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Competitive strategy.

Post-Graduate (MBA/Doctoral) level courses.

This paper aims to examine the evolution of Himalaya Drug Company (hereinafter referred to as Himalaya), an Ayurveda-based pharmaceutical-wellness company. Over the eight decades of its history, Himalaya has built a reputation for Ayurveda-based formulations that conform to allopathic standards and are accepted globally. In the recent years, Himalaya dramatically strengthened its competitive position of “scientific Ayurvedic products” through its entry into fast-moving consumer goods (or consumer-packaged goods), categories of wellness products as well as over-the-counter (non-prescription) drugs. This case describes the focused differentiation strategy of Himalaya and sets out the challenges it faced/would face in sustaining its focused differentiation strategy, as it enters into highly penetrated categories such as toothpastes and soaps (that were traditionally dominated by broad differentiators and broad cost leaders).

The outcomes are as follows: to exemplify the logic of focused differentiation, where a competitor commands a higher willingness to pay than its average competitors, by narrowing its target segments; to illustrate how the firm’s entire set of activities are tailored to meet the specific needs of a set of carefully chosen products, narrow customer segments, of defined geographic markets; to highlight how a combination of tradeoffs and fit helps protect the firm’s competitive position from its potential imitators; and to demonstrate the limits of a focused strategy, specifically relating to growth, and how a company such as Himalaya can overcome such limits.

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 11: Strategy.

International marketing, new product development, international business expansion, small business management.

This case is intended for senior undergraduate or graduate MBA students taking a course in international business, international marketing, or small business management.

Thai Jintan Company Limited (Thai Jintan) is a medium-sized importer, distributor, and marketer of premium confectionery and health care products in Thailand with the exclusive distribution arrangements of Morishita Jintan Company Limited (Morishita), one of Japan's oldest companies and a leader in the Japanese probiotic and confectionery industry. The case takes place in August 2009, approximately 18 months after Thai Jintan implemented its market launch of Morishita's technologically advanced breath and belly mint under the brand name of Jintan Nude. With a limited promotional budget of 8 million baht (€161,128) coupled with Thailand's regulatory environment for the marketing of food and drugs, Thai Jintan, a newcomer to the breath mint market, was faced with having to devise a resourceful marketing and promotional campaign. Thai Jintan management was confronted with assessing its past marketing plan and deciding on what to do to achieve its ambitious goal of capturing a 20 percent market share of the growing mint/menthol candy confectionery segment in Thailand.

After reading and discussing the case, students should have a better understanding of the following: the challenges faced by small businesses and new entrants; learning to apply different frameworks such as PEST or PESTEL, SWOT, and/or Five Forces to scan and assess a competitive environment; familiarizing themselves with different channels members’ roles in a distribution system; learning to evaluate a company's current marketing strategies and to recommend strategies to improve its segmentation, targeting, and positioning strategies and to design a new marketing mix for a new product launch in an overseas market; and learning how to effectively allocate a marketing budget.

Teaching notes are available.

This exercise describes the competitive dynamics situation faced by two large companies, Colgate – Palmolive and Proctor and Gamble in oral care business. Both of them introduced a tooth whitening solutions and anticipated to sustain their competitive lead. P&G introduced its solution in August 2000 and Colgate followed it in September 2002. This was followed by another introduction by Colgate April 2003. The intensified the competitive battle between the two companies. The participants are required to get into the shoes of either Colgate or P&G to think through a competitive strategy. The case provides information on the estimated demand for tooth whitening solutions, gains and losses of the two companies, R&D expenditure, players in the oral hygiene market and legal framework for complaining to facilitate the analysis of the situation and decision making by the participants. The case can be used in modules on competitive strategy, innovation, and economics of strategy.

Marketing in an emerging market.

The case is aimed at MBA students in a marketing strategy class on marketing at the bottom of the pyramid or on branding.

A young brand manager faced the challenge to increase drastically a brand market share to 8 per cent in 2015 in a context of a new emerging market with large number of consumers living with no more than US$1.25 a day.

Expected learning outcomes are as follows: to familiarize students with emerging markets characteristics; to illustrate the challenges of marketing a brand to local consumers with limited financial resources to craft a marketing strategy for Pepsodent with a clear positioning, allowing the Pepsodent brand to differentiate itself and to leverage its brand equity; and to develop a marketing-mix aligned with the brand positioning.

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 students will get a hands on research techniques like mental mapping, laddering and means end chain (MEC) model for value proposition and survey techniques.

Market Research has always acted as one of the major driving force behind the successful launch of any product in any market. There are several evidences of how market research and thorough understanding of the consumers in and out has lead companies reach new peaks and acquire market share. This case deals with a company called Eco-Remedies, based in Nashik, India, which is in the business of providing eco-solutions to different health ailments and also general purpose health supplements like health drinks. The major concentration is on the product called “AnjaNeya-The Graviola fruit drink” from Eco-Remedies, where in different research techniques were used to gather information so that appropriate strategies could be implemented in order to increase the market share of the product and create a strong position in the minds of the customers. The case deals with gathering consumer insights and then developing appropriate positioning strategies for Eco remedies based on consumer value proposition using the MEC theory, mental mapping, blind tests and general consumer survey.

