Search results

Students discussing the case will be able to:▪ Evaluate and decide the marketing strategy that will best align the organizational resources and capabilities with the external environment.▪ Demonstrate the process of segmentation and choose the most attractive target market.▪ Analyze the competition and develop an effective positioning strategy.▪ Evaluate and use different growth strategies in business situations.

The case demonstrated the decision-making process behind the post-pandemic strategy of ShakahariS by Awadhpuri, a restaurant in the emerging Indian market. The restaurant was situated in Ahmedabad, one of the fastest-growing mini-metro cites of the Indian restaurant industry. It was known for authentic Indian vegetarian cuisine. The restaurant, originally named Awadhpuri, was started in 2012 by Ms. Vandana Singh. It was positioned as a non-vegetarian restaurant providing Awadhi cuisine in the fine-dining segment known for its ambiance and authentic taste. However, due to the predominant vegetarian market in Ahmedabad city, the restaurant was rebranded and repositioned as ShakahariS by Awadhpuri, serving only vegetarian cuisine in 2018. The years 2019–2020 were very harsh due to the Covid-19 crisis. During the uncertain times when the lockdowns and the guidelines kept on changing, it was difficult for the restaurant to even recover their costs. It was a good time to explore the possibilities of the cloud kitchen format, and they came up with multiple kitchens offering different cuisines and targeted new customer segments. The case highlighted these survival strategies adopted by the restaurant during Covid. Post-pandemic, the protagonist was now contemplating a long-term growth strategy for the restaurant to target a new market with a new offering. The dilemma for the restaurant is whether (or not) to align the marketing strategy by repositioning again to cater to the new target segment.

Undergraduate courses on Business Management (BBA) and specific topics in introductory courses on marketing management and strategic management of the post-management programs.

Teaching notes are available for educators only.

CSS 8: Marketing.

To understand a firm’s service concept and process; to explain the service design that differentiates itself by making trade-offs in operations and service offering; to identify the importance of deliberately designed interrelated systems and resources to achieve growth in services and to evaluate the fit of new design elements in the service offering.

Ajay Takeaway Foods LLP (Ajay Foods) is a food venture founded by Mr Jaideep Solanki and Mr Ajay Solanki and operates as a chain of quick service restaurants with a simple mission to sell food that is good, affordable and accessible to all. Ajay Foods serves only pure vegetarian and limited variants of burger, pizza and cold coffee. Ajay Foods rolled out 75 stores in just 18 months during the COVID 19 pandemic. Ajay Foods’ founders were contemplating on expanding menu. There was growing demand for food items such as samosa, wraps, sandwiches and French fries. One of the founders got into dilemma: How many items? and Which item(s) to add to the menu?

This case can be used at post-graduate level to teach basic frameworks of service concept and design. The case covers a range of topics such as service processes, service elements and product offerings in a service setting. It can be used effectively with MBAs and Hospitality Management program in courses that focus on Service Management, Service Operations or Service Marketing Strategy.

Teaching notes are available for educators only.

CSS 9: Operations and Logistics.

Subject areas are strategic management and marketing management.

This case can be used in strategic management and marketing management courses for MBA students.

This case discusses the future of petroleum business at Reliance Industries Limited (RIL) – whether to stay or exit. This scenario took place between 2001 and 2008. The volatility in the external environment was beyond their control. Or was it so? This case encapsulates the characteristics of innovative strategy formulation, leading to successful differentiation in a regulated and commoditized industry. This case portrays two significant aspects of business strategy by RIL. First is to comprehend the pioneering strategies formulation and implementation by RIL in the petroleum retailing business. Second is the severe impact of external forces on the company’s current and future prospects and what contingency plans could have been made.

This study enables to understand how innovative and differentiation strategies can be successfully applied in a commoditized business; to comprehend the effective application of forward integration and brand extension in a complex, scale-driven industry; and to understand the implication of external threats severely disrupting a growing business.

