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Human resource development/management and change management.

The case is suitable for final year undergraduate human resource development/management or specialist HRM Master's programs (strategic HRM/HRD).

The case study highlights the challenges of managing change and growth in India's dynamic business process outsourcing sector. The choice of a large and complex organisation brings to the fore the complexity of decision making and how various factors shape the development of critical organisational capabilities and training provision.

Depending on the level of the class and the emphasis, one or more of the following learning outcomes can be achieved from this case study. Following thecase analysis, students should be able to: discuss the key challenges faced by BPOLAND; identify and analyse the various influences of internal and external factors on training provision; understand the importance of forging partnerships with key functional groups for shaping training and organisational capabilities; analyse the dynamic interactions between the various factors and training provision; analyse the relationship between BPOLAND's competitive strategy and its training choices (make versus buy); evaluate the role of training in developing organisational capabilities; and strategise a way forward for the person responsible for learning and development.

Teaching notes are available; please contact your librarian for access.

Human resource development/management and change management, leadership, entrepreneurial development and indigenous innovation.

The case is suitable for final year undergraduate human resource development/management, change management, indigenous innovation, or specialist HRM Master's program (strategic HRM/HRD) students.

The case study highlights the challenges of managing change and growth in India's dynamic business process outsourcing sector. The choice of a small organisation brings to the fore the impact of the strategic decisions owners of capital place on managers as they address issues of sustained growth to support short-term expectations of shareholders. The case highlights India's indigenous approach to frugal innovation or jugaad (finding a creative and improvised work around); how a group of managers consistently reinvented the business model and human resource management practices to stay afloat and meet shareholder expectations.

Depending on the teaching programme and the emphasis of this case in the class, one or more of the following learning outcomes (LO) can be achieved from this case study. These LO have been developed using Bloom's taxonomy and they progressively move from simple to complex LO. Following the case analysis, students should be able to: discuss the key challenges faced by Transcribe and Tally (T&T); identify and analyse the various influences of internal and external factors on training provision; understand the importance of an external network of service provision and identify the key training and organisational capabilities; analyse the dynamic interactions between the various factors and training provision; analyse the relationship between T&T's competitive strategy and its strategic choices (make versus buy) towards investing in training; evaluate the role of training in developing organisational capabilities; and strategize a way forward for Roy Thakur.

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

The learning outcomes are as follows: to understand the cultural and ethical dimensions revolving around the issue of female feticide; to apply the lens of institutional theory with respective change management measures; and to analyze and evaluate the impact of such intervention programs such as Beti Bachao Beti Padhao in the context of emerging economies such as India.

This case attempts to highlight the innovative and effective governance approach by the Government of Rajasthan (India) and, in particular, the State Health Assurance Agency to curb the menace of female feticide and the rising cases of abortion and sex determination in an attempt to favor a male child. The case concentrates on mainly three dimensions of Indian societal ecosystem, namely, the grave concern of preference of male child over female child leading to widespread cases of female feticide in different states in India with specific focus on the state of Rajasthan; the role of cultural dimension which primarily drives such preferential treatment in rural and urban areas in India; and the importance of using effective policy measures in monitoring various activities, introduction of incentive schemes to patients for preventing sex determination and promoting the birth of female child.

This case can be used as a teaching material in the Public Policy course – Social Welfare and Health Policy, Policy interventions, organization theory and change management at the Graduate/MBA level.

Teaching notes are available for educators only.

CSS 10: Public Sector Management.

This case asks the student to decide whether Aurora Textile Company can create value by upgrading its spinning machine to produce higher-quality yarn that sells for a higher margin. Cost information allows the student to produce cash-flow projections for both the existing spinning machine and the new machine. The cash flows have many different cost components, including depreciation, the number of days of cotton inventory, and the liability costs associated with returns from retailers. The cost of capital is specified in order to simplify the analysis. The analysis has added complexity, however, owing to the troubled financial condition of both the company and the U.S. textile industry, which is in decline as manufacturers migrate to Asia to benefit from lower manufacturing costs. This begs the question whether management should invest in a declining business or harvest the company by paying out all profits as a dividend to the owners. The case is suitable for students just beginning to learn finance principles, but is also rich enough to use with experienced students and executives. The primary learning points are as follows:

