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In June 2017, executives from Amalsad Vibhag Vividh Karyakari Sahakari Khedut Mandali Ltd. (Amalsad Cooperative) met to consider possible changes to the cooperative’s interventions in commodity marketing, particularly, whether further interventions would benefit member farmers. Linking a unique reward and penalty scheme to the grade supplied by the farmers and directly supplying produce to the terminal market in Delhi had resulted in a 15 per cent increase in the farmers’ income. Streamlining the entire process—from receiving the commodity, grading and sorting the supply, to paying the farmers—had considerably reduced delays. The chairperson of the Amalsad Cooperative, which covered farmers from 17 villages near the town of Amalsad, in India, was pleased that reengineering the commodity marketing process had not only fetched a better price but had also eliminated the inefficiencies associated with marketing through the traditional channel—the Agricultural Produce Marketing Committee trading yards, or mandies. However, he wondered whether further refining the grades would enhance the income of the members and asked his executives what other processes could be modified to benefit the members, especially in rendering services.

In June 2017, executives from Amalsad Vibhag Vividh Karyakari Sahakari Khedut Mandali Ltd. (Amalsad Cooperative) met to consider possible changes to the cooperative's interventions in commodity marketing, particularly, whether further interventions would benefit member farmers. Linking a unique reward and penalty scheme to the grade supplied by the farmers and directly supplying produce to the terminal market in Delhi had resulted in a 15 per cent increase in the farmers' income. Streamlining the entire process-from receiving the commodity, grading and sorting the supply, to paying the farmers-had considerably reduced delays. The chairperson of the Amalsad Cooperative, which covered farmers from 17 villages near the town of Amalsad, in India, was pleased that reengineering the commodity marketing process had not only fetched a better price but had also eliminated the inefficiencies associated with marketing through the traditional channel-the Agricultural Produce Marketing Committee trading yards, or mandies. However, he wondered whether further refining the grades would enhance the income of the members and asked his executives what other processes could be modified to benefit the members, especially in rendering services.

Kaira District Co-operative Milk Producers’ Union Limited (Kaira Union), a member union of the popular dairy brand Amul, was using information technology (IT)-enabled services to benefit individual dairy farmers with very small herd sizes in India. The technical inputs, such as veterinary services, were provided through veterinary centres located near clusters of villages. To improve service delivery, better manage inventory, deploy veterinarians, and manage their routes, the union had established a centralized veterinary call centre staffed at all hours of the day. The call centre had resulted in considerable savings in the cost of service and improved the efficiency of service delivery. The managing director of Kaira Union wanted to extend the call centre to include the union’s operations in the states of Maharashtra and West Bengal. However, he was not sure whether the current architecture was capable of facing the challenge. Kaira Union needed to develop a proposal for the expansion.

Kaira District Co-operative Milk Producers' Union Limited (Kaira Union), a member union of the popular dairy brand Amul, was using information technology (IT)-enabled services to benefit individual dairy farmers with very small herd sizes in India. The technical inputs, such as veterinary services, were provided through veterinary centres located near clusters of villages. To improve service delivery, better manage inventory, deploy veterinarians, and manage their routes, the union had established a centralized veterinary call centre staffed at all hours of the day. The call centre had resulted in considerable savings in the cost of service and improved the efficiency of service delivery. The managing director of Kaira Union wanted to extend the call centre to include the union's operations in the states of Maharashtra and West Bengal. However, he was not sure whether the current architecture was capable of facing the challenge. Kaira Union needed to develop a proposal for the expansion.

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.

This case describes a unique insurance scheme in India called Krupa Arogya Suraksha, promoted by the Shree Krishna Arogya Trust. The product was designed with the aim of extending basic health coverage to the “base-of-the-pyramid” population at an affordable premium. The services were provided by Shree Krishna Hospital, of which the Trust was an associate. The Trust and the hospital were looking at a win-win situation: in providing modern health services to a larger, lower-income group, the facilities of the hospital would be better utilized. In the five years since the scheme’s creation, membership had increased threefold to 43,000. These members accounted for 13 per cent of patients treated by the hospital. Thus, the dual objectives of extending affordable health care to the lower-income segment and increased utilization of the hospital facilities had been achieved, to some extent. However, the Trust was unable to meet the cost of the health care offered under the scheme from the premiums collected and was dependent on donors to cover the difference. The Trust’s management was concerned about the sustainability of such an arrangement and was looking for ways to make the scheme pay for itself.

The case describes a unique insurance scheme called Krupa Arogya Suraksha, promoted by the Shree Krishna Arogya Trust (Trust). The product was designed with the aim of extending basic health coverage to the "base-of-the-pyramid" (BoP) population at an affordable premium. The services were provided by Shree Krishna Hospital, of which the Trust was an associate. The Trust was looking at a win-win situation: in providing modern health services to a larger, lower-income group, the facilities and infrastructure of the hospital would be better utilized. In the five years since its creation, membership in the scheme had increased threefold to 43,000. These members/consumers accounted for 13 per cent of patients treated by the hospital. Thus, the twin objectives of extending affordable healthcare to the lower-income segment and increased utilization of the facilities at the hospital were achieved to some extent. However, the Trust was not able to meet the cost of the health care offered under the scheme from the premiums collected and was dependent on donors to absorb the shortfall. The Trust's management was concerned about the sustainability of such an arrangement and was looking for ways to make the scheme pay for itself.