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In October 2004, Mr. Richard Sands, CEO of Constellation Brands, evaluated the potential purchase of The Robert Mondavi Corporation. Sands felt that Mondavi's wine beverage products would fit into the Constellation portfolio of alcohol beverage brands, and the opportunity to purchase Mondavi for a highly favorable price was quite possible due to recent management turmoil at that company. However, should it be purchased, strategic and operational changes would be necessary in order to fully achieve Mondavi's potential value. In making a decision, students need to consider the attractiveness of the wine industry, its changing structure, its share of the overall market for beverages, and rival firms' strategies. As rival bidders may emerge for Mondavi's brands, Constellation must offer a price that demonstrates its serious intent to acquire Mondavi.

This case describes the challenges faced by Amul in organising dairy farmers into a co-operative and creating continuous opportunities for value addition. Participants in the case discussion are required to review the developments in the organisation and recommend a strategy for the future.

The Beringer Wine Estates Company has been expanding its market share in the premium segment of the wine industry in the 1990's. After operating as a wholly owned subsidiary of the giant Nestlé food company for almost a quarter of a century, the firm was sold in 1996 to new owners, in a leveraged buyout. For the next year and a half, management and the new owners restructured the firm and expanded through internal growth and strategic acquisitions. With a heavy debt load from the LBO, it seemed prudent for management to consider a significant rebalancing of its capital structure. By paying off a portion of its debt and enhancing the equity account, the firm would achieve greater financial flexibility which could enhance its growth rate and business options. Finally, a publicly held common stock would provide management with another “currency” to be used for enhancing its growth rate and overall corporate valuation. With the equity markets in turmoil, significant strategic decisions had to be made quickly. Should the IPO be completed, with the district possibility of a less than successful after market price performance and these implications for pursuing external growth initiatives? A variety of alternative courses of action and their implications for the financial health of the Beringer Company and the financial wealth of Beringer stockholders are integral components of this case.

The case study aims to provide students with an understanding of the challenges businesses face expanding into the home market after having an international presence through exports. It also throws light on operations in an emerging market economy – both rural and urban. The key objectives are to understand the leather footwear business operation in India, understand the challenges of expanding business in India, analyse strategies adopted to sustain and compete in India and identify the possible distribution strategies for the leather footwear business in India.

The case study focuses on Tata International Limited’s (TIL) leather and leather products business in India. The leather and leather products division was present in India since 1973 (Anand, 2020) and exported to more than 35 countries across the world (Anand, 2020). TIL did not want to miss the opportunity available in India and planned to expand its leather footwear business in the country. The company opened retail outlets in major Indian cities and an experience store in Dewas (Madhya Pradesh) in 2019. It aimed for a domestic presence along with the existing export business. However, the biggest challenge that was in front of V. Muthukumaran, head of leather products division at TIL, was how to go ahead with the idea of domestic expansion (Anand, 2020). Should the company expand the market through sister companies (Westside and Tata CliQ) in India? How and in what way should TIL plan for going through Westside and Tata CLiQ? Should Muthukumaran think of either the brick-and-mortar route or the online route or both?

This case study is designed for use in undergraduate and graduate early-stage programmes. This case study is primarily designed for use in Master of Business Administration and/or Bachelor of Business Administration programmes. The case study is ideal for courses on understanding the expansion in the domestic market, strategy, retail and international marketing. The teaching note discusses theoretical frameworks such as external environment analysis and SWOT analysis to devise distribution strategies. The case study mapped the distribution channel and decision alternatives for the company.

Teaching notes are available for educators only.

CSS 8: Marketing.

Marketing - value proposition and value delivery, switching cost, customer acquisition and retention, positioning, pricing, distribution and retailing, role of trust and transparency to build sustainable relationship in B2B context, and efficient service delivery.

Undergraduate and graduate students in marketing, business administration, strategy, retailing, B2B marketing, services marketing and general management courses. Also, it can be used for executive management/training programmes.

The case focuses on an existing scenario of a natural gas business in Gujarat, India, in order to provide understanding of marketing challenges, especially in the B2B context, faced by organisations in this evolving business environment. The case examines the strategies and policies implemented by the company and their impact on the customer. The case presents reactions and responses from the concerned customers. The case illustrates the criticalness of understanding customer expectations and designing and delivering customer centric strategies to sustain market leadership in an evolving and competitive market.

