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This case describes and analyzes the negotiations surrounding the U.S.–Thailand free trade agreement (FTA) that never materialized. The case offers an excellent opportunity to discuss the complexities of trade negotiations, the welfare analyses of FTAs (with trade diversion and creation), and the growth of FTAs and customs unions (CUs) as opposed to multilateral trade liberalizations.

Transforming a production-oriented firm into a marketing-oriented firm; aligning marketing strategy of local companies in globalizing emerging markets; creating sustainable competitive advantage.

Post graduate management courses in marketing management, strategic marketing, international marketing, business strategy.

This case is about how the leader in the Indian paper industry, Ballarpur Industries Ltd (BILT), is proactively transforming a production-oriented firm to a marketing-oriented firm to compete in the globalizing emerging market scenario, in the wake of economic liberalisation. It requires the participants to evaluate the impact of marketing initiatives made, and align BILT's marketing strategy to leverage it's strengths and help create sustainable competitive advantage.

To understand the need for local companies in emerging markets to proactively align marketing strategy to build competitive advantage in the globalizing industry.

Teaching notes.

International marketing, new product development, international business expansion, small business management.

This case is intended for senior undergraduate or graduate MBA students taking a course in international business, international marketing, or small business management.

Thai Jintan Company Limited (Thai Jintan) is a medium-sized importer, distributor, and marketer of premium confectionery and health care products in Thailand with the exclusive distribution arrangements of Morishita Jintan Company Limited (Morishita), one of Japan's oldest companies and a leader in the Japanese probiotic and confectionery industry. The case takes place in August 2009, approximately 18 months after Thai Jintan implemented its market launch of Morishita's technologically advanced breath and belly mint under the brand name of Jintan Nude. With a limited promotional budget of 8 million baht (€161,128) coupled with Thailand's regulatory environment for the marketing of food and drugs, Thai Jintan, a newcomer to the breath mint market, was faced with having to devise a resourceful marketing and promotional campaign. Thai Jintan management was confronted with assessing its past marketing plan and deciding on what to do to achieve its ambitious goal of capturing a 20 percent market share of the growing mint/menthol candy confectionery segment in Thailand.

After reading and discussing the case, students should have a better understanding of the following: the challenges faced by small businesses and new entrants; learning to apply different frameworks such as PEST or PESTEL, SWOT, and/or Five Forces to scan and assess a competitive environment; familiarizing themselves with different channels members’ roles in a distribution system; learning to evaluate a company's current marketing strategies and to recommend strategies to improve its segmentation, targeting, and positioning strategies and to design a new marketing mix for a new product launch in an overseas market; and learning how to effectively allocate a marketing budget.

Teaching notes are available.

HSBC (The Hong Kong and Shanghai Banking Corporation Limited) Holdings Plc. is a part of various trade finance consortia which aimed to digitise the traditional paper-based trade finance process. It had successfully executed multiple trade finance pilots using a blockchain based platform Voltron and was launching its Contour blockchain trade finance platform as a service to its clients. The trade finance market was estimated to be USD 18 trillion on an annual basis and HSBC had a 12% share in the trade finance transactions worldwide. This case revolves around the challenges facing banks/consortia while porting the traditional trade finance process to the blockchain based system. The crux is how the banks form the consortia, implement blockchain and facilitate trading globally given that it is a new technology and will require bringing all the stakeholders involved in the trade finance value chain to the blockchain based platform. HSBC is facing some decision questions on the formation, governance and management of the consortium, on the interoperability between consortia and on how to price its services to its customers.

Strategic Management.

The case is designed for a) MBA students b) Short-duration executive MBA courses.

The case refers to India’s leading steel company Tata Steel. Tata Tiscon, the steel rebar brand, is the organization’s leading retail brand. The case chronicles the period between the birth of the retail brand in the year 2000, its dramatic rise and dominance, to the end of 2013 when some of its initiatives had failed. Tata Tiscon was established as a pan Indian brand on the dint of a distribution network comprising 33 distributors and over 2000 retailers, many of them exclusive to the brand. The brand spawned a series of innovation in the category like “selling by piece”, fixed price concept and “free” home delivery. Together with its channel partners, the company achieved dramatic success which was reflected in its leading market share coupled with significant price premium in a category where price had traditionally being the only selling pitch. After 2010, the company saw an emerging challenge in the form of a new business model, where some companies were gearing to provide the complete portfolio of construction material including cement, steel, etc., and a turnkey construction solution for house builders. Tata Tiscon responded by attempting to enter the service space by launching a building design solution and later a construction supervision solution. Both of these initiatives failed. The protagonist of the case is Mr Keshav Viswanath (Chief of Marketing for retail business at Tata Steel), who is concerned with the failures of these key initiatives and is wondering how to ensure the “leader” status of Tata Tiscon in coming years.

The students are expected to understand how a core strategy like differentiation is implemented successfully in “practice”; understand the exploitation–exploration dichotomy in an organization; appreciate difference between radical innovation (based on new organizational routines, new business partners and new relationships) and incremental innovation based on fine tuning of existing organizational routines and relationships.

