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The specific teaching and learning objectives are as follows: to help students manage virtual communication in cross-cultural settings and developing the trust in virtual teams. To have them assess their effectiveness in the virtual collaboration process. To design the strategies to combat the challenges involved in working collaboratively on a common computing platform.

Higher education institutions in India are facing intense criticism for failing to impart employability skills to the students. Despite being one of the largest education systems in the world, Indian universities are not listed in the rankings of best international universities. It is grappling with the challenges of adopting the right teaching methodologies that foster deep learning, which may lead to sustainability in higher education. To gain relevancy, the higher education institutions must discover the ways to transit from the knowledge-intensive to skill-intensive institutions. By introducing a virtual collaborative professional project for international business students, Professor Bose proposed a small step of moving from a rote teacher-centric to more hands-on, student-centric teaching methodology. While virtual projects are a common and successful way of enhancing cross-cultural competence in students, Professor Bose is unsure how receptive Indian students will be with this methodology. He visualizes many challenges related to the execution of the project and is worried whether he will be successful in achieving his goal of skill-based knowledge creation. While systems and institutions of higher education in India struggle to address the pressures created by globalization, Professor Bose knew that the one-size-may not fit all. “Flexible pedagogy” and personalizing the methods to suit the requirements of a majority of the students was the way forward. However, he needs to know if the faculty and students will be open to change.

This case is immediately valuable for the students and faculty who are the part of the courses such as “International Business” in which the global leadership challenges, managing virtual communication in cross-cultural settings and developing the trust in virtual teams are main features of the curriculum. The case could also be used effectively in the seminars conducted for the managers working in international organizations and managing the tasks in virtual teams located globally.

Teaching notes are available for educators only.

CSS: 5 International Business.

Financial Services Marketing, Financial Inclusion, Emerging Market Studies.

The case is suitable for graduate management students in courses such as general management and marketing courses. It is also suitable for a specialised rural marketing course and marketing of financial services. In business schools outside India, the case can be used in a course on marketing strategies for emerging economies. The case is suitable for executive development programmes for the areas pertaining to rural banking, marketing of banking services and financial inclusion programmes.

The case analyses the financial inclusion initiative by Odisha Gramya Bank, a regional rural bank set up after amalgamation of three banks in the state of Orissa, India. The topic of financial inclusion has been the attraction from bankers, policymakers and academia in light of linkage between formal financial system and inclusive growth. To harness the fortunes at the bottom of pyramid, the case looks into the development of financial inclusion, business strategies and strategies for various customer segments.

To introduce students to analyse and compare various financial inclusion options. The case is useful to comprehend the various methods of financial inclusion. To analyse the evolution of regional rural banks and Odisha Gramya Bank after its amalgamation. To appreciate the issues faced by Odisha Gramya Bank. To understand various market segment and to evaluate its potential. To suggest appropriate strategies for each market segment. To appreciate how technology can be harnessed for business correspondents. To recommend the roadmap for financial inclusion to Mr Sidharthan, Chairman, Odisha Gramya Bank.

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CSS 8: Marketing.

The competitive environment of the Indian aviation industry is studied using Porter's five forces model. The SWOT analysis is used to examine the competitive position of Jet Airways. The role of Merger & Acquisition in the current Jet Airways crisis is also examined. Relevant texts studied are as follows: Kazmi, A. and Kazmi A. (1992). Strategic Management. McGraw-Hill Education; and Porter, M. (2008). The Five Competitive Forces That Shape Strategy. Harvard business review. 86. 78–93, 137.

This data for this case was extracted from secondary sources. These sources comprise newspaper articles, reports from the industry, reports of the company and the company's website. For gaining clarity over concepts, strategic management book by Azhar Kazmi and Adela Kazmi was referred. This case also uses websites such as moneycontrol.com to analyze financial health of the company. In the end, this case also uses some existing reports from the sources like World Bank and plane spotters to analyze the status of Jet Airways and also Indian aviation industry. This case has been tested in the classroom with MBA students in a class of Business Policy and Strategic management.

