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The learning outcomes are as follows: successful students will demonstrate an understanding of challenges in producing and delivering a product in emerging economies; they will be able to analyze the tradeoffs in operational decisions of a social enterprise; and students will apply supply chain principles to solve social and environmental challenges.

Carbon Roots International is a social enterprise in Haiti producing and selling charcoal from sugar cane waste. Their operational challenge is designing a supply chain, which enables them to accomplish their social goals while building a profitable enterprise.

This case can be used in graduate operations management and supply chain management courses. The company in the case is a social enterprise.

Teaching Notes are available for educators only.

CSS 9: Operations and Logistics

This study aims to provide students an opportunity to analyze the financial performance of a publicly listed real estate company and estimate its instinct value by applying appropriate financial models and approaches.

Three major valuation models/approaches generated by financial theory and practice to estimate the intrinsic value of a security: discounting cash-flows valuation (DCF and NPV) – valuation through adjusted net asset and liquidation value (NAV) – relative valuation through price and value multiples (valuation multiple analysis and precedent transactions analysis). Wholly owned subsidiaries versus and joint venture ones.

Analyze financial information of all segments in a multiple-business firm, and apply suitable financial models and approaches among net asset value model (NAV), discounted cash flow (DCF) or net present value (NPV) model, valuation multiple analysis and precedent transactions analysis to estimate the intrinsic value of the whole firm.

This decision-based case allows students to explore the business valuation process for a public listed real estate company, Alexander & Baldwin, Inc. (NYSE: ALEX). Based on financial statements analysis and forward-looking financial expectation on ALEX, this case elevates students' understanding and practice of valuating this multiple-business firms by applying appropriate financial models and approaches among NAV, DCF or NPV, valuation multiple analysis and precedent transactions analysis and enable students to make their investment decisions of buying, holding or selling the company’s stocks.

This case is most appropriate for graduate courses such as corporate finance, investments, personal finance, real estate finance and financial markets and institutes.

This case series describes the startup of Farm to School of Park County, an emerging nonprofit organization in the US state of Montana. Case (A) describes the community, the need, and the origins of Farm to School in Livingston, Montana. The leaders of Farm to School face a budget crisis and need to evaluate four options to decide whether, when, and how it should become an independent organization. As Case (B) begins, Farm to School has decided to enter into a fiscal sponsorship agreement with the local community foundation. The next task for the organization's leaders is recruiting founding board members. They need to decide whom to ask and how to do it. In Case (C), the board develops a strategic plan and establishes committees. However, the board members and leaders start to feel fatigue in the face of the demands of a startup organization, leading to questions about what is truly strategic and how work will get done. The Farm to School organization in Case (D) has just issued its first annual report, filled with meaningful accomplishments. The leaders of the organization begin to plan to build an organization that will outlast them and the founding board members.

The case discussion will help the participants figure out ways the entrepreneur could handle problems such as labour shortage, demonetisation and customer retention and find possible strategies to overcome them.

MVR Leathers is a small-scale leather-processing unit located in Chennai. MVR was the brainchild of Venkat Raj, who started his career in 1982 as a casual labourer in an unrelated domain. His unwavering persistence helped him to become an independent entrepreneur by 2008. In achieving his dream to become an entrepreneur, Raj encountered many challenges and an equal number of new opportunities. Each time he faced a challenge, he met a new set of people who helped him. However, at times, the same people who had helped him once might throw him out of the scene. In brief, his struggle is never-ending. He keeps fighting to come back and find new avenues to success. A different set of challenges surfaced as he took charge of his firm as a sole owner. Once again, he countered those challenges with courage and grit. In doing so, he made full use of his experience.

The case can be used for discussions at the executive, postgraduate and undergraduate levels. Academic courses that address topics such as entrepreneurship, entrepreneurs, small-firm strategies, business environments, leather industry, leadership, human resource management and entrepreneurial journeys can use the case for classroom learning.

Teaching Notes are available for educators only.

CSS 3: Entrepreneurship.

This case series describes the startup of Farm to School of Park County, an emerging nonprofit organization in the US state of Montana. Case (A) describes the community, the need, and the origins of Farm to School in Livingston, Montana. The leaders of Farm to School face a budget crisis and need to evaluate four options to decide whether, when, and how it should become an independent organization. As Case (B) begins, Farm to School has decided to enter into a fiscal sponsorship agreement with the local community foundation. The next task for the organization's leaders is recruiting founding board members. They need to decide whom to ask and how to do it. In Case (C), the board develops a strategic plan and establishes committees. However, the board members and leaders start to feel fatigue in the face of the demands of a startup organization, leading to questions about what is truly strategic and how work will get done. The Farm to School organization in Case (D) has just issued its first annual report, filled with meaningful accomplishments. The leaders of the organization begin to plan to build an organization that will outlast them and the founding board members.

