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They are as follows: to identify strategic growth opportunities for SMEs in the South African craft beer industry; to understand the complexities associated with operating a craft beer SME in the South African alcohol sector and analyse the SME’s strategic decision-making process that happens as a result; to understand the challenges and identify opportunities for entrepreneurship and growth in an emerging economy and niche segment; to develop a differentiation strategy for a small player in a competitive market; and to impart industry-specific knowledge and insight on the craft brewing industry.

The case is centred on the challenges that Hein Swart, managing director of Mitchell’s Brewery, is facing in sustaining business operations amid heavy regulations and increasing competition from existing craft breweries. In addition, there is the entry of a different type of competitor into the South African market that did not exist previously. The case narrative broadly presents several industry themes that interact with each other and create the existing complexities.

This case is targeted at postgraduate business school students with some work experience who want to build their critical thinking, business management and strategic decision-making skills such as Masters of Business Administration (MBA) and Executive MBA academic programmes, and also delegates on Executive Education programmes. The case is expected to be used as a case study for courses in entrepreneurship and strategic management; however, it can also be applied in strategic marketing courses.

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 3: Entrepreneurship

In April 2012 Bill Nichols, a financial analyst at the real estate investment firm Koenig Capital, was about to enter a unique lease renegotiation. One of Koenig's tenants, Hasperat Inc., had sixteen years left on its long-term lease of the Kelley Building, a 165,000-square-foot office building in downtown Cleveland. The lease contained a clause giving Hasperat the option to buy the Kelley Building from Koenig. When Nichols tried to place a mortgage on the property to take advantage of low interest rates, he learned that the existence of this option in the lease contract prevented lenders from offering Koenig their lowest rates. As a result, Nichols had been tasked with renegotiating the lease to remove the option clause. This unexpected event offered Nichols the opportunity to use his financial skills. He needed to calculate the fair value of the purchase option to be able to justify to his superiors by how much they should compensate Hasperat. Students will step into the role of Bill Nichols and apply real options modeling techniques to value the purchase option in Hasperat's lease.

After reading and analyzing the case, students will be able to:

• Apply real options theory to the valuation of a purchase option in a commercial real estate lease

• Identify the common mistakes in applying traditional discounted cash flow (DCF) analysis to financial problems with option components

Apply real options theory to the valuation of a purchase option in a commercial real estate lease

Identify the common mistakes in applying traditional discounted cash flow (DCF) analysis to financial problems with option components

The decade from 2000 until 2010 was a turbulent time for Toyota Motor Company. The carmaker came under significant criticism from the United States government, consumers throughout the world, and media critics amid allegations of poor quality control and vehicle safety concerns. Problems with accelerators and brake systems were found on several of its most popular models, a situation initially exacerbated by the slow and somewhat tentative response from top management. Toyota was accused of not addressing early warning signs that appeared several years before the crisis received intense negative publicity. Toyota struggled to retain the confidence of consumers and governmental regulators, eventually recalling approximately eight million automobiles.

At the end of 2011, one of the largest food retailers in Brazil, Grupo Pão de Açúcar, or GPA (a subsidiary of Companhia Brasileira De Distribuição, or CBD), was reviewing its accounts payable terms with suppliers in search of additional value. Manager of analytics Maria Cristina Santos was examining the trade credit terms GPA had with Oalem Ltda, a family-owned melon grower located in northeastern Brazil. Oalem, like most small family businesses, was financed with bank loans and equity that was held predominantly by the family. The case examines how accounts payable (trade credit) terms should be set or negotiated between a large retailer and a small supplier, especially when the bargaining power between the two may not be equal. The case demonstrates that trade credit terms can be as important as the terms of more traditional forms of financing.

