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Strategic decision making in cooperation projects. The decision deals with the process of generating a strategy for R&D and technological innovation in developing countries, through international cooperation.

Students of programs of strategic management, business policy and management of international cooperation. Target courses include: strategic management seminars, international cooperation seminars, MBA.

The case shows the process carried out by a team led by Braulio Perez Astray, manager of the innovation department of the Foundation University of A Coruna (Spain) and Radhames Mejia, executive vice-rector of the Pontifical Catholic University Madre y Maestra (Dominican Republic) to design the strategy for R&D and Technological Innovation of the Dominican Republic. It describes the tasks and responsibilities undertaken in the INPOLTEC Project, the result of the international cooperation between Spain and the Dominican Republic. It included the involvement of the Administration of Government of both countries, the contributions of the scientific community and a significant sample of Dominican companies, as well as the advice of Spanish experts and technologists in the field of innovation and technology policy. The case arises from the position of Braulio Perez Astray, leader of the project. The objective of this case is to analyze the potential transfer of this experience to other countries in Central America and Caribbean.

The learning objective is to facilitate students to investigate the decisions in the strategic process in the field of innovation and to reinforce the focus of international cooperation as a mechanism for strategic support in stimulating the flow of knowledge in science and technology.

Teaching notes are available. Please consult the librarian for access.

Management of Innovation and Technology/Management Information Systems.

Information Systems.

SER (Sugar, Energy & Rum) was a company belonging to the Grupo Pellas Corporation. The company operated in four countries, had six subsidiaries, employed more than 25,000 people, had more than 43,500 manzanas of sugarcane crops in Nicaragua alone and had global annual sales of more than US$400m. In 2008, due to the negative effects of the crisis on the company’s business model (increasing costs due to higher prices for fuel and decreasing income because of low international sugar prices), the company decided to implement a business intelligence (BI) system to optimize its processes to reduce costs and increase productivity. At that time, the company had more than 100 years of data, information systems that fed into their main business processes and a culture that appreciated data as the basis for decision-making. However, there were inconsistencies among data systems, users received highly complex reports in Excel or green screens and process monitoring happened long after the tasks had been completed. As a response, SER used extract–transform–load to collect and clean data that would be used in the BI system (the case leaves the questions regarding the systems selection unsolved for discussion). Based on their business model, they selected the most critical processes and defined key performance indicators to measure the impact of changes in those processes. They considered graphic design as a tool to make the system more accepted by users and worked together with users so that reports only offered the most important information. The result was improved costs and productivity. They decreased manual time spent by 14 per cent, automated time spent by 10 per cent, and eliminated 1,556 hours of dead time for equipment in the field, which allowed them to increase productivity by US$1m just in sugar. They saved 20,000 trips from the fields to the factories, which represented more than US$1m in savings by monitoring the weight of wagons loaded with sugarcane in real time. They improved client perceptions about the company both locally and internationally by implementing a sugar traceability system.

The case “Business Intelligence at the Grupo Pellas SER Company” has as its objective to respond to the question: How does a company make its BI system implementation successful? As such, the case: Discusses what a BI system is and what it provides to a business analyses challenges, benefits and context when implementing a BI system; analyses success factors and recommendations in the BI system implementation process; analyses the process of implementing a BI and highlights the importance of the system priority questions and technological alternatives.

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

This case aims to enhance students’ scholarship and understanding of performance management systems with respect to the formulation of key performance indicators (KPIs). Specifically, working through this case and the assignment questions, students will be able to:▪ critically analyse process-based and outcome-based performance indicators;▪ recommend the right mix of process- and the outcome-based KPIs;▪ apply the specific, measurable, aligned, realistic and time-bound (SMART) framework to the KPIs;▪ create SMART KPIs; and▪ propose when to involve team members in decision-making.

The Director of the Centre for Learning and Innovative Pedagogies (CLIP), Dr Tanushree Sharma, was in for a surprise when the Dean and the Advisor to the school expressed their dissatisfaction with her approach to framing performance indicators for the management of the Centre.

They categorically advised her to change her process-based orientation to an outcome-based one and create tangible ground-level outcomes. Their feedback made her realize why, in spite of having rolled out several initiatives, the Centre was struggling to demonstrate its impact on student learning and faculty development. It dawned on her that the Centre’s inability to showcase a tangible impact on the school could mar the collective hard toil of the team.

