This case highlights the design, process changes and implementation challenges in an e-governance project designed for property registration in the Indian state of Madhya Pradesh (MP). It identifies the critical success factors and the linkages between a good design and acceptance (adoption) both by users of the systems (officials) and citizens. The outdated legal and largely manual processes of the government, the intricacies of public procurement, lack of in-house capabilities and the requirement to interface with citizens make e-governance projects some of the most challenging projects to implement. Computerisation of such systems also leads to a review of underlying processes, changes of roles of employees and organisational restructuring. Adding to this difficulty is the environment of public procurement characterised by poor quality specifications and complex¬¬ regulations. Lack of in-house capabilities often means reliance on vendors and consultants without having the ability to effectively oversee the outputs that often leads to tremendous costs on training and deployment. Designing systems with an interface to citizens involves ensuring proper blueprint and flow of processes that facilitate their usage and contextual user experience, especially as government services may cater to wide variations in citizen profiles. The case highlights the implementation process adopted in developing and executing a web-based solution for property registration in 2015, namely, the Stamps and Management of Property and Documents Application (SAMPADA), under the initiative and leadership of the then Inspector General, Registration and Superintendent of Stamps (IGRS). It highlights the role of the top management, in this case the IGRS, formation of a multifunctional core team, extensive training, focus on an end-to-end solution, web enablement, bringing about the required legal changes, thorough review of existing processes, organisational restructuring and partnership
This primer provides a comprehensive exploration into the gig economy and how it is reshaping global business. It shows how the Uber driver, the freelancing programmer in India, and the independent corporate consultant are all different variants of the modern-day gig workers. In doing so, this document addresses the following questions: • What are gigs and who performs them? • What is the size of the gig economy? How big will it get? • What types of gig work are available, and how do they differ from one another? • What are major trends in the gig economy, and how could technology disrupt this space? • What are the key management and legal issues for companies that use gig workers? • What has been the recent legal and regulatory history of the gig economy? • How has the Covid-19 pandemic changed the gig economy?
In 2015, in Aalborg, Denmark, the two co-founders of Better World Fashion formed their company as a social enterprise, aiming to highlight all that was wrong with the fashion industry and offer a cleaner and more ethical solution. The business was designed to focus not only on profit but also on minimizing the environmental impact of the supply chain. The founders chose to specialize in garments made from re-purposed leather, as leather had a long lifespan, and could be reused repeatedly without its qualities diminishing. Leather was also the most resource-consuming garment material to produce, and therefore was both the most environmentally damaging material and the material that was most in need of recycling. The company’s business model aimed to gain a competitive advantage through its image as a sustainable brand and its premium-quality products, which incorporated an emotional connection through the use of unique serial numbers and storytelling. However, in 2018, the co-founders wondered whether the company should continue as it had been originally positioned or whether it should change its strategies for growth and competitive advantage in international marketing.
Alfie.fit (Alfie) was a Montreal-based consumer software technology start-up that offered a virtual fitness concierge service for time-strapped people who wanted to keep fit, no matter their busy schedule. The Alfie platform helped personal trainers and trainees connect and interact with each other and supported the management of the transaction between them. However, Alfie faced several challenges, including the common chicken-or-egg problem of value-added intermediaries in their entry phase. As Alfie celebrated its one-year anniversary of being officially available to the public, the founders needed to make strategic decisions regarding the platform’s design, scope, and future direction.
On a late evening in December 2014, three co-founders of Unicommerce eSolutions Pvt. Ltd. (Unicommerce) assembled for a meeting. A couple of months earlier, Unicommerce, an India-based software-as-a-service solution provider for order- and warehouse-management activities in the e-commerce industry, had received an offer of US$10 million in series-B funding from Tiger Global Management to fund their business growth. The offer seemed fair, and the three co-founders were inclined to pursue a deal with them. However, just a few days before, they had received an unexpected offer from Snapdeal, a leading e-commerce firm in India, to buy out Unicommerce. Over the past week, the co-founders had discussed and debated their options several times without converging. However, the time for deliberations was over. By 9:00 a.m. the next day, the Unicommerce team would have to call up Snapdeal to confirm their decision.
Chunyu Yisheng (Chunyu) was the largest mobile health (m-health) application in China. Since its creation in July 2011, the application had focused on providing online medical information and consultations with professional doctors. Chunyu's business model was based on free and premium online health care services. In the first three years, Chunyu gained more experience than profits. The primary concern for the founder and chief executive officer of Chunyu was to find a profitable and value-creating business model. Two potential solutions for Chunyu were to rebuild the current online consultancy-based model or move to an alternative profitable and long-term value-creation model. How should the founder and chief executive officer choose which option to pursue?