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

Entrepreneurship, strategic management and international business management.

This case is intended for teaching entrepreneurship, strategic management, international business courses at the undergraduate as well as graduate levels.

This is a field-researched real case about a growing fast food business started by local UAE entrepreneurs in Abu Dhabi and Dubai, United Arab Emirates (UAE). Just Falafel, a UAE based fast food pioneer company in the vegetarian and healthy food category is one of the most popular food outlets in the UAE. The company was poised for growth as demand was exceeding all expectations. Newer markets were being considered for expansion. By taking into consideration the present economic conditions as well as market stability it is possible to make a detailed calculation of market growth. There were many challenges Just Falafel had to face: increasing demand and brand awareness of Western fast food giants; and the future skills Just Falafel needed to develop to meet the regional and global challenges. Just Falafel specializes only in falafel and the company devised different flavors to differentiate its sandwiches based on each culture. This in turn expanded the outlet greatly and it gained high revenues in a short period of time. But there are many challenges and hurdles which the company has to consider if it is continue in the future. The owners and management are wondering what their next step ought to be in light of the economic recession. Should they expand? If so, where? If not, why not?

The case will help students to identify and evaluate the business strategy and the business model adopted by the company for international expansion. This will also enable students to critically think in various facets and reach a decision based on the facts provided.

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

During the COVID-19 pandemic micro-, small- and medium-sized businesses were hit hard. This was specially so in the restaurant business where physical lockdown and social distancing norms were challenging. Thus, small business performance was a concern (Akpan, Udoh, & Adebisi, 2020). This case study addressed this theoretical aspect. Zhang, Gerlowski, & Acs (2021) had highlighted the challenges of business continuance and enterprise sustenance, during the COVID-19 pandemic. This case study provided insights regarding how these aspects of business continuance and enterprise sustenance were addressed by “Café Tato”. Bhattacharyya and Thakre (2021) had deliberated regarding how firms through strategic initiatives and tactical responses were required to manage COVID-19 pandemic and economic lockdown. Café Tato case study was in line with these recommendations for firms. Barbieri et al. (2020) and Reardon et al. (2021) had outlined steps regarding maintaining business operations reliance given a business crisis situation like during the COVID-19 pandemic. Café Tato case study described this. Café Tato case study accommodated perspectives regarding business crisis situation, business continuance, enterprise sustenance, operations reliance, organizational strategic versus tactical initiatives and finally small business performance.

The teaching case study was written based upon primary data collected from the owners of Café Tato. Furthermore, secondary data was used for building the case.

Café Tato was the most popular and the oldest tea cafés in Goa, India. It had a presence in Panjim and Margaon in Goa. On 24 March 2020 India went into an economic and physical lockdown because of COVID-19 pandemic related crisis. One week down the line on 31 March 2020, Mr Pranav Dhuri (hereby referred as Pranav), one of the owners of Café Tato, was contemplating how to ensure business continuance once there was semi-normalcy restored. What would the initiatives that need to be undertaken was critical for success of Tato the legendary café in Goa was playing in the mind of Pranav.

This teaching case study could be used in the class for strategy planning and implementation in the course of strategic management. This case study could apply for teaching both bachelor’s and master’s students of business management. The case could also be taught to management students for helping them understand how small business firms, while confronting challenges of COVID-19, planned and implemented strategies in the course of strategic management. This study helped strategic management students understand the importance of organization culture in any business as it directly influenced the profitability and sustenance of business. The Dhuri family had all along laid stress on keeping the culture alive by taking various steps at critical times in improvising and maintaining the standards. The study also helped to understand the importance of good leadership and its direct impact on the employees in a crisis situation (COVID-19) work environment and ensure business sustenance.

