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The case, while acknowledging the difficulty of managing a family business in view of the accompanying human issues, emphasizes that sound business practices and procedures, and clarity with regard to the goal, remain the key; a firm is a complex, interconnected system and management needs a systems viewpoint; and technology can only support underlying business processes if there is clarity with respect to these.

SomPack had survived low-cost Asian competition starting the mid-1990s, a revolt by some extended family to try and bring it down with the help of a competitor, the Turkish banking crisis of 2001, and the global economic crisis of 2008 all the while watching its suppliers, competitors and customers collapse. A focus on cost-cutting and internal discipline by the successor, who had been promoted to CEO in 2004, had exacerbated internal discontent somewhat and had led to issues with production planning, but everyone understood that times were tough. Several large customers who had left were asked to return because the alternatives had been worse. By 2012, SomPack was considering expansion into new products in collaboration with its international partners. Then one day, in July 2013, it suddenly collapsed. Could the entire approach have been wrong? What should management have done instead?

Undergraduate, graduate business management.

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CSS 7: Management Science.

The learning outcomes of this study are as follows: ■ understand organizational turnaround and its sustainability;■ applying the understanding of turnarounds to distinguish between operational and strategic levers of a turnaround strategy; ■ analyze and evaluate past and present turnarounds from a sustainability perspective; and ■ formulate managerial actions to make turnaround sustainable.

Braithwaite Company Ltd. (Braithwaite) was a specialized engineering firm headquartered in Kolkatta, India. It primarily undertook structural steel fabrication to make railway wagons and bridge structures. It was incorporated as a private enterprise almost a century back. However, since its nationalization five decades ago, it has been operating as a public sector undertaking (PSU) under the aegis of Indian Railways, a department of the Government of India. The case documents the past three decades of the firm’s journey, during which it experienced three episodic turnarounds. Details of the first two turnarounds are presented as the background, in light of which sustainability of the third turnaround is to be examined. The case explores the sustainability of organizational turnarounds from the perspective of the current Chairman and Managing Director (CMD), the case protagonist. Braithwaite underwent financial and operational distress in 1992, 2005 and 2015 and negotiated them under different leaders. These leaders from diverse backgrounds used distinct tactics and strategies to bring about organizational turnarounds. The case provides data and information to assess the sustainability of the third turnaround. Hence, it allows a class to explore the paradoxical observation that while “turnaround” inherently implies sustenance of good performance over time, turnaround sustainability is not spontaneous in the real world. The case deals with the performance issues of PSUs, which make significant contributions to the national economy in the case of emerging economies (for example, 5%–8% of the Indian National gross domestic product is contributed by PSUs; https://swarajyamag.com/ideas/psus-are-crucial-for-indias-growth-but-only-if-they-play-a-strategic-role). Under government ownership and management, the poor performance of PSUs is often attributed to bad decision-making by its top management. In contrast, Braithwaite’s top management’s sound contextual decision-making resulted in a jump in its performance during each turnaround phase, but unsound fundamentals resulted in the unsustainability of the turnarounds. Hence, the case enables an exploration of the unique challenges faced by PSU that emanate from legacy roles, monopolistic markets and dual purpose – the concurrent pursuit of profits and social welfare. Consequently, the case allows an examination of the reasons for the distress of PSUs and the viability of turnaround strategies in the context of the broader Business–Government–Society landscape in emerging economies.

The case is written for use in the MBA elective course covering “Strategic Revival and Turnaround Strategies.” It can be used at the beginning of the course to identify reasons for organizational failure/distress or in the later part of the course to discuss the implementation of operational and strategic turnaround strategies.

Teaching notes are available for educators only.

CSS 10: Public Sector Management.

Mary Kay is one of the best-known direct sellers of women's cosmetics in the world. Its channel strategy is to use independent beauty consultants, who are independent distributors, to sell directly to consumers. Its compensation plan is multilevel, providing commissions to distributors on their own sales as well as the sales of the distributors they recruit. At the time of the case, the company is grappling with a well-established change in consumer behavior—the decline of the stay-at-home mom as she returns to the workforce—combined with the opportunities offered by Internet selling. Focuses on the company's efforts to move with consumer demand and behavior, while remaining true to its core goal of “Improving Women's Lives.” Discusses ways Internet technology can be used throughout the company's channel and supply chain structure, not just as a route to market.