The founders of Strider Miles (Striders), a running club headquartered in Mumbai, India, faced a dilemma. Over 14 years, they had built a business based on their love for sport and their own entrepreneurial inclination. The growth of Striders was an outcome of both a growing interest in running for fitness as well as the promoters’ efforts. The founders had, thus far, made minimal investments in fixed assets and marketing and promotion. Going forward, however, they were not sure about how to grow the business nor the implications of their current business model.
The case, set in August 2017 in the state of Punjab, India, follows the transformational efforts of Manjit Singh Brar, the Managing Director of Punjab State Cooperative Milk Producers' Federation Limited (Milkfed), the apex body of Punjab's dairy farmers' union. He had taken the reins of the cooperative in March 2015 after holding several top-level administrative positions as a civil servant. At the time of his appointment as the MD, the cooperative was witnessing a decline in its revenue and profit growth. More importantly, Milkfed's brand, Verka, was under siege from Amul, a brand of Gujarat Cooperative Milk Marketing Federation (GCMMF), which had invaded the Punjab market. Brar was tasked to turn around the cooperative and also to tackle the threat posed by Amul, a pan-national brand that was not only financially resourceful but also managed by a team of dairy technocrats and commercial experts. After securing the government's mandate for his transformation roadmap, Brar rolled out measures to overhaul the organization and shake it out of its bureaucratic complacency. He instituted accountability and efficiency across the organization by implementing commercial management principles and practices. He also put the cooperative on the track to attaining sustained growth in revenue and profitability by revamping its brand positioning, distribution and advertising, and by tweaking the product mix. Brar reinforced Verka's competitive advantage by unleashing defensive strategies and established new means of growing its revenue and market share to fortify its leadership position in the market against Amul. As a financially resourceful brand with a robust procurement network across the nation, Amul was keen on starting a price war in Punjab and disrupting both ends of Verka's value chain. Brar had to find the means to grow Verka's revenue and profits amid tough competition from Amul.
The case, set in October 2017, follows the predicament of two enterprising young women, Saranya Das Sharma (Saranya) and Aamiya Viswanathan (Aamiya ), the founders of Project Sashakt. After learning that a large number of girls dropped out of school after reaching puberty due to lack of access to affordable disposable sanitary napkin and the adverse impact on the environment caused by the rampant use of disposal of non-indegradable sanitary napkins, Saranya and Aamiya founded Project Sashakt (Sashakt). It crowdsourced fund and procured 100% compostable sanitary pads that it distributed free of cost to the beneficiaries in and around Delhi. In addition, Sashakt conducted awareness workshops and outreach programs to educate the girls on MHM and dispel the taboos surrounding menstruation and they eventually extended their outreach programs to nearby slums. Sashakt's suppliers, Aasma Foundation and Aakar Innovations, were supportive of the cause and supplied biodegradable sanitary napkins at subsidized prices. Yet, as Sashakt grew, in order to become financially self-reliant and sustainable, the founders began to seriously consider the idea of vertically integrating the operations by setting up a biodegradable sanitary pad manufacturing unit in a village in Bihar, a state in Eastern India with poor gender parity indicators. They hoped that the manufacturing unit would not only create employment opportunities for disadvantaged rural women but also produce cost-competitive supplies for the project's free distribution drives, thereby scaling the scope and impact of Sashakt. The proposed venture involved a large capital outlay, yet that was the least of their concerns. They were more concerned about the potential implications of a non-profit transitioning into a social enterprise and the challenges and risks involved in setting up - and scaling up - the proposed venture.
Alfie.fit (Alfie) was a Montreal-based consumer software technology start-up that offered a virtual fitness concierge service for time-strapped people who wanted to keep fit, no matter their busy schedule. The Alfie platform helped personal trainers and trainees connect and interact with each other and supported the management of the transaction between them. However, Alfie faced several challenges, including the common chicken-or-egg problem of value-added intermediaries in their entry phase. As Alfie celebrated its one-year anniversary of being officially available to the public, the founders needed to make strategic decisions regarding the platform's design, scope, and future direction.
