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Capital budgeting and investment.

Undergraduate level.

Ms Kamariza, a young Rwandan citizen, established the non-profit organization “Solid Africa” in December 2010. She created the organization together with young professionals, friends and family members with the aim of supporting the most socioeconomically vulnerable individuals’ needs for medical, hygiene, emotional and food services. Ms Kamariza became the Chief Executive Officer and her sister the Chief Financial Officer; together with the help of other additional volunteer staff they carry out this important work. The founders have done an excellent job of maintaining the organization for five years, feeding an average of 1,000 patients every day, and gaining widespread favorable reputation. However, the organization has heavily relied on donations through fundraising events and member contributions (currently 148 members). In 2011, the founders decided that the organization should become self-reliant by planning to build an industrial kitchen, which would cater to different companies (new customers) while also providing free meals to socioeconomically vulnerable patients. This kitchen is foreseen to continuously generate revenue and profits.

The case is aimed at undergraduate students, pursuing their bachelor, management or social science studies. The teaching is mainly suited for students focused in the fields of social entrepreneurship, finance and social innovation. Students should be able to demonstrate the challenges faced by social entrepreneurs in their quest for capital investment; they should understand how management biases can affect business decision-making; they should also demonstrate the importance of capital budgeting techniques in a social enterprise to achieve better investment decision-making.

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 3: Entrepreneurship.

To examine and create an ideal pathway model that can implement aiming to change the current improper practices in managing municipal solid waste (MSW) to sustainable practices. To acquire a better understanding of public participation and community culture helps in achieving the aim of reducing the amount of waste generation, sending less waste to landfill sites and encouraging the reuse and recycling of materials instead. To help students whom the awareness in the community regarding the importance of protecting the environment and acting in a civilization way has increased. To improve the MSW sustainability practices and enhance the waste sustainability practices together with energy and material conservation. To have more extensive knowledge and awareness of issues in waste management and some of the dilemmas managers of strategic and operations face.

Abu Dhabi’s center of waste management is known as Tadweer is a governmental entity under the Abu Dhabi Executive Council. Tadweer is responsible for managing every MSWs includes collecting, transferring, segregating, treating, recycling, reusing and tracking all kinds of wastes. CEO of Tadweer Dr Salem Alkabi called his team that manages various departments such as strategy, operations, projects and licensing. The meeting was to discuss Tadweer’s future directing and strategy for mismanagement of solid waste dumping into landfills in Abu Dhabi. Dumping in landfills is the main challenge Tadweer faced. Mr. Abdulrahman Albloushi’s strategy and business development executive director of Tadweer highlighted to Alkaabi how Tadweer could improve the waste management practices to make it more sustainable. Furthermore, assisting the center gets more benefit from the waste s instead of losing this valuable waste into landfills. Consequently, Mr. Abdulrahman must grapple with some difficult questions: how much the effectiveness in collecting waste from where it generated and removing it out-of-sight?

This case study is designed for undergraduate and postgraduate students, and executive MBA students of business management programs, especially for waste management, environmental management and strategic management courses.

Teaching Notes are available upon request.

CSS 4: Environmental management.

The case helps to introduce some of the elements of strategic management process, which are vital for competitive advantage, particularly for the public utility services such as MSWM. It intends to achieve the following objectives: analyse the external environment for MSWM industry in India; analyse the internal organizational environment for a firm’s strategic competitiveness; introduce the concept of value and value chain understand the role of Stakeholder groups; understand the concept of public–private partnerships (PPP); and understand the role of technology in sustaining a competitive advantages.

