The Akshaya Patra Foundation (TAPF) is a Non-Governmental Organization (NGO) headquartered in Bengaluru, India. It was founded by ISKON (religious foundation) in the year 2000 and runs the world's largest school meal program that was serving 1.8 Million children every day in 2019. In March 2020, however, as the COVID-19 pandemic struck India, the schools were shut and hence the mid-day meals were stopped. This gave rise to not only a new challenge of still continuing to feed the underprivileged children but also gave rise to different needs such as relief feeding for poor families and migrant workers. The foundation has a mission is to feed five million children every day in the near future and are challenged in not only how to scale up but also how to sustain their operations and growth (both in terms of capital expenditure and operating expenditure), specially considering that the government subsidisation of their meals (as a fraction of the total cost per meal) is only reducing.
This case follows the journey of Amagi, founded by three entrepreneurs, as an Indian company founded in 2008 with a technological solution for the media and entertainment (M&E) industry. Amagi was set up as a technology company that leveraged its geo-targeting technology to work with broadcasters and advertisers to reach audiences regionally and globally. The company started facing challenges due to the inherent market structure along with various other external forces, posing questions about the existing business model and the need for diversification. The M&E industry, at this point, was also rapidly transforming on account of technological evolutions as the linear broadcasting businesses were being overtaken by the incoming OTT players providing video-on-demand services both in terms of customers and advertisement dollars, further pushing Amagi to rethink its strategy. The case outlines the geo-targeting business model and its evolution during the journey of Amagi over the past decade. It also highlights the various challenges the company was facing in the existing set-up along with laying down the management's expectations from a successful business. The case also outlines the evolving industry structure, business landscape and the value chain where Amagi was playing within the industry and how different players were responding to the changes in the market scenario. The case shows what firms need to consider while evaluating future business strategies; and how their activities, ideologies, and core capabilities influence the firm's choice of path.
The case discusses the opportunity for Thulasi Pharmacy to develop an online sales model, thereby transitioning from a sole store format to omnichannel retailing. Thulasi Pharmacy was most prominently present in the state of Tamil Nadu in South India, with 69 stores and an annual turnover of $16.5 million. With the advent of e-pharmacy in India, riding on growing internet penetration and a positive change in consumers' preferences toward online shopping, Thulasi was contemplating on whether extending their services into e-pharma was the next step in expansion. The case also introduces change management in the context of organizational changes required to build a hybrid business model. It describes the situation at Thulasi Pharmacy, challenges students to understand an industry in-depth, and explains the importance of core competencies to a retail organization. While discussing how a company can leverage digitalization to move into omnichannel retailing, the case encourages the students to think about the various new stakeholders and organizational changes required to bring synergy between the offline and online business models.
Intartic, an Indian mobile accessories manufacturer was incorporated in 2015 by two ex-colleagues from Nokia who sought to explore the mobile phone accessory market in India, building initially on designs, parts and components imported from China. The case traces the evolution of Intartic and the various challenges it faces as it transitions from the mobile accessories business to the IoT-based safety wearables business. The case involves the study of technology management processes followed within the company and the imminent decision on the organizational and structural changes amid the changing business contexts and aspiration of the company. Starting by outlining the overall environment of the mobile accessories industry in India, the case introduces readers to the events leading to organizational change and transformation in ownership of assets by the corporate leadership. The case captures the transition of Intartic, from a commoditized mobile accessories manufacturer to a technologically challenging space of IoT-based safety wearables market. It also essays Intartic's vision to segue into the service business of developing software IP for a connected ecosystem across wearables, connected homes and automobiles, along with the challenges that it is likely to face in its transition and its potential solutions. This transition provides scope for learning various aspects of organizational development such as building organizational and technology capability, creating processes, managing portfolio of varied product development projects, and also educates readers about the evolving investor ecosystem.
The Akshaya Patra Foundation (TAPF) is a not-for-profit non-governmental organization (NGO) headquartered at Bengaluru, India. Since its inception in 2000, TAPF has been working to provide fresh and nutritious meals to children on every single school day and in 2019 catered to about 1.76 million children from 15,024 schools across 12 states in India daily. TAPF's Vrindavan kitchen (TAPF VRN), located in the state of Uttar Pradesh, India, has been operational since 2004, and now caters to about 140,000 children in 2,032 schools daily. The uniqueness of this kitchen is that it has both rice and roti (chapati) based meals, making it different and more complex to manage than their other kitchens, most of whom are either only rice or only roti based. The case describes the complete range of activities: procurement, pre-processing, cooking, and finally packaging and dispatch, at this kitchen. The richness of the data helps to generate discussions around the material planning, procurement, and production planning activities at this kitchen.
