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The case provides a great illustration of women leadership in crisis times. A failed merger forced a deep review of the firm strategy and a realization that the legacy leadership arrangement was not optimal anymore. The hustand-and-wife team ended up swapping executive positions, with Charlotte resolutely taking on the CEO position.

The case is designed as an integrative case looking simultaneously at key subjects such as leadership, entrepreneurship and management of a fast growing service firm, strategy as applied to IT consulting and finally gender studies, with the possibility to discuss the impact of gender roles.

The case investigates Charlotte's efforts at building an original Search Engine Optimization firm in Seattle, progressively taking control from her husband to save the firm from bad strategic decisions.

The case is written to convey the emotional rollercoaster lived by Charlotte and key decisions she had to make as the leader of this fast growing data analytics firm. Learning outcomes focus on what is expected of a leader in such situation, in particular a female leader in a male-dominated technology environment.

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

Consulting in general, and data analytics consulting in particular, are male-dominated worlds where a female leader faces many obstacles to realize their potential. Charlotte provides a masterful example of how to contribute to and lead a fast-growing firm and manage the family and the relationship to a partner who also happens to be the co-founder of the firm.

CSS 3: Entrepreneurship

Human resource management and organizational change.

Students on an introductory course on Human Resource Management or a specialization course of HRM such as change management and organizational development. This case study can be taught at the MBA level.

This case study can serve as the base for understanding and identifying the various characteristics that relate to revolutionizing HR functions with the help of digitalization. It can also be elaborated further to include the challenges that a company has to face after it decides to establish IT software based on operations. This case is an evolutionary story of a large-scale Pakistani company, Pak Electron Ltd. (PEL) which has been in operation for almost 60 years. The top management decided to move from a traditional administrative system towards setting up an HR department for the first time. The case states the salient features of the traditional administrative system, issues faced by the company in the setup of a new HR system and digital HR system along with the employees’ views and perceptions on these systems.

Students are expected to learn the following: the various characteristics of a paper-file based traditional administrative system; the various features of an IT-based modern HR system; the decision background and basis for making the switch to the new contemporary HR system; and the reaction of employees against changes in organizational systems.

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: 6: Human Resource Management.

After working through the case, the students should be able to understand Indian political economy and the brand building process of NaMo; identify the media mix strategies used to build the brand NaMo in India; evaluate possible future growth strategies for brand NaMo; and compare and contrast brand NaMo with business brands.

Narendra Modi popularly called as NaMo was the current Prime Minister of India. He belonged to Bhartiya Janata Party (BJP) which won India’s general elections in two consecutive terms 2014 and 2019. NaMo was recognised worldwide for his prudence in leading the country to greater heights of achievement. NaMo started his political journey as the worker of BJP at a tender age. His rise in political career was akin to flagship brand overtaking the parent brand. All the steps taken in the past to position himself as a cult brand, will it fortify to NaMo’s victory in 2024 general elections? Business firms may follow NaMo’s strategies. What can the business brands emulate from NaMo to market and position themselves? Can political success be transpired to business success?

This case is designed for use in a graduate-/postgraduate-level marketing course in segments on brand management, brand expansion and the marketing strategies of a market leader. The case can also be used in a brand management course to discuss brand management models (e.g. Keller’s brand resonance pyramid and brand value chain). This case has particular application for classes that focus on brand equity, STP for any brand (segmentation, targeting and positioning) and brand value chain. The case looks in detail at the Indian political market and brand building process of NaMo and examines competitive moves since its inception. This case can be used in brand management, media management courses. The dilemma can be explained as part of a marketing course for postgraduate and executive programmes.

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.

There had been many pieces of research on international expansion approaches, and they continued to grow. However, research about the firms belonging to emerging nations and that went global were still in the early stages. It had been argued that most theories on international expansion had focused on explaining the internationalization of large firms, majorly originating in developed countries. This case study offers an intriguing reading about an Indian MNC, successfully entering the developed markets and competing thereof amidst tough and complex world. Moreover, the leaders like Baba Kalyani met the stiff challenge from complexities and disruption successfully through entrepreneurial mindset. The case study offers insights into “Creating Value Through Entrepreneurial Leadership Framework”.

The case study has been developed through secondary data sources. The published online resources, the firm's annual reports formed the basis of the research work. Author accessed online news articles, auto component industry experts' views and reports from global consultancy firms, and auto industry body such as SIAM (Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers) reports helped the research. The views and interviews by promoters of the company are available online for deeper insights and analysis.

An Indian multinational, Bharat Forge Limited (BFL), was a shining example of achieving global manufacturing standards through perseverance and entrepreneurial leadership. For more than the past four decades, BFL faced complexities, uncertainties and disruptions multiple times, and every time, the business world saw a resurgent company, Bharat Forge. The company achieved growth through diversification, related and unrelated, acquisition, product innovation, portfolio expansion and expansion in domestic and global development. Competitive market, economic slowdown, innovation and technology disruption had not deterred BFL from growing into a worldwide auto component giant. BFL overcame all hurdles with grit and enterprise. It achieved a paradigm shift with over half the revenue from non-automotive sectors such as defence, electric vehicle components, e-mobility, power electronics and aluminium light-weighting.

This case is planned for MBA students, primarily in the second half of the course curriculum. It can be executed in marketing, strategic marketing and strategic management courses. The conceptual framework pertaining to corporate strategy, global expansion, diversification, product development, innovation, disruption, market development and entrepreneurial leadership can be taught through the case. The case is suitable for MBA executive students as well, in courses mentioned above in addition to courses such as strategic leadership.

