps in strategic decision-making within the business landscape, emphasizing the consideration of both macro and micro environmental factors. This case study equips learners to digest how companies navigate competitive markets and adapt their strategies in response to changing market dynamics. Through exploring the challenges faced by the Indus Bakers and their strategic responses, students can glean practical lessons in corporate strategy, environmental analysis, competitive strategy, market analysis and business resilience. This approach prepares students to tackle real-world business scenarios, fostering critical thinking and strategic acumen essential for future business leaders.

Teaching notes are available for educators only.

CSS 11: Strategy.

This case can be used in teaching Marketing Management, Principles of Marketing and Consumer Behavior. More specifically, marketing strategies, growth strategies, market segmentation.

This case is designed for undergraduate and MBA students.

This case illustrates the challenges a woman faces taking on the running of her family business, without any prior experience. Hema is a well-educated girl with a diploma in childhood education from UTM-Johor; she was happily working as a school teacher. Her parents are entrepreneurs Encik Sittumalai and Puan Rani. Her Mother Puan Rani set up a business in 2005, under the name of Blitz, producing and selling Indian cookies. In 2010, Blitz was one of the best homemade Indian cookies in the market of Johor Bahru, and supplied their products to five main Indian restaurants. In March 2012, Rani was diagnosed with final stage colon cancer and as a result the business was halted, and the organization was not able to pay employees’ salaries. Hema found herself left with no choice but to resign from her teaching job and take care of the family business.

From this case, it is expected that the students will be able to: understand the fundamental functions of marketing; learn about the four Ps of marketing including product, price, promotion and place; learn about different techniques and strategies to analyze organizations and market situation including SWOT and Porter’s five forces; gain knowledge about market segmentation and growth strategies; identify problems and challenges faced by a new manager in running a company; analyze a situation whereby a new manager needs to adapt to a new role, duties and responsibilities; analyze the external and internal environment using SWOT; understand competition using Porter’s 5 forces; think thoroughly, deeply and critically to make a decision that can solve the problem in hand.

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CSS 8: Marketing.

This case is about a food brand with franchisee stores which has implemented a brand change initiative in the Indian emerging market.

This case is suitable for MBA level students in courses like strategic brand management, marketing in emerging markets and retail management. Issues relate to brand name change management, building and securing channel cooperation in brand change, channel peculiarities in emerging markets and franchisee institutional support systems in emerging markets like India.

The case documents the process followed by Switz Foods Private Limited (SFPL) in planning for and implementing a “brand-name” change across its 150-plus stores retailing fresh bakery products. The switch away from a 20-year-old food brand that had carved out a place in the popular culture of the community in Kolkata was risky. While opinion inside the organization was divided on whether to use mass media to communicate the brand-name change to its customers, the company finally decided to rely only on in-store signage and product packaging. SFPL took into confidence the franchisee retail store owners, a key stakeholder group with whom it enjoyed a long-term trusted business relation, and relied on their support to implement a smooth transition. It shows how in the context of the bazaars in transition economies, trust-based business relations and word-of-mouth reputation can often provide frugal managerial alternatives.

The three main learning objectives are: planning for a brand name transition, which includes three parts: generating consumer insights and using the data to aid decision-making in choosing a brand name and developing a brand campaign; overcoming network or business partner resistance/uncertainties associated with a brand name transition; managing customer perceptions before and after brand-name transition. Second learning objective included understanding risks in a franchisor–franchisee relationship. Third included appreciating the significance of trust-based relationships in managing transition economies.

CSS 8: Marketing.