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The learning outcomes of this paper is as follows: to give faculty the opportunity to illustrate the strategist’s and marketer’s toolbox, namely, tools and frameworks such as the McKinsey 7S model. Porter’s generic marketing strategies. Strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats analysis. Political, economic, social and cultural, technological, environment and legal – external macro analysis. The case is intended for use in MBA and Executive education courses in strategy, marketing and leadership. The case offers relevant experiences and instructive lessons in formulating and implementing business strategies. The case highlights the importance of contextual leadership intelligence and competence in enabling entrepreneurial business activities. The case gives students the opportunity to apply a strategic framework to marketing communications, competitive analysis and branding with a new brand and a new name in a first world economy. The case helps students understand that: successful companies are a success because of their people and leadership, proactive thinking and constantly looking for new opportunities will make you a leader in the market, up-to-date competitor and market analysis are paramount in making the winning decision, staying true to one’s business philosophy and company values build a reputable organization, the importance of creating partnerships and healthy relationships with the distribution channel, the concept of competitive advantage, the concept of differentiation, focus and cost leadership and the concept of value and understanding customer needs.

The Egan’s Whiskey case offers students a unique opportunity to discover the important, yet grass-root, strategic decisions made by a high-quality alcohol product in a very competitive, well-known brand dominated the market, the USA. The case focuses specifically on issues related to strategic choices and implementation, brand, reputation, leadership, strategic marketing decision-making, customer/retail relationships, customer value and the importance of good marketing intelligence. There are some good examples of out-of-the-box thinking. History reveals that companies with the strongest brands, most proactive leadership, innovative marketing ideas, superb marketing intelligence and deepest relationships with their consumers are the pillars of success. The very assets that define these leading companies provide benchmarks for upcoming organizations. Being complacent and having poor leadership and vision in an ever-demanding customer-driven and competitive environment is a recipe for failure. Organizations and their leadership teams need to start thinking systematically, proactively and strategically about their place in competitive markets and take quick actions to mitigate risks and miss opportunities before they become reality. This case reveals the importance of understanding your strategic landscape, your market, your competitors, your customers, quick thinking and actions and having a rolling strategic plan, which is adaptable.

The case is intended for use in MBA and Executive education courses in strategy, marketing and leadership.

Teaching Notes are available for educators only.

CSS 11: Strategy.

The primary learning objectives of the case are described below:1) Understanding the start-up market segment for an innovative product.2) Analyse the market expansion and diversification strategies of a start-up.3) Evaluate the business expansion through introduction of new product variants or through envisaging new distribution channels.

Cronos Ltd. was Iyer's first business endeavour after completing his Master of Business Administration (MBA). Iyer had aspired to be an entrepreneur since he was a youngster. In 2015, a first-generation entrepreneur with full conviction, he entered a market that was tough for a novice to access. Despite several challenges and uncertainties, he persisted and ventured into the company on the edge of extinction with a concept for affordable sanitiser sachets. Strong willpower, but no background, guidance or finances have made him struggle at each stage of his journey. He made this possible as he had understood the need for a specific lower-income segment of customers who could afford to buy the sanitiser sachets for as low as INR1 ($0.013). Until 2021 he was selling through the GT channel in central and western regions of India. He had planned for product extension by introducing three new products in the FMCG sector with manageable finance needs. Meanwhile, he had gotten an offer to enter into the MT channel to compete with big brands in the Gujarat region. Iyer needed substantial funds to expand his business in the MT channel and had to offer equity partnership to the investor, who would invest in the business.

Graduate and post-graduate in the topics of segmentations and market expansion in the marketing management subject.

Teaching notes are available for educators only.

CSS 8: Marketing.

