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International business, Accounting and Finance.

Undergraduate and Postgraduate levels (advanced financial accounting, international accounting, other accounting and business courses with an international setting.

The case uses the Asia Pulp & Paper Company’s (APP) entry into the international debt market to highlight the consequences of different business practices between the East (in this case, Indonesia) and the West. On the one hand, it shows that APP was set up as the “front” to access international debt capital; on the other, it reveals the naïvety of Western lenders who parted with their funds without conducting a thorough background research on the financial viability of the company they invested in. The APP debacle is a poignant reminder for market participants and business/accounting students that the divergence of the business settings across countries can make business contractual arrangements tenuous and corporate financial information irrelevant to its users. It also exposes the unique ways of how some Asian countries conduct their business affairs.

The following are the expected learning outcomes: comprehend the impact of differences in culture and ethnic origin on business practices; evaluate the impact of cultural nuances on the legality of contracts in the international business setting; understand the impact of currency fluctuation on the financial position of multinational firms; and be more cautious in conducting business and entering into contracts with foreign firms.

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

CCS 1: Accounting and Finance.

The case discussion begins with an understanding of Davis’s three-circle model. It then leads toward the key resources and challenges, by system and development stage as given by Gersick et al. (1997). After understanding the family business system, the case delves into making the students understand the circumplex model of the marital and family system. This matrix talks about the flexibility in the business structure along with cohesion in the family unit. The case then gets into the discussion about succession and the new generation joining the family business and the conflicts that may arise due to the same. It might be imperative to bring out the different forms of conflict that may arise in the family and business system. Researchers have identified three forms of conflict – task, process and relationship (Mckee, Madden, Kellermans and Eddleston, 2014). As passing the baton would take place next for this business in the case, the current generation needs to look at the future growth strategy for the business. Here, the discussion refers to the exploitation and exploration matrix given by Bergfeld and Weber (2011).

This is a primary data case. The data has been collected from SK Enterprises. Interviews were conducted to arrive at the issues and challenges discussed in the case.

This case talks about the dilemma of a first-generation entrepreneur. Jatinder Agarwal was the owner of SK Enterprises, a light-engineering firm manufacturing bright bars, engine parts and ceiling fan shafts. He had set up the business in 1984. His brother, Ramesh was helping him in the business. The business had prospered and grown from a single product manufacturing workshop in 1984 to two factories manufacturing multiple light engineering products. In 2015, the business was doing well and both Jatinder and Ramesh were excited to involve their respective sons, Pranav and Sanidh in the business after completion of their education. The case is about the challenges faced by Jatinder and Ramesh with the entry of a new generation. Jatinder and Ramesh were working in the family business with an implied structure where the business was a sole proprietorship in the name of Jatinder but the decisions were taken by both the brothers collectively. With the entry of the new generation, Jatinder had to decide how to re-organize the business and avoid conflicts in the family. He also had to take a decision regarding the future course of strategy, which would help the business grow further.

This case is about the dilemmas faced by a first-generation entrepreneur. The case can be taught in an “entrepreneurship” course, in a post-graduate MBA program. This case can also be taught in a family business program as part of the course on “Understanding Family Business – Managing Paradoxes” or “Building Lasting Family Business – Synergy in Vision, Values and Strategy.” This case can also be taught as part of a “business strategy” or “human resource management” in MBA or executive MBA program in the first year.

The paper employs ethnographic interviews, a quantitative and qualitative data analysis of publicly accessible data and literature review.

With drought conditions expected to worsen in at-risk areas thus amplifying wildfire likelihood, this case explores the organizational and natural dynamics involved with wildfire management. The case engages students to explore the interactions between wildfire, wildland firefighters and agency organizations drawing from the natural resource dependence theory within a sustainability context. When completing the discussion questions, students are challenged to explore how organizations can use discursive closures to eliminate conflict and control meaning surrounding potentially controversial and politicized topics such as wildfire management.

This interdisciplinary case would be appropriate for undergraduate and graduate students in business and STEM classes. Optimal classes include organizational behavior, organizational communication and sustainability. Other appropriate classes include strategic management, applied business decisions, public relations, public policy, crisis management and for corporate training purposes.

Upon completion of the analysis of the case, the students will be able to distinguish between a family business and a non-family business, evaluate the professionalization strategies used by Jeff Hamilton and categorize the type of family business that Jeff Hamilton is so far using the model of professionalization developed by Dekker et al. (2013). The model classifies family firms into four types according to their level of professionalization: autocracy, domestic configuration, administrative hybrid and a clench hybrid.

The case highlights how Jeff Hamilton, a family business that began in Kenya and has grown regionally in East Africa, has professionalized its operations and, by so doing, facilitated its growth. The family business is run by Major Boke and his wife Lucy Boke and was ranked number 31 in the 2019 top 100 SME survey conducted yearly by KPMG in collaboration with Nation media group – a Kenyan media company. The dilemma revolves around decision-making in the times of the COVID-19 pandemic, where structures put in place to professionalize the business facilitated the decision-making.

The case can be taught to undergraduate and graduate-level entrepreneurship and family business courses. It can also be taught to executive education short courses on family business and entrepreneurship.

Teaching notes are available for educators only.

CSS 3: Entrepreneurship.

BigBasket.com, an online supermarket established in December 2011 in Bangalore, India, had become one of the major players in the Indian online grocery market by the end of March 2016.₁ Run by Innovative Retail Concepts Private Limited, BigBasket.com was operating in more than 23 cities across the country in 2016. The online grocery market in India was in a stage of growth and transformation, fuelled by India's large urban population who sought a lifestyle of convenience and ease. It had also attracted many entrepreneurs who competed fiercely with each other in a market characterised by thin margins. Intense competition ensured that only a few companies were able to survive and sustain themselves. One of these companies was Big Basket, which succeeded in spite of the competition, attracting Series D_a funding worth USD 150_b million from the United Arab Emirates-based Abraaj Group in March 2016.₂

Teaching Note and Exhibits.