The case provides valuable insights on challenges faced by otherwise-protected organisations which are made to face the global onslaught. What happens to an organisation when its own collaborators become competitors overnight? What happens when market leaders refuse to share their technology or dictate their own terms? In addition, this case study looks at the strategy of diversification desired in the business portfolio and the cost of non-diversifications. The case evaluates the environment in which a capital-intensive industry has to operate. It evaluates the combination of all the variables required for undertaking a comprehensive analysis and aims at identifying the best possible level to which the business can be expanded to maximise profits under the known constraints in which the business has to operate.

Target audience is corporate executives, students of MBA/postgraduate programme in management in strategic management and/or workshops for understanding the concept of SWOT (strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats) analysis, competitor analysis, Porter's Five Forces Model, Boston Consulting Group (BCG) Matrix, business environment analysis and growth strategies for future.

A combination of global competition and open access in the domestic market is putting pressure on the margins, as new players are likely to move towards gaining market share by bidding aggressively. This is threatening the competitive intensity for Bharat Heavy Electricals Limited (BHEL) in the long-term. Raw materials, such as steel products, that are critical to production process are subject to substantial pricing cyclicality and periodic shortages of supply in India. The margins are thus continuously being impacted by movement in raw material prices, especially steel and copper. How BHEL hopes to sustain its growth story? Whether Chinese competition will kill BHEL? These are some of the pertinent questions the authors will try to answer in this case study.

Use of SWOT analysis to identify the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats to a company and use it as a tool to strategic decision-making. Highlighting the importance of strategic tools such as Porter Model and BCG Matrix within an emerging economy backdrop; to illustrate the alternatives and difficulties/complexities involved in a strategic planning process of growth and cost cutting; and to analyse the financial statements of BHEL.

Analysing public sector undertakings (PSUs)/government companies involved in infrastructure build up/projects of strategic nature in the country, their performance, challenges and efficiency in pre-liberalisation era and post-liberalisation era, and identifying how many are visible today, including the reasons for their growth/decline in generating revenues and profits, has multiple social implications especially for an emerging economy like India. A look at the performance trends of such companies over the past years too would help them in their quest by assisting them to get an idea of business and the industry profile in which BHEL is operating.

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The case is based on interviews in 2022 with the founder of Shape, Monoshita Ayruani, supplemented by classroom testing and secondary sources such as textbooks, journals, newspapers and other pertinent sources such as reports produced by marketing and consulting firms.

Shape is a private limited company operating in Bangladesh, a country in South Asia. Bangladesh is a fast-developing country where the people (the vast majority of whom are young) are practical and forward thinking, conservative, yet also generally tolerant. Its CEO is Monoshita Ayruani, who has had several years of experience in a PR and Marketing agency before starting Shape. It produces and sells “innerwear” or undergarments, which are their staple products, as well as clothing, bath products, sleepwear and various other products targeted at women. Starting off as an online business in 2019, it was about to find its footing in the market when the COVID-19 pandemic hit. The problem faced by Shape at the beginning was that digital marketing was not resulting in word of mouth for the product, as undergarments were considered too “taboo” to talk or share about with most people. The second problem faced was the sudden protests about Westernised clothing and culture in 2022, which may potentially threaten the company.

This case would be well suited for an undergraduate or graduate-level Marketing or Strategic Management course that exposes students to the challenges of promoting a new brand and marketing taboo products imported from abroad, in a largely conservative and culturally sensitive market, and preventing a potential crisis when protests break out. The case also touches on international supply chain problems, so may also be taught in an International Business course. The level of difficulty is intermediate as the problems are nuanced.

The case study can be used in management for the course of Strategic Management and Entrepreneurship. It is suitable for the students at post-graduate level. Discussion would be the most appropriate method for teaching this case study. There is no prerequisite required to participate in the discussion. Participants will be able to engage in discussion regarding expansion strategies for micro-enterprises; targeting the right segment of the market; exploring the market opportunities; innovation for entrepreneurial growth; and sustaining an enterprise. After this case study, students will be able to understand the following theory and model: SWOT analysis; resource base theory; McKinsey ESG proposition; Porter’s generic strategy; Schumpeter’s innovation theory; Ansoff’s growth model; and diversification strategies.

