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In mid-1992, Christine Olsen, the chief financial officer (CFO) of this large CAD/CAM equipment manufacturer, must decide on the magnitude of the firm's dividend payout. A subsidiary question is whether the firm should embark on a campaign of corporate-image advertising and change its corporate name to reflect its new outlook. The case serves as an omnibus review of the many practical aspects of the dividend decision, including (1) signaling effects, (2) clientele effects, and (3) finance and investment implications of increasing dividend payout.

The case study “PVR Limited at a Crossroads” has been designed with the requirements of strategic management. The learning objectives are as follows:

• Situational analysis – understand the global and Indian media and entertainment industry PESTEL.

• Strategic planning – internal and external environmental analysis – strength, weakness, opportunities and threats (SWOT) analysis helps in achieving the strategic plan.

• Strategy development – to accomplish the turnaround plan, various alternatives are developed; choosing from the possible alternatives is a part of strategic planning.

PVR Limited (PVR) is the largest premium film exhibition company in India. In their annual report for 2019–2020, Chief Executive Officer Gautam Dutta acknowledged, “It was the first time in our more than two-decade history that we witnessed over 100 million patrons entering our premises in a year”. However, with the onset of Covid-19 pandemic in January 2020, things changed for the entertainment industry in India. There were fears of an eminent third wave and the detection of a new Covid-19 variant, Omicron, added to these fears. Being a major player in the game, PVR felt the impact. And even when the business started to reopen, social distancing remained a concern and ticket sales were impacted. Over-the-top viewership rose dramatically at the cost of the multiplex. The lockdown halted film productions worldwide, leading to a shortage of content. Other revenue streams, such as food and beverage, convenience fees and advertising, also came to a halt. Given the circumstances, Dutta was facing the twin dilemma of how to bring customers back to cinema in a post-pandemic world without in any way compromising the security of its patrons and keeping costs under control while investing in social distancing, safety measures and entertainment infrastructure to enhance the cinematic experience.

This case was written for use in Strategic Management classes at the undergraduate and MBA levels. It can be used in both management studies and executive development programs. It is suitable for courses on strategic management and strategic planning focusing on a turnaround strategy. Additionally, the case could be used in consumer behaviour courses in management as the focus of the case is well aligned with discussions related to change in consumer behaviour.

Teaching notes are available for educators only.

CSS 11: Strategy.

Kaleidofin was co-founded in 2017 by Puneet Gupta and Sucharita Mukherjee; former CFO and CEO of IFMR (Institute for Financial Management and Research) Holdings Pvt Ltd. As part of their roles at IFMR, Gupta and Mukherjee focused on designing products and developing technology to push for financial inclusion. In their field interactions, the co-founders had an epiphany of the challenges faced by people while trying to save towards important life goals. They saw an opportunity in the large segment of financially under-served people in India and quit their jobs to start Kaleidofin. Kaleidofin was conceptualised as a digital platform that offers customised financial solutions to help customers meet their life goals. The start-up partnered with mutual fund companies for solutions on one hand and network partners (NGOs, microfinance organizations, cooperative banks) on the other for access to their existing customers.

Kaleidofin grew from 50 customers in January 2018 to 15,000 customers by March 2019. Aiming to grow to 1 million customers in the next 30 months Kaleidofin faces a dilemma about its future course. The start-up could continue to grow by expanding its current target segment which is the low-income households and preserve its vision at the risk of increasing costs. The second option would be to look at other potential target segments, such as, middle-income households and risk diluting their vision. The case study highlights the unique customer-centric model of Kaleidofin and the need for start-ups to understand the value proposition of their products/services.

The application of activity based costing (ABC); calculating the cost of a CNC Process using ABC; designing a pricing strategy.

The case can be used in the following courses: MBA program with specialisation in finance (to teach students the application of costing in services sector); MBA program in general management (to highlight the concept of activity based costing and its application); and under an elective course on management control systems in MBA programs (to highlight the strategy to determine price effectively).

The case highlights the application of activity based costing in arriving at cost and finally leading to development of price to be charged by KK Metals. The company wishes to compute the activity based cost of CNC process and develop the selling price for 194 precision turning services scientifically as opposed to the present strategy of being a price taker, largely on the basis of what essentially is prevalent in the local market within which KK Metals operates. The case gives an insight to numerous control variables that the management can consider while pricing its services.

The case can be used to understand management concepts such as ABC, pricing and the role of efficiency in business processes. It can be used to: teach complexities involved in identifying activity driver(s) in case of ABC as far as application to service sector is concerned; help understand the use of costing as an effective tool in pricing strategy of the company; and help students realize the significance of inputs used for calculating per hour cost.

Teaching notes are available. Consult your librarian for access.

The case presents a $1+billion technology company seeking new growth through the introduction of a radically new product platform. During its first ten years, PTC Corporation grew faster than Microsoft did during the similar period of its evolution. By the late 1990s PTC was faced with intensified competition and saturation in its core markets. To maintain growth, the company introduced a completely new product platform. While PTC focused on developing and selling the product, it failed to recognize that this new product was so different from its traditional offerings that it required a new organizational structure, sales capabilities, support processes, and market strategy. The case traces the company's evolution from development and launch of Windchill through the four-year period post-launch, during which its founding CEO was forced out and the company transformed. Ultimately, Windchill became a top seller for PTC, but not until after significant internal change.

The PTC case illustrates what it means to build a new business within the context of an existing, successful firm. It can also be used to explore what it takes to accomplish a successful new product launch for a substantially new product platform. Sales and channel strategy also figures prominently in the case.

