This case deals with the marketing and sales functions of an educational organisation. The case is set within the Executive Education department of the Nagopian School of Foreign Trade (NSFT), a hypothetical private university located in Southeast Asia. This group is tasked with running for-profit training programmes for would-be participants. The university president has instructed Rakesh Sharma, the newly appointed head of Executive Education to turn around the financial fortunes of the unit. However, he has also stated that he would not get any more promotional budget, nor headcount. NSFT offers three types of Executive Education Programmes: Public Short Programmes, Custom Programmes, and Diploma Programmes. The students are given some revenue and cost information from the past performance of the Executive Education unit and are expected to give recommendations for how to improve its financial performance. The case provides information on the sales force size, the number of hours it takes to sell a typical short course programme, the advertising expenditure for each type of programme (and the per programme expenditures for each individual short-programme, and the number of attendees of short programme offering). Sharma must make decisions about the product portfolio, sales force allocation, and promotional expenditures that will best impact his financial performance.

The case of Quantum Park Hotels, a global hotel chain, is designed to uncover the challenges in designing a customer service recovery programme. The case is set in the Singapore branch of the hotel chain. General Manager David Ng is faced with several irate customers who have refused to pay their hotel bills, because they had no access to water from 4:30 am to 8:45 am that day due to damaged pipes. The front desk staff are seeking guidance from Ng on how to address the guest complaints. To help him arrive at a decision, Ng meets with his heads of guest services, finance, and loyalty programmes to get their insights and thoughts. Although the broken water pipes have since been repaired, they expect more customers to request some sort of compensation for their trouble. It will soon be check-out time at the hotel and while Ng is considering the inputs of multiple stakeholders, several decisions must be made. What sort of compensation should be offered - cash, room nights, hotel meals, or a combination of some or all of these? How much should be offered to the affected guests - a sum greater, less than or exactly the same as what they spent? Should different guests receive different benefits? And should something be done for guests who did not complain?

It is January 2020. The chief advisor to the chief minister (CM) of Bihar is particularly unhappy after a long meeting with the cabinet members. Four years after the prohibition on the sale and consumption of alcohol in Bihar, it is time to review the full impact of the ban on the state's socioeconomic fabric in light of upcoming elections. As multiple growth and development avenues emerge, the state is embarking on a vibrant journey to realize dreams of a better future. To achieve its goal, the state is focusing on gender mainstreaming and development through various government initiatives. In response to a perceived increase in women's voice against alcohol consumption, the Bihar government introduced a prohibition on alcohol in 2016. However, the stringent policy with a hefty fine and non- negotiable jail term had its downsides. It hindered the much-needed economic growth because of massive losses in sectors such as tourism, food and beverage (F&B), and hospitality. It also hit the state's economic development plans because of massive shortfalls to the state exchequer. The CM stood by his decision undeterred. Yet, in a state plagued with a lack of economic development, many serious gender gaps impacting human development, and a historical lack of capacity for law enforcement, should this be the approach of choice? The chief advisor is grappling with the nagging issues of law and order, budget shortfalls, and the ability to continue the current policy while weighing the social cost of this ban on the public.

Mihir is the head of the Disaster Management Department for the fictional coastal state of Udan, in South India. He receives a weather bulletin from the Indian Metrological Department (IMD) about "Ichko," a cyclone that has suddenly changed course and is set to make landfall in the southernmost district of Iramuk in the next 24 hours. Mihir's department typically received early warning of such events, making it possible to mobilize the oficial machinery to mitigate the damage caused by the cyclone through a series of measures before, during and after the cyclone. In this case, with very little time on hand, Mihir has to work with Kiran, the district collector of Iramuk, to handle the complex crisis that threatens loss of life and widespread damage. The situation is complicated by the urgent need to alert a large number of fishermen who are at sea and beyond the reach of any communication channels. On the ground, other issues at the community and political level are making for an explosive situation: What if the fishermen lose their lives, and the government is seen as not having done enough?

On August 9, 2020, Sean Jean De Ville, who had recently joined French fashion and cosmetics giant Satix as digital marketing head of the shampoo products division, was preparing for his first meeting with the CEO. He had been tasked to explore the viability of employing influencer marketing on Instagram. This would be a new promotional vehicle for the company, which had traditionally used billboards, print, and limited digital advertisements. He was also told that a budget of USD 500,000 would be allocated for influencer marketing and that the boss was anxious to get his insights and recommendations.

