Search results

The case is positioned in the domain of building, managing and communicating corporate reputation. It discusses the entry of Lenovo in the Indian market where the company faced reputational challenges. Definition of a corporate reputation strategy which was aligned to the overall strategy of the company, helped Lenovo traverse difficult terrains. The case would be relevant for courses on corporate reputation, communication and strategy.

The case is targeted at MBA students, corporate and PR professionals. The case can be used for MBA courses or management development programmes on corporate reputation, communication, and strategy.

The case brings out key elements of entry into an emerging market flooded with international, well-positioned players and discusses the entry of Lenovo in the Indian market where the problem was compounded by perceptions of Chinese origin. How does Lenovo bring about a turnaround in positioning, building, communicating and managing reputation, how does it steer stakeholder opinion in its favour? Will Lenovo India be able to replicate the success model in China? The case presents the challenges and discusses the strategies adopted by Amar Babu, MD Lenovo to bring about a change in the existing perceptions of stakeholders.

To discuss strategies for building corporate reputation.

To critically examine and analyze the strategies adopted by Lenovo India to build reputation and gain market share.

To analyse links between strategy generation and reputation management.

Teaching notes are available, please consult your librarian to access these.

The case will enable students to understand and ponder on how an organization goes about identifying and launching social impact products, how social impact products should be promoted, what the opportunities and challenges in executing a social impact strategy of developing a new product line by a leading industry player are, what is the type of social investment that will generate both social and financial returns and how a sustainable social impact strategy should be aligned with the corporate strategy of the firm.

Listed in 1991 on the National Stock Exchange in India, Nilkamal Limited is the largest manufacturer of moulded plastic furniture in the world. In line with their tradition, Nilkamal has now introduced a new range of products, under “social impact products” category, to cater to some of the pressing needs of the society. For this purpose, they have entered into an agreement with a US-based organization, Wello, to manufacture and market their iconic product, the Water Wheel. The euphoria surrounding the new social impact product, Water Wheel, has been immense but its commercial viability is yet to materialize. The case provokes the students to analyse the decision of venturing into social impact products and the challenges associated with it. The case grapples with the issues faced by a business firm that looks to incorporate social impact products as part of regular commercial operations. The key question to be addressed is “How far can social impact products be a good strategy to bring corporate sustainability and what should be the approach in this case?”

Study level: MBA students’ applicability: corporate responsibility and corporate sustainability, social impact strategy

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

After studying and analysing this case, students would be able to evaluate and understand the importance and need of an infrastructure sector in a country, its inherent risks and scope of infrastructure investment and financing in India – National Infrastructure Pipeline and the important role of Non-Banking Finance Company’s (NBFC) vis-à-vis banks in infrastructure financing in India; critically analyse and recommend alternative decisions in a business problem situation using multi-criteria decision analysis, which is a tool used for business portfolio analysis; understand and evaluate the corporate portfolio management (CPM) tools used for an optimum portfolio mix to turn around companies; identify and suggest an optimum portfolio mix to turn around a finance company using CPM assessment applied to Pidun matrix; and recommend operational and strategic levers for successful turnaround implementation by using the integrated canvas on turnaround.

On 10 May 2020, in New Delhi, India, J. Ray took charge as a full-time director of an Indian Non-Banking Finance Company – Infrastructure Finance Company (NBFC-IFC). The NBFC-IFC of the Indian Government extended long-term financial assistance to infrastructure projects in India. During the financial year (FY) 2017–2018 till FY 2019–2020, the company suffered substantial losses to the tune of US$13.7bn, with profitability experiencing a notable decline – return on assets at a negligible 0.11% and return on equity of only 0.68%.

