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As with many other food industries, the traditional spice trading methods are breaking down under pressure of demands for increased quality and quantities of ever more spices and spice products. Traditionally, spices have come from the East, via Arabian merchants who held the secrets of crossing the vast deserts separating Asia from Europe. Today, spices have been successfully introduced into countries to which they are not indigenous. If the traditional ways are to be replaced with methods which can meet the needs of the future, co‐operation is necessary between not only traders but also researchers, legislators and nations.

An update of world trade in spices is given. The issues discussed include supply, quality, irradiation, increased Western consumption, organic spices, convenience foods, spices in the food industry, and safeguarding the growers. The discussion is supported by data on India′s spice exports.

After completion of this case study, students will be able to apply the triple bottom line concept to a spice manufacturing and export company (RBT 3); to examine the options before Value Ingredients Private Limited (VIPL), namely, to cultivate spices in the traditional way versus adopting integrated pest management (IPM) to cater to international markets (RBT 4); to analyse the returns for an IPM farmer vis-à-vis a conventional farmer, and to compare the returns therein (RBT 4); and to evaluate the ways and means of engaging farmers to change their way of cultivation (RBT 5)

The COVID-19 pandemic heightened awareness about the benefits of spices and buoyed its demand worldwide, which presented an opportunity to VIPL, a spice manufacturing company based in Chennai, to expand its business. However, the export markets demanded residue-free spices grown with little or no use of pesticides. Traditional farmers supplying spices to VIPL were accustomed to spraying pesticides whenever there was a pest attack. This case study discussed the options that the protagonist Mr Sijil Karim, managing director and CEO of VIPL, had, who wanted to onboard farmers for pesticide-free cultivation. The options before him were either to continue traditional farming or adopt IPM. This case study discussed the merits, demerits and challenges of each of these options.

The triple bottom line concept discussed three Ps – people, planet and prosperity – for this case as follows: The farmers and the consumers constituted the people in the spice supply chain. The farmers supplying organic, export-worthy spices under the guidance of VIPL gained 30% more than regular spice farmers, which were accrued through cost savings and better prices. The consumers benefitted from the pesticide-free, organic spices through accrued health gains. The manufacture of organic, pesticide-free spices helped the planet, as the process did not release hazardous chemicals into the atmosphere. VIPL manufactured pesticide-free spice with a focus on prosperity.

The case study can be introduced in a course on sustainability while discussing the triple bottom line concept. This case study showed how a for-profit company grew without losing sight of the planet or its focus on people. This case is best suited for students who have preliminary knowledge of supply chain management, operations and sustainability. Therefore, it is suited for sophomore-year students of MBA.

Teaching notes are available for educators only.

CSS 11: Strategy.

The purpose of this article is to provide an insight into the spice industry.

Uses Eastern Spice & Flavorings as a case study and focuses on its international product development group.

Despite the company's origins as a family‐owned small business, it competes in the global marketplace. To compete successfully, it must localize its blends. Until the company can establish new product development (NPD) centers in its major overseas markets, regional teams from Richmond that could travel to foreign markets to aid product development would be a solution to increasing sales.

Discusses Eastern Spice & Flavorings and its new product development.

This paper describes SPICE (Structure Process Improvement for Construction Enterprises), which is a process improvement framework for construction organizations. SPICE is a five level step by step maturity framework. It assesses an organization’s performance against levels of process maturity, identifies their strengths and weaknesses and highlights their improvement priorities. SPICE was developed in close collaboration with the construction industry and tested on real projects. This allowed the framework to take into account practical industrial needs. This paper provides an outline of the SPICE framework. It focuses on a best practice case study of SPICE implementation on a partnering relationship between a major client and a major contractor. The paper details the SPICE assessment and fact finding process. Based on this assessment, it identifies the strengths and weaknesses of the partnering operation and provides specific guidelines for project improvement. Main strengths of the partnering included: (1) close physical proximity of client, design and project management teams; (2) top level commitment to improve productivity; and (3) adoption of manufacturing philosophies and methods in order to deliver improvements. Main weaknesses included: (1) lack of integration between systems and processes of the partnering organizations; (2) presence of cultural and incentive differences between the partnering organizations, which led to fragmentation of the project teams; and (3) little evidence of process evaluation and improvement efforts by the teams. Based on these, some recommendations are made for future improvements.

This paper aims to examine the usage patterns of herbs and spices among Australians and to identify how herbs and spices were consumed by respondents from different social backgrounds.

In all, 1,023 adult Australians completed an online survey and ranked the frequencies of use of 21 herbs and spices and provided details of their demographics, cooking intentions and household types.

