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In June 23, 2016, voters in the United Kingdom have just approved a referendum calling for leaving the European Union. The case describes the motives for European integration, the rise of separatist movements in the United Kingdom and elsewhere, and the referendum process itself.

The purpose of this case is to provide a contemporary counterpoint to a discussion of the economic and political motivations for the American Civil War. Dominant themes highlighted here are economic nationalism, political nationalism, cultural centrism and ethnocentrism, and populism.

The learning outcomes of this case study are to understand and apply the PESTLE framework with a special focus on sociocultural nuances of a conservative society, appreciate the role of innovation and effective leadership in the success of entrepreneurial ventures, understand the bricolage theory to critically evaluate the role of entrepreneurs as agents of social change and develop monetization strategies for digital start-ups and recommend strategies that would help social enterprises to strike the right balance between their social aspirations and commercial goals.

In March 2020, Kanwal Ahmed, founder of the much-lauded Facebook group Soul Sisters Pakistan (SSP), was posed with a critical situation. SSP’s first face-to-face member meetup, which had been hyped up by Pakistanis residing in Canada for months, had to be called off due to the advent of COVID-19. What worried Ahmed was not just the immediate impact of the postponement; rather, she was more concerned about how her social enterprise would sustain in the longer run. The new normal had changed the way businesses operated; tried and tested revenue generation strategies of SSP would neither be feasible in a COVID-stricken world nor reap the same results. Ahmed knew that her social enterprise could have a far-reaching impact in a pandemic-stricken world. However, she was unsure about how to monetize her business model so as to ensure steady revenue generation streams that would keep the enterprise afloat. Ahmed knew that the clock was ticking, and she had to act quickly and think of ways to ensure SSP’s long-term sustenance.

This case study is suitable for undergraduate students enrolled in courses of entrepreneurship and strategy.

Teaching notes are available for educators only.

CSS 3: Entrepreneurship.

This case invites students to assess the impact that Brexit, the withdrawal of the United Kingdom from the European Union, might have on a New York–based hedge fund's portfolio and, specifically, its UK assets. The case is designed to prompt students to make market assumptions and investment hypotheses based on a combination of numerical data and qualitative information. It requires no numerical computations; instead, it asks the student to interpret both markets' short-term reactions to the Brexit vote and strategy shifts from UK and European business leaders in order to evaluate longer-term implications for the economies of the United Kingdom, Europe, and the world.

OGQ was founded by Geet Sethi and Prakash Padukone with the mission to support potential Olympic medal winners, in achieving their dream, with the help of all the stakeholders; and the vision to scout for potential talent and identify their needs. It had eminent personalities from sports who understood the problems with Indian sports and from industry who had a passion for sports and supported it. OGQ supported its athletes for the 2012 London Olympics through voluntary contributions and its athletes won four medals. For the 2016 Olympics, OGQ had a target of eight Olympic medals and was scaling up its support to athletes. Viren Rasquinha, the CEO of OGQ, knew that he had to focus on getting more contributions as he needed more resources to support the athletes. For this OGQ needed to review its communication strategy to the current and potential donors.

Incorporated on February 18, 1959, Oil India Ltd. (OIL) was a leading public sector oil and gas company involved in the exploration, development, production and transportation of crude oil and natural gas in India. Since its inception, OIL had committed itself to being a socially responsible organisation in and around operational areas, particularly the north-eastern state of Assam where 90% of company operations were concentrated. Despite many successes, the “People's Company” continued to be a target for disgruntled local and student communities who frequently created operational hazards for the firm—from sit-ins and blockades to pilfering and disrupting production facilities. No less than 400 organisations, of which 50-60 had been consistently active, were currently in the forefront of demanding something from OIL. Many of these demands were beyond the purview of OIL's CSR policy and focus areas. Additionally, being a Public Sector Undertaking (PSU), OIL also faced multiple demands from the government. On February 16, 2019, news arrived that there was yet another blockade in Duliajan, Assam. What should OIL do to address and possibly mitigate operational interruptions?

