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At what point in the tepid recovery from the global financial crisis should the Fed take a major step in normalizing U.S. monetary policy by greatly reducing its holdings of U.S. Treasury bonds? Federal Reserve Board Chairman Ben Bernanke faced this question in Spring 2012, even as he was concerned that the U.S. economy was on weaker footing than many believed. Suitable for both core and elective MBA courses in global financial markets and international finance, this case examines the risks associated with a policy some would consider monetizing the budget deficit. Students consider the factors behind the current and prospective levels of U.S. long-term interest rates from Bernanke's perspective.

This case study intends to add knowledge and understanding of supply chain management particularly with respect to international logistics.

The case study can be used in both undergraduate and postgraduate levels. Students pursuing Master of Science in Logistics, Supply Chain Management and those doing bachelor degrees in the same areas can have a better insight and special interest of the case. Professional boards may also use the case to empirically make students understand this area.

The railway sub-sector in East Africa – Tanzania in particular – is an important transport mode but has a declining performance. The market share is estimated at only 4 percent of the freight market. Still knowledge about traffic, particularly for freight, is scant. The main dilemma is whether traffic of the central corridor is more intra- or inter-Tanzania. The case studies techniques appropriate for meaningful traffic forecasting and through a simple regression model it resolves the freight conflicts between Kenya rail and the Central Corridor. It provides students with applied traffic forecasting tools.

The case focuses on techniques of traffic forecasting, development of traffic scenarios and on issues related to intermodal transport especially between road, rail and ocean. At the end of using this Case students should be able to: explain the methods, techniques and models used in traffic forecasting; understand intermodal linkages in international Logistics; use different approaches to make logistics market assessment; and forecast traffic in all modes using different scenarios.

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.

Upon completion of this case study, students will be able to analyze the interplay between small business growth and innovation in sustainable entrepreneurial success; evaluate factors influencing the adoption of technological innovations within startups; and decide on the optimal technological innovation for achieving sustainable growth in a startup.

This case study is about Liliana, a young Colombian entrepreneur. She had to decide how to innovate in her process of providing regulatory compliance and due diligence consulting services. According to Law 1778 of 2016, compliance and due diligence services became mandatory for companies with international operations in Colombia. Lemaître, Liliana’s venture, provided this service in an artisanal way. However, her market required the incorporation of technologies. Liliana must choose what to automate in her process and what to keep traditional. Not innovating meant Lemaître would be unable to grow, causing the sustainability of the business would to be at risk.

This case study is suitable for use for master of business administration students and in executive education short courses.

Teaching notes are available for educators only.

CSS 3: Entrepreneurship.

Recognize the interest groups of the business as stakeholders and shareholders. Understand the role of strategic corporate social responsibility (CSR) in attaining competitive advantage for the firm. Apply the techniques of financial statement analysis such as common-sized financial statements and ratio analysis. Analyze the overall financial position of the company such as its liquidity, solvency and profitability position. Evaluate the appropriateness of various CSR activities given the size of the company, its business model and financial position. Create a suitable CSR policy draft incorporating the critical elements of a CSR policy that enables the firm to operationalize it and fulfill the disclosure norms.

The management of Ball Industry Limited (BIL) had overlooked the mandatory requirement of CSR policy formulation. The company had not yet spent anything on CSR since the regulation had come into force. The company’s financial position was not healthy. Still, it fell under the regulatory clause as a borderline case and must spend 2% of its average three years’ profit on CSR activities. The company had previously ignored the requirement of formally drafting a CSR policy and deciding about the actions it might want to carry out. Now that the regulator had started sending show-cause notices to several companies who had not yet begun CSR, BIL was under immense time pressure to draft its CSR policy and initiate the relevant CSR activities. Emily, the chief operating officer of BIL, was assigned the task of preparing the blueprint of the CSR policy of the company and made it available for discussion in the upcoming meeting. The task at hand was to formulate a sound CSR policy under the constrained financial state considering its strategic planning, including the SWOT analysis, competitive environment and the overall general market and economic conditions. She submitted that rather than a vanilla CSR activity, strategic CSR would support the firm to differentiate itself from competitors. She was struggling to formulate a CSR strategy that could achieve both economic and social goals.

The case will be most suitable for use in undergraduate and graduate courses.

Teaching notes are available for educators only.

CSS 1: Accounting and finance.

The learning outcomes of the study are to analyze the launch of a new business line for Trend at the commercial and market levels; identify the potential of the green consumer in Peruvian emerging market; and apply strategic tools to analyze the viability of launching a new business line in a new market.

José Luis Galindo planned to launch a new line of toilets in the Peruvian market called EcoTrend, based on the analysis of the responsible consumption trend and the presence of a new green consumer. Therefore, he carried out a series of studies and estimates to define the feasibility of the value proposition of his ecological toilet. However, Galindo doubted if these studies and estimates were enough to carry out the launch and commercial success of the EcoTrend line. Galindo, founder and current general manager of a company called Cerámica Industrial Trend S.A.C, is broadly knowledgeable about the construction sector in Peru and has more than 30 years of work experience in the ceramic bathroom fixtures industry. Throughout his professional career, Galindo has managed three of the leading bathroom fixture companies in Peru. However, it was when he started Trend, a company focusing specifically on the manufacture of toilets, that his dream of becoming an entrepreneur came true. Trend is focused on its one-piece toilet line. These toilets are characterized by their high-quality workmanship, which is achieved through the efficient and distinctive production process of Trend’s workforce. The workforce stays on its toes due to constant, thorough training, a key to Trend’s market competitiveness. In addition, the new EcoTrend line sowed in Galindo uncertainty in the commercial viability because the product was new in the market and was going to bring a great challenge.

