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Entrepreneurship, Small Business, Small-scale Dairy Farmers

This case is appropriate for undergraduate final year/senior as well as graduate-level programme students.

This case explores the life of Saravanan, a small-scale dairy farmer in Malaysia. He inherited the business from his father. Small-scale farmers in Malaysia own farms with 30 (or fewer) milking cows. Over the years, milk consumption had been on the rise, but production was less than promising. Besides low-quality milk, Saravanan often experienced issues of low milk yield. Selling fresh milk as his only source of income and the milk collection centre as his sole marketing channel, Saravanan was caught in a financially tight situation when product diversification and marketing initiatives were limited. Saravanan’s problems began with rejected fresh milk, which landed him with zero income for the day. This issue was detected when the authorities identified a few contaminated batches of milk during a site visit. The problem compounded when Saravanan had to settle three months’ debt with the feed supplier on the same day. Saravanan’s predicament echoed the plight faced by small-scale farmers in Malaysia. After managing the farm for more than 30 years, Saravanan had plans to pass it to his son, Mugunthan. However, doubts about the sustainability of the business remained. Would Mugunthan suffer the same dire fate? Would he be able to find a way out? Based on the problem-solving framework, the case attempts to identify and assess the problems faced by small-scale dairy farmers in Malaysia, and at the same time, to suggest solutions that will ensure the sustainability of their business.

After attempting the case, students should learn to empathise with the hardship small-scale dairy farmers endure in the pursuit of their businesses, analyse issues and determine the root causes of the problems faced by small-scale dairy farmers in Malaysia based on the problem-solving framework, generate and justify sustainable solutions to solve the problems faced by these dairy farmers and present the case, discuss and work in teams, and critically offer sustainable solutions based on framework and theories.

Teaching notes are available for educators only.

CSS 3: Entrepreneurship.

The psychological empowerment theory of intrinsic motivation is the primary theoretical basis for the case. Other theories discussed include personality theories and transformational leadership theory.

This is a field-researched case, based on face to face interviews with V.G. Jayakrishnan. The author also visited Jayakrishnan’s institution and attended an event there. The author also relied upon archival data in the form of newspaper reports: both print and video. The case is based on events before July 31, 2017.

This case examines how entrepreneur V.G. Jayakrishnan, between 1995–2017, set up two successful, yet distinct businesses, namely, ICD (Institute for Career Development), a leading banking test prepping center in Kerala, India and JK Farms, a state-of-the-art dairy farm. Jayakrishnan’s vision and ability to think far ahead of his competition led to ICD becoming one of the most successful banking test prep centers in Kerala, India. Similarly, Jayakrishnan’s vision of scientific dairy farming allowed him to set up the state of the art JK Farms. The case allows students to examine the concepts of intrinsic motivation and transformational leadership.

The case can be used both at the graduate and undergraduate levels. At the graduate level, it can be used at the beginning of any leadership class to foster discussion about intrinsic motivation and transformational leadership. At the undergraduate level, it would be better positioned at the middle of the organizational behavior course after the students have discussed the chapters on motivation, leadership and personality in principal textbooks (Colquitt, LePine and Wesson, McGraw Hill, 2018).

Project Management, Entrepreneurship, Risk Management, Communication.

Study level: MBA and Executive Education.

Applicability: This case can be taught in the project management course. It will cover the project-planning phase, which is an iterative or progressive elaboration for the entire project lifecycle. The case will help in discussing how project management is an important discipline to manage projects and stakeholders effectively.

The case depicts the dilemma of a passionate entrepreneur who is setting up an ambitious dairy business but project execution goes awry. The case discusses the challenges related to project planning and execution.

It captures the essence of proactive risk management, measures that can mitigate risks and create opportunities. The case also discusses the entire project lifecycle from project initiation to closure and the challenges a manager has to face in terms of stakeholder engagement, risk management, stakeholder communication and scope change.

