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Airtel, the leading mobile operator in India was going to launch the “Airtel Zero” platform that would charge service providers and OTT providers on the internet for mobile data traffic but would allow end consumers free access to the web sites that were signed up for the platform. The case revolves around the questions of pricing these data services to the service providers in a market where the price to one set of customers (the end consumer) was not independent of the price to another set of customers (the OTT service providers) - typical of two sided markets. Issues of net neutrality and competition have been considered alongside.

Derived from field interviews and secondary research, the case describes the dilemma that the Marketing Manager Bentley Collins of Sabre Yachts faces in developing a profitable marketing mix given the firm's current product line, competitors, industry and national economic trends. Sabre had always been a niche boat builder. Their product line was divided into two distinct categories; sail boats and power boats. Their sailboats were targeted toward boaters interested in the comfort desired for cruising but also the capability of competitive racing while their power boats were designed to be modern yachts that could cruise 20 knots or better. A majority of sales came from the New England and Mid-Atlantic regions with only sporadic success in other areas. Bentley worried that slower phone traffic in Spring of 2001 would be indicative of slower sales and wanted to know what actions the firm should take to continue their regional growth as well as their push to become a more nationally-based firm. The case has a difficulty level appropriate for a junior or senior level course. The case is designed to be taught in one class period and is expected to require between five to seven hours of outside preparation by students.

This case describes the challenges faced by Amul in organising dairy farmers into a co-operative and creating continuous opportunities for value addition. Participants in the case discussion are required to review the developments in the organisation and recommend a strategy for the future.

This case focusses on social innovation and social entrepreneurship in Africa, specifically looking at behavioural characteristics of social entrepreneurs, their motivations to create social value and the application of personal initiative theory. The case discusses the self-starting proactiveness and innovation traits of the social entrepreneur. The social business model canvas will be used to analyse the social enterprise’s business model.

Students of social entrepreneurship, development studies, sustainable livelihoods and asset-based development. It is useful for customised or short programmes on social entrepreneurship or for students with a background in business wanting to understand social enterprise as a vehicle for social and economic change. As such, this case is written for Business Management and Entrepreneurship undergraduates or students of elective courses in social entrepreneurship (“understanding” and “remembering” learning activities under Bloom’s taxonomy). When personal initiative theory is used, the case provides an initial understanding of social entrepreneurship in a less developed context for post-graduate students and may be used for higher-order learning activities (“analysing” and “applying”).

The case tells the story of Dr Engr Moses Musaazi, who is a Social Entrepreneur and Managing Director of Technology for Tomorrow (T4T). Troubled with the persistent social problems in his country. Musaazi, through T4T, strived for social innovations to reduce school dropouts of Ugandan girls. While exploring Moses’ journey for solving persistent social problems through social innovations, students will be able to understand, remember, analyse and apply Dees’ (2001) social entrepreneurial behaviours and Santos’ (2012) theory of social entrepreneurship. The case discusses what motivates African social entrepreneurs to start a social venture (Ghalwash, Tolba, & Ismail, 2017). Students will apply personal initiative theory to identify the social entrepreneurial behaviours displayed in the creation of social ventures. To exemplify and analyse the different components of social ventures’ business model, the social business model canvas by Sparviero (2019) will be introduced.

The teaching objectives are Objective 1. Students are able to remember, understand, identify and apply the social entrepreneurial behaviours as defined by Dees (2001) and the elements of Santos’ (2012) theory of social entrepreneurship to Dr Moses Musaazi’s case as a social entrepreneur. Objective 2. Students remember, understand and identify what motivates social entrepreneurs in less developed economies to create social value (Ghalwash et al., 2017). Objective 3. Early-stage postgraduate students are able to apply and analyse (also evaluate and create for higher-level post-graduates) personal initiative theory to explain the emergence of social entrepreneurial behaviour and especially how innovation, self-starting and proactiveness may lead to social entrepreneurial venture start-up (Frese, Kring, Soose, & Zempel, 1996). Objective 4. Students use the social business model canvas (Sparviero, 2019) as a tool to understand, analyse and improve a social-enterprise business model.

Supplementary learning materials are provided in the Teaching Note (Table 1). Table1, which includes videos and their description. Also, a link to Uganda’s sustainable development index is provided (the focus is sustainable development goals [SDGs] 3: Good health and well-being, SDG 4: Quality Education, SDG 5: Gender equality, SDG 10: Reduced inequalities).

CSS 3: Entrepreneurship.

We have used data mostly from published sources like The Economic Times, Forbes, The Times of India and the annual reports of Nestlé India Ltd. Because we classify it as a Teaching Case Study as per the guidelines of Emerald Publishing, we have ensured that any data presented in the case has been acquired only from published sources and is not internal company data. Citations have also been provided wherever necessary.