The NBFC-IFC had a declining yield on advances at 7.05%, net interest margins (NIMs) of 2.08% against a high cost of borrowing at 7.66%, a declining loan book (by 4.35%) of US$336.27bn and a fast-deteriorating asset quality with highest ever non-performing assets (NPAs) at 19.70% of its loan book. Such financial parameters, compared with that of the industry average of banks and finance companies, meant that the NBFC-IFC Ray had taken over was fast bleeding and was on the brink of being declared a sick company. In comparison, private and other government players had profitable and much healthier financials, and Ray felt that there was a need for improvement. To make things worse, Ray got to know that the Indian Government was in the final stages of setting up a new development finance institution focused on long-term infrastructure financing in India. Ray realized the question was not only of the NBFC-IFC remaining relevant but also of its existence in the fast-evolving sector. Ray wondered what could his his integrated canvas be for a turnaround strategy that could include effective management of an optimal portfolio mix.

With a healthy capital-to-risk (weighted) assets ratio of 30.85% and a satisfactorily improved net worth of US$103.1bn, in the given Reserve Bank of India regulatory provisions for the NBFC-IFC including restrictive exposure norms and NBFC-IFC’s operational mandate prescribed by the Indian Government, Ray had to shift the product and sectorial investment of the NBFC-IFC to reduce the NPAs, increase loan book size and improve the yield of advances and its NIM to effectively turn around the company’s profitability. Ray realized that he needed his team to evaluate and select a product and sector strategy for this change.

The present case of financing investment in infrastructure is interesting for implementation in developing economies because a lack of infrastructure is a common problem and there is a necessity of achieving a more developed infrastructure system to support accelerated economic growth in these countries. This case can be used in elective courses on corporate finance strategy and corporate portfolio management for infrastructure finance companies. This case can be taught in elective courses in post-graduate and MBA programs. This case can also be included in management development programs (MDP), executive MBA programs and executive-level courses that have subjects such as corporate finance strategy, corporate portfolio management and strategy management that focus on turnaround strategies including portfolio management for banks and finance companies.

Teaching notes are available for educators only.

CSS 11: Strategy.

This telecommunications international business case study is the second in a series (A, B and C) of Vodafone cases.

This case is intended to be used in MBA graduate and undergraduate business courses in strategy, cross-cultural management and human resources.

This case examined organizational structures and human resource operating strategies of Vodafone Egypt from 2002 until 2007. Vodafone’s business model, how Vodafone addressed the differences in national culture between Britain and Egypt and how Vodafone fostered adoption of the Vodafone corporate culture are the main themes of this case. Further, this case examined business issues, products, processes and people systems that challenged Vodafone to grow quickly from zero local operations in 1998 to 4,000 employees and national mobile coverage in 2007.

The students who have used this case in the author’s classes have gained a clearer understanding of how international managers often have to develop a change culture and structure as a catalyst for firm growth in emerging markets. Adaptation to the local culture may not be an option for fast growth technology firms and may be ill-suited to meet corporate objectives.

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 5: International Business.

This case study discussion will enable students to: • Understand and evaluate the steel industry’s nature, opportunities, threats and challenges in an emerging market such as Bangladesh.• Review the techniques used to analyse competition and attractiveness of an industry using Porter’s five forces model. • Identify the corporate-level strategic decisions that can impact the survival and growth of a single business/product company in a highly competitive market. • Evaluate amongst different types of corporate-level growth strategies and their appropriate applications. • Synthesise various internal, industry and market-related information into the selection and justification of any particular corporate-level growth strategy.

