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Learning outcomes of this study are as follows: formulate an external analysis of INAPOL; and develop a strategic analysis to identify strategic alternatives.

INAPOL is a manufacturing company dedicated to the production of polyethylene sleeves and the manufacture of plastic bags, which faced a crisis because of the new environmental regulations in Chile. This rule prohibits the delivery of plastic bags in commerce, which leads directly to a decrease in the demand for bags by its main customers. This is why it is necessary to conduct a strategic analysis and reformulate a development plan. The reader is expected to be able to identify the external factors that limit the company and the internal factors that affect the company. In addition, the reader is expected to develop strategic analysis tools such as PESTEL and SWOT and identify background information to propose strategic alternatives.

The present case study presents a low complexity and can be applied in introductory courses of strategy or management for undergraduate students in administration.

Teaching Notes are available for educators only.

CSS 11: Strategy.

Strategic Management, Strategic Marketing Management.

Bachelors, Masters.

Shaheen Ballpoints is a project of Shaheen Group of Industries who, apart from manufacturing and marketing writing instruments, are engaged in diversified businesses of sanitary fittings, sanitary tiles, baby diapers and plastic films. Launched in 2001-2002, Shaheen Ballpoints had to compete against established ballpoint pen brands in a growing market. Shaheen Ballpoints believed that by setting out new standards for technology and packaging being used in the writing instruments industry, they would be able to compete with these giants. Shaheen Ballpoints experienced a mega launch of its ballpoint pens range in 2002. The wholesale market of Pakistan welcomed Shaheen Ballpoints quite generously and they paid in advance for their stocks which, generally, was not a norm of the writing instruments industry of Pakistan. However, soon after its launching, Shaheen Ballpoints realized some of the technical and marketing issues in its systems and had to pull all its stock back from the market just after six months of its launch. All the major resellers avoided Shaheen's stocks which was a major setback for the Shaheen Group. They re-launched the ballpoints in early 2004.

It is expected that the students will be able to understand the: issues associated with using the diversification strategy to grow the business; strategic implications of challenging the established industry norms and practices; and channel relationships within the industry and the need to tune-up the channel relationship strategy according to the varied nature of diversified businesses.

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

Assumes an understanding of statistical process control and focuses on highlighting the usefulness of Six Sigma quality. Focuses on the issue of a worn bearing at a tire manufacturer leading to a mean shift (while producing defectives). Shows how a Six Sigma process would quickly detect the mean shift while producing fewer defectives.

To introduce the methodology of statistical process control and to illustrate the value of Six Sigma.

Marco Crumbs BV is in the process of introducing a new product and this is putting additional stress on already tense interface of marketing and operations functions. The company which was traditionally offering a limited but high volume product range is finding itself in a low volume, high variety situation. It appears that the traditional make-to-stock production system is not working and the company is thinking of combined make-to-order (MTO) and make-to-stock (MTS) production system. How to go about it?

Human resource management, business ethics, public policy.

The case can also be taught in MBA/postgraduate in management programmes in general management or HR classes to give a lesson in organizational conflict and resolution, negotiation skills (strategies, tactics and power in negotiation) towards the middle or end of the course. The course can also be taught in MBA/postgraduate in management programmes in business ethics classes to make students appreciate the various approaches to ethics – end-results, duty, social contract and personalistic ethics. It also helps students learn how to institute ethics into the cultural fabric of the organization. In public policy programmes, it could be taught to illustrate the crucial role and at times unintended outcomes of actions of street level bureaucracies in policy implementation. The course can also be taught in refresher training programmes for executives to give lessons in conflict management, mediation strategies, union negotiations and ethics.

