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The case helps learn various aspects of entrepreneurship, startups and startup-ecosystem in India. It also talks about challenges that a startup entrepreneur faces that others or people potential to enter business can learn. It develops one to identify diverse and holistic solutions for overcoming these challenges. Apply and explain strategies suitable to business management.

After facing lot of difficulties in personal life, Mr Mitesh Shethwala started an e-commerce business named Alagrand.com. This Ahmedabad city-based startup for selling apparels and accessories for all age group is doing so well that the valuation of company has gone beyond Rs. 20 crores. In spite of the high valuation, company is facing problem of funds and investments. The protagonist of the company has lot of plans for growing business and taking it to next level that can happen only if he gets funds for the business. The case talks about issue of investment and funding of this startup company. The company also has issues in the area of setting standard operating procedures and marketing.

Teachers can discuss this case study for various subjects like Strategic Management, Retail Management, Digital Marketing and Product and Brand Management that are taught to the students of management courses at graduate and post-graduate levels. Academicians and students should read current information and data regarding setting up startups, investment and capital budgeting related to startups and funding methods.

Teaching Notes are available for educators only.

CSS 3: Entrepreneurship.

After completion of the case study, students will be able to understand the putty industry, consumer behaviour for putty, comparative advantage of putty to different industries and within industry and market entry strategy for newly introduced product.

Putty market in India grew at a compound annual growth rate of 15% over the period FY07–FY20. Many organized and unorganized players entered the putty market since its introduction. Putty was invented by cement companies to increase offtake of cement which otherwise declined owing to reduced use of marble. Painters are purchasing putty to be used before the paint to improve the texture of the walls and to fill cracks. Therefore, to take advantage of distribution channels and dealers’ network, paint companies introduced putty. Consumers, who use putty to improve aesthetics of their home, have very less knowledge about putty. They depend on painter or contractor for it. XYZ colourant company wanted to enter the white putty market to use the market opportunity along with coloured putty for economic project where cost is the constraint. This case study culminates with the probing question about the peculiarity of industry where two different industries are involved for the same product. This case study is designed to understand the target consumers’ behaviour and the entry decisions of the company to the growing market.

This case study is designed for use in second-year management programmes, especially for the students of strategic management and marketing strategy courses.

Teaching notes are available for educators only.

CSS 11: Strategy.

Radio Mirchi is the flagship brand of Entertainment Network India Limited (ENIL). ENIL is the largest private FM radio broadcaster in India. ENIL was able to gain a stronghold in the market due to its strengths of innovativeness and creative content, large operating network, reach among listeners, high quality studio and strong advertisement sales capabilities. The case discusses Radio Mirchi's entry into the Kolkata market in 2003 amidst the competition from three other players—Red FM, Aamar and Power. Kolkata occupied a prime place in the company's growth plans. The case discusses the dilemma faced by the company on developing the entry strategy. Its top management has to decide on the market segment(s) it should target, and the design of the product.

This case study focuses on four main areas. By the end of the study, the students are expected to meet the following objectives by answering several assignment questions: understand the general business of a maintenance, repair and overhaul (MRO) company and why this business is a central player in the air transportation industry; understand and integrate certain strategy analysis tools, particularly Porter’s Generic Strategies, Ansoff Matrix, GE/McKinsey Matrix and International Market Entry Modes, to use later as justification for any recommendations about strategy; and prepare a systematic elaboration to use to recommend the company’s strategic plan.

This case study discusses PT GMF Aero Asia, Tbk. (GMF), a company that is based in Tangerang, Indonesia, and involved in the MRO for airlines. At the time of writing this case, the CEO was Iwan Joeniarto. The case elaborates on GMF’s competitive business operations in Indonesia and Southeast Asia, with the main focus being a discussion of Iwan’s visions for GMF’s expansion into the Middle East. This case study challenges students to think critically on the strategy level about the expansion plans of a local company into the international market. The main research questions the study attempts to answer are: What is an MRO in the aviation business? How does it relate to airport megahubs? Is the option for business expansion into the Middle East feasible for GMF? If not, are there any alternatives for that international expansion? Moreover, what recommendations can this study provide Iwan for entering that international market successfully? The students are expected to gain exposure to the international market entry in an MRO business. The students are also expected to understand and integrate the different strategy analysis concepts and tools, such as Porter’s Generic Strategies, Ansoff Matrix, GE/McKinsey Matrix and International Market Entry Modes.

This case study can be used as teaching material in several programs, including – but not limited to – the followings: Bachelor’s Degree program in Management, Business and Marketing (usually final year students), Master’s Degree in Business Management or Business Administration and Executive Education Program/Workshop/Seminar/Training for Business Development/Marketing Managers, VPs, Directors and Aviation Management Professionals. This case study can be used in the following classes/subjects: strategic management, strategic marketing management, international marketing, international business, global marketing, operations management and aviation management.