The learning outcomes are as follows. The case offers a rare opportunity to understand the unique market dynamics of feminine health and hygiene products in an emerging market. The discussion would enable learners to comprehend different stages of “new product development process”; understand “diffusion of innovation” and consumer adoption process; conduct a comprehensive situation analysis to assess segment attractiveness; and plan market-driven “product commercialization” strategies to increase adoption and sales for long-term performance.

Peebuddy – “India’s first portable female urination device” that gave women the freedom to stand and pee in unfriendly toilets was launched in 2015. Over two million units were sold by December 2019. Riding on this success, Deep Bajaj – the creator of Peebuddy built a 20-product company from a small bootstrapped start-up, over a four-year period. After receiving two rounds of funding, Bajaj knew that for the next phase of expansion, he needed to showcase Peebuddy as the star product. Facing the challenge of getting over the chasm of limited adoption of an unconventional product in the intimate feminine hygiene and almost taboo space in an emerging market such as India, Bajaj was determined to retain the first mover advantage and emerge as the leader in the category. For this, he had to define his lead user distinctly and design appropriate strategies to increase consumer reach and sales that could overcome the challenges of cultural stereotypes.

MBA-level courses in marketing management (core), consumer behavior and product management.

CSS 8: Marketing.

After completion of the case study, students will be able to evaluate the journey of launching a business in an emerging market context and judge how opportunities and challenges can be navigated to build sustainable enterprises; assess the relevance of individual attributes and process skills that are necessary for entrepreneurial agency to transform social structures through entrepreneurial action; formulate an argument highlighting the role of the entrepreneurial ecosystem in growing a competitive business in an emerging market context; make an informed decision and critique how accelerators and incubators affect the development of ideas and access to finance in South Africa; and propose various strategic options available for technology entrepreneurs, considering the challenges they face in emerging economies.

In April 2023, Queen Ndlovu, CEO and founder of QP Drone Tech, a provider of drone business solutions, was considering options to fulfil her original dream of manufacturing drones in South Africa. She had encountered obstacles to achieving the same in 2019, and had decided to focus on providing commercial drone consulting services. However, her dream had not extinguished, and in 2022, she decided to restart her efforts. She found practical support from The Innovation Hub, an incubator that was supporting her business, which enabled her to enhance the prototype of her drone. She then had to think about how she would manufacture drones locally by ensuring she had access to production infrastructure, funding, partners and customers. Would she be able to gain a competitive advantage that would differentiate her from competitors? Or should she reconsider whether she should be manufacturing in the first place, as there are risks and benefits for smaller businesses in this regard.

This case is intended for discussion in postgraduate diploma in business and Master of Business Administration courses.

Teaching notes are available for educators only.

CSS 3: Entrepreneurship.

Entrepreneurship and family business.

The case is suitable for BA and MBA levels and for courses focusing on family businesses, entrepreneurship, or small and medium-sized enterprises.

The Gomez family is the owner of Colchones Eldorado, a Colombian mattress company, in business for more than 50 years. Its founder and CEO Gumercindo Gomez, 75 years old, had no succession plan but he wanted to ensure the future of his business. Given the urgency of this situation and the complexity of the family structure, Martha Gomez, General Manager, hired a consultant to design the succession plan. To prepare this plan, the consultant must take into account: the preservation of stock ownership within the family, the company's sustainability under the new CEO family member, and the assurance of the family harmony.

These include: understanding the characteristics of a family business in the Latin American context; recognizing the stages of the family ownership; and identifying personal characteristics and roles of family members in order to design the basis of the succession plan.

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

This case provides insights about the importance of market research, market segmentation, distribution, product positioning, branding and advertising for a small but growing enterprise. This case provides insights into nuances about organizing and running a family-owned small business –Bhuira Jams has to objectively decide on its way-forward which can be a pure social enterprise or a pure commercial enterprise. This case provides understanding regarding the differences between the two models in terms of funding, accounting, legal, marketing and operational aspects.

In January 2017, Linnet Mushran had just won an award from the PHD Chamber of Commerce for her work in generating local employment for rural women in the village Bhuira, Himachal Pradesh, India. This award did make her feel happy. However, more than happiness, it got her thinking as to how would Bhuira Jams – the child born out of her passion for mountains and out of the desire to do something good survive in the coming years? Bhuira Jams was never designed like a formal business. Being a family run socially relevant business, Bhuira Jams faces the challenge of operational efficiency, along with an uphill task in marketing and distribution. Almost 35 per cent of its sales comes from Fabindia, which re-sells the Bhuira products under the Fabindia label. Thus, currently there is very little focus and expenditure in Bhuira on marketing and distribution. Another challenge faced by Bhuira Jams is driven by the health and lifestyle changes occurring in the Indian society. Consumer preferences are shifting towards low fat diets, and there is growing Americanization of the Indian society. This can be a double whammy for Bhuira’s main product line of preserves, which are high on calorie and are traditionally British.

Bhuira Jams conceptually is close to a family owned business due to the involvement of husband, daughter-in-law and son-in-law of Linnet. Thus, this case provides insights into nuances about organizing and running a family owned small business.

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

The case revolves around a critical incident that took place at an Indian pharmaceutical company, in which various stakeholders had very different perspectives regarding the nature, causes and consequences of the incident. By illustrating the contrasting perceptions of the same event, the authors have shed light on the nature of perception and perceptual processes, including cognitive biases and errors in human judgement. The case provides insights into how these manifest in the organisational context and how managers could be made more aware of them to avoid errors in judgment and make choices that are more informed.