The study is applicable to Masters level Marketing Management and Marketing Research Studies.

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

Marketing.

Align Inc. is a start-up company with a revolutionary, patent-protected new technology for straightening teeth called Invisalign. Invisalign is a set of invisible plastic aligners made to each patient's specific needs that substitute for metal or ceramic braces in adults (it is not sold for children's orthodontic needs). The company has created tremendous consumer awareness and affect for its product, yet sales results are dismal. Requires the reader to analyze the reasons for such poor sales and what to do to remedy the problem.

To examine distribution channel issues as well as the marketing mix for a new product introduction.

Students should be able to appreciate the exigencies of managing social enterprises in a largely profit-oriented economic domain; understand the interplay of choice and trade-offs in business management and be equipped to make optimal choices; and appraise new, creative and profit-making approaches for sustaining social enterprise.

Daniel Mensah and his team were to deliberate on options available for ensuring financial sustainability of HealthKeepers Network (HKN), a not-for-profit organization focused on community health and grassroots capacity development. As the economy of Ghana moved towards middle-income status, funding from global organizations had begun to decline. To ensure HKN’s continuity, Mensah needed to re-engineer HKN’s finances and consider options available for ensuring cash inflows to support the organization’s operations. Each of the available options involved specific setbacks or challenges for HKN to overcome to achieve financial sustainability. Mensah and his team were to engage in a brainstorming session analyse the available options and map the way forward for HKN.

This case is suitable for undergraduate and graduate-level programmes in business management.

Teaching Notes are available for educators only.

CSS 3: Entrepreneurship.

A financial analyst for Procter & Gamble must report on the prospects and implications of a new teeth-whitening product. Beyond a realistic profit-and-loss forecast and baseline net present value, he must determine which pricing and marketing strategy is most likely to maximize value for shareholders.

Leraning outcomes are as follows: demonstrating how companies in the Indian market are using competitive advertising; giving participants an overview of the regulatory framework for advertising in India; highlighting the complexities arising out of the multiplicity of advertising regulations and institutions in India; appreciating the legal and ethical perspectives of advertisements and self-regulation; and evaluating the stance taken by both the parties in this particular case to develop multi-stakeholder perspective.

A recent advertisement by international conglomerate Hindustan Unilever Limited was severely criticized for insulting Indian values by Baba Ramdev, promoter of India's largest Ayurvedic Company selling Indian indigenous and natural alternate medicinal products. It was in a complete reversal of the scenario between 2015 and 2018 when other Indian consumer goods companies complained against advertisements released by Patanjali. Indian fast moving consumer goods sector is witnessing a trend of competitive advertising in which companies are downplaying and criticizing the competitors. Though quite old, this trend caught momentum when Patanjali Ayurved Limited, a new player in the market, started advertising aggressively in 2015–2016. It resulted in many complaints by the aggrieved parties in the industry bodies and different courts of law in India. A part of the confusion comes from the diversity of advertising regulations across different Indian platforms and the absence of a clearly defined institutional framework for resolving such disputes. Consequently, most such disputes land up in the court of law in India. The case study builds an understanding of the legal framework within which companies are governed for brand promotions and creates a contextual ethical dilemma to drive the discourse on advertising through self-regulation in India.

This case is meant to benefit students pursuing a graduate or upper-level undergraduate degree in management or law/business law.

Teaching notes are available for educators only.

CSS 8: Marketing.

This paper uses financial report information to analyze the accounting results of the COVID-19 vaccine development for Johnson & Johnson (J&J). This paper also uses stock price information to analyze the market reactions to the COVID-19 vaccine development and the state of clinical trials for J&J.

This instructional case investigates the interaction between J&J and the COVID-19 vaccine. This paper uses information from financial reports to analyze the accounting results of the COVID-19 vaccine development for J&J. This paper also uses stock price information to analyze the market’s reactions to the COVID-19 vaccine development and the state of clinical trials for J&J.

This case has been used in both undergraduate and graduate levels to highlight the application of accounting theories to practice and improve the understanding of financial statements, especially when Covid-19 has affected the global economy. Under this new context, students could explore new ideas from accounting aspect.

The case aims to investigate the interaction between J&J as a pharmaceutical company and COVID-19. It provides a context in which to discuss the consequences of COVID-19 vaccines from several financial perspectives, such as stock prices, accounting policies, earnings and cash flows:

LO1: Understand the responses of stakeholders to J&J’s COVID-19 vaccines.

LO2: Understand the accounting policies that J&J and its competitors follow regarding COVID-19 vaccines related to revenues, R&D expenditures and government funds.

LO3: Apply Ball and Brown’s theory to the impact of COVID-19 vaccine development on earnings quality of J&J and its competitors.

LO4: Assess the importance of COVID-19 vaccines in management decision-making through dividend policy and management compensation structure.