• The basics of incremental-cash-flow analysis: identifying the cash flows relevant to a capital-investment decision

• The construction of a side-by-side discounted-cash-flow analysis for a replacement decision

• How to adapt the NPV decision rule to a troubled or dying industry

• The effect of financial distress on the NPV calculation

• The importance of sensitivity analysis to a capital-investment decision

The basics of incremental-cash-flow analysis: identifying the cash flows relevant to a capital-investment decision

The construction of a side-by-side discounted-cash-flow analysis for a replacement decision

How to adapt the NPV decision rule to a troubled or dying industry

The effect of financial distress on the NPV calculation

The importance of sensitivity analysis to a capital-investment decision

Tihar Jail (TJ), one of the largest prisons in the world also functions as a reformation and rehabilitation centre. As a part of this effort, it operates a factory and a baking school in its premises. A consultant had been employed by Tihar Jail to find solutions for the stagnation in sales revenue despite marketing quality products and garnering good reviews from customers. This case is suitable for first-year MBA-level course in marketing management as well as for more-focused courses in product marketing strategy, business strategy, consumer behaviour, organizational behaviour, sales and distribution, or public policy.

The case study has several objectives: to gauge the evaluation of the direct-to-consumer industry in the economy of India, to analyse the competition of the brands, to ascertain the evolution of smaller direct-to-consumer (DTC) brands on the purchasing capacity of consumers, to analyse challenges in branding in Tier 2 and 3 cities and to evaluate the strategic branding decisions of Mamaearth.

During her pregnancy, Ghazal Alagh and her husband Varun Alagh, the co-founders of Mamaearth, were looking for some good and natural products for their baby’s skincare. However, she could not find products that were 100% safe. Hence, as a concerned mother, she started using a few hands-on home remedies for her baby, which were 100% organic, and then the idea clicked to her to start a baby care brand named Mamaearth, which later also included personal care products. The company started as a DTC/internet-first brand in 2016, which only used to sell products online without any intermediaries when it was still trying to make its way in the market and was aware of the stiff competition by giants such as Hindustan Unilever and Proctor & Gamble, who were ruling the market for decades. When the COVID-19 pandemic hit, the market saw a shift in consumer buying patterns. There was greater use of e-commerce touch points for shopping, as various digital platforms such as the official site of products, social media and mobile platforms were used by consumers during the pandemic, leading to digitalization in buying and digitalization of consumer shopping journey. These technology platforms were expected to play a substantial role in reaching and creating consumer awareness, transaction and retention post-COVID according to reports by Deloitte 2020. Moreover, such a shift in behaviour amidst the COVID-19 pandemic shot up sales of this DTC brand and made itself the big shot it is today, where they were looking to get into an initial public offering in just seven years of its launch. They re-evaluated their strategy, which helped them become the biggest brand in no time.

This case study is suitable for Doctor of Philosophy students.

Teaching notes are available for educators only.

CSS 8: Marketing.

Decision Analysis, Management Information Systems, Strategic Management, Organizational Development, Financial Management, Risk Management.

MBA-1 (Decision Analysis), MBA-2 (MIS).

On a beautiful October morning in 2011, the CEO of a mid-size oil marketing company located in Nairobi, Kenya has to make a tough decision whether to upgrade their current B1 system to a bigger version of SAP. Abbas, the new Information Communications Technology (ICT) Director of Zaidi Group, was worried that Zaidi was building a bigger and bigger company on top of a more and more small enterprise resource planning system. Abbas's fears also include RedLock's past inefficiencies. Kariuki, the Finance Director, on the other hand was into the fear of overspending in a huge information technology (IT)system where current functionalities required can be addressed by a smaller system through add-ons, customization and development.

Demonstrate some tools in decision analysis for problems with multiple objectives including some issues indecision framing and cognitive inertia; Raise the issue for fundamentally changing a firm's infrastructure; Demonstrate the alignment of IT strategy to Business 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 secondary source case is based mainly on legislative documents (that tracked the initiation and progress of the Parental Rights in Education bill that later became an Act), corporate documents (published by The Walt Disney Company) and news articles from publications such as The New York Times and Bloomberg. All sources are cited in the case narrative and as end notes.