To understand the alignment of the project with the organisation strategy; to learn to create a project plan and monitor and control the scope, schedule, resources and costs; to accurately estimate project costs, timelines, and quality and schedule, using tools like MS Project; to learn the risk management techniques for managing projects, teams and stakeholders; and to manage stakeholder communication effectively.

Teaching notes are available for educators only.

CSS 2: Built Environment.

Operations and Logistics.

Senior undergraduate students and postgraduate students specialising in agricultural economics/agribusiness/supply chain management and can also be used for executive training for supply chain managers and corporate social responsibility (CSR) managers of food companies.

This case presents an industry leading company – Nestlé’s sustainable initiative in its dairy supply chain in China. The case begins with the background of China’s dairy industry, followed by an introduction of the case company. The case then moves on to the comparison of Nestlé’s fresh milk supply chain operation before and after 2008 and different approaches to help the dairy suppliers’ transformation. The focus is on Nestlé’s innovative industry collaboration platform, the Dairy Farming Institute.

This case allows students to explore the following theoretical frameworks: sustainable supply chain management; supply chain leadership, supply chain learning and supply chain structure. By analysing this case, students should be able to gain an understanding of how multinational corporations (MNCs) play a supply chain leadership role in supply chain learning of sustainable supply chain initiatives.

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 9: Operations and Logistics.

The learning outcomes are as follows: understand the challenges and opportunities of an unorganized business/informal economy; compare and contrast the applications of customer engagement frameworks between small and big businesses; outline the steps in product design in a services context; discuss the services marketing mix as a part of the marketing strategy; and understand the need of scaling up the business operations in wake of new opportunity.

Sukhpal Dairy Farm (SDF) is a case of unorganized milk marketing in the Indian Emerging Market. Milk was sold as a commodity with a fragmented set of suppliers to only a small population. Changes in consumer demand, technology and supply chain presented huge opportunities to the small dairy farmer. But it was also a threat to him. The large corporater, players backed by strong logistics and supply chain operations support posed a big challenge to the small farmer who lacked scale and reach. Sukhpal, owner of SDF, struggled while considering the options to grow his business. He did not want to change the success factors of his existing business model that was based on word of mouth and customer engagement.

MBA students.

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 describes the challenges faced by Amul in organising dairy farmers into a co-operative and creating continuous opportunities for value addition. Participants in the case discussion are required to review the developments in the organisation and recommend a strategy for the future.

Murrah Dairy Company Limited (Murrah Dairy) is a strategy and management case related to entrepreneurship, with a focus on marketing, expansion, strategy and management of a family-run small and medium enterprise (SME).

The case is suitable for senior undergraduate and/or graduate MBA strategic management, entrepreneurship and marketing courses.

The case is about Murrah Dairy, Thailand's first and only buffalo dairy producer. The company combines the concepts of regular SMEs together with community enterprises to build a business that can be used to achieve community benefits as well as private gains. With 11 years of experience, Murrah Dairy remains the first and only extensive dairy buffalo farm in Thailand. The market is growing, the brand is catching on and the company keeps expanding. Beginning with Murrah Farm in 2003, now Murrah Dairy now operates Murrah Farm, Murrah House and Mini Murrah Farm. The question now is where to go from here and what will it take to grow?

The expected learning outcomes are the increases in understanding on environment assessment (such as SWOT analysis, Porter's Five Forces, success factors), marketing strategy (product portfolio analysis, market-product analysis) and SME management, as well as abilities to propose growth strategies and marketing strategies for the firm.

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

Industry analysis and market attractiveness: Understand how to analyse an industry, using the dairy sector in Uganda as an example and what makes a market attractive for incumbents or future entrants. Value disciplines: Understand and apply the different value disciplines companies can choose from to achieve market-leading positions. Business integration: Understand some of the key benefits of vertical integration and when it may or may not make sense to integrate. Doing business in Africa: Understand the specific generic challenges of doing business in Africa, particularly in the agricultural and manufacturing sectors. Generalisability of frameworks: Realise that the same frameworks that are used to analyse large firms and mature markets can be applied to smaller firms in less developed markets.

