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The Farmcrowdy case pursues the following aims: familiarizing students with the concept of business models for agricultural businesses and explaining the key decisions and activities within a business model; recognizing different opportunities for business model innovation by farmers and stakeholders in the agricultural sector; identifying concepts and tools from the business world that can be used in farming and other agribusiness-related ventures; highlighting opportunities for agribusiness firms to engage in business model innovation; and developing a business model canvas that highlights key components of a business model.

Agriculture stands as the leading driver of economies in most African countries. Most people depend on this sector directly or indirectly for their livelihoods on a daily basis. However, due to challenges like climate change and its variability, high initial startups capital, poor pricing, pest attacks, among other factors, people are gradually opting out of this sector. This has implications for employment, food and human security issues for farmers, their families and the society at large. Individual farmers that opt to remain in this sector are often met with challenges accessing technology in adapting to the challenges aforementioned. This decreases their resilience to the impact of climate change and its variability, pest and disease attack, securing loans to expand farming operations, among others. This raises the risks associated with investment in this sector as one cannot be assured of a fixed return on investment at the end of each crop cycle. Investors who opted to manage this risk associated with investment in the agriculture sector had challenges getting an official database of farmers to invest in as well as knowing whether individual farmers are experienced enough and committed to fixed agreements. It is against this backdrop that Onyeka Akumah founded Farmcrowdy in Nigeria with the aim of empowering farmers and connecting investors to right farmers with an assured return on investment at the end of every crop growing or animal-rearing season using online technological packages. The Farmcrowdy business model allowed Nigerians to venture into farming and other agricultural ventures at the touch of a button while empowering local farmers and boosting food production, creating employment for all stakeholders in the agricultural value chain. With ensuing challenges and competitors in the agro-technological industry, Farmcrowdy aims at extending their business model to other West African countries like Ghana. A few suggestions are made to help improve Farmcrowdy business model. First, they can add novel activities to the business model. Second, they can change one or more parties that perform business model activities. Finally, they can link business model activities in new ways like the development of model farms as a training ground for new farmers and the development of a go-back-to nature campaign to end-users of the products from farms. This case can be used by different audiences. The case can be used for teaching students at the graduate level, especially in the development of executive courses on innovation and entrepreneurship, strategy, agricultural technology and innovation. A wealth of supporting materials is available to the Professor, including videos and background information.

PhD, Doctor of Business Administration, Executive MBA

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CSS 3: Entrepreneurship

Start-ups in emerging markets, entrepreneurship, business models and strategy.

The case is suitable for MBA and EMBA graduate and undergraduate students in strategic management, finance and the relevant areas.

This case provides a real-life entrepreneurial situation in agricultural industry in China. The protagonist of the case is the founder and CEO of the start-up Harvest Agricultural Technology and Development Company Limited (Harvest). From his perspective, the case depicts the current business environment for private companies in China, and presents the opportunities and challenges a new start-up faces in this environment. Agricultural industry plays an important role in the Chinese economy. Especially because in China land is owned by the state or collective, agricultural industrialization has more significance and experiences greater difficulties. The company in the case explores the situation of integrating the different stakeholders of agricultural production and delivery given the current political and economic environment. The case describes the characteristics and quality that a typical Chinese entrepreneur has and questions why such factors matter so much in China. The case emphasizes the strategic planning process of Harvest and its unprecedented business model design. The case also touches upon the growth pattern of entrepreneurial companies in China. All the above issues deserve discussion and in-depth analysis.

After studying this case, students should be able to: describe the business environment in China and identify the stakeholders of the agricultural industry in China; describe the process and value chain of agriculture production and delivery by adopting management models if necessary; discuss the personality and quality of the founder and CEO and compare his characteristics with that of western entrepreneurs and analyse why these characteristics are helpful (or detrimental) to the start-up company; analyse the development of business model designs, and identify the merits, drawbacks and risks of each version of business model; analyse the competitive advantages of Harvest, and identify the key resources and capacities with management models if necessary; discuss different possibilities of Harvest's future with evidence and process analysis; discuss whether the business model and the development strategy of Harvest are applicable to other companies or industries; discuss how setting the goal of going public on the first day Harvest was founded will affect the development of the company; and compare the business models of Harvest with other companies serving as a platform in a different industry (i.e. Taobao marketplace).

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

This case is appropriate for entrepreneurship courses where the topics are generation of business model, business model innovation and shared value. It can be used at undergraduate and graduate levels.