The case describes a fictitious family office (FO), Merlion Investments, and the efforts of a junior family member, Leong Yew Kong, to convince his uncle and his grandfather to make an allocation to collectible assets. Similar to many family offices, Merlion Investments pursues a relatively conservative investment strategy; only 20% of its assets are allocated to riskier opportunities designed to grow the family's wealth. Yew Kong, who has worked diligently under his uncle's guidance for years, wants more responsibility. After doing his own research, Yew Kong believes he has identified an opportunity to carve out his own niche in the portfolio by investing in collectibles. The case is constructed to illustrate the real-world challenge of investing in non-traditional assets, in this instance, collectibles. Background information on five different collectible assets is provided in the case that students can use to discuss a) whether his uncle, Tan Chee Keong, and Merlion Investments should agree to Yew Kong's suggestion, b) which collectibles to invest in and through what vehicle, c) how much capital to allocate, and d) what kind of skills or expertise the team would need to successfully manage these investments.

The case series titled "Indian Railways - Powering Through to Excellence (A) & (B)" are highly intricate and complex primary data pricing cases involving a public-private partnership (PPP) undertaking by the Indian government, specifically the Indian Railways (IR). The seed of the idea lived through multiple governments and IR administrations before becoming a reality. The pricing and plant development decision took seven years to execute. While the case can be viewed broadly as a study of a PPP project in India, the significant aspect of the project is that it was initiated primarily with price considerations in mind. The IR had been facing rising engine costs for its locomotives, poor asset utilization rates, exorbitant costs for replacement parts and underperformance in asset service and repair. The technology platform of its current fleet of 6,000 HP locomotives and spare components was nearly 20 years old.

The case series titled "Indian Railways - Powering Through to Excellence (A) & (B)" are highly intricate and complex primary data pricing cases involving a public-private partnership (PPP) undertaking by the Indian government, specifically the Indian Railways (IR). The seed of the idea lived through multiple governments and IR administrations before becoming a reality. The pricing and plant development decision took seven years to execute. While the case can be viewed broadly as a study of a PPP project in India, the significant aspect of the project is that it was initiated primarily with price considerations in mind. The IR had been facing rising engine costs for its locomotives, poor asset utilization rates, exorbitant costs for replacement parts and underperformance in asset service and repair. The technology platform of its current fleet of 6,000 HP locomotives and spare components was nearly 20 years old.

This case is set in the education industry. The President of National Management University (NMU), a fictional university in Singapore, has asked a professor to assume the role of the Dean of Graduate Studies with a mandate to reverse the trend of declining enrollments at the university. The 20-year-old university was among the top five in the nation and had been offering graduate programs for a decade. It had begun to witness a decline in enrollments that was concerning from both a financial sustainability perspective and in view of the lofty growth targets set by the university board. To assist him in getting to the root of the current problem and finding a solution, the new Dean has asked for, and received, a large amount of information on the university's marketing and promotion activities and expenditures, its choice of media and venue for its spends, the speed of student enrollment and the effectiveness of its campaigns. He hopes the data will provide potential answers as to how to better spend university resources to increase student recruitment and achieve the growth targets.

Set in February 2019, Stark Resorts Hotel ('Stark Resorts') is a case based on the real-world experiences of the authors. The hotel, a USD155 million investment, had been plagued by insects since its grand opening 15 months earlier. Of even more concern was the avid social media influencer who had stayed in the resort a year ago and was diagnosed for Dengue fever, which she allegedly caught at the hotel poolside. It didn't take time for the negative word of mouth to spread. While the staff tried their best to handle the problem and were vigilant about initiating and overseeing the administration of pest control, even they were losing confidence and morale. Stark Resorts' revenue rate per available room (RevPAR), a key hotel metric, had fallen 6% over the past six months. Other resorts in the area had pest problems as well, but they did not seem to be experiencing the same reputational and financial damage. Jack Lim, the manager at Stark Resorts has his work cut out for him - he has to tackle the pest issue at hand, repair the reputational damage, and win over customer loyalty of his guests.

Globe Telecom, a leading telecommunications service provider in the Philippines, had a long history in the communications business. The company was incorporated in 1935 as an international wireless communications company connecting the Philippines to the rest of the world, and in 1994, it became the first company in the country to offer mobile telecommunications services. Nearly 25 years later, more than half of the Philippines' 100 million residents were Globe subscribers, generating nearly US$280 million in net revenue. But the company was not always so well-positioned. Despite its first-mover advantage, Globe had found its market share steadily eroding, and by 2010, its market share had shrunk from 42% to 33% in just under six years. Morale within the company was at an all-time low, and the workplace had become toxic. Globe was clearly failing in the execution of its strategies, and also did not appear to have the right capabilities to conceive effective ones. Spearheaded by Ernest Cu, who had joined Globe in 2008 as the Deputy CEO and subsequently became President and CEO in 2009, Globe set out on a transformation journey to meet the competition head-on. It established a framework that systematically addressed these challenges by focusing on three pillars: Network; IT and Systems; Talent and Culture. Investment into these pillars proved essential to transforming Globe's commercial offerings into an ever-growing array of sophisticated products and services supported by high-tech capabilities and entrepreneurial competencies. But was this framework robust enough to future-proof the company? Could Globe's sheer size and complexity of its offerings become a liability going forward?