Depending on the scope of the course, different teaching objectives could be oriented toward entrepreneurship, management sciences, strategy and green marketing. The case can be used to teach higher level undergraduate marketing and management courses.

Teaching notes are available for educators only.

CSS 8: Marketing.

The subject area is marketing strategy.

The case is well suited for MBA and executive MBA class on retailing management, strategic management, marketing strategy and brand management.

Retailers see private label as a strategic weapon against brand manufacturer to increase store profitability, but looking at the private label from brand manufacturer’s perspective, determinants and strategic choices are even more complex than that of a retailer. The case is about MegaTex Ltd.’s strategic call for private label production opportunity by Maximus Fashion and Retail Limited. The case discusses the dilemma of MegaTex for manufacturing private label in spite of having their own brand in competition. The case compels to drive strategic questions such as in what circumstances brand manufacturers should concentrate on manufacturing their own brand or should they concentrate on both private label and their brand? Or, as an alternative, should they purely dedicate themselves in manufacturing private label and stop manufacturing their own brand?

Participants will be able to understand the concept and economics of private label. Participants will be able to understand the determinants and strategic choices for private label from retailer’s and manufacturer’s perspective. Participants will be able to understand the rationale for which brand manufacturer opts for manufacturing private label in spite of having its own brand in competition. Participants will be able to identify the situations under which a brand manufacturer should concentrate on manufacturing his/her own brand or both private label and his/her brand.

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.

CSS 11: Strategy.

Dick Mayo, one of the most celebrated value investors in America was puzzled by the New Economy's continuous bias toward growth investment strategies. He examines the basics of his philosophy versus that of a growth orientation by evaluating the long-term expected returns of several value and growth stocks. This case can be used to pursue several objectives: (1) to define value and growth investing-where the differences lie and whether one approach is superior to the other or whether both have merit; and (2) to discuss issues related to consistency of one's investment philosophy. Should one stay true to one's philosophy even when the market seems to run counter to it for a prolonged period of time? Can value investing deliver value in this New Economy or is it only an Old Economy concept? The students are instructed to perform basic valuations of Cisco Systems (a growth company), CVS, R.R. Donnelley, and Manor Care (value companies) and compute their long-term expected returns. The case comes with an Excel spreadsheet containing the data and relevant valuation ratios for the above firms. The valuations are straightforward, but they tell an interesting story: the expected returns of glamorous stocks in reality may not be so glamorous.

This introductory case considers the very sudden and large drop in market value of Oracle Systems' equity associated with two announcements in 1990. These announcements cause investors to revise their expectations about the future growth of Oracle Systems, perhaps the most rapidly growing U.S. corporation in the 1980s. The tasks for the student are to evaluate both the import of the announcements and the company's financial health. The case provides a first exercise in financial statement analysis and lays the foundation for two important financial themes: the concept of financial health and the financial economic definition of value and its determinants. The case also presents an interesting profile of an aggressive chief executive officer and suggests some potential unintended financial consequences of extreme aggressiveness.

By reviewing the case study, readers are expected to understand the constraints of competitive strategies in a shifting environmental landscape; the difficulties of foreign companies to sustain in an emerging market with government interventions; the subtlety of joint venture (JV) formation by partners with very divergent background, priority and agenda; evaluation of behavioural orientations of partnership and JV operational arrangements as determinants of a successful JV strategy.

High-tech companies can enjoy super profits from their products when only a few competitors can compete with them technologically. However, these companies also nurture a high-cost operational culture that sets a constraint for their further growth when superiority of the technology can no longer be maintained. High-tech companies may reposition their businesses with a strategic shift from differentiation strategy to cost focus strategy. The attendant shift as well as synchronization problem in an organization may require a larger effort to revamp. This case describes a global telecom infrastructure company with successful business performance in China in her early establishment with a pre-emptive technological edge. Mitigation of technological superiority and the rise of local competitors have forced the Company to opt for a cooperative strategy with a local player in the establishment of a low-cost joint venture. Does the new joint venture facilitate the strategic shift or just create an illusion of cooperation?

Undergraduate students and post graduate students taking strategic management course.

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.

Suning Group launched Suning.com when its chain stores were developing at the highest speed, realizing the transformation to an Internet retailer. Suning continued to follow the growth strategy of “Technological transformation and Smart Services”, and was renamed Suning Commerce Co. Ltd. It launched a business model of “e-commerce + stores + retail service providers”. Riding on the brand new O2O business model, Suning is thinking and practicing from simple donation to actual implementation, from constructing public welfare network to extending CSR ecosystem in a bid to advance towards deeper and more extensive Internet economy, and to create greater social value.