This case addresses the challenges that Mejor en Bici (in English: Best by Bike), a start-up that promotes mobility by bicycle, had to face from 2010 to 2015 at the level of its business model and generation of shared value. The case narrates the main achievements and obstacles in this path of entrepreneurship and how, through this process, a business model should be designed that allows strategic decisions to be taken to achieve sustained growth. In addition, this case examines how from early stages in entrepreneurship it is possible to generate shared value as a strategic component.

• Identify and present the value proposition of Mejor en Bici to understand where a business model starts.

• Design and evaluate the business model of Mejor en Bici from an innovation perspective.

• Apply the concept of shared value in the generation of a business proposal for Mejor en Bici based on their business model.

Identify and present the value proposition of Mejor en Bici to understand where a business model starts.

Design and evaluate the business model of Mejor en Bici from an innovation perspective.

Apply the concept of shared value in the generation of a business proposal for Mejor en Bici based on their business model.

• Osterwalder, A., & Pigneur, Y. (2010). Business model generation: a handbook for visionaries, game changers and challengers. John Wiley & Sons. Pages: 14-44; 56-108; 244-262.

• Porter, M. E. and Kramer, M. R. (2011). The big idea: Creating shared value. Harvard Business Review, 89, 1-18.

• Amit, R. and Zott, C. (2012). Creating value through business model innovation. MIT Sloan Management Review, 53, 40-59.

Osterwalder, A., & Pigneur, Y. (2010). Business model generation: a handbook for visionaries, game changers and challengers. John Wiley & Sons. Pages: 14-44; 56-108; 244-262.

Porter, M. E. and Kramer, M. R. (2011). The big idea: Creating shared value. Harvard Business Review, 89, 1-18.

Amit, R. and Zott, C. (2012). Creating value through business model innovation. MIT Sloan Management Review, 53, 40-59.

The social implication of this case lies in the motivation and guidance that potential entrepreneurs and students who analyze this case will receive. They can learn from a successful but complex experience how to start a business in a sustainable and responsible way.

CSS 3: Entrepreneurship

1. Understand how the corporate lifecycle could trigger a necessity of making a tough decision to develop new business ventures based on the corporate lifecycle theory; and how changes in the external environment could hasten such a decision.

2. Analyze how a company can leverage its internal organizational structure to share and utilize cross-departmental resources and capabilities to support new venture businesses according to the synergy effect perspective.

3. Undertake a resource-based view analysis to evaluate the external and internal resources needed for corporate new venture development.

4. Identify the best course of action for the decision-maker by comparing, contrasting, applying and evaluating the two different models of corporate new venture development in the e-commerce business: the centralized organizational model and the decentralized organizational model and evaluate the pros and cons associated with each mode in the context of Dahan’s external and internal environments.

Since its inception in 2003, Dahan’s traditional business in SMS (Short Message Services) and data had gained thousands of customers across China and won top rankings in the industry. Despite its achievements, Dahan encountered difficulties when it entered the new e-commerce market, as the domain knowledge about the new business was very different from the domain knowledge in its traditional business. Furthermore, the emerging B2B e-commerce industry was very different from the traditional business in that the former mainly targeted corporate clients and the latter targeted individual customers in the B2C industry. This case examined the critical decisions that Xiaofen Huang, the CEO of Dahan E-Commerce Corporation and Co-Founder of Dahan Tricom Group, had to make and external, especially Internal, resources the Dahan Group needed in developing its new venture.

Specifically, this case explored how Huang would go through the mental process to make the best possible decision to help the company not only to survive, but also thrive in the rapidly-changing and competitive digital environment: it urgently needed to finalize an organizational incubation model to support the further development of its e-commerce and future new venture activities with two options to choose from: the centralized organizational model or the decentralized organizational model. A key challenge facing Huang was to decide which option was best suited to motivate salespeople in different departments to help one another, especially in the new B2B e-commerce business and to grow that new business.

In the case, Dahan’s growth aspirations and its motivation to transform its traditional business into a new e-commerce business were discussed. Second, when external challenges were examined, how Dahan explored the B2B e-commerce business using a trial-and-error learning process was explained. Third, when internal challenges were examined, how Dahan incubated its new B2B e-commerce business and its practices for leveraging and sharing resources/capabilities, as well as cross-departmental and cross-divisional collaboration through a resource-based lens, were illustrated. Last, the most critical learning in the case presented an immediate decision-making dilemma on which organizational incubation models to choose from for further new business development, where students learn to analyze both external and internal factors and consider Dahan’s available resource and founder’s aspiration, available strategic options to derive a best possible decision to suit the stage of the company’s lifecycle and founders’ vision.

This case was designed for use in undergraduate courses on corporate innovation, new venture development, corporate innovation, corporate entrepreneurship, e-commerce and growth.

Teaching notes are available for educators only.