Accepting the feedback and recognizing the merit of designing outcome-based SMART performance indicators, she started working towards them. Although she was able to conceptualize a broad framework, she was uncertain about whether to include only outcome-based KPIs. She was also unsure whether to unilaterally create and assign the key responsibility areas (KRAs) and KPIs or co-create them with her team members. A confluence of factors weighed heavily on her mind – the pressure of limited time, remote working because of the pandemic, moderately experienced team members, voluntary team membership, lack of positional power and her limited organizational influence. With less than a month to the proposal submission, she had no time to waste.

The case is suitable for courses on performance management systems, human resources and leadership; however, it is particularly relevant to framing KRAs and KPIs, developing outcome-based KPIs and applying the SMART framework to developing KPIs. It can be used in both postgraduate and undergraduate programmes at business schools.

Teaching notes are available for educators only.

CSS 6: Human Resource Management.

Founded in 2004, OPPO has experienced the boom of the Chinese mobile phone market, the trend of mobile Internet and the prosperity of the smartphone market. While adjusting its business structure based on changes in the market environment, it has transitioned itself from an audio device manufacturer to a smart-phone manufacturer that offers hardware, software, and service.

This case study focuses on OPPO's evolution and strategy, and provides an insight into its history, competition, and strategic choices based on whether or not OPPO should release a feature phone with a foldable display at the MWC 2019, and discusses the core competitiveness that helped OPPO succeed against the market downturn. This case study helps students understand the development of corporate strategies and the process of building core competitiveness in the microcompetition in the red ocean market. We also wish to help students understand how to come up with the most appropriate decision-making framework and conduct a critical analysis on the issues based on the internal and external factors of their businesses while they make strategic decisions. When it comes to different dimensions and indicators coming to contradictory conclusions in particular, what should the manager of a business do to make the correct strategic decision?

The learning outcomes are as follows: learning about the concept of informal innovation in comparison with the formal innovations; understanding the drivers and barriers of informal innovation in an organisation; identifying the enablers of informal innovation in an organisation; and analysing the outcomes of informal innovation in non-monetary/non-financial/non-pecuniary terms.

The case study emphasises the importance of informal innovations in the manufacturing industry. The case is an attempt by the authors to bring about a clear distinction between the formal and informal open innovations.

The teaching case can be used for undergraduate- and post-graduate-level courses such as BBA, MBA and executive MBA.

Teaching notes are available for educators only.

CSS 11: Strategy.

The learning outcomes are to understand the definition of public value and the strategic drivers behind public value creation, understand the nature of social innovation in the public sector, identify the critical opportunities and challenges involved in sustaining innovation in the public sector and identify the role that non-profit organizations can play in supporting and sustaining social innovation.

This case puts participants in the shoes of a global health innovator’s leadership team as the organization approaches a funding crisis. The organization, VillageReach, is on a quest to expand across the public health system of Mozambique and experiences a funding dilemma. The case reveals the challenges of working with governments to achieve large-scale, systemic change. It explores the conundrum of using international donor funding to embed new practices in government service delivery. Ultimately, it asks participants to choose between the pursuit of new, small-scale innovative projects and the large-scale rollout of a national programme.

This teaching case is written for courses focused on social entrepreneurship, social innovation and social change. It can also be used in courses focused on non-profit management and public sector innovation. Specifically, the teaching case is suitable for two audiences: social enterprise and non-profit managers focused on strategy, development and operations (the case focuses on an enterprise that relies primarily on donor funding) and health-care managers and administrators. Generally, the case is suitable for undergraduates in their final year of study as well as graduate-level business and public administration courses, including MBA, MPH, MPA, EMBA and Executive Education courses.

Teaching Notes are available for educators only.

CSS 3: Entrepreneurship.

This study enables to critique the development of a sustainability strategy brand; integrated reports, sustainability reports, usage of safe internet and online learning skills to reduce inequalities and increase stakeholders’ values.

Digi Telecommunications (Digi) has been publishing annual sustainability reporting in line with Global Reporting Initiatives since 2009. Albern Murty, Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Digi, the largest player in the mobile telecommunications industry in Malaysia by the number of subscribers, decided to establish a responsible business brand known as Yellow Heart in 2018 to better serve their stakeholders demand. There was a low stakeholder understanding of Digi’s sustainability efforts and societal impacts. Digi’s Sustainability department aspired to make Yellow Heart the best industry practice for continuous improvements by making Responsible Business commitment one of the main pillars of the company’s strategy and vision. Yellow Heart was linked to Sustainable Development Goals (SDG)10 on reducing inequalities by focusing on Digital Inclusion and Resilience to increase safe access opportunities, provide marginalized communities with opportunities to pursue interests in digital learning pathways and create a more sustainable digital future for all. The case study illustrates the sustainability management at Digi and the planned migration from sustainability reporting to integrated reporting to build trust in the business with all the stakeholders. The case dilemma involves the challenges that Philip Ling Oon Hun, the Head of the Sustainability, faced in deciding the SDGs to focus on and measuring and reporting their outcomes to contribute to the greater good, not only in pure business terms but also to society at large.

