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South Africa had formally introduced a policy of inflation targeting (IT) in February 2000. By December 2001, the governor of the South African Reserve Bank, after reading the latest statistics, was concerned with the disappointing economic data. Economic activity had slowed drastically, to the point that the country appeared to be heading for a recession. The gloomy statistics forced the governor to consider whether the country had pursued the right policy. Persistently high unemployment, one legacy of the apartheid era, meant that South Africa did not have the luxury of waiting for new policies to bear fruit. With the inflation forecast to exceed the mandated target, the governor would have to tighten monetary policy, which would further restrict investment. Was it is time for South Africa to change course?

Anhui Winall Hi-Tech Seed Co., Ltd., a high-tech seed enterprise integrating crop seed research, production, processing and marketing at home and abroad, is the first seed company listed on GEM in China. Its main business is research and development, breeding and marketing of seeds of hybrid rice, edible rape, cotton, melon and vegetable, with hybrid rice as its leading product. In terms of business model, Winall Hi-tech is engaged in procurement, production, sales and promotion of modified varieties and after-sales service. However, Winall Hi-tech also has to face a few potential problems.

As an Internet fashion brand, HSTYLE has developed into an Internet enterprise with annual sales of 1.5 billion RMB within 10 years, establishing its position as the top industry performer in China. This case studies HSTYLES' innovation in business model and organizational management. HSTYLE's workgroups have achieved the balance of responsibilities and rights in a small team of three members at minimum, while mobilizing the enthusiasm and initiative of the line managers with the support of public service sector. At the same time, HSTYLE enriches its brand style, establishes a fashion cloud platform, and integrates individual and organizational consumers into its existing fashion design, manufacturing and sales system.

Teaching objective 1: To flourish and explore the current business model to get socioeconomic benefits from organic farming compared to conventional farming; in the context of hill farming. Teaching objective 2: To explore and design innovative entrepreneurship opportunities in the field of organic farming and how these opportunities can be seized by using managerial skills. Teaching objective 3: To analyze the economic benefits of organic farming compared to conventional farming.

Manj Gaon is a small village in the Tehri Garhwal district of Uttarakhand. This village serves as the Uttarakhand Organic Commodity Board’s training facility. Organic farming was the primary source of income for farmers in the late 1970s, but the Green Revolution in India had a negative impact on agriculture, the environment and the economy of the country. After the Green Revolution, the agriculture sector was completely dominated by conventional farming, and the use of chemical fertilizers, pesticides and insecticides affected the village to some extent. But farmers like Bhagchand Ramola paved the way for other farmers to grow and shine through organic farming. The organic farming model developed by Ramola was helping farmers and society in several aspects, such as the economy, health and the environment. A self-developed organic farming model had been generating fair revenue for the farmers and uplifting their socioeconomic status as compared to conventional farming. Complete adoption of organic farming in the village requires an analysis in terms of sustainable economic growth. However, there was a certain dilemma that was stifling the growth of the newly adopted business model because farmers were dependent only on Japanese buyers and input providers. So, there was a huge need to tie up with other consulates across the country. Secondly, expanding a business model requires more input and output in terms of manpower and revenue, so persuading conventional farmers to adopt the organic farming model was quite a challenge for Ramola.

The case can be taught to the MBA-level students.

Teaching notes are available for educators only.

CSS 11: Strategy.

The learning objectives are intended to stimulate the students’ comprehension of the various challenges faced by Indian startups in the digital ecosystem. With the changing working dynamics in organizations around the globe, managers are expected to explore unconventional business models to facilitate operational growth. The case study is a valuable resource for graduate students to enhance and evolve their critical thinking and solution-oriented skills as forthcoming managers of digital businesses. Students should be able to analyze the case, respond to the questions and evaluate the consequences of workplace flexibility, moonlighting and its applicability in an organizational context. With the Indian Government introducing schemes such as the Digital India initiative and Startup India, it is predicted that numerous startups will opt for digital business standards and a remote work approach. The case bridges classroom theories and a real-life digital company to help students connect with emerging market scenarios.

During the digital era, India witnessed a shift in companies’ work culture, which amplified when COVID-19 hit the country. Organizations started to work remotely and experienced the numerous benefits it brought. The comfort of working from home was greater for digital businesses whose significant operations could be performed online. However, is it really that productive for digital companies to telecommute? The case illustrates how a digital company, Career Pandit, formed in 2018, unfurls and expands its business and further highlights the challenges the pandemic raised concerning people management. In addition to the discussion, the purpose of the case is to determine the implication of workplace flexibility and moonlighting and how Indian startups cope with the uncertain future challenges it brings.

Under graduate and postgraduate students.

Teaching notes are available for educators only.

CSS 6: Human Resource Management.

LifeBank is primarily focused on tackling the challenge of maternal mortality in Nigeria and other African countries by providing women access to blood, thereby tackling the challenge of gender inequality. The company employed both men and women at its workplace providing equal opportunities for men and women.

Discuss how women entrepreneurs are solving social problems in developing countries using technology and innovation.

Analyze the challenges faced by women entrepreneurs in getting the right human capital, raising funds and managing growth for their social business.

