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This case will enable students to: understand reasons for mergers and acquisitions (M&A); identify and explain the risks associated with M&A and corresponding risk mitigation approaches; and decision-making on postmerger integrations.

The case discusses the integration dilemma around ChocoTravel’s M&A of Aviata. Both are among the largest online travel agencies in Kazakhstan. The acquisition of Aviata was not the first M&A deal for ChocoFamily – the Holding Company of ChocoTravel; however, it was the largest one. By combining their operations, ChocoTravel and Aviata together could capture 70% of the market share and become the market leader. Although the M&A had high potential toward superior business performance, it had significant risks. Threats of integration failures often make M&As fail. The management of ChocoTravel, therefore, had to consider several factors that could act as potential threats to post-M&A integration. First, each company had its own operating model and corporate culture. Second, both brands, ChocoTravel and Aviata, were well established and recognized in the market; each of them had its own loyal clients. Taking into account low switching costs to customers, the CEO of the new joint company needed to decide whether to integrate ChocoTravel and Aviata or keep them separate or even discontinue one. So, the important thing was not to disrupt operations and lose customers while introducing the post-M&A integration strategy. This case focuses on the challenges of post M&A integration.

The case targets last year’s bachelor’s students, Master of Business Administration/Master of Science students as part of the business strategy, marketing and branding and M&A classes. It allows students to have a broad in-class discussion and apply knowledge to make strategic management decisions in postmerger integration situations.

Teaching notes are available for educators only.

CSS 11: Strategy.

Services marketing, hotel management, branding, and promotion management.

Undergraduate business and management; MBA/MA management courses.

Banyan Tree Hotels and Resorts had become a leading player in the luxury resorts and spa market in Asia. As part of its growth strategy, Banyan Tree had launched new brands and brand extensions that included resorts, spas, retail outlets, and even museum shops. Now, the company had to contemplate how to manage its brand portfolio and expand its business while preserving the distinctive identity and strong brand image of Banyan Tree, its flagship brand.

This case illustrates how a powerful service brand can be built even with little advertising. It also exemplifies how pro-environmental business practices can co-exist with a firm's profit objectives. Set in a service context, the case may be used in discussions on services marketing, hotel management, branding, and promotion management.

Teaching notes

Upon completion of the case study, the students will be able to conceptualize the importance of brand differentiation; suggest the implications of brand differentiation in the context of the traditional Chikan art form; examine the aspect of a brand’s product portfolio management; and critically analyse the competitive advantages of the brand using the VRIO framework.

The Chikankari art form gained worldwide recognition. In fact, it also received a geographical indication (GI) tag which is important for international branding. The case is centred around an entrepreneur, Mr. Vinod Punjabi, who redefined the essence of the existing Chikan art form by value addition in terms of intricate designs, patterns and exclusivity. He founded the brand Ada in 2015 aimed at preserving the traditional art form while curating elegance and exclusivity in its product portfolio. The case outlined Punjabi’s journey. The protagonist carefully analysed the open and unorganized Chikankari market and adopted the strategy of brand differentiation to stand apart from the competitors. Punjabi’s daughter, the chief operations officer of Ada, described the aspects. The journey was arduous, but over the years, Ada emerged as a successful name in the Chikankari market. The brand’s intent of becoming synonymous with Chikankari was successful owing to its authentic and exclusive hand-crafted products in the competitive environment of machine-made replicas. Furthermore, the brand also consistently worked on the aesthetic appearance of its store to attract a wide range of customers. Punjabi ensured that the brand was an amalgamation of all the essential elements for its survival in the long run.

The case is aimed for students pursuing bachelor’s and master’s degrees in business administration/diploma in management, marketing and entrepreneurship. Furthermore, it will assist the management trainees in gaining valuable insights.

Teaching notes are available for educators only.

CSS 8: Marketing.

In the light of the case study and the accompanying case study questions, the incumbent would be able to gain a comprehensive understanding on the theoretical underpinnings of retail store expansion, identify the challenges for expanding a brand into emerging markets such as India and apply various marketing strategies aimed at in-depth analysis retail expansion. Learners can further comprehend the importance of brand communication incorporated by the brand to attract its customer subset.

It was in December 2022, when Mason Chatterjee, the Indian brand head of Armani Exchange (A|X), was confronted with the managerial dilemma whether launching the second store in the city of Ahmedabad would be a right decision. Another issue that was troubling him was how to go about launching a second store in a city which was not a home to other luxury sublabels. The case study illustrates the decisional aspect of retail expansion adopted by Chatterjee, considering the distinct managerial perspectives. Chatterjee found potential in the city of Ahmedabad, owing to an increased number of high-net-worth individuals and other macro factors. The case study is primarily an outcome of research carried out at A|X store at Ahmedabad One mall, Ahmedabad, for over a fortnight in the month of February 2023. The expansion decision of Chatterjee proved to be a success in the city of Ahmedabad reaching a sales figure of INR 1 crore (US$130,344.11) in the very first month of its launch. However, he was confronted with the managerial dilemma of further expansion, just six months after the launch of the latest expansion.

The case study is intended for advanced undergraduates or postgraduate programs in management or electives such as marketing, retail management and strategic management. It has not only been specifically designed for teaching the concept of retail expansion but can also be used to integrate contexts on brand’s merchandise mix, retail positioning, visual merchandising and brand communication. The case study has an overview of each of these elements. The instructor may choose them into the context for a wider encompassing detailed lesson or particularly on the main aspect of the case.

Teaching notes are available for educators only.

