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At the end of the session, learners are expected to be able to evaluate the detrimental impact of stress on blue-collar workers’ well-being in Attainer Engineering Sdn Bhd; develop effective strategies to improve stressful conditions experienced by blue-collar workers in Attainer Engineering Sdn Bhd; analyse and select appropriate approaches that can help maintain the motivation levels of blue-collar workers in Attainer Engineering Sdn Bhd; analyse the impact of Attainer Engineering Sdn Bhd’s extensive investment in training new blue-collar workers, alongside the subsequent high turnover rate, on the decline in sales and profit; identify the critical changes that the managing director should have implemented to prioritize employee retention among blue-collar workers at Attainer Engineering Sdn Bhd; discuss the strategic implementation of mechanization, specifically in the context of automating repetitive processes, as an innovative solution to address the challenges faced by the ship repair and maintenance service industry heavily reliant on blue-collar workers in emerging markets; cultivate thoughtful debates on ways to keep blue-collar workers in the shipping repair and maintenance industry, as well as active learner participation and group interaction; develop learners’ analytical and critical thinking skills by guiding them through the analysis of a real-world case study in the shipping repair and maintenance industry, concentrating on the difficulties and potential solutions for blue-collar worker retention; and equip learners with practical knowledge and insights on implementing effective human resources strategies for retaining blue-collar workers in the shipping repair and maintenance industry, emphasizing the conversion of theoretical concepts into workable solutions.

This teaching case study centres on Attainer Engineering Sdn Bhd, a Malaysian conglomerate that bestows ship repair and maintenance services. Regrettably, the corporation has been subjected to a decrease in profitability and productivity owing to its high turnover rate of blue-collar workers. The ship repair and maintenance service industry is accountable for delivering comprehensive repair and maintenance services to ships, including their engines, hulls, machinery and other related components. The fundamental aim of this case study is to ascertain the rudimentary factors that contribute to this issue and foster effective strategies to enhance the motivation and retention rate of blue-collar workers in the ship repair and maintenance service corporation, using appropriate management theories, models and concepts. The case study brings to light the importance of discovering the most suitable approaches to retain blue-collar workers in the corporation to improve its profitability and productivity in a highly competitive market. This teaching case study will be beneficial for students and practitioners who want to grasp the disputes associated with retaining blue-collar workers in the ship repair and maintenance service industry and learn how to apply management theories, models and concepts to address these disputes effectively.

This case discussion would be highly suitable for undergraduate and postgraduate university students who are pursuing their studies in management or related fields and are eager to delve into the nuances of the ship repair and maintenance service industry. Furthermore, trainers from both private and public agencies who are keen on gaining a deeper understanding of the issues pertaining to retaining blue-collar workers in this particular industry and devising result-oriented strategies to tackle these concerns would also find this case discussion immensely helpful.

Teaching notes are available for educators only.

CSS 6: Human resource management.

Upon completion of the case study discussion, successful students will be able to define and list the steps of time-driven activity-based costing system (TDABC); understand and explain the ideas behind the TDABC; implement the TDABC in customer profitability analysis; draw connections among the cost and profitability analysis; evaluate the importance of better costing techniques in profitability analysis; and make managerial decisions based on TDABC analysis.

Gluten Limited’s financial affairs and operations manager, Fatih, was aware that the company was making very little profit from its operations with its biggest customer. The main reason appeared to be that it delivered its products in bulk to the main warehouses of the customer, which then distributed them to the stores. Fatih believed that products were being sent to stores late, so that their expiration dates passed quickly and they ended up being returned.

The case study documents the past year of Gluten Limited’s delivery operations with one of its biggest customers. It focuses on the effectiveness of its delivery operations and ways to increase profitability by reducing sales returns. The case dilemma involves the choices that Fatih faced following a six-month trial period: either delivering products in bulk to the customer’s main warehouses at lower cost but higher return rates or delivering small amounts directly to stores at higher cost but lower return rates. Fatih needed to decide which mode of customer operations was more profitable and continue that way.

Knowing the importance of determining costs properly in profitability analysis, Fatih made the cost calculations using the TDABC system.

This case was written for use in Cost Accounting and Managerial Accounting classes at the undergraduate level. The focus of the case aligns well with discussions of customer profitability analysis, cost reductions, eliminating non-value-added activities, and profitability of operations. Instructors seeking to emphasize the most suitable costing methods for customer profitability analysis could assign this case.

