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Organizational behavior, Organizational leadership, Organizational transformation.

First year management students in the course Organizational Behavior (OB). Final year management students in the elective course on leadership and change management. Middle level managers who are working in industry, in the management development program related to change leadership and change management.

This case deals with the transformation of the public distribution system (PDS) under the leadership of Dr Raman Singh. The PDS system was an inefficient system and the food grain supply intended for the poor was diverted by intermediaries before reaching the intended beneficiaries. Having experiences in central government ministries as a cabinet minister, Dr Raman Singh decided to transform the PDS. The challenges faced were primarily from that of the reticent bureaucracy and dealing with them requires patience and the skills of a transformational and motivational leader which Dr Raman Singh possessed.

This case intends to develop understanding of various dimensions related to transformational and motivational styles of leadership. Further, it intends to develop understanding of crucial institutional and organizational changes and how leaders bring about these changes in sync with technological and process changes.

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: 6: Human Resource Management.

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.

Teaching objective 1: To flourish and explore the current business model to get socioeconomic benefits from organic farming compared to conventional farming; in the context of hill farming. Teaching objective 2: To explore and design innovative entrepreneurship opportunities in the field of organic farming and how these opportunities can be seized by using managerial skills. Teaching objective 3: To analyze the economic benefits of organic farming compared to conventional farming.

Manj Gaon is a small village in the Tehri Garhwal district of Uttarakhand. This village serves as the Uttarakhand Organic Commodity Board’s training facility. Organic farming was the primary source of income for farmers in the late 1970s, but the Green Revolution in India had a negative impact on agriculture, the environment and the economy of the country. After the Green Revolution, the agriculture sector was completely dominated by conventional farming, and the use of chemical fertilizers, pesticides and insecticides affected the village to some extent. But farmers like Bhagchand Ramola paved the way for other farmers to grow and shine through organic farming. The organic farming model developed by Ramola was helping farmers and society in several aspects, such as the economy, health and the environment. A self-developed organic farming model had been generating fair revenue for the farmers and uplifting their socioeconomic status as compared to conventional farming. Complete adoption of organic farming in the village requires an analysis in terms of sustainable economic growth. However, there was a certain dilemma that was stifling the growth of the newly adopted business model because farmers were dependent only on Japanese buyers and input providers. So, there was a huge need to tie up with other consulates across the country. Secondly, expanding a business model requires more input and output in terms of manpower and revenue, so persuading conventional farmers to adopt the organic farming model was quite a challenge for Ramola.

The case can be taught to the MBA-level students.

Teaching notes are available for educators only.

CSS 11: Strategy.

This case describes the innovations of a medical practitioner over six decades of practice. It provides an opportunity to the participants to analyse the motivation, processes, constraints and outcomes or innovating efforts of individuals as opposed to corporates. During his career Dr. Shah has experimented with novel methods of treatment, applications of known solutions and new product formulations. At the fag end of his career Dr. Shah is wondering whether the innovating efforts were worth their white.

Services marketing and marketing strategy.

The case is basically aimed at post-graduate management students; it can be used in strategic management courses. Students can understand McKinsey's 7S model with the help of this case as well as the seven Ps of service industry. Students can also gain an insight into the hub and spoke model. The case can also be used in courses of entrepreneurship.

The case is primarily the entrepreneurial journey of Mr Samar Qureshi in a quick service restaurant business. The entrepreneur Mr Samar Qureshi at a very young age dreamt of opening up an Indian fast food chain. He worked hard to make his dream a reality. In a brief period of five years Qureshi's Fast Trax has reached the level of world-renowned fast food chains like McDonald's and KFC in terms of quality and ambience. Overcoming the hurdles and the challenges Fast Trax has 22 outlets in Delhi NCR. Samar has also introduced the fast food culture in a small town, Aligarh, and wishes to expand it further to other B class towns of India where people desire to go to fast food chains and to enjoy the high standards of food and service as are enjoyed by people living in metros. He has also been instrumental in changing the concept of canteen to restaurant in schools and colleges. The case discusses the challenges facing Fast Trax in the cut-throat environment of the fast food industry.