BSRM group established Bangladesh’s first-ever steel mill in 1952. For around 70 years, BSRM had been leading the steel industry of Bangladesh with a single product – long steel. Over the recent decade (2010–2020), Bangladesh had been one of the world’'s fastest-growing economies. As the economic development was closely tied with the consumption of steel products, per capita steel consumption in Bangladesh became more than double. Moving from 24 kg in 2010, per capita steel consumption became 55 kg in 2021. Industry experts predicted the per capita steel consumption to be 75 kg by 2024, indicating an enormous scope for the steel industry to grow. Moreover, the industry’s growth momentum was predicted to continue until the nation became a developed one in 2041. This growth momentum kept attracting new competitors to this business. Nevertheless, BSRM maintained the market leadership by dint of its first mover’s advantage, superior quality, branding, innovation and large-scale operations and ultimately accumulated substantial free cash flow over the years. Now, Aameir Alihussain, the Managing Director and CEO of BSRM, was concerned about managing the growth of his business. Would BSRM continue to concentrate on producing steel and building forte by the backward and forward integration of the value chain? Or should the firm opt for some related diversification? Alternatively, was it the right time for BSRM to consider opportunities for unrelated diversification? While opportunities were many, the amount for investment was limited. Thus, Alihussain was in a dilemma pursuing the right corporate-level growth strategy for the overall sustainability of his business in the long run.

This case can be taught in the corporate-level strategy chapter of a core course on strategic management at the undergraduate programs. This case would facilitate students to comprehend the context of corporate-level strategies in managing the growth of a business in an emerging market.

Teaching Notes are available for educators only.

CSS 11: Strategy.

Corporate Strategy; Strategy.

Post-graduate; Executive education; Under-graduate.

The case is based on Titan Company Limited (Titan), one of India’s profitable diversified companies. Set in April 2020, the case presents the evolution of Titan’s growth strategy in the last three decades. The company had grown by continuously exploring adjacent categories in the personal lifestyle space. The case asks whether the strategy that has guided Titan for the past three decades would continue to provide growth. What changes, if any, should be made by C.K. Venkataraman—the new CEO who had taken charge a few months back in October 2019—and his team?

The case describes Titan’s evolution from 1987 to 2020. ‘Winning times’, the first section of the case, describes Titan’s early choices in the watches business that helped the company achieve market dominance and its successive choices to expand the scope of watches businesses by entering new adjacencies. The section also details the evolution of Titan’s design, manufacturing, marketing and retailing capabilities in early years. ‘Looking for another gem’ describes Titan’s venture into the jewellery business – the failure of its early attempts to export and its pivot to domestic market and the successful turnaround of the business. ‘On the fast track to growth’ deals with Titan’s accessories business. The section ‘Eyeing new businesses’ describes Titan’s foray into prescription eyewear and precision engineering businesses and the company’s performance in these businesses. ‘A new identity’ details Titan’s adoption of a distinct corporate identity in 2013. ‘New businesses’ provides information on Titan’s recent foray into fragrances and sarees business. The case ends with the section ‘Years ahead’ which asks what changes, if any, should be made by the leadership team.

Upon completion of the case study discussion, participants will be able to: understand the concept of the ‘core competence’ and the three tests of core competence; how core competencies evolve in an organization over time; diversification (growth) strategy based on core competencies and adjacencies; and key managerial choices and organizational processes required to ensure effectiveness of diversification strategy based on core competencies.

Teaching notes are available for educators only.

CSS 11: Strategy.

The learning outcomes are as follows: to use advanced frameworks and tools to convey complex ideas related to strategy and sustainable business practices; apply relevant concepts and theories of corporate social responsibility and governance to a practical situation while making decisions; demonstrate understanding of the importance of stakeholders when developing socially responsible thinking; and analyze the different strengths and weaknesses of the organization when making a decision that would affect the company strategy.