Teaching notes are available for educators only.

CSS 7: Management Science

Marketing; customer segmentation; operations and logistics.

Undergraduate business and management students, MBA/MA level application for international marketing modules incorporating customer segmentation and customer asset management.

DHL, the international air express and logistics company, serves a wide range of customers, from global enterprises with sophisticated and high volume supply-chain solutions shipping anything from spare parts to documents, to the occasional customer who ships the odd one or two documents a year. To be able to effectively manage such a diverse customer base, DHL implemented a sophisticated customer segmentation cum loyalty management system. The focus of this system is to assess the profitability from its customers, reduce customer churn, and increase DHL's share of shipments.

Case teaching objectives: to demonstrate the concept of customer segmentation with loyalty management as a total system in a logistics company setting, and to evaluate appropriateness of the classification; to utilize the concept of service tier model within the company's current operations, and to evaluate the effectiveness of the model; to analyze the implementation of the customer segmentation cum loyalty management system and development of the necessary rules required to classify the various accounts into categories; to highlight the possible challenges arising from the implementation of customer segmentation cum loyalty management system, and to discuss possible methods of resolution.

Teaching note.

Neons Fashion LLP was an entrepreneurial venture of Arthi Ramalingam after completion of her MBA. Arthi had an interest in jewellery since childhood and she decided to focus on design, manufacturing and retailing of fashion and costume jewellery items under the brand name of Eternz through different sales channels like exhibitions, retail stores, own website and as an independent seller on e-commerce marketplaces. She initially started selling on Amazon marketplace through a third party, Cloudtail India Pvt. Ltd., and later sold through other e-commerce marketplace operators like Flipkart, Jabong and FirstCry. As her business grew, Arthi planned to add the kids' shoes category and also decided to participate in Bangalore Fashion Week to build the Eternz brand. However, in November 2016, Cloudtail terminated her contract which played havoc with the sales and profitability of her start-up. Neons Fashion LLP (A) provides details of how independent sellers are at the mercy of marketplace operators and ends with the need to review the choices of sales channels for different categories like fashion garments and fashion accessories, and for the upcoming launch of kids' shoes. Neons Fashion LLP (B) describes the events after the Bangalore Fashion Week that ultimately led to closure of business.

The main theoretical models used in the instructor manual analysis are SWOT and institution-based view. Founder’s syndrome is also used as a foundation for analysis and discussion.

Primary source data acquired by the authors through one of the author’s actual experience working in the family business that is the subject of the case.

Classy Styles Ltd., Inc. is a small wholesaler of women’s apparel. It outsources production and sells to small retail stores. Classy Styles has grown steadily during its short existence, but is not on track to reach the CEO and majority shareholder’s profitability goal. The COO has determined that the only realistic way to achieve the goal is to shift manufacturing from North America to Asia. The decision creates tension between profitability and the CEO’s desire for tight supervision and control of the outsourced production shops.

Introductory undergraduate courses in general management would be sufficient, while a basic strategy course and/or entrepreneurial business course would be of benefit.

This case study was built from secondary data such as news articles and videos. Several drafts of the case study with teaching note were tested in classroom settings and shared at a case writing conference. The case was revised based on feedback from students and roundtable discussions from the conference.

“What’s next: Ever Given after the Suez Canal incident (Evergreen Marine Corporation in, 2022)” explores the situation of the firm Evergreen Marine Corporation, a world-leading cargo shipping company headquartered in Taiwan, and its efforts to deal with challenges stemming from a pandemic and the global supply chain transition. The case provides background on the latest changes in global business environments, the Suez Canal Incident stemming from the grounding of Ever Given and firm-specific information, which would help students to understand the context affecting Evergreen Marine Corporation’s (EMC) strategic decisions. The case enables students to evaluate EMC’s overall position and to analyze the actions that they can take to deal with these challenges in a dynamic global environment.

This case would be appropriate for a course in strategy or international business, especially with the topic of international supply chain management.

After reading and discussing the case, the participants would be able to: apply 7S and VRIO framework for online furniture retail; evaluate the profitability of horizontal versus vertical marketplaces for selling furniture online; articulate the challenges faced by online furniture retailers; discuss the applicability of technology to enhance customer experience in online furniture retail; and discuss the omni-channel strategy which online furniture companies can adopt.

