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The case is an example of the dilemma and constraints an entrepreneur faces as they go forward in implementing ideas while setting up an enterprise. Through the eyes of John, the case helps the participants to understand and analyse two distinct business models, the bricks and clicks model and an online aggregator model and evaluate them using a visual business tool like the business model canvas (BMC). Thus, the case helps the participants to:▪ Analyse the customer segments and demand.▪ Apply frameworks for analysing a new venture’s prospects.▪ Understand two distinct business models and learn how to sketch a business model using the BMC.▪ Compare various business model designs using the BMC template.

Set against the backdrop of high consumerism and haute couture, conventroad.com is an example of fashion aggregation and curation in the online platform. Once known as the fashion hub of Kerala with its crowded streets, cramped with boutiques on each corner, Convent Road lost its following as big and major stores left the miniscule space for better facilities in the name of development. This case follows Rijin John, founder and developer, through the course of his idea conceptualisation. In an attempt to regain its popularity through the internet, John set out to rope all the popular Convent Road boutiques into one platform. But, as more options became available, John was in a dilemma about whether he should continue to try to convince the indifferent boutique owners to be a part of his enterprise or explore an alternative model and create a platform for weavers while sacrificing the brand value of Convent Road.

The case is designed for use in an undergraduate or graduate-level course on entrepreneurship, marketing, business policy and managing growing ventures.

Teaching notes are available for educators only.

CSS 3: Entrepreneurship.

This case study focuses on social entrepreneurship in emerging markets, looking at what is social entrepreneurship, theories of market failure, opportunity generation through effectuation, social franchising and funding.

Students of social entrepreneurship, development studies, sustainable livelihoods and asset-based development. It is useful for customised or short programmes or for students with a background in business (e.g. Diploma in Business Administration/MBA/custom programmes) wanting to understand social enterprise and blended theories of social and economic change.

The case tells the story of Unjani container clinics which are providing affordable, quality access to people who struggle to access South Africa’s crumbling public health system. Dr Iain Barton recognised the role that nurses can play to relieve pressure on the system, by providing primary healthcare. He piloted Unjani using shipping containers as clinics with support from his company, Imperial Health Sciences. The story of Unjani is therefore one of startup and sustainable growth, partnership and building independent, self-sustaining social enterprises in a franchising system. The theory explored includes the importance of context, the role of market failure in spotting opportunity, developing opportunity through effectuation, defining social entrepreneurship and funding and growing the organisation.

The teaching objectives are framed by Mair (2010) who finds that where social entrepreneurs operate affects what they do and how they do it. Objective 1: Explores the influence of context on social entrepreneurship helping students frame a definition of social entrepreneurship. Objective 2: Students are able to connect the theory of market failure to opportunity identification and effectuation for social entrepreneurs. Objective 3: Students apply the definition of social entrepreneurship based on Santos’ (2010) Positive Theory. Objective 4: Students will be able to apply knowledge of social franchising models, as an approach to scaling. Objective 5: Students understand the principles of resource dependency theory and are able to use the funding spectrum as a tool to identify funding types.

Links to two videos are provided in the case. Recommendations are also made for materials to be used in the class, e.g. Global Competitiveness Index and Gapminder World, which are excellent tools to demonstrate the social and economic growth divide.

CSS 3: Entrepreneurship.

Operations and human resourcing.

This case study is intended for use in graduate, executive level management and doctoral programs. The case study illustrates a combined IT and HR driven participative management control system in a flexible organization structure. It is intended for a class discussion rather than to illustrate either effective or ineffective handling of an administrative situation.

The case describes the situation of managing unskilled workforces (≥14,000 workers) during the construction phase of the 4 × 250MW power plants both for purposes of turnout as well as due compensation, in the event of an accident. The approved labour forces appointed for 45 × 8 h. Man-days after a rigorous fitness test and approvals of the safety officer are allocated housing and other necessary amenities and a commensurate compensation system.

These include: illustrating typical organizational responsibility structure at a construction site of a large power plant; illustrating the planning and administrative control mechanism in implementing strategy at a construction site of a large power plant; offering students the opportunity to understand and view a typical operational (project) structure; allowing students to speculate adaptations in the wake of an ever-changing business and company environment; and providing an opportunity to introduce a power scenario in India, Indian labour laws and radio frequency identification technology and to relate this to the case in context.

Teaching notes are available; please consult your librarian for access.

Once a decision has turned out poorly—such as Merck's decision to launch and support the painkiller Vioxx—it is easy to criticize. However, are these bad outcomes the result of a good decision which turned out unlucky, or are they decisions where the bad outcome could have been predicted? This case follows Merck's pharmaceutical product Vioxx from initial development to launch and subsequent withdrawal, and considers the decisions made at each stage by the Merck executives involved. The case concludes by examining the financial impact of the Vioxx withdrawal on the company and on the Merck stock value.

This case allows the students to examine the various steps of Vioxx's development and launch. By doing so, they can consider whether the decision-making process broke down and why. By connecting the Vioxx launch and withdrawal to changes in Merck's cash flow and stock market value, the students can document the impact of such decisions on the value of the firm.

In January 2013, small biotechnology firm Orexigen was in the final stages of testing Contrave, a promising new pharmaceutical product for the treatment of obesity. At the time, Orexigen had no products in the market, so all its hopes of financial success rested on this new treatment. Contrave had proven to be highly effective in clinical trials, and Orexigen executives were confident it would receive FDA approval.

At the same time, a much larger pharmaceutical company was considering acquiring Orexigen. Because the decision to acquire would ultimately be a financial one, the project team from the large company had to complete a valuation for Orexigen's only significant product in its pipeline, Contrave. What was the new product actually worth?

