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This case describes a typical situation faced by any firm engaged in marketing a commodity. Laxmi Proteins processed and sold pigeon pea, called toor or tur in Hindi. The processed grain was known as toor dal and was an important source of protein in the predominantly vegetarian diet of Indians. With the ongoing economic boom and subsequent increase in household income, it was expected that expenditures on more wholesome diets would increase and with it the intake of pulses such as toor dal. Laxmi Proteins was on the verge of inaugurating a new processing plant that would double its capacity. The managing director was concerned about the effectiveness of the current marketing strategy to sell additional produce and asked the marketing directors to review the company’s marketing efforts and come up with alternatives.

The case describes the evolution of a global multi-tiered supply chain involving one of the world’s largest automotive original equipment manufacturers (OEMs), its tier 1 supplier — Automek, a U.S.-based global corporation — and the tier 2, tier 3, and tier 4 suppliers based in India. <br><br>With Automek’s engineering support, India-based Agile Electric had successfully developed many parts for the OEM in the past. Based on this experience, Automek buyers placed an order with Agile for a new product — an actuator assembly. In developing this product with little support from Automek, Agile was concerned due to its lack of knowledge concerning the suppliers for the actuator assembly components and the critical requirements. To allay its concerns, Automek promised to locate suppliers and assess and validate the suppliers based in India. Agile then invested in the assembly line and developed the actuator assembly. When supplies started, the OEM reported many quality problems, traceable to the tiered suppliers. <br><br>Along with quality and parts supply issues, the issues of subsequent liability in the case of a recall by the OEM were faced by members of the supply chain. Agile felt that since Automek had selected or approved the suppliers, and since Agile had had no original product expertise, that Automek should take responsibility for resolving the quality problems.

Since November 2011, the director and chief scientist for Acumen Research Laboratories (ARL) had been conferring with Spring Singapore — a government agency devoted to the city-state’s economic growth — on ways to improve the current procurement practices of the biomedical science (BMS) industry in Singapore. As a senior chief scientist and the founder of ARL, she saw and experienced tremendous purchasing inefficiency and quality problems in the existing procurement practice in sourcing supplies and equipment. She believed that a centralized procurement structure and process among all members of the BMS industry in Singapore would be more efficient and was in April 2012 finalizing a proposal to Spring Singapore for initial funding to set up such a purchasing consortium. This consortium would be a new line of business for ARL.

Mountain Equipment Co-op (MEC) is a well-known Canadian retailer of outdoor clothing and equipment. While it stocks a range of branded products in its stores, a key source of profits is its private-label line. The challenge MEC faces is how to continue to develop and launch innovative private-labeled products while recognizing that they may be direct competitors of MEC’s assortment of global brands. MEC needs to develop its line-up without being seen as infringing on intellectual property or being too much of a “follower.” In assessing how MEC can develop its line-up, students can review MEC’s philosophy as a co-operative (in which it positions itself as being different from corporations) and its design philosophy.

A four-year-old cosmetics company is experiencing the typical difficulties of a company evolving from a mom-and-pop operation to a scalable, systems-driven organization. The CEO and founder recognized a problem and opportunity with foundation makeup. She developed a self-adjusting, hard-powder makeup for use on any skin tone. Following an appearance on a reality TV show for entrepreneurs and numerous other promotional measures, the company’s sale grew to nearly $800,000. The recent acquisition of chain store clients requires the company to raise capital to finance the required inventory. Additionally, the company has consolidated its operations into a 4,000 square foot facility to improve logistics, quality control and management efficiency. Ambitious sales projections include a doubling of sales for the next two years. To support this projected growth, the CEO must ensure the appropriate systems are in place. She also needs to finance a marketing program to drive growth.

In 2012, Encana is reassessing its choice for functional currency and presentation currency. Historically, Encana has used Canadian dollars for its functional currency and US dollars for its presentation currency, but changes in Encana’s operations over the past several years have caused the company to revisit its choices. For functional currency, Encana must determine whether Canada continues to represent its primary economic environment. Further, Encana must consider whether its reasons for using U.S. dollars as presentation currency remain valid. To make its decisions, Encana must apply the guidance in IAS 21, “The Effects of Changes in Foreign Exchange Rates.” Finally, Encana must determine the impact of its choices on the financial statements.

This case introduces students to the value chain of the oil and gas industry in Canada. Through examining the current position and future plans of a small, independent oil and gas exploration company, they will discover the challenges of growing through acquisition and the risks associated with expanding beyond a company's core competencies. The case includes an overview of the industry, the history of Oleum Resources Ltd., and the opportunities it has to revise its business strategy by expanding into the innovative but risky ASP technology. The company's first two options entail not only investing considerable capital but also hiring highly specialized personnel. However, the third option, to stay the course, may mean facing losses and investor unhappiness.

A patent lawyer and amateur woodworker with a doctorate in physics has invented a new technology to prevent table saw injuries - specifically, amputations. He has no desire to manufacture table saws, and instead protects his technology with patents and then seeks licensing arrangements with incumbent saw producers. In 2002, after two years of attempting to engage manufacturers, he accepts that they are unwilling to license his invention and he must decide whether to return to his law practice or launch a company to produce saws himself. He and his partners have no knowledge or experience with regard to making saws or starting a business. The (B) case advances the narrative to 2012.

This supplemental case to SawStop (A) advances the narrative to 2012.

