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This case describes the events following an incident of a rape in a taxi associated with Uber, by its driver. Uber was an application based taxi operator. The events raised several issues for government systems and processes, such as need for regulation of new formats of business like application based taxi services, integrated databases, checks against forgery and holistic approach towards women safety. The case also brings out how an e-commerce business raises regulatory concerns.

After studying and analyzing this case, students will be able to evaluate the strategic alternatives for growth for a small entrepreneurial business in an emerging market, analyze the trade-offs between maintaining continuity and change in the growth strategy adopted by an organization and synthesize an appropriate growth strategy for managing the trade-off between continuity and change in an organization.

It was late April 2022, and Mohammad Hamza – the founder and marketing head of Engineering & Environmental Solutions (E&E Solutions) – disconnected the call of his sales manager. His mind was fixated on how to craft the strategy for the next phase of the company’s growth. The deadline for their biggest tender was at the end of May 2022. Should he commit all the company’s reserves to this project or pursue global markets? Launched in 2015, E&E Solutions had come a long way from being a start-up with just one product to a full-blown manufacturer and environmental monitoring equipment service provider. Growing pollution and strictness in compliance propelled the demand for environmental monitoring equipment in India, poised to reach $342m by 2025. E&E Solutions leveraged its technological capabilities in Internet of Things and sensors producing low-cost monitoring equipment to gain an edge in an evolving market and bootstrapped its way to almost $5m annual turnover in 2021. However, the last review meeting brought many concerns for the next growth phase. E&E Solutions had so far focused on the domestic market, catering to the demands of private as well as government clients. A significant cause for concern had been the small order size of private players, averaging $2,000 and a lower net margin of 8%. Moreover, the company had been missing out on opportunities to bid for large government contracts owing to stringent bidding credentials required (such as turnover of at least 50%–80% of the project value and previous similar order experience with a range of at least 70% of the project value). Furthermore, the COVID-19 pandemic had stalled their efforts to tap a promising global environmental monitoring market (predicted to be $44bn by 2030). As Hamza and his team sat in their board room for a discussion, they had two alternatives. Either continue focusing on the domestic market, especially the big government contracts (more than $12m order size) or explore the markets in other emerging economies with demand for similar products (such as Middle East and North Africa region) more aggressively. Hamza was, however, wondering if they could do both, for he knew that to qualify for big government contracts, they needed to scale up. He was also getting restless after missing his target of reaching $20m in five years, especially since India’s ecosystem for start-ups and the small business sector had witnessed favorable policies and support from the government. He started pondering how to leverage his organization’s strengths and continuities to achieve the required pace and scale of change. His thoughts wandered around dividing the cash reserves of $500,000 to fuel growth without reducing the R&D budget. After all, R&D has been E&E Solutions’ forte since its inception and has been pivotal in creating its differentiation.

This case study can be used for core strategic management course at the undergraduate and graduate level of management programs. It can also be used in advanced strategy courses like strategic change, entrepreneurship and small business management offered in MBA programs.

Teaching notes are available for educators only.

CSS 11: Strategy

Trouble was brewing for Nestle in India with a lab test finding MSG in Maggi noodles, a product brand which had been adjudged ‘most powerful’ and ‘most trusted’ in India;it was being banned in different parts of the country. Paul Bulcke, CEO of Nestle SA, arrived in New Delhi to face the heat and take necessary damage control measures. The case challenges the participants to review the events leading to a total ban on all the nine variants of Maggi noodles imposed by FSSAI, the Indian Regulator, by Nestle India. It also challenges them to suggest ways of taking care of the business in future in India as well as its effects in other countries.

The 12^th South Asian Games were held in India in Guawhati and Shillong in February 2016, after repeated rescheduling. There were a number of challenges to organizing the games such as lack of infrastructure, legacy of corruption from past games, shortage of time etc. However, the games were held within 90 days of the announcement of venues and final dates. Sri Yadav, the Secretary, Department of Sports wants to understand the key drivers of success behind organizing the event. He also wants to understand how the success of Indian athletes at SAG could be leveraged for success at larger events.

After reading and analyzing this case study, students will be able to describe the challenges of creating an electric vehicle (EV) start-up with the objective of zero-carbon emissions, identify opportunities and challenges for Satyadarshan Technologies & Services (STS) in enhancing the B2B customer base and sales volumes in the EV market, identify and assess government incentives to reinforce STS’s existing EV business and compose an understanding of and determine an ability to use various industrial marketing and promotion strategies for STS in the present environment.