In April 2022, The Walt Disney Company and its CEO, Robert Chapek, were at the center of a controversy over the company’s opposition to the State of Florida’s Parental Rights in Education bill. The bill, dubbed “Don’t Say Gay” by its critics, prohibited instruction on sexual identity and gender orientation in the state’s elementary schools. The controversy stemmed from Disney’s initial non-reaction to the bill and its later strident opposition and call for its repeal. Chapek was pressured by negative media publicity and employee disgruntlement on the one hand and adverse economic consequences for opposing the bill by the state’s Governor, Ron DeSantis. Chapek and the Board had to respond to the political threats to Disney’s economic well-being while appeasing its employees and other stakeholders who wanted the company to be a corporate champion in diversity, equity and inclusion.

The case is best suited for advanced undergraduate or graduate leadership, strategic management and marketing courses. From a leadership and strategic management perspective, the case is well-suited for demonstrating the evolving expectations of leaders and corporate social responsibility, as well as the concepts of issue framing and nonmarket management. Instructors may also leverage the case in marketing courses (e.g. brand management), as CEO activism (i.e. messaging and practice) is one characteristic of brand activism (Animation Guild, 2022).

After studying this case, the students should be able to: explain the importance of employee engagement; illustrate the role of the participatory management style in an organizational context; discuss why managers may use engagement practices to operate effectively in businesses to lead change and innovation; identify the critical success factors, barriers and outcomes of employee involvement in driving high performance; and discuss the dilemma faced by the managers in the emerging economies while driving the momentum of excellence in the long run.

This is a real case about a leading health-care service company located in the Middle East. The health-care organization’s name is changed to NOVA for reasons of confidentiality. The NOVA is an independent, public joint stock company created to meet the curative needs of the public health-care system in Middle East. The company introduced the Employee Suggestion Scheme named Minara in 2011 in a Federal Government decree, introducing innovation as a major pillar of management in 2013 with intent to encourage organizations build innovative solutions and pioneer initiatives and apply it effectively in services, processes and programmes. Making the Minara programme work in line with the national health agenda, Ms. Fatima who headed the Excellence and Innovation Department took the initiative of accelerating the innovative Programme (Minara). The case data were collected based on both primary and secondary sources. Although the case is based on the real data, it has been ammonised. The case describes the transformation of the innovation process at NOVA through the employee engagement programme (Minara) in meeting the disruptive challenges. This case addresses the challenges faced by the Excellence and Innovation manager who used effective employee engagement practices through the Employee Suggestion Programme in a creative way to bring about innovation in the health-care sector. The case outlines the dilemma faced by the Excellence and Innovation manager in bringing about innovation through the Employee involvement programme in the emerging economic scenario. The case will focus on the analysis of the different aspects of the issues pertaining to employee engagement, employee motivation and the framing of empowerment strategies to bring about innovation and continuous improvement through an effective employee suggestion programme. The case is intended to give budding managers an insight into innovation and employee engagement practices that impact performance in the organization.

This case will be suitable to be used in Human Resource Management and Management of Change and Innovation course at undergraduate and Master’s level.

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 1: Accounting and Finance

The case concerns a situation where a manager finds that a candidate for the new position of supervisor for the Sports and Recreation Centre in the housing colony of the company is someone with whom she has a troubling history. She approaches the General Manager, HR and shares the details of her experiences and her concerns about this person's candidature, requesting that the candidate’s case not be processed further. She presents it as a serious matter with a potential threat to vulnerable women and young girls as the position involves close engagement with the residents of the colony. She provides details of her first-hand experience and familiarity with the candidate to build credibility for her position. However, the boss dismisses her concerns, reminding her that it was all in the past and advises her to move on. She requests him to consult the members of the Executive Committee of the Residents’ Association before taking a decision. He agrees to do so and sends an email to the team. She finds that he treats her concerns summarily in his email and frames the issue very differently from her, presenting a simple choice between two options. The HR manager is worried and wonders if there is anything she can do in the matter. The context would help generate discussion relating to persuasion, framing and managerial communication challenges.