After analyzing and discussing the case, students should be able to:

• Determine when it is efficient or value-increasing for one nonfinancial firm to borrow from another nonfinancial firm through trade credit, as opposed to borrowing from financial institutions (e.g., banks) or financial markets

• Understand how competition or relative bargaining power can influence feasible and optimal trade credit terms

• Explain why trade credit can be a cheaper form of financing than the alternative forms of financing available to small family businesses like Oalem Ltda

Determine when it is efficient or value-increasing for one nonfinancial firm to borrow from another nonfinancial firm through trade credit, as opposed to borrowing from financial institutions (e.g., banks) or financial markets

Understand how competition or relative bargaining power can influence feasible and optimal trade credit terms

Explain why trade credit can be a cheaper form of financing than the alternative forms of financing available to small family businesses like Oalem Ltda

This case (an abridged version of UVA-M-0663) describes the history of the Red Bull brand and how the company stimulated and harnessed word of mouth to build a new product category (functional energy drinks) and brand franchise. The case concludes by asking the reader to consider where Red Bull will take its brand, product line, and marketing next, in light of many competitive challenges in the United States. The case was written to foster discussion of nontraditional brand-building strategies and the growing globalization of brands and products targeted toward younger consumers.

Teuer Furniture is a privately owned, moderately sized chain of upscale home furnishing showrooms in the United States. The firm survived the economic recession and by the end of 2012, it has regained its financial footing. Now that the firm is more secure financially, some of its long-term investors have asked to cash out their investments. This will be the first time that Teuer has repurchased its equity; the company has paid dividends since 2009. Chief financial officer Jennifer Jerabek and her team have been given the task of valuing Teuer using a discounted cash flow approach. The discount rate is given in the case, and the students need to build a pro forma income statement, balance sheet, and cash flow statement and then calculate a per-share value for Teuer.

• Estimate firm value using a discounted cash flow approach

• Construct firm-level estimates of the pro forma income statement, balance sheet, and cash flow from assets based on store-level estimates

• Recognize how forecasts of revenues, costs, and capital investment are constructed, how the individual estimates relate to each other, and how the forecasts depend upon the underlying economics of the business

• Evaluate and defend the validity of the firm’s forecasts and the valuation model

Estimate firm value using a discounted cash flow approach

Construct firm-level estimates of the pro forma income statement, balance sheet, and cash flow from assets based on store-level estimates

Recognize how forecasts of revenues, costs, and capital investment are constructed, how the individual estimates relate to each other, and how the forecasts depend upon the underlying economics of the business

Evaluate and defend the validity of the firm’s forecasts and the valuation model

Teuer Furniture is a privately owned, moderately sized chain of upscale home furnishing showrooms in the United States. By the end of 2012, it had regained its financial footing and a number of long-term investors, including several of Teuer’s original non-management investors, now want to sell their shares. At the request of the board, Jennifer Jerabek, the chief financial officer of the company, and her team put together an extensive valuation of Teuer based on a discounted cash flow analysis. When the model was presented to investors, a number of them disagreed with the results. Some investors considered the value too high; others considered it too low. Not surprisingly, some of the differences of opinion were correlated with whether or not the investors wanted to sell their shares of Teuer. Jerabek was instructed to build a valuation of Teuer using a multiples approach instead.

After reading and analyzing the case, students will be able to:

• Estimate the value of a firm using a multiples approach

• Select an appropriate group of comparable firms and defend the logic behind the selection

• Select a correct set of valuation ratios and defend the logic behind the selection

• Compare the valuations produced by a multiples and DCF approach and if the valuations do not match, explain why the two methods yield different valuations

Estimate the value of a firm using a multiples approach

Select an appropriate group of comparable firms and defend the logic behind the selection

Select a correct set of valuation ratios and defend the logic behind the selection

Compare the valuations produced by a multiples and DCF approach and if the valuations do not match, explain why the two methods yield different valuations

This case study aims to ensure that, students should be able to recognise the behaviours that influence the in-member out-member categorisation that transpires in the workplace, both from the leader’s perspective and that of the followers; determine and understand the relevance of forming interpersonal relationships in the workplace and that interpersonal relationships create fundamentally positive or negative work experiences and impact on career opportunities in the workplace; gain an understanding of the internal bias and subjective comfort that leaders must actively overcome to establish an environment in which the entire team becomes in-group members; and be able to assess the contextual variables that contribute to the negative or positive aggravation of the leader–member exchange.