The case study enables the students to understand and analyse: the current business environment; the important factors impacting natural gas business; economic analysis of energy; opportunity and challenges for doing cleaner and greener business; role of cleaner fuel to reduce carbon footprint; and carbon credit impacting top line and bottom line of a customer. The case provides students the opportunity to understand and analyse the importance of switching costs to acquire a new customer; and devising and implementing marketing strategies to expand customer base and enter into new territories.

Teaching notes.

Threadneedle Investments, a leading UK Investment management company, was engaged in strategic discussions about future growth in its retail mutual funds business. The firm's Vice Chairman, Alan Ainsworth, was leading the discussion of strategic alternatives. The following options were being considered: expanding distribution of its funds in the UK by distributing directly; expanding its presence in the UK through the independent financial advisor (IFA)network; and/or building a larger presence in Germany, where Threadneedle was already established. The case takes place in June 2000 and draws much of its rationale and immediacy from the great bull market of the 1990's and the arrival of a new millennium. Investors were looking for new investment media to capture these returns. The case is based on field research including conversations with Mr. Ainsworth and his associates, internal company documents, interviews with experts in the field and library research.

This case study discussion will enable students to: • Understand and evaluate the steel industry’s nature, opportunities, threats and challenges in an emerging market such as Bangladesh.• Review the techniques used to analyse competition and attractiveness of an industry using Porter’s five forces model. • Identify the corporate-level strategic decisions that can impact the survival and growth of a single business/product company in a highly competitive market. • Evaluate amongst different types of corporate-level growth strategies and their appropriate applications. • Synthesise various internal, industry and market-related information into the selection and justification of any particular corporate-level growth strategy.

BSRM group established Bangladesh’s first-ever steel mill in 1952. For around 70 years, BSRM had been leading the steel industry of Bangladesh with a single product – long steel. Over the recent decade (2010–2020), Bangladesh had been one of the world’'s fastest-growing economies. As the economic development was closely tied with the consumption of steel products, per capita steel consumption in Bangladesh became more than double. Moving from 24 kg in 2010, per capita steel consumption became 55 kg in 2021. Industry experts predicted the per capita steel consumption to be 75 kg by 2024, indicating an enormous scope for the steel industry to grow. Moreover, the industry’s growth momentum was predicted to continue until the nation became a developed one in 2041. This growth momentum kept attracting new competitors to this business. Nevertheless, BSRM maintained the market leadership by dint of its first mover’s advantage, superior quality, branding, innovation and large-scale operations and ultimately accumulated substantial free cash flow over the years. Now, Aameir Alihussain, the Managing Director and CEO of BSRM, was concerned about managing the growth of his business. Would BSRM continue to concentrate on producing steel and building forte by the backward and forward integration of the value chain? Or should the firm opt for some related diversification? Alternatively, was it the right time for BSRM to consider opportunities for unrelated diversification? While opportunities were many, the amount for investment was limited. Thus, Alihussain was in a dilemma pursuing the right corporate-level growth strategy for the overall sustainability of his business in the long run.

This case can be taught in the corporate-level strategy chapter of a core course on strategic management at the undergraduate programs. This case would facilitate students to comprehend the context of corporate-level strategies in managing the growth of a business in an emerging market.

Teaching Notes are available for educators only.

CSS 11: Strategy.

International marketing/export marketing.

This case is appropriate for discussion in courses such as international marketing and export marketing of post graduate studies in management. The case can also be used for management development programmes concerning practising managers.

The case is based on export marketing strategy with special focus on developing strong buyer (customer) relationships and the associated challenges of a trading company, The Handicrafts and Handlooms Exports Corporation of India Ltd (HHEC). The corporation primarily engages in export of handlooms and handicraft products from India. Since 2005-06 the corporation has been incurring losses and it was only in 2010-11 that the corporation has registered a positive net profit.

To understand the appropriate strategies for buyer retention; to understand appropriate promotion strategies of non-essential items like handicraft, handloom and carpets; and to help students in making decisions for export marketing like understanding product characteristic, development of samples, procurement of products, vendor management, and pricing decisions.

Teaching notes.

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.

This case presents an overview of the confectionary industry, a description of the Hershey Foods Corporation, and a look at the company's strategies and the impact of these strategies. The case focuses on the unintended consequences that result from the implementation of dramatic new strategies for a company and what occurs in a company town that displays a very strong paternalistic culture. Some analysts had previously thought that Hershey's profitability and its close relationship with the town, the trust and the school made the company untouchable, but events proved otherwise.

After reading this case, the reader will feel compelled to answer the following questions. What is the best strategy for future growth of Hershey? How important is organizational culture on a corporation's strategic direction? Should the company indeed be sold to a larger corporation?