The case discusses how social entrepreneur Temie Giwa-Tubosun (Temie) founded LifeBank, a medical distribution company, to provide access to blood, medical oxygen and vaccines to hospitals in Nigeria. The company used technology to provide information to health providers about which blood bank stored the blood type they needed and delivered it quickly and safely to help save lives.

Teaching notes are available for educators only.

CSS 3: Entrepreneurship.

This case study aims to understand the criticalities of hiring in a knowledge-based start-up; the various ways of retaining talent in a knowledge-based start-up; the competency requirements of human resource professionals in start-up organizations; the trade-off between business profitability and the R&D drive of the company; and the various organizational structures available for a knowledge-based start-up.

Ayush Jain, a first-generation entrepreneur, is facing a challenge with his start-up, TechShlok. TechShlok is an IT solution provider with its headquarters in Jaipur, India. The company is doing very well and is able to achieve many accolades. As the company grows in business and employee strength, it is facing talent acquisition and retention challenges. Ayush is in a fix to solve the talent issue and retain the key talent of the organization.

The case can be taught in a Human Resource Management course, including “talent management” and “human resource planning”. The case may be taught at upper undergraduate levels. It can also be taught in courses of entrepreneurship and knowledge-based start-ups.

Teaching notes are available for educators only.

CSS 11: Strategy.

1. Analyze the concept of disruptive change and its impact on organizational learning and development; 2. Develop the ability to identify and implement effective behavioral training interventions; 3. Understand the learning and development process; 4. Evaluate the challenges associated with online learning and explore strategies to overcome them; and 5. Recognize the significance of online learning in the current era and acquire knowledge and skills using online tools and applications for different job roles.

This case focuses on the new challenges that Shazia Zaheer, who is Head of the Learning and Development Department, is experiencing as a consequences of COVID-19 in her department. As her learning and development department has been focused primarily on traditional learning modes since the inception of Pakistan Telecommunication Limited (PTCL), she is facing additional challenges in adopting online learning because PTCL has undergone significant structural change. Since 1947, PTCL has been a state-owned enterprise. In 2005, the Pakistan Government privatized PTCL. This privatization resulted in numerous structural changes in management, hierarchy, chain of command, pay structure, product lines, technology and other factors. Employees were reduced from 90,000 to 23,000 as part of a volunteer separation plan, and a new scheme was introduced to streamline the process and improve efficiency. However, the employees at PTCL reacted to this transformation with union strikes and behavioral changes. Hence, this became a daunting challenge for Shazia Zaheer to change employees’ mindsets and instill corporate culture values. Nonetheless, she successfully won the half battle by changing the mindset of employees, and then she faced another challenge, COVID-19. This new normal brought new challenges for Shazia to implement online learning as her department relies solely on traditional modes of learning (classroom-based learning).

This case will be a good teaching aid if included in any courses on “Training and Development,” “Human Resource Management,” “Change Management” and “Online Learning” It would be better at the undergraduate (specialization courses) or graduate level.

Teaching notes are available for educators only.

CSS 6: Human Resource Management.

This case is designed to enable students to understand the role of women in artificial intelligence (AI); understand the importance of ethics and diversity in the AI field; discuss the ethical issues of AI; study the implications of unethical AI; examine the dark side of corporate-backed AI research and the difficult relationship between corporate interests and AI ethics research; understand the role played by Gebru in promoting diversity and ethics in AI; and explore how Gebru can attract more women researchers in AI and lead the movement toward inclusive and equitable technology.

The case discusses how Timnit Gebru (She), a prominent AI researcher and former co-lead of the Ethical AI research team at Google, is leading the way in promoting diversity, inclusion and ethics in AI. Gebru, one of the most high-profile black women researchers, is an influential voice in the emerging field of ethical AI, which identifies issues based on bias, fairness, and responsibility. Gebru was fired from Google in December 2020 after the company asked her to retract a research paper she had co-authored about the pitfalls of large language models and embedded racial and gender bias in AI. While Google maintained that Gebru had resigned, she said she had been fired from her job after she had raised issues of discrimination in the workplace and drawn attention to bias in AI. In early December 2021, a year after being ousted from Google, Gebru launched an independent community-driven AI research organization called Distributed Artificial Intelligence Research (DAIR) to develop ethical AI, counter the influence of Big Tech in research and development of AI and increase the presence and inclusion of black researchers in the field of AI. The case discusses Gebru’s journey in creating DAIR, the goals of the organization and some of the challenges she could face along the way. As Gebru seeks to increase diversity in the field of AI and reduce the negative impacts of bias in the training data used in AI models, the challenges before her would be to develop a sustainable revenue model for DAIR, influence AI policies and practices inside Big Tech companies from the outside, inspire and encourage more women to enter the AI field and build a decentralized base of AI expertise.

This case is meant for MBA students.

Teaching Notes are available for educators only.

CCS 11: Strategy

Aries Agro, an agribusiness firm, faced two prime challenges – the safety and productivity of its workers. When traditional software systems fell short of addressing these challenges, the firm contemplated the implementation of an IoT (Internet of things) based solution. This IoT based solution captures the movement of workmen and generates data from the sensors that help identify sources of inefficiency. In this case, we not only discuss the implementation challenges of an IoT based implementation but also how this solution can help to promote safety among the workmen and improve worker productivity by optimising facility layout.