On 6 June 2015, Nestlé India’s top product Maggi instant noodles was banned nationwide for an unspecified period. The ban was imposed due to allegations of Maggi containing high amounts of lead and message, and consequently violating the food safety standards. What followed was the destruction of massive stocks of Maggi which had been taken off from shelves of stores countrywide. Furthermore, the company faced a huge blow financially as its sales plummeted. This case delves into how Nestlé India adopted relevant strategies to successfully avert the Maggi crisis. Some remedial measures included appointing a Managing Director who understood the market, improving the communication channel and boosting the churn out of new products along with greater emphasis on marketing and advertising.

This case is aimed mainly at undergraduate level students in the field of management studies and public relations management. This case is also relevant for students pursuing a specialization in Crisis Communication, Public Relations, Marketing and Organizational Change.

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.

Operations Management Quality Management.

The case can be used in a number of course contexts, including undergraduate and graduate courses in operations management and quality management.

Central Tobacco Plant (CTP) is a tobacco processing and packaging company, operating in the Central America and Caribbean region. This case focuses on a waste measurement exercise conducted in the cigarette production department of CTP, which was commissioned by George Edwards, the Secondary Manufacturing Department Manager. The reason for the exercise was the announcement that CTP could possibly face a plant audit, where a poor result could cause the shifting of manufacturing of some products, or, in the worst case scenario, all of it product lines, to one of the larger, and more efficient manufacturing plants in the Central America and Caribbean region. The waste measurement exercise is carried out as a three-week student–industry project by two students pursuing an MSc programme at the local university, who are mentored by both Edwards and by a university supervisor. At the end of the exercise, Edwards needs to consider the appropriateness of the current waste measurement system, the quantities of waste produced and opportunities to reduce waste.

The case has four primary learning objectives: to illustrate the role of performance measurement in process improvement, to explore the perspective of lean manufacturing in waste management, to apply basic quality tools in the analysis of a manufacturing process and to identify opportunities for process improvement.

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 9: Operations and Logistics

Subject area information and communication technology (ICT) for development.

Master of Business Administration Program’s Management Information Systems courses. Or introductory courses in Masters in ICT for Development.

The paper aims to highlight the endeavour of public distribution system (PDS), a food security scheme for under-privileged people in India, towards excellence, using ICT in the state of Chhattisgarh. It presents two important roles of ICT: one, as a system improvement tool, through supply chain integration (in Phase 1) and, the other, as tool for empowerment, by providing choices through computerized online real-time electronic (CORE) PDS (in Phase 2). CORE PDS was intended to provide choices of retail outlets to poor beneficiaries for collecting their food entitlement, breaking the retail outlet’s monopoly. The project was successfully implemented in some urban areas of Chhattisgarh, providing motivation for its mass scale roll-out. But, the contextual differences between rural and urban settings were raising questions on the ultimate value expected to be delivered by the project in rural areas.

Two major learning outcomes of the case: students will appreciate the multi-faceted role of ICT in improving the performance of a system meant for a financially poor section of the society; students will understand the role of contextual settings in a developing economy in the endeavour of ICT projects for societal development.

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 10: Public Sector Management.

In 2015, NESTLÉ India underwent a major crisis as the product which contributed to nearly 30% of its sales had to be taken off the shelves. Maggi—the go-to convenience food for all generations (especially kids and young adults)—which had entered the market in 1983, was banned. With a market share of 70-80% before the ban, NESTLÉ, which got the ban lifted in November 2015, had to undergo the task of winning back the lost market. Over a period of 8 months after its relaunch, the brand regained about 60% of its market back, but the question is how could such brand disaster be avoided in future? The case revolves around a major brand recovering from a brand disaster, and whether they did it well enough or could the situation have been managed better. It also enquires as to what road should be taken forward from here. It notes the action taken by the government against the brand and leaves it to the judgment of the readers if the actions taken against the brand were a little too harsh, solely because MNCs are usually considered a soft target in India. The readers must also understand and analyse the different brand relaunch strategies that were adopted by NESTLÉ and the next steps that should be taken by it.

By late March 2014, the ridesharing company Uber was on a roll, rapidly expanding service to untapped markets and gaining new, enthusiastic customers, as well as a few vocal and visible detractors. Uber’s innovative organization of the supply-demand matching process produced eager customers who recruited others. Buzz marketing and aggressive recruitment of drivers augmented growth.

This case presents Uber as an example of a middleman adding real value for consumers and upstream suppliers (limo drivers). Unlike Tesla, which battled to sell cars directly to the public, Uber created value by adding a layer between limos and prospective riders, organizing the market for convenience and transparency for both sides. Where Uber stirred up the competitive equivalent of a hornet’s nest was with expansion from the livery car market into the taxi service market with UberX. The material allows for a lively discussion around disruptive digital technology and the firm’s business model.