This case is based on Biocon Group's (NSE: BIOCON, an Indian biopharmaceutical company) R&D unit and fully owned subsidiary - Biocon Research Limited (BRL). This case involves study of R&D management processes followed within the company and the imminent decision on the organizational & structural change within R&D unit at the wake of changing business contexts and aspiration of the company. The case outlines the overall environment of the bio-pharmaceutical industry across the world and in India, and introduces readers to the events leading to the organization change and the execution of change management by the corporate leadership. The case captures the transition of Biocon, from an enzyme manufacturer to the technologically challenging space of biopharmaceuticals. This transition provides scope for learning various aspects of organization development such as building organizational and technology capability, creating processes and structures that support R&D initiatives, managing and measuring a portfolio of varied product development projects, and developing an innovative organizational culture.
The case discusses the rapidly growing mobile payments industry in India. The growth in the industry has been fueled by several factors such as increasing smartphone and internet penetration, ballooning startup ecosystem, growing government push for economic digitization, and the pro-active involvement of the regulatory bodies in providing a conducive and stabilizing environment. The case presents the account of Paytm, a leading incumbent in the industry, which has experienced a phenomenal rise to the top, brushing aside competition from several domestic players. However, the increasing competition from deep-pocketed technology giants, such as Amazon, Facebook, Google, etc., has been challenging its leadership position. The case highlights Paytm's strategic quest for tackling the growing competition in the industry, which includes the strides taken by Paytm to establish itself as a dominant design. The case also hints at the other strategies incorporated by Paytm to sustain its market leadership.
Stellar Auto Ltd. (SAL) is upgrading its current Galaxy product to Galaxy X. With pricing expected at a 20% discount to the current Galaxy model, Galaxy X is expected to generate sales of approximately 26,000/year. To achieve financial feasibility, SAL plans to increase the local content from the existing 12% in Galaxy to 75% in Galaxy X. To meet the sales requirements, SAL plans to operate its plant at the rate of 120 cars/day for 236 days/year, giving itself a capacity of 28,320 cars/year. Feasibility studies have shown that this target can be achieved with the current setup in the body and paint shops, but cannot be achieved as per current arrangements in the final assembly area (FAA). FAA comprises 84 work stations in three areas - trim, chassis, and final (assembly and testing). To meet the increased production requirements, various sub-assemblies needed capacity enhancement and there was no space lineside for the same. The matter was further complicated by the fact that since Galaxy X was being introduced in 6 variants, significant space was also needed to store inventory. After significant analysis and negotiations, the final open issue was with regard to the cockpit subassembly which the supplier Instruments Sophistiques D'auto (ISD) agreed to do. The cockpit subassembly is planned to be installed at station 9 in the FAA, and could not be shifted to a later station. So SAL, along with ISD, had to design a system to make the cockpit subassembly at ISD and deliver the same, in right sequence at the right time, at station 9. The system design required the determination of various factors. This case study identifies and determines the various system parameters that are needed to design such a system.
Akshaya Patra was founded by ISKCON (religious foundation) in 2000. It started by serving Mid-Day Meals to about 1,500 students in 5 government schools. By 2017, it was serving ~ 1.7 million children in 33 locations across 11 states in India. Akshaya Patra had built state-of-the-art "mega-kitchens" along with a well-developed food supply chain. The meals were prepared in a hygienic environment but, to ensure safety and taste, a quality check was also carried out for every batch, before dispatching the same for consumption. However, the exponential growth was a cause of concern. The cost of meal preparation after reimbursement by the government kept increasing, but the donations that had helped bridge this gap in the past were not keeping pace. In addition, the organization had set an ambitious "Mission 2020" to reach 5 million children daily by 2020. It was this challenge of scaling up that forced Akshaya Patra to look at various options and led to the setting up of Akshaya Nidhi, a for-profit organization in support of Akshaya Patra. Over a period of 3 years, Akshaya Nidhi had grown steadily and entered various businesses. In such a scenario Vinay, CEO, Akshaya Nidhi, was wondering about the appropriate path forward, that is, which opportunities to pursue, and the related organization structure that was needed to support the same.
This case introduces the readers to information regarding the organization building journey of Ather Energy, an Indian start-up in the electric vehicle (EV) industry and the entrepreneurial journey of its founders. The case deals with challenges that Ather Energy faces as it works to bring its product, a two-wheeler EV, to market, adopting practices that were against the established industry norms (the internal combustion engine vehicles). The case outlines the overall environment of the EV industry across the world and in India, discussing key areas like government interventions, major existing players in the EV industry and key developments that have transpired over the past years. It then traces the journey of Ather Energy and its founders, focusing on the key phases through which it traversed as it grew from a two-membered start-up basis out of an incubator to a 350+ firm working to ensure that their product has a hassle-free entry into the market. The case outlines the background of the founders, their learnings on the course of developing their product, and the challenges faced in various stages of developing the product. The envisaged sustainability of Ather Energy and its product are then discussed, along with the challenges envisaged.
