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After completion of the case study, students are expected to demonstrate understanding of the process of strategy formulation (which include conducting situational analysis) and strategy implementation.

Perusahaan Azan, which trades under the brand name Roti Azan for its fresh bread and Azan for its dry bread or rusks, was established as a family business in 1968 by Haji Abu Bakar bin Ali in his hometown in Kuala Pilah, in the state of Negeri Sembilan in Malaysia. In the mid-1980s, the management of the business was passed on by Haji Abu Bakar to one of his sons, Haji Mohd Ghazali bin Haji Abu Bakar. Haji Ghazali was named managing director in 1985 and officially inherited his father’s company in 1987. By 2004, Perusahaan Azan breads had started to penetrate major grocery stores nationwide, and later the business began to expand internationally in 2010, with Oman and Iraq among the first countries it ventured into. The company sold both its fresh and dry bread in local stores; however, in the international market, only dry bread types were sold, specifically wholemeal rusks and long rusks, which had longer shelf lives. Post-pandemic, by 2022, the company had exited the retail fresh bread market and had focused only on its contractual fresh bread and retail dry bread markets. He thought about the main strategic choices he had of going forward, either to revive its retail fresh bread segment or venture into a coffee shop business. The former was the bread and butter of the company in the last 50 years. However, he knew that re-entering this market was getting more difficult, as it requires competing head-to-head with the giant breadmakers. There were also issues of rising costs and high wastage. For the latter coffee shop project, the company did not have experience in directly “serving” the customers, with its businesses so far had been mainly in production. He pondered on the best decision to undertake to sustain the company’s profitability into the next generation. Few family businesses can pass this crucial stage. He knew he had to act fast to ensure that the company’s plans for the future could be successfully implemented. The case study is suitable for use in teaching courses in strategic management, organisational management and integrated case study for advanced undergraduates and postgraduates in the programmes of business administration, Muamalat administration and accounting.

The case study is suitable for use in advanced undergraduate students in management, business administration, Muamalat administration and postgraduate students in MBA, Master in Muamalat Administration or other related master’s programmes with a course in strategic management, organisational management and integrated case study.

Teaching notes are available for educators only.

CSS 11: Strategy.

The subject areas are social entrepreneurship, gender, institutions and emerging markets.

Bachelor, Master, PhD.

Some of the fastest growing economies in the world are situated in East Africa. However, there are many institutional challenges. The societies are, for example, heavily patriarchal. Women are, hence, in a particularly vulnerable situation. This is the case of one woman entrepreneur who views the support of other, less educated, women as a main part of her venture. She is a highly educated woman, who has lived part of her life in the USA. Her father is an influential person in the city. She does not need to work at all for her livelihood. She wants the women in her country to have a chance to become economically independent from men. Therefore, she uses her expertise in chemistry to help groups of rural women to make soap and other beauty products from local plants. The case not only illustrates the institutional challenges and how the macro-level institutions affect micro level action but also illustrates the agency enabled by networks and a more fortunate class background. It is an example of a contextually embedded social entrepreneurship process, with simultaneously good and bad odds.

Main learning objectives are the importance of avoiding both ethnocentrism and androcentrism when analyzing driving forces, processes and decision-making among social entrepreneurs. After having processed this case, students should be able to: critically and independently discuss the context dependence of driving forces and processes of social entrepreneurship; critically and independently discuss the gendering of driving forces and processes of social entrepreneurship; and understand and discuss the prerequisites for social entrepreneurship for different groups in a given society, including the class and gender dimensions and the intersection between these dimensions.

CSS 3: Entrepreneurship.

The author used narrative research as a research methodology.

Winston Thompson is the new Residential Manager of Drayson Residential Complex at Sybel University. After meeting with staff in his area of responsibility and learning about the complexities of his new position, Winston needs to determine the best way to build positive relationships with each member of the leadership team in his complex. In this case, students are challenged to determine the best relationship building approach for each staff member using concepts from leader–member exchange theory while also taking into consideration issues of race, age and gender.

This case is written for undergraduates in either an upper level leadership or organizational behavior course. The case can be adapted for graduate courses and executive education depending upon the work experience of the individuals.

Strategic Management.

MBA, Executive MBA.

This case deals with Harsh Mariwalla’s struggle to develop an innovative company from scratch. The journey of innovation is not an easy one. Marico was forced to compete with multinationals in many markets where it operated. Constant pressure from rivals has made the company develop a new innovative business model, which is expected to generate profitability and sustainable competitive advantage.