CSS8: Marketing

This case provides comprehensive coverage of a firm's decision to undertake an IPO and the process of going public. The case follows the sequence of events from the company's incorporation in 1999 through the completion of an IPO in September 2005. In addition to raising capital, the TRX IPO case also includes consideration of another motivation for going public. At the time of its incorporation in November 1999, TRX attempted to go public but in the ensuing dot-com collapse, the IPO was never completed. In response to the failed IPO, TRX president and CEO, Trip Davis, turned to strategic investors to raise $20 million in a note convertible into equity at $11 per share. Although Davis had hoped the strategic investors would provide guidance and business opportunities for TRX, they never materialized. By 2004, he had come to believe that the largest strategic investor, Sabre, Inc., was not working in TRX's best interest. Thus, the IPO is motivated by a twofold purpose: to raise money and to provide for a strategic reorganization of the firm's ownership structure.

Leadership, organizational behavior, entrepreneurship.

This case study is intended for undergraduate and graduate levels.

This is a leadership case about Agnes Jean Brugger, founder of the A.J. Brugger Education Project (also known as the A.J. Brugger Foundation (AJBF)) in San Juan del Sur, Nicaragua. It is the story of how and why she and Chris Berry co-founded this unique non-profit foundation in tandem with Piedras Y Olas: Pelican Eyes Resort (PEPO) in the late 1990s. The case focuses on how her identity and values shape the origins of AJBF and how the organization evolves in the context of the Nicaraguan and Anglo-American cultures. “Devoted to assisting Nicaragua through education and development of one of the country's most valuable and treasured resources: its young people”, the vision for AJBF was a cutting edge socially conscious venture that grew to meet the needs of the community that had captured Jean's heart and mind. The case ends in early 2009 on the precipice of the biggest economic down-turn the US economy has experienced in recent history. Standing at the edge of this cliff, Jean contemplates the numerous successful accomplishments of the foundation, while reflecting on the many leadership and organizational problems she, as Founder and Chair of the Board, faces.

The case will help participants to: evaluate and discuss leadership effectiveness, identifying responses to opportunities and challenges; explain cross-cultural identity from the Globe Study model and how it impacts organizational interactions; explore successful models of cross-cultural leadership through the lens of gendered theory; explore the ways in which social entrepreneurship can be seen as an extension of socially-minded leadership; describe how socially-minded entrepreneurship is different from traditional forms of entrepreneurship; describe social identity and evaluate its impact on leadership; and discuss the rich historical and community context that influences interpersonal and organizational dynamics.

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

The learning outcomes of this study are to recall the fundamental concept of revenue management in the hotel industry (remembering); explain the various performance measures used to evaluate room revenue in hotels (understanding); use revenue management strategies to improve room revenue in hotel operations (applying); and examine and evaluate the optimal solution for revenue enhancement, considering factors such as capacity management, duration control and differential pricing (analyzing).

This case study delves into the challenges faced by Hotel King’s Cross, a business hotel located in Pune, Maharashtra, in the year 2022. A week before Christmas Eve, Soham Dande, the hotel’s revenue manager, sought a meeting with Rohan Chopra, the director of sales and marketing, to discuss “revenue optimization for the hotel.”

During their meeting, Dande mentioned that the hotel had fallen behind its budgeted room sales targets for 2022 across various metrics, such as room booking nights, occupancy percentage, average room rate and revenue per available room. Furthermore, the hotel was trailing behind its competitors. The situation was compounded by the management’s decision to raise the targets for 2023 by 5%–7%, factoring in upcoming events, competitive performance and pandemic-related losses over the past two years. Chopra faced the dilemma of formulating an action plan to achieve the ambitious 2023 targets and establish Hotel King’s Cross as a market leader.

Students undertaking executive development programs and graduate-level courses in non-profit hospitality and tourism management, as well as revenue management courses in the executive MBA, management development and graduate MBA programs, may all benefit from this case study.

Teaching notes are available for educators only.

CSS12: Tourism and hospitality.

This is the first implementation of Revenue Management System in a major international hotel chain in India. The case describes the history of development, corporate story of overdrive for profit, system integration issues. It describes two components of a revenue management system, forecasting and optimization. It also raises several questions that need to be addressed before implementing a RMS.

Strategic management, system control management (balance score card).

Post graduate student, managers.

This case examines “Garuda Indonesia” the National Indonesia airline and its exceptional performance in recent years due to successful strategic decision making. This comprehensive case is structured in five parts highlighting: Garuda's recent success based on positive strategic management; Garuda's history and how it shaped its success against strong competition through effective leadership and the challenges it has overcome; an examination of the development within the Indonesian airline industry; a focused examination of strategic development with Garuda, including competition policy; operational planning and delivery; debt restructuring and product/service strategy; and an examination of the ongoing challenges, including governmental pressures and political maneuvering.

Students will identify opportunities and threats, including strategic issues derived from the external environment facing by Garuda Indonesia. Students will identify strengths and weaknesses from the internal environment faced by Garuda Indonesia. Students will develop strategic alternatives to inform business decisions. Students will give recommendations including priority planning for the next three to five years.

Teaching note.

On a fine afternoon in January 2015, Divakar Kaza, President, Human Resources, at Lupin Ltd., took a sip of coffee from his cup, and shared the good news he had just received, with Rituraj Sar, head of Learning & Development. Lupin had just won the ‘Outstanding Company of the Year’ Award at the CNBC-TV18 India Business Leadership Awards, 2014-15¹. The accomplishment was heartening, given that it reinforced similar recognitions in the recent past. Lupin had won the NDTV Business Leadership Award for the Indian Pharmaceutical Company of the year in 2012, backed up by the same acclaim in 2010 by Frost & Sullivan².