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This case is intended for use in a course on supply chain management.

The study is applicable to MBA or executive MBA programme.

The Akshaya Patra Foundation (TAPF) is an Indian non-governmental organisation which provides free mid-day meals to students in government schools. This case revolves around one of its kitchen facility (TAPF Bhilai) located in Bhilai in the Chhattisgarh province of India. TAPF Bhilai is about to witness a significant increase in the number of students to cater for. The Unit President, Vyomapada Das, is determined to ensure that there is no compromise in the standards of service in terms of quality and hygiene of meals in the wake of present expansions. As such, he recognizes that addressing a social cause brings additional responsibilities to them towards ensuring superior quality meals. He thereby lays a special emphasis upon the role of purchasing and supply in facilitating the scale expansion.

This case intends to demonstrate the process of managing, purchasing and supply for a socially responsible supply chain. Students must be able to appreciate the challenges associated with such a system. By applying the key theoretical concept of the social capital theory, they must also understand the nature of managerial responses inherent in these challenges.

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.

This case is about a food brand with franchisee stores which has implemented a brand change initiative in the Indian emerging market.

This case is suitable for MBA level students in courses like strategic brand management, marketing in emerging markets and retail management. Issues relate to brand name change management, building and securing channel cooperation in brand change, channel peculiarities in emerging markets and franchisee institutional support systems in emerging markets like India.

The case documents the process followed by Switz Foods Private Limited (SFPL) in planning for and implementing a “brand-name” change across its 150-plus stores retailing fresh bakery products. The switch away from a 20-year-old food brand that had carved out a place in the popular culture of the community in Kolkata was risky. While opinion inside the organization was divided on whether to use mass media to communicate the brand-name change to its customers, the company finally decided to rely only on in-store signage and product packaging. SFPL took into confidence the franchisee retail store owners, a key stakeholder group with whom it enjoyed a long-term trusted business relation, and relied on their support to implement a smooth transition. It shows how in the context of the bazaars in transition economies, trust-based business relations and word-of-mouth reputation can often provide frugal managerial alternatives.

The three main learning objectives are: planning for a brand name transition, which includes three parts: generating consumer insights and using the data to aid decision-making in choosing a brand name and developing a brand campaign; overcoming network or business partner resistance/uncertainties associated with a brand name transition; managing customer perceptions before and after brand-name transition. Second learning objective included understanding risks in a franchisor–franchisee relationship. Third included appreciating the significance of trust-based relationships in managing transition economies.

CSS 8: Marketing.

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.

Marketing management, consumer behaviour, rural marketing and integrated marketing communications.

The case is for the use of undergraduate and also postgraduate students of management in courses of marketing management, consumer behaviour, rural marketing and integrated marketing communications. This case may also be used in human resources’ management course lectures which focus on social capital.

This case on the Centre of Science for Villages (CSV), Wardha, attempts to identify how value can be co-created through innovative technology and how social capital can be developed for rural markets through the use of integrated marketing communications tools, particularly word-of-mouth and the influence of opinion leaders. Effective campaigns can be designed for the target audience based on the 3A framework (Awareness, Adoption and Addition of Value) and McGuire’s Model of Persuasion. The CSV has been typically chosen for the study because its products are unique, innovative and eco-friendly and blend well with the rural lives. It has been able to enrich the lives of rural population by generating employment and in creating entrepreneurial opportunities. The biggest challenge, however, lies in educating rural consumers to accept and adopt its innovative technology in their daily lives.

The case study has been written to enable students to understand the concepts of value co-creation and social capital in the context of Indian rural markets. The students will learn the dynamics of rural markets by pondering over these points: understand the concept of value co-creation for rural markets; comprehend the creation of social ecology for managing knowledge in an organisation; identify the development and role of social capital and use it as a promotional tool, particularly word-of-mouth and opinion leaders(reference groups); recommend the use of different marketing mix variables for an organisation, operating in rural markets; and connote designing of effective campaigns for the target audience, based on the 3A framework and the Persuasion Model (6 steps) suggested by McGuire.

