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This case provides an opportunity to discuss the design and implementation of a Public Private Partnership project. It describes the Delhi Airport Metro Express Line project from conception to completion, and the subsequent dispute between the Public and Private partners leading to the Concession Agreement going into arbitration. Students discuss the reasons for failure and come up with suggestions for another metro rail project currently in the design stage.

Teaching notes are available for educators only.

Learning objectives are as follows: critically analyze the business model of the Instant Grocery Delivery Model like Zepto; infer the importance of competitor analysis in determining the success of a startup; and analyze customer complaints and develop a corrective action plan.

The focus of this case is the controversy faced by Zepto due to its aggressive 10-min instant delivery service. This case discusses the negative publicity and criticism faced by Zepto from various influential netizens like members of the parliament, a well-known industrialist and independent experts questioning the 10-min express delivery plan that could endanger the lives of its delivery partners. The case also discusses customer complaints and the negative publicity faced by Zepto in digital forums and social media. The primary focus of this case is the dilemma faced by Zepto’s young founders in resolving the criticism faced by Zepto due to its 10-min delivery model and due to mounting customer complaints regarding poor product quality and deficient service. The key managerial decision that the protagonists are facing is whether should Zepto continue to operate in the 10-min delivery model or should it increase the delivery time to 15 to 20 min.

Undergraduate students studying Marketing courses in Commerce and Business Management streams can use this case.

CSS 8: Marketing.

Marketing, new product launch and innovations.

Postgraduate students.

Maruti Suzuki India Ltd. (MSIL), established in February 1981, formerly known as MarutiUdyog Limited, is a subsidiary of Japanese automobile Manufacturer Suzuki. It has a market share of 37 per cent in passenger car segment in India. Its product portfolio ranges from entry-level Alto to hatchbacks like A-Star, Zen Estilo, etc. to sedans like SX 4 to sports utility vehicles like Grand Vitara. MSIL is always known for delivering value on these lines – low cost of acquisition, high fuel economy, less maintenance hassles and wide service network. MSIL is planning to launch its much awaited hatchback Celerio with revolutionary auto gear shift technology for the first time in India at an affordable price. Promotional campaign is yet to be completed. Online trends reflect the consumer trends of any country. During the Auto Expo Week, Maruti Suzuki Celerio became the most searched hatchback on Google in the subcontinent according to a report published by the Indian Express citing the Google Trends Report. One of the key success factor is communicating the right message to the customers so as to attract them. So, MSIL's challenge is to plan a product launch so as to spread awareness.

To discuss the ways in which the product may be differentiated, to acquaint students with the process of developing a slogan for the introduction of Celerio to the existing market, to explain the concept of segmentation to the students, to familiarize students with communication mix and to give the students an idea about need of digital communication to promote the product.

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

Human Resource Management & Social Entrepreneurship.

The target audiences for the case study are undergraduate and postgraduate (e.g. BSc, MSc as well as MBA) students and also management trainees and executives who are interested in understanding the social capital enhancing practices, policies and strategies adopted by the world’s largest commercial employer to ensure complete satisfaction and contentment of 1.7 million employees and their family. Even senior management teams could be targeted in executive education programs, as this case discusses time tested practices, policies and strategies which have been sparsely discussed so far and hence can be expected to provide insights to senior corporate managers. The case also demonstrates the application of different frameworks on social capital and corporate social responsibility which can be used by the participants in their firms to assess the social capital.

Indian Railways (IR) remains the world’s largest commercial employer, with approximately 1.7 million employees, which conveys the huge magnitude of social capital inventory accrued. This social capital, especially people side of IR, played a very crucial role in running the organization successfully for more than a century. As an organization, IR has guaranteed heavy importance for its employees while making decisions on strategic level. But recently, IR was moving towards automation and was cutting on cost incurred for its employees. IR was already exhibiting decreasing trend in the number of employees employed in the organization. These initiatives were resisted by IR employees due to fear of job losses and insecurity. In 2013, Chief Personnel Officer’s (CPO) of different zones have to rethink about their HR practices to assure confidence for employees on the security of their jobs and sustain the social capital accrued by IR over years. The objective of this case study is to describe the social capital accrued by IR over the years by offering livelihoods for nearly 1.7 million families across the country. Teaching note applies the frameworks on social capital in literature in the context of IR. Teaching note also discusses how CPOs of IR can pursue the change initiatives among the employees without affecting the social capital accrued so far.

Case study’s primary objective is to apply frameworks available in literature on social capital and corporate social responsibility to understand the social capital accrued by IR over decades. The case study attempts to answer the following assignment questions which forms the learning objectives of this case study: How do the existing frameworks on social capital measurement explain the social capital accrued by IR over decades? How can a firm assess its accrued social capital? How can one demonstrate the same using the case of IR? How can IR pursue change initiatives when it comes to its employees without affecting the social capital accrued over time?

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:10 Public sector management.

The AirAsia India 2017 (AAI) case presents the situation faced by Tony Fernandes, the CEO of the AirAsia group of companies, in 2017, when he had to respond to the changes in aviation policy made by the Ministry of Civil Aviation (MCA). As per the changes, an airline operating in India could start its international operations without having five years of domestic flying experience provided it deployed 20 of its aircraft or 20% of the total capacity, whichever was higher, for domestic operations. The objective of this case is to help discuss issues relating to sustaining late entry and exploring new growth opportunities in the context of regulatory changes.