Students will be able to appreciate the business models, understand the competitive moves by rivals, understand strategy formulation and implementation, understand product innovation and competitive advantage and understand the ability to tackle competition with innovation.

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.

Following are the learning outcomes: to understand how the tools and frameworks of strategic analysis can be applied to understand the evolution of value creation and capture in the FMCG industry; to analyze the core competencies of a company and understand their relevance in this fast-changing industry; to understand how to evaluate the pros and cons of a certain strategy and business model; and to develop strategic recommendations.

The case series traces the developments in China’s FMCG industry from the early 2010s to 2017, in general, and the efforts of Beijing WinChannel Software Technology Co., Ltd. (WinChannel) and its affiliated company, Huixiadan, in their attempt to apply new digital technologies to transform the traditional trade channel, in particular. The decision point of Case A, in early 2015, is how WinChannel can help improve the reach and efficiency of the traditional trade channel and wonders if the emerging online/mobile B2B FMCG platforms are the right solution for the increasingly digitized FMCG retail industry in China. The decision point of Case B, at the end of 2017, is how could Huixiadan’s business model be sustainable and what it should do to withstand the competitive threats even as it tries to exploit opportunities in the traditional FMCG industry in China.

It can be used with MBAs, EMBAs and senior executives.

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CSS: 11: Strategy.

This teaching case aims to stimulate the debate over the issue of arsenic in rice and prepares students to make a decision by evaluating trade-offs and aligning moral values in a business context.

Rice feeds people in many parts of the world. This teaching case focuses on an entrepreneurial food producer who has strong sustainability values built into his business model. The CEO, Johan Henriksson, of Vegoganic faces a dilemma when a press release by the Swedish National Food Agency potentially threatens the core existence of the business. It challenges the CEO to take a stand on food safety and food security, as well as personal and societal values.

It is a discussion case, developed with undergraduate students in mind, but could be taken to a graduate level by including more advanced literature and questions.

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CSS 8: Marketing

This case can be used in marketing management as well as consumer behaviour courses.

This case is suitable to use in advanced undergraduate levels, MBA and MSc in marketing courses that cover topics related to market segmentation and marketing mix strategies.

This case highlights the dilemma of an entrepreneur and a manager of a restaurant who were to take a decision about the sustainability of their restaurant business. Balqis Restaurant was owned by Danny who was a retiree from Telekom Malaysia. He wanted to open a restaurant business after he came back from his long holiday trip. He conducted market research to find a suitable place to open his Arabic restaurant. He assigned Waleed Masood Abdullah as the manager of Balqis Restaurant. Finally, in June 2010, he opened his long awaited restaurant at Gombak, Kuala Lumpur. The restaurant was known as Qasar before the name was changed to Balqis in 2015 because of copyright issues related to Saba’ restaurant at Cyberjaya. The restaurant was well managed under Danny’s supervision for 4 years and successfully won customers’ hearts and loyalty before he decided to give full responsibility to Waleed in March 2014. Danny trusted Waleed because he taught and trained him. However, under Waleed’s management, Balqis started to lose its customers. Waleed also started to branch out the restaurant to different places in different states; one in Ipoh, and the other in Perak. He invested much money on renovation for all three branches, but one of the restaurants closed down in September 2014. This is because of the fact that they could no longer bear the cost of operations for the restaurant. However, he failed to learn from the mistake; they set up another restaurant, which was in Kuantan, in the same month. The sales were not that encouraging but it did show gradual improvement; yet, they once again sold it to another Arab businessman. Waleed realized his failure in managing the restaurant business in August 2015. He again opted to open another new branch which was questioned by Danny. He was in a rush to open it by the end of December 2015 to ensure that the additional profits from the current restaurants could cover the variables costs if the new restaurants were launched. Based on that, the owner had to make a decision about whether a new branch should be opened or whether they should just retain their restaurant in Gombak.

The learning objectives of using this case are as follows. 1. Knowledge enhancement: to help students in understanding the problems faced by a restaurant in expanding its market; to make students aware that a properly blended marketing mix is the key to business success and to broaden students’ views and understanding in targeting the proper market segment in formulating an effective marketing strategy. 2. Skills building: to be able to identify the best marketing strategic decisions to manage the restaurant business for its survival and to develop students’ ability to analyse the existing situation to come up with a viable and effective solution. 3. Attitudinal: to help the students to have intellectual openness in accepting different ways of finding solutions for a particular problem and to assist students in making the right move at the right time.

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 8: Marketing.