Although furniture has traditionally been an unorganized category, the online furniture platforms have been on an upward curve since past few years. Digitization of economy and usage of smartphones to access internet had given a thrust to online purchases. This case on Wakefit Innovations Private Limited is intended to provide the readers with the business and marketing insights of selling furniture using online platform. The readers will be able to understand how retailing furniture using e-commerce is full of challenges and how various marketing activities have helped Wakefit improve their customer base. The readers can discuss the advantages and disadvantages of horizontal versus vertical e-commerce marketplaces and various challenges associated with online furniture retailing. Whether Wakefit should continue setting up experience centres and the benefits that could accrue by usage of virtual reality, augmented reality and data analytics are additional dimensions which can be discussed by the readers. The case will benefit the professionals in understanding the challenges and marketing strategies used by online furniture retailers and the same can be replicated by other players in this sector.

This case is suitable for students enrolled for full credit course on e-commerce at post graduate level. The case can be discussed towards the middle of the course once the students have studied different formats of e-commerce marketplace.

Teaching notes are available for educators only.

CSS 8: Marketing.

The learning outcomes are as follows: to analyze the multidimensional and complex crises, and market stature of a company that was a market and industry leader in a developing country; to evaluate and interpret the outcomes of decisions pertaining declining profits, outstanding receivables, branding, marketing and radical reforms to overcome the challenges of sustainable growth, customers and employees’ loyalty, market stature and leadership crises; and to design strategic solutions for sustaining its leadership position and combating severe challenges.

The purpose of this paper is to ponder upon various crises that Pakistan State Oil (PSO) was facing, so that learners can critically analyze, assess and design strategic solutions for it. PSO was the state-run market leader in the petroleum industry. The company had been struggling to combat multiple types of turmoil at a time. Its huge fund of receivables was blocked in circular debt that caused the company budget constraints and deficits. Due to a government policy shift, the demand for its furnace oil substantially reduced and profits plummeted. The countless internal and external crises posed severe menace to its competitive position vis-a-vis its rivals. This qualitative case study garners data from eight interviews from senior managers in the petroleum industry and adds content analysis technique to acquire pertinent data from renowned media sources and subsequent analysis. The drastic crises left PSO with dearth of funds and declining profitability. Consequently, due to limited marketing budget, creativity of its marketing team for devising effective marketing programs to raise market share was compromised. PSO underwent the issues of brand sustainability, sustainable growth, customers and employees’ loyalty, and market stature to financial and leadership crises. However, despite limitations, it still enjoyed a market leadership position among its rivals in the industry by occupying more than half of the chunk of market in the petroleum industry. This is a unique case study of a state-owned giant company facing multidimensional menaces. It offers tremendous learning opportunities for students who can devise creative strategic solutions and link theories and models with practice.

Graduate (MBA), MS, PhD (management and administrative sciences); Suitable for teaching in chapters: Anywhere but ideally near the middle or end of the above courses.

Teaching notes are available for educators only.

CCS 11: Strategy.

The COO for Suape Container Terminal, the largest deep–water port in Brazil's Northeast must consider a proposal presented by the users' council that calls for the establishment of a reservation scheme that minimizes the risk of docking delays. Under this proposal, ocean carriers, on the one hand, agree to pay a reservation fee that significantly increases revenue for Tecon Suape. On the other hand, they expect Tecon Suape to compensate them financially when a berth is not available upon vessel arrival. Tecon Suape's management team must evaluate that suggestion, as the team prepares to enter contractual negotiations with the users.

Kolkata Port (KoPT) had achieved a turnaround from having made a loss of Rs 7.5 crores (cr) in the year 2000–01 to a net surplus of Rs 465.1 cr in the year 2006–07. A variety of initiatives had been taken during the intervening years with a focus on tariff rationalization, revenues from alternate sources, infrastructure development and productivity improvements. While these had yielded results, there was a fundamental issue of operational complexity and inability to compete due to the locational disadvantage. KoPT was a riverine port with two locations, 232 kms and 115 kms upstream on the Hooghly with draft limitations.

Two significant studies having implications for future strategies of KoPT had recently been submitted in March and November 2007. The top management of the port, including the Chairman who was responsible for driving many of the initiatives, was concerned that it may not be possible to achieve long term sustainable growth continuing with the strategies used so far. A well thought out future roadmap, breaking away from the present thinking, was essential sustained growth.