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Aries Agro, an agribusiness firm, faced two prime challenges – the safety and productivity of its workers. When traditional software systems fell short of addressing these challenges, the firm contemplated the implementation of an IoT (Internet of things) based solution. This IoT based solution captures the movement of workmen and generates data from the sensors that help identify sources of inefficiency. In this case, we not only discuss the implementation challenges of an IoT based implementation but also how this solution can help to promote safety among the workmen and improve worker productivity by optimising facility layout.

The case concerns introductory marketing management.

This case is suitable for MBA students.

The case explains the current situation encountered by the airline industry in India. This case gives the reader a detailed picture of the reasons for the growth and the subsequent troubles faced by the Indian aviation industry.

The case is aimed at helping the students to analyse a marketing situation both from a macro-economic point of view and from an individual company perspective.

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

In late 2011, Jerry Bertram, vice president and general manager of the fire retardant additives business of Huber Engineered Materials (HEM), a division of family-owned J. M. Huber Corporation, was preparing to present the potential acquisition of the precipitated alumina trihydrate (PATH) business to the environment, health, and safety committee of Huber's corporate board. He had convinced HEM's leadership of PATH's strategic value to their business and the urgency of the acquisition based on PATH's parent company's movement into Chapter 11 bankruptcy and its plans to close the PATH plant.

Winning board approval posed a major challenge. It was unclear whether the plant would remain operational, because HEM would have to enter a shared-services arrangement with PATH's parent company, which continued to use the site. In addition, acquiring PATH would mean integrating its specialized, unionized labor force into Huber, which had very few union workers. Finally, early due diligence had revealed tens of millions of dollars of potential environmental risk on the site. The last issue was particularly critical, given Huber's generations-long history of respect for the environment, and its executives' and directors' reluctance to take on any business with excessive environmental risk.

This case illustrates in depth the family business values that can promote consideration of an ostensibly unconventional and risky strategic move, and enable executives to push for approval of the same, as backed by comprehensive risk assessment and mitigation plans.

COMFED, Bihar State Co-operative Milk Federation Ltd., which involved 6 lakh farmers across India in 2012, was a rural organisation established in 1983 as the implementing agency of Operation Flood programme of dairy development on “Anand” pattern in Bihar. In 1983, COMFED started with just 1,030 cooperatives, which had risen to 11,400 in 2012. Apart from B2C segment of milk and milk products in Bihar and Jharkhand, COMFED’s major revenue source was its B2B business where they sent bulk milk to Kolkata, Manesar and Delhi. They supplied to Amul and Mother Dairy, which were the biggest Indian cooperatives, and allowed them to use their own brand names. In 2012, Mrs Harjot Kaur, the Managing Director of COMFED, aspired to market COMFED products all over India under the “Sudha” brand, with special focus on National Capital Region region. Moreover, Mrs Kaur also wanted to expand COMFED’s geographical reach to other countries such as Bangladesh and Bhutan.

Strategic management, Diversification.

Mrs Harjot Kaur was the Managing Director of Bihar State Co-operative Milk Federation (COMFED). COMFED is a rural organisation involving 6 lakh farmers. Starting with just 1,030 cooperatives in 1983, the number of cooperatives had risen to 11,400 in 2012. The milk production was 11 lakh litres per day, and the annual turnover in 2011-2012 was Rs 1,503.00 crore, 11 per cent more than that of previous year. Mrs Kaur was committed to serve COMFED customers and realise the dream of having at least one dish of Bihar in the plate of every Indian. Mrs Kaur envisaged COMFED producing 44 lakh litres milk per day from the existing 11 lakh litres per day, covering around 60 per cent villages of the state against the existing 33 per cent in 2013. COMFED was also trying to capture new markets. At present COMFED sent bulk milk to Delhi, Manesar and Kolkata, where it was sold by various dairy cooperatives such as Amul and Mother Dairy under their own brand names. Mrs Kaur aspired to market COMFED milk under the “Sudha” brand all over India. Moreover, Mrs Kaur was also looking to export to other countries such as Bangladesh and Bhutan. As Mrs Kaur was crafting the future path for COMFED, she also realised that above all the external challenges that exist, an internal vice – complacency – was the biggest hurdle her company had to face.

The case would be helpful for students to understand the concepts of competitive advantage, sustainable competitive advantage, industry structure, general environment, strategic positioning, diversification, internal analysis, external analysis and business level strategy in a strategic management course.

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.

Shanghai ANE Logistics Co., Ltd., established on June 1, 2010, is a business of road part-load logistics for goods from 5 to 300 kilograms. Mr. Wang Yongjun and his management team have spent five consecutive years building ANE into the biggest part-load franchising network in China, and set up a brand new business model, through integration of traditional transport lines, part-load express network and information technology platform.

Entrepreneurship.

The case can be used to teach behavioural perspective of the entrepreneurship theory for the students of Master of Business Administration (MBA) level. The case may be equally important to teach the marketing and operational context to discuss the perspectives of small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs).

A young Indian professional had left his lucrative job in the pharma industry to start his own business of a small training centre that trained and placed young graduates with various pharmaceutical companies as medical sales representatives (MSRs). Without borrowing anything from the financial institutions, he plunged into the business in a rented room of a school in Kolkata, India. With every sincerity and path-breaking strategy, his vocational centre, named Carreograph Institute of Management Studies (CIMS) became number one in eastern India in training and placing MSRs and managers. With a number of hand-picked professionals from the industry, this young entrepreneur changed the concept of training by introducing short-term courses like Diploma in Pharmaceutical Management to technically prepare pharmacy undergraduates with professional skills and industry overview, Post Graduate Diploma in Pharmaceutical Management to cater to the contemporary management needs of the pharma industry. For the first time in India, Carreograph launched MBA in Pharmaceutical Management in the distance learning mode, and this strategy revolutionised the concept of management teaching in India. With a huge success in MBA, Carreograph was on the verge of launching another path-breaking course, i.e. Bachelor of Business Administration (BBA) in pharma in the distance learning mode.

