• Mini Iron & Alloys Private Limited: Springing into a New Future

    The case details the challenges of running a small manufacturing enterprise in India. The current operations at Mini Iron & Alloys Private Limited (MIA), which produced springs for rail wagons, were stable, and business had grown. However, the demand for springs was expected to increase with the Indian government’s announcement, in early 2019, to establish a rail freight corridor. The proprietor of MIA mused on the firm’s readiness to undertake the surge in demand. He also ruminated on the prudence of relying on a single customer in a captive market.
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  • Mini Iron & Alloys Private Limited: Springing into a New Future

    The case details the challenges of running a small manufacturing enterprise in India. The current operations at Mini Iron & Alloys Private Limited (MIA), which produced springs for rail wagons, were stable, and business had grown. However, the demand for springs was expected to increase with the Indian government's announcement, in early 2019, to establish a rail freight corridor. The proprietor of MIA mused on the firm's readiness to undertake the surge in demand. He also ruminated on the prudence of relying on a single customer in a captive market.
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  • Balancing the Power Equation: Suzlon Energy Limited

    Set in 2013, the case documents the challenges encountered by an emerging economy multinational enterprise (EMNE) when accessing R&D knowledge from its technologically superior subsidiary. Further, it shows the strategies that Suzlon, an Indian wind turbine manufacturer, adopted to catch up with global industry leaders. It tracks how Suzlon's astute and aggressive chairman, Tulsi Tanti, led the company to develop the capabilities to perform higher value added activities despite being a late industry entrant and one, moreover, from an emerging economy. The setting for the case is the global wind power industry, an emerging high-tech industry. The case thus shows that EMNEs are entering and succeeding not only in mature industries but also in newly emerging industries. By acquiring technologically superior firms, Suzlon made a mark in the global wind power industry dominated by European and American companies. While most of its acquisitions successfully served their purpose, Suzlon's 2007 acquisition of the German wind turbine manufacturer REpower did not go as planned. REpower was a technology-focused firm with expertise in large offshore turbines. Suzlon's goal was to access REpower's technology and combine it with Suzlon's low manufacturing cost and operational efficiency to gain competitive advantage over rivals. However, the expected knowledge transfer from this acquisition did not materialize as quickly as planned due to REpower's refusal to share its technology with its parent, Suzlon. The case primarily describes the challenges involved in this acquisition, amplified by the economic recession of 2008. It shows Tanti's attempts to make the acquisition work by balancing the "power" struggle between the Indian parent and the German subsidiary. Further, by tracking Suzlon right from its inception, it also describes Suzlon's catch-up strategies to emerge as a market leader in India and the fifth largest wind turbine manufacturer in the world.
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  • Meru Cabs - A Spectacular Growth Story

    Set in August 2011, Meru Cabs ¾ A Spectacular Growth Story is a case that documents the design and positioning of a service business in India, where the service industry is the fastest growing and most competitive sector. It tracks how strategies, processes and technologies are integrated to reduce cost and offer world-class service. Specifically, it traces the factors that have contributed to making Meru Cabs (Meru) the largest taxi operator in India and third largest in the world. Success in the four major cities of India has given senior management the confidence to consider rollouts in other cities in India and abroad. However, the immediate focus is on improving service and reducing the cancellation rate in the cities where Meru currently operates. The case describes the design and implementation of the service from the twin perspectives of efficient service operation and customer orientation, and raises questions related to the expansion of the service to other Indian and global cities. It also takes into account such factors as cab reengineering, driver selection, cab assignment, cab maintenance and fleet maintenance for the proposed service improvement and extension.
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  • ITC Hotels: Designing Responsible Luxury

    ITC's hotel division successfully implemented several structure and process-oriented drivers of sustainability by leveraging its dominant position among India's luxury hotels, financial might and overall group commitment to sustainability. These design restructuring efforts resulted in eight of ITC's luxury hotels being awarded LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) Platinum ratings, making the ITC Hotel chain the 'greenest luxury hotel chain in the world'. The case provides an overview of the process that ITC Hotels adopted for designing luxury responsibly. It also describes the various challenges and issues that contributed to the management's decision to retrofit eight existing properties and launch ITC Gardenia along LEED guidelines to attain Platinum ratings. The case is set against the backdrop of a meeting at which Nakul Anand, Executive Director, ITC Limited , and his top management team are discussing the possibility of retrofitting eight of ITC's existing luxury hotels along LEED Platinum rating parameters. In order to make ITC Hotels the world's greenest luxury hotel chain, they know that not only will they have to design their future properties along LEED guidelines to attain Platinum ratings, but will also have to remodel the structural design, systems and processes at their other luxury brand hotels in India. Since the 1980s, ITC Hotels had tailored their service and product offerings around environmental concerns such as water recycling, energy conservation and waste management. However, these efforts had to be significantly scaled up to meet the strict standards of LEED. This scale-up involved significant costs, operational redesign and revamping of the organizational culture. Given these challenges, Anand and his team are faced with the question: Should they or should they not retrofit the existing properties?
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  • State Bank of India: Kohinoor Banjara Branch

    "State Bank of India: Kohinoor Banjara Branch is a case that documents the development and execution of a novel, high-end branch by a public sector bank in India whose original mandate was to be a "banker to every Indian." Specifically, it traces the development of the bank's Kohinoor branch to serve the Ultra High Net-Worth Individuals (UHNIs) in Hyderabad, the capital city of the state of Andhra Pradesh in India, and considers the question of whether a national rollout of the concept would be viable and successful. It describes the design and execution of the new branch from the twin perspectives of brand extension and new service operation, and raises questions related to the expansion of the idea on both dimensions, from a pilot level to a full-blown rollout. It also takes into account such factors as customer selection for the extension of a mass brand into the ultra-luxury end, the desired approach to serve such elite customers and the long-term prospects for a luxury extension of a mass service brand. Following the success of the branch in Hyderabad, SBI's associate bank, State Bank of Bikaner and Jaipur (SBBJ) planned to launch a Kohinoor-type branch in Jaipur. However, there were important concerns that had to be addressed. On the one hand, SBI had to break free of its legacy image of being an archaic organization, and on the other, it did not want to send out the signal that it was no longer a common man's bank. Given such challenges, SBI was faced with the question: Should it or should it not roll out Kohinoor-type branches across India? "
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  • Creating a Corporate Advantage: The Case of the Tata Group

    "The Tata group is among the largest diversified business groups in India. The group generated about US$100 billion in revenues in 2011-12 from 90 companies operating in diverse businesses in seven broad industry categories. The case describes in detail the various mechanisms by which the Tata group attempts to create a corporate or parenting advantage. The case first highlights the important difference in the way a business group like Tata is structured when compared to a typical conglomerate in the West. The case then describes in detail the various services offered to group companies by the corporate centre, such as access to the Tata brand, quality management services, common procurement, centralized HR, legal, finance, public affairs (lobbying), training and consulting services. The case also discusses the perspective of some of the group companies. Companies often found the group affiliation and services to be of value as it provided them with lower transactional costs, less friction and better contract enforcement within the group, superior access to the political power structure and significant financial backing. With the Tata group preparing to welcome its new chairman in December 2012, the case ends with questions on the sustainability of the prevalent structure, practices, group philosophy and culture. "
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