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Entrepreneurship, internationalization, family-owned business management, strategic management.

MBA/postgraduate management program courses on family business management. The case can be taught at the beginning of the course to acquaint students with the dynamics of family-owned businesses. MBA/postgraduate/undergraduate courses on entrepreneurship. It can be used in the middle of the course to highlight the challenges presented by an entrepreneur due to change in the business environment and macroeconomic scenario. MBA/postgraduate course on strategic management. It can be used at the beginning of the course to introduce strategies for managing and sustaining growth of a business. MBA/postgraduate course on organizational development. It can be used in the middle of the course to help students understand the importance of designing an optimal organizational structure for a family business.

FragraAroma was an Indian fragrance company. Anil Gupta, the Founder and Managing Director of FragraAroma, and his sister Nisha were equal shareholders of the company. With changes in the Foreign Direct Investment Policy in 2013 in India, Anil and Nisha's husband Tarun had different expansion plans for FragraAroma. While Anil was planning to expand FragraAroma internationally, but his sister and her husband wanted diversification of the company's customer segment in the domestic market itself. The case is poised at the juncture, where Anil was facing a labyrinth of critical decisions. Would he go ahead with Tarun's expansion plan or stick to his plan of internationalization? Would his decision affect the harmony of the family? Was there a way that could enable him sailing his family and family business out of the doldrums?

This case is primarily about a family business and the dilemmas faced by the owner of that family business. The case captures the challenges faced by a family business in sustaining growth and competitiveness. The case can be used to understand how decisions are taken in a family-owned business. To understand the challenges faced by a family-owned business while developing and implementing its growth strategies. To understand the opportunities and challenges presented to a family-owned businesses when macroeconomic scenarios change. To understand the spillover effects of business decisions on family relations in a typical family-owned business setup.

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Strategic decision making in cooperation projects. The decision deals with the process of generating a strategy for R&D and technological innovation in developing countries, through international cooperation.

Students of programs of strategic management, business policy and management of international cooperation. Target courses include: strategic management seminars, international cooperation seminars, MBA.

The case shows the process carried out by a team led by Braulio Perez Astray, manager of the innovation department of the Foundation University of A Coruna (Spain) and Radhames Mejia, executive vice-rector of the Pontifical Catholic University Madre y Maestra (Dominican Republic) to design the strategy for R&D and Technological Innovation of the Dominican Republic. It describes the tasks and responsibilities undertaken in the INPOLTEC Project, the result of the international cooperation between Spain and the Dominican Republic. It included the involvement of the Administration of Government of both countries, the contributions of the scientific community and a significant sample of Dominican companies, as well as the advice of Spanish experts and technologists in the field of innovation and technology policy. The case arises from the position of Braulio Perez Astray, leader of the project. The objective of this case is to analyze the potential transfer of this experience to other countries in Central America and Caribbean.

The learning objective is to facilitate students to investigate the decisions in the strategic process in the field of innovation and to reinforce the focus of international cooperation as a mechanism for strategic support in stimulating the flow of knowledge in science and technology.

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

Upon completion of this case study, students will be able to identify the main conceptual foundations of strategy in international business, determine the strategy of entry into a country through the analysis of dual pressures and propose the mode of entry into a country by analyzing the sources of competitive advantage in a firm’s value chain.

Café Galavis stood out as one of the most outstanding family businesses in industrial development, with a century-long trajectory in the production and sale of roasted and ground coffee in Cucuta, Colombia. However, in 2015, the diplomatic, humanitarian and economic crisis between the governments of Colombia and Venezuela led to the indefinite closure of the Colombian–Venezuelan border. As a result, the illegal coffee trade increased, and competition from traditional brands significantly affected sales, leading to financial difficulties and an urgent need for change in senior management. In addition, the demise of the manager who had been leading the company until 2018 exacerbated the business situation. Juan Francisco Yáñez, the new manager, joined the management of an emblematic company. From his first years of management, he implemented different strategies related to organizational policies, production, innovation and export of products to achieve stability. For the year 2023, the challenges for the new CEO were to lead a brand with more than a century of tradition and business roots and to enter new markets, owing to the high dependence on the Venezuelan market. Which countries should they enter in the internationalization process? Furthermore, what type of strategy and entry mode should Café Galavis implement to penetrate new markets? These were some of the challenges faced by the CEO; therefore, he required objective information to make decisions in consensus with his collaborators.

This case study is suitable for students of postgraduate academic programs in knowledge areas of international management, international business or MBA.

Teaching notes are available for educators only.

CSS 5: International business.

The purpose of this case is to expose readers to the dilemma of expanding domestically or internationally and simultaneously taking key decisions while expanding the business to the international markets. It could be a foundational case for understanding international expansion and growth strategies.

After the case analysis, students would be able to:

• understand the potential of the domestic market and the factors affecting the international expansion;

• evaluate the various methods to enter an international market;

• identify the challenges of expanding a business into emerging markets such as India;

• analyze the various growth and expansion strategies in an emerging market such as India; and

• assess the online promotion strategies in an emerging market.