Chunyu Yisheng (Chunyu) was the largest mobile health (m-health) application in China. Since its creation in July 2011, the application had focused on providing online medical information and consultations with professional doctors. Chunyu's business model was based on free and premium online health care services. In the first three years, Chunyu gained more experience than profits. The primary concern for the founder and chief executive officer of Chunyu was to find a profitable and value-creating business model. Two potential solutions for Chunyu were to rebuild the current online consultancy-based model or move to an alternative profitable and long-term value-creation model. How should the founder and chief executive officer choose which option to pursue?
The founders of Strider Miles (Striders), a running club headquartered in Mumbai, India, faced a dilemma. Over 14 years, they had built a business based on their love for sport and their own entrepreneurial inclination. The growth of Striders was an outcome of both a growing interest in running for fitness as well as the promoters' efforts. The founders had, thus far, made minimal investments in fixed assets and marketing and promotion. Going forward, however, they were not sure about how to grow the business nor the implications of their current business model.
An investor, Janice Zhuk, examines Tesla's quarterly safety data that includes the number of miles it took to register one accident among Tesla cars driving with autopilot versus those without autopilot. The data set is small, so the validity of any statistical analysis may be compromised. The data allow one to run a simple t-test comparison of means. Because of the small sample size, the case invites a discussion on the hypothesis of the regression model, in particular, the normality of the residuals.
This case provides instructors with an opportunity to discuss some of the fundamental aspects of a typical public company's shareholders' equity financial reporting and financial disclosures. As such, students are provided with information pertaining to PepsiCo's common stock, preferred stock, stock repurchases, cash dividends, stock splits, and GAAP earnings per share (EPS) versus non-GAAP EPS. In addition, the case also provides an interesting bit of information regarding PepsiCo's 2017 move from the NYSE to the Nasdaq.
In late 2015, the government of Delhi, India, took a radical step to curb traffic congestion and pollution, by restricting the use of private automobile vehicles in Delhi's National Capital Region. Drivers of vehicles whose licence plate numbers ended in odd numbers would be able to drive only on odd-numbered days, and drivers of vehicles whose licence plate numbers ended in even numbers would be able to drive only on even-numbered days. All restrictions would be lifted on Sundays. The management of Indraprastha Gas Limited, Delhi's sole supplier of compressed natural gas, a safe, economical, and clean-burning fuel, needed to communicate the benefits of clean fuels, in an attempt to gain an exemption for vehicles using its compressed natural gas. The company also needed to address the concerns of both its internal stakeholders-shareholders and employees-and its external stakeholders-customers, suppliers, and policy-makers.
Toyota Kirloskar Motor Company Private Limited (TKM) was a leading car manufacturer in India, one engaged in a significant level of corporate social responsibility activities. TKM focused on health and hygiene issues in rural and semi-urban districts in India, as sanitation was a significant concern there. TKM's efforts to facilitate the improvement of health and hygiene among its program beneficiaries had met with considerable success. The company was now looking to expand the project to increase its coverage. The ambitious multi-year program plan raised several questions: Could the number of targeted beneficiaries be achieved? What challenges were likely to arise? How should the company select an implementation partner?
On a late evening in December 2014, three co-founders of Unicommerce eSolutions Pvt. Ltd. (Unicommerce) assembled for a meeting. A couple of months earlier, Unicommerce, an India-based software-as-a-service solution provider for order- and warehouse-management activities in the e-commerce industry, had received an offer of US$10 million in series-B funding from Tiger Global Management to fund their business growth. The offer seemed fair, and the three co-founders were inclined to pursue a deal with them. However, just a few days before, they had received an unexpected offer from Snapdeal, a leading e-commerce firm in India, to buy out Unicommerce. Over the past week, the co-founders had discussed and debated their options several times without converging. However, the time for deliberations was over. By 9:00 a.m. the next day, the Unicommerce team would have to call up Snapdeal to confirm their decision.
This case describes the genesis and development of a Chinese data analytics startup, TalkingData, from 2012 to 2017. It highlights the strategies pursued and capabilities that the company had built over time in order to secure its position as one of the top data analytics providers in the country. This case also identifies the main challenges that TalkingData needs to address as it continues to grow and expand its businesses and operations. This case is suitable as a standalone in digital innovation and strategy classes to illustrate an emerging breed of firms that rode the waves of Big Data analytics and artificial intelligence (AI), which swept through the technology world in the early 2010s. It highlights these new firms' growth strategies and markets, both new and old. This case can also be employed in business analytics courses to illustrate how companies can build their data analytics and technology infrastructure as a business offering or strategic support for decision-making.