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This case study was built from secondary data such as news articles and videos. Several drafts of the case study with teaching note were tested in classroom settings and shared at a case writing conference. The case was revised based on feedback from students and roundtable discussions from the conference.

“What’s next: Ever Given after the Suez Canal incident (Evergreen Marine Corporation in, 2022)” explores the situation of the firm Evergreen Marine Corporation, a world-leading cargo shipping company headquartered in Taiwan, and its efforts to deal with challenges stemming from a pandemic and the global supply chain transition. The case provides background on the latest changes in global business environments, the Suez Canal Incident stemming from the grounding of Ever Given and firm-specific information, which would help students to understand the context affecting Evergreen Marine Corporation’s (EMC) strategic decisions. The case enables students to evaluate EMC’s overall position and to analyze the actions that they can take to deal with these challenges in a dynamic global environment.

This case would be appropriate for a course in strategy or international business, especially with the topic of international supply chain management.

Management and leadership.

Undergraduate and graduate.

Mr Lionel Thibaud, the General Manager, was highlighting the achievements and challenges faced at Impression et Enregistrement des Résultats (IER) within the Middle East region over the past four years in relation to the various cross-cultures and multi-nationalities. IER is a world-leading supplier of printing terminals and IT solutions for the air transportation industry. The problem facing the decision-maker is how to do business with the Middle Eastern countries and handling and striking a balance with all the varying cultures and customs. In addition, to meet the needs of the customers, a long-term mission is to establish long-term relationships and collaborations.

On completion of utilizing the case study as an exercise, students should be able to: case-specific skills – critically examine the importance of the cross-cultural management, decision-making, managing in multinational companies and leadership and management in the Middle East and demonstrate this by analysing real regional/world examples using complex theoretical frameworks; identify examples of best practice (including ethical “best practice”) and explain the dynamics towards cross-cultural management, decision-making, managing in multinational companies and leadership and management with reference to a range of theoretical models and apply these in a meaningful way to the MENA region; discipline-specific skills – synthesize and critically evaluate a corpus of academic literature and government reports on cross-cultural management, decision-making, managing in multinational companies and leadership and management; link cross-cultural management, decision-making, managing in multinational companies and leadership and management concepts and theories to real regional/world examples; personal and key skills – reflect on the process of learning and undertake independent/self-directed learning (including time management) to achieve consistent, proficient and sustained attainment; work as a participant or leader of a group and contribute effectively to the achievement of objectives in the field of cross-cultural management, decision-making, managing in multinational companies and leadership and management.

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

Colfax Corporation was a young, privately held collection of pump-manufacturing companies from the United States and Europe. Intending to go public, it was eager to find a story for investors of how it could grow at rates faster than its subsidiaries had historically grown in their home regions and core-customer industrial markets. This case describes a singular new-growth opportunity: selling Colfax solutions into state-owned petroleum enterprises in the Middle East at a time when these producers were straining to add capacity. Designing the optimal marketing system required Colfax to weigh a complex of issues, including global resource allocation and deployment, a process for customer-relationship building, and estimates for revenue streams versus investment outlays. The design process was, in short, far more than “sticking sales rep pins in the map.” Case readers are asked to think along with the Colfax global management team in deciding, “How much can we afford to risk our current income model in order to build new capacity in a new region in a new way?”

Understanding issues related to global B2B marketing channel strategy development, as well as complexities of entering unfamiliar new international markets such as Middle East oil and gas.

International business and/or strategic management.

This case is useful for undergraduate and postgraduate level students majoring in international business management and/or strategic management.

Etihad Airways was established in 2003, in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates (UAE) with the UAE government as sole owner. It is the national carrier of UAE with Abu Dhabi as its centre of operations. Etihad is recognized as a fast-growing player in the aviation industry, and has become one of the dominant international players in the industry in a relatively short time. Etihad's fleet now contains more than 67 planes, with more than 1,300 flights per week to diverse destinations across the Middle East, Africa, Europe, Asia, Australia and North America. The company describes its business strategy as “sustainable growth”. Looking through a practitioner's lens, strategic partnerships have been the critical activities through which Etihad has delivered its strategy. The purpose of this case study is therefore to elaborate on its major and successful partnerships and the critical benefits of these. Secondary data were collected from credible sources including academic studies, relevant Etihad publications and industry reports published by official aviation associations.

