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The case is related to strategy of innovation, strategic marketing and brand valuation.

The case consolidates techniques and methodologies of businesses that demonstrate use of technology and innovation to attain competitive edge. It is appropriate for Master's, executive level programme and advance specialized courses of strategy and entrepreneurship. Introductory classes on basics of strategy and information technology will be value add for students.

In the growing digital era of virtualization, the businesses are depended on technology to facilitate their multiple operations. Virtual events of conference and exhibition provide broad opportunity to connect and collaborate in real time across the globe. The case discussion applies to potential use of virtual platform as a collaborative tool to achieve business objectives. This case highlights the strategic decision making by an IT company – VSL, regarding product migration and services diversification. It focuses on considering the appropriate strategy of innovation and to make the right decisions. Strategy of innovation and marketing techniques applied by VSL management to sustain in the competitive environment describes the essence of the case. The case is written with the objective to enhance user conceptual understanding through VSL brand valuation and international strategic alliance with 6Connex.

The case familiarises the students with the complexities and challenges involved in a real business environment and put emphasises on the role of played by management for effective decision making. The case helps students to comprehend the relevance of innovation to achieve competitive edge. The case provides an opportunity of exposure to students so that they can understand the key elements of efficient marketing, strategy of innovation and brand valuation. (Elaborate teaching objectives are appended in the teaching note.)

Teaching notes.

The learning outcomes of this case study are to understand the business-to-business (B2B) consumer outlook on mental health care in emerging markets; analyse the challenges faced in creating a need for mental health care in Indian workplaces; explore the business attractiveness of the B2B model and understand the business potential of the B2B segment at heyy,; and contemplate different innovative strategies that could change consumer mindset on mental health care in emerging markets.

Ankit, the founder and CEO of heyy, was facing a conundrum. “heyy,” was built on normalizing mental well-being at workplaces. His mental health-care app heyy, had crossed 50,000 subscribers within a few months of launch. The mobile app was designed to spread mental health awareness and provide various levels of mental well-being interventions. Business-to-consumer and B2B customer segmentation had been targeted by this start-up. The B2B space consisted of employees working with partner organizations. The adoption rates of employees using the features of heyy, declined after the initial app download. The employees had yet to fully become acclimatized to the features of heyy,. Exploring the business potential and investigating the business attractiveness of the B2B segment were the focus of the present study. Ankit contemplated various strategies he could adopt to increase user adoption of “heyy,” services by employees in his partner organizations. The case study strives to address the question – “What are the risks faced by organizations when entering the mental health-care industry in emerging markets like India, where mental health care is still not openly discussed?”

This case study is designed to be taught as part of the “entrepreneurship development” and “strategic management” courses for undergraduates, postgraduates and students of executive programmes in management. Students need to be aware of basic strategic management concepts such as BCG matrix, SWOT analysis and business canvas before working on this case study, so they could dissect the case from multiple perspectives to get a comprehensive outlook on the case.

Teaching notes are available for educators only.

CSS 11: Strategy.

Services Marketing: People Technology Strategy (Eighth Edition) By Pearson, Authored by Wirtz Jochen, Lovelock Christopher, Chatterjee Jayanta, 2017; Service-Marketing: Text and Cases (Second Edition) By Pearson, Authored by Harsh Verma, 2011.

Students will gain an understanding of business models, which has a positive impact on the environment.

This case study intends to help learners understand the concept of segmentation, targeting and positioning (STP) in the case of services. The idea of services is different from that of a product as in services; intangible elements dominate the value creation. By exploring the practical scenarios faced by the protagonist, in this case, readers would enhance their problem-solving abilities in similar situations.

Prerna is the founder of Ecoplore, an aggregator cum booking platform for eco-hotels. It onboards hotels only if they are made up of vernacular architecture and maintains at least 33% of greenery on its premises. Listed properties also harvested rainwater, used renewable source of energy, used sustainable options instead of single use plastic, composted organic waste. Most of these properties grow vegetables, fruits and herbs, and the visitors enjoy homemade organic meals. Ecoplore is the only aggregator platform to visit and verify these eco-hotels directly. Ecoplore is an early-stage startup; all customer queries were handled by Prerna, on-call or through a chat box. It included interacting with prospective clients, understanding their requirements, suggesting the most suited options and booking the eco-hotels. Prerna had to spend most of the time interacting with clients. Over time, she comprehended that only a few prospective clients became Ecoplore’s customers, and the conversion rate was low of owing to various reasons like ticket size, clients' age and psychology.

For students: This case is aptly designed for marketing students pursuing Bachelor’s in Business Administration and Master of Business Administration courses to understand and apply STP theory and service marketing concepts.