To analyse Tamal Chatterjee's entrepreneurial characteristics, motivations and expertise in the field and how these parameters support his proposed new venture, to consider the effectiveness of his entrepreneurial methods for finding out more about the proposed business area in which he is interested and to evaluate his idea of newly developed MBA and BBA programmes in terms of its expected acceptance among the student communities and consider if and when he should go ahead with expanding his current venture.

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

The case study intends to depict the career plateau of an old committed and loyal employee of an organization. The deliberation on the case enables participants to understand the vitality of career planning for employees and organizations. The case helps to develop reflections on workplace ostracism, to arrive at the solutions to address the issues of career planning, to value the experience of the employee and give him a sense of satisfaction. Overall, to understand the importance of career planning for applying HR and OB concepts at the workplace.

It is an account of a real scenario in the automation industry, with slight modifications to hide the identity. The essence of the case study is when a loyal employee is branded as a “dignified clerk” and gets a feeling of ostracism. The employees’ makes the organization, terminations because of outdated skills shall be a debatable topic. However, such practices have a profound impact on the other employees who stays in the organization and affect their productivity level. Career adaptability helps to overcome termination issues; adaptability is a psychological process of assisting an individual in coping with the challenges of automation technologies (Zhang Wenguang et al., 2019), it is a process of showing concerns, providing controls, solving curiosity and developing confidence during the transition process. When technologies are implemented the employer needs to address specific challenges access to technology, access to information, provide required skills and competencies to use technology, integrate people, these challenges support the successful implementation of technology (Kettunen and Sampson Jr., 2019). Career planning is a joint effort of employee and employer that sets the development target and path; the process sets demands for both the parties; it places an irreplaceable role for individual growth and corporate strategy (Zhai Meng et al., 2018). The Findings are the frequent review of job analysis and career planning that are critical for the organization's success; if done inappropriately, it would make one's roles obsolete. The critical implications of this case are the essence of career planning and the upskilling of employees. The case is useful for teaching job analysis, career planning concepts. The story is original and explains the transition of an automation industry from labor to capital intensive. The transition to automation makes a loyal employee feel ostracized due to a lack of skill sets.

Post graduate students studying in business and management and working professional of human resources can use this case.

Teaching notes are available for educators only.

CSS 6: Human resource management.

After experiencing long, multiyear surges and slides in past decades, by summer 2013, the dollar had been range-bound against the euro. In this case, by assessing potential capital flows, students consider whether global currency market trends would propel the dollar higher, or if the past few years were just a pause in a much longer dollar depreciation episode. Suitable for both core and elective MBA courses in global financial markets and international finance, this case explores factors pointing to further euro appreciation and to others favoring the dollar. Sorting through mounds of evidence is necessary before forecasting the exchange rate's likely path. Filtering that evidence requires thinking about FX markets, prospective monetary policies, and past and prospective international capital flows.

MS / MBA / Executive Education

Leadership

In 2019, French multinational electric utility company, ENGIE SA (ENGIE) was on the verge of zero carbon transition. Under the leadership of Isabelle Kocher (Kocher) who became the CEO in 2016, ENGIE embarked on an arduous journey toward re-profiling ENGIE toward renewable, low-carbon energies, such as solar, green gases and digital. Kocher inherited a loss-making company and took in on a path of transformation toward a company with business lines for future. This meant ENGIE would slowly move out of energy generation through non-renewable sources, toward renewables along with storage and digital technologies. This case chronicles Kocher’s turnaround plans and investments, and explains how she went about making ENGIE a forerunner in energy revolution. While the turnaround was on track, ENGIE was unable to give returns as expected. With mounting pressure Kocher announced a strategic plan in 2019, which reemphasized ENGIE’s focus on renewables and technology. But several major shareholders including the Government of France were not impressed with the plan. It is time Kocher proves that transformation of ENGIE into a clean power company also means returns for the shareholders.

The outcomes are as follows: First, to illustrate how leaders bring in change and innovation in large well-established companies. It shows the role of leaders in leading the innovation process and in molding the companies according to the opportunities and threats presented by the macro environment. Second, to analyze the role of a leader in bringing changes in the organization. Third, to understand the strategies used by energy companies as they position their businesses in the context of a changing energy landscape.

Teaching Note

Renewable Energy – Growing cocnern about the impact of climate change on the world at large, has brought to the fore the importance of renewable energy.

CSS 4: Environmental management

The case illustrates how environmental forces affect an industry’s profitability. PESTEL and five forces analyses can be used to examine the retail agricultural equipment industry.

Single case study.

Jonathan Sullivan has a decision to make. His company is struggling due to difficult industry conditions. He is questioning if the company can continue to survive. MEC is an agricultural equipment dealer. The industry has experienced boom-and-bust periods since the company was founded. But the current downturn seems different. The past five years have been difficult as manufacturers have changed their dealership practices. Jonathan has struggled with some of the new practices the manufacturers have implemented. These new practices could negatively impact the company’s ability to survive. Jonathan wonders, “What is the best path forward for the business?”

The case is designed to be used in an undergraduate strategic management course.