On June 16, 2024, the chief executive officer (CEO), founder, and director of V21 Group of Ventures (V21), a real estate conglomerate based in Pune, India, was preparing to meet with members of a housing society in Mumbai to finalize the agreement for a residential reconstruction project. While the CEO had successfully built five real estate ventures, this was V21’s first project in the challenging field of real estate development, and it presented distinct challenges, including navigating complex regulatory environments, establishing credibility in a competitive market, and securing substantial funding in an industry known for its high entry barriers. The move into real estate development represented a pivotal moment in this entrepreneurial journey, one that could elevate the V21 Group to new heights, and the CEO was facing several critical decisions: He needed to decide how to visualize the business model for this development venture. What should be its key elements? What key strategies should he develop for market entry, funding, and marketing, and how could he tailor these to both the external environment and his available resources? Most importantly, as the Mumbai market was dominated by established players and strict regulatory hurdles, how could he overcome the credibility gap he faced as a new developer in this market?
In September 2024, the governor of India’s central bank was reading a newspaper article that criticized the current monetary policy, the Flexible Inflation Targeting framework. The article questioned the appropriateness and effectiveness of the framework and was calling for a return to the previous multiple-indicators approach. Since its implementation in 2016, the Flexible Inflation Targeting framework was focused on price stability as the primary goal of monetary policy, with the Consumer Price Index combined as the nominal anchor and with the Monetary Policy Committee being responsible for setting policy rates to achieve a specific inflation target. Expert opinions were divided on the optimal monetary policy framework but the governor had to evaluate all options and make a decision. He could replace the framework with the previous multiple-indicators approach, “rejig” (or modify) the current framework by adjusting metrics or target values, or continue pursuing the Flexible Inflation Targeting framework. Which option would best achieve the central bank’s monetary goals and manage the trade-off between growth and inflation in the pursuit of price stability?
Mysore Deep Perfumery House (MDPH) faced the challenge of scaling a low-tech business in the incense stick market. Led by Prakash Agarwal and his sons, MDPH secured a substantial domestic market share through competitive pricing and extensive distribution, aiming to achieve a ₹10 billion turnover by 2026. The company had to choose between expanding their core business or diversifying into related or new product lines. Expansion entailed deeper market penetration and product variation, while diversification presented opportunities in sectors like home fragrances or personal care products. The chosen strategy had to align with MDPH's economic and non-economic family goals, considering market dynamics and consumer trends. By leveraging their brand equity and distribution networks while staying true to their values, MDPH had the opportunity to navigate industry challenges and realize their growth ambitions.
In August 2022, a student pursuing his master of business administration degree in Mumbai at one of India’s top business schools found himself in a despondent situation as he prepared his curriculum vitae (CV) to apply for an internship position at Golden Tobacco Company. He had written an email to his former project supervisor (a senior fellow of the MIT Media Lab at the Indian Institute of Technology Bombay), requesting him to approve the project the student had worked on under his supervision as relevant experience for the internship position. In response, the student received an email from his supervisor with one terse line: “Is this an order?” With a deadline that very evening to submit the CV, the student was in a tizzy. Where had he gone wrong in his email to prompt the terse reply from his former supervisor? How could he fix the situation? And how could he prevent such a situation when writing emails in the future?
In May 2022, Rohan Jain, the second-generation entrepreneur of an Indian family-managed carpet design firm, TexCarp Consulting, had to decide whether to enter a new vertical with one of their biggest clients, American Carpets. The opportunity involved using technology and personnel to carry out virtual reality rendering for American Carpets so that the US-based company could showcase its products to clients in virtual space. Jain tried to convince his father to invest. But the technology involved high costs, and Jains’s father was opposed to the idea, since it would involve tying capital to fixed costs. But Jain could also convert the fixed costs into variable costs by either hiring technology or outsourcing the project. Should Jain go ahead with the VR rendering project? And if so, which of the three options should he select: buy, hire, or outsource the required technology and personnel?