The case deals with Axel Motor's expansion into India and the clash between expectations and communication styles of the Indian subsidiary and Headquarters. While the subsidiary wants to follow a responsive, market-driven approach to product design and marketing strategy, the top management is driven by the strong belief that the group's core values are universal and no tweaking is needed for particular locations. Anil Mishra, Head of Sales, and the team at the corporate office of Axel Motors India have received an email from Maximilian Klotz, Head of Strategy at Axel Motor's Headquarters. Klotz has expressed complete dissatisfaction with the performance of Axel Motors India. Mishra and the team have to decide how to handle the challenge of getting their input - based on an understanding of the local environment - valued at Headquarters.

The HR President of Lupin and the Head of Learning and Development, were looking with satisfaction at the latest attrition figures. The annualized attrition rate for managers had been showing a steady decline, and was pegged at 1% for the first quarter of 2010–11, much lower than the industry average of 35%¹. It had been a long, arduous journey and figures were looking decent for now. However, the HR President knew that this was just the beginning. With competition intensifying in the industry, the war for talent was going to heat up further. He wondered how they were going to manage talent in an industry which was fast-growing, insular and obsessed with domain knowledge.

January 27, 2005, was an extraordinary day for Gillette's James Kilts, the show-stopping turnaround expert known as the “Razor Boss of Boston.” Kilts, along with Proctor & Gamble chairman Alan Lafley, had just orchestrated a $57 billion acquisition of Gillette by P&G. The creation of the world's largest consumer products company would end Kilts's four-year tenure as CEO of Gillette and bring to a close Gillette's 104-year history as an independent corporate titan in the Boston area. The deal also capped a series of courtships between Gillette and other companies that had waxed and waned at various points throughout Kilts's stewardship of Gillette. But almost immediately after the transaction was announced, P&G and Gillette drew criticism from the media and the state of Massachusetts concerning the terms of the sale. Would this merger actually benefit shareholders, or was it principally a wealth creation vehicle for Kilts?

To understand the factors that persuaded shareholders of both P&G and Gillette to merge their companies, the valuation metrics involved in determining the merger consideration, compensation packages for key managers, and the politics (internal, local government, and regulatory) that impact major mergers.

Marketing, distribution channels and servicing, product portfolios.

This case is suitable for students of business schools specialising in marketing. It is appropriate for students of marketing management and marketing strategy, distribution management and other related subjects.

The case focuses on the debacle of Fiat in India after its recent joint venture pertaining to dealership and servicing ended. The future is unclear and is the topic for debate.

The case will help students to understand the reasons for the failure of Fiat in India and to be able to connect the case with the marketing concepts, especially those pertaining to distribution channels.

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

Marketing management, Sports marketing.

The case is targeted at students of postgraduate and undergraduate programmes in business administration, specialising in marketing management/sports marketing.

The Hockey India League (HIL) failed to make its mark. After the grand success of the Indian Premier League in India, there were hopes afloat for the HIL to follow suit. However, while the Pro Kabaddi League and the Premier Badminton League received much appreciation from a devout audience, the HIL did not quite live up to its expectations. With its evident failure for two consecutive seasons, investor sentiments were at an all-time low and most stakeholders wanted to back out. The future of the HIL now hangs in the balance, with the uncertainty of whether it should be shut down or given one more chance.

The participants are required to understand the Indian sports environment and the factors that play a major role in making a sport not only popular but also lucrative from the point of view of the investors. They will be called upon to improvise on the existing format of a sport, making it more attractive to the audience. Through such an exercise, they will understand how strategic changes to basic game formats can impact its success or failure. The case will encourage participants to think about viable business models for the revival of different types of sport.

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.

This case discussion will enable learners to: demonstrate how the adoption of entrepreneurial leadership could aid the overwhelmed youth to successfully bounce back. Summarize various events and challenges faced. Demonstrate mindful entrepreneurial qualities to be effective. Identify various coping strategies in balancing a commercial viable model with a compassionate approach. Establish a roadmap for a healthy sustainable business model.

