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Leadership and Health Care management and Organisational Development and Talent Management.

Postgraduate level for honours or master’s programs in courses on public health, executive leadership and management, organisational development and public administration leadership.

The case study offers an account of Ms Xolani Ngumi’s Chief Director, Enola District Health Services, South Africa, who was driving from her newly constructed modern district hospital to one of the municipal clinics that she was overseeing. It highlights the dilemma of the general practitioners (GP’s) that refused to be relocated, leading to many clinics being without clinical support.

Expected learning outcomes are as follows: Identification of stakeholders in a particular dilemma to aid leaders’ decision-making; developing the competence of balancing conflicting needs of stakeholders by juggling complex systems; and analysing staffing issues and offer recommendations to enhance talent 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.

CSS 7: Management Science.

Business/technology strategy. The purpose of the case is to enable the students to understand the following: how technology implementation can change the face of business like cab service? How information technology deployment can influence competition? How investment in company's IT infrastructure affects the bottom line?

The case can be discussed at Master of Business Administration (MBA)/Post Graduate Diploma in Business Administration (PGDBA) level students as well as executive education program. It is aimed at graduate level and postgraduate level management courses such as management information systems, strategic information systems, and technology management.

Meru Cabs, started in April 2007 at Mumbai, was one of the firsts to provide “radio taxi” service in India. Meru Cabs delivers a reliable taxi service by concentrating on three C's, namely customer, call centre and chauffeur. Much of its growth can be attributed to successful deployment of the technology. This case presents the growth of Meru Cabs and how it has differentiated itself by utilizing the technology to attain market leader position in the four cities – Mumbai, Delhi, Hyderabad and Bangalore, where it operates. Also the case discusses about the future of cab service in general and what it has in store for Meru Cabs. With the flurry of cabs service coming up in every city and the competition getting intense, the case put forth the opportunities and challenges existing for cab companies in general and Meru Cabs in particular.

To enable the students to understand that technology is a strategic tool: to enhance customer relationship, to manage business operations, to achieve sustained competitive advantage and that forms an integral part of company's growth and/or expansion strategy.

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

This case study outlines the strategic and organisational issues faced by an entrepreneurial firm operating in an emerging economy. This case study has been written to equip students with how entrepreneurs can overcome certain barriers and use technology to achieve product–market fit, taking the Indian laundry sector as an example. The following are the key learnings for the case: start-ups need to continuously assess the product–market fit to organise a highly unorganised sector; market entry and expansion modes require proper evaluation of available entry and expansion modes before pursual; franchising decisions require firm-specific and location-specific considerations; and careful consideration given to celebrity endorsement will result in increased sales.

The Indian laundry market was a highly unorganised market and presented an untapped opportunity. While the market opportunity was enormous, the existing solutions comprised local vendors that may not provide end-to-end services (washing, ironing, etc.). The case study described how a young entrepreneur, Arunabh Sinha, overcame certain challenges to achieve a product–market fit for metro cities and later expanded to Tier 2 and Tier 3 cities in India as well. However, the challenges remained, as the firm expanded by using a franchise model, and other modes of business were required to be evaluated as well.

The case study is suitable for students pursuing MBA courses in marketing, service marketing and entrepreneurship development.

Teaching notes are available for educators only.

CSS3: Entrepreneurship.