This case focuses on entrepreneurial venture of Gaurav Sharma and his team who intend to transform the landscape of Municipal Solid Waste Management (MSWM) industry in the country. THANKYOU (letsthankyou.com) is a Jaipur, India-based enterprise offering waste management solutions across different verticals. It was founded in 2016, following an opportunity in the waste management industry unleashed by the Government of India’s (GOI) new MSWM 2016 rules making it mandatory for the waste generators to manage (segregate, process, transport and disposal) their own waste. After initial examination of MSWM service scenario in the country, Gaurav and his two team members realize that a lack of integration among the multiple entities of waste management value chain is the root cause of the current poor state of affairs. So, they come up with an online marketplace, which offers a one-stop solution for the waste management of general households, residential settings and corporate. With initial projects implemented in the decentralized mode offering unit-level services such as door-to-door waste collection, on-demand waste pick-up and waste audits for corporate, the company has eventually got an opportunity of working on a centralized MSWM project for a leading hotel. Indeed, the company has the first mover advantage of entering the government controlled MSWM industry. However, to move forward, the THANKYOU team must address some fundamental issues in the industry: How to integrate the informal and formal sectors involved in waste management to achieve economies of scale? How to make land-filling the least preferred option of waste management? How to use technology to enhance the efficiency of MSWM value chain?

The case can add value to a course on strategic management at the post-graduate level. It highlights the role of external and internal environment analyses in the formulation of business strategy, ultimately leading to a firm’s strategic competitiveness. In a strategic management course, the case can be used to discuss introductory topics such as the analysis of internal and external environment; value creation by leveraging internal resources and capabilities; analysis of a firm’s dependence on its stakeholder groups; ascertainment of the profitability driver for a firm’s business model; and the concept of PPP.

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 specifically discusses the role of stakeholders and non-market forces and how they can potentially influence the strategic choices of firms. Participants need to have some basic understanding of non-market forces, and stakeholder theory. The case is suitable for courses on sustainable supply chain management, closed loop supply chain management, reverse logistics, green business, environmental management, strategic management and business in emerging economies.

The target audiences for the case are bachelor and first-year MBA students and trainees who are interested in learning the relevance of non-market forces in sustainable growth of an industry and the importance of stakeholder management in the smooth conduct of business.

The case study details how the plastic industry in Kerala faces a non-market threat and how it affects the progress of the industry by using the example of Ashiyana Pipe. Though plastic is a unique material by virtue of its reusability and non-perishable characteristics, it has invited a lot of criticism, as there is a wide spread perception regarding its detrimental impact on the environment (such as choking drains, preventing the degradation of solid waste because of its impermeability, etc.). But the reason for experiencing the detrimental impact of plastic can also be attributed to the inability of the supply chain of the plastic industry to reach a closed-loop status, especially in developing countries such as India, as all categories of post-consumer plastic are not reaching recycling plants. Lack of awareness, lack of community participation in proper segregation and aggregation at the source, absence of incentive systems, weak regulations and poor monitoring are discussed as the common barriers hindering the achievement of closed loop status of plastic supply chain. Detailing the barriers, the case study explains the failure of informal and formal recycling markets in Kerala. Finally, the case study proposes a model with involvement of all the key stakeholders to reposition the hate toward plastic into love through recycling initiatives.

Expected learning outcomes of the case are listed below: illustrate the importance of stakeholder involvement in achieving a sustainable business and to stress the importance of a decentralized approach. Illustrate the relevance of non-market forces in sustainable growth of an industry that has significant impact on the surrounding environment and society. Critically analyze the existing business models (based on market mechanism) and suggest possible improvements and alternatives. Understand the challenges that will be faced while implementing an inclusive model with involvement of all stakeholders to reduce the negative impact of non-market forces.

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.

After completion of this case study, the students will be able to comprehend the importance of communication in managing change, examine the role of processes and systems in implementing change management initiatives at a large scale, assess the effectiveness of various strategies in mitigating resistance to change and recognise optimal strategies for communication processes and messages with respect to different audience and contexts.

This case study discusses decisions and strategies that led to Indore (a city in the state of Madhya Pradesh, India) becoming India’s cleanest city for the sixth time in a row. The case explores if the various strategies used by the commissioner of Indore Municipal Corporation would continue to succeed in mitigating resistance to change from the citizens of Indore or if the change management strategies needed to be revised. Amidst intensely rising competition from other cities, especially Surat (a city in the state of Gujarat, India), the case delves into the commissioner’s efforts to defend Indore’s claim of being India’s cleanest city for the sixth consecutive time.

This case study is suitable for use in executive modules and management development programs. It can be used for the following courses: ■ In change management course, this case study can cover critical aspects of strategies to mitigate resistance to change and bring about lasting behavioural changes in followers.■ In communication courses, this case study can cover key aspects of communicating the change vision of a leader to a large audience.