The Jet Airways, which once had the largest market share in the Indian aviation industry, has reached bankruptcy. Mr. Naresh Goyal, known for his aggressive expansion strategies, has already filed for bankruptcy. This case presents how buying aircrafts' obsession with poor choices on Mergers/Acquisitions could result in bankruptcy. The same could be substantiated from the fact that Goyal had many (197) of his fleet's latest aircraft. Goyal was also criticized for buying Sahara Airlines, which was performing poorly in the market. Spending a large portion of the budget in capital expenditure in an industry where operational cost is very high, only the cost of turbine fuel amounts to 50% of total operational expense. The high expenditure on capital budget and increasing operational cost weaken the financial position of Jet Airways. Despite earning decent revenue and having the highest market share in 2010, Jet Airways made losses in three consecutive years, i.e. from 2009 to 2011. After 2011, when the Indian aviation industry witnessed a high level of competition and growth in low-cost carriers (LCC), Jet Airways' survival was up for a toss. Despite the desperate measures of cost-cutting and attracting potential investors, Jet Airways reached the verge of bankruptcy. The current case emphasized the need to balance safe and riskier options, even for the market leaders like Jet Airways could fail due to poor strategic choices. This case presents some harsh realities on funds allocation. In 2010, where Jet Airways secure the highest market share and decent total revenue, it realized net losses. The case study also explains the need to adapt to the dynamics of the industry. After 2011, when LCC started dominating the Indian aviation industry, Jet Airways did not change its operation strategy and facing severe consequences. The case was about the poor strategic decisions taken by the founder of Jet Airways, Mr. Naresh Goyal, which adversely affected the health of the airline. The case also explores the possible strategic choices that Goyal could have taken to ensure Jet Airways' survival. Through this case, an attempt had been made to highlight the importance of various concepts that we need to understand while making a strategic decision for any organization. In the end, this case emphasized the role of strategy in managing an organization successfully.

The case study's target group should be Undergraduate and Postgraduate students of the Management discipline who study Strategic Management as a specialization or as the subject. This case can also be used in the Management Development Program for senior executives taking any vocational course or workshop on Business Strategy. The case focuses on one of the fastest emerging markets, i.e. India, and could be proven valuable for many multinationals companies. The case presents the changing competitive dynamics of the Indian aviation industry. The central theme on which the case revolves is the importance of sound strategic choices in a dynamic market or industry. After analyzing the case, the students would understand the complex nature of strategic decision-making and any poor strategic decisions ripple effect. This case could teach essential strategic management concepts like "SWOT analysis" and "PESTEL analysis." This case should be used to teach strategic management concepts only and not act as a judgment tool for any organization.

Supply chain management (SCM).

Graduate students.

In recent times, the world market of mobile phone is in a flux due to many phenomena of importance like strong emergence of smartphones, Nokia losing market share in all segments of market and fast technological and supply chain innovation by players like Apple and Google. Elements of SCM and the way technology is acquired have assumed a place of importance to compete in the global market. A new standard of innovation and SCM is emerging together as the rules of market dominance are re-written all-over again.

After completion of the case study, the students will understand: role of technological innovation in high-tech industry and global supply chains in changing the consumer behavior world over; the classic battle for market dominance with a new way of innovation management in technology and processes to create most efficient global supply chains; importance of SCM practices of collaboration like tighter partner integration, use of power asymmetry and contract by dominant players to create efficient supply chains; and how visionaries like late Steve Job are shaping the new era of technology.

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Marketing.

The courses in which this case can be used include e-business, e-commerce, digital marketing, retailing and marketing strategy. This case can be used to teach MBA students. This case is also having the equal relevance for the executive programmes.

AaramShop is digitizing the Grocery General Trade ecosystem. There are of millions of neighbourhood kirana stores spread across all the cities of India. AaramShop is bringing these neighbourhood kirana stores online, and making them not only e-commerce-ready but also capable of using technology to take their stores to the next level in terms of service and delivery. The case lists out the issues and challenges faced by AaramShop.

This case challenges the participants to understand the new business model in the e-commerce space. The participants can look at the different angles of the business model proposition, namely, how AaramShop approach delivers on the retailer proposition, consumer proposition and the brands proposition. The participants can also be sensitized about the obstacles in making the business model more successful. These obstacles can be posed by the retailers, consumers or brands. The case will lead to a discussion about the logistics model opportunity available to Aaramshop.com.

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CSS 8: Marketing

The case will help learners to analyse how effective handling of an extended marketing mix of 7Ps (product, price, place, promotion, physical evidence, participants and processes) makes a startup profitable in its initial years of inception; understand the significance of the online marketing strategies like digital marketing and social media marketing implemented by firms to attain a competitive edge amongst established local and global competitors; examine the strategic challenges faced by a business enterprise while entering an emerging market; analyse the growth strategies of a startup relative to various market constraints; and propose long-term strategies for sustainable growth for a startup operating in the wearables market.

Founded in 2016, Boat Lifestyle is a Delhi-based Indian startup in fashionable consumer electronics. In the past five years, Boat earned remarkable profits and emerged as one of the most promising startups through its innovative products offerings and promotion. Aiming at its target customer segment, the millennials, it promoted its products through social media marketing such as influencer marketing and brand tie-ins with sports teams and music events. The case focuses on the dynamics of the Indian wearables market that is facing tough competition from global and local players. To ensure continued growth prospects, while maintaining a tight focus on product differentiation, quality, and customer satisfaction, there is a greater need for Boat to rethink its market development and growth strategies regarding new innovations and adopting long-term orientation like diversification and global expansion.