This paper aims to first, identify the external and internal factors that a company needs to analyze when formulating its digital platform strategy. Based on the framework of PESTNPG (political economic social and culture technological population and globalization) and internal analysis a company should analyze both internal and external factors to formulate its digital platform strategy. For companies from emerging markets the institutional-based market created by national or local governments is important for digital platform strategy. Second dynamic capability theory and its linkages to digital platform strategy. The dynamic capabilities view is considered as a primary theoretical lens in the strategy literature to analyze a company’s strategies to achieve sustainable competitive advantages. To carry out a successful digital platform strategy companies need to build strong dynamic capabilities to capture or create opportunities and reconfigure their resources simultaneously. Third the advantages and disadvantages of different digital platform strategies (i.e. an independent digital platform and online–offline integration platform) and the possible consequences and risks of different strategies. It is important to evaluate different types of digital platform strategies that require different capabilities in terms of business structure product structure revenue structure organizational structure and technology architecture. A company needs to link these capabilities to a digital platform strategy to enable the integration (or separation) of online business with offline business. It also increases the accuracy and efficiency of online business. Fourth key points of digital platform strategy implementation. Companies need to identify key profit models for their digital platform to promote business growth and financial returns. It is equally important to increase customer value by leveraging its digital exhibition platform and to learn to use digital technology to foster organizational dematerialization.

Zhejiang Meorient Commerce & Exhibition Inc. (hereinafter referred to as “Meorient”) was a leading company in the exhibition industry in China. The unexpected outbreak of COVID-19 plunged Meorient into a state of emergency that forced it to fight for survival. Further, China had launched a national strategy of Digital China, which created new market opportunities for Meorient. As a result, Meorient gradually developed and launched its digital exhibition services in 2015. Meorient suffered significant losses in 2020 due to COVID-19 and had to formulate a new strategy based on a digital exhibition platform in 2021. Chairman Pan Jianjun had two options. One was a purely digital platform strategy without the original offline exhibition business. The other one was an online and offline integration strategy. Which option was the best way forward for Meorient? Pan had to make a choice. Some of the top management team members believed Meorient should completely transform into a digital platform company and provide comprehensive online digital exhibition services. Over the previous 20 years, Meorient had accumulated a large amount of data from domestic and foreign exhibitors and professional buyers and had gradually developed a digital exhibition platform. It was one of the companies that pioneered digital transformation within China’s exhibition industry. More conservative thinking held that Meorient's strategy should focus more narrowly on the integration of online and offline exhibition businesses. Toward the post-pandemic era, China’s national strategy of “Digital China” accelerated the development of digital infrastructures. During such critical transitional period, Meorient had to choose wisely if it was to sustain its profits or even survive.

The case is aimed at students in undergraduate, MBA, short course executive, EMBA or other executive education programs, especially where digital transformation is featured subject matter.

Teaching notes are available for educators only.

CSS 11: Strategy

This case is appropriate for entrepreneurship courses where the topics are generation of business model, business model innovation and shared value. It can be used at undergraduate and graduate levels.

This case addresses the challenges that Mejor en Bici (in English: Best by Bike), a start-up that promotes mobility by bicycle, had to face from 2010 to 2015 at the level of its business model and generation of shared value. The case narrates the main achievements and obstacles in this path of entrepreneurship and how, through this process, a business model should be designed that allows strategic decisions to be taken to achieve sustained growth. In addition, this case examines how from early stages in entrepreneurship it is possible to generate shared value as a strategic component.

• Identify and present the value proposition of Mejor en Bici to understand where a business model starts.

• Design and evaluate the business model of Mejor en Bici from an innovation perspective.

• Apply the concept of shared value in the generation of a business proposal for Mejor en Bici based on their business model.

Identify and present the value proposition of Mejor en Bici to understand where a business model starts.

Design and evaluate the business model of Mejor en Bici from an innovation perspective.

Apply the concept of shared value in the generation of a business proposal for Mejor en Bici based on their business model.

• Osterwalder, A., & Pigneur, Y. (2010). Business model generation: a handbook for visionaries, game changers and challengers. John Wiley & Sons. Pages: 14-44; 56-108; 244-262.

• Porter, M. E. and Kramer, M. R. (2011). The big idea: Creating shared value. Harvard Business Review, 89, 1-18.

• Amit, R. and Zott, C. (2012). Creating value through business model innovation. MIT Sloan Management Review, 53, 40-59.

Osterwalder, A., & Pigneur, Y. (2010). Business model generation: a handbook for visionaries, game changers and challengers. John Wiley & Sons. Pages: 14-44; 56-108; 244-262.