CCS 3: Entrepreneurship.

Entrepreneurship, innovation, marketing and strategy.

Master's, postgraduate and executive level programs.

Deepak Ravindran, an engineering student at LBS College, Kerala, India, was attempting to launch Innoz. The company flagship product SMSGyan will allow users to access information on low-end mobile devices with no Internet connectivity. With the improvement in the Internet standards and rapidly growing smartphone users, selling SMSGyan never came easy to Innoz. The case explores challenges faced during the transformation of a start-up into a profit-generating business. The case describes the dilemma faced by Deepak Ravindran and key role players of Innoz to sustain in business in the scenario of dynamic technologies. Should they re-innovate the technology that was limited for low-end mobile users? Innoz being at the bottom of the pyramid innovation is the key competitive advantage. Low-cost or niche market or differentiation connects this case to the basic business strategy concepts. Through this case, students learn about many practical issues related to technology development in the global competitive environment. They are also exposed to broader trends and facets of start-ups and globalization. The Innoz case is designed to stimulate discussion of broad array of issues encountered by the early start-ups. In particular, it deals with introducing innovation and entrepreneurship skills leading to social change.

To identify new business opportunities for non-Internet mobile users. To explore various possibilities of application services for low-end mobile users. Evaluate the advantages and liabilities of expanding globally at a very early start-up stage. The case focuses on Innoz's early development with only concept in hand and transforming it into a profit-generating business. To develop and give exposure to entrepreneurship skill set in students. To understand learning and strategies behind setting up of start-ups and the motivating self-driven skills. Discussion on innovative use of technology as a stream of business. Silicon valley culture adaptation into Indian context. To highlight use of mobile technology for teaching and learning. To showcase how entrepreneur skill in business can lead to social transformation.

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

A 2010 MBA graduate explored her options for full-time employment. She found Ethical Business Company (EBC) and was instantly intrigued. Not only did the company consult on many of the ethical issues that were important to her, but it also had a flat organizational structure. Although it was a riskier choice than going with a larger and more established firm, she was excited about being able to use her skills in direct interaction with clients and senior executives, rather than having them hidden beneath multiple layers of hierarchy. But after three weeks at EBC, she wonders if a flat structure is right for all companies and all employees or if there are certain companies and people who fit better in the hierarchy more than others.

Marketing Management, Marketing Strategy and Marketing Communication.

The case is targeted at students of post-graduation and under-graduation programs in Business Administration, specializing in Marketing Management or Marketing Strategy.

Mukesh Ambani’s announcement about the launching of Reliance Jio at the 41st Annual General Meeting (AGM) of Reliance Industries Limited (RIL) in June 2015 sent shock waves in the telecom industry. Everyone, including the customers, competitors and the entire telecom industry, was excited to know whether Reliance Jio would be able to make a dent or fizzle out like a weak firecracker. Was it time for the top players to be worried and pull their socks up or will it be an inconsequential ripple in the ocean? Mukesh Ambani saw the telecom sector from a new viewpoint and proposed a complete set of solution in the form of Reliance Jio SIM card that addressed the different needs of customers through various applications. This has spread rumors of a merger between Idea and Vodafone in India, which can have a huge impact on Reliance Jio and the telecom sector in general. The profitability indicator that was earlier determined as the average revenue per user (ARPU) will continue to dominate. The companies will be scrambling to find different ways to increase the ARPU to maximize the returns. This would also lead to a downsize in the cost in such a way that their operations do not suffer and profitability is also not negatively affected.

To better understand the entry strategy of firms in highly volatile business situations. To know about the competitors and their contribution to the operational and strategic changes of a new entrant. To understand the proceedings associated with marketing communication for establishing a product in a highly competitive market. To know about the impact of joining hands with the competitors on a new entrant.

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 8: Marketing.

In March 2017, Oded Golan sat in his technology startup's conference room with his co-founder, pondering the fate of their company, Start A Fire. In just four years, the two entrepreneurs had taken an idea that started in Golan's apartment in Tel Aviv and turned it into a company that had raised $3.5 million in venture capital funding and served more than 3,000 of the world's biggest brands using an innovative content distribution and social media management platform that enabled brands to improve communication and engagement with their followers

The case on Moodcafe captures the journey of the start-up and its entrepreneurs from the beginning till the fund-raising stage. The case brings forth critical decisions that each entrepreneur or the team of co-founders have to address during their start-up journey. This short case gives opportunity to delve into two aspects mainly a) As a founder, which investor should one choose for seeking funds and what should be the terms and conditions of investment? and b) How can one review and assess the business model of a start-up?