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Corporate strategy and family business management.

The case is designed for usage in senior-level undergraduate courses of strategic management and managing family businesses.

This case study relates the story of the launch and development of Zayed Al Hussaini Group, a family business in the United Arab Emirates (UAE). The business had been established a year after the unionization of the different Emirates by the founder, Zayed Al Hussaini, in partnership with his brother. Following a series of strategic moves, such as acquisitions and divestures, and adverse family-related events, the Group was led solely by the founder himself. Over the years, Zayed Al Hussaini Group has grown to become a successful family business in various industries of its operation, but following the death of the founder's son, the company activities have been struck with chaos. Zayed's nephew, Ahmed, who had left the family business to continue his studies and work at McKinsey & Company in London, has been called back home after eight years to take the lead of the entire Group. However, he is faced with several challenges, such as dealing with the family gap he has developed over time and balancing family and business priorities. Will Ahmed be able to make the right decisions in the role and responsibilities that have been bestowed upon him?

To analyse the process of launching a family business and making strategic decisions for managing its development over time.

To assess the potential difficulties and challenges which are associated with managing a family-run organization.

To evaluate the effectiveness of decisions with regards to the company's growth and succession management planning.

To apply relevant theoretical concepts to the analysis of complex situations in the specific context of family businesses.

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 offers the students to see the impact business ethics concepts, including corporate social responsibility, ethical obligation, ethical strategy, alienation, corporate activism, sociopolitical activism, symbolism, transparency, integrity, decoupled organization, opportunism, moral muteness or moral exclusion, etc. Through the student’s own ethical sensitivity, they can then make an informed decision grounded in fundamental ethical theories such as Utilitarianism, Kantianism, Ethics of Care, Virtue Theory, Confucianism, etc.

Data for this case has been gathered entirely from publicly available secondary sources, including online resources, mainstream media reports, biased (opinion-based) media outlets, social media statements from all stakeholder groups (students, business, university) and meeting minutes from campus organizations. None of the named individuals nor entities, in this case, have ever been contacted by the authors.

In Fall 2020, Boise State University contracted a locally owned and operated coffee shop to open a location on-campus. The shop owner was engaged to a police officer who had been permanently injured in an altercation with a dangerous fugitive. For his sacrifice, this police officer was awarded the Medal of Honor from the City of Boise. To support her fiancé, the coffee shop owner displayed a Thin Blue Line flag on the front door of her off-campus location. Students heard of this display and began to voice their objections through administrative and social media channels. The business countered back at claims that they supported racism and ultimately asked to be released from their contract with the university. They closed their on-campus business, having operated the location for less than two months. Media representation of this case created a vocal response both from those who support the business’ use of this imagery and those who support the student’s decision to boycott this business on ethical grounds.

Business ethics: 300–400 level; Business strategy: 300–400 level.

Dialogue in Darkness (DID) is a global social enterprise, which provides products and services such as workshops, exhibitions and activities in the dark in China. The corporate workshops are designed for companies, institutions and government agencies to provide unique leadership training and some other training in teamwork, communication, innovation and change management. And education workshops are aimed at providing young people with unique leadership training and training in teamwork, innovation and empathy and so on for the educational institutions. Over the past five years, DID, headquartered in Shanghai, has expanded to Beijing, Chengdu and Shenzhen, realizing strategic coverage of East, West, North and South of China. DID achieved break-even within less than one year since its inception. Its sound and healthy development offers an innovative way for the sustainable development of social enterprises.

This secondary source case is based mainly on legislative documents (that tracked the initiation and progress of the Parental Rights in Education bill that later became an Act), corporate documents (published by The Walt Disney Company) and news articles from publications such as The New York Times and Bloomberg. All sources are cited in the case narrative and as end notes.

In April 2022, The Walt Disney Company and its CEO, Robert Chapek, were at the center of a controversy over the company’s opposition to the State of Florida’s Parental Rights in Education bill. The bill, dubbed “Don’t Say Gay” by its critics, prohibited instruction on sexual identity and gender orientation in the state’s elementary schools. The controversy stemmed from Disney’s initial non-reaction to the bill and its later strident opposition and call for its repeal. Chapek was pressured by negative media publicity and employee disgruntlement on the one hand and adverse economic consequences for opposing the bill by the state’s Governor, Ron DeSantis. Chapek and the Board had to respond to the political threats to Disney’s economic well-being while appeasing its employees and other stakeholders who wanted the company to be a corporate champion in diversity, equity and inclusion.