STS was launched in 2020 to provide environmentally conscious urban commuting. Himanshu Purohit, the founder of STS, commenced an e-bicycle assembly unit and produced the first advanced electric drivetrain technology. The vision was to transform how people viewed mobility and make EVs the standard for a healthier globe. Nurturing a start-up with zero-carbon emissions was tedious due to limited infrastructure, high costs, low market acceptance and supply chain constraints. With the relentless pursuit of excellence, STS constantly pushed the boundaries and crossed the break-even ceiling in the year 2022. As a budding player in the souk, the company expected to gain a strong presence in the EV market with particular attention to the B2B customer segment. At the same time, the company aimed to ensure business sustainability by leveraging government incentives. The company needed to expand its corporate sales volume and craft a sustainable competitive advantage. Purohit recognized various challenges to the sustainability of STS that stood between the company's goals and their realization, particularly in achieving a sustainable move in the EV segment. Consequently, Purohit found himself at a critical juncture to pave the path toward the growth of the start-up. Eventually, analysis of the company's business challenges, industrial marketing and promotional strategies required strategic planning to appraise and evaluate the business model.

This case study is designed for new-age Master of Business Administration and executive management programs. It should be used in entrepreneurship and strategic management courses to discuss small innovative e-bike start-ups. This includes conducting a competitive analysis and self-assessing a firm's market-oriented strategies. Prima facie, undergraduate and postgraduate students are beneficiaries of this case. This case study may also be conducive to teaching how to initiate a sustainable and green vehicle business. This case study guides students entering the EV business, addressing industry-specific challenges and conducting market analysis.

Teaching notes are available for educators only.

CSS 3: Entrepreneurship.

The case illustrates the challenges of managing JVs in emerging markets. specifically, after going through the case, students should be able to: i.Analyze the contexts in which firms need to form JVs and evaluate this need in the context of emerging markets such as India; ii.Understand how multinational corporations can achieve success in emerging markets, specifically the role of strategic (broader than the product) adaptation in success; iii.Evaluate the impact of conflict between partners on the short-term and long-term performance of a JV; and iv.Create alternatives, evaluate each alternative’s pros and cons, and recommend appropriate decisions to address the situation after a JV unravels and the organization is faced with quality and other challenges.

McDonald’s, the global giant in the quick service industry, entered India in 1993 and formed two JVs in 1995 one with Vikram Bakshi (Connaught Plaza Restaurants Ltd or CPRL) to own and operate stores in the northern and eastern zones, and another with Amit Jatia (Hardcastle Restaurants Private Limited or HRPL) to own and operate stores in the western and southern zones. Over the next 12 years, both the JVs made steady progress by opening new stores while also achieving better store-level metrics. Though CPRL was ahead of HRPL in terms of the number of stores and total revenues earned in 2008, the year marked the beginning of a long-running dispute between the two partners in CPRL, Bakshi and McDonald’s. Over the next 11 years, Bakshi and McDonald’s tried to block each other, filed court cases against each other and also exchanged recriminations in media. The feud hurt the performance of CPRL, which fell behind HRPL in terms of growth and other metrics. On May 9, 2019, the feuding partners reached an out-of-court settlement under which McDonald’s would buy out Bakshi’s shares in CPRL, thus making CPRL a subsidiary. Robert Hunghanfoo, who had been appointed head of CPRL after Bakshi’s exit, announced a temporary shutdown of McDonald’s stores to take stock of the current situation. He had to make a number of critical decisions that would impact the company’s performance in the long-term.

MBA, Executive MBA and executive development programs.

Teaching Notes are available for educators only.

CSS 11: Strategy.

Liberty Shoes Ltd, had been experiencing falling sales and decreased production as a result of frequent strikes by workers. By 2010, total sales had fallen to INR 300 crores (from INR 500 crores in 2005). In the Annual Board meeting in 2010, Mr Shammi Bansal, the Executive Director expressed his concerns and told the board members that “they must learn to survive or be extinct”. The case study discusses how The Executive Director turned the company around and how the organization became a “learning organization”.

MBA and Executive MBA programs.

In 2004, Liberty Shoes Ltd, had a sales turnover of INR 500 crores. In the year 2006, this dropped to INR 300 crores as a result of regular staff strikes and low morale. However, by 2013, the company had registered sales of INR 800 crores and a growth rate of around 30 per cent on a year-to-year basis. With continued focused initiatives in the organization from 2010 the management aimed to reach a sales turnover of INR 1,000 crores by March, 2014. The contributing factors to this turnaround were the leadership roles which encouraged a learning organization culture with an emphasis placed on the importance of “communication”, “employee development” and “employee empowerment”.

