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The central lesson to be learned from studying the case is to understand the challenges and constraints posed by contextual conditions in designing contracts in public–private partnerships (PPP) for financing and delivering health care in emerging economies such as India.

Perverse incentives, along with contextual conditions, led to extensive opportunistic behaviors among involved agencies, limiting the effectiveness of otherwise highly regarded innovative design of the program.

India’s “Rashtriya Swasthya Bima Yojana” or National Health Insurance Program, launched in 2007 provided free health insurance coverage to protect millions of low-income families from getting pushed into poverty due to catastrophic health-care expenditure. The program was implemented through a PPP using standardized contracts between multiple stakeholders from the public and private sector – insurance companies, hospitals, intermediaries, the provincial and federal government.

Teaching Notes are available for educators only.

CSS: 10 Public Sector Management.

Project Management, Entrepreneurship, Risk Management, Communication.

Study level: MBA and Executive Education.

Applicability: This case can be taught in the project management course. It will cover the project-planning phase, which is an iterative or progressive elaboration for the entire project lifecycle. The case will help in discussing how project management is an important discipline to manage projects and stakeholders effectively.

The case depicts the dilemma of a passionate entrepreneur who is setting up an ambitious dairy business but project execution goes awry. The case discusses the challenges related to project planning and execution.

It captures the essence of proactive risk management, measures that can mitigate risks and create opportunities. The case also discusses the entire project lifecycle from project initiation to closure and the challenges a manager has to face in terms of stakeholder engagement, risk management, stakeholder communication and scope change.

To understand the alignment of the project with the organisation strategy; to learn to create a project plan and monitor and control the scope, schedule, resources and costs; to accurately estimate project costs, timelines, and quality and schedule, using tools like MS Project; to learn the risk management techniques for managing projects, teams and stakeholders; and to manage stakeholder communication effectively.

Teaching notes are available for educators only.

CSS 2: Built Environment.

The case is about an Indian company hedging soya oil price risk in the US futures market instead of in the Indian market to take advantage of better liquidity and wider choice of hedging instruments there. A stable long run relationship (cointegration) between the two markets appeared to make the cross border hedge viable, but hedge accounting considerations appeared to stand in the way.

A toy retailer plans to order a new product from an untested supplier for the winter holiday season. This exercise provides an opportunity for students to construct a model to determine optimal order quantity when demand is not known. Profits are calculated based on wholesale pricing, revenue-sharing, profit-sharing, and buyback contracts.

Delee founders aimed to change the way cancer radically was detected, monitored, and treated. They created CytoCatch™, a highly sensitive automated benchtop device for the rapid isolation and analysis of circulating tumor cells from blood samples to make this possible. Strategic alliances with Stanford University, Tecnologico de Monterrey, and UANL strengthened this innovative company’s purpose. Nevertheless, some questions arose when selecting a suitable business strategy to accomplish Delee’s vision. Liza Velarde, Delee’s CEO, was preparing the agenda for the company’s 2025 planning in November 2020. The journey has been challenging, and Liza Velarde faced critical decision-making milestones. What could be the most promising customer segment for her technology? What business model may work better for such a market? How can Delee reduce the time-to-market for their technology? Furthermore, how can Delee fund their development for the following years until FDA approves?

With the application of this case, the teacher aspires that students understand the following crucial insights: to understand the impact of a business model strategy, identify different possible business models, and explore options; in this sense, intellectual property can offer options to the strategy; to identify and analyze the gender gap in entrepreneurship and its strategic implications; and to identify the relevance of reducing the time to market for a technological product.

Gender inclusiveness in entrepreneurship.

Undergraduate and graduate-level.

Teaching notes are available for educators only.

CCS 3: Entrepreneurship.

After completion of the case study, the students will be able to understand the different risks associated with a business, focusing on price risk and the importance of price risk management in business; understand and evaluate the products available for hedging price risk through exchange-traded derivatives in the Indian scenario; and understand and evaluate the different strategies for price risk management through exchange-traded derivatives in the Indian scenario.

The case study pertains to a small business, M/s Sethi Jewellers. The enterprise is being run by Shri Charan Jeet Sethi and his son Tejinder Sethi. The business is located in Jain Bazar, Jammu, UT, in Northern India. The business was started in 1972 by Charan Jeet’s father. They deal in a wide range of jewelry products and are well-established jewelers known for selling quality ornaments. Tejinder (MBA in marketing) was instrumental in revamping his business recently. Under his leadership, the business has experienced rapid transformation. The business has grown from a one-room shop fully managed by Tejinder’s grandfather to a multistory showroom with several artisans, sales staff and security persons. Through his e-store, Tejinder has a bulk order from a client where the client requires him to accept the order with a small token at the current price and deliver the final product three months from now. Tejinder is in a dilemma about accepting or rejecting the large order. Second, if he accepts, should he buy the entire gold now or wait to buy it later at a lower price? He is also considering hedging the price risk through exchange-traded derivatives. However, he is not entirely sure, as he has a few apprehensions regarding the same, and he is also not fully aware of the process and the instruments he has to use for hedging the price risk on the exchange.

The case study is aimed to cater to undergraduate, postgraduate and MBA students in the field of finance. This case study can be used for students interested in commodity derivatives, risk management and market microstructure.

Teaching notes are available for educators only.

CSS 1: Accounting and finance.

The main pedagogical objectives of the case are: illustrate how Latin American companies dedicated to the production and harvesting of commodities can be vertically integrated to gain a larger share of the value created throughout the production chain. Understand how futures and options contracts in commodities can be used to hedge price risk on long and short positions in the underlying products. Understand how option contracts add value by hedging risk in those contexts where the counterparty has optionality. Discuss the implications of Fair Trade for commodity traders and producers.

In the case, Hernan Arosamena, CFO of The Specialty Coffee Trading Co. (TSCT), faces the challenge of designing an effective strategy to hedge the price risk caused by the increasing demand of the so-called Fair Trade coffee. Hernan Arosamena decides to review how the company has typically managed the price risk in its business transactions using future contracts to then incorporate the additional elements that trading Fair Trade coffee may entail. The typical price risk hedging strategy involves the use of coffee future contracts in long and short positions to ensure that the company obtains the desired margin in its coffee trading negotiations. To hedge the exposure to the risk of fluctuations in the price of coffee when the company sells Fair Trade coffee requires the additional use of put options.

The case is appropriate for students enrolled in courses or specialization programs at both the undergraduate and graduate levels.

Teaching notes are available for educators only.

CSS 5: International Business.

The case is based on a real supply chain outsourcing management decision at a major manufacturing company. The company has been disguised for confidentiality reasons. The case discusses different types of outsourcing, supply chain management, the benefits and risks of outsourcing, and various pricing models for outsourcing contracts. Students must make a management decision and answer these questions: Is supply chain outsourcing a viable option for DB Toys? What will the return on investment be? What is the best outsourcing model? What is the best pricing model?

Students learn the different types of outsourcing, supply chain management, the benefits and risks of outsourcing, and various pricing models for outsourcing contracts. Students also learn how to calculate the return on investment of supply chain outsourcing. Most important, the case enables students to understand the strategic context of outsourcing, and to decide which outsourcing model and pricing is appropriate.

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 examines the exchange rate risk of a U.S.-based manufacturer of women's luxury shoes that has recently introduced its product in Japan. Students are asked to evaluate the extent of the firm's exposure to currency risk and whether hedging via forward contract or currency option is advisable.