In May 2021, the South Korean boy band BTS beat out other international musicians for all four of the <i>Billboard</i> Music Awards for which they had been nominated. “Dynamite,” BTS’s top-selling song, was the band’s first song in English. BTS and other K-pop groups had been able to achieve a high level of global success, especially since 2013, despite singing in a language that was foreign to many listeners. K-pop and other elements of Korea’s creative economy represented Hallyu or “Korean Wave” of globally popular Korean entertainment and culture. Hallyu had contributed to the South Korean economy since 1999. Were Hallyu and its constituents serendipitous? How did BTS, K-pop, and Korea’s creative economy act as Korea’s secret weapon? Were there limits to the use of Hallyu?
In March 2021, faced with emphatic calls from a minority group of dissatisfied investors worried about Danone SA’s poor financial performance, Danone’s board of directors asked Emmanuel Faber, Danone’s chair and chief executive officer (CEO), to step down from his leadership position.<br><br>Danone had a long history of being a purpose-driven company, and Faber’s personal values mirrored the company’s values. Why did a historically purpose-driven company succumb to the demands of a minority of shareholders? How would Faber’s departure affect the general movement toward responsible capitalism? Was his strategy justifiable and should it be continued or rejigged under a new CEO?
In October 2020, Google LLC (Google) found itself involved in a controversy with both the Indian government and the country’s developers of mobile applications (apps). Google announced that it would be enforcing its global policy that required app developers to pay a 30 per cent commission on all in-app purchases of digital goods bought on Google Play, the company’s digital distribution platform for app purchases. Google’s announcement drew particular opposition in India. With 500 million smartphone users in India, of which 95.85 per cent operated on Google’s Android operating system, the app market was heavily skewed in favour of Google. In its goal to dominate the Indian app market, Google had to resolve several key issues. What advantages to users and developers could the company emphasize to justify imposing what India’s start-ups and app developers were calling a Google tax? Could a new competitor, such as the proposed platform from India’s government or from the technology start-ups, replicate those same advantages? How should Google respond to the complaints against the policy and the threats of antitrust action against the company?
In May 2020, amid the lockdown in India brought about by COVID-19, P. C. Musthafa, chief executive officer of iD Fresh Food (iD), a food company located in Bengaluru, India, was preparing for a virtual meeting with his co-founders. The company offered customers the value proposition of “freshness” and operated in the ready-to-cook and ready-to-eat segments. iD’s flagship product was batter for preparing idlis and dosas, which were popular Indian breakfast dishes. The co-founders had to decide how to address the challenges arising on both the demand and the supply side of the business brought about by the pandemic, including production and logistics challenges on the supply side, a dip in demand, and the growth of competitors in the segments. How should iD plan its production amid the disruption to the supply chains and logistics sector brought on by the pandemic and ensure that its products maintain the promised value proposition of freshness? How could it ensure that customers continued to trust iD? Could iD script a fresh story and reach its vision of becoming a ₹10-billion company by 2023, despite an economy ravaged by the pandemic?
In July 2020, Hindustan Unilever Limited, the Indian subsidiary of global fast-moving consumer goods company Unilever plc, renamed its Fair & Lovely skin-lightening cream in response to criticism that the product’s positioning and advertising reinforced a pre-existing bias toward fair skin in India. India's market for skin-lightening creams, the largest in the world, was valued at US$450 million–US$535 million, and Fair & Lovely was the market leader with a 70 per cent share. However, the company had been criticized for its positioning and advertising of Fair & Lovely, which many saw as reinforcing a pre-existing bias for fair skin in India. Did the company make the right strategic move by renaming the popular brand? Or should the company have instead followed the path of some competitors and withdrawn the brand from the market? What else could the company do to support the brand?
In January 2018, the second-generation scion and director of Natural, an Indian ice cream family business, was preparing for a meeting with the general manager of the company’s retail operations. The company was founded by the director’s father in 1984 under the name Kamath Ourtimes Ice Cream Private Ltd. and was known for its handmade artisanal ice cream brand—Natural Ice Cream. Several years after his entry into the family business in 2009, the son insisted on professionalizing the company as a means of achieving a vision of growth, despite an increasingly competitive market. In 2014, almost 30 years after the company was established, the general manager was the first professional to be hired by the company. Although professionalization brought about an increase in sales of two and a half times during 2012–2018, the director was sensing a change in the culture of the company, which he found troubling. He wondered if he had grown the company too big, too fast in his haste to transform it into a high-growth enterprise.