This teaching case is based on a real incident that took place in a defence production factory of India in the year 2009. It succinctly unfolds a small showdown between two officers that acquires a disproportionate size and explosive dimension and vitiates the environment of the entire organization. The case is a narration of a small row that in no time became a full-blown organizational dispute with layers of issues. Two officers, one very senior and the other influential, got entangled in a conflict, unfortunately in the presence of a large audience; dissatisfied workers and officers fanned the sentiments and encouraged them to unethically leverage legal privileges by gaming in the name of caste and sexual harassment to gain power in the messy dispute. The protagonist Ram Sharma, the General Manager (head) of the factory, is in a precarious situation as the conflict not only puts his managerial skills but also his moral standards and ethics to test.

After discussion and analysis of this case, the students should be able to: appreciate and evaluate the complexities and multiple facets of an organizational conflict including ethical challenges faced in a real life situation, recommend the options and course of action a manager could resort to in a high stake and time bound situation, learn to develop a basic framework for analysing, negotiations and strategize to resolve a conflict as a manager-mediator in such a situation, learn to handle difficult negotiation bound by complexities of unethical and legal disputes, answer to themselves the criticality of ground level bureaucracy's role in implementation of public policies (optional if the faculty decides to discuss the part provided in the teaching note). For international students, this is a case to learn dynamics of “negotiations in Indian context”. Overall development of critical thinking and analytical skills.

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 presents turnaround alternatives for a UK-based company, Carpets International (CI), a manufacturer focused on woven carpets and suffering from the ageing equipment and resulting product quality issues during the late 1990s. The case profiles CI’s position in the UK marketplace as well as highlights the growing international competition from Europe and Mexico. Comparisons between customer’s preferences for carpeting in the USA vs the UK are included. Additionally, the case introduces first-mover advantages in the application of innovational ideas applied to a mature industry in another country.

This case study was written by the CEO of the company as the lead author. The case is not disguised.

This case is appropriate for undergraduate strategic management/business policy classes.

In March 1997, the board chair of this small steel mill is pondering how to finance the growth of his firm: either with an initial public offering of equity or a private placement of 8-year senior notes with warrants. The task for the student is to sort out the comparative advantages and disadvantages of each alternative—including valuing the possible securities—and recommend a course of action.

Plymouth Tube, a family business, was a manufacturer of precision tubing and extruded shapes for aerospace, desalination, medical, mining, energy, and water industries globally. Founded in 1924, as of 2012 it employed 770 people at thirteen plants in seven U.S. states and had sales of about $240 million. The family had twenty members across three generations, including spouses. The board was composed of eight members, three from the family and five who were independent. Stacy, age 30, was the only fifth-generation family member working for the company. Her father, Van, age 64 and a fourth-generation member, had been in the business for forty years and had succeeded his father as president, CEO, and chairman.

In early 2013, management presented a very large expansion project that was riskier than previous recent investments to the board, and requested the board's approval. Independent board members asked Van to obtain feedback from the family about the proposal. Van asked Stacy to direct the process for informing the family, asking for their input, and communicating it back to the board.

How should Stacy conduct the process? What should be done with the information once it has been gathered? Should family members be involved in this type of business decision? Based on the information given in the case, is this a good investment?

Julie Smith, brand manager for dog food manufacturer Pedigree, has to determine how best to jump-start growth in the slumping business. The (A) case centers on the debate over which type of strategy to pursue, brand building versus in-store activity, while the (B) case focuses on the concept of cause marketing as a growth strategy.

The case examines the common challenge of building a very well-established business, and can be used to teach established business growth strategy, advertising, and cause marketing.

‘Saksham’, a corporate social responsibility (CSR) initiative of one of the largest public sector companies in India, the Gas Authority of India Limited (GAIL), provides specific training in skills required for plastic industry to low-income communities potentially affected by GAIL's business operations. Unlike a typical GAIL CSR programme, which directly targets communities affected by GAIL's operations, the Saksham programme serves the needs of one of GAIL's main customers - the small and medium scale plastic industry. Although the programme is a huge success and has completed three batches, all the students of which were placed in plastic manufacturing companies, Shamasundara, Zonal General Manager of GAIL is still not sure about the future of the programme. He wondered what should be the metrics to evaluate whether a programme can be classified as a CSR initiative by a firm.