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For 28 years Alaska, like the vast majority of the nation, has struggled with growing prison populations and shrinking budgets. In 1995, the Alaska Department of Corrections, faced with sanctions unless they ameliorated their crowded prison conditions, looked to the popular practice of contracting out its correctional operations by sending 650 prisoners to a private out-of-state prison. But, as the costs of prisoner litigation and transportation mounted, the state began to consider building its own private prison, a decision which many state lawmakers and business entrepreneurs argued would allow the state to stretch scarce dollars by providing cheaper and better quality prisons, return millions of dollars to the state economy, and create permanent jobs. In this decision case, students are required to put themselves in the role of the Alaska Legislature to determine whether they should permit the building and operation of a private prison in one of Alaska's remote communities. The students must analyze and juggle the complex and often competing set of objectives, values, and political tensions intrinsic to all privatization decisions.

The case can be used to discuss leadership issues in young ventures. It also allows for a discussion of effective sales and marketing functions for a new product. The case also addresses the different challenges facing certain business models in the market, and finally the importance of having a supporting team.

The case traces the development of an Egyptian startup software venture and the challenges faced regarding the entrepreneurship ecosystem. The startup’s main dilemma is whether to continue in its existing market or to extend elsewhere. Launching the main services of the startup is another challenge, as the market needs to be educated to see its value. Despite the success story, as a young Egyptian entrepreneur, the founder is expected to face various challenges to excel in the Egyptian market, such as financing, marketing, teamwork and self-development of the entrepreneur himself.

The case can be used at all levels, from undergraduate and MBA classes to executive seminars, because the issues it addresses are of broad interest.

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CSS 3: Entrepreneurship.

The central lesson to be learned from studying the case is to understand the challenges and constraints posed by contextual conditions in designing contracts in public–private partnerships (PPP) for financing and delivering health care in emerging economies such as India.

Perverse incentives, along with contextual conditions, led to extensive opportunistic behaviors among involved agencies, limiting the effectiveness of otherwise highly regarded innovative design of the program.

India’s “Rashtriya Swasthya Bima Yojana” or National Health Insurance Program, launched in 2007 provided free health insurance coverage to protect millions of low-income families from getting pushed into poverty due to catastrophic health-care expenditure. The program was implemented through a PPP using standardized contracts between multiple stakeholders from the public and private sector – insurance companies, hospitals, intermediaries, the provincial and federal government.

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CSS: 10 Public Sector Management.

Management Strategy.

Management Graduates and Post-Graduates.

Today, tourism is one of the fastest growing industries throughout the world. The tourism industry plays a very crucial role in the country’s economy, as it not only contributes towards the national income but also brings beneficial spillover directly or indirectly on the other industries. Tourism is the most important source of income for many emerging countries. India, a newly emerging economy, also depends, to a great extent, on tourist income. However, this sector continues to not make optimal contribution in India. In today’s competitive arena, the state tourism corporations must use all possible means to maximise growth and profitability through pegging up the rate of tourist arrivals. There is a general agreement in the tourism industry at the theoretical level about the imperative of a public – private partnership (PPP) in serving this objective. PPP aims to synergise the efforts of the two components in the general development of society and increase in competitiveness. The public–private partnership in tourism industry is at an emerging stage and could be developed in various ways. This case study highlights the key learning from Delhi Tourism’s experience on how PPP can be implemented in the tourism sector. This case study discusses an opportunity for Delhi Tourism which can alter the landscape of the tourism industry of India and also the rejuvenation of Delhi Tourism, a public sector corporation, through PPP.

The case will give a clear understanding of the dynamics and environmental factors governing a mixed economy like India. The reasons for the PPP can be analysed through the case. Students can understand the strategic choice of taking a private partner by a public sector in a very dynamic industry, i.e. the tourism sector.

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The case can be used in strategic management, international business or ethics courses. In strategic management courses, students will be able to identify political relationships as sources of a firm’s competitive advantage. Students will also understand the role of ethics in the firm’s competitive advantage. In international business courses, the students will be able to analyze the role that corruption and bribery play in the analysis of a country’s institutions. Students will also understand how corruption in a host country influences a firms’ decision to internationalize. Finally, students will understand the challenges that firms face when serving customers in other countries. In ethics courses, students will understand the nature of state/business corruption, i.e. the abuse of public office for private gain and the concept of state capture, i.e. managers controlling the political system for their advantage. Students will be able to analyze the decision of whether to collaborate with unethical partners or customers.