It was 16 October 2014, and Nonkululeko Gobodo, Executive Chair of accounting firm SizweNtsalubaGobodo, was looking to her younger sister, Notemba Dlova, for emotional support, as she sought to address an important issue that was on the agenda of the firm’s board of directors’ meeting the following day. Tensions between her and Victor Sekese, Chief Executive Officer of the firm, were mounting, and a number of the directors were unhappy with the status quo. “How do you think I should address the issue?” she asked Dlova. Both sisters knew that at stake was Gobodo’s future at the firm she had battled so hard to build up in the face of racial and gender stereotypes.

The case study is appropriate for use in a range of postgraduate courses aimed at Master’s in Management and Master of Business Administration (MBA)-level students. It is also suitable for use in postgraduate diplomas in business and executive education short courses.

Teaching notes are available for educators only.

CSS 6: Human Resource Management.

This case is designed to enable students to understand the role of women in artificial intelligence (AI); understand the importance of ethics and diversity in the AI field; discuss the ethical issues of AI; study the implications of unethical AI; examine the dark side of corporate-backed AI research and the difficult relationship between corporate interests and AI ethics research; understand the role played by Gebru in promoting diversity and ethics in AI; and explore how Gebru can attract more women researchers in AI and lead the movement toward inclusive and equitable technology.

The case discusses how Timnit Gebru (She), a prominent AI researcher and former co-lead of the Ethical AI research team at Google, is leading the way in promoting diversity, inclusion and ethics in AI. Gebru, one of the most high-profile black women researchers, is an influential voice in the emerging field of ethical AI, which identifies issues based on bias, fairness, and responsibility. Gebru was fired from Google in December 2020 after the company asked her to retract a research paper she had co-authored about the pitfalls of large language models and embedded racial and gender bias in AI. While Google maintained that Gebru had resigned, she said she had been fired from her job after she had raised issues of discrimination in the workplace and drawn attention to bias in AI. In early December 2021, a year after being ousted from Google, Gebru launched an independent community-driven AI research organization called Distributed Artificial Intelligence Research (DAIR) to develop ethical AI, counter the influence of Big Tech in research and development of AI and increase the presence and inclusion of black researchers in the field of AI. The case discusses Gebru’s journey in creating DAIR, the goals of the organization and some of the challenges she could face along the way. As Gebru seeks to increase diversity in the field of AI and reduce the negative impacts of bias in the training data used in AI models, the challenges before her would be to develop a sustainable revenue model for DAIR, influence AI policies and practices inside Big Tech companies from the outside, inspire and encourage more women to enter the AI field and build a decentralized base of AI expertise.

This case is meant for MBA students.

Teaching Notes are available for educators only.

CCS 11: Strategy

This case can be used in the core course on entrepreneurship for Bachelor of Business Administration (BBA) and Master of Business Administration/Post Graduate Diploma in Management (MBA/PGDM) students. It will help them to understand the motivations and challenges of women entrepreneurs, strategies to manage challenges, interactive style of leadership and their contribution to the economic growth of the country.

Entrepreneurship.