The case is best suited for advanced undergraduate or graduate leadership, strategic management and marketing courses. From a leadership and strategic management perspective, the case is well-suited for demonstrating the evolving expectations of leaders and corporate social responsibility, as well as the concepts of issue framing and nonmarket management. Instructors may also leverage the case in marketing courses (e.g. brand management), as CEO activism (i.e. messaging and practice) is one characteristic of brand activism (Animation Guild, 2022).

The learning outcomes are as follows: to gain insights into an immigrant community with an emphasis on positioning stakeholders using power, legitimacy and urgency constructs; to help participants dwell on a decision-making process under challenging circumstances; and to help learners understand the level of commitment and efforts needed in initiating and sustaining a volunteer initiative. At the micro level, the case helps learners understand the nature of an interaction between two distinct social groups (ragpickers and volunteers). At the macro level, the case helps the learners understand the way marginalised migratory communities think and behave in the larger scheme of politics, religion and ever-increasing migration at the global level.

This case is about an informal educational activity initiated by a group of volunteers who intend to eradicate illiteracy amongst ragpickers’ children in Rohtak, a small city in Haryana, India. This town has a population of <0.4 million and houses several immigrant families who come from different regions of India. Most immigrant families are into construction and rag picking. The localites mostly perceive ragpickers as undocumented immigrants from Bangladesh. Usually, most ragpickers’ children engage in garbage collection and do not attend school. In this backdrop, a group led by Mohan set up an evening class in an open ground, which in turn attracted several children from both the ragpicker and local communities alike. However, after a few days, the harsh weather made the volunteer team to shift the classes to a closed room. The shifting from the open ground to the closed room infuriated the parents and resulted in the parents not allowing their children to go to school. In this context, the volunteer team has to decide whether to continue the voluntary school or shut it down.

Executive, Under-Graduation and Post Graduation

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 7: Management Science

Social implications are as follows: social activism; girls education; collaboration; collective action; and change agent.

Learning outcomes are as follows: evaluate the role of a change agent in a nonprofit organization; understand collaborative partnerships in a nonprofit organization; examine how a nonprofit organization is promoting education in conflict-affected countries; understand the importance of education for girls as a basic human right; understand and discuss the threats to girls’ education in conflict-affected countries; analyze the role of Malala Yousafzai in supporting girls’ education globally; identify the challenges unique to educating girls; and explore steps that Yousafzai needs to take to ensure girls have equal access to the knowledge and skills they need to learn and lead in a world affected by the pandemic and climate change.

The case discusses social activist Malala Yousafzai’s (She) diligent efforts to promote girls’ education in conflict-affected regions globally through her not-for-profit organization Malala Fund. Co-founded in 2013, Malala Fund worked to ensure every girl globally could access 12 years of free, safe, quality education. The fund worked towards this goal by building creative partnerships and investing in its global network of education activists and advocates fighting for girls’ education in communities where most girls missed out. Malala Fund supported girls’ education programs in countries such as Pakistan, Afghanistan, Nigeria, India, Brazil, Ethiopia, Turkey and Lebanon. The Fund’s projects were aimed at addressing gender norms, promoting the empowerment of girls through education, imparting gender-sensitive training for teachers and raising awareness about the need for girls’ education. In 2016, the fund created the Education Champion Network to support the work of local educators and advocates to advance.

Post-graduate level students.

Teaching notes are available for educators only.

CCS 11: Strategy.

We have used data mostly from published sources like The Economic Times, Forbes, The Times of India and the annual reports of Nestlé India Ltd. Because we classify it as a Teaching Case Study as per the guidelines of Emerald Publishing, we have ensured that any data presented in the case has been acquired only from published sources and is not internal company data. Citations have also been provided wherever necessary.

On 6 June 2015, Nestlé India’s top product Maggi instant noodles was banned nationwide for an unspecified period. The ban was imposed due to allegations of Maggi containing high amounts of lead and message, and consequently violating the food safety standards. What followed was the destruction of massive stocks of Maggi which had been taken off from shelves of stores countrywide. Furthermore, the company faced a huge blow financially as its sales plummeted. This case delves into how Nestlé India adopted relevant strategies to successfully avert the Maggi crisis. Some remedial measures included appointing a Managing Director who understood the market, improving the communication channel and boosting the churn out of new products along with greater emphasis on marketing and advertising.