Porter, M. E. and Kramer, M. R. (2011). The big idea: Creating shared value. Harvard Business Review, 89, 1-18.

Amit, R. and Zott, C. (2012). Creating value through business model innovation. MIT Sloan Management Review, 53, 40-59.

The social implication of this case lies in the motivation and guidance that potential entrepreneurs and students who analyze this case will receive. They can learn from a successful but complex experience how to start a business in a sustainable and responsible way.

CSS 3: Entrepreneurship

The learning outcomes of this study are as follows:▪ to analyze service attributes that influence customers’ decisions to purchase services;▪ to identify the factors that influence customers’ perceptions of service quality;▪ to identify the “moments of truth” that the service provider (IndiGo) would need to monitor and manage through the service encounter; and▪ to use the Servuction model to analyze the various elements of the service process.

In May 2022, the chief executive officer of IndiGo Airlines - India’s largest passenger airline by market share, Ronojoy Dutta, faced flak over the airline staff's handling of a specially abled child travelling with his parents on IndiGo Airlines. The staff member, reacting to the tantrums of the disturbed child, had refused to allow the boy and his parents to board the flight. He had cited the “risk to other passengers” from the boy as the reason for such a refusal (Biswas, 2022). In spite of the boy’s parents being supported by their fellow passengers, the IndiGo staff member refused to relent, and the flight took off without the trio (Firstpost, 2022). The incident goes viral when a fellow flyer shares a Facebook post describing it first-hand and provokes widespread condemnation of the nation's “preferred airline” (IndiGo, 2023) by citizens and politicians on various social media platforms besides Facebook (Gupta, 2022). Dutta initially supports his employee even as he issues a statement expressing his regret at the “unfortunate incident” (Business Standard, 2022a). The regulatory body for aviation in India, the Directorate General of Civil Aviation, imposes a fine of INR 5 lakh on IndiGo for denying boarding to a specially abled child (Indian Express, 2022). How could an incident like this impact the perception of IndiGo’s service quality? How could Dutta better ensure that IndiGo managed the various touch points with the customer over the entire service encounter – the “moments of truth”? How could he prevent such a fiasco in the future, ensuring that IndiGo remains India’s “preferred airline”?

This case is intended to be taught in an undergraduate or MBA marketing course in a module on service marketing. The case can also form a 90-min module in a service marketing course within an advanced management or executive education program.

Teaching Notes are available for educators only.

CCS 8: Marketing.

This case study has been written to illustrate the basic difference between goods and services, the difficulties of customer education in a developing county and the transition from goods to goods-cum-services for a company.

This is an ideal case to be taught in the second class of service marketing at the BBA level and will highlight the differences between goods and services in the same company.

Haseen Habib is a company selling a combination of products and services in Pakistan. It is involved in the supply of fire protection equipment together with the provision of training and other facilities to enable organizations to take a proactive approach to disasters caused by fire and the appropriate response in case of a fire related disaster. This dimension of business is still in the infancy stage in Pakistan, and few people actually realize the need for fire protection services. Safety, risk management and risk prevention are often matters which take a backseat in the corporate, industrial, residential and commercial spheres. The emphasis is on dealing with the aftermath of events rather than to prepare them in advance. The company has a very clear vision and mindset which aims at taking a proactive approach toward managing and preventing risk. They are the pioneers of the safety industry in Pakistan and hold a strong work ethic. The company imports its equipment from the USA, China and Europe. Their target market mainly includes high risk sectors including oil and gas, chemicals, textiles, paint, nuclear and defense. The product portfolio included firefighting equipment like fire extinguishers, safety items which included head-to-toe safety attire for industrial workers and fire alarm systems including smoke detectors. The company also provides different levels and kinds of training and has experienced staff trained abroad in state-of-the-art techniques. However, in Pakistan, investment in risk management is often considered unnecessary, and in such a situation, imparting knowledge is a considerable challenge. The case can be used to study a number of topics. It can be used in a services marketing class to highlight the ways in which services marketing differs from conventional marketing of goods. It can also be used in disaster management courses or to reflect the status and position of developing countries, such as Pakistan, in dealing with unexpected disasters and catastrophes.