The case illustrates the challenges of managing JVs in emerging markets. specifically, after going through the case, students should be able to: i.Analyze the contexts in which firms need to form JVs and evaluate this need in the context of emerging markets such as India; ii.Understand how multinational corporations can achieve success in emerging markets, specifically the role of strategic (broader than the product) adaptation in success; iii.Evaluate the impact of conflict between partners on the short-term and long-term performance of a JV; and iv.Create alternatives, evaluate each alternative’s pros and cons, and recommend appropriate decisions to address the situation after a JV unravels and the organization is faced with quality and other challenges.

McDonald’s, the global giant in the quick service industry, entered India in 1993 and formed two JVs in 1995 one with Vikram Bakshi (Connaught Plaza Restaurants Ltd or CPRL) to own and operate stores in the northern and eastern zones, and another with Amit Jatia (Hardcastle Restaurants Private Limited or HRPL) to own and operate stores in the western and southern zones. Over the next 12 years, both the JVs made steady progress by opening new stores while also achieving better store-level metrics. Though CPRL was ahead of HRPL in terms of the number of stores and total revenues earned in 2008, the year marked the beginning of a long-running dispute between the two partners in CPRL, Bakshi and McDonald’s. Over the next 11 years, Bakshi and McDonald’s tried to block each other, filed court cases against each other and also exchanged recriminations in media. The feud hurt the performance of CPRL, which fell behind HRPL in terms of growth and other metrics. On May 9, 2019, the feuding partners reached an out-of-court settlement under which McDonald’s would buy out Bakshi’s shares in CPRL, thus making CPRL a subsidiary. Robert Hunghanfoo, who had been appointed head of CPRL after Bakshi’s exit, announced a temporary shutdown of McDonald’s stores to take stock of the current situation. He had to make a number of critical decisions that would impact the company’s performance in the long-term.

MBA, Executive MBA and executive development programs.

Teaching Notes are available for educators only.

CSS 11: Strategy.

Interviewing the protagonist and collecting information from secondary resources such as company documents, company and competitor websites, industry reports and online databases like Euromonitor International.

The case explores the metamorphosis of JK Masale from a small-scale family business in India to a regional player. Over a period of six decades, JK Masale (JKM) has emerged against the backdrop of a fiercely competitive spice industry. India, being a confluence of varied regional cultures, poses a diverse consumption pattern. It varies to a great extent with respect to the specific food habits prevalent in each climatic zone of the country. While the brand had successfully captured the Eastern Market and the western market of the country, Mr. Vikash Jain, Managing Director of JK Masale, contemplated to venture in Southern India and introduce new product categories. The case delves into one of the major challenges faced by JKM over the brand architecture and labelling across product categories. Thus, the case provides an excellent opportunity for budding managers to: analyse the company’s performance in the backdrop of a dynamic competitive environment; understand the nature of strategic decision-making and its appropriateness for a small family-owned business; evaluate a brand amongst brands on the architectural framework and select appropriate brand architecture for new products; and understand applicability and risks associated with growth strategies.

The case study can be positioned in both undergraduate and postgraduate level programs for courses on marketing strategy and brand management. Primarily, this case would be ideal to discuss brand relationship and brand architecture in the given context. Instructors have an option to cover concepts like market structure, company analysis, growth strategies and emergent and deliberate strategy through the case.

Prepared based on Secondary Sources of Published Information.

Mondelez International launched Cadbury Plant Bar in UK in 2021. It was a plant-based chocolate made using almond milk as a substitute to the conventional product to target vegan consumers. The Indian subsidiary of Mondelez International, always known for its various dairy-based products, had many sub-brands in chocolates and related categories, which were targeted at children and adults effectively. Though the company had been the market leader for about 60 years, it was yet to plan for the launch of any vegan products in the country. However, there were several new marketers who had proactively launched their respective vegan products in India, whereas large companies like Mondelez were shying away from plunging into this game. This case explores the market available for Cadbury Plant Bar in India and whether Mondelez can introduce a similar version in India.

The case is suitable for use in the Marketing Management course of MBA programmes. It can also be used in elective courses related to Brand Management and Integrated Marketing Communication.