This case is aimed mainly at undergraduate level students in the field of management studies and public relations management. This case is also relevant for students pursuing a specialization in Crisis Communication, Public Relations, Marketing and Organizational Change.

The case dwells with the following theoretical concepts: Appreciate the different need dimensions required to motivate different employee types based on need theory (Alderfer, 1969). Identify the functional needs as per Maslow’s need hierarchy (Hall & Naougaim, 1968) for the permanent and contractual workers. Outline why only hygiene factors are insufficient to arrest worker absenteeism during a pandemic like COVID-19. Apply need theory and “Herzberg’s two-factor theory” (Herzberg, 1966; Herzberg et al., 1957) to enumerate the measures that need to be implemented to build supply chain resilience by reducing absenteeism by motivating employees.

The case is based on primary research carried out by the authors at Alkem Laboratories Ltd., Sikkim unit in India, during the COVID-19 pandemic that hit the company leading to high absenteeism of contractual workers.

Alkem Laboratories Ltd. is a leading pharma major from India with a global footprint. At the break of COVID-19 pandemic, the manufacturing unit of the company at Sikkim is facing the scare of mass absenteeism, especially among the contractual workers who account for 60% of the workforce of the unit. Ashok Priyadarshi (Vice President, Human Resources) and his team along with the think tank of the unit have to find a solution to the problem at hand. What shall be the measures that the think tank will propose? The team sets out to find an answer to these questions so that Alkem could seize the business opportunity at the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic.

The case is suitable for undergraduate- and graduate-level courses in organizational behavior, organizational change and development and supply chain risk management. The case can also be positioned for executive education and training modules in companies on employee motivation and commitment.

Entrepreneurship; Technology Transfer; Incubators; Accelerators

Postgraduate, Faculty Development Programs (FDP) and Management Development Programs (MDP) in areas of Technology Entrepreneurship, Entrepreneurship Education, Incubator and Accelerator Management.

Madras Mind Works Private Limited (MMW) is an entrepreneurial venture set up by four friends in Chennai (earlier known as Madras) in Tamil Nadu, India. MMW intends to use the emerging trends in virtual reality and exploit opportunities that arise from its application. MMW has received invitations to join both an incubator as well as an accelerator. After detailed deliberations among the four co-founders that yielded no conclusion, the team left the responsibility of taking the decision to its Chief Executive Officer (CEO), Srinivasan Krish (Srini). Srini now has to decide whether MMW must join the incubator or the accelerator.

At least five factors will be learnt based on which tech start-ups can decide whether they should join an incubator or accelerator. Two important players in the entrepreneurship ecosystem are incubators and accelerators. You will learn to define them, describe their characteristics and services and learn their similarities and differences. You will learn what constitutes an entrepreneurial ecosystem using the BEEP framework. You will learn about many ecosystem players including but not limited to – incubators, accelerators, co-working spaces, technology transfer offices, research parks, angels, venture capitalists, government support schemes, university research centres, etc.

Board Plans, YouTube Video Links.

CSS 3: Entrepreneurship.

Three months into his first job as an IT consultant, newly minted MBA Phil Lee was wondering whether he had made a horrible mistake. Initially, he had been thrilled with his employer, Orion Information Technology Consulting, and the prospects for his professional future. He had specifically requested to work on projects in emerging markets, and his bosses had responded by flying him halfway around the world to New Delhi to meet with the head of procurement of a luxury property developer, Kirat Housing Development Society (KHDS). Lee thought the reason for the meeting was slightly unusual: Orion was planning to make a bid to supply building management software for KHDS's newest luxury tower, and this meeting would be the “pre-bid” negotiation. Lee wasn't totally sure what they'd even be discussing, as the tender already provided full details on exactly what modules would be required and even included specific penalty clauses for delays.

The meeting at KHDS seemed ordinary at first, but quickly took a turn when the assistant to the head of procurement explained that Orion would win the bid if it offered him a $200,000 contract as an “independent consultant.” Lee was stunned. To make matters worse, when he returned to his hotel room he found a gift waiting for him: an expensive-looking diamond pendant.

On his sleepless flight home, Lee's mind raced. Had his bosses known this would happen? Were bribes standard operating procedure? Now that he'd accepted a gift, was he complicit in wrongdoing? Lee didn't want to get fired, but he wasn't sure he could go along with this.