Small to medium-sized enterprises, SMEs, play a critical role in the global economy. They comprise 90% of the global firm population and employ more than 50% of the labor force in the private sector. This case study examines issues related to sustainable supply chain management and social entrepreneurship in the SME context. Being small does matter and the efficiencies of small to medium-sized companies struggling for competitive advantage in the global marketplace warrants consideration. Philosopher's Wool Co., located in Inverhuron, Ontario, Canada, is a woolen producer and woolens product manufacturer that partners with other Ontario wool producers and American wool processors and distributors. Its sustainable vertical supply chain system increased local woolen farmers' revenues contrary to the “conventional” price wisdom in the Canadian woolen industry and turned by-product cost into profitable end use. It also effected social change in its local business community and in global customer relations through resource efficiency and socially responsible employee and consumer policies. However, the struggle to maintain a foreign distribution network and remain competitive and profitable was problematic. Students are challenged to solve the problems of an SME operating in a global economy.

This case can be used to help students achieve the following objectives: To project financial statements and assemble different pieces of financial information to create a valuation model (objective #1, create), To calculate a value for Arcor shares, supporting the estimated value with the chosen assumptions and methodologies (objective #2, evaluate), To draw connections between four different approaches to valuation (DCF, EVA, RV and VI), contrasting them and weighting their advantages and limitations (objective #3, analyze), To examine the relationship between forecasted financial statements and valuation (objective #3, analyze), To discuss the calculation of the Weighted Average Cost of Capital in a new situation as is an emerging economy, with the corresponding country-risk adjustment (objective #4, apply), To discuss the sources of value creation in a family-owned private company in a developing economy (objective #4, apply), To understand the dilemma that the head of a company was facing, identifying the three possible financing alternatives discussed in the text as follows: corporate bonds, earnings reinvestment and an IPO (objective #5, understand). To recall basic facts, as the main character’s opinion on the direction of the local economy or the fact that Arcor already complies with the information requirements of a public company (objective #7, remember).

This case is based on the valuation of the world’s largest candy maker, Arcor S.A.I.C., originally a Latin American company, which remains a private family business. The key problem presented by the case is the use of different valuation approaches to price Arcor shares, in view of a possible Initial Public Offer. The case illustrates the application of four main valuation approaches as follows: Discounted Cash Flow (DCF), Economic Value Added (EVA), Relative Valuation (RV) and Value Investing (VI). Additionally, it includes a fundamental analysis of eight years of historical financial information and the preparation of forecasted financial statements. Set in a developing economy, the Arcor case introduces the complexities of calculating the cost of capital with the inclusion of country risk, as well as the financial analysis distortions caused by an environment of high inflation.

The Arcor case is appropriate to be used in graduate courses of Corporate Finance, Valuation or Private Equity.

Teaching notes are available for educators only.

CSS 1: Accounting and Finance.

The purpose of this paper is to explore all the strategies adopted by Uber China to gain more and more market shares of Chinese markets. It included localization of its core product, adaptation to Chinese demands and tying up with different Chinese companies.

The case study has been prepared after thoroughly studying Uber’s business in China. Secondary data is collected from credible sources such as the Uber website, newspapers, interviews and journal publications. This data helped in arriving at a basic understanding of the company, its objectives, strategies and the business model. The strategies formulated by Uber and the challenges it faced while operating in China are studied and explained based on this secondary data. Various published papers, reports released by reputed organizations and universities, interviews of managers and experts and research papers were also used to develop this case.

This case is developed considering the bent of today’s consumers toward sharing economy. The scope of businesses based on the concept of sharing economy is very wide and is increasing. China’s sharing economy sector was one of the fastest economies in the world. The case chronicles ride of Uber in China: from its entry in the country, strategies adopted, challenges faced and to the exit from China.

International business management at the undergraduate and postgraduate programs in management

International business, Strategic management

BA and MA; courses: International business, Management courses with special focus on emerging and developing countries, Intercultural management, Strategic management.

Freetown, Sierra Leone, West Africa, June 2013 – Representatives of the London Mining Corporation and Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit GmbH were discussing the details about the official launch of the From Mines to Minds project. The From Mines to Minds project consisted of two components technical, vocational and educational training at St. Joseph's and functional adult literacy for people who could not benefit from the upgrade of St. Joseph's in 17 communities around the mine site. Each of them had committed 200,000 euros to the project. While the mining company favored an early launch due to internal and external pressures, the development agency evaluated that they needed to have a consolidated program before advertising it locally and nationally. This joint decision on the official launch revealed more structural issues in the “fit” between these two organizations in this cross-sectoral partnership designed to contribute to local and national sustainable development.

The purpose of the case is twofold. The first aim is to introduce students/participants to the challenges that arise when entering into a cross-sectoral partnership with another organization in a development project. The second aim is to expose students to the operational, business and strategic challenges related to operating in the volatile local and national context of a least developed economy.

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 serves as a foundation for student discussion of the estimation of required rates of return (ROR) on investments in emerging markets. An associate in J.P. Morgan's Latin America M&A department (mergers and acquisitions) is assigned the task of valuing the telephone directory operations (“paginas amarelas” means “yellow pages”) of a large Brazilian conglomerate. All cash flows have been converted to U.S. dollars, and present values computed for various discount rates. The remaining step is to determine the appropriate target rate of returns for dollar flows originating in Argentina, Brazil, and Chile. The capital asset pricing model (CAPM) is used along with a political risk premium and country beta. The necessary figure work is comparatively light, leaving the student time to reflect on the need for various adjustments in estimating crossborder rates of return.