The case is set in April 2018 when, after a 5-year streak of investing success and resultant strong asset inflows, the performance Asia Alpha Management Pvt. Ltd. (AAM), a fictitious hedge fund, begins to lag from the beginning of the year. AAM's co-Founder and Chief Investment Officer, Royston Lim, is struggling to decide what to do with three large positions in his portfolio that are underperforming. Each of these positions is constructed to illustrate the real-world impact of behavioural bias on investment management. Case (A) provides background information on the firm and detailed information on the three positions. After a class discussion on Case (A) to decide what Lim should do, Case (B) describes what actually happened. The concept of behavioural bias is introduced through the subsequent discussion of why Lim made the decisions he made.

The case is set in April 2018 when, after a 5-year streak of investing success and resultant strong asset inflows, the performance Asia Alpha Management Pvt. Ltd. (AAM), a fictitious hedge fund, begins to lag from the beginning of the year. AAM's co-Founder and Chief Investment Officer, Royston Lim, is struggling to decide what to do with three large positions in his portfolio that are underperforming. Each of these positions is constructed to illustrate the real-world impact of behavioural bias on investment management. Case (A) provides background information on the firm and detailed information on the three positions. After a class discussion on Case (A) to decide what Lim should do, Case (B) describes what actually happened. The concept of behavioural bias is introduced through the subsequent discussion of why Lim made the decisions he made.

Memaksa Steel, an Indonesian steel products manufacturer, has recently developed a new finishing process that reduces the wear time on steel by 60% for products that are subjected to intense abrasion during use. The marketing department believes this innovation should be applied to steel saw blades for use in Indonesia's lumber mills. Saw blades manufactured using this new finishing process would sell for 35% more than the older blades, but would drastically increase the cutting time before needing replacement. Santi der Majoido, the CEO, must examine the channel structure and decide whether or not to launch the new product.

Set in 2016, this case follows Phua Koon Kee, the CEO of Kova Group, one of the largest paint manufacturers in Vietnam, as he pondered upon the business expansion strategy that could elevate the Kova brand's status to that of a household name. Based on a patented NANO technology that used silicates from rice husks to make paint, Kova's products were of higher quality than its competitors, in terms of environmental-friendliness, durability, waterproof properties and anti-fungal capability. Kova's distinct competitive advantage was its adaptation for the tropical climate and its localisation for geographical landscapes in Vietnam and other SE Asian Markets, which were the key reasons Kova was able to enjoy price premiums in its home market. Despite offering innovative and superior-quality products, Kova faced multiple challenges to growth. Domestically, as the Vietnamese economy opened up to the entry of foreign paint companies, competition in the paint industry has intensified. Kova wanted to grow the retail market, where the bulk of its revenue stream was derived, but channel distribution to numerous small stores and brand promotions to end-consumers would demand the company to come up with a well-crafted strategy. Internationally, Kova suffered from a lack of brand presence and a poor country-of-origin image. Given the multi-faceted challenges, Phua is left thinking about developing an effective integrated marketing plan to create a strong brand positioning for Kova. How could he then leverage the distinctiveness of the Kova brand to gain a larger local market share and subsequently conquer overseas markets?

It is February 2017, and Ronald Lee is project director of City Properties, a sister company of Myanmar-based City Mart Holdings Limited (CMHL). CMHL runs the City Mart supermarket chain. To support the supermarket business, CMHL had grown into a large diversified family empire in the retail, import, distribution, logistics, property and supermarket landscape. In 1996, when City Mart, a local family-run enterprise, began operations, supermarkets were virtually unheard of in Myanmar. A relatively poor developing country in Asia, it had a very undeveloped free market economy, and almost no modern trade. The business had to be built from scratch, against a backdrop of a paltry logistics network, rolling blackouts, inadequate property infrastructure and many international brands being barred from entering the Myanmar market due to international sanctions. But retailing is a downstream business that depends on many upstream suppliers, decisions and processes. Unfortunately, as Myanmar began moving to more open markets not all of these supporting firms and processes were in place, providing the nascent retailer with many operational challenges that often turned into new opportunities. Over the years, the company developed numerous businesses organically as the challenges arose. CMHL became the first modern supermarket in Myanmar, comprising supermarkets, hypermarkets, convenience stores, bakeries and pharmacies. At the time of this case, Lee was planning his next move ahead of multinationals who would surely be looking at entering the market in the future.