Retail marketing: it can be discussed in a retail marketing course to explain the growth and expansion of the retail chain and illustrate the features of a retail model that can consider franchise as a method to expand or distribute its branded merchandise in other retail outlets. The case will also help assess the financially viable growth. Marketing Management: It can be useful for a comprehensive yet straightforward explanation of marketing mix price, promotion, place, and product, also at the same time it serves to explain the importance of customer service in terms of retailing. Strategic Marketing: The case provides varied growth options that are being considered by retail organizations, which gives the student real-time opportunity to arrive at strategic decisions by considering financial viability, internal strengths (SWOT analysis), franchising as a growth option.

This case can be used in foundation course on retail marketing or even in strategic marketing in postgraduate management program, or the dilemma can be explained as a part of a marketing course for postgraduate, executive programs, management development programs.

Kanwar, the owner of 39 Bakers, was one of the fastest-growing retail outlets in Jammu, India. He had been successful in carving his pie for himself with its unique bakery products of more than 1000 variety of, break-even point price, everyday surprise product (EDSP), reasonable price, open kitchen concept, hygiene, excellent customer service. Within three years, 39 Bakers had grown from one to eight outlets, and revenue had increased to US$68,621, and vision was to achieve US$2m within the next three years. To achieve his vision, he made two business expansion plans either to start product distribution to other retailers like an FMCG company or to go ahead with the business format franchising model. The investors needed a detailed planned within three days. But Kanwar had to decide should he expand geographically and start with franchise model or shall he establish his brand with product distribution, and then go for the franchise model, which plan would make him reach his vision by 2023? Which strategy would be efficient? He indeed wanted to go for the franchise model, but the question is when?

This case will help entrepreneurs to decide on services and retail industries to expand their business and explore available growth options. It offers a platform to talk about how often franchising used to fuel growth. Either you select to be a franchisee or independent business owner or provide franchising opportunities or start your distribution network, a detailed business plan is one of the most critical decision-making activities. Without adequate details, it can make your life's most expensive option. After students have worked on the case and the task questions, the students can analyze whether a company should grow through product distribution, franchise or both; appreciate the significance of a business plan and to recognize all aspects of a retail operation, including the marketing mix; carry out strengths, weakness, opportunities, threats analysis and can develop Internal and External Factor Evaluation Matrix (IFE AND EFE); and examine various franchise options available for business expansion in a developing econ.

Position in course – This case can be used in foundation course on retail marketing or even in strategic marketing in postgraduate management program, or the dilemma can be explained as a part of a marketing course for postgraduate, executive programs and management development programs.

Teaching notes are available for educators only.

CSS: 8 Marketing.

Business strategy.

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-level course and an MBA audience in the subject of Business Strategy.

The case details the growth story of American fast food chain McDonalds in West and South India markets. Westlife Development Limited (WDL) operates McDonald’s chain of quick service restaurants (QSR) in these markets; they entered the markets in the year 1996 and since then have adopted various market strategies such as investments in multiple format QSRs, aggressive rollouts of new QSRs, increase in product variants etc. for a sustained growth trajectory. However, the increased competition from both the national and international QSR brands and the new segment of competition from “techie” food aggregators challenges their prospects to maintain a number one position in these markets. As Amit Jatia – the Vice President of WDL − prepares his presentation for the scheduled Executive Leadership Team meeting, he seeks answers to two prime questions a) How could WDL once again regain the number one status in these markets? b) What best strategies the team needs to adopt to remain relevant to the Indian consumers?

The case study should enable the student: 1. To comprehend the complexities of the Indian QSR market and its competitive dynamics 2. To analyze the factors contributing to the growth of the India QSR sector. 3. To identify the market factors that led WDL to adapt their strategy to the market 4. To understand the significance of business strategy localization as adopted by WDL in the markets of West and South India. 5. To evaluate sources of competitive advantage for McDonald’s in the West and South India markets.

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.