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By March 2023, almost a year since its launch in 2022, Tata Digital Private Limited’s super-app, Tata Neu, was still struggling with low user adoption and engagement as users encountered frequent technical glitches such as tardy page load times and one-time-password errors. While the super-app had promised seamless shopping for consumers, user engagement levels had yet to touch the desired 40 per cent since the launch of the super-app. Tata Group (Tata)’s major challenge lay in differentiating Tata Neu from other super-apps currently used by consumers—especially as niche services in India reached a saturation point and competition increased—and in consolidating its ecosystem by integrating multiple services into the super-app. Tata Neu had to consider what steps and strategies could help it restore user trust, accelerate growth, gain a greater market presence, and realize better user adoption and engagement amidst its navigation of technical stability issues, varied user behaviour and preferences, and the need for hyper-localization.

Vasenapoli revolutionized healthy eating with its millet-based delicacies crafted with the founder Chittem Sudheer’s mother’s expertise. Inspired by his travels and a passion for wellness, Sudheer embarked on a journey to create a sustainable and nutritious dining experience in Visakhapatnam, Andhra Pradesh, India. Vasenapoli emerged in 2016 as a beacon of innovation through meticulous recipe development and prototype testing, offering diverse millet dishes and exotic chutneys to delight customers. Despite challenges with ingredient sourcing and consistency, Sudheer’s dedication and strategic approach propelled Vasenapoli to success, carving a niche in the culinary landscape. Seven years later, a few new competitors around the city with similar offerings had cropped up, and the quest for the next strategic move was troubling Sudheer.

Tanishq, owned by Titan Company Limited (Titan), was one of India’s largest and most iconic jewellery brands. Founded in 1994, Tanishq had become a household name, having instilled trust by certifying the quality of its gold and offering exquisite jewellery designs catering to consumers of all economic classes. As of the end of March 2023, Titan operated 763 jewellery retail stores covering its major brands. Despite its success in India, Tanishq had faced significant challenges in its first foray into international markets. In 2008, it attempted to enter the United States by launching two retail stores; both had to be closed, due to the global financial crisis and a lack of suitable investors in its US operations. In 2023, Titan, a Tata Group company, launched Tanishq’s first brick-and-mortar store in the United States and was aggressively aspiring to expand into Gulf Cooperation Council regions such as the United Arab Emirates and Qatar. Why did Titan, a company that had a strong jewellery brand in India with a record of fast-growing sales, want to take Tanishq and its other jewellery brands global? Did the company’s resources support international expansion? If so, had it chosen the right countries to target? What should be the mode of entry?

In June 2023, Aaron Hendrikx, owner and founder of BackRoads Brews + Shoes (BackRoads) wanted to evaluate opportunities to solve the store’s seating capacity issues. The store’s success in recent years had led to customers entering the store on busy nights with no room available for them to sit in the dining section. Aaron considered extending the store, rearranging the store’s layout, or maintaining current operations. He wanted to ensure that he would make a decision that would satisfy his existing customers and promote further growth in the future.

Infra Travel Agency (ITA), a well-established player in Europe’s travel industry, faced declining revenues and sought to diversify into the electric vehicle sector to boost revenue and lead in reducing its carbon footprint. ITA aimed for a revenue increase of 20 per cent and required route optimization software to support this new vertical. To achieve this goal, ITA required advanced route optimization software and selected Tech Consulting Ltd. (TCL) for its development. The project began in February 2023, following a final statement of work signed in March. Despite initial optimism, the project faced significant issues, including disappointing demo results and delays in reaching the minimum viable product by May 2023. By that time, only 12 per cent of the planned work had been completed, while 30 per cent of the budget had already been spent. In response to escalating concerns, TCL replaced its initial delivery manager with Frank Raju. As the year progressed, Raju faced the challenges of addressing stakeholder trust issues, managing project scope, and ensuring alignment to secure a successful outcome by the end of the fiscal year.

This case focused on the scenario of income inadequacy at the Madras Crocodile Bank and Centre for Herpetology, a notable zoo in Mamallapuram, Tamil Nadu, India. The zoo was run on the income it generated through visitors’ fees, corporate sponsorship, individual donors, and grants. It was under pressure to increase its revenue, reduce the surplus of reptiles, and maintain the climatic conditions inside the premises. The solution potentially lay in aligning its economic, social, and environmental challenges; that is, in achieving triple bottom-line excellence to save the people, the planet, and the profit.

