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For the design of this case study, the authors used primary sources of information from the shops visited by them in preparation of the case and website of Fred Perry and secondary sources of information from both academic and journalistic publications.

Fred Perry is a premium clothing brand, well-known for its polo shirts. It was created by Mr Fred Perry, a British tennis player. The brand’s stated values are integrity, personality and individuality. Throughout its history, the brand has been adopted by different British subcultures but recently it has faced a challenge because of the brand appropriation by the Proud Boys, a US far-right white supremacy group and other extremist groups as Antifa and hooligans. The nature and actions of the group mean that Fred Perry runs the risk of losing control over its brand equity. This brand hijack means that Fred Perry risks alienating some of its customers by openly opposing the group but also by embracing this subculture’s appropriation. Practically, the brand opposed the appropriation in a press release and by putting an end to the sale of the black and yellow polo shirts in the USA and Canada. Fred Perry has also made a lot of efforts to reposition the brand away from extremist groups while maintaining its strong historical and cultural roots. Through this case study, students will have the opportunity to discuss this topic and explore solutions for brands that face this type of dilemma.

This case is designed to be used in a marketing management, brand strategy or consumer behavior/culture course, especially in the subfield of market segmentation in the telecommunications sector. Specifically, this case is designed for college seniors or master students with basic strategic marketing training. This case will help students understand the difference between the brand identity that the brand owners intend and the brand image that consumers actually perceive. It provides the basis of discussions on the topics of brand management, consumer culture, consumers-brands relationships, brand architecture, brand equity, brand appropriation and repositioning strategy.

Brand strategy, marketing strategy, service marketing, hospitality management and international marketing strategy.

Post-graduate-level students; practitioners from the hospitality sector, brand management, corporate social responsibility (CSR) and the arts and culture field may also benefit from the case.

Jumeirah Group is a luxury hospitality company that is implementing a global brand strategy after developing a strong-regional reputation. Jumeirah's strong cultural alignment to its Dubai heritage in the form of its hallmarks and communication tag line “Stay Different” is being translated into events, activities, sponsorship and more importantly in terms of service to create a symbolic and experiential brand strategy. For Alice Royton, the Director of Branding for Jumeirah Group, the dilemma was how to maintain the thrust forwards as a top luxury brand and keep brand synergy especially as Jumeirah was increasing its portfolio and the competitive arena heats up in the international market place.

Creation of stakeholder value, brand strategy looking at various brand levels, using arts and culture as part of CSR initiative; communication strategy, emotional touch points and moment of truth as part of interactive service strategy; CRM and loyalty.

Teaching notes.

The subject area is retailing in the Indian business context.

The case is suitable for an MBA course on retail marketing. Positioning is that of an advanced elective, trying to educate, apply and synthesize the facets of learning, thinking and assimilating concepts with practicalities.

The case elucidates the trials and tribulations of Bharat Bazar, one of the top contenders in the Indian retail scene. It explores the journey of brand making and customer patronage. Under consideration is a set of options for the retailer's next stage of growth. While the decisions are not to be mutually exclusive, it is clear that the firm has neither the capacity to scale up without proper locations nor unlimited management resources for economic viability. The retailer naturally has to choose the best direction possible and dedicate all efforts to bring the firm to the next level of growth. The strategy has to be robust in any case.

The case will help students to: appreciate Indian macro retail variables; analyse business decisions of a retailer based on location, merchandise, and profitability; and explore future strategy options from the growth perspective as well as a socially responsible player.

Socially, the case is nourishing and enriching as it connotes not only a wealth creation angle, but also a green and efficient supply chain one. Retailers must cater for the choice pattern of the society, whether essential or non essential items of consumption.

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

Against the backdrop of IBM Personal Computer Business's acquisition by Lenovo Group, this case introduces the remodeling process of Lenovo's HR organization and development team, during which the company's 5P principle, namely “Plan (think clearly before making promise), Perform (promise is to be fulfilled), Prioritize (company's interest is top priority), Practice (make progress every day in every year), Pioneering (venture any experiment to be a trailblazer), takes shape. After learning about Lenovo's recruitment of internationalized talents, cross-cultural coaches for senior leaders, cultural development in internationalization and risk aversion in international operations, we can understand what Lenovo's HR team does to avoid conflicts in corporate culture and ethnic culture in cross-border mergers and acquisitions and integration, and how to adjust and change the HR management system.

By working through the case and assignment questions, students will be able to conduct a marketing environmental analysis to aid strategic decisions; analyse the first-mover advantages of a retail firm and how these can be sustained; comprehend online retail business models and the challenges therein; understand the trade-offs of online/offline retail experiences specific to an emerging market’s beauty and personal care sector; conceptualize and formulate actionable growth strategies that balance the individual and collective requirements of brick and mortar and retail e-commerce environments.

