Search results

Upon completion of this study, students will be able to define, explain and describe sustainability and its application in the business context; learn and demonstrate their understanding of current practices, processes and operations in companies that are aligned to business sustainability by identifying such in the case study to enable them to provide relevant examples; discuss and describe sustainable operations and practices across different industries; identify sustainable themes in manufacturing sectors and other related industries; and identify sustainable strategies for production and manufacturing processes.

This case study focused on Gunung Raja Paksi (GRP), a steel manufacturing company in Indonesia, with a portfolio in steel trading, cement plants and carbon markets. The case study covered the COVID-19 crisis period, especially the year 2020, which disrupted the normal operations of businesses and subjected the community to economic challenges. The emergence of GRP’s prominence in sustainable business attributed to the initiatives advanced by Kimin Tanoto, the chief executive officer (CEO) and chairperson of the Indonesia Iron and Steel Association (IISIA). Kimin Tanoto assumed leadership of GRP, a family-owned business, in 2018, despite being the second son. At the time of Kimin’s induction into the board of commissioners, two main challenges – the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic, which disrupted the supply chains, and the company culture that resisted sustainable business approaches – acted as detriments to profit-making. Sustainable efforts, however, contributed to noticeable success during and after the COVID-19 crisis.

The case is suitable for instructions in undergraduate courses in Bachelor of Engineering (BEng) in Sustainable Resources, Engineering and Management, Bachelor in Sustainable Environmental Management, Bachelor of Culture and Arts in Smart and Sustainable Design, Bachelor in Sustainable Solutions and Bachelor of Science (BSc) in Sustainable Use of Natural Resources, and other instructions on sustainable practices.

Teaching notes are available for educators only.

CSS 3: Entrepreneurship.

This public-sourced case describes the latest restructuring efforts by Deutsche Bank (DB) and gives a short history of prior restructuring efforts from the decade before. In July 2019, Christian Sewing, the new CEO of DB, announced a series of measures that included, among others, the elimination of global equity trading, the layoff of 18,000 employees, the creation of a “bad bank” to transfer noncore assets, and the suspension of dividends until 2022. The case describes key decisions a bank CEO makes when a bank needs to change course to return to profitability and growth. The case offers an opportunity to debate these key decisions, as well as discuss some of the prior ones during earlier restructuring efforts, and put the students in the CEO's shoes: What would you do and why? The case also describes key banking performance metrics (e.g., ROE, ROA) and other critical variables such as those reflecting capital health (Tier 1 ratio), as well as gives an overview of the bank business model and factors impacting bank profitability and value.

This case requires students to evaluate alternative dual-share-class corporate structures that allow companies and entrepreneurs to pursue profit with purpose. The case explores Impact Makers, an IT consulting company based in Richmond, Virginia. While original founders of the firm hold all voting rights, the cash flow rights belong to two nonprofits setting the stage for a Newman's Own model of management consulting. The case discusses whether and how the alternative corporate structure aids the firm's overall strategy to attract top-quality employees, pay them competitive salaries, and provide superior service to its clients while donating 100% of its lifetime value to charitable causes, largely through partnerships with various nonprofit organizations. More importantly, the case asks students to evaluate how such a dual-share-class and dual-purpose company can raise capital to fund continued growth.

The case opens with CEO Michael Pirron reminding himself of all the questions he had run through to execute a strategy to further grow Impact Makers' consulting business both through expanding a menu of services and through conquering new geographical markets. To do either, or both, the company needed a cash infusion. Internal cash was limited, as up to 40% of it flowed to charitable partners, demonstrating Impact Makers' commitment to its mission. Raising debt for a company without fixed assets was challenging and time consuming. Complicating it all was that being structured as a nonstock corporation rendered equity raising difficult. Could Impact Makers raise money to grow and stay true to community values at the same time?

The case describes a hypothetical hedge fund manager who is examining whether to invest in bitcoin. The case discusses potential risks and rewards of investing in bitcoin, the role of bitcoin and digital currencies more broadly, and financial innovation in the space, such as ICOs. It can be taught as part of a second-year MBA elective course in investments, financial institutions/capital markets, or fintech.