Teaching notes are available for educators only.

CSS 7: Management science

This case focuses on the issue of additional fleet acquisition by Ispaat Parivahan Limited (IPL) for its contract obligation fulfilment with Solid Steel Limited. As per contract, IPL was to transport overall 15,000 tons per month (tpm) till July 31, 2015 to the North and West. But IPL failed to uphold its part of the contract and fell short of the target for the North. IPL could transport only 12,800 tpm, leading to a penalty payment. To avoid this, the company proposed acquisition of more fleet. One of the issues was additional time due to return loads. The Board wanted IPL to assess scenarios with and without return loads.

After completion of the case study, the students will be able to understand the importance of being culturally savvy when working in a culturally diverse environment and managing people from different cultures; critically reflect on the risks resulting from the absence of a clear direction from the company’s top management regarding unifying corporate values and a diversity policy for cooperation across cultures; be aware of best practices in implementing diversity management (DM) initiatives in the company; and learn that changes in the strategic orientation (i.e. focus on automation projects) must be cascaded down to hard elements of structures, processes and systems, as well as to soft elements of skills, staff and management style.

The Kuwaiti branch of a Japanese corporation specialising in control systems and instruments, Rising Sun IT, hired a German professional, Alex, to handle the increasing demand for automation from customers. This recruitment followed several unsuccessful attempts by the company to deliver more advanced automation solutions. Recognising the need to adapt to Kuwaiti customer requirements or risk losing market share, Japanese management understood the importance of transforming their engineering staff. Failure to achieve this next automation step would result in a steady decline in market share and ultimately impact the company’s survival. However, Alex, who was supposed to lead automation projects, was confronted with opposition from the Indian engineering staff and managers. He was not able to find common ground with the staff and perceived issues such as lack of communication, delays in work schedules, missed deadlines and high levels of absenteeism, as a sign of low work morale. Although he tried to increase the awareness of his supervisor and other managers by informing them repeatedly about the problems regarding employee behaviours, his interventions went unheard. He felt ousted by his fellow colleagues and the other employees. Besides, from Alex’s point of view, the Japanese top management did not provide clear directions to the staff and explicit support to Alex in his efforts. This case study highlights three dimensions of Alex’s problem with establishing and maintaining working relationships with other people in the company:▪ Alex’s cultural “blindness” and ignorance of differences in work behaviours that ultimately led to his inability to build solid and trustful relationships with other employees. The case study demonstrates Germany’s performance-oriented and individual-centric culture versus India’s family- and community-oriented culture and the Japanese employees’ strongly hierarchical and company loyalty-oriented culture.▪ Lack of support from the Japanese top management to Alex, which is connected with a wider problem of the lack of a systematic strategic approach to managing a culturally diverse workforce. The case study pinpoints the rhetoric–reality gap in DM in the company, where the diversity, equity and inclusion programme and corporate values were applied only formally and had little attention from the leaders as well as non-managerial employees.▪ Employee resistance to change: The lack of positive communication from the top management level in the company regarding automation projects and the lack of support for Alex’s mission in the company resulted in steady resistance to executing projects, which endangered the company’s survival in the market. Also, one part of Alex’s problem with building a working relationship with the Indian engineering staff was based on the fact that others perceived him as the automation “change agent” – an advocate and catalyst of an undesirable change connected with adverse consequences on employment in the Indian community.

This case is intended for discussion in undergraduate management and business study programmes.

Teaching notes are available for educators only.

CSS 6: Human resource management.

thyssenkrupp Steel Europe, a major European steel company, operates a so-called push-pickling line (PPL) in Bochum, Germany. The PPL produces a particular type of steel strips that are sold to B2B customers, mainly in the automotive industry. In spring 2014, a senior vice president of thyssenkrupp Steel's production operations and one of his production managers notice that over the span of ten years the production facility regularly did not meet its planned production volumes. They set out to determine the drivers for the deviations from planned production figures with the ultimate goal to improve the production planning process at the Bochum PPL. Students will step into the shoes of Markus Schulze a production manager at thyssenkrupp Steel as he searches for performance drivers at the Bochum PPL and analyzes recent production data to build a forecasting model for production planning.