This case can be used in the core course on entrepreneurship for Bachelor of Business Administration (BBA) and Master of Business Administration/Post Graduate Diploma in Management (MBA/PGDM) students. It will help them to understand the motivations and challenges of women entrepreneurs, strategies to manage challenges, interactive style of leadership and their contribution to the economic growth of the country.

Entrepreneurship.

Roopa Rani, co-founded a digital design company, DesignTheme Innoventics (DTI), with her husband Yoganand, in November 2007, on the first floor of their residence. Yoganand’s creativity and Roopa’s determination made them bootstrap, scale slow and steady. As a novice to the industry, the initial days posed many challenges. Roopa hired artists to be appointed as designers, which gave them a unique selling preposition. They progressed slowly from a team of 2 to 20, with a revenue of INR 0.3M per annum to INR 12M per annum. As the company grew, Roopa wanted Yoganand’s support in handling the responsibilities, and hence, converted DTI into a limited liability partnership in 2013 and the couple were directors. As the client base improved, the need for shifting to a bigger space became more evident. A calculative risk-taker, Roopa, was forced to move DTI to a bigger office space end 2017, with a rent of INR60,000 per month. Meanwhile, they became a team of 20, with revenue of INR12m. The shift from no rent to a rented space made DTI slip to break-even. However, after two years, they moved into a smaller space and it coincided with the COVID-19 outbreak. Although the backlog orders were processed during the first quarter of 2020–2021, the business for the next quarter was affected. Social distancing norms created a shift in the way of doing business, which was a boon for a designing company like DTI. Now, the task before this self-made woman entrepreneur was to formulate strategies to scale up the business.

After analysing the case, the students will be able to: i. Value the contribution of women entrepreneurs towards the economy. ii. Examine the motivational factors and challenges of women entrepreneurs. iii. Understand the importance of networking. iv. Appraise the socio-cultural factors in a patriarchal society and their impact on the work-life balance of a woman entrepreneur. v. Appreciate the interactive leadership style of women entrepreneurs. vi. Formulate strategies to scale up the business.

• Agarwal, S., & Lenka, U. (2015). Study on work-life balance of women entrepreneurs – review and research agenda. Industrial and Commercial Training, 47(7), 356–362. doi:10.1108/ict-01–2015-0006 • Amit, R., & Muller, E. (1995). “Push” And “Pull” Entrepreneurship. Journal of Small Business & Entrepreneurship, 12(4), 64–80. doi:10.1080/08276331.1995.10600505 • Buttner, E. H. (2001). Examining Female Entrepreneurs' Management Style: An Application of a Relational Frame. Journal of Business Ethics, 29(3), 253–269. doi:10.1023/a:1026460615436 • Carter, S.C. (1997). E. Holly Buttner and Dorothy P. Moore (1997), ‘Women’s Organisational Exodus to Entrepreneurship: Self-reported Motivations and Correlates with Success', Journal of Small Business Management, January, pp34-47. • Cohoon, J. McGrath and Wadhwa, Vivek and Mitchell, Lesa, Are Successful Women Entrepreneurs Different from Men? (May 11, 2010). Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract = 1604653 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.1604653 •Fletcher, J. (1998), Relational Practice: A Feminist Reconstruction of Work, Journal of Management Inquiry, 7(2), 163-186. • Kirkwood, J. (2009). Motivational factors in a push‐pull theory of entrepreneurship. Gender in Management: An International Journal, 24(5), 346–364. doi:10.1108/17542410910968805. • Malyadri, G., Dr. (2012). Role of women Entrepreneurs in the Economic Development of India. Paripex – Indian Journal of Research, 3(3), 104–105. doi: 10.15373/22501991/mar2014/36. Pal, N. (2016). Women Entrepreneurship in India: Important for Economic Growth. International Journal of Pure and Applied Researches, 4(1), 55–64. Pugazhendhi, D. P. (2019). Problems, Challenges and Development of Women Entrepreneurs. Emperor Journal of Economics and Social Science Research, 1(4), 48–53. doi:10.35338/ejessr.2019.1407. Shastri, S., Shastri, S., & Pareek, A. (2019). Motivations and challenges of women entrepreneurs. International Journal of Sociology and Social Policy, 39(5/6), 338–355. doi:10.1108/ijssp-09–2018-0146. Tende, S.B. (2016). The Impact of Women Entrepreneurs towards National Development: Selected Study on Taraba State. Information and Knowledge Management, 6, 30–43. Xheneti, M., Karki, S. T., & Madden, A. (2018). Negotiating business and family demands within a patriarchal society – the case of women entrepreneurs in the Nepalese context. Entrepreneurship & Regional Development, 31(3–4), 259–278. doi:10.1080/08985626.2018.1551792

CSS 3: Entrepreneurship.

The primary focus of this case is on group dynamics, including group development, interpersonal conflicts, and team effectiveness. Appropriate theories and frameworks are drawn upon from the literature on group dynamics and conflict management to discuss and address these issues.

This case is completely based on real-life events and the information was attained from interviews with the case characters. Name of the organization and all characters in the case have been disguised.

This case deals with a student work group facing intragroup conflicts while pursuing Master of Business Administration (MBA) at a prominent Indian B school. Three members of the group approached Hemant Patel, Organizational Behavior Faculty, and Suhas Shah, Program Chair, for seeking help to resolve the conflict. Patel and Shah conducted interviews with group members and organized a workshop on group dynamics at the larger, class level. However, a few members informed them that dynamics were still poor. Patel and Shah are contemplating what to do next.

This case can be used in courses on organizational behavior, human resource management (with a focus on group and team performance) or general management (with a focus on group and team effectiveness). The primary focus of this case is on group dynamics and conflict management. This case was written keeping in mind graduate course/MBA students but it should do well with undergraduate students and executive education participants as well.