Bell Pottinger Private (BPP) was a British public relations (PR) firm with a successful but questionable reputation of helping famous critical figures and despots improve their public image. In 2016, Lord Tim Bell and the other leaders of BPP were asked to create a PR campaign for the Gupta family. The Guptas were a group of businessmen headed by three brothers who migrated from India to South Africa in the early 1990s. By the 2010s, they had built a business empire allegedly thanks to a corrupt relationship with the President of South Africa, Jacob Zuma and his family. The press and prosecutors were increasing their investigations on these relations. The case has two parts, which address two separate challenges and can be taught as standalone cases or in a sequence in two sessions.

MBA and Executive Education.

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CSS 5: International business.

After completion of the case study, the students will be able to gain knowledge on public–private partnerships (PPPs) in emerging markets; understand how to apply the sensing element of the dynamic capabilities framework in analysing context, especially in emerging market context; and understand how to apply the dynamic capabilities framework to the process of developing brand equity.

On 20 March 2020, in Johannesburg South Africa, Dr Barbara Jensen Vorster, the head of corporate communications and marketing at the Gautrain Management Agency, was considering her dilemma of how to manage stakeholders at a time when the patronage guarantee was under question. The nature of the Gautrain PPP transport contract entailed a revenue guarantee that was called a patronage guarantee. How did they build their Gautrain brand equity during the Gautrain PPP patronage guarantee controversy? This case study highlights the perspectives of multiple stakeholders which places the Gautrain brand equity under strain. The Gautrain brand identity was created to project an integrated, overarching brand position for the construction project and later the operating company. The logo illustrated Africanisation, and the slogan “For People on the Move” represented a modern collaborative approach. Upholding the status of the brand is an important quest for the corporate communications and marketing team, and therefore the issue around the patronage guarantee must be addressed. This case study illustrates contrasting views about the Gautrain being elitist versus the rapid rail train enabling economic prosperity. The pro-prosperity versus pro-economic development values were at the heart of the different opinions around the patronage guarantee. Students are therefore confronted with their own values while the case study aims to drive an awareness or consciousness around these issues in an emerging market.

This case study is appropriate for advanced undergraduate and Master of Business Administration courses focused on marketing, communications and/or stakeholder management, such as in business and society courses. At both levels, the case study will be valuable in generating discussion on communications models and how to manage stakeholders ranging from government to community representatives. In courses where dynamic capabilities theory is taught, this case study will offer a specific application of this model in the context of brand communications and building brand equity in times of controversy.

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CSS 3: Entrepreneurship.

Public Sector Management and Strategy

This case will be useful for courses in information technology (IT) innovation, public–private partnership (PPP) and strategic management. However, the use of the case will differ on the basis of the target audience who could be students of master's course or executive development course. Detailed discussion can be done on co-innovation strategy followed in a public–private partnership and to understand how a PPP can be successful in enterprise solutions. Further, the understanding on how e-procurement and e-tendering solutions work can be gained through this case. This case should be positioned when the discussion for the planning strategy of IT innovation takes place.

SAP was a market leader in enterprise application software and empowered people across the globe to work more efficiently. The e-procurement solution for OILGIAN was managed by SAP LABS India. OILGIAN entrusted SAP with the task to design and implement the e-tendering solution. SAP appointed Ramakrishna Potluri, Lead Consultant, SAP, to manage the design and implementation of the e-tendering module as a part of e-procurement solution for the public sector. The reporting and the security concerns were stated by OILGIAN, and Potluri reassured that his competent team would comply with the needs. The main predicaments that he was going through were that how best he could take the proposition forward. Should he create the innovative solutions in-house or co-create with the customers? Which business models should he follow for this public–private co-innovation to be a predecessor of successful projects?

The case illustrates the following objectives: to discuss the co-innovation strategy followed in a public–private partnership; to understand how a public–private partnership can be successful in enterprise solutions; and to understand how e-procurement and e-tendering solutions work.