Roopa Rani, co-founded a digital design company, DesignTheme Innoventics (DTI), with her husband Yoganand, in November 2007, on the first floor of their residence. Yoganand’s creativity and Roopa’s determination made them bootstrap, scale slow and steady. As a novice to the industry, the initial days posed many challenges. Roopa hired artists to be appointed as designers, which gave them a unique selling preposition. They progressed slowly from a team of 2 to 20, with a revenue of INR 0.3M per annum to INR 12M per annum. As the company grew, Roopa wanted Yoganand’s support in handling the responsibilities, and hence, converted DTI into a limited liability partnership in 2013 and the couple were directors. As the client base improved, the need for shifting to a bigger space became more evident. A calculative risk-taker, Roopa, was forced to move DTI to a bigger office space end 2017, with a rent of INR60,000 per month. Meanwhile, they became a team of 20, with revenue of INR12m. The shift from no rent to a rented space made DTI slip to break-even. However, after two years, they moved into a smaller space and it coincided with the COVID-19 outbreak. Although the backlog orders were processed during the first quarter of 2020–2021, the business for the next quarter was affected. Social distancing norms created a shift in the way of doing business, which was a boon for a designing company like DTI. Now, the task before this self-made woman entrepreneur was to formulate strategies to scale up the business.

After analysing the case, the students will be able to: i. Value the contribution of women entrepreneurs towards the economy. ii. Examine the motivational factors and challenges of women entrepreneurs. iii. Understand the importance of networking. iv. Appraise the socio-cultural factors in a patriarchal society and their impact on the work-life balance of a woman entrepreneur. v. Appreciate the interactive leadership style of women entrepreneurs. vi. Formulate strategies to scale up the business.

• Agarwal, S., & Lenka, U. (2015). Study on work-life balance of women entrepreneurs – review and research agenda. Industrial and Commercial Training, 47(7), 356–362. doi:10.1108/ict-01–2015-0006 • Amit, R., & Muller, E. (1995). “Push” And “Pull” Entrepreneurship. Journal of Small Business & Entrepreneurship, 12(4), 64–80. doi:10.1080/08276331.1995.10600505 • Buttner, E. H. (2001). Examining Female Entrepreneurs' Management Style: An Application of a Relational Frame. Journal of Business Ethics, 29(3), 253–269. doi:10.1023/a:1026460615436 • Carter, S.C. (1997). E. Holly Buttner and Dorothy P. Moore (1997), ‘Women’s Organisational Exodus to Entrepreneurship: Self-reported Motivations and Correlates with Success', Journal of Small Business Management, January, pp34-47. • Cohoon, J. McGrath and Wadhwa, Vivek and Mitchell, Lesa, Are Successful Women Entrepreneurs Different from Men? (May 11, 2010). Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract = 1604653 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.1604653 •Fletcher, J. (1998), Relational Practice: A Feminist Reconstruction of Work, Journal of Management Inquiry, 7(2), 163-186. • Kirkwood, J. (2009). Motivational factors in a push‐pull theory of entrepreneurship. Gender in Management: An International Journal, 24(5), 346–364. doi:10.1108/17542410910968805. • Malyadri, G., Dr. (2012). Role of women Entrepreneurs in the Economic Development of India. Paripex – Indian Journal of Research, 3(3), 104–105. doi: 10.15373/22501991/mar2014/36. Pal, N. (2016). Women Entrepreneurship in India: Important for Economic Growth. International Journal of Pure and Applied Researches, 4(1), 55–64. Pugazhendhi, D. P. (2019). Problems, Challenges and Development of Women Entrepreneurs. Emperor Journal of Economics and Social Science Research, 1(4), 48–53. doi:10.35338/ejessr.2019.1407. Shastri, S., Shastri, S., & Pareek, A. (2019). Motivations and challenges of women entrepreneurs. International Journal of Sociology and Social Policy, 39(5/6), 338–355. doi:10.1108/ijssp-09–2018-0146. Tende, S.B. (2016). The Impact of Women Entrepreneurs towards National Development: Selected Study on Taraba State. Information and Knowledge Management, 6, 30–43. Xheneti, M., Karki, S. T., & Madden, A. (2018). Negotiating business and family demands within a patriarchal society – the case of women entrepreneurs in the Nepalese context. Entrepreneurship & Regional Development, 31(3–4), 259–278. doi:10.1080/08985626.2018.1551792

CSS 3: Entrepreneurship.