Research for the case study was conducted using a combination of semi-structured interviews and secondary data sources.

This case traces the international expansion of Sadowsky Guitars’ bass guitar product line. Roger Sadowsky is one of the most respected instrument makers in the world and gained early acclaim for his outstanding repair and restoration work on guitars and basses. Some of his early clients included Prince, Will Lee (The Tonight Show), Tom Hamilton of Aerosmith, Jason Newsted of Metallica, Eddie Van Halen and Marcus Miller. Roger’s reputation and the demand for his instruments led to some customers having to wait for more than a year to obtain the chance to purchase a Sadowsky instrument, while others were unable to do so due to financial constraints. In 2003, Roger made the decision to form Sadowsky Japan to begin the contract manufacturing of more affordable Sadowsky instruments in Tokyo, Japan. As the company grew in size, Roger realized he was becoming more focused on running a business than building instruments. Furthermore, his Japanese partners were only interested in serving the Japanese market. This required him to handle the sales and distribution in the remaining parts of the world. In December of 2019, he announced a new, exclusive licensing agreement and distribution partnership between Sadowsky Guitars and Warwick GmbH & Co Music Equipment KG. The new agreement allowed Roger to continue running the Sadowsky NYC Custom Shop while Warwick would take over building and distributing the Metro instruments and a less-expensive, Chinese-built version of the MetroExpress instruments.

This case is appropriate for undergraduate and graduate-level courses related to marketing and consumer behavior. The case walks students through a real-life scenario when the founder of a well-known musical brand sought to expand internationally as a way to meet growing market demand. Students are asked to consider the advantages and disadvantages of the five key international market entry strategies: exporting, licensing, contract manufacturing, joint ventures and investment (equity/acquisition).

The case works well in the classroom, even if people are unfamiliar with the musical instrument retail industry. Participants are most likely aware of some of the artists and musicians mentioned in the case. Some may also be or know musicians. The instructor should be able to quickly engage participants in a lively discussion about Roger Sadowsky’s vision for his instruments and the opportunities and challenges of expanding product offerings and increasing market share.

Teaching notes are available for educators only.

This case aims to help students achieve the following learning objectives: ■ to apply the Emergence of Social Enterprise in Europe (Emergence des Enterprises Sociales en Europe – EMES) Network definitional framework to the case, and in doing so, have a useful framework to define social enterprises in emerging markets; ■ to identify the factors that can play important role in making strategic decisions in social enterprises; ■ to evaluate the sustainability of a social enterprise; and ■ to address the unique funding and financial challenges faced by social enterprises.

This case study discusses the dilemmas related to business expansion faced by Waste4Change (W4C), a waste management organization based in Bekasi, Jakarta, Indonesia. W4C was founded in 2014 by a group of young men who shared the idealism of changing the world by doing the right things. This principally involved protecting the environment and educating communities while maintaining economic profitability. However, idealism can sometimes create dilemmas within decision-making as an organization attempts to prevent market logic from dictating its direction. This case examines two different types of decision: the problem of securing a waste management contract when a permit had not been granted by the local government; and the problem of selecting the appropriate funding sources to enable the organization to grow. The first decision occurred in the context of a dilemma in 2017 when W4C expanded their waste management services to several regions in Indonesia but without having succeeded in securing a permit from the local government to provide such services. Attempts to provide such services without a formal legal permit would have been considered a violation of the law, even though the clients needed them (be it residents or companies) and the nature of the service in question had a positive connotation (i.e. maintaining the cleanliness of the city through waste management).The second decision concerned W4C’s plan to go public around 10 years from now. The CEO, Mohamad Bijaksana Junerosano, also known as Sano, has been considering this option since 2020 in a bid to grow the social enterprise. W4C differed from other startups; however, in the sense that while many startups will approach a plan to go public as an exit strategy, Sano wanted to preserve the idealism that had been a cornerstone of the enterprise since its inception. In other words, for W4C, going public was not just a means to an end.

Undergraduate as well as graduate courses that focus on sustainability, accounting, financing and strategy.

Teaching notes are available for educators only.

CSS 1: Accounting and Finance.