Ms Rahaf Raef Kobeissi was a 33-year solopreneur, mental health coach and personal development trainer who resided in Dubai. She encountered dilemmas while attempting to offer commercial, as well as empathy and compassion-based services. She tried to strike a balance between her own broken past life challenges and managing her clients’ healing journey. Another challenge was to assess whether she should adopt inductive counseling or deductive counseling principles, especially during a Covid-19 scenario. She needed to ensure a healthy work/life balance to prevent herself from suffering from burnout. Her personal journey to becoming a solopreneur was filled with grief and hardship over the years, which she endured with little support. She had the arduous task of dealing with a series of shocking incidents and events, which pushed her down through the cracks, leading to her attempting to take her own life three times when overwhelmed by tragedy. At the age of 23, Rahaf lost her father to suicide – they found him hanging in his apartment. Her abusive mother had several breakdowns due to severe depression and her drug addict brother accidentally killed his friend in her apartment with an overdose injection. The challenge before her was to strike a reasonable balance between managing the highest levels of clinical depression with suicidal tendencies and finding the right path and purpose for her own life. This was the very reason she chose to battle depression through therapy and bounced back as a stronger and more resilient woman.

This case has been focused on undergraduate and postgraduate-early stage level students pursuing business or psychology programs. Particularly those specializing in entrepreneurial, organizational behavioral and positive psychology courses.

Teaching Notes are available for educators only.

CSS 3: Entrepreneurship.

Strategic Planning for family businesses.

MBA family businesses courses and/or executive education courses that focus on family businesses. The case can be used in introductory sessions related to family business strategy.

This case tells the story of two generations of coffee plant growers at Hacienda Flandes in Colombia’s coffee region. It describes external and internal factors that affected the family business from 1970 to 2013. The case presents antecedents and consequences of environmental circumstances and family members’ decisions that drive this business from boom to decline and later on to its potential reinvention. Through an analysis of this family-owned coffee plantation across generations, students are expected to understand the importance of strategic planning in family businesses, in a changing and competitive environment. Family businesses in emerging economies are the most common type of businesses. In Latin America, most of family businesses might be younger than those in Europe and even in North America. Therefore, family businesses in these economies can be going through or will soon go through a succession. Succession success rate is low, regardless of the culture or country in which the family business develops. This case deals with the preparation (or lack of preparation) of the next generation in family businesses management and its consequences and helps students suggest alternatives and better decisions to run family businesses in an emerging economy.

Students will be able to know and explain the concept of a family business as a dynamic system: firm, family and individuals, each one with actions and outcomes; analyze opportunities for and threats to family businesses across generations; and formulate strategies that balance business and family demands.

The teaching note has specific reading materials to support class discussion.

Odds & Edge, a micro venture based in Ahmedabad, India, has created a niche for itself in the affordable designer wear segment. Covid-19 induced lockdown pushed Odds & Edge to the brink of collapse. And because of the severe cash crunch partners need to take a call regarding the continuation or closure of the venture. The case is intended to be discussed in an entrepreneurship class for post-graduate level participants. The case setting is inside Odds & Edge and it was May 01, 2020, when Ms Jheel Jain - a partner & the protagonist, needed to decide the future of the venture. Participants will have a brief understanding of entrepreneurial traits and will also learn about the Ansoff Model of expansion in case of continuation and the different exit choices for an entrepreneur. As Odds & Edge operates in the fashion industry, students will be able to understand the concepts such as Ecopreneurship, Circular Economy, and Trashion. The case follows through the background of Ms Jain, the ideation stage, and the players in the Trashion Industry. It then moves on to the operation of Odds & Edge narrating the process, products, and partners of the venture. The case ends with the decision dilemma for Ms Jain i.e. should she continue? If yes then how could Odds and Edge expand & grow? Or Should Jheel surrender and exit? If yes then what are the probable exit choices for her?

1. to understand the concept of Ecopreneurship, Circular Economy and Trashion; 2. to identify and discuss common entrepreneurial traits; 3. to analyze the Ansoff Matrix for exploration of various expansion/growth strategies; and 4. to understand different exit strategies available to an entrepreneur.

The case is intended to be discussed in an entrepreneurship class for post-graduate level participants.

Teaching notes are available for educators only.

CCS 3: Entrepreneurship.