The case is set in the early months of 2020, as Bernd Schanzenbächer, founder and managing partner of EBG Capital (a Swiss investment firm that manages a multimillion global portfolio of agricultural investments), and his team are deciding whether to invest in a dairy farm in Uganda. The opportunity looks quite interesting and the EBG Capital team believes there is a good fit between the farm owners’ needs, its management team’s objectives and EBG Capital’s strengths and interests. However, the dairy market in Uganda faces many challenges and, while the market-demand fundamentals appear promising, the team wonders if it is the right time to invest. The issue for EBG Capital is to understand what makes the Ugandan dairy industry so challenging and to determine how to fix or mitigate some of the industry’s most pressing problems – given that it will be the firm’s first investment in the country – as well as for deciding where it makes sense to play in the broad value chain (i.e. only in milk production or also in milk processing).

Masters in Business Administration and Executive Education courses.

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 11: Strategy.

The case is set in Northeast Wisconsin, where the two largest industries are dairy farming and papermaking. Dairy farms have a continual need for bedding material for cows, and Lynn Heemeyer recognized an opportunity for a new bedding material: a waste byproduct of recycled paper. The case includes the progression of Heemeyer’s venture – Alternative Animal Bedding (AAB) – from the idea phase, to initiation and growth, to near collapse, recovery, and renewed growth. By September 2015, AAB was at a turning point as the sales were increasing, and Jess, Lynn’s daughter, had joined the business. Jess’s challenge: how best to grow the business.

Information for the case was gathered via interviews with Jess Heemeyer; she also provided some supporting materials. Jess Heemeyer is a former student of the author and a graduate of the institution that employs the author. Additional information for the case was collected from publicly available sources, as referenced. The identification of the college was not included in the case.

The case is best suited for use in an undergraduate or graduate entrepreneurship course or courses that include entrepreneurship as a topic. The case fits well with the topics of alertness and opportunity identification, and the innovation process. It can also be used to illustrate critical factors for new-venture development and growth. In addition, the benefits and challenges related to family-based entrepreneurial ventures can be included as a learning objective.

This case draws upon and illustrates the concept of alertness (Kirzner, 1973) which was further developed by Tang et al. (2012) when they identified three dimensions of alertness: “scanning and searching for information, connecting previously disparate information, and making evaluations on the existence of profitable business opportunities” (p. 77). Also, the case follows the creativity-based model of opportunity recognition developed by Corbett (2005) that uses experiential learning theory. Finally, students are asked to apply Ansoff’s Growth Matrix (Ansoff, 1957) to identify and evaluate the growth options available to the business owners and managers. As an optional pasture for discussion, a stewardship theory perspective can be applied to examine the family business aspect of this case (see Eddleston and Kellermanns, 2007).

The financial success of dairy farms depends critically on the price of their main output, milk. Large volatility in the price of milk poses a considerable business risk to dairy farms. This is particularly true for family-run dairy farms. The question then arises: how can a farm owner hedge the milk price risk? The standard approach to establish a price floor for a commodity such as milk is to purchase put options on commodity futures. At the Chicago Mercantile Exchange, farmers can buy put options on the price of a variety of milk products. However, the price a farm receives for its milk depends on many factors and is unique to the farm. Thus, a farmer cannot directly buy put options on the price he receives for the milk his farm produces. Instead the farmer needs to determine which of the options available for trade at the Chicago Mercantile Exchange offer the best hedge for his own milk price. The assignment in this case is to examine historical data on several prices of milk products and the milk price received by a family-run dairy farm in California. Students need to find the price that is most closely correlated to the farm's milk price and to then choose options with the appropriate strike price that serve as the best hedge for the farm's price risk.

The objective is to expose students to an interesting but simple finance application of linear regression analysis. To solve the case, students must run several simple linear regressions, then use the best regression model they find to make a prediction for the dependent price variable and analyze the prediction interval in order to achieve the desired objective outlined in the case. By completing the case, students will acquire a good understanding of their regression model and its usefulness.