The case establishes the importance of various activities, from planning, design, manufacturing to distribution and retailing, in the value chain for a fashion product and thus leads the student on to understand the significance of fulfillment in the fashion industry. The case prompts the students to think about the interactions among the stakeholders, both upstream and downstream of the value chain. It persuades them to evaluate cloud-connected solutions and the underlying technologies of blockchain in the ALBL context and how the implementation challenges can be overcome to facilitate communication between various players in the chain leading to more responsive processes. The case details the design practice of ALBL-Concept to Shelf (CTS), followed by brands under the ALBL umbrella, primarily focusing on the challenges associated with the product development or the design phase. Material flow is discussed in terms of the manufacturing, supply, and retail strategy adopted by the company. It challenges the students to think about the strategies that would enable an Indian fashion retailer to improve the competitiveness in the market and focus on the key strengths of branding and retail of the licensed brands. It also discusses the influence of e-commerce on physical retailing and design of an omni-channel supply chain. This case encompasses the complete gamut of operations of an Indian fashion retailer. It facilitates the students to think about multiple facets working in sync to improve the overall functioning and profitability of ALBL.
Airvent Fans Co., which manufactures ceiling fans for two OEM customers, Tropical and WindStar, is challenged in fulfilling the demands of its customers. Its plant, currently operating at the full capacity of 0.8 million fans annually (3200 fans/day), is looking at the possibility of improvements within current available resources to increase output in order to handle the immediate future demand, before deciding whether to outsource some of the operations in the long term. This involved thorough studies of the processes, and it was concluded that capacity enhancements were required at various stations. To handle future projected demand that is rapidly growing, the management plans to further increase the planned capacity of the plant to suitable levels. The current layout is incapable of handling such a scale of operations and thus, the concept of lean manufacturing is applied to help restructure the plant's layout and operations. The design and improvements required the determination of various factors. This case study identifies and estimates the various parameters needed to design such a system. Process Flow Analysis and Value Stream Mapping are used as tools to understand and identify the bottlenecks and sources of problem. Immediate demand is met by implementing batch sizes based on Economic Production Quantity (EPQ). For the long term, investments are made in machinery, the factory layout is revised for better material flow, and the assembly line operations are decoupled to achieve higher flow rate. The plant ultimately adopts a Make-to-Stock system from the earlier Made-to-Order system.
This case introduces the concepts of information and material flow analysis, operational improvement procedure and the steps to be taken for successful change management in the context of warehouse consolidation at Manipal Hospitals Bangalore (MHB). The case describes the warehouse consolidation project which was expected to lower operational costs and improve service levels by leveraging economies of scale through aggregation of demand. It discusses the benefits of aggregation of demand and the procedure to design a supply network based on the demand pattern and criticality of products. However the desired outcomes were not achieved initially and the service levels plummeted rather than increasing. The second case then describes the steps taken to manage the change and meet the desired goals. This case goes beyond process improvement, to its implementation, the challenges faced, and related change management techniques needed for ensuring success of the process improvement initiatives. The case challenges the students to think about the various stakeholders involved when change initiatives are implemented on an organization level and to recommend solutions based on the voices of various internal customers. The case also encourages the students to think about the various aspects of organizational behavior that are involved at the time of changes in management processes. The Part B case showcases the changes that were implemented by the protagonist to improve and deliver the necessary service levels.
This case introduces the concepts of information and material flow analysis, operational improvement procedure and the steps to be taken for successful change management in the context of warehouse consolidation at Manipal Hospitals Bangalore (MHB). The case describes the warehouse consolidation project which was expected to lower operational costs and improve service levels by leveraging economies of scale through aggregation of demand. It discusses the benefits of aggregation of demand and the procedure to design a supply network based on the demand pattern and criticality of products. However the desired outcomes were not achieved initially and the service levels plummeted rather than increasing. The second case then describes the steps taken to manage the change and meet the desired goals. This case goes beyond process improvement, to its implementation, the challenges faced, and related change management techniques needed for ensuring success of the process improvement initiatives. The case challenges the students to think about the various stakeholders involved when change initiatives are implemented on an organization level and to recommend solutions based on the voices of various internal customers. The case also encourages the students to think about the various aspects of organizational behavior that are involved at the time of changes in management processes. The Part B case showcases the changes that were implemented by the protagonist to improve and deliver the necessary service levels.