Students will be able to understand the theory of strategic partnerships, their roles and benefits and critically evaluate the pre-staging “requirements” of such partnerships. In this case, the specific learning outcome of it is to help students to understand the importance of successful strategic partnerships for Etihad Airlines and how partnership strategies can improve the performance of Etihad Airlines.

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

Strategy, Emiratisation (national policy); human resources (recruitment, training and development, organizational culture and values) and marketing (branding, communication), tourism (destination image).

Undergraduate and Postgraduate Business and Management.

This case highlights the strategy and initiatives taken by Etihad to attract Emirati employees (local nationals) to join the organization. Etihad Airways is the national airline of the United Arab Emirates (UAE), based in Abu Dhabi, the national capital. Since its inception in 2003, the airline has grown faster than any other in commercial aviation history; it currently flies to more than 60 destinations in Africa, Asia, Australia, Europe, the Middle East and North America. In the UAE, nationals or Emiratis comprise only 20 per cent of the overall population. According to the UAE 2021 Vision, the government's focus is on building the human capabilities on knowledge and innovation for Emiratis. This vision is reinforced in the Abu Dhabi Economic Vision 2030, which aims to boost national participation, encourage women (national women are on average more highly educated than the men) and decrease the education – market demand gap through training.

This case can be used to teach strategy from the point of view of government, human resources and marketing. From the government point of view parallels can be drawn to other nations whose government have focused on policies to create opportunities for and to encourage local employability. An example of a similar programme that was very successful is the “Bumiputra” programme created for indigenous Malaysians in 1971. In the area of human resource strategy, recruitment, training, inculcation of corporate values are some areas that can be reinforced. Form the point of view of marketing; the case can be used to discuss branding from the point of view of people, loyalty building (internal) and communication (internal and external). Destination branding and the role airlines play can also be a discussion point from the strategic point of view with some opportunity for macro-environmental analysis using the PESTLE model.

A teaching note available upon request.

Leadership, change management, knowledge transfer, quality, car manufacture, organisational culture, staff training and development.

This case study is intended for undergraduate courses on principles of management, cross-cultural management and organisational behaviour; postgraduate and MBA courses as above in addition to leadership studies and change management courses.

Globalisation inevitably led to attempts to transfer know-how and expertise to markets in different locations and cultures, where the particular organisation is willing to begin to operate. Hence, the need for understanding the conditions for successful knowledge transfer is especially important. The globalisation process in the Eastern bloc, which began in 1990, is a good example of knowledge transfer where the mutual meaning creation played a crucial role. This case study illustrates the process of international knowledge transfer between Western Europe and an emerging economy using the example of DAK Corporation and quality transfer to Poland. The case is especially useful for undergraduate and postgraduate students, including MBA students, studying general management as well as more specialised courses stemming from international management, for example, cross-cultural management and organisational behaviour. Since the material focuses on people management and development as well as organisational culture creation, current and future practitioners from the human resources department will find it particularly useful. Students considering a career in a multinational company can also use this case in their preparation for the challenges of operating in a global business environment.

These include: understanding of the process of international and cross-cultural knowledge transfer; identification of key cultural and organisational factors contributing to the success of international knowledge transfer; understanding of the organisational culture creation process; and exploration of the process of new staff development and training.

Teaching notes are available.

The ABB (A) case describes the situation leading up to a decision that has to be made concerning closing a manufacturing subsidiary of ABB and moving its operations to Thailand. The Plant/subsidiary manager is placed in a conflict position regarding this decision due to the matrix form of management structure employed by the parent ABB. His direct line manager in charge of the global product line wants the move to take place. He has the support of his supervisor, who sits on the Executive Committee of the parent company. The ABB Country Manager for Denmark wants the plant to stay where it is. The subsidiary manager also reports to him, as part of the matrix structure. The subsidiary manager has recently been promoted to his new position, with the support of the Country Manager. The previous subsidiary manager had been promoted to head up a larger, Danish subsidiary of ABB. The previous year, the Country Manager and the previous subsidiary manager had managed to over rule the same request, in no small part, due to their connections within ABB as well as within Denmark. The new subsidiary manager needs to make a recommendation as to what should be done. The ABB Transformers (A) case can be used separately, or in conjunction with the (B) case.