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CSS 11: Strategy.

Decision-making seems simple, but, in reality, it is not an easy task to decide the cause for its profound result or consequence, leading to inevitable failures. Therefore, a leader must recognize whether there is something incorrect so as to avoid bad results. A good leader is a person who carefully reviews and analyzes aspects of a problem, knows the strengths and weaknesses of his organization and evaluates what the advantages or risks are. It cannot be denied that the appropriate options will reap many benefits to the business. For such important things, this paper will discuss the dilemma of Viettire, a tire distributor company in Vietnam. Accordingly, its CEO was worried about what strategic option he should adopt to approach the Myanmar market while ensuring a strategic fit to its company’s resources and capabilities and also to the overall market demands of the tire industry environment in both countries. However, with different ideas, the expansion strategies in this new market become controversial. The General Director and Founder of Viettire were wondering how Viettire could expand its existing business into Myanmar. To expand the company to new emerging market in Myanmar, Hoang Nguyen – CEO of Viettire – had conducted a strategic analysis of external environment factors to define the opportunities and threats when doing business in Myanmar by using Porter’s five forces model, S.W.O.T and competitive advantages analysis. The results indicated that Myanmar’s business environment is highly risky for foreign investors because of uncertain political, economic, social reforms in the process. Among three options, namely, exporting, licensing and wholly owned, however, Option 2 is illustrated as the best strategy for its dilemma.

Postgraduate/Graduate Business level.

As for a market mechanism, what produces, how and for whom, is not the business’s demand but the consumer’s demand. The business sells only what the market needs, not what it has. In the period of increasingly competitive conditions, stabilizing and expanding markets are a prerequisite for survival. If stability is seen as a “defensive” way, expansion is a “defensive attack” like trying to hold on the “pie” that the market gives to itself. This strategic action is to strengthen regular, close relationships with existing customers and establish new customers. As a result, the potential market is transformed into a target market. Hence, decision-making of which market, which method is the issue that a leader has to think the choice to avoid risks. Mr Hung, Viettire’s co-owner, suggests that Myanmar should be taken into account as a company’s new entry, thus exploring this potential market to increase the company’s growth and profitability. In the progress, Viettire’s marketing team had been doing a thorough tire market investigation in Myanmar. It was concluded that this emerging country, especially Yangon City, was the most suitable for those who were willing to embark on an overseas investment expansion. They believe this was a good opportunity to gain market share compared with other entrants and competitive rivals; if Viettire hesitated to invest, others definitely had jumped in with a first-mover advantage. However, the CEO, Mr Hoang, was worried about what strategic option he should adopt to approach this new market while ensuring a strategic fit to its company’s resources and capabilities and also to the overall market demands of the tire industry environment in both countries.

Understand the basic decisions that firms contemplating foreign expansion must make: which markets to enter, when to enter those markets and at what scale. Recognize the current strategic decisions an organization is facing: positioning, portfolio and market expansion approach. Learn how to develop an effective strategic plan. Be familiar with different strategies for competing globally and their pros and cons. Evaluate various strategic options and decisions in accordance with a company’s resources and capabilities.

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CSS 11: Strategy.

Economics, business management

The case study is relevant for MBA, Master's and under graduate (economics, international and business economics) students.

Biocon is one of the top 20 companies from India in the Forbes list of “Best under a Billion” companies. It has emerged from being an enzyme-producing firm to a biotech powerhouse under the guidance of Ms Kiran M. Shaw. It is an innovative company with a varied scientific skill base and progressive manufacturing facilities for developing and commercializing biopharmaceuticals. This study attempts to explore the international foray of Biocon using the eclectic OLI framework. Entrepreneurship, need for integrated business model, innovation, quality control, etc. constituted the ownership (O) factors, important for Biocon to earn the more than compensating advantage in the overseas market. The locational factors were less important in case of Biocon as the global expansion was driven by a motive of either market seeking or cashing in on the cost advantage of its operations. The dominant mode of entry has been the joint ventures. The overseas patterns exhibited by Biocon can be captured fully by the O-L-I framework.

To understand the economic theory of OLI and the ownership, locational and internalisation advantages, link the OLI framework with the international foray of Biocon, Biocon's internationalization journey, major overseas deals signed and the economic rationale behind the deals.

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This case can be used in management of international business courses to illustrate the analysis of market attractiveness, the importance of fit between firm capabilities and market requirements, and the effects of multimarket competition. It describes the international expansion challenges facing EAC Nutrition, the infant formula division of a Danish conglomerate, in early 2002. Growth in EAC's core markets of Thailand and Malaysia has stagnated and EAC is contemplating three expansion options: entry into India, geographic expansion within China, and product line expansion in existing markets.

This case is most suited for the course on Strategic Management.