Claire Humphry was the General Manager at the renowned The Nacre Hotel in Penang, Malaysia. Claire had a very busy job as she had many people who reported to her, and the hotel was always full of guests. One of the things Claire also managed was the restaurant OceanSound that was owned and operated by her hotel. OceanSound was a very thematic restaurant that specialized in making sculptures of food for special events. On the New Year’s Day in 2023, Claire came to work ready to tackle what was sure to be a long and busy day. However, Claire had not anticipated exactly how taxing the day would end up being. During Claire’s talks with her colleagues throughout the day, her conversation with her friend, the head chef of OceanSound, Poh, would nag at her head for the rest of the day based on the events that followed. The New Year’s special sculpture at OceanSound was to be a large rabbit made of cake to commemorate 2023 being the year of the rabbit according to Chinese zodiac. This is usually kept secret until the sculpture is revealed; but somehow this information had been leaked. This led to The Nacre Hotel and OceanSound being in the spotlight for bad reasons as this sparked a debate online regarding food wastage. This escalated quickly and even led to a famous food influencer commenting on this using specifically The Nacre’s name. Activists also quickly emerged in front of the hotel to protest the creation of sculptures and the food wastage in Malaysian hospitality industry, seeking to make an example out of The Nacre Hotel. The online criticism died down and was eventually replaced by praise for the sculpture. The activists were also eventually asked by the hotel security to leave, which led to the rest of the day to go as expected for a New Year’s Day at The Nacre. However, Claire’s nagging suspicion that they were not out of the woods led her to start looking into food wastage in the hospitality industry in Malaysia to educate herself and bring it up in a future meeting. Two days after this incident, on January 3, 2023, Claire found The Nacre Hotel posted on the newspaper headlines, dissecting the food wastage associated with the hotel now. After getting an urgent phone call from the Regional Manager, who was pressured by the board and shareholders, Claire decided the time to address this issue could not be delayed any longer. She wrote an email to her strategy team to come up with some ideas for possible solutions to the issue and to present them in a group meeting within a week’s time. At the conclusion of the meeting, Claire was contemplating about the decision that she had to make if she wanted The Nacre Hotel to continue operating successfully in Malaysia’s hospitality industry.

The main theoretical concepts illustrated in the case include corporate governance approaches, types of corporate social responsibility, stakeholders’ prioritization, organizational culture, organizational structure, industry analysis and strategic choices. Therefore, this case study can be used in a upper-level undergraduate business courses in the field of Strategic Management and Corporate Social Responsibility. The case study can be successfully used in a capstone course on Business Policy and Strategy, when tackling the concepts of corporate social responsibility, environmental sustainability strategy and corporate governance. Under this scenario, the usage of conceptual frameworks from Chapters 2 and 3 of the textbook titled “Concepts in Strategic Management and Business Policy: Toward Global Sustainability” by Wheelen and Hunger would be required. This case study can also be successfully applied to MBA level courses on Strategic Management in a Globalized World. In this case, the latest edition of the textbook titled “Exploring Strategy” by Whittington et al., could be used (particularly, the material from Chapters 2–9, 11, 14 and 15). Additionally, the case could also be used in courses related to Tourism and Hospitality, especially in schools which have specialized programs in this field.

Teaching notes are available for educators only.

CCS 12: Tourism and Hospitality.

The case’s learning objectives to work on can vary according to the topic selected by the teacher. This case has been put forward with a particular interest in corporate strategy issues, specifically, on the joint management of businesses (in this case, academic programs). Therefore, students are expected to be able to understand the managerial dilemma on centralization and decentralization; recognize the peculiarities of a shared services center (SSC); and decide on which services to centralize in an SSC.

Centralizing or not centralizing is a frequent managerial dilemma. This is a challenge faced not only by business managers but also by corporate level areas responsible for jointly managing various businesses. Resources and capabilities allocation is an essential process for strategy execution, specifically in corporate strategy that must answer the question: How to jointly manage businesses? Sharing services is a collaborative strategy which aims to increase efficiency by centralizing some processes related to this joint business management. Mario, Dean of the Escuela de Administración in Medellín, Colombia, intends to optimize the school resource allocation processes so that there is more equitable support between the different academic programs. For this, he has thought of creating an SSC as it is a practice that he has seen in prominent companies in the city. His idea is to start operating the SSC in early 2018; however, the particular character of a management school leads him to ask himself: What to centralize and what not to centralize?