After completion of the case study, students will be able to describe the crisis types and the various phases in mapping a crisis and outline appropriate actions during each phase; identify stakeholders in the context of change management initiatives and map them through their power, influence and interest needs; identify the needs and resistance present in change management initiatives through the systems-thinking perspective; recognize the leadership competencies for an effective crisis management approach; and identify the way to conduct challenging conversations with important stakeholders whose support and influence are required.

Stella Fernandez, the vice president of human resources management in a family-managed business organization, was disturbed by the media reports on rising number of cases of COVID-19 infection in India during the first week of March 2020. She thought that a continued rise in the number of infection cases could affect the business continuity as well as the safety of the employees. In her opinion, a faster introduction of a work-from-home policy could help to reduce the impact of the potential crisis. Fernandez understood that without the senior management team’s consent, she could not drive the information technology team to implement the work-from-home measure. However, she felt that there could be challenges in convincing the senior management team, who did not treat this outbreak to be of grave importance. Anticipating the unfavourable reaction, Fernandez planned her approach carefully by identifying and convincing influential members to support this change management initiative; nevertheless, to her dismay, her meticulous plan failed to convince the powerful members of the team, who continued to resist the change proposed by her. Disappointed and surprised by their reaction, Fernandez wondered what she could have done to make the senior management team to accept her proposal.

This case study is designed for use in undergraduate- or graduate-level programmes.

Teaching notes are available for educators only.

CSS 6: Human resource management.

After completion of this case study, students will be able to describe the funding path for start-ups, including the amounts and profiles of the usual investors or sources of funds, according to the moment in their life cycle and the characteristics of the initiative; highlight the challenges faced by start-up founders in weak entrepreneurial ecosystems and risky institutional environments; and argue in favor of or against different modes and typical instruments of venture capital (VC) investments in the early stages of new businesses, each of them different regarding dilutions, valuation potential, depth of negotiations and term sheets.

Asistensi, a technology and telemedicine start-up founded in 2020 in Venezuela by three entrepreneurs (Andrés Simón González-Silén, Luis Enrique Velásquez and Armando Baquero), raised US$3m in less than a year in a seed round in which it attracted the attention of professional VC funds such as Mountain Nazca, Alma Mundi Ventures and 468 Capital. Everything was set for launching operations in Mexico and the Dominican Republic in April 2021. However, a series of difficulties led to higher expenditure than planned, prompting the entrepreneurs to seek additional capital. The decision on the financial instrument to be associated with the potential valuation and shareholder dilution figures has been posed as a dilemma.

The case study focuses on understanding the start-up financing process. It can be used effectively in management- and finance-related subjects for graduate students taking introductory topics in entrepreneurship and entrepreneurial finance, as well as introductory executive education courses in entrepreneurship, entrepreneurial finance and VC.

Teaching notes are available for educators only.

CSS3: Entrepreneurship

T Education is a leading educational science and technology enterprise in China with technology-driven, talent intimacy and quality leadership as the core development objectives. Since its inception, it has been committed to creating better learning experience for children. As the predecessor of T-education, X-education was founded in Beijing in 2003. At first, it mainly provided after-school math counseling for school-age children. Over the past 10 years, its business has been expanding, covering almost every aspect of school-age education. This case studies accounting issues and business ethics challenges that firms may face when they transform from a single (traditional education) line of business to a multiple channel business.

On completion of the case study, students will understand the following learning objectives: the characteristics of quantitative easing (QE) and when it may be appropriate to implement QE; how QE differs from a conventional bond purchasing programme; the impact of direct financing of the fiscus by the central bank on its independence; how the macro-economic and political environments affect and influence national economic policy; the difference between traditional and unconventional monetary policies and potential implications for an economy like South Africa. The learnings from this case study can be used in other global economic environments, particularly in emerging markets. This case study provides valuable insights into decision-making, institutional independence, policy coordination, deficit financing, causes and consequences of price inflation, risks relating to monetary instability and the correct application of monetary policy.

