By August 2024, Snapchat had surpassed 850 million monthly users and expanded its daily active users to around 397 million. Yet its parent company, Snap Inc., grappled with profitability challenges. Renowned for its ephemeral messaging, Filters, and Stories, Snapchat had carved out a distinct niche in the social media sphere and garnered significant popularity among younger demographics. Despite its appeal and cutting-edge features, the company faced hurdles in achieving profitability. This case provides an opportunity to discuss Snapchat’s financial difficulties, evaluate the effectiveness of its revenue model, and contemplate the strategic decisions required for the company to achieve long-term sustainability.
In July 2024, Avenue Supermarts Limited (DMart), a leading Indian retail chain, maintained its stance against entering the ultra-fast delivery market. The company’s success had traditionally come from its competitive pricing and discount strategy rather than from convenience-focused rapid delivery services. This position was challenged when the chief executive officer of a competitor predicted that his quick-commerce company’s revenue would surpass that of DMart within 18–24 months. As the retail giant faced mounting pressure from quick-commerce players, it had to find ways to grow while staying true to its core value proposition of low prices. While DMart’s decision to avoid ultra-fast delivery might reflect its operational strengths, the company needed innovative approaches to meet evolving customer expectations. How could DMart adapt its successful physical retail model to thrive in the digital ecosystem while maintaining its competitive advantage in pricing?
In 2024, the managing director of a pharma company faced an ethical dilemma after being informed that a senior manager had falsified her resumé and manipulated the reference check process when she applied for her position three and a half years before. After first denying all allegations, the senior manager eventually confessed. However, her pregnancy may have complicated the situation for the company. Given that the company had planned to promote her, would firing her be appropriate? Dismissing her could jeopardize the company’s relationship with major customers and five orders totalling over $20 million. Under these circumstances, how can the company balance its core values with potential business impacts and sensitivity for the manager’s well-being?
By March 2023, almost a year since its launch in 2022, Tata Digital Private Limited’s super-app, Tata Neu, was still struggling with low user adoption and engagement as users encountered frequent technical glitches such as tardy page load times and one-time-password errors. While the super-app had promised seamless shopping for consumers, user engagement levels had yet to touch the desired 40 per cent since the launch of the super-app. Tata Group (Tata)’s major challenge lay in differentiating Tata Neu from other super-apps currently used by consumers—especially as niche services in India reached a saturation point and competition increased—and in consolidating its ecosystem by integrating multiple services into the super-app. Tata Neu had to consider what steps and strategies could help it restore user trust, accelerate growth, gain a greater market presence, and realize better user adoption and engagement amidst its navigation of technical stability issues, varied user behaviour and preferences, and the need for hyper-localization.
In March 2023, the Adani Group experienced a sharp decline in market value, losing over $150 billion. This downturn followed allegations from US short-seller Hindenburg Research, which accused Gautam Adani of inflating his net worth to $120 billion over three years, mainly through a dramatic rise in the stock prices of the group's key companies. The Adani Group disputed these stock manipulation allegations, citing a misunderstanding of Indian laws, highlighting also their consistent debt reduction over the past decade. The challenge for the Adani Group now lies in regaining stakeholder confidence and managing the crisis, which may include re-evaluating its corporate governance practices and revising its communication strategy to restore its image.
This case discussed the carbon offset credibility challenges Delta Air Lines faced following the filing of a class-action lawsuit in California federal court in May 2023 alleging greenwashing and misleading carbon-neutrality claims. Despite dismissing the lawsuit as one “without legal merit,” Delta had to address customer concerns about its commitment to decarbonization and sustainability and assure the court that the company was taking credible steps away from carbon offsets to more sustainable options toward fulfilling its net-zero carbon emission promise. How can Delta align better with customers’ expectations from net-zero carbon emission promises and be more transparent about its initiatives with all its stakeholders?
In September 2022, the chief executive officer (CEO) and founder of Maximum Quality Equipment (Maximum), was trying to decide whether to invest in a joint venture company to operate a quarry that would extract and sell rock armour. The joint venture company, Island Development Corporation (IDC), had secured a 25-year mineral production sharing agreement with the Philippine government. IDC would purchase equipment and extract rock armour in Chiquita Island and then sell the rock armour to San Miguel Corporation (SMC), a major Philippine corporation. The contract was currently under negotiation, with SMC offering a two-year contract and IDC asking for a five-year contract. The CEO asked his chief financial officer to run a discounted cash flow, estimate the cost of capital for the project, and determine the net present value (NPV), internal rate of return (IRR), and project payback. He needed to decide whether he would invest in the project.
In 2023, Kaushik Roy, the managing director of PCBL (formerly, Phillips Carbon Black Limited), unveiled an ambitious plan to propel the company’s profit before tax to ₹20 billion in Indian rupees by 2029, a more-than-threefold level of growth. Emphasizing capacity-expansion and strategic-rebranding initiatives, PCBL aimed to fortify its status as a global industry leader and as India’s largest carbon black manufacturer. Despite global economic uncertainties, the company’s robust financial performance and strategic dividend declaration underscored its resilience and market dominance. Central to its strategy were innovative product development and enhanced customer engagement, which were crucial for penetrating new markets and sustaining its growth momentum. However, with the company’s focus on high-margin specialty chemicals, Roy pondered the alignment of this strategy with its broader branding efforts and the potential impact of the strategy on both domestic and international markets. As PCBL navigated these challenges, agility and strategic alignment were identified as pivotal for achieving its ambitious growth targets.