This case has been written after extensive field research. It is designed specifically for the International Marketing course. However, it can be used in Brand Management, Consumer Behavior and Marketing Management courses as well.

Final-year BBA students or first-year MBA students.

Although introduced in Pakistan in 1999, Veet, a personal hygiene brand, has failed to realize its potential even after a decade. Pakistan is a conservative society and women feel embarrassed buying hair-removing creams. Humayun Farooq, the new brand manager, is at a crossroad; he believes in giving the brand a bold take-off by using fashion as a platform, whereas both top management and his assistant brand manager are skeptical of his proposition, as they see it as risky. His decision is critical, as there is pressure to strike a balance between global standardization and local cultural norms.

The students will be able to: understand how global brands need to conceptualize and implement local brand strategies, given the different market challenges; and apply key theoretical concepts in International Marketing such as cultural product adaptation.

Instructors must ask the students to study the following before discussing the case in class. For the on-air 2009 advertisement of Veet in Pakistan, visit: www.youtube.com/watch?v=8Va9bA-ebqE. Although the case sheds light on the relevant Pakistani cultural and religious norms, students may further research and study the Pakistani culture. Nijssen, E.J. and Douglas, S.P. (2011). “World World-mindedness and attitudes toward product positioning in advertising: an examination of global versus foreign versus local positioning”, Journal of International Marketing, Vol. 19 No. 3, pp. 113-133. Shivkumar, H. (2006), Managing global brand advertising, World Advertising Research Centre.

CSS 8: Marketing

The case ties together a number of marketing concepts and theories within the context of a startup which might be addressed in an entrepreneurship or marketing course. The case focuses on niche, digital, and social media marketing and utilizes fundamental marketing concepts such as target market, value proposition, brand positioning, the marketing communications mix and the adopter categories of the diffusion of innovation theory.

The case is based on interviews from 2014 to 2017 with the founder of Lammily, Nickolay Lamm, supplemented by internet research.

Lammily is a startup company in its second year of existence which produces toys that embody realism: a fashion doll with proportions based on an average 19-year-old American woman, a sticker set of common body markings such as booboos and cellulite to make dolls look realistically, and doll outfits. After the company’s initial success in 2014, fueled by positive publicity from online media eager to share information about the average doll project, sales were flat. Nickolay Lamm, the founder of Lammily, started to feel the heat to acquire new customers in ways that did not rely solely on digital word-of mouth. In response, Lammily commissioned a direct response TV commercial in the Summer of 2015, but it failed to lead to significant new customer growth. This case describes how Nickolay struggles to move beyond the launch phase of his entrepreneurial venture and turn his startup into a business with a sustainable customer base. Facing stagnating growth and established competitors with deep pockets, Nickolay needs to figure out why the TV commercial did not work for Lammily and what his new plan to acquire new customers will be.

This case would be well-positioned in an undergraduate or graduate-level entrepreneurship course that exposes students to the challenges of promoting a new brand and marketing a new line of products in a competitive market with established competitors. It is also good a good fit for a general marketing or entrepreneurial marketing course. The case focuses on how a startup can optimize its advertising strategy for a niche market to stimulate growth with a limited budget by using digital marketing techniques.

Marketing, innovation, strategy.

Undergraduate, post-graduate and executive education.

This case is set in January 2012, a few days before the launch of Mysore Sandal Millennium, a super-premium luxury soap offering from the Indian public sector enterprise, Karnataka Soaps and Detergents Ltd. (“KS&DL”). Three years of research had been put into this product, which contained some of the finest, high-quality ingredients. KS&DL had, over the past decade or so, observed a significant fall in brand image for its signature product, the Mysore Sandalwood soap. While this soap had for many years been considered the premium brand in India, it had lost its place when well-known foreign brands became available in India, and local manufacturers moved towards this segment, manufacturing a whole new range of competitive products such as liquid body washes and gels. It was with an aim to rebuild its image that the company decided to launch the Millennium soap. KS&DL was clear that the product would be initially aimed at the high-income Indians, and then move to expand into the overseas market. However, it remained to be seen if the company could be truly successful in marketing a product priced at a level which would make it unaffordable to most Indians, other than a very thin layer of the ultra-rich. The question remains as to how KS&DL could best go about executing and communicating its strategy to make this launch a success.

This case provides students the opportunity to learn about the challenges faced when a company launches a new brand, particularly a luxury brand in a developing country such as India. Through this case, students will learn about the concepts of brand extension, and, above all, vertical brand extension. It can also be used to discuss the spill-over effects of the launch (and its success) on other existing brands of the company, as well as the overall corporate brand.

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