Rebar production: www.youtube.com/watch?v=J6n9sci8j-8; Tata TISCON AV: www.youtube.com/watch?v=89kOUsbnaYQ; TQM – The Toyota Way: www.youstube.com/watch?v=qf3gdrIMxRw; Disruptive vs. Incremental Innovation: www.youtube.com/watch?v=kOOL_GiaLTo; Approach to innovation is dead wrong: www.youtube.com/watch?v=pii8tTx1UYM

CSS 11: Strategy.

The diamond industry has been subject to significant change. There is increased competition from low-wage countries such as India and China, the concern about blood diamonds, and policy issues affecting the viability of trading diamonds. In this case, we study how Antwerp's dominant position in the diamond trade is being challenged and eroded. The case offers a good opportunity to introduce and discuss comparative advantage and relate it to Heckscher-Ohlin type of trade.

Focuses on Apple Computer's launch of iTunes and iPod as a way to give Wintel users a relationship with Apple. Deals with issues of brand equity, corporate and brand goal setting, target selection, and matching product and service characteristics with goals and targets. Also allows for a discussion of channel partners, their interests, and their impact on the likely success or failure of a strategy.

Strategic management.

Upper-level undergraduate courses or introductory MBA courses.

The need to diversify the financial risks of his scrap metal business based in Georgia led Levan to invest in a diamond trading company in the UAE. He agreed to be a sleeping partner and provide the capital to Kewon, a diamond specialist with a wealth of experience in the field, in their joint attempt to build an international network of diamond trade. Despite several difficulties faced on the way, their company seemed to generate stable returns for more than five years. Yet following the surprising discovery of multiple organizational inconsistencies, Levan decided to end the partnership with Kewon and establish his own retail jewelry store to be managed by the members of his family. Ultimately, he was confronted with two important decisions regarding both his jewelry business and the diamond company in which he had previously invested a significant amount of capital. The decisions he was about to make were of critical importance for the future of these companies and the people who managed them. By walking readers through a series of triggering events, this case offers the opportunity to evaluate the effectiveness of managerial actions through the application of various strategic management tools and frameworks.

Upon completion of this case study analysis, students should be able to: estimate the complexities associated with the management of a partnership-based venture in the context of emerging markets; perform a detailed diagnosis of an entrepreneurial venture, applying relevant strategic management tools and techniques; evaluate the effectiveness of managerial actions and decisions at different stages of the organizational lifecycle; and demonstrate the importance of the strategic adaptation of organizations through the deployment of viable decision-making skills.

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.

This case can be used in management of international business courses to illustrate the analysis of market attractiveness, the importance of fit between firm capabilities and market requirements, and the effects of multimarket competition. It describes the international expansion challenges facing EAC Nutrition, the infant formula division of a Danish conglomerate, in early 2002. Growth in EAC's core markets of Thailand and Malaysia has stagnated and EAC is contemplating three expansion options: entry into India, geographic expansion within China, and product line expansion in existing markets.

Gary Parr, deputy chairman of Lazard Freres & Co. and Kellogg class of 1980, could not believe his ears. “You can't mean that,” he said, reacting to the lowered bid given by Doug Braunstein, JP Morgan head of investment banking, for Parr's client, legendary investment bank Bear Stearns. Less than eighteen months after trading at an all-time high of $172.61 a share, Bear now had little choice but to accept Morgan's humiliating $2-per-share, Federal Reserve-sanctioned bailout offer. “I'll have to get back to you.” Hanging up the phone, Parr leaned back and gave an exhausted sigh. Rumors had swirled around Bear ever since two of its hedge funds imploded as a result of the subprime housing crisis, but time and again, the scrappy Bear appeared to have weathered the storm. Parr's efforts to find a capital infusion for the bank had resulted in lengthy discussions and marathon due diligence sessions, but one after another, potential investors had backed away, scared off in part by Bear's sizable mortgage holdings at a time when every bank on Wall Street was reducing its positions and taking massive write-downs in the asset class. In the past week, those rumors had reached a fever pitch, with financial analysts openly questioning Bear's ability to continue operations and its clients running for the exits. Now Sunday afternoon, it had already been a long weekend, and it would almost certainly be a long night, as the Fed-backed bailout of Bear would require onerous negotiations before Monday's market open. By morning, the eighty-five-year-old investment bank, which had survived the Great Depression, the savings and loan crisis, and the dot-com implosion, would cease to exist as an independent firm. Pausing briefly before calling CEO Alan Schwartz and the rest of Bear's board, Parr allowed himself a moment of reflection. How had it all happened?

An analysis of the fall of Bear Stearns facilitates an understanding of the difficulties affecting the entire investment banking industry: high leverage, overreliance on short-term financing, excessive risk taking on proprietary trading and asset management desks, and myopic senior management all contributed to the massive losses and loss of confidence. The impact on the global economy was of epic proportions.