The Women's Premier League (WPL) final was contested on March 25, 2023, the atmosphere at the crowded Brabourne Stadium mirrored the phrase for which the competition became famous: "Ye Toh Bas Shuruat Hai" (This is just the start). Fans filled stadiums throughout the event to support the best female cricket players in the world. But the event's organizers did not give themselves the best opportunity to enable the franchises to connect with local fan bases. What more measures could the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) undertake to increase attendance at WPL games? How could they market and position the WPL more effectively among viewers? How should they analyze the values created by the WPL for the viewers?

Zhejiang Meorient Business Exhibition Co., Ltd (Meorient) was founded in 2010 with the vision of building the world’s leading digital exhibitions company and establishing China’s first-class national exhibitions brand. This case examines Meorient brand’s internationalization platform construction and growth by embracing and harnessing digitalization. With years of experience in overseas markets and accumulated resources in various industries, Meorient has served more than 200,000 Chinese enterprises and helped Chinese manufacturers connect with the global market. Under the leadership of co-founder Fang Huansheng, Meorient established a research and development team in Hangzhou in 2018 dedicated to the integration of big-data analytics and foreign trade matchmaking systems. In 2019, Meorient Exhibition was listed on the Growth Enterprise Market board of the Shenzhen Stock Exchange and became the first Chinese exhibitions company to be listed. Over three years, the company continued to refine its digital services, culminating in the creation of a distinctive digital service matrix.<br><br>A business expansion avenue emerged for Meorient following the shutdowns during the COVID-19 pandemic. With precautionary measures and travel restrictions severely limiting offline (in-person) exhibitions globally, Meorient harnessed digital infrastructure to launch a digital exhibitions platform. To facilitate business growth in the face of substantial uncertainty and establish a global competitive edge, Meorient needed to promptly devise strategies to launch and facilitate the online exhibitions platform, and had to convince exhibitors and buyers to embrace its innovative digital products.

In March 2023, Havells India Ltd., founded by Haveli Ram Gandhi and later acquired by Qimat Rai Gupta, reported a significant increase in turnover to $2.06 billion from a low of $1.14 billion during the COVID-19 pandemic in March 2020. Despite its success and growth investments, questions arose about Havells' strategic direction. While traditionally known for its electrical products as a B2B enterprise, Havells made inroads into the brown goods market, notably with the struggling Lloyd business post-acquisition in 2017. CEO Anil Rai Gupta faced challenges in adapting Havells' strategies to the competitive B2C market and evaluating the retention of the Lloyd brand's identity. Looking ahead, how will Havells navigate these strategic dilemmas to sustain its growth momentum and market relevance effectively?

Street Business School (SBS) employed an innovative social-franchise model aimed at providing entrepreneurship training to one million impoverished women worldwide. Originating as BeadforLife, a non-profit organization that connected women in Uganda who produced recycled paper jewellery with international markets, SBS developed a tailored entrepreneurship program while working with small groups of bead producers. With aspirations to expand globally and impact more women, SBS adopted a social franchising model and certified other organizations to implement its valuable approach and curriculum. However, generating earned income proved challenging, and SBS relied heavily on funds raised from individuals and philanthropic organizations. In addition, the organization faced the dilemma of balancing its focus on scalability and global expansion with the depth of impact it aimed to achieve. In January 2023, the chief executive officer (CEO) wondered what she should recommend to the board as the most appropriate business model for scaling SBS’s impact.

CenturyPly India Limited (CPIL), a large wood panel products company with a supply network spread across India, had four main product lines, including laminates. In April 2020, the company’s laminates range was a growth focus for management on account of its profitability and expected growth. Despite the availability of capacity, good demand, a range of designs, and inventory at the distribution centres, CPIL’s order fill rates were less than satisfactory. The management team decided to look at its supply chain and identify solutions that could help. Based on the available data on sales, inventory, and lost sales, the management team needed to identify crucial insights that would help them take the best decisions. One important question was, How could the company adjust its current make-to-order supply chain to ensure it could meet order demands in a timely fashion and avoid losing potential sales?