<p style="color: rgb(197, 183, 131);"><strong> AWARD WINNER - Corporate Social Responsibility Award, European Foundation for Management Development (EFMD) Case Writing Competition</strong></p><br>This case study deals with the opportunities and challenges faced by Danish pharmaceutical company Novo Nordisk with regard to its sustainability approach in China as of 2012. Novo Nordisk is well known for striving to integrate its business activities in a financially, environmentally, and socially responsible way, and many Novo Nordisk employees proudly refer to Novo Nordisk as a “triple bottom line (TBL) company.” Novo Nordisk has been active in China for more than 50 years; however, since the Chinese economy has expanded tremendously, this increase in wealth and a more sedentary Western lifestyle have led to growing problems with obesity. As a result, China’s insulin market is booming. <br><br>Novo Nordisk therefore faces new challenges concerning how best to organize its TBL program in a way that ensures a comprehensive approach throughout the organization, yet allows Novo Nordisk China to adopt initiatives that fit the Chinese business context. Furthermore, with ever-increasing competition for access to China’s lucrative insulin market, Novo Nordisk’s competitors are also engaging in sustainability, which means that Novo Nordisk must keep innovating to stand out, and must use sustainability as a source of competitive advantage.

FIS Consulting Services was a business process outsourcing company specializing in consulting and financial advisory for global clients. This case deals with an offshore project team in the United States that was characterized by intra-group competitiveness, poor leadership and resource sharing, poor coordination, and limited cooperation. At the outset, the team developed a one-sided focus on achieving a high performance appraisal rating rather than completing the project as a team. The team underwent an inadequate group development process, which was manifested in the team’s immaturity. Poor leadership and lack of behavioural norms led the team to move forward with conflicting beliefs, structural inadequacy, lack of guidance, and low cohesiveness. These factors led to a decline in the team’s performance and stood as obstacles to the project’s progress. Furthermore, these events damaged the reputation of the firm. The human resources manager needed to take urgent measures to save the project team.

In early February 2009, a radiologist with Community Medical Imaging (CMI), in London, Ontario, was approached by the Timmins District Hospital chief about providing on-call service to Timmins and the surrounding area. The hospital’s current provider had decided to relocate to the United States and could no longer provide service. The chief was hoping CMI could take on the extra workload. The radiologist knew this job would provide interesting work for CMI’s radiologists and would improve CMI’s presence across the province, but simultaneously would place an increased demand, both professionally and personally, on the entire team. Other radiology groups would be interested in this job, so the radiologist needed to accept or reject the job as soon as possible.

A young entry-level employee starts work in the hotel industry in Eastern Europe. The case describes her experiences and shows the HRM practices in the particular hotel in which she works. The issue for analysis is less whether or not the employee should stay or leave this hotel, which has minimal pay and poor working conditions, and more the overall nature of human resources (HR) operations at this service organization, with regard to ethics and sustainability.

In 2009, an entrepreneur believes in the potential of Readeo, his idea for a website that combines the love of reading with video calling. He sees Readeo as a solution that would allow, for example, his son to interact and spend quality time connecting with his grandparents. The entrepreneur has several important factors to consider as he works to launch his website. The case explores the challenges that he faces in the midst of uncertainty. While he knows he wants to start the business, the real question is how he should go about doing this.

This case discusses the emergence of low-cost carriers (LCCs) in India in relation to the growth of the Indian aviation industry and the subsequent fall of the LCCs into financial loss. The LCCs became important for value-adding and cost-cutting alternatives in corporate business travel. Before the 2008 global economic crisis, domestic air traffic LCCs recorded a compound annual passenger growth rate of 18 per cent. Among the many low-cost airlines in India, SpiceJet had been one of the most popular, with the lowest airfares and highest customer value. Though SpiceJet had a net profit of INR 1.01 billion (US$20.2 million) in fiscal year 2010-2011, the results following the financial year indicated that the company had also joined the ranks of loss-making airlines in India. A host of issues — such as rising debt, increasing cost to revenue ratios, growing management challenges, complicated flight operations, and rising oil prices — were threatening the survival of airline companies, especially LCCs. SpiceJet was no exception.

Pothi.com was a start-up publishing platform that offered print-on-demand (POD) self-publishing services for customers in the Indian market. In 2008, Pothi was launched during a digital transformation that gripped the worldwide publishing industry. Though Pothi had made steady progress in the two years it had been operating as a POD platform, the future remained uncertain, given that POD was a fairly new concept in India and that the country’s publishing market was highly volatile. In the wake of competition from “undercover” self-publishing in the Indian market, Pothi’s management had to make key decisions on awareness creation, promotion and distribution of its customers’ products, and the selection of niche segments to engage. The types of products/services that Pothi would need to offer to attain long-term sustainability were also a concern.

The purpose of this exercise is to assess students’ group leadership and followership skills. Participants prepare for the exercise individually by reading six mini-cases that describe people-management challenges and then selecting a solution for these challenges from the options provided at the end of each case. During the exercise, participants are randomly assigned to discussion groups of five to six members, where each person serves as a leader for one case and as a participant for the remaining five case discussions. The discussions give participants the opportunity to exhibit effective leader and follower group behaviours and to demonstrate their oral communication, judgment, and decision-making skills. Self-assessment and group observation forms are provided.

The CEO of the Indian animation studio Tulsi Studios Ltd. is considering approaching either Pixar or DreamWorks Animation to partner on future animation projects. The case provides a perspective on the film industry to indicate how it is rapidly changing and expanding globally, and outlines the history and past successes of the studios. The CEO must decide which potential partner to approach.

This B2B role-play case, with its six supplements, is a six part interaction between competing Original Equipment Manufacturers, Distributors and End Users, each with their own business priorities. It is an excellent case to explore organizational buying behaviour, the discipline of the selling process, and the management of sales resources (time) as an asset. It can be included in an introductory marketing course at the MBA or undergraduate level. It is equally effective for executive development. It also fits in a B2B marketing course to explore organizational buying behaviour, or in the introduction module of a sales management course.

This is a supplement to The Popcorn Predicament: Competition, Conflict and Buying Behaviour.