The case is set in 2022, right after Nykaa – the pioneer of beauty and wellness e-commerce platforms in India makes a blockbuster stock market debut in 2021. Starting in 2012 with a disruptive online model for selling beauty and wellness products online in India, Nykaa had come a long way with expansions in physical retail and other segments such as fashion. The firm, which initially aimed to be a virtual store, is now thinking of aggressively expanding in the brick-and-mortar retail space as it opens its 85th retail outlet.

Falguni S. Nayar, founder and CEO of Nykaa, wanted to roll out 300 physical stores targeting 100 cities in India in the next couple of years. She aspired to establish Nykaa as a category leader as the “Indian Sephora” in the beauty and personal care market. Nykaa’s first-mover advantage in the online beauty and personal care marketplace worked well to establish it as a brand with positive endorsements by digital shoppers that enhanced the investment potential with potential financiers. However, the pandemic had brought every physical retailer to the online platform. Most e-commerce platforms dealing in grocery to lifestyle had added personal care products to their existing merchandise.

Additionally, several start-ups had ventured into the online marketplace. Online was a cluttered marketplace with little to no differentiation. In this bloodbath, would the first-mover advantage for Nykaa in the online space still count as a competitive advantage? Nayar was all set to expand Nykaa’s physical presence aggressively. The concern was that the beauty and personal care segment had also moved online as a function of long stay-at-home periods. In the post-pandemic times, would the customer indeed revert to brick and mortar once again? Nykaa was also into product formulations, but so was every big and small player in the space. What was the differentiated winning formula for the consumer’s heart and mind?

The case can be effectively used in foundation courses in marketing and a wide range of specialized courses on marketing management (core/foundation course), retail marketing and e-commerce/digital marketing and e-commerce for B-school learners. The complex decision points faced by an innovative e-commerce start-up firm on its road to market expansion make the case suitable for niche courses such as Marketing for Start-ups. Moreover, learners in executive MBA programs with considerable experience can benefit from the case analysis that balances a growing retail company’s long- and short-run objectives.

Teaching notes are available for educators only.

CSS 8: Marketing.

1. To understand the importance of creating and implementing a vision for enhancing gender diversity and inclusion relevant to the manufacturing and engineering sector in an emerging market.

2. To develop insights into the vision and characteristics of an inclusive leader.

3. To evaluate the strategies and organizational levers that created and nurtured a climate of gender diversity and inclusion in Cummins India.

4. To identify organizational levers that will enable the sustenance and institutionalization of a climate of inclusion.

This case study traces a 16-year journey of diversity and inclusion at Cummins India, a subsidiary of the Fortune 500 manufacturing organization Cummins Inc. headquartered in the US. Initially spearheaded by Anant Talaulicar, and then continued by Ashwath Ram, gender D&I initiative at Cummins India has made significant strides. Talaulicar had an opportunity to immerse himself in the ethos of the parent company before joining the Indian subsidiary.

In India during the early 2000s the external environment was characterized by rapid technological and regulatory changes and increasing complexity. To make matters more difficult, the internal culture was steeped in a traditional manufacturing mindset marked by dismal female participation rate and an over-representation of locals with similar beliefs and value systems.

Given the mammoth task already taken up by Talaulicar by improving the diversity numbers from 3% to 33%, Ram had big shoes to fill. On one hand, he had to drive the business amidst uncertain market conditions; on the other hand, he had to carry on a legacy. Given that he himself had a lived experience of Cummins global values, he knew D&I was an integral part of the Cummins way of life. His familiarity with the socio-cultural challenges of the country coupled with his drive to continue and rejuvenate the D&I agenda, brought some interesting, yet challenging, questions for him. With the internal and external pressures looming large before him, could he institutionalize a climate of inclusion that could serve as a strategic lever to place the company on the path of growth, vibrancy and economic prosperity?

Through qualitative research conducted by the authors, this case study brought out learnings pertaining to linkage of leadership in creating a climate of inclusion and expansion of talent diversity through a set of people strategies and HR practices. The contribution of this case study is primarily to theory and practice in the field of Human Resource Management, D&I as well as in developing inclusive leadership.

MBA programs and leadership development programs

Teaching notes are available for educators only.

CSS 6: Human Resource Management.

The learning outcomes are as follows:

1. assess and evaluate the challenges affecting a mobile food aggregator platform’s business model and its effect on the customer journey in a developing market;

2. understand the relationship between the different stakeholders on such platform, namely, restaurants, end-users and the platform itself, and its implication on the customer journey; and

3. develop different potential marketing strategies under that business context that can be implemented and replicated in a given emerging market.