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

Forming ties with prominent partners can help convey greater status and legitimacy to the company (Hallen, 2008) and also increases the entrepreneur’s influence within their own network (Bonacich, 1987). This allows entrepreneurs to gain greater access to the information, experience or resources that the company needs.

The founders of the company provided us with access to the inner workings of the company, their mentors and advisors and themselves. The authors used archival research and interviews when preparing this case. Interviews allow for the development of uncensored, real-life insights into the entrepreneur’s business experience. The authors also interviewed two of their mentors and investors.

Having graduated from UMass Lowell with engineering degrees, co-founders Rajia Abdelaziz and Ray Hamilton build invisaWear into a venture, but they did not know much about business. With coaching from their mentors, Rajia and Ray focused on building their network to raise capital to finance the business. Despite all their hard work networking, however, they faced a hurdle. Rajia and Ray contemplated their dilemma. “Are the authors doing something wrong? What can the authors do differently to attract investors?”

This case is suitable for an undergraduate course in business or entrepreneurship. This case is intended to illustrate to both business and non-business students how entrepreneurs can go about building their networks to grow their businesses. Presented as a real-life example of how entrepreneurs build their networks, the case can also be used to hone in on select topics including mentoring, searching for resources and coachability.

This case study draws on interviews conducted with officials from the Rhode Island Department of Environmental Management (DEM), City of Woonsocket and Town of North Smithfield. Additionally, it pulls from relevant legal documents, recordings and minutes from meetings of the Woonsocket City Council and North Smithfield Town Council, City Council resolutions, state legislation and local press coverage.

From 2012–2017, the communities of Woonsocket and North Smithfield engaged in a protracted dispute concerning wastewater disposal. For 30 years, the two jurisdictions had maintained a signed service agreement. Following its expiration; however, Woonsocket imposed a new host fee on North Smithfield. Woonsocket needed to upgrade the facility to comply with mandates from the RI DEM. Over the next five years, leaders from both jurisdictions vociferously fought over the new fee. At the same time, leaders within communities experienced their own divisions. This case study highlights the challenges that decision-makers faced in both communities.

This case is appropriate for graduate and executive level courses in environmental policy, communication and leadership.

The learning outcomes of this paper is as follows: to give faculty the opportunity to illustrate the strategist’s and marketer’s toolbox, namely, tools and frameworks such as the McKinsey 7S model. Porter’s generic marketing strategies. Strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats analysis. Political, economic, social and cultural, technological, environment and legal – external macro analysis. The case is intended for use in MBA and Executive education courses in strategy, marketing and leadership. The case offers relevant experiences and instructive lessons in formulating and implementing business strategies. The case highlights the importance of contextual leadership intelligence and competence in enabling entrepreneurial business activities. The case gives students the opportunity to apply a strategic framework to marketing communications, competitive analysis and branding with a new brand and a new name in a first world economy. The case helps students understand that: successful companies are a success because of their people and leadership, proactive thinking and constantly looking for new opportunities will make you a leader in the market, up-to-date competitor and market analysis are paramount in making the winning decision, staying true to one’s business philosophy and company values build a reputable organization, the importance of creating partnerships and healthy relationships with the distribution channel, the concept of competitive advantage, the concept of differentiation, focus and cost leadership and the concept of value and understanding customer needs.

The Egan’s Whiskey case offers students a unique opportunity to discover the important, yet grass-root, strategic decisions made by a high-quality alcohol product in a very competitive, well-known brand dominated the market, the USA. The case focuses specifically on issues related to strategic choices and implementation, brand, reputation, leadership, strategic marketing decision-making, customer/retail relationships, customer value and the importance of good marketing intelligence. There are some good examples of out-of-the-box thinking. History reveals that companies with the strongest brands, most proactive leadership, innovative marketing ideas, superb marketing intelligence and deepest relationships with their consumers are the pillars of success. The very assets that define these leading companies provide benchmarks for upcoming organizations. Being complacent and having poor leadership and vision in an ever-demanding customer-driven and competitive environment is a recipe for failure. Organizations and their leadership teams need to start thinking systematically, proactively and strategically about their place in competitive markets and take quick actions to mitigate risks and miss opportunities before they become reality. This case reveals the importance of understanding your strategic landscape, your market, your competitors, your customers, quick thinking and actions and having a rolling strategic plan, which is adaptable.

