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The case study highlights two strategic angles – that of the business unit (business strategy, profitability, market leadership. organizational culture, operational turnaround, industry structure and competitive dynamics) and the owner (returns, repositioning strategy and funding plan). By the end of this case study, students would be able to understand the changing competitive forces of a dynamic industry; analyse the circumstances leading to a change in the control of a firm from the state to the private sector; understand the logic of acquiring a perennially loss-making firm operating in a volatile environment without a unique strategy; identify a firm’s strategic and operational choices for financial turnaround, return to profitability and regaining market leadership; and learn about the actual strategic realities and choices confronting a troubled business organization in a difficult industry.

When the Tata Group took over Air India on 27 January 2022 from the state that had ownership for 68 years, Air India was under a long spell of poor performance, bleeding losses and unmanageable levels of debt. Unsatisfactory customer service, management issues and competition were the key reasons. Therefore, a crucial question facing the group’s Chairman N. Chandrasekaran was what workable strategy he could use to reposition Air India and make it profitable again so as to recover the $7.5bn of estimated investment involved in the acquisition and turnaround.

This case study is intended for undergraduate and graduate executive education levels in business administration and management and allied subjects, particularly for courses in strategic management, marketing, financial management, turnaround and transformation, mergers and acquisitions and organizational change.

Teaching notes are available for educators only.

CSS 11: Strategy.

Marketing strategy, strategic innovation.

Strategic brand management or marketing strategy courses at MBA level.

It seemed likely that a company with the highest number of product variants would consider product innovation to be its key source of sustenance in a crowded marketplace. Especially so, when the local and global competition was hotting up to a new launch every week. In the case of Micromax, a mobile handset maker from India tried to drive home the point that sustainability in emerging markets did not lie in inventing a new technology like Apple or Nokia or Sony did, albeit accompanied with a premium price tag. For the emerging markets, it was important to optimize the offering for the consumers. Strategic optimization could result from bridging the gaps in performance, infrastructure and organization design, which came naturally to this marketing-savvy mobile maker. Any company could make a cost-effective phone, but few could position, brand and sell it the way Micromax did. Shubhodip Pal, Head of Marketing at Micromax Informatics Pvt Ltd, India, pondered the marketing strategy which could pave the way into maintaining the company's national leadership position while creating a roadmap for its global foray. For Micromax, marketing strategy innovation, and not product innovation, would fulfil the goal of long-term growth in India and overseas markets.

The students studying this case are expected to learn: marketing strategy in emerging markets such as India, marketing strategy as the critical success factor for upcoming Indian companies rather than product innovation and doing business in emerging markets.

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 working through the case and the assignment questions, students will be able to understand the current practices and importance of influencer marketing strategies within overall marketing strategies; appreciate both the debate and dissonance that surround influencer performance measures; outline the key elements of Qoruz.com’s investments and efforts that brought them success; understand the strategic intent and justify the logic of operationalisation of Qoruz.com by creating two different SBUs after they launched a vastly improved tech platform; and evaluate potential strategies that Qoruz.com could use to move ahead and cement its supremacy in the influencer marketing space.

Interest in influencer marketing which found many takers during the pandemic was expected to intensify and form the core of many brand strategies. Coupled with this heightened interest and increased budget overlay, demands from brands and agencies alike for clearer ROI linkages and KPIs that have better correlation with business goals, have gained momentum. Qoruz, an early entrant in the influencer marketing space in India, attributed their success to their focus on product innovation and service quality. From a predominantly narrow service offering providing analytics that facilitated decision-making for influencer marketing campaigns, their recently launched multi-feature platform enabled them to expand their services and consolidate their position. However, today, in an increasing volatile market, drawn by the high growth trajectory of the influencer marketing space, many players had jumped in and tried to introduce technology-based platforms with almost similar features while aggressively playing the price card. With the monetary and economic conditions under pressure and constantly changing demands of clients, Qoruz.com found itself faced with a dilemma to protect their first mover advantage. The co-founders of Qoruz realised that to give confidence to their loyal client base, and really cement their leadership, they would need to urgently take stock and relook at their strategy afresh relying on their deep experience of the industry, loyalty of their customers and their tech-centric DNA to build a holistic and ambitious strategy.

This case is designed for use by graduate and under-graduate level students in marketing management and strategic management courses.

Teaching notes are available for educators only.

CSS 11: Strategy.

This case traces Under Armour from its founding in 1996 through 2008 when the company entered the hyper-competitive non-cleated athletic footwear market. In 1996, with an innovative product and locker room access to college and pro players, Kevin Plank started Under Armour. He turned a struggling t-shirt company into a dominant player capturing 75% of the performance apparel market. In 2006, Under Armour successfully entered the athletic footwear market with a line of football cleats. Under Armour was the first company to disrupt Nike's dominance of the football cleat market by gaining 25% of the market within a year of introduction. In 2008, Under Armour entered the non-cleated athletic footwear market with a cross-trainer sneaker line and a $4.4 million Super Bowl ad. Unlike prior introductions, Nike responded aggressively to Under Armour's move into sneakers. Despite increased sales, Under Armour's costs increased, and profits and stock price decreased. The case concludes by asking students to evaluate Under Armour's next move. An extensive exhibit provides an overview of the athletic footwear industry in 2008.

Strategic change for business sustainability.

The case is targeted at the BA level and MBA level, and strategic management courses.

The case study focuses on strategic change for business sustainability in the commercial bank sector in Thailand. It describes how Siam Commercial Bank (SCB) developed and implemented strategic change to achieve business sustainability in the economic fluctuations, and the competition in the banking market. SCB is a very long established bank which held the highest market capitalization among Thai Financial Institutions, and it was on the verge of bankruptcy in the Asian financial crisis in 1997.