Being a micro-enterprise with heavy financial constraints, it was never easy to sustain the business at the time of pandemic. Mrs Jyoti Pruthi (owner of Pruthi Spices) made extraordinary efforts that would help her in survival of her business. She could not recover the business as it was before the pandemic. During such times, the loss of her husband was a setback. That incident broke Mrs Pruthi emotionally as well as financially. By taking some crucial managerial decisions, Mrs Pruthi strategized for the sustainability of her business. Now it was January 2022, after two years of the outbreak of the Covid-19 pandemic in the world. However, because of the market situation, her pressing dilemma was regarding business survival in such lean times.

The case is meant for undergraduate and post-graduate students pursuing management with specializations in Entrepreneurship and Marketing. The case is bet fit for women entrepreneurship development capacity-building programs, especially in the Asian region. The case is also suitable for any short-term training program where manifestations of entrepreneurship are being taught. It can also be used for Executive and Management development program aiming at women or disadvantaged entrepreneurship. The case can also be used for general courses like “Strategic Management” and specialized courses like “Entrepreneurship Management”.

Teaching notes are available for educators only.

CSS 3: Entrepreneurship.

Madan Mohanka set up Tega Industries Ltd in 1976 to manufacture abrasion-resistant rubber mill lining products used in the mining and mineral processing industries. In 2006, as part of its inorganic expansion strategy, Tega bought a mill-liner company in South Africa. Buoyed by this growth, two acquisitions were made in Australia and Chile in the year 2011. However, post-acquisition, several managerial, legal and commercial problems crept up in its manufacturing facilities in Chile, leading to financial downturn in Tega's fortunes in 2016 and compelling it to either plan a revival or divest its interest in its Chilean Plant.

BigBasket.com, an online supermarket established in December 2011 in Bangalore, India, had become one of the major players in the Indian online grocery market by the end of March 2016.₁ Run by Innovative Retail Concepts Private Limited, BigBasket.com was operating in more than 23 cities across the country in 2016. The online grocery market in India was in a stage of growth and transformation, fuelled by India's large urban population who sought a lifestyle of convenience and ease. It had also attracted many entrepreneurs who competed fiercely with each other in a market characterised by thin margins. Intense competition ensured that only a few companies were able to survive and sustain themselves. One of these companies was Big Basket, which succeeded in spite of the competition, attracting Series D_a funding worth USD 150_b million from the United Arab Emirates-based Abraaj Group in March 2016.₂

The case deals with the Supreme Court's decision of August 31, 2012, ordering Sahara to refund Rs. 24,000 crores and interest to SEBI, so as to refund to the real investors. Despite unambiguous orders, Sahara did not comply fully and kept on prolonging the matter using number of pretexts, ultimately resulting in Roy's arrest. The case has been primarily written for easy understanding of facts, principles of corporate governance, and further developments, as mentioned in judgment, which runs into hundreds of pages. It depicts the legal journey of the fight between a company and the financial regulator in the country.

Jim Keyes, CEO of Dallas-based Blockbuster Inc., was facing the biggest challenge of his career. In March 2010 Keyes was meeting with Hollywood studios in an effort to negotiate better terms for the $1 billion worth of merchandise Blockbuster had purchased the year before. In recent years, Blockbuster's share of the video rental market had been sharply decreasing in the face of competitors such as the low-cost, convenient Redbox vending machines and mail-order and video-on-demand service Netflix. While Blockbuster's market capitalization had dropped 47 percent to $62 million in 2009, Netflix's had shot up 55 percent to $3.9 billion that year. The only hope for Blockbuster, as Keyes saw it, was to shift its business model from primarily brick-and-mortar physical DVD rentals to increased digital and mail-order video delivery. In Keyes's favor, the studios were more than willing to provide him with that help. Hollywood wanted to see Blockbuster win the video-rental wars. Consumers still made frequent purchases of DVDs at its store—purchases which were much more profitable for studios than the rentals that remained Blockbuster's primary business. Blockbuster had made efforts at making its business model more nimble, but the results had been disappointing, and its debt continued to skyrocket. By the end of 2009, the company's debt had climbed to $856 million, its share of the $6.5 billion video rental business had fallen to 27 percent, and its revenues had tumbled 23 percent to $4.1 billion.

The objective of this case is to discuss how different business models and supply chain structures impact the financials of the firms in the DVD rental business. In particular, the goal is to convey that the characteristics of the movie (recent/big hit or old/eclectic) affect whether it is best rented from a centralized or decentralized model. In addition, as streaming gains market share, the impact will be different for movie types and business models.