The case is intended for use in MBA and Executive education courses in strategy, marketing and leadership.

Teaching Notes are available for educators only.

CSS 11: Strategy.

In 2017, it was a challenge to assess the future of global trade. It was an open question whether the US financial crisis and the recession that it triggered would mark a turning point for the liberal post–World War II world order. If one looked toward Europe, China, Latin America, and Japan, there was a flurry of activity. New trade agreements were being completed and pursued. In Washington, DC, on the other hand, President Donald Trump seemed set on ripping apart and/or renegotiating any trade deal the United States was ever part of.

This case explores Trump's opinions and emerging policy stance on trade, bilateralism, and the global economy, among others. It also gives an overview of the World Trade Organization (WTO) and the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) and asks whether the Trump presidency would constitute a major challenge to the WTO and what it stood for in 2017.

Strategy.

The case study is intended for organization theory and strategic management courses at the undergraduate and postgraduate (MBA) levels.

The case describes a company located in a fictitious developing country. The main activity of the company is the exploitation and production of tin, which it has developed over its 40-year history (1971-2011). During the first 33 years, it developed three capabilities: namely, technical, productive and the generation of trust among employees. The case illustrates three characteristics of capabilities: problem solving and complexity, practicing and succeeding, and reliability over time. The case also illustrates a paradox related to capabilities and shows three of its causes: path dependency and lock-in to a given course of action, structural inertia, and the absence of a capability dynamization function. In 2009, the company was faced with the need to reshape its capabilities and the arrival of a new President to the company provided the appropriate occasion to analyse this option.

These include: understanding what an organizational capability is and what its main characteristics are; understanding the process by which an organizational capability emerges and develops, and how it may be eroded in a given scenario; understanding a paradox an organization faces when capabilities are developed; and understanding why the concept of dynamic capabilities does not add power to the concept of capabilities.

Teaching notes are available, please consult your librarian for access. Videos with interviews of employees of the case company are also available.

The following are the learning objectives of the case study: to address the problem of urban food insecurity. To facilitate the generation of more employment opportunities and women empowerment through self-help groups (SHGs). To understand the transition from the founder to new leadership provided by Ms J Jayalalithaa. To understand consumer perception and preferences for “Amma canteens”. To appreciate how the case study has added to the historical role of soup kitchens. To address the challenges faced by the government on the sustainability and viability of “Amma canteens” post the death of its founder Ms Jayalalithaa.

“Amma Unavagam” is a food subsidisation programme operated by the State Government of Tamil Nadu in India. Under the scheme, municipal corporations of the state are required to run canteens that serve subsidised food. The canteens were first launched by the then Chief Minister of the state Ms Jayalalithaa, who was widely acknowledged as “Amma”. These low-cost canteens will be announced as part of government schemes aimed to support economically disadvantaged sections of society. The scheme had been able to generate employment for thousands of women. However, the success of the scheme lies in the low prices and the cooperative management of all the outlets by the SHGs. The SHGs have been able to run the canteens based on self-governing norms, mutual reciprocity and shared responsibilities. This case study evaluates the role of state-sponsored mechanisms to ensure food security, alleviate food inflation and empower more women in the workforce. Yet, several concerns continue to remain unaddressed. Considering the huge amount of subsidy provided by the state government, the sustainability and economic viability of the scheme are uncertain.

This case study can be used for management students studying the basics of management such as teamwork, motivation, leadership and good governance. They may also study government policies and community intervention programmes for the benefit of society. The present case study will help the students to analyse the concept of women empowerment and social inclusion. The students, before discussing the case, may study and read the socio-economic theory of “community engagement and participation”, the “self-help model” and the related “theory of reasoned action/planned behaviour”.

Teaching notes are available for educators only.

CSS 6: Human resource management.