The purpose of this paper is to illustrate how a well-performing company can turn into a loss-making company on account of adverse industry cycle and poor management of risks in the business. The importance of factors like optimal level of leveraging, the ability of the management to deal with external and internal risks, and importance of corporate governance in the process of credit appraisal is understood from this case.

The case relates to the credit appraisal by the banks of a prominent steel company in India. The company, Bhushan Steel Limited, was doing very well. The banks lent aggressively to the company, based on their credit appraisal. However, the company soon turned insolvent on account of poor assessment of risks and deteriorating external factors. While this case may be analysed and studied through the eyes of both the Management and the lenders, the focus is currently on the latter. In a real-world scenario, the challenge for the lender is to sieve through the financial as well as non-financial data and make a valid conclusion on the level of credit worthiness of the borrowing company. This includes the topics of operational efficiency and synergies, commodity price cycles, external credit ratings, operating and financial leverage, regulatory risks and corporate governance.

Post graduate business management programmes – Finance specialisation.

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

CSS 1: Accounting and Finance

This case serves as an introduction to the concept of economic value added (EVA). The student is placed in the position of Valmont's CFO to decide whether EVA can live up to its promise to motivate managers to act like shareholders and ultimately lead them to make value-enhancing decisions that can reverse Valmont's weak earnings and lackluster stock-price performance. The case works best if students are acquainted with the concepts of cost of capital and net present value. The teaching note that is available for registered faculty explains how to incorporate the accompanying six-minute video supplement.

This case describes how eight entrepreneurs discover different opportunities for new businesses to exploit a single technological invention. The case focuses on the process of entrepreneurial discovery and its implications for the creation of new firms. Many of the teaching materials on entrepreneurship assume that entrepreneurs have already discovered an opportunity. While these materials provide useful information about the process of creating new enterprises, they miss the crucial first step in the entrepreneurial process: identifying an opportunity. The case illustrates the theoretical concept of the role of information in the discovery of entrepreneurial opportunities. It can be used in a class on entrepreneurship or management of technology.

On the evening of December 29, 1972, Eastern Air 401 (EA401) was on a routine flight from New York to Miami. Despite EA401 flying one of the most advanced aircraft at the time (the Lockheed L-1011), it crashed in the Florida Everglades killing 101 of its 176 passengers. Drawing from various first-hand accounts (cockpit voice recorder) and secondary evidence (news reports and online sources) of the tragedy, this teaching case provides a detailed account of the key events that took place leading up to the accident. The case describes how the pilots on EA401 were confronted with a simple scenario, a landing gear bulb not working in the cockpit, and through the distraction that ensued made a series of errors. Through many of the quotes in the text, readers gain an understanding of the impressions and perceptions of the pilots, including how they felt about many of the critical decisions and incidents during the last minutes of the flight. The case concludes by highlighting the main findings of the NTSB report.

Depending on individual course objectives, this case can take two or one day to debrief. Specifically, if this case is used in an organizational behavior course, most of the case questions could be discussed in one day. However, if this case is used in a capstone HRM or group dynamics type course on teams and team training and performance, a second day could be used to develop documentation outlining training design or performance evaluation designs.

The learning outcomes of this study are to estimate the complexities associated with the management of a novel business idea in the context of emerging markets; to demonstrate an understanding of entrepreneurial action and strategic adaptation under various challenges of the business world; to apply the principles of design thinking and innovation to analyze the sustainability of a social enterprise; and to evaluate the pros and cons of different strategic options and provide viable recommendations for future development.

Many riverine communities in Nigeria battled water hyacinth spread for decades, until Achenyo Idachaba-Obaro contributed her time, creativity and innovation to resolve the issue. She sacrificed her successful computer science career in the USA to launch her social enterprise, MitiMeth. The startup aimed to resolve the unaddressed environmental problems of her home country and to provide a decent living to the vulnerable community of indigenous artisans. This case study discusses Idachaba-Obaro’s efforts in researching the alternative usages of the water hyacinth weed under the condition of a limited availability of resources. Considering Nigeria’s creative arts culture and dismal socioeconomic conditions, she chose to weave the weed into handmade artifacts by educating herself and training local artisans to manufacture and sell handicrafts in the market. To receive financial support and attract environmentally conscious customers, Idachaba-Obaro had to participate in funding competitions, regularly attend exhibitions and partner with private entities, nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) and government authorities. This case study further elaborates on multiple hindrances associated with female entrepreneurial activities in a conservative Nigerian society characterized by marginalization, social stigma and gender-based stereotypes. Despite many challenges ensuing from a limited market access in rural areas, high unemployment rates and low levels of disposable incomes in the country, MitiMeth ambitioned to maintain its culture of creativity and innovation. The team regularly studied materials used and conducted brainstorming sessions with artisans to launch new items, improve existing products and incorporate needed alterations based on customer feedback and special demands. MitiMeth made its notable contribution toward the achievement of several sustainable development goals, while striving to continuously increase remittances to working artisans. Recently, the company was challenged by the vertiginous technological advancements of the digital era, as many businesses around the globe used machines to upscale their operations. Idachaba-Obaro pondered whether she should use technology in product manufacturing processes or focus on her commitment to provide a livelihood to local artisans and preserve the authentic look-and-feel of handmade crafts.

This case study is for an upper-level undergraduate audience.

Teaching notes are available for educators only.

CCS 3: Entrepreneurship.