This case is appropriate for undergraduate or graduate-level programs in Accounting, Corporate Governance and Strategy Implementation.

Teaching notes are available for educators only.

CSS 1: Accounting and Finance.

A consulting team to an international food packaging company (SDYesBox) is attempting to decide which algorithm is the most useful for selecting two national markets in Central America and the Caribbean. SDYesBox wants to work closely with its immediate customers – manufacturers in the dairy and food industry and their customers (retailers) – to develop and market innovative products to low-income consumers in emerging markets; the “next big opportunity for the dairy industry” according to SDYesBox.

New product development and market selection in emerging markets in Latin America.

Five algorithms are “on the table” for assessing 14 countries by 12 performance indicators: weighted-benchmarking each country by the country leader's indicator scores; tallying by ignoring indicator weights and selecting the countries having the greatest number of positive standardized scores; applying a conjunctive and lexicographic combination algorithm; and using a “fluency metric” of how quickly consumers can say each country aloud. At least one member of the consulting team is championing one of these five algorithms. Which algorithm do you recommend? Why?

Learners gain skills, insights, and experience in alternative decision tools for evaluating and selecting choices among emerging markets to enter with new products for low-income (bottom of the pyramid) products ands services.

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

After studying the case, the students will be able to: 1. understand the business and existing HR practices at Precision Engineering; 2. evaluate the factors affecting business that may require the company to formalise its HR practices; 3. create recruitment and selection-related solutions for HR 2.0 using appropriate models and theory to aid the company meet its business goals; 4. create training needs identification and evaluation practices for HR 2.0 using appropriate models and theory to aid the company meet its business goals; and 5. create performance planning and review-related solutions for HR 2.0 using appropriate models and theory to aid the company meet its business goals. The case helps students objectively assess HR practices related to three core verticals – recruitment and selection; training; and performance management systems. It also enables them to reassess these practices with the help of specific metrics and models.

Precision Engineering was a manufacturer of machined metal components in the Indian automotive components industry. It had been a family-run business since its inception in 1995. Precision was awarded the prestigious Automotive Component Manufacturers of India award in 2020 for excellence in HR. Ms Sakshi Kapoor, General Manager of Innovation, was ecstatic at the receipt of this award. She, however, was thoughtful about the informal human resource (HR) practices at the company. The top management had announced an aggressive growth plan and advised Ms Kapoor to leverage HR practices to facilitate these plans. Recruitment and selection, employee training and performance management systems needed to be formalised on a priority basis to strategically aid the future business agenda at Precision. Ms Kapoor faced the challenge of preparing the roadmap of HR 2.0 while preserving the employee-centric beliefs at Precision. The case initiates a discussion to achieve this goal by adopting suitable HR metrics and models.

It should be taught in the core course on Human Resource Management for first-year Masters in Business Administration (MBA) students. Alternatively, it could be used in elective courses such as Strategic Human Resource Management, Training and Development and Performance Management Systems for second-year MBA students.

Teaching notes are available for educators only.

CSS 6: Human Resource Management.

Strategic innovation through the deployment of a sophisticated collection of information systems and technologies to help accomplish financial inclusion for the urban poor.

This case is suitable for graduate courses on strategic planning and innovation.

Janalakshmi Financial Services (JFS) is a microfinance company that seeks to serve the financial service needs of the urban poor, a market segment with huge growthpotential. This operation involves large numbers of cash transactions making effective control mechanisms necessary. However, small margins make an innovative strategy necessary. JFS states that information technology (IT) is its DNA. The way in which the leadership team used a variety of ITsolutions to create an integrated set of well managed operations provides a very useful lesson in managing the process of strategic innovation.

The primary learning objective is to help the student understand the impact of strategic innovation through the use of information systems and technologies. This is achieved by helping the student to: connect the abilities provided by information technology to the social objective of financial inclusion; understand what financial inclusion means to the urban poor and how this segment differs from other microfinance and banking segments; assess the approach (related to organizational design as well as systems) JFS has employed to accomplish the objective of financial inclusion among the urban poor in India; analyse the systems and processes JFS has used to deliver services to its target market while making processes more transparent and efficient at JFS; and assess the risks to which JFS is exposed throughits business activity as well as the use of information technology.

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