In April 2023, the iconic Florida-based company Tupperware Brands Corporation (Tupperware), announced that it would have to close shop if it did not receive immediate investment. The company continued to consult with financial advisors about its future, possibilities of gathering funds, slashing jobs, and selling property in its attempts to survive and effect a turnaround. As Tupperware stared at liquidation, should it ditch or tweak its traditional yet iconic strategies of premium pricing and house-party direct selling to retain old customers and attract new ones? Or should it consider new products, a new brand, or new selling strategies to make itself cooler to the young demographic?
In May 2024, the National Company Law Tribunal of India approved the merger of Star India Private Limited (Star India) and Viacom18 Media Private Limited (Viacom18). Star India was a broadcasting service owned by The Walt Disney Company and Viacom18 was a media company owned by Reliance Industries Limited. The two companies had been working on an agreement to merge the two media and entertainment businesses since December 2023. A new subsidiary of Viacom18 was planned to integrate Star India with an immediate capital investment of US$1–1.5 billion. Facing financial challenges, Viacom18 and Star India saw this merger as a strategic solution to enhance competitiveness and address profit declines. However, questions about regulatory challenges and potential changes in content and service offerings had to be addressed before the deal to be finalized.
In January 2024, a co-founder of Proklean Technologies Private Limited (Proklean) met with two other top company leaders to discuss the company's performance in the business-to-consumer (B2C) segment. The Chennai, India–based firm needed to explore growth strategies in this segment to meet its ambitious target of achieving ₹1 billion in B2C sales revenue by 2029, with a cleaning-products market share of 10 per cent. To meet that target, should Proklean change its positioning from being an eco-friendly firm to a purveyor of a green-chemistry cleaning solution that aimed to safeguard its customers’ health? How could Proklean engage with its audience to build trust and confidence in its products’ authenticity? What challenges would it face in the B2C segment, and what strategies should it employ to overcome them?
In May 2021, a recent MBA graduate and retail investor, read an announcement about Monde Nissin Corporation launching an initial public offering of 3.6 billion shares at ₱13.50 per share. The company expected to raise ₱48.6 billion in the largest common share offering ever in the Philippines, while the country was still in the middle of a COVID-19 pandemic lockdown. However, economic and stock market conditions were expected to improve after the availability of vaccines and anticipated end of the lockdown. The investor planned to run a discounted cash flow valuation and comparable multiples analysis of Monde Nissin Corporation to determine if he should invest in the initial public offering. He also wanted to assess the attractiveness of the food industry and the merits of investing in the company, which was the market leader in all of its product categories.
In April 2023, Tage Rita, the founder and chief executive officer of Lambu Subu Food and Beverages, contemplated the company’s ambitious goal of achieving a revenue of ₹100 million by 2025. There was a positive trend in demand for the company’s popular kiwi wine, Naara Aaba, particularly in key markets. However, Rita had concerns regarding supply chain issues that had impeded fulfilling significant orders in 2022 due to the remote location of the production unit. In addition, the company’s product portfolio solely had wines in the lower-price segments (₹250–₹700), and Rita was considering the launch of a new range of wines in the mid-price segment (₹1,090–₹1,990). The question looming was whether this was the right moment to introduce a higher-priced product. Additionally, she pondered the ideal target audience for these new wines and how their positioning should be differentiated from existing offerings. Furthermore, Rita sought to explore alternative growth strategies for the company.
In 2023, Hindustan Unilever Limited (HUL) faced a pivotal choice: whether or not to enter India's expanding shampoo hair colour market, which was valued at US$82.72 million and projected annual growth exceeding 17 per cent until fiscal year 2026. HUL's assistant brand manager, Sabhayata Singh, grappled with the absence of a hair colour offering in HUL's portfolio. The dynamic market landscape, coupled with the absence of this product, intensified the decision-making process. HUL faced the strategic dilemma of extending existing brands or creating a new one to meet consumer demands. Pricing strategies became crucial in a market where most products were priced under half a dollar. The decision not only influenced HUL's local market position but also carried implications for potential international expansion.
In May 2022, the founder and chief executive officer of Just Kitchen Holdings Corporation (Just Kitchen), a Canada-based and publicly listed operator of ghost kitchens in Taiwan, met with the company’s management team to deliberate on the company’s plan to expand into new markets, specifically, the Philippines. Their optimism for the Philippine market stemmed from the country’s growing online food delivery industry, favourable demographics, and supportive government policies. While the founder his team explored this expansion possibility, they recognized that entering the thriving online food delivery market presented advantages and disadvantages, and questions loomed: What would be the most effective approach to enter this market? And, equally importantly, what challenges and pitfalls should they anticipate as they ventured into such a business opportunity in the Philippines?
Biryani by Kilo (BBK) is a Gurugram (Near New Delhi, India) based Quick Service Restaurant founded by Koushik Roy and Vishal Jindal in 2015. The company specializes in serving authentic Indian dishes. They offer both dine in and delivery options and have multiple locations in India. They are known for using high quality ingredients and traditional cooking methods to create delicious biryani dishes. They brought many innovations to their offering. Now they wanted to create a McDonald's for Indian food but were in a dilemma about how to proceed. How could they eventually build a national brand and then expand it globally?