The case deals with the value chain of soya and red gram, from the farm to the market. The activities are conducted through the system of cooperatives focused around the Adilabad district in Andhra Pradesh, India. The organization providing the necessary support and training to the cooperatives is Centre for Collective Development (CCD) which was set up in 2004. The case specifically deals with operations in Adilabad where CCD has helped 765 farmers trade 535.6 tons of soybean (2013-14) through the ''pool, store and sell'' business model. This number has reduced, though to 520 farmers trading 314.7 tons in 2014-2015. The case describes the circumstances leading to the same. The key decisions to be made are whether the said co-operative should proceed to invest in forward integration (processing and/or branding) in soybean processing. This becomes particularly important in Adilabad region because, while global soy meal demand appears to be on the surge, soy meal (derived from soybean agricultural output) production and hence exports seem to be decreasing, after a peak.
This case presents an instance of the challenges faced by a firm that has adopted a rapidly evolving technology that is novel, yet non-proprietary. The case focuses on a small, pioneering firm (Imaginarium) in a developing country (India) which has evolved using 3D printing technology extensively. The case views Imaginarium in three phases. Imaginarium 1.0, the first phase relates to the period when jewelry prototyping services was the primary offering of the company; Imaginarium 2.0 refers to the current phase of the firm in which the firm has diversified its offerings and clients from jewelry to industrial prototyping and even small-batch manufacturing in various, often unrelated, verticals. In this phase, Imaginarium has also been involved in advising its clients in the design and development of their parts towards adopting 3D printing. Imaginarium 3.0 represents the next phase that needs to be decided. The case takes the perspective of Ankit Mehta, the promoter of Imaginarium. Mehta has various options: (a) sell-off the firm, (b) maintain status quo and grow along some more verticals with the same level of client engagement, and (c) grow more capabilities towards becoming an integrated service bureau. The case dwells on (1) What are the opportunities and benefits that 3D printing technology has brought forward? (2) How do firms that have evolved around 3D printing remain sustainable? (3) How do firms that have probably not adopted 3D printing but are now part of the 3D printing ecosystem, remain sustainable?
The case deals with the value chain of groundnuts, from the farm to the market, conducted through a system of cooperatives based in the district of Anantapur in Andhra Pradesh, India. The organization providing the necessary support and training to the cooperatives is the Centre for Collective Development (CCD). CCD is able to provide financing, training and other support required to the village-level cooperatives and the district-level federation of co-operatives. The case describes the different activities in the supply chain from the farm, to the mill to the final marketing. It further highlights the challenges from issues such as lack of irrigation, price fluctuations, etc. The key decisions to be made are whether the scope of the co-operatives should be expanded to include other products, and whether the federation should invest in forward integration and further value-adding activities.
This case traces the growth of Amagi and the various challenges faced by it as it has grown to develop its own niche in the TV broadcasting industry in India, and is now slowly growing in markets outside India. Amagi, founded by three entrepreneurs, has come a long way from its initial days of trying to sell its standalone broadcast signal splitting technology to television (TV) broadcasting channels. From what was supposed to be a technology company, it has metamorphosed into a full-fledged media company managing advertising airtime for some of India's biggest broadcasting channels and advertisers. Outside of India, Amagi has positioned itself as a broadcast playout management company helping channels provide customized content to multiple countries using a single stream. Although, the underlying technology of Amagi has not changed radically over the years, the innovations in Amagi's offerings to the market have helped it become the success that it is today. The case outlines all the steps taken by Amagi to address each of the challenges that it has faced in its journey to success, clearly highlighting the various capabilities that it had to develop or acquire over the various time-periods. The case shows how while a firm may believe that it is providing a suitable value proposition, the customers may not see value in this value proposition. The case shows how the firm has to interject at various points of the value chain to establish its presence, and as a consequence of having established its presence and having developed various capabilities, what could be its growth strategy, and how its activities and capabilities will influence the same.
The ''Taxi For Sure: Technological Innovation in the Radio Cab Industry'' and ''The Radio Cab Industry (August 2014)'' cases present an example of the services industry arguably experiencing disruption owing to technological innovations. This case is set in the radio cabs industry in a developing nation (India). The case takes the perspective of the management of TaxiForSure, a Bangalore-based startup operating in the radio cab industry in India, whose management team has to chart its growth strategy as well as review the operating model in order to ensure that they maintain a competitive edge. Introduced in India in 2000, the concept of radio cabs took off only around 2006-2007 when Meru Cabs entered the industry. Since then, the industry has evolved rapidly with several startups entering the market owing to its huge potential for growth. The strategic and operational decisions made by these companies play a major role in deciding their future as they vie for the same set of customers and drivers in somewhat similar cities across India (with some companies planning overseas expansion). There are two key operating models followed by companies in the radio cab industry - the ''owner operator model'' and the ''aggregator model''. The cases explore the benefits and consequences of choosing either of the two models as well as trigger a debate on adoption of a "hybrid model".