NIVA, The Satin Collection, is a manufacturer and distributor of a luxury collection of silk and satin products. Founded in 2020, NIVA is based in Dubai with more than 1,000 customers. The products include silk bedding, silk sleepwear, fashion accessories and reusable satin masks, and they are made-to-order, custom-made and tailored locally in Dubai. Currently, all the operations are run and managed by the company’s founder, Purva. The only operation which is outsourced is the stitching process. The company is completely operating online and is currently promoting products only through social media platforms such as Instagram and Facebook.

Purva is planning to expand her business. The two options are extending her existing operations in the UAE and expanding to other emerging markets, starting with India. Purva needs to decide on a suitable internationalization strategy to decide whether it is the right decision to enter the Indian market, including an entry and promotion strategy in her target market. In addition, she needs to decide whether to continue with NIVA’s current business model in India. There might also be additional possible challenges for NIVA in entering the Indian market.

Postgraduate MBA students, other graduate-level management programs and undergraduate-level students.

Teaching notes are available for educators only.

CSS 5: International Business.

The case seeks to meet the following educational objectives: provide an understanding of the problems and opportunities faced by a company doing business in a rapidly expanding emerging market. Understand how the foreign environment and industry practices impinge on the company’s strategic conduct. Develop the ability to evaluate strategic internationalization decisions in light of considerations related to uncertainty, risk and commitment. Provide for the application of internationalization theories to a real case involving an emerging country company. Discuss new strategies for international market expansion.

This case study is about the strategic change of the Usaflex brand and how it impacted its national and international expansion. Usaflex is a Brazilian footwear company founded in 1998 and acquired in 2016 by a group of partners. The new managers started an accelerated process of national and international expansion. In the domestic market, the company adopted the franchise system and in the international market used licensed stores. In addition, the new management implemented a series of modifications, changing the positioning, design and product variety, as well as the communication strategy. This process took place in a highly negative context, with the domestic market suffering the impact of a strong recession and Brazilian footwear exports losing competitiveness in the international market.

The targeted audience of this case is undergraduate and MBA students of Business Management courses, specifically on International Business courses.

Teaching Notes are available for educators only.

CSS 5: International Business.

Teaching notes are available for educators only.

Objective 1 analyse the internationalization process of Involys and compare it with the traditional theoretical analyses; Objective 2 analyse and learn from past successes and failures in Africa, building up a meaningful strategic analysis with a specific focus on: understanding the advantages and disadvantages of size (small and medium-sized enterprise (SME) suppliers/State Institutions customers); understanding the importance of institutional barriers and opportunities in this specific context; understanding and measuring the distances issues and the way they affect the company’s development Objective 3 learn to be creative and concrete in proposing feasible solutions to the Board of Involys.

Involys is a medium-sized Moroccan company designing and implementing enterprise resource planning (ERP) systems. It was co-founded in the 1980s by its present chief executive officer (CEO), quite a charismatic individual. As its listing on the Casablanca Stock Exchange, the company has set its main goal to develop its business on the African markets. This is a significant shift in commercial strategy for a company who has built its past success on working with Northern countries. Involys tries with its ERP system to accompany state-level reforms. The case study takes place in 2017, Involys has just lost a significant project in Cameroun, despite significant pre-sale investments, and is trying to build on its success in Gabon to accelerate and improve its competitive position in Africa. The case focusses on the internationalization process of a firm involved in long terms contracts and dealing mainly with institutions such as states or state departments. The issues of sizes, institutional barriers and distance should be specifically addressed in a south-south context.

Master’s degree executive training programs.

CSS 5: International business.

This case allows students to critically analyse the business model of Zomato which is a multi-sided platform/in the foodtech industry. It helps students to critically analyse how firms enter into the global market to create value and maintain dominance over the local market (especially in a large market such as India). The case can also be used to introduce students to the business canvas model by analysing foodtech start-ups. The outcomes are as follows: to understand the Business Model Canvas as a tool to describe and analyse the foodtech business such as Zomato’s, based on its value proposition and the way it sells its services; to conduct a value chain analysis and analyse the business models adopted by foodtech companies; to understand how Zomato can aim at global value creation; and to design a clear growth strategy and evaluate Zomato’s options to internationalize or expand locally.

The year 2018 was an important year for Zomato as it geared up to chart new heights amidst the changing dynamics of the industry on one hand and a co-founder exiting the company on the other hand. Zomato was incepted in 2008 as a restaurant discovery platform offering users the ability to access restaurant menus and post online reviews. It provided a range of value-added services for both its restaurant partners and end customers. Its vertical integration enabled it to grow its revenues across its three lines of business, namely, dining out, delivery and sustainability. Zomato was an early internet start-up that expanded rapidly in the international markets. In the past ten years, the company both scaled and rolled back its operations with unique lessons learned in each market that paved its path for success both locally and globally. The domestic market was being dominated by a few large players sharing the market. Reports by market intelligence firms showed that Swiggy, the closest competitor was starting to dominate Zomato in India [1]. Deepinder, CEO, Zomato’s dilemma for adding value and increasing revenues by weighing options of whether the company should strengthen its presence in the domestic market, or, venture into foreign markets or serve both local and foreign markets.