These include: highlighting the 7Ps of services in the context of a retail chain and establishing interlinkages between the seven Ss identified by McKinsey.

Teaching notes are available. Please consult your librarian for access.

Describes Nintendo's rise to dominance in the home video game industry in the late 1980s. Then presents the challenges Nintendo faced in 1990 as 16-bit processors entered the market against the 8-bit Nintendo Entertainment System.

The learning outcomes are as follows: to gain insights into an immigrant community with an emphasis on positioning stakeholders using power, legitimacy and urgency constructs; to help participants dwell on a decision-making process under challenging circumstances; and to help learners understand the level of commitment and efforts needed in initiating and sustaining a volunteer initiative. At the micro level, the case helps learners understand the nature of an interaction between two distinct social groups (ragpickers and volunteers). At the macro level, the case helps the learners understand the way marginalised migratory communities think and behave in the larger scheme of politics, religion and ever-increasing migration at the global level.

This case is about an informal educational activity initiated by a group of volunteers who intend to eradicate illiteracy amongst ragpickers’ children in Rohtak, a small city in Haryana, India. This town has a population of <0.4 million and houses several immigrant families who come from different regions of India. Most immigrant families are into construction and rag picking. The localites mostly perceive ragpickers as undocumented immigrants from Bangladesh. Usually, most ragpickers’ children engage in garbage collection and do not attend school. In this backdrop, a group led by Mohan set up an evening class in an open ground, which in turn attracted several children from both the ragpicker and local communities alike. However, after a few days, the harsh weather made the volunteer team to shift the classes to a closed room. The shifting from the open ground to the closed room infuriated the parents and resulted in the parents not allowing their children to go to school. In this context, the volunteer team has to decide whether to continue the voluntary school or shut it down.

Executive, Under-Graduation and Post Graduation

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CSS 7: Management Science

This case uses Uber Technologies Inc. to engage students in a serious conversation about how a firm both affects its stakeholders and is affected by its stakeholders as well as the role of strategic leadership in the amount of emphasis placed on ethical practices. Uber represents a visible high-growth startup that has received considerable positive and negative attention in the media; however, few people know of the extent of its aggressive management approach. Much of the publicity about Uber is both a direct consequence of and a direct consequence for stakeholder relationships. Students are asked to analyze Uber’s approach and offer suggestions for moving forward.

This case was created using secondary data sources. The issues for Uber that led the authors to write this case were not very flattering to Uber, and therefore, the authors decided to use secondary sources. Since Uber and many of its direct competitors were private companies, the authors collected as much financial data as the authors could from publicly available sources. Also, due to the contentious nature of some of the managerial tactics used within Uber, the use of secondary data sources was warranted.

This case was crafted with senior undergraduate students in strategic management as the primary audience, but is also relevant for MBA-level strategy courses as well. This case touches upon core content in the vast majority of undergraduate strategic management courses with a special emphasis on two concepts underrepresented in most strategic management textbooks, stakeholder theory and ethical decision making.

On April 4, 2007, Don Imus, one of the company&s most popular talk show personalities made comments on the air regarding the Rutgers women&s basketball team. According to the transcription from Media Matters for America, Imus said, “ That&s some nappy-headed hos there. I&m gonna tell you that now, man, that&s some … woo. And the girls from Tennessee, they all look cute, you know, so, like … kinda like … I don&t know.” At first, the comments did not seem out of the ordinary for one of radio&s “shock jocks.” However, as the public reaction grew, the situation changed considerably. Under pressure from the public, Moonves reluctantly suspended Imus. But it was too little too late. By the end of the day on April 11, analysts estimated that $2.5 million in advertising revenue was lost. On April 12, Moonves terminated Don Imus& contract.

After Moonves fired Imus, there was still a lot to consider. He really wanted a way for the company to meet the demands of the company&s stakeholders. In addition, he wanted to avoid any more distractions from the firm&s normal day-to-day operations.

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.