The case can be used for post graduate management students and executive education participants. It should be used in the section dealing with capabilities of an organization.

Sonalika Group, situated in Punjab, India, started its operations in 1969 by manufacturing agricultural implements and equipment’s. By 1990, the firm graduated into manufacturing tractors. It gradually expanded its wings in countries like Nigeria, Argentina and Brazil and became the third largest tractor manufacturer of India in FY 2012. The year 2005 was a landmark year when it entered the passenger vehicle segment through its subsidiary International Cars and Motors Limited that launched a multi-utility vehicle (MUV) named Rhino. The vehicle was expected to fill up the vacant spot created by the withdrawal of “Qualis”, which was a highly popular MUV manufactured by Toyota. However, the enthusiasm of launching Rhino waned with time because its sales did not pick up as expected. After selling around 5,000 units of Rhino, the company stopped its production as the product had started showing up teething problems. The marketers and designers burnt midnight oil to bring out an improved version of Rhino. This version was christened “Extreme” and launched in 2012. Despite all marketing, sales and service efforts, “Extreme” also failed to take off. The group is wondering when it was so successful in tractors why it has not been successful in passenger vehicle category. It has to work out a strategy to be successful in passenger vehicle segment as well.

Expected learning outcomes are as follows: to analyse the external and internal environment for a business and understand its impact on business decision-making; to understand the relationship between operational capabilities and dynamic capabilities; to identify opportunities and match it with internal capabilities; to analyse the reasons for product failure and identify remedial measures; to understand the process of technology diffusion and thereby strategic planning.

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CSS 11: Strategy

Corporate Strategy; Strategy.

Post-graduate; Executive education; Under-graduate.

The case is based on Titan Company Limited (Titan), one of India’s profitable diversified companies. Set in April 2020, the case presents the evolution of Titan’s growth strategy in the last three decades. The company had grown by continuously exploring adjacent categories in the personal lifestyle space. The case asks whether the strategy that has guided Titan for the past three decades would continue to provide growth. What changes, if any, should be made by C.K. Venkataraman—the new CEO who had taken charge a few months back in October 2019—and his team?

The case describes Titan’s evolution from 1987 to 2020. ‘Winning times’, the first section of the case, describes Titan’s early choices in the watches business that helped the company achieve market dominance and its successive choices to expand the scope of watches businesses by entering new adjacencies. The section also details the evolution of Titan’s design, manufacturing, marketing and retailing capabilities in early years. ‘Looking for another gem’ describes Titan’s venture into the jewellery business – the failure of its early attempts to export and its pivot to domestic market and the successful turnaround of the business. ‘On the fast track to growth’ deals with Titan’s accessories business. The section ‘Eyeing new businesses’ describes Titan’s foray into prescription eyewear and precision engineering businesses and the company’s performance in these businesses. ‘A new identity’ details Titan’s adoption of a distinct corporate identity in 2013. ‘New businesses’ provides information on Titan’s recent foray into fragrances and sarees business. The case ends with the section ‘Years ahead’ which asks what changes, if any, should be made by the leadership team.

Upon completion of the case study discussion, participants will be able to: understand the concept of the ‘core competence’ and the three tests of core competence; how core competencies evolve in an organization over time; diversification (growth) strategy based on core competencies and adjacencies; and key managerial choices and organizational processes required to ensure effectiveness of diversification strategy based on core competencies.

Teaching notes are available for educators only.

CSS 11: Strategy.

The area of focus is on internationalization strategies, specifically on developing suitable strategies to support an internationalization initiative of a new medical device company.

This case is designed for final year undergraduate and MBA students. It is suitable for courses of organizational management, organization theory and design, strategic management, and international business as well as international marketing.

GranuLab, a medical device company that produced the synthetic bone graft substitute GranuMaS, aspired to be a high-growth company. To achieve this aspiration the company had made plans for internationalization, which include penetrating the ASEAN, Middle East, Latin American, and African markets within the next five years. By December 2010, GranuLab had completed the construction of its new manufacturing facility in Shah Alam, about 30km from Malaysia's capital city of Kuala Lumpur. This manufacturing facility had the capability to produce high volumes to support the company's high growth plan. However, the company's internationalization processes had taken longer than expected and this has led to a low business volume. By mid-2012, the company was forced to make a quick decision as it had suffered a year and a half of operations losses. GranuLab had to formulate a strategy as to how to position GranuMaS and penetrate the targeted markets. Failure to internationalize would incur even greater losses and might hinder the achievement of its high growth aspiration by 2015.

This case is designed to stimulate case analysts' thinking into providing recommendations for the appropriate internationalization strategies to be adopted by the management team to ensure that the company could succeed in achieving its goals. The case will expose students to the concepts and theories of strategic management, international business, international entrepreneurship; and facilitate the development of students' abilities to apply those concepts in managerial situations.

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