This case describes management's sequential reevaluation of Marriott's debt capacity and the decision about how to invest this unused debt. Videotape #5556, “Strategic Leadership,” is designed for use with this case (see Videotape Bibliography).

Understand the external environment and trends impacting customer preferences. Understanding the elements of customer segmentation and positioning for products such as backpacks and travel luggage. Understand the levers for turnaround management. Qualitative evaluation of an opportunity for investment – greenfield versus brownfield. Developing a marketing plan for growth.

Indian Luggage market has an oligopoly structure with three major brands – very important person (VIP) Industries, Samsonite and Safari Industries Ltd. (SIL), holding around 90% share of the organized market. The market had evolved slowly, with the players offering limited assortment and having limited manufacturing capacities in India. SIL, having been in business for nearly 25 years, had been registering a flat top line. In 2011, the top management shuffle at VIP Industries witnessed the exit of the then MD, Mr Sudhir Jatia. Mr Jatia decided to acquire the majority stake of 56.55% for Rs 29 crores for the struggling SIL. What followed in the subsequent years was the resurgence of SIL to a noteworthy position in the industry. From a merely 2% market share in 2011, SIL went on to hold nearly 16% market share in 2019. This growth in market share, along with CAGR of almost 15% for the luggage market overall, has boosted the revenue of SIL by nearly 10-folds from INR 620m in 2011 to INR 5.73bn in the year 2018. Several reasons had been identified behind the growth of this company, such as – Mr Jatia’s leadership style, focus on profitable stock keeping units, acquisition of other brands, operational efficiency and financial infusion. However, the larger question was that – Will SIL, which had been following a challenger strategy to date, be able to overcome the leaders in the industry? What strategies should it pursue now? And what obstacles can it expect on this anticipated journey of growth?

Undergraduate and post-graduate.

Teaching Notes are available for educators only.

CSS 11: Strategy.

This case details the history of Southwest Airlines from its inception in 1971 until 2004. The case provides details of Southwest's business model and reasons for its success. It ends with a description of the company's competitive pressures in 2004. The case can be used for a course in service operations or strategy.

The Dudley Beauty case illustrates a contemporary branding, management and marketing challenge facing many companies that are 50 plus years old. Movahhed (2016) highlights the six elements to consider during brand strategy: the target audience, the brand promise, brand perception (past, current and future), brand values, brand voice and brand positioning. The times have changed with changing macroenvironmental factors including political, economic, sociological, technological, legal and other environmental (PESTLE) changes that affect a business but which the business does not directly control.

The case is based upon an interview with Dudley Beauty CEO and President Ursula Dudley Oglesby and secondary sources.

The “A Makeover for Dudley’s Q+” case explores the challenges of a second-generation textured hair care and personal care company in the direct selling channel as it faces an aging market and changing business and economic environment. A Black-owned company, begun in 1967 by her parents, Dudley Beauty is led by the founders’ daughter, Harvard College and Harvard Law School-educated, Ursula Dudley Oglesby. At over 50 years old, the company has continually created new textured hair products and has high brand awareness among older Black consumers but has not adequately addressed changing hair trends and shifting communication preferences of younger consumers. The company is at a critical point needing to reach a younger, larger market to survive. The business situation supports marketing, management, strategy, and/or entrepreneurship undergraduate students in understanding how macroenvironmental forces and internal structures affect businesses.

This case is intended primarily for use by undergraduates in a variety of courses. It is suitable for courses in Principles of Marketing, Entrepreneurial Marketing, general Entrepreneurship and Marketing Strategy courses covering topics such as direct selling, the role of environmental factors in business, rebranding efforts using digital and social media marketing and women/minority business owners.

International business or International marketing.

The case is recommended for undergraduate and graduate courses in the fields of international business and international marketing. The aim is to show students the problems that a family business in the animation industry faces while growing and internationalizing. Specifically, the case discusses the entry mode selection and market selection challenges faced by an emerging market company in the comic book and animation industry to operate overseas and compete with entertainment giants such as Disney and DC Comics. The case enables the instructor to discuss international market selection theories and evaluate entry modes. For graduate students, the international market selection can be further developed by using more robust concepts such as psychic and cultural distance.

This case examines the trajectory of a pioneering company in the comic book and animation industries, and in the licensing of trademarks in Brazil. Mauricio de Sousa Productions was founded in 1959 and is considered to be one of the most successful cultural producers in the country. According to a leading Brazilian public opinion research agency, 97 per cent of Brazilian children and 96 per cent of their parents are familiar with the Monica and Friends characters. As one of the main players in the publishing market, with 86 per cent of market share, Mauricio de Sousa Productions has a product portfolio that goes beyond Monica and Friends comic strips: the company’s show on the Cartoon Network ranks third in audience viewing in the country and the company has produced animated movies, books, shows and games. However, despite its experience in publishing comic books in several countries, Mauricio de Sousa Productions (MSP)’s worldwide operations have not been as profitable and sustainable as expected. Aiming at expanding its global presence, MSP’s top management decided in 2014 to review the company’s internationalization strategy and operations to enhance the firm’s performance.

The case highlights the key factors facing firms when expanding from an emerging markets. Students are expected to discuss and evaluate options, thus developing their knowledge and decision processes related to family-owned business challenges and opportunities, international market selection theories and international market entry mode. Developing strategies to face challenges as those presented by competitors such as Disney should bring opportunities to students to think outside models and weigh risks. Finally, the case gives students opportunity to base their decision processes and evaluations on logistics problems as well as psychic and cultural distances. It also compels the students to appreciate the various challenges involved in exploiting international market with animation content and intellectual properties as a service.

Company presentation to use in the discussion introduction can be found in: www.monicaandfriends.com/content/video.php

CSS 5: International business.