The case aims for teaching business management students at the Undergraduate, Postgraduate, and Executive education level. In addition, the case can be related to the Strategic Management course curriculum and Marketing course curriculum.

Teaching notes are available for educators only.

CSS 11: Strategy

Micro organizational behavior – an individual level of analysis (i.e. motivation, personality, attitudes, learning, etc.). Meso organizational behavior – team/group level of analysis (i.e. communication, team dynamics, power, politics, etc.). Macro organizational behavior – an organizational level of analysis (i.e. strategy, structure, culture, control, etc.). Marketplace or external environment (PESTEL analysis).

The research was conducted by a consultant in the role of a participant-observer.

The focus of the case is a disguised nonprofit organization, the American-Netherlands Foundation (AmNet), based in Chicago. The organization faced leadership and organizational challenges related to conflicting strategic and operational priorities among the board of trustees, the president and staff. An unexpected contribution of $750,000 increased the salience of these differences. The case provides students an excellent opportunity to apply their analytical skills and knowledge gained in a management and business course.

Organizational behavior; organizational design; organizational development; and organizational theory. Levels – upper-level undergraduate through first-year MBA students.

Operational Management, Strategic Management and Marketing Management.

The case can be taught in introductory marketing courses and management and organizational policy course and in advanced level in promotion, distribution channels, marketing research, consumer behavior and brand management courses at graduate level. Importance of market and technological research; first mover advantage and disadvantages in new market segment; importance of competition in a market; use of PESTL analysis before pursuing for any segment; types of growth strategies which could be used that is Broad base or Narrow base; how company uses marketing mix strategy; and how managers make decision in dynamic environment (contingency theory approach).

This case study relates to a real-life situation the data was collected from primary and secondary sources between 2012 and 2013. The case is of a company Pakistan Accumulators (PAL), having less than 18 years of experience, has been able to grow successfully in the dynamic environment of Pakistan. The decline of the private businesses in Pakistan due to the energy crisis has popped up a new need of power generation alternative equipment in the country. PAL, which is a privately owned company, suppliers of automotive batteries, Uninterruptable Power System (UPS) batteries, lead acid batteries and rechargeable batteries has been able to manage the growth of 20 per cent per year. In this case study, we have highlighted only one market segment of the company that is of UPS batteries, we have focused on what is the future prospect of this particular segment, its attractiveness. Also, the area of focus was the new market segments which can be targeted by the company. Basic issues of the case study: calculation of the market segment value of UPS industry; identification and solution of different challenges faced by PAL in the dynamic Pakistani market (contingency theory); recognition of different future growth prospects for PAL.

The basic objective of this case is to enhance the analytical and qualitative skills of the students by giving them the real-life perspective of a company working successfully in country like Pakistan which is facing economic and political crises. This case can also be used for understanding the problems of third-world markets and how company can pursue successfully in the long–term.

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Firm success, organizational structure and values, business challenges, corporate change, decision making.

Senior undergraduate courses in Organizational Behavior and Business Policy and Strategy.

This case relates the story of growth of Future Internet, a small media firm launched in 1998 in Dubai, UAE. The case describes the past achievements of Future Internet along with the challenges met on the road, illustrates the key factors and core organizational values that were critical for its business success and discusses the new prospects that the company is seeking to explore in the future. As Future Internet is continuously searching to engage in a path of new business opportunities, what are the most viable strategic choices to be made for securing a sustainable corporate growth and development?

Discuss different aspects involved in the management of a small firm operating in a dynamic industry; assess the key factors that might contribute to explaining corporate success; and evaluate the effectiveness of managerial decision making over time (change in structure and values, opportunities' evaluation and selection of strategic options) to achieve sustainable development.

Teaching notes.

Organizational behavior, Organizational leadership, Organizational transformation.

First year management students in the course Organizational Behavior (OB). Final year management students in the elective course on leadership and change management. Middle level managers who are working in industry, in the management development program related to change leadership and change management.

This case deals with the transformation of the public distribution system (PDS) under the leadership of Dr Raman Singh. The PDS system was an inefficient system and the food grain supply intended for the poor was diverted by intermediaries before reaching the intended beneficiaries. Having experiences in central government ministries as a cabinet minister, Dr Raman Singh decided to transform the PDS. The challenges faced were primarily from that of the reticent bureaucracy and dealing with them requires patience and the skills of a transformational and motivational leader which Dr Raman Singh possessed.

This case intends to develop understanding of various dimensions related to transformational and motivational styles of leadership. Further, it intends to develop understanding of crucial institutional and organizational changes and how leaders bring about these changes in sync with technological and process changes.

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CSS: 6: Human Resource Management.