Understand the role of a business leader in building a learning organization. Understand the factors contributing to the building of a culture of a learning organization. Understand the critical aspects and benefits to the organization from becoming a learning organization.

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CSS: 6 Human resource management.

Upon completion of the case study, students will be able to assess the business environment a firm faces and develop strategies to match its strengths and weaknesses vis-à-vis opportunities and threats; formulate growth/expansion strategies for a firm; and evaluate resources of the firm to develop a competitive advantage.

The case describes the journey of Praajasv Foundation, an institute that provides coaching for students pursuing civil service exams in Gujarat. Established in 2019 in a rented space in Ahmedabad, Praajasv made a name for itself in the competitive market of civil service exam coaching by 2022, thanks to its expert tutors and focus on quality education. However, with the changing dynamics of the industry, Malhar Bhatt, the COO of Praajasv, must navigate the institute to strengthen its position. The increasing number of aspirants for the Class-III cadre exams and the presence of strong national competitors pose significant challenges for Malhar in terms of strategic planning. The rise of online education as an alternative to classroom teaching has also altered the competitive landscape of the industry. How do these trends impact Malhar’s plans for Praajasv? How should Malhar plan to expand the Praajasv Foundation in the coming years?

This case can be useful for students majoring in strategic management and marketing management at the master’s level

Teaching notes are available for educators only.

CSS 8: Marketing.

After working through the case and assignment questions, students will be able to critically analyze a firm's international partnership strategies for its export market; assess international markets and a firm's entry strategies in them; identify various problems that a firm can face in international markets; and recommend strategies for growth in international markets.

Bajaj Auto's (BA) strategy to be a global motorcycle manufacturer had enabled it to hold its ground in the difficult times posed by the COVID-19 pandemic. For the first time, two-wheeler exports from India between January and May 2021 were equivalent to domestic sales showing increased exports and decreased domestic sales. This reinforced BA's belief in its global expansion strategies. Rakesh Sharma (Sharma), the Executive Director at BA, was increasingly buoyant of BA's ambitious plans to enter new markets in Latin America (LATAM) and South-East Asian (SEA) Market.Sharma knew very well that though the LATAM and SEA markets were up-and-coming and lucrative, there were innumerable challenging factors pertaining to Indian and foreign competitors, domestic and international economic and business environment, supply chain and logistical issues, as well as uncertainty brought by the COVID-19 pandemic that BA had to face before tasting success in these markets. Was BA moving in the right direction with its global business expansion strategies? Would Sharma be able to handle the challenges and successfully take BA toward its goal?

The case can be taught in advanced undergraduate, MBA or executive-level programs.

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 5: International Business.

The learning outcomes are as follows: to understand and examine the strategies that help platforms fight competition and manage networks; to analyse the role of platform governance in the management of the networks and partners’ trust; and to evaluate the strategic risks of disintermediation and multi-homing firms face while trying to sustain profits and capture value.

The case presents the dilemma faced by Deepinder Goyal, the young founder and CEO of Zomato in formulating the growth strategy for its food delivery platform, struggling to retain its market leadership position amid intensifying competition and other challenges during the COVID-19 pandemic. Zomato has become a public company with an IPO announced in mid of July 2021. Therefore, there is growing expectation for profitability among its shareholders and investors considering tailwinds of COVID-19 crisis, which have given the push towards adoption of food delivery among the customers. This has also resulted in increased competition in the industry. On other hand, there is growing dissatisfaction among its restaurant partners who have been hit hard by COVID-19 and struggling for survival. CEO Deepinder has to find how he will ensure the long-term growth for Zomato to tap the growing food delivery market in India and regain its restaurant partner’s trust.

The case is intended for post-graduate courses (MBA, PGDM) on digital business strategy or strategic management of technology-oriented businesses. The case can be used to understand the nature of competition and different strategies for platform-based businesses in the digital world. The case can also be used to study the role governance can play in efficient value creation and capture on the platform by the partner entities. Finally, the case also highlights how are platform businesses are coping with the Covid challenge. There are no specific prerequisites but knowledge on basic strategy concepts and platform business concepts will be good for better understanding. Level of difficulty is medium.

Teaching notes are available for educators only.

CSS 11: Strategy.