This case of decision (Ellet, 2007; Sánchez et al., 2013) can be used to promote student learning of strategy courses both at advanced undergraduate levels and in graduate programs. Likewise, it can be used in workshops with executives and administrative personnel of companies that face the centralize–decentralize dilemma. These types of topics are the subject of study by both corporate strategy theorists who address the question of how to jointly manage business (Menz et al., 2015; Michael Porter, 1987) and consultants (Deloitte, 2012). It is desirable, although not mandatory, that students have some knowledge or experience in strategic issues and challenges associated with the administration of companies made up of various businesses (multi-business firms).

Teaching Notes are available for educators only.

CSS 11: Strategy.

This case traces through a 20-year history of a Chinese high-tech company, Maipu Communications Technology Company. Throughout the company’s growth, Maipu adjusted its innovation models in order to ensure that they remained compatible with corporate strategies, resources and external environments. However, as the company grew bigger, it was finding it more and more difficult to meet its innovation goals. Its current innovation model is a market-driven platform + distributed innovation. While Maipu has achieved some success under this model, it is faced with a myriad of challenges during the execution of the model. The key questions raised by this case are whether Maipu’s current innovation model is suitable for the company at this stage and how the innovation model should be adjusted to propel new innovation and growth opportunities for Maipu in this increasingly competitive market.

This case was a field research case. The authors paid three visits to Maipu Communications Technology Company, during which the authors conducted in-depth interviews with Mr Zhao, the Head of Maipu’s R&D and Innovation group, and several senior and functional managers of the company. Follow-up communication via telephone and e-mail was conducted to verify the accuracy of the written case.

This case is well suited for courses in the areas of strategic management, innovation management, high-tech management, entrepreneurship, and international business. The target audiences of the case are primarily MBA students, although this case can also be used in upper-level undergraduate business courses.

The theoretical basis for this case includes the following management theories: strategy formulation and strategy implementation, business-level and corporate-level strategies, enterprise life-cycle, corporate strategies at various stages of growth, patterns of innovation and applications, and implementation of innovation strategies.

This case study can be taught in the core courses on marketing management and strategic management at the postgraduate level management programmes. This case would facilitate students’ to appreciate the context of a business-level strategy in congruence with the firm’s corporate goals in an emerging market. This case study discussion will enable students to: understand and appreciate the opportunities and the nature of the emerging market, explain the strategic decisions that can impact the survival of the global brands in new markets, explain different types of business-level strategy and their appropriate application, synthesise various industry and market-related information into the selection and justification of any particular business-level strategy and learn the technique of perceptual mapping.

Hero MotoCorp Limited of India; the world’s number one motorcycle company by volume, established its second global manufacturing facility in Bangladesh in 2018 with the Nitol-Niloy Group. A sister concern, Niloy Motors Limited (NML), had been in charge of the marketing, distribution and sales of the brand “Hero”. Abu Aslam, as the Chief Marketing Officer of NML soon had to confront this fast-paced and highly competitive motorcycle market of Bangladesh. He needed to meet the corporate goal of becoming the market leader by the year 2025. On the one hand, Hero was comparatively a late entrant; on the other hand, the market accommodated almost all popular global brands such as Bajaj, TVS and Honda. The high growth economy with a rising middle class and a favourable government policy had made the Bangladeshi motorcycle industry quite lucrative for the global manufacturers. Upon its entrance, Hero found a price-sensitive market where it soon became number two by adopting the cost-leadership strategy. However, the incessant price-cutting by the players led to the price war, and every company was losing profit. The resulting situation had created a strong challenge for Aslam as achieving the market leadership through cost-leadership seemed to be an impractical strategy. Towards the end of the 2019–2020 sales-year, Aslam introduced a new variant of Splendor Plus to the entry cc segment with some new features and a slightly higher price. Receiving a significant positive customer response, Aslam was seriously considering sailing away from cost-leadership. Now, Aslam was in a dilemma as he needed to choose from the three alternatives of adopting the differentiation strategy, namely, differentiation, focussed differentiation and broad differentiation.

Not applicable.

Teaching notes are available for educators only.

CSS 11: Strategy.