Following are the expected learning outcomes: to appreciate the difference between goods and services; to understand the issues in moving from a goods-oriented to a service-oriented company; to understand the challenges facing Haseen Habib in the context of customer education, keeping in mind it is functioning in an emerging marketing with a particular socio-cultural context; and to propose a way forward for Haseen Habib.

CSS 8: Marketing.

The case is positioned in the domain of building, managing and communicating corporate reputation. It discusses the entry of Lenovo in the Indian market where the company faced reputational challenges. Definition of a corporate reputation strategy which was aligned to the overall strategy of the company, helped Lenovo traverse difficult terrains. The case would be relevant for courses on corporate reputation, communication and strategy.

The case is targeted at MBA students, corporate and PR professionals. The case can be used for MBA courses or management development programmes on corporate reputation, communication, and strategy.

The case brings out key elements of entry into an emerging market flooded with international, well-positioned players and discusses the entry of Lenovo in the Indian market where the problem was compounded by perceptions of Chinese origin. How does Lenovo bring about a turnaround in positioning, building, communicating and managing reputation, how does it steer stakeholder opinion in its favour? Will Lenovo India be able to replicate the success model in China? The case presents the challenges and discusses the strategies adopted by Amar Babu, MD Lenovo to bring about a change in the existing perceptions of stakeholders.

To discuss strategies for building corporate reputation.

To critically examine and analyze the strategies adopted by Lenovo India to build reputation and gain market share.

To analyse links between strategy generation and reputation management.

Teaching notes are available, please consult your librarian to access these.

Paytm has become a popular method to make cashless payments in India. Be it for transferring funds through mobile numbers, online payment of utility bills, cabs, etc. or payment to offline merchants. This case elaborates on the position Paytm has attained in the market thus far and its ambitious future growth plans. It describes the strategies being adopted by Paytm’s competitors and the new developments in the payments business in India. The case finally narrates the challenges the Fintech firm faces at present and poses a pertinent question: is Paytm on a growth trajectory or committing suicide by leaping so fast?

The case collates secondary data pertaining to Paytm’s current position and recent developments in the Indian mobile wallet industry. It presents the facts and data published on websites, newspapers, and magazines in the form of a case study.

This case can be applied to strategic management at under graduate and introductory level in post-graduate marketing of digital products.

Marketing Strategy, International Marketing.

MBA Course Core course of Marketing Management. Specialization courses in Services marketing, Marketing Management, Retail Management. Executive training workshops on strategy formulations. Faculty development workshops on teaching pedagogy through cases. Capstone courses.

The case talks about the declining share of Nokia globally, which affected Midcom's business. Despite this downfall, Midcom had maintained a majority share in the market. For now, the Middle East and Africa region was least effected by the global market share drop of Nokia, but Nokia's dropping market share was one of the threats Midcom might face in Africa. The segment where Android and BlackBerry Messenger (BBM) had hit Nokia was a minority stake holder in Nokia's share in Africa. The market itself was growing, but there was stiff competition from brands such as Samsung, Tecno, HTC, Apple and other Chinese brands. The case revolves around the strategies adopted by Midcom to maintain its leadership in the market to avoid the threats from its competitors.

The case seeks an intensive reading, research and a stimulating in-class discussion on implementing marketing strategy mixed with creating experience in the service industry with special focus on the telecom industry. The case is also open to other angles as per the other intents and context of the course and course instructor. Some of the learning outcomes from the case will be in the area of: customer satisfaction, distribution management, market leadership, retailing, competitive strategies in marketing and international marketing.

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 8: Marketing