Latent class analysis was applied and three types of usage patterns were identified, including high use, moderate use and low use of herbs and spices. The usage patterns were associated differentially with several covariates. For example, the chance of being in the high-usage group was positively associated with age, number of adults living in the household and cooking evening meals from scratch, but negatively related to levels of education and possession of cooking or culinary qualifications. Moreover, respondents who cooked their evening meals from scratch and who were not interested in receiving information or advice about making inexpensive but tasty meals were more likely to be in the moderate- rather than the low-usage group.

The identification of groups of users of herbs and spices would enable health communications to be tailored to enhance the use of herbs and spices and reduce the use of other flavouring agent including fat, sugar and salt.

Considers the application of structured process improvement for construction environments (SPICE) as a process improvement technique and its extension into the context of facilities management (FM). SPICE is a research project that developed a step‐wise process improvement framework for the construction environment, utilising experience from the software industry, and in particular the capability maturity model (CMM), which has resulted in significant productivity improvements. Introduces the SPICE concept, a conceptual framework assessing the construction process capability. Commences by reviewing processes and their FM applicability and work on process improvement assessment in construction environments using the SPICE framework. Then discusses generalised principles of SPICE for process assessment. Considers its application and extension into the context of FM. Examines the specific example of FM process improvement and finally its implications. Furthermore, examines the relevance and accuracy of the framework, as well as its value to the FM organisation.

This study aims to investigate the criteria to measure and manage a software project’s quality indicator elements needed to implement system integration in the Industry 4.0 era.

The standard software process model SPICE: a crucial part of the system integration software development process, is analyzed to explore how the factors of the SPICE model rate qualitatively on the quality scorecard (QSC). QSC is a qualitative performance measurement model based on the cost of quality (COQ) perspective. The SPICE model’s effectiveness is examined in terms of system integration (SI) quality, and factors for improving this quality are determined.

The authors proposed future directions for improving SI management. The seven SPICE process groups were analyzed comparatively by matching them to the QSC. The SPICE model was found to achieve 63% with the required factors in QSC. Also, the uncommitted items indicated need to be considered for additional management in SI quality.

Since SPICE is revised every five years, it is suggested from this study that diagnosing the assessment items from the COQ perspective using QSC is one strategy to quickly enhance the quality of SI management in this rapidly changing technology revolution.

This research is the first study of its kind, proposing a methodology for adapting quickly to the Fourth Industrial Revolution’s changes and showing how the standards have changed the SPICE model over time.

The construction sector is under growing pressure to increase productivity and improve quality, most notably in reports by Latham (1994, Constructing the Team, HMSO, London) and Egan (1998, Rethinking Construction, HMSO, London). A major problem for construction companies is the lack of project predictability. One method of increasing predictability and delivering increased customer value is through the systematic management of construction processes. However, the industry has no methodological mechanism to assess process capability and prioritise process improvements. Standardized Process Improvement for Construction Enterprises (SPICE) is a research project that is attempting to develop a stepwise process improvement framework for the construction industry, utilizing experience from the software industry, and in particular the Capability Maturity Model (CMM), which has resulted in significant productivity improvements in the software industry. This paper introduces SPICE concepts and presents the results from two case studies conducted on design and build projects. These studies have provided further in‐sight into the relevance and accuracy of the framework, as well as its value for the construction sector.

The case study can be used in management for the course of Strategic Management and Entrepreneurship. It is suitable for the students at post-graduate level. Discussion would be the most appropriate method for teaching this case study. There is no prerequisite required to participate in the discussion. Participants will be able to engage in discussion regarding expansion strategies for micro-enterprises; targeting the right segment of the market; exploring the market opportunities; innovation for entrepreneurial growth; and sustaining an enterprise. After this case study, students will be able to understand the following theory and model: SWOT analysis; resource base theory; McKinsey ESG proposition; Porter’s generic strategy; Schumpeter’s innovation theory; Ansoff’s growth model; and diversification strategies.

Being a micro-enterprise with heavy financial constraints, it was never easy to sustain the business at the time of pandemic. Mrs Jyoti Pruthi (owner of Pruthi Spices) made extraordinary efforts that would help her in survival of her business. She could not recover the business as it was before the pandemic. During such times, the loss of her husband was a setback. That incident broke Mrs Pruthi emotionally as well as financially. By taking some crucial managerial decisions, Mrs Pruthi strategized for the sustainability of her business. Now it was January 2022, after two years of the outbreak of the Covid-19 pandemic in the world. However, because of the market situation, her pressing dilemma was regarding business survival in such lean times.

The case is meant for undergraduate and post-graduate students pursuing management with specializations in Entrepreneurship and Marketing. The case is bet fit for women entrepreneurship development capacity-building programs, especially in the Asian region. The case is also suitable for any short-term training program where manifestations of entrepreneurship are being taught. It can also be used for Executive and Management development program aiming at women or disadvantaged entrepreneurship. The case can also be used for general courses like “Strategic Management” and specialized courses like “Entrepreneurship Management”.

Teaching notes are available for educators only.

CSS 3: Entrepreneurship.