In September, 2011, to prevent its currency from appreciating after the Global Financial Crisis, the Swiss National Bank (SNB) decided to peg its currency to EUR and announced that it would not let CHF go beyond 1/1.20 EUR. Maintaining the peg required the SNB to purchase foreign currency assets virtually endlessly in response to the worsening Eurozone crisis. By end of 2014, its foreign currency exchange reserves amounted to almost 80% of its GDP. In an attempt to deter capital flows and reduce its balance sheet size, in December, 2014, the SNB first bought the interest rate on commercial bank deposits to negative levels and then, facing impending quantitative easing by the European Central Bank, announced the removal of the peg on January 15, 2015. The case describes the backdrop and the circumstances leading up to removal of the peg.

Entrepreneurship; Strategy.

The case is meant for Undergraduate and Postgraduate students pursuing entrepreneurship and management with specializations in strategy. It can be also used for Entrepreneurship and Management Development programs for generating an insight into strategic planning, organic growth of enterprise and the formulation of a future road map. The case can be used in courses like “strategic management”, “female entrepreneurship” and specialization courses like “Start-up: Ideation, Launching, Managing and Growth”.

Simran Sahni and Sachin Sahni, the owner and co-founders of health, beauty and slimming center are currently running centers in Lucknow and Ludhiana. Although as of now there is no operational franchisee provided by Health Zone in any of the other cities across the country, the owners have a vision to open around 100 franchised and company owned centers across the country. At this juncture, both the co-founders, who also happen to be husband and wife, look forward to understanding and revisiting the operations and strategies at Health Zone to formulate the road map for the future.

The participants will be able to identify key challenges for service organizations and will learn ways to meet these challenges. The participants will be able to identify motivation and retention strategies applied by the co-owners in their organization. The participants will be able to have an insight on the key elements of the Business Model of a service organization based in the wellness industry. The participants will be able to analyze the opportunities available for new startups in the wellness industry drawing their conclusions from experiences and business development and expansion of Health Zone in its overall journey. Participants will be able to devise models for the enterprise so as to help it grow and expand its operations nationally.

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 3: Entrepreneurship.

The case looks at the Sethusamudram Shipping Canal Project from its inception in the year 1860 to 2012 when the Pachauri Committee was about to submit a report on the latest canal alignment (4A) as suggested by the Supreme Court. It takes the reader through a series of developments starting from the initial proposals and alignments to formation of Sethusamudram Corporation Limited and highlights the impact of National Environmental Engineering Research Institute Report, Tsunami Detailed Project Report, and Subramaniam Swamy Report on various issues including environmental, political, religious, security and legal. The case brings out multi-dimensional aspects involved in an Indian infrastructure project and gives both students and the faculty an opportunity to explore the complexities faced by the Indian decision makers in today's context.

The case study draws on structured interviews with Rob Chase, Founder and CEO of NewGen Surgical, as well as secondary data sources to analyze the effectiveness of these solutions in mitigating the risks and enhancing the company’s competitive advantage.

This case study examines how NewGen Surgical, a small- to medium-sized medical equipment manufacturer based in the USA, navigates a supply chain crisis caused by post-pandemic (COVID-19) supply and demand distress, trade restrictions, and the US–China trade war in 2022. It outlines the journey of CEO and Founder, Robert Chase, as he started, grew and is maintaining the company and its various challenges. The case study reviews the risks and vulnerabilities of the company, which heavily relies on Chinese suppliers for most of its operations. To address the supply chain challenges, the case study explores alternative solutions such as insourcing, reshoring, diversifying the supplier base, changing safety stock and implementing new technologies. The case can be designed to teach business courses such as global business, supply chain and entrepreneurship.

This case study is intended for undergraduate and graduate students in courses such as global business, supply chain and entrepreneurship. In addition, this case study may be incorporated with modules on learning organizations, knowledge management and entrepreneurship to aid students in comprehending the principles of global sourcing, offshoring and supply chain management.