CSS 11: Strategy.

Strategic management, IT strategy, Business & IT Consulting, International Business.

PGDM and Executive programmes.

Cognizant Technology Solutions, one of the giants in the Indian information technology (IT) industry, has been continually evolving new strategies and business models to cater to the global IT demand. Starting as an in-house technology unit of Duns & Bradstreet, the case highlights the various pioneering and transformative decisions taken by Cognizant to become one among the Fortune 500 companies of the world. However, despite its supremacy in the global market, they are facing tremendous competition from the other IT giants – TCS, Infosys and Wipro, to name a few. Also, the expansion of global IT players like Accenture and International Business Machines (IBM) in India is making matters worse. This intense competition, when juxtaposed with commoditization and price sensitivity on behalf of the IT demand, makes sustainability a big question mark. The million-dollar question remains “How should Cognizant strategize to ensure inorganic growth in the price-sensitive industry?”

The case highlights the market dynamics of the Indian IT industry – from its humble beginning as an attraction for low-cost labour to being one of the strategic outsourcing geographies of the IT sector – and thereby categorically points out the significance of continuous evolution on behalf of the IT firms to stay alive in this client-driven industry. The students are expected to analyze the IT industry of India, keeping in mind its vulnerabilities – price sensitivity, dependence on developed economies and intense competition – and relate the same to different strategies incorporated by Cognizant to remain one of the powerhouses of the Indian IT industry.

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The case will offer insight to the students regarding the idea generation and development of a viable sustainable venture. It will promote the understanding of students regarding SDGs and how SMEs can contribute towards their attainment. They will learn to develop the action plan for a green business venture and understand how each of the business activity in each phase of value chain contributes towards environmental, economic and social sustainability.

Rana Waseem, a young business graduate started a small ecopreneurial venture to offer sustainable food from raw material till disposal in developing nation context named as Dhuaan ‘n’ Dukhaan (D ‘n’ D) in Sargodha, Pakistan. He had an aim to create a model of business that not only supports the local economy in terms of offering decent employment but also promotes a food business that generates nutritional self-sufficiency as per the triple bottom line concept. This case gives an exploratory insight into the actual sustainable operations that have survived eight months successfully and on the path of growth without profit being the sole aim. D ‘n’ D has benefited the lives of people in Sargodha by offering job opportunities, a decent wage, healthy food at affordable rates, reduction in diseases, reducing food wastage and efficient resource usage with a positive impact on the environment.

The case is suitable for undergraduate and post graduate students studying entrepreneurship and small business management.

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CSS 3: Entrepreneurship

The learning outcomes are as follows: to gain insight into the importance of location, in terms of spatial and temporal context and the capability of leadership to tune into and strategically adapt to context; to understand and explain the sharing economy and explain how the Uber business model fits into this new way of doing business; to evaluate how Uber South Africa has adapted its business model in the period of the COVID-19 crisis and discuss the nature of the business model innovations that is has made; and to understand business model for sustainability and how it differs from the general understanding of business models.

On 15 May 2020, Alon Lits, General Manager of Uber Africa was considering his dilemma of adapting their business model to the demands of COVID-19, without losing their core business model as a multi-sided technology platform business. Uber was asking their riders to stay home to ensure social distancing during the lockdown, rather than booking a ride with Uber. The question was how they could support their driver partners, while they were discouraging riders to make use of Uber. Uber had taken initiatives to create additional revenue streams for drivers. The case highlights how Alon Lits and his executive team prioritised the health and well-being of their Uber community and quickly adapted their technology to meet the evolving needs during the COVID-19 pandemic. They customised their offerings to the different needs in the seven Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) countries in which they operated. Uber supported businesses by using the Uber-X sedan vehicles to deliver necessities like food, medicine and parcels to the frontline and poor communities. Uber globally offered their drivers in quarantine 14 days of financial assistance. Serving communities also involved offering free rides to women and children who were victims of domestic violence to get them to a safe space. The multi-sided platform technology business had to consciously adapt, to the “next normal” as the COVID-19 era evolved.

The case is most suitable for Post-Graduate Master’s level courses, MBA, MPhil in Corporate Strategy.

Teaching Notes are available for educators only.

CSS: 11 Strategy.