The learning outcomes of this paper are as follows: to comprehend the unique features of the DMart business model, to understand the dynamics of the Indian food and grocery market, to analyse the reasons for the success of DMart, to analyse the financial health of a business by using financial ratios and to appreciate the effect of business and operating strategy on financial statements.

In September 2020, the management team of Pegasus Consulting (PS) – a boutique strategy consulting firm headquartered in Mumbai, India had convened a meeting to evaluate business options for future growth. Post the COVID −19 pandemic outbreak in India in March 2020; many industry sectors had been experiencing a general slowdown in business. Retail was one such sector identified, which had faced a slowdown. A recent Edelweiss report suggested a 39% dip in revenues of DMart stores that were owned and operated by Avenue Supermarts Limited (ASL). The PS team had been following the impressive growth story of DMart since 2017 when they had made a historic market debut with the initial public offering. Over the years the company had grown and emerged as one of the most valued listed retailers in the Indian retail space in the fiscal year 2019–2020. However, much had changed, as the imposition of the countrywide lockdown in March 2020. Based on the Government of India and local government directives nearly 50% of the stores had to be temporarily shut. The case highlights the dynamics of the Indian retail market with multiple players and formats and the changes in consumer behaviour. ASL had used its DMart Ready online app and DMart on Wheels to service the needs of its customers during the period of the lockdown. The PS team wanted to make a business consulting pitch to DMart to help them revive their growth trajectory. What could be the best advice that the PS team could offer to DMart in their pitch?

The case has been written with the objective of enabling the students to understand the dynamics of a rapidly changing emerging market. It is structured for use at a Master’s level course and an MBA audience in the subject of business strategy and/or retail strategy.

Teaching Notes are available for educators only.

CSS 11: Strategy.

In May 2005, the Committee on Infrastructure took a decision that the Ministry of Railways, in consultation with Planning Commission, would prepare a policy for permitting private and public sector operators to run container trains through the Indian Railways (IR) network. CONCOR, a listed subsidiary of IR, was the only container train operator at that time. RITES, another subsidiary of IR, was awarded a study to prepare a scheme towards this. RITES submitted its final report in September 2005. The recommendations of the report included entry requirements, classification of routes into various categories based on existing and anticipated traffic volume, regulating entry for each route and minimum traffic commitment by the operators. The representatives of the Planning Commission, Ministry of Railways, Ministry of Commerce and Industry, and Ministry of Shipping were to meet in October 2005 to discuss the RITES recommendations to work towards framing a policy document for running container trains by private and public sector operators on the IR network. This case provides a background for this meeting.

The learning outcomes of this case study are as follows: Students will be able to comprehend and visualize the initial hiccups and operational hurdles faced by digital start-ups in an emerging market. Students will be able to evaluate the importance of digital marketing for promoting start-ups dealing with sustainable products in the service industry, thereby helping them to develop digital marketing strategies to organically promote a service. Students will be able to perform strategic positioning of a start-up based on perceptual mapping methodology. Students will be able to identify the various aspects for identifying and creating a viable business model. Students will be able to use Osterwalder’s business model canvas for identifying the important operational aspects of the start-up. Students will be able to visualize the entrepreneurial challenges in an emerging market.

This case study highlights the dilemma the protagonist, Prerna Prasad, faced in her travel start-up venture, Ecoplore. Ecoplore is an aggregator platform that onboards only eco-hotels. To the best of the authors’ knowledge, Ecoplore is India’s only platform that promotes and onboards only those hotels made up of mud, wood, bamboo, stone or any local architecture and that maintain at least 30% green space on their premises. Ecoplore has been recognized by the United Nations Environment Program for fulfilling Sustainable Development Goal 12 and has also been bestowed with the Gold Award by Indian Responsible Tourism Awards 2019. Prasad had already identified her target market. Prasad took conscious steps towards reaching her target audience, and her first step towards that was designing Ecoplore’s website. Being aware of the importance of content marketing, Ecoplore’s content was curated with fresh and quality write-ups, pictures, blog posts, etc. Ecoplore’s website was also optimized for mobile and desktop versions to deliver a great user experience. Features like easy navigation and the website's speed were also taken care of. Being active on social media platforms, Prasad made sure that the pages of Ecoplore across various social media platforms were well connected with her website. Despite doing so much, it was found that the number of visitors was few after a span of two years. Conversion on the website was low, which ultimately affected the return on investment. Prasad was befuddled as to why the conversions were low despite having a great website that was considered a window to the organization. She faced the challenge of reaching her target audience despite being present online. Upon detailed analysis, Prasad found that Ecoplore was showing up in the search engine research pages (SERP) in only a few keywords, meaning the keyword density was low. Also, the website lacked backlinks, which would eventually help them to rank high on search engine optimization (SEO). This means that Ecoplore will need to revisit its SEO strategy if Prasad wants to promote her organization organically. Now, to increase visibility and ranking on SERP, Prasad had two options before her; first, she could do it organically via SEO or through search engine marketing. She was keen to build the traffic organically, knowing its long-term benefits. As a marketer, what should be Prasad’s strategy? This case study can be used for class discussion purposes for the students pursuing the courses on digital marketing, SEO and digital marketing optimization.

This case study is suitable for students learning the fundamentals of digital marketing (basic and advanced) course, marketing management students and digital marketing workshops. The level of difficulty is medium. The knowledge pre-requirement is marketing management.

Teaching notes are available for educators only.

CSS 8: Marketing.

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.

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