Student Spreadsheet to accompany product W35179.

Instructor Spreadsheet to accompany product W35180.

In March 2023, the Adani Group experienced a sharp decline in market value, losing over $150 billion. This downturn followed allegations from US short-seller Hindenburg Research, which accused Gautam Adani of inflating his net worth to $120 billion over three years, mainly through a dramatic rise in the stock prices of the group's key companies. The Adani Group disputed these stock manipulation allegations, citing a misunderstanding of Indian laws, highlighting also their consistent debt reduction over the past decade. The challenge for the Adani Group now lies in regaining stakeholder confidence and managing the crisis, which may include re-evaluating its corporate governance practices and revising its communication strategy to restore its image.

Amid rising online content, modern consumers want a personalized online shopping experience and to be presented with products, services, and deals that are relevant and specific to them. Anil Bains launched Attryb to create a hyper-personalization stack to deliver a meaningful experience to each website user. Using artificial intelligence, machine learning, and statistical models, Attryb’s predictive intelligence model could assess thousands of customer signals to create meaningful segments that increased acquisition, engagement, and sales for online sellers. However, small and medium companies establishing direct-to-consumer websites often lacked strong technological capabilities and were preoccupied with starting their businesses. How could Attryb convince these prospective clients about the economic benefits of its solution and communicate the value without being overly technical?

Spreadsheet to accompany product W36239.

On November 9, 2020, Chhavi Jain wanted to participate in a contest created by her college friend Vikas Jack on the Dream11 mobile application. The contest was for the final match of the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2020 between the Delhi Capitals and the Mumbai Indians scheduled for November 10. In the contest, each user must create a team of 11 players. A user’s performance was evaluated based on their team’s performance in the live match. Jain faced the dilemma of selecting the 11 players for her team on Dream11. The number of credits for each player was different, depending on their past performance, and the total credit sum of all players had to be less than 100 credits. She did not know the players and their past performances in the IPL. Which players should she select in her team to increase her chances of winning the contest?

Zibusiso Mkhwanazi, chief executive officer of Avatar South Africa, looked out of his office window in Johannesburg. Mkhwanazi was contemplating whether he should stay at Avatar or move on to new things. This question was triggered by a media briefing that South Africa’s Minister of Health had just given in which he outlined the rollout for the COVID-19 vaccine. Avatar had been directly involved with the communication strategies the president of South Africa and the Ministry of Health used to reach the majority of the population in a country in which access to the internet was not equal. The work had been innovative, challenging, and a matter of life and death. Mkhwanazi had enjoyed and thrived on the work, and felt it had been the outstanding achievement of his career. Mkhwanazi had never stayed in a job when the job had stopped challenging him. He started his career when computer technology was disrupting the way organizations worked and communicated. Initially, he was motivated by money. However, he had achieved his goals and now had different motivations. At Avatar, he had helped develop a culture through faith-driven leadership, but Avatar no longer gave him the joy and fulfilment of working on the cutting edge of technology. His dilemma was whether he should stay at Avatar with the people he had come to love and care about, or leave to find something that would satisfy his passion for innovative and creative work.

Maria took a final glance at the company accounts, then closed her laptop. On New Year’s Eve of 2022, she had mixed emotions reflecting on the journey of the past two years. In just fifteen days, it would be Merafuture's two year anniversary as a registered company. 2020 and 2021 were anything but normal for the world, and it was no different for Merafuture. In August 2021, after struggling for the first year and a half, the company began to show progress by picking up sales when schools and colleges reopened across Pakistan. Yet, still operating at a loss, she wondered if the company could afford to stay afloat for another year while waiting to make a profit.

Niraj Sharma, Director of Marketing at Airtel, located in India, and his team prepared to launch India’s first telecom convergence product – a single telecom plan that provided mobile, paid TV, and WiFi services under one bill plan. Telecom convergence was expected to be the next big battle against the deep-pocket competitor Jio Telecom. In January 2023, there were three branding options on the table: positioning this convergence plan as a premium offering under the current Airtel brand; using the Airtel Xstream brand; or launching an entirely new brand – Airtel Black that encompassed Airtel mobile and Airtel Xstream services. The company wanted to drive its business growth across different products, including the proposed convergence.