These include developing students' understanding of the context and practices of strategic change and the nature of theoretical traditions in the field of strategic change.

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

This case serves as a useful backdrop for discussing a few important conceptual frameworks in the field of finance. The dilemmas are still evolving for Sharīʿah-compliant asset management company (AMC); i.e. Al Meezan, and may seem complex to the students – particularly in the Pakistan’s financial structure – but framing the discussion from a market perspective ought to help the students of finance.

This case study focuses on Al Meezan Investment Management Limited (Al Meezan) journey since inception. Al Meezan is a full-fledged Sharīʿah-compliant AMC and one of the major players in the mutual funds industry of Pakistan. Al Meezan offers a comprehensive range of Sharīʿah-compliant investment solutions especially designed to meet the financial goals of their existing and potential clients. The case study covers all the key events before the inception of Al Meezan, from late 1990s till March 2020. The case is based on interview with chief executive officer (CEO) (the protagonist) of Al Meezan. The case also covers various challenges faced by Mohammad Shoaib, CEO and his senior team, to make Al Meezan a vibrant institution offering Islamic financial services.

This case is aimed at undergraduate students in their final year (i.e. taking electives in the field of Finance/Islamic Finance) or graduate students majoring in Finance/Islamic Finance.

Teaching notes are available for educators only.

CSS1: Accounting and Finance.

This case is an abridged version of UVA-F-1115. This version is intended for use with audiences requiring less source documentation than is available in the unabridged version. The teaching note, however, contains all the source documentation in an appendix.

After working through the case, the students should be able to understand Indian political economy and the brand building process of NaMo; identify the media mix strategies used to build the brand NaMo in India; evaluate possible future growth strategies for brand NaMo; and compare and contrast brand NaMo with business brands.

Narendra Modi popularly called as NaMo was the current Prime Minister of India. He belonged to Bhartiya Janata Party (BJP) which won India’s general elections in two consecutive terms 2014 and 2019. NaMo was recognised worldwide for his prudence in leading the country to greater heights of achievement. NaMo started his political journey as the worker of BJP at a tender age. His rise in political career was akin to flagship brand overtaking the parent brand. All the steps taken in the past to position himself as a cult brand, will it fortify to NaMo’s victory in 2024 general elections? Business firms may follow NaMo’s strategies. What can the business brands emulate from NaMo to market and position themselves? Can political success be transpired to business success?

This case is designed for use in a graduate-/postgraduate-level marketing course in segments on brand management, brand expansion and the marketing strategies of a market leader. The case can also be used in a brand management course to discuss brand management models (e.g. Keller’s brand resonance pyramid and brand value chain). This case has particular application for classes that focus on brand equity, STP for any brand (segmentation, targeting and positioning) and brand value chain. The case looks in detail at the Indian political market and brand building process of NaMo and examines competitive moves since its inception. This case can be used in brand management, media management courses. The dilemma can be explained as part of a marketing course for postgraduate and executive programmes.

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.

The aim of this study is to make students understand the significance of strategy formulation and the impact of internal and external factors on the strategy adopted by the firm. Upon the completion of this case study, the students will be able to achieve the following: • map out relevant macro-environment strategical factors of an organization; • assessing organizations industry and competitive environment; • outline strategic group maps to assess positions of key competitors; • develop issues priority matrices; • testing competitive power of resources; and • identifying an organizations internal strengths and external threats.

Across the globe, the COVID-19 pandemic left few organizations untouched and many entrepreneurs fighting to stay afloat. Here we look at the survival dilemma faced by the founder of Little Birds Kindergarten, in Doha, Qatar. Founded by a local Qatari businesswoman, the kindergarten offered a British-style curriculum and an Early Years Foundation Stage structure; with her profound passion for technology, the founder (here called Fatma) has always believed that integrating technology into a child’s early learning opens the door to limitless opportunities and potential. Therefore, she ensured that the kindergarten consistently invested in advanced educational technology and the accompanying software. Yet, while the reputation of Little Birds Kindergarten stayed high, the COVID-19 pandemic stunted the growth in enrolments. Fatma stopped paying herself a salary and even drew on her own savings to keep the kindergarten going but it still did not earn enough to compensate for her initial investment. So, despite her passionate concern for the kindergarten, she worried about being unable to keep it afloat for much longer. The purpose of this case study is to shed light on the strategic posture, performance and market position of one kindergarten. From there, it surveys the opportunities in the education industry that are unique to student enrolment and highlights what a kindergarten can do to develop a survival strategy.

The case is suitable for teaching basic and advanced courses at the undergraduate and post-graduate levels.

Teaching notes are available for educators only.

CSS 11: Strategy.

Marketing of financial products.

Graduate level. Occasionally, for undergraduate students with a strong background on branding strategies and strategic analysis. Applicable to analyze how companies can improve their branding strategies in highly regulated industries.

In 2016, Claire Solís was discussing with her team the paths to ignite growth and brand awareness of the only digital bank in Mexico. To better position the brand on the Mexican financial market, Bankaool had decided to go 100 per cent online, a branch-less institution. The case presents a condensed history of banking and the shifts in digital consumer behavior. As the case continues, Bankaool products are introduced along with some concerns to keep the business going, particularly, regarding the bank’s health and further growth. The newly appointed CMO and her team have to decide next steps to boost product growth just before the Fintech industry grows more mature and competitive – a scenario of more complex decisions. While they reckoned the potential of Bankaool in sales for the short term, they also need a strategy to position the Bankaool brand in the long term while they struggle with a need to accelerate growth and generate a return for investors.

To understand the launching of a new bank in the digital arena. To understand consumer behavior in a setting of increasingly higher digital coverage and diffusion of smart devices. To recognize that brand value goes well beyond product development and launch. To gain awareness on the perks and perils of a digital-only bank.

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.