This case is set in 2017, when Co Gia Tho, Chairman of the Board at Thien Long Group Corporation ("TLG"), a Vietnam-based manufacturer and supplier of writing instruments and stationery products, is considering further international expansion. While Vietnam already had over 65,000 points of sale across the country, the company is looking to grow stronger by developing overseas markets. Founded in 1981 as a small family business manufacturing ball-point pens, TLG had grown to become the top stationery manufacturer in Vietnam and a market leader in the region. By end-2016, the company had a market capitalisation of approximately VND 4,000 billion (US$176 million), and total revenue of VND 2,162 billion (US$95 million). Its products were being distributed to more than 50 countries across six continents. Export revenues accounted for nearly 15% of the group's total revenue, and had been growing at over 30% year-on-year for the past three years. And yet, it continued to be a challenging proposition. What could Co do to enhance TLG's reach overseas? Moreover, given the global megatrend of rapid digitisation which was causing headwinds for the growth of physical office supplies in the more developed countries, how best could it adapt its strategy in the face of the changing dynamics of this almost commoditised and highly fragmented stationery industry?

Set in 2013, this case discusses the challenges faced and overcome by JAL to turn around successfully from a situation of bankruptcy in 2009-2010. In 2009, JAL, Asia's largest airline by revenue and an icon of Japan Inc., was besieged by a severe cash crunch crisis. A skewed cost structure with too many aircraft, bloated workforce and unprofitable routes, aggressive expansion in non-core associated services, and the 2008 global economic crisis, had landed the airline with a debt load of over US$25 billion, an operating loss of US$518 million and a market valuation less than the price of a Boeing 747. Kazuo Inamori, founder of the electronics leader Kyocera Corp, was tabbed as the new Chairman of the airline and set out to restructure the organisation. Within two years JAL had revived to become the world's most profitable airline in 2011-12. In 2012, JAL's initial public offering (IPO) at US$8.5 billion was the world's largest after Facebook's IPO, and the company was valued at US$8.72 billion. Besides government intervention and support, three factors in particular contributed to JAL's remarkable recovery: rationalisation of the cost structure through supply management and operational restructuring; change in the corporate culture inculcating shared values among all the employees; and the new management accounting system 'AMOEBA', to drive accountability across all levels and divisions. However, Inamori's stepping down in 2013 raised a few concerns: would JAL be able to stay committed to Inamori's defined path of high profitability structure and people-oriented culture? Would it continue to learn from its mistakes in the past, and pursue sustainable growth?

The Prysmian Group is a leading global cable manufacturer based in Milan, Italy. Although dominant in Europe and other areas, it has been struggling to improve its market share in the Asia Pacific region. Its competitors are small family-owned businesses that operate within their individual countries in the region. Unable to execute its strategy practised in other regions-of acquiring companies and streamlining their operations-in Asia, Prysmian management decides on a business strategy of improving cooperation within business units and becoming more customer-centric. The three regional leaders in APAC, Luigi Migliorini, CEO of Prysmian China, Frederic Grosse, CEO of Prysmian ASEAN and Frederick Persson, CEO of Prysmian Australia & New Zealand had just completed a strategy meeting in the Singapore office and all understand that the key to implementing the business strategy is its human capital. This case is targeted for participants who are interested in understanding the human capital challenges associated with implementing a business strategy for a multinational corporation. After the session, the students will be able to describe the challenges associated with change in a multi-national corporation, and determine how human capital can impact the implementation of strategy.

Luigi Migliorini, CEO of Prysmian China, Frederic Grosse, CEO of Prysmian ASEAN and Frederick Persson, CEO of Prysmian Australia & New Zealand were discussing ways of increasing business in APAC. Prysmian is seeking to make the APAC region a second home market for the group. Previously, the APAC region had been neglected as Prysmian had concentrated on Europe. However, there are several challenges facing the management team. The tried and tested method of acquiring companies and streamlining their processes was difficult to replicate in APAC because competitors tended to be small and privately owned. Internally, the centralised decision-making structure made Prysmian slower than its competitors in providing quotes and rolling out products. Its scattered manufacturing plants worldwide also made intercompany transactions more important. Communications over product specifications and availability had to be made in a timely manner. Additionally, the diverse nature of individual countries and industries in APAC had resulted in niche product opportunities, but made operations more difficult. Still, APAC was a growth region and future infrastructure investments would require various types of cables. The three regional leaders had to devise a strategic approach for Prysmian to grow in APAC. Participants will learn that changing the culture of a multinational corporation is difficult but can be achieved by addressing the company's human capital in terms of talent, leadership, culture, and structure.