This case is appropriate for postgraduate courses in Strategic Management or International Business.

Teaching notes are available for educators only.

CSS 5: International Business.

Entrepreneurship, strategy, family business.

MBA, PhD (Mgmt)

DK Dies and Tools was set up initially as a tool room by its founder Krishna Verma. It manufactured machine parts, sheet metal tools, jigs and fixtures, plastic/rubber moulds and metal fabrications. The firm came to be known as DK Exports (henceforth DKX) when it was professionalized in the year 2003 for merchant exporting. Lately, after the founder's demise, professionalization had become a dire need when the firm faced with loss of customers, the market share was taken over by the Chinese, workers' expectations had risen, poor internal communications, search for dynamic capabilities and finally a need to diversify had arisen. Unexpected death of the founder had pushed the firm into doldrums. It was because of the founder's relationship and reputation in the market that the business prospered. Unfortunately, the tacit knowledge he possessed could not be handed over to his son Kunal, which led to complexes in business. Hence, there arose a need for internationalization for finding new customers and markets. Entrepreneurial orientation needed a change. The new Chairman, Kunal, had expertise in operations management, with his wife, Priyanka, looking after development via overseas collaborations. The firm had been struggling to create a two-tier top-level management to decide on operational issues, besides search for newer destinations for increasing the scale of operations.

To understand how multilevel entrepreneurship happens and the importance of translating tacit knowledge to explicit knowledge, especially at times when the founder has to pass the baton to the second generation.

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International business, international marketing, and strategic management.

Advanced undergraduate and MBA students taking courses in international business, international marketing, and strategic management.

KPJ Healthcare Group started its operations in 1979. By the end of 2012, the Group operated 22 hospitals in Malaysia, two in Indonesia, one in Thailand, and one retirement resort in Australia. Its internationalization efforts began in mid-1990s with the provision of hospital management service in Indonesia, Bangladesh, and Saudi Arabia. Since 2010, the Group had pursued international acquisition projects in Australia, Indonesia and Thailand. In early 2013, the Group's newly appointed CEO and his management team had to decide on the strategies to ensure the success of these international acquisition projects. This case stimulates discussion on international strategies of a large healthcare group, operating in a highly competitive, high-growth industry in an emerging economy.

Understanding of approaches to service internationalization (incremental versus rapid), strategies in service internationalization, forms of service internationalization ventures will enable case analysts to apply and consider these concepts in many business situations involving internationalization process and business growth in general.

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

The subject area is international business and strategy. The case allows scope for the following areas: internationalisation, market strategy, emerging market multinational companies, and doing business in Africa.

The primary target audience for this teaching case is postgraduate business students such as Master of Business Administration (MBA), or postgraduate management programmes. The case is primarily designed for use in courses that cover strategy or international business.

This case centres on the international growth strategy of FMBcapital Holdings Group (FMB), the Malawian commercial banking firm. The case finds the founder and current group chairman, Hitesh Anadkat, in 2016, as he and the FMB board are about to decide on the next move in their Southern African strategy. Since opening the first FMB branch in Malawi and becoming the country's first commercial banker in 1995, Anadkat and his team have ridden a wave of financial deregulation across the region to successfully expand into neighbouring Botswana, Zambia, and Mozambique. Now, an opportunity to gain a foothold in Zimbabwe means the leaders must decide (1) whether they want to continue to grow the FMB footprint across the region, or focus on their integration and expansion efforts within existing markets; and (2) how they will realise this strategy.

International expansion – identifying the need to expand into new markets; identifying the combination of internal strengths and external conditions that make international expansion viable; and identifying and analysing each possible new market(s) and the decision-making process involved.

Political, social and economic factors in Africa – understanding how these external institutional factors present constraints, risks and opportunities for internationalisation and hence shape strategy; understanding that these factors may vary significantly across countries on the continent (in spite of their geographic proximity) and in some cases, within a single country; and understanding that by selecting markets with extreme socially and politically volatile contexts, the risk of a worst-case scenario transpiring (in which institutional forces trump business strategy) is appreciable.

Combination of resource- and institutional-based approaches – recognising that successful internationalisation requires capitalising upon both internal resources and institutional mastery.

Choosing expansion strategies – assessing the type of new market entry (e.g. greenfield or acquisition of existing operations) and its adequacy for penetrating a new market.

Using networks and local partners – to substitute and enhance the benefits that originally flow from a small (and sometime family-established) business, with an emphasis on acquisition of skills and networks in foreign countries.

Regional integration – optimising business operations through a sharing or pooling of resources and improved capital flow between subsidiaries, in some instances by taking advantage of economies of scale (this extends to enhancing the reputation and awareness of a brand across a wider region).

Family businesses – identifying the value that can be gained through establishing a family business with the support of many “close” stakeholders while also noting the limitation that exist as expansion and growth is required.