Micro Finance Institution (MFI) named Rojiroti had been doing good work for weaker sections of the society and had brought about significant transformation in the lives of poor people, especially the Scheduled Castes, in villages of Patna district, the capital city of Bihar, India. Rojiroti was run by Centre for Promoting Sustainable Livelihood (CPSL) and had tested successfully a unique innovative model in micro financing which focused on helping the weaker sections by addressing their imminent needs which usually required very small loan amounts. With the various types of benefits people got from buying government subsidized ration to health and education in family to construct home or buy small livelihood assets. The beneficiaries developed high level of respect and trust for the MFI, Rojiroti. Rojiroti had received international recognition from universities such as University of Nottingham, UK; the University was not only researching on the model and its contributions to society, but also had supported it with funding to cater to its audience. Rojiroti did not believe in just providing finance to people like other microfinance institutions (MFI) or corporate social responsibility (CSR) funding by private and public sector organizations; its model focused more on creating capacities in the beneficiaries to sustain their livelihoods. However, after a decades time, Sunil, the protagonist in the case found himself in a situation where he had to decide for the future journey of Rojiroti after having reached a decent stage of growth The case discusses the journey of Rojiroti where the protagonist Sunil had a significant role to play and dwells upon the Rojiroti business model, its beneficiaries and value offerings to them, the changing environment outside and leaves the discussion open on the question of the choice of best road suited for Rojiroti.

The case is intended for the course on Strategic Management with a focus on business models topic. The case introduces the working of social cooperative business model and the nuances around it which is very much pertinent in today’s times where social enterprises have gained space in business and where businesses work around inclusive business models. The case is designed to provide supplemental support or discussion piece while dealing with business model / cooperative enterprise business model. This case provides opportunity to discuss strategic framework for an organization from the promoter’s perspective. The teaching notes is written from the perspective of the entrepreneur (the protagonist in this case, Sunil) who initiated the enterprise, with a learning goal to empathize and develop skills to have strategic decision making for a social enterprise.

The case is designed to provide supplemental support or discussion piece while dealing with business model / cooperative enterprise business model. This case provides opportunity to discuss strategic framework for an organisation from the promoter’s perspective. The teaching notes is written from the perspective of the entrepreneur (the protagonist in this case, Sunil) who initiated the enterprise, with a learning goal to empathize and develop skills to have strategic decision making for a social enterprise.

Teaching notes are available for educators only.

CSS: 3 Entrepreneurship.

After working on the assignment questions, the learners can achieve the following learning outcomes: to deliberate on the emerging cloud-based business models in the food-tech sector; to scrutinize the challenges faced by a start-up while selecting an expansion model; and to purpose strategies and solutions for scaling up the business.

Ms Megha Bafna, the founder, conceptualized starting Keep Good Shape (KGS) in the year 2017. She started the business with a seed capital of INR 3,500 (US$54.13) from her savings. The idea stuck to her mind as she was working with a real estate firm, and every day, she packaged salad for her lunch. Bafna thought that if someone makes the salad available, she will buy it. Based on this this unmet need of the consumers, KGS started as a passion in 2017 and became a full-fledged business in 2021 with 400 daily customers and 38 full-time employees. Today, she serves 22 different salads, including customized salads for customers with lifestyle diseases based on a subscription model. She grew her organization using social media tools such as Facebook and WhatsApp without using any traditional promotion tools. COVID-19 pandemic has increased her orders by almost 10% as healthy meals emerged as people’s choice in 2021. In 2021, she has to choose between expansion through cloud-based kitchen business models across India. She has been confused about selecting the suitable cloud-based kitchen business model and contemplating about funding if she has to expand the business.

An instructor can use this case in the courses of entrepreneurship/strategy subject of a graduate/MBA program. The case study sensitizes the students about setting up a new business and organizing to scale it up further.

Teaching notes are available for educators only.

CSS 3: Entrepreneurship

Entrepreneurship, Business Strategy, Leadership, Marketing and Decision-making in business.

This case is suitable for graduate-level programmes in business management as well as executive education programmes.

Stuart Gold, CEO of Trashy Bags is at a crossroads with respect to the future of his business. With deficits estimated at about GHS 120,000 annually, Gold is considering switching from the made-to-stock production model to a made-to-order model. Although the latter may tap into an available market and thus boost revenue, it would likely result in the displacement of the social enterprise’s loyal following and disenfranchisement of its employees’ creativity; not to mention the possibility of neglecting its mandate of repurposing plastic waste. Gold wonders if there is a case for maintaining the current made-to-stock model by driving up sales and reducing costs to eliminate the deficit.

Students should be able to: appreciate the exigencies of managing social enterprises in a largely profit-oriented economic domain; understand the interplay of choice and trade-offs in business management and apply theory-driven frameworks in making optimal choices and analytically assess instances of tension between the art (e.g. passion, emotional stakes, psychological and other influences on business management philosophies) and science (e.g. the need for business skills, use of effective models and the quest for production efficiency) of business management.

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CSS 3: Entrepreneurship.