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On completion of analysis of this case, students would be able to: appreciate the context of a typical delisting decision of a public company that is part of a large business group; analyze the complex nature of the relationships among the promoter shareholders, minority shareholders, government-controlled financial institutions, independent directors and executive directors in such a situation of transfer of value; and develop the best possible course of action for the promoters, independent directors and public shareholders, keeping into consideration the principles of corporate governance and the objective of shareholders’ wealth maximization.

The case presents an opportunity to examine the corporate restructuring and governance issues associated with the delisting attempt of India-based mining company Vedanta Ltd., by its London-based parent company, Vedanta Resources. The case focuses on the conflict of interests between the promoters of a business group and the public shareholders of a subsidiary, and the pivotal roles independent directors and proxy advisory firms play in supporting the public shareholders.

The case can be discussed in a graduate-level corporate strategy course that deals with restructuring and governance issues in companies, especially large group companies. It can also be discussed in a course of corporate governance where students have the opportunity to understand the potential conflict between promoters and other shareholders, and the moderating roles the independent directors and institutions may play in resolving such conflicts.

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CSS 11: Strategy.

Marketing: New Service Launch; Relationship Marketing; Direct Marketing.

This case could be taught in marketing management, services marketing or strategy courses, in the product development or service launch modules at the graduate level; alternatively it could also be used in the promotion module for the illustration of direct marketing (DM) tool application; and it could also be used as a capstone case for the introductory Principles of Marketing course at the undergraduate level.

The case examines the launch of a new air ambulance service in Karachi, Pakistan; a venture of Akbar Group Jet services; Princely Jets (Pvt) Ltd. The case describes the first mover advantage of the service and the marketing strategy recommended by the Chief Executive Officer (CEO), Mr Ghouse Akbar. The major concern is whether the strategy is forceful and compelling enough to secure approval from the board. The major issues include the role of DM processes and relationship marketing tools to encourage a value-added premium service which had no precedence of demand and practice. Concepts to thrash out in class also include customer profiling and segmentation along with how best to create awareness and generate a sustainable basket of customers for the high-price value-added low-use service.

Discuss and illustrate the importance and benefit of market research information for making a decision; how to create awareness and customer recognition and cultivate demand for a new and unsolicited service; identify appropriate and effective promotion tools to achieve required customer demand, brand recognition and customer value; how to launch a premium priced unsolicited service in a niche market?; and exhibit the synthesis of the four P's in a new product launch marketing strategy.

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For discussion of social entrepreneurship in middle-income economies, emerging markets generally and Africa, specifically, Quali Health presents interesting questions about entrepreneurial funding, scaling and the interplay between social entrepreneurial activities and the informal sector.

South Africa’s primary health outcomes do not correspond to the country’s spending on public health, with South Africa ranking among the worst globally in the incidence of tuberculosis, HIV prevalence, infant mortality and life expectancy. In part, this poor outcome can be explained by high inequality in access to healthcare, which reflects South Africa’s grossly skewed income and wealth distributions, with the bulk of the country’s population reliant upon an underfunded, inefficient and poorly managed public health system. This substandard service for the working poor in South Africa’s townships with high population densities offered a profitable entrepreneurial opportunity to provide affordable and effective primary care with vast gains in quality and outcomes improved dignity for patients. After receiving her MBA, physician and entrepreneur Dr Nthabiseng Legoete self-funded the launch of Quali Health in 2017. The business model set out to disrupt healthcare delivery for South Africa’s poorest citizens. Drawing patients from the working poor in Diepsloot, Quali Health’s inaugural site was cash flow positive within five months when the facility hit only 30% of installed service capacity. With quick success, Dr Legoete faced the strategic question of how fast to scale and finance the expansion. She also considered a new micro-insurance product for her clientele.

For discussion of social entrepreneurship in middle-income economies, emerging markets generally and Africa, specifically, Quali Health presents interesting questions about entrepreneurial funding, scaling and the interplay between social entrepreneurial activities and the informal sector.

Teaching notes are available for educators only.

CSS: 3 Entrepreneurship.