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Post-graduation.

Strategic Management and Entrepreneurship.

By July 2021, the curve of COVID-19 second wave started flattening. Hetika Shah, the founder of Sanctuary Innovative Safety Equipment, was unsure whether her business would survive in the long run. The company manufactured 4S Shield N99 masks. The business was doing well when the COVID curve was at its peak; however, the sales wobbled with the flattening of the curve. As the company had manufactured the product, especially for doctors who need protection from COVID, the demand showed a sudden fall after the second wave. She was certain that the business would not survive only on 4S shield mask. Diversification of this business seemed to be a suitable idea, where she could manufacture other safety equipment for the manufacturing industry. At that time, she had neither done market research nor had any prototype for such equipment. This variety of products required a huge investment of funds and time. But, as per the market demand of the existing product, it was crucial to make quick decisions for business survival. She had options in front of her, but the uncertainty of the market deterred the decision-making. She was at a junction with three possible choices: One option was to stay in the business of masks and expand it in medical devices market under health-care industry. The masks could be used by doctors engaged in the treatment of other diseases. She planned to distribute masks to doctors treating tuberculosis and cancer. Another option was to shift her attention to diversification of the business and enter the market of safety equipment under manufacturing industry that demanded more investment and a lot of market research. The main idea was to come up with innovative safety equipment. Though, this opportunity came with its array of risks. The last option was to shift towards her underdeveloped chiller prototype for industrial use. By that time, the prototype was 75% complete. Still, it required a lot more time and attention to be brought at the commercializing stage.

The case study can be used in the Entrepreneurship and Strategic Management course. It would be suitable for students at the post-graduation level. Discussion would be on the appropriate teaching method. Though there is no prerequisite, it would be better if students had a basic understanding of entrepreneurship and strategic management. It discusses the entrepreneurial dilemma of starting a business. Furthermore, the case explains the decision dilemma of the entrepreneur about the continuance of existing business, expansion and diversification. Students will be able to understand the following concepts: business plan, business development, strategic decision-making in business, entrepreneurial opportunities, sustainability of an enterprise and challenges faced by entrepreneurs. After this case study, students will be able to understand the following models and theories: uncertainty-bearing theory of entrepreneurship, porter’s generic strategy, porter’s five competitive forces, strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats (SWOT) analysis, scenario planning, Ansoff’s growth model and social role theory.

Teaching Notes are available for educators only.

Women entrepreneurship.

CSS 3: Entrepreneurship.

After reading and analyzing the case study, the students would be able to identify the main stakeholders and decision-makers and their importance and influence on the environment for a product, evaluate the value chain of the product and critical decision-makers, evaluate the various ways to avoid falling into the trap of greenwashing and examine the marketing strategy to market an environmentally friendly product.

LIKO-S is a Czech manufacturing and construction company. The company has been designing and creating intelligent solutions, such as green facades or vertical greenery systems, to save energy in building heating and cooling systems. The company launched green facades in the Czech market. However, the main obstacle was the need for supporting data to showcase the positive environmental impact of green facades. Under these circumstances, Libor Musil’s main objective was to overcome prevalent misconceptions about green facades and find a suitable market segment. The situation worried the company, as LIKO-S had heavily invested in developing and marketing the green walls. The management had to tackle this challenge as soon as possible to recover the substantial research and development and marketing investments. Furthermore, owing to lack of information, even genuinely sustainable products were seen as greenwashing. In addition, bad or wrong customer perceptions of these walls might spill over to other products, tarnishing the company’s image and threatening its survival in the domestic market. Under these circumstances, competitors might enter the Czech market, jeopardizing the company’s overall profits. Consequently, Libor was in a great dilemma about managing the financial and reputational risk of the company. Should Libor close the green walls unit, explore different markets/uses or help increase awareness among the general population about green walls by finding a suitable marketing strategy?

The case study was designed for graduate-level students in the strategic management (CSR and innovation module) courses. However, the case could also be an excellent addition to marketing courses dealing with customers’ perceptions of innovative products and strategies to improve the adoption of the product.

Teaching notes are available for educators only.

CSS 3: Entrepreneurship

Cummins Generator Technologies India Limited (CGTIL) was in the process of setting up a world-class factory at Ranjangaon based on “lean” production principles. The project team, however, went a step ahead and married “green” with “lean”. While lean is about taking the system inefficiencies out, the green is about harmony with nature. The case is about CGTIL's journey of deriving synergies between seemingly conflicting objectives of lean and green.