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Strategic Management and Organization Theory and Design.

Advanced undergraduate and MBA students taking courses in Strategic Management and Organization Theory and Design.

By the end of 2011, five years short of its centennial anniversary, UMW Holdings was one of the biggest corporations in Malaysia, registering revenues of RM13.5 billion (US$4.5 billion), and net profit after tax of RMI billion (US$0.33 billion). By that time, it had 110 subsidiaries, operating in four core businesses of automotive assembly and distribution of Toyota lines of products, automotive components and lubricants original equipment manufacturing (OEM) and replacement equipment manufacturing (REM), heavy equipment, and oil and gas drilling service. In September 2011, the company had targeted its Toyota automotive business to contribute to 50 percent of its revenues, while the other 50 percent would come from its other three businesses, by the year 2015. However, as of the first quarter of 2012, Datuk Syed Hisham Syed Wazir, the Group CEO and his management team realized that, at 72 percent, the automotive business was still the main contributor to the Group's revenues. As the company's Toyota assembly operation was limited exclusively to the Malaysian market, plus in the face of greater competition within the automotive industries, the company needed to set strategies to achieve its 50:50 plan. The case stimulates discussion on strategy formulation of a mature corporation, involved in diversified business portfolio.

Understanding the process of industry analysis, as well as the formulation and implementation of business-level and corporate strategies, enables case analysts to extend the concepts to many business situations.

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Entrepreneurship.

This case is suitable for graduate-level programmes in business management, as well as for executive education programmes.

Mabel Simpson, the sole proprietor of the award-winning mSimps fashion accessories house in Ghana, must choose from among three options for scaling up her business: an offer from a private investor for GHS 100,000 in exchange for 51 per cent stake in mSimps; or 30 per cent stake for half the amount; an offer from a fashion industry expert for GHS 10,000 in exchange for 30 per cent ownership; or a restructuring of her business model and value chain to enable her release cash to grow her business organically.

Students should be able to: understand the interplay of choice and trade-offs in business management and apply theory-driven frameworks in making optimal choices and analytically assess instances of tension between the art (e.g. passion, emotional stakes, psychological and other influences on business management philosophies) and science (e.g. the need for business skills, use of effective models and the quest for production efficiency) of business management.

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CSS 3: Entrepreneurship

Strategic management.

Undergraduate, MBA, executive MBA.

The decision analysis case in the context of family-managed mid-market business of Vikas Spool Private Limited focuses on the efforts and challenges of a market leader in sustaining growth in a B2B industry, which has a derived demand. The case charts way to the historical foundation of India's largest spool manufacturer and captures the dilemma in comprehending the growth model in an industry stricken by low barriers to entry/exit, high bargaining power of customers and suppliers, high substitutes and intense global competition. The organization has to decide whether it needs to enter the rigid non-bottle household plastic packaging industry or not to achieve the targeted growth of INR 1 billion by 2015?

The case analysis aims to make students learn: the challenges in sustaining growth in a labor-intensive industry marked by low barriers to entry, low profit margins because of intensive competition, low economies of scale and no clear brand differentiation; how to negotiate a choice between intra industry participation; how a firm locked in an industry environment characterized by commoditization and intense competition should plot its growth path to retain market position; how to evaluate growth options based on financial implications and analysis.

Teaching notes are available for educators only. Please contact your library to gain login details or email support@emeraldinsight.com to request teaching notes.

HSBC (The Hong Kong and Shanghai Banking Corporation Limited) Holdings Plc. is a part of various trade finance consortia which aimed to digitise the traditional paper-based trade finance process. It had successfully executed multiple trade finance pilots using a blockchain based platform Voltron and was launching its Contour blockchain trade finance platform as a service to its clients. The trade finance market was estimated to be USD 18 trillion on an annual basis and HSBC had a 12% share in the trade finance transactions worldwide. This case revolves around the challenges facing banks/consortia while porting the traditional trade finance process to the blockchain based system. The crux is how the banks form the consortia, implement blockchain and facilitate trading globally given that it is a new technology and will require bringing all the stakeholders involved in the trade finance value chain to the blockchain based platform. HSBC is facing some decision questions on the formation, governance and management of the consortium, on the interoperability between consortia and on how to price its services to its customers.

Strategic management.

Entry-level post-graduate management students at an MBA program; middle-level professionals in an executive management program.

Royal India Food Retail (RIFR) is an organized food retailer, head-quartered in Delhi, India. The firm has established 180 outlets across the three Indian states of Delhi, Chandigarh and Punjab, selling fruits and vegetables, full-range of staples, grocery items and essential non-food items and fast-moving consumer good products. Since its inception, RIFR has been making losses, owing to both unfavourable external conditions and poor strategic management. In 2014-2015, RIFR reported earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA) loss of Rs 46m as against Rs 276m in 2013-2014 and Rs 346m in 2012-2013. This case examines the problems of RIFR, against the backdrop of an unfavourable industry structure and the need for astute decision making, and poses the question of what the next step for RIFR should be.

Developing a clear understanding of the business environment; understanding the challenges faced by businesses in emerging markets; highlighting the dynamics of a volume-driven vis-à-vis a margin-driven approach to business strategy; and the importance of resources as critical elements of strategy 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 11: Strategy.