After the announcement of the COVID-19-related lockdown in March 2020 and the subsequent slow-down of economic activity in South Africa, the South African Reserve Bank (SARB) had to consider appropriate macro-economic tools to ensure both price and financial stability in South Africa. The macro-economic policy tools had to be considered in light of the South African economic context, which included acknowledgement of South Africa’s debt crisis and slow economic growth. The central bank responded by introducing the following measures: reducing interest rates to a record low of 3.5% to give consumers financial relief and to promote spending in the economy; purchasing government bonds in the secondary markets to stabilise financial markets; facilitating the loan guarantee scheme that was aimed at providing financial relief to small- and medium-sized enterprises; relaxing the capital and liquidity adequacy requirements that commercial banks are required to meet; and ensuring availability of liquidity to banks through facilities such as the weekly repo auctions. However, despite introducing these interventions, the SARB faced calls from politicians, analysts and academics to do more. Various commentators argued that the SARB could introduce QE and directly finance government spending by purchasing government bonds. Some commentators argued that the reluctance of the SARB to pursue these suggestions was a result of the close alignment and relationship between the SARB and National Treasury. The dilemma faced by Governor Lesetja Kganyago of the SARB was threefold, namely, whether it was appropriate for the central bank to pursue the initiatives and, if so, whether the bank could pursue them without compromising its independence, and if the introduction of those initiatives would not adversely affect the ability of the central bank to fulfil its mandate of price stability and financial stability. In this regard, the governor and his executive team were required to consider the long-term implications of introducing the initiatives on consumer price inflation, independence of the SARB and the appropriate use of monetary policy tools to fulfil the central bank’s mandate. But the question was: What policies should the governor favour?

This case study is based on various macro-economic theories. Therefore, it would be useful to teach this case study in macro-economic courses in the following programmes: master’s in business administration, bachelor of commerce, bachelor of economic sciences and business science studies, as well as on executive education programmes, which consider macro-economic policy. In general, students who undertake economics, business and general management, finance, legal, commerce and banking studies could learn from this case study.

Teaching notes are available for educators only.

CSS 3: Entrepreneurship.

On May 27, 2020, a blowout occurred in Well No. 5 at Baghjan (Assam); the well, owned by Oil India Ltd., caught fire on June 9, 2020. For almost five and a half months, the company tried to douse the 200-foot high flame but failed to do so. Finally, on Day 173, Oil India Ltd succeeded in capping the well. Biswajit Roy, Director (Human Resources and Business Development), was tasked with investigating the nature and cause of the crisis. Roy pondered on the nature of the crisis: Had it been purely technical or stakeholder-induced? What had led to the chaotic condition? Could things have been done differently?

After completion of the case study, students will be able to critically appraise the strategic growth opportunities of an “eating out” industry brand; evaluate the role of customer relationship and retention management in sustaining a brand; and analyse the importance of developing core competencies for long-term business viability.

Since its inception in 2017, Urban Chowk was one of the pioneer places that successfully managed to create a hospitality format called “food and lifestyle park” which combined multiple food brands with good ambience and entertainment, all under the same roof. Although Urban Chowk was one of the popular brands in the given format, its USP was not difficult to challenge or copy. The owner, Mr Kartikey Rajput, anticipated a deluge of similar establishments in the near future. Urban Chowk led the pack in terms of footfalls compared to similar establishments, with Rajput looking to expand his brand beyond Ahmedabad. The case took 2022 as the timeline and brought forth the challenge that Urban Chowk faced. The primary challenge was retaining the existing customer base along with adding newer ones. Second, with the industry being extremely dynamic, it was important to determine how marketing analytics could be used to collect customer data and convert them into repeat customers, thus building a loyal customer base.

This case is applicable for teaching at undergraduate and graduate levels for understanding the concepts of brand development and strategic growth as well as creating and maintaining customer relationships, also helping the students in assimilating these concepts as a part of brand building.

Teaching notes are available for educators only.

CSS 11: Strategy.