Zomato is an online restaurant aggregator and food delivery company that provides information, menus and user reviews of restaurants. While Zomato was growing exponentially in terms of number of users and listed restaurants, the platform had to constantly reinvent itself to stay competitive in light of increasingly aggressive competitors that were launching into the different markets it serves. Maya, the country manager of Zomato Lebanon, faced a key dilemma deciding which potential strategy to replicate from head office into the local market that would help her fend off rising competitors while still increasing the size of the market.

This case can be used mainly in senior undergraduate-level business school students. The case can be taught in courses covering marketing and strategy.

Teaching notes are available for educators only.

CSS 8: Marketing.

Carris Reels, a reel-manufacturing company headquartered in Vermont, had long-standing goals of being employee owned and governed. They also had a strong organizational (ownership) culture. The Corporate Steering Committee (CSC), a committee composed of representatives from management and non-management employees, and the board of directors had a decision to make about adding two new members to the board. With these new members, the board of directors would be made up of both members of management and non-management employees. Was Carris forfeiting wiser outside counsel in favor of company insiders? What about for the future of the company?

The data for this case were collected from discussions and informal interviews with Carris Reels employees, and archival data from the company intranet which includes an archival of company newsletters, meeting minutes and announcements. Information on the Employee Stock Ownership Plan (ESOP), board of directors, the CSC, and ESOP trustees from these sources were also used.

This case is suitable for strategic management, and social responsibility and social enterprise-focused courses for upper-level undergraduates and MBA students.

The sources, development, and outcomes of a strong organizational culture are important to this case. Schein (1989) and others (Harris and Ogbanna, 1999) address the role of a company’s founder in development of the company’s culture. Research addressing ownership and participation in the context of an ownership culture indicates positive outcomes to employees and to their companies (Logue and Yates, 2005; Ownership Associates, 1998).

Marketing strategy, strategic innovation.

Strategic brand management or marketing strategy courses at MBA level.

It seemed likely that a company with the highest number of product variants would consider product innovation to be its key source of sustenance in a crowded marketplace. Especially so, when the local and global competition was hotting up to a new launch every week. In the case of Micromax, a mobile handset maker from India tried to drive home the point that sustainability in emerging markets did not lie in inventing a new technology like Apple or Nokia or Sony did, albeit accompanied with a premium price tag. For the emerging markets, it was important to optimize the offering for the consumers. Strategic optimization could result from bridging the gaps in performance, infrastructure and organization design, which came naturally to this marketing-savvy mobile maker. Any company could make a cost-effective phone, but few could position, brand and sell it the way Micromax did. Shubhodip Pal, Head of Marketing at Micromax Informatics Pvt Ltd, India, pondered the marketing strategy which could pave the way into maintaining the company's national leadership position while creating a roadmap for its global foray. For Micromax, marketing strategy innovation, and not product innovation, would fulfil the goal of long-term growth in India and overseas markets.

The students studying this case are expected to learn: marketing strategy in emerging markets such as India, marketing strategy as the critical success factor for upcoming Indian companies rather than product innovation and doing business in emerging markets.

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

I would recommend the following two readings: Kotter, J. P. 2001. “What leaders really do” Harvard Business Review, vol, December 2001, pp. 85-96 and MIntzberg, H. & Waters, J. A. 1985. “Of strategies, deliberate and emergent” Strategic Management Journal, Vol. 6, pp. 257-272 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 aims to provide following four learning outcomes: enhanced understanding of organizational leadership style/approach in terms of rigidness or flexibility to bring modifications in organizational vision to tap current opportunities, enhanced understanding of the use of emotions and rationality in organizational decision-making to strike a balance between organizational needs and community needs in the context of organizational priority framework, enhanced understanding of issue of integration to meet community needs smartly particularly in social development organizations and enhanced understanding of leadership strategies for successful business diversification.

This case study highlights and discusses three issues: first, it explores issues related to change in organizational vision and aims keeping in mind the needs of community rather than sticking to organizational needs (flexibility versus rigidity). Second, it explores the role of emotions and rationality in organizational decision-making by its leadership. Third, it discusses the role of leadership in successfully transforming one-dimensional organization into multidimensional organization by adding new avenues for future growth by mobilizing existing organizational strengths and competencies. Finally, this case discusses theories of leadership and change management in the context of social development organizations to align their activities with community’s emerging needs.

Master Level - Master of Business Administration and Master of Management. This case provides sufficient material to be discussed at master level courses such as change leadership and change management in social development organizations.

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

Management science