The (B) case follows up on the (A) case. The decision was made to leave the plant in Denmark. It was revisited one year later, and the subsidiary manager is in even more of a quandary. The former Country Manager has been promoted to the Executive Committee of ABB. At a meeting of the new Country manager (not previously from within ABB), the Product Manager, his supervisor from the Executive Committee, the former Country Manager, and the subsidiary manager, the discussion is primarily between the new Country Manager and the Product Supervising Executive Committee Member, who has also been given added responsibility for all of Asia and the Pacific region. The former Country Manager, now responsible for European operations, remains quiet during the discussions. He later notes that this is a relatively small decision in the context of European operations. The subsidiary manager still needs to make a decision, but is now unsure of what has happened during the past year to allow this issue to be raised for the third time. The (B) case can be used to demonstrate how politics, promotions, and transfers can radically alter the environment within the context of a strategic decision. The focus is now on organization culture and power, and on the problems of operating within a matrix structure. The (B) case should be used in combination with the (A) case.

What started as a FMCG distributor in 1967 in Kenya as Export Finance Company, is now a dynamic global conglomerate across 48 countries and 5 continents — Export Trading Group. ETG was taken over by the then CFO Mahesh Patel after exit of the founding stakeholders. It was then when the company shifted its focus to being a key regional player. In the next 35 years, the company grew systematically. Business focus evolved when Patel saw an opportunity in logistics in remote sub-Saharan Africa. This was followed by business expansion with supply chain diversification and significant infrastructure investments. All the different businesses amalgamated under a single group for better operations and ease of scaling up. They were later divided into six separate verticals for better management. Vamara (FMCG vertical) was launched in 2018 as the company moved towards digitalisation — externally and internally. ETG plans to focus on new business opportunities and continue to diversify across geographies and portfolios.

International management strategy.

Graduate and upper undergraduate classes.

This case deals with an information technology (IT) outsourcing company based in Egypt which has ventured into the international market right from the start without establishing itself first in the local market. Its record of success was due largely to a group of young Egyptian entrepreneurs with an international orientation. Their strongly held values were translated into an organizational culture that was manifested in the company's relationships with its clients, whether multinational companies or regional governments. This mutual trust has generated work through referrals and has saved the company the need, at least initially, to adopt a proactive marketing strategy. In addition to culture the company's structure has shown considerable agility in dealing with the unexpected demands from clients through developing strong functional departments supported by numerous cross-functional teams. The case also presents the development of the human resource function which is considered the backbone of IT outsourcing companies.

Students are expected to learn the following: internationalization of business start ups in developing nations can take place even in the face of limitations of the local markets; the importance of leadership and culture in fostering trusting relationships with clients; the need to constantly reconfigure resources to meet challenges of competition and the needs of clients; the viability of a defensive strategy for newly established companies if supplemented by trusting relationships with clients; and the role of an evolving structure to fit the growth stages of the company.

Teaching note.

The case was developed from secondary sources and interviews with a security analyst. The secondary sources include company annual reports, news reports, analyst reports, industry reports, company websites, stock exchange websites and databases such as Bloomberg and CMIE Prowess.

Increasing competition in product and capital markets has put tremendous pressure on managers to become more cost competitive. To address their firms' uncompetitive cost structures, managers may have to consider dramatic restructuring of their businesses. During 2014–2017, Tata Steel Ltd (TSL) UK considered a series of divestitures and a merger plan to nurse the company back to health. The case considers the economics of the restructuring plan. The case is designed to help students analyze a corporate downsizing program undertaken by a large Indian company in the UK and to highlight the dynamic role of the CFO and governance issues in family firms. It introduces students to issues surrounding a typical restructuring and provides students a platform to practice the estimation of value creation in a restructuring exercise. While some cases on corporate restructuring in the context of developed economies are available, there are very few cases written in an emerging market context. This case bridges that gap. TSL presents a unique opportunity to study corporate restructuring necessitated by a failed cross-border acquisition. It illustrates the potential for value loss in large, cross-border acquisitions. It shows how managerial hubris can prompt family firm owners to overbid in acquisitions and create legacy hot spots. In addition, the case can be used to discuss the causes of governance failures such as weak institutional monitoring and poor legal enforcement in emerging markets that could potentially harm minority shareholders.

The case was developed from secondary sources and interviews with a security analyst. The secondary sources include company annual reports, news reports, analyst reports, industry reports, company websites, stock exchange websites and databases such as Bloomberg and CMIE Prowess.