In May 2018, Walmart Inc. (Walmart) announced its acquisition of a 77 per cent stake in the Indian e-commerce company Flipkart India Pvt. Ltd. (Flipkart). It was the largest acquisition of an Indian company and the world's largest purchase of an e-commerce company. The deal would provide Walmart with the opportunity to expand globally in competition with its old rival, Amazon.com Inc., and it would provide Flipkart with additional capital to operate in a hypercompetitive environment and an opportunity to leverage Walmart's omni-channel retail expertise. However, despite the strategic alignments, several factors could complicate the deal. Were Walmart's detailed analysis and due diligence prior to the acquisition sufficient to ensure a successful acquisition, or could human resources considerations affect the expected outcomes of the acquisition?
In March 2018, Cricket Australia (formerly the Australian Cricket Board) banned the Australian cricket captain from the sport for a year due to his involvement in a premeditated attempt at ball tampering in a test match against South Africa. He was also banned from any leadership positions in the sport for at least a year thereafter and faced financial losses on account of these bans. Australian fans and political leaders were outraged at the ball-tampering scandal and the captain's involvement. Other cricketers felt that the penalties were severe and disproportionate. What led the captain to engage in “premeditated” foul play? Could he have played the game differently? Will he be able to lead the Australian cricket team again?
In January 2018, the governor of the Bank of Japan (BoJ), was preparing for a meeting of the policy board of the BoJ. While the broad macroeconomic indicators hinted at a Japanese recovery, Japan still continued to have an inflation rate well below its target of 2 per cent. The accommodative, unconventional monetary policy of quantitative and qualitative easing engineered by the governor in 2013 had resulted in a bloated balance sheet for the BoJ, with little success in overcoming deflation. Was it time to wind up Japan’s monetary stimulus? What would be the results of continued monetary stimulus, especially for businesses? Would the Japanese economy be able to recover from deflation without such monetary stimulus?
In November 2017, the chief executive officer of Sony Corporation was preparing to announce the company’s release of its rebooted robo-pup, the Aibo—a robot equipped with sensors and actuator technologies, and powered by artificial intelligence that allowed this virtual pet to behave like a real dog. Sony Corporation, the 70-year-old iconic Japanese manufacturing company, had diverse businesses. After significant restructuring since 1999 to address its financial troubles, the company was expected, in March 2018, to post a record operating profit for the first time in two decades. How did a virtual pet business, especially one that had already proved unviable in the past, fit into such a restructuring exercise? Was Sony Corporation's Aibo an intelligent decision?
In September 2016, Apple prepared to launch a new version of its flagship product, the iPhone 7. The new product, termed “the best, most advanced iPhone ever,” was priced at three times its cost in the U.S. market. However, Apple had witnessed an 18 per cent year-on-year dip in iPhone revenues in the first calendar quarter of 2016, dragging down Apple’s revenues for the first time in 13 years. The leader in the smartphone market was ousted from its number one position in fiscal year 2016 by the Samsung Group, which had a 20.5 per cent market share. A multitude of factors had caused a dip in the sales of iPhones in the United States and China—Apple’s key markets. Apple was now eyeing India, the third-largest smartphone market in the world, to replicate its China growth story. The India launch of the iPhone 7 was planned for October 7, 2016. The base model was priced at the equivalent of over US$900, about 39 per cent higher than the U.S. phone price. Did Apple have the pricing power to charge more than three times the cost of the iPhone in the Indian market? What would be Apple’s best pricing strategy in a market like India? How could Apple grow its revenues and profits in one of the fastest-growing smartphone markets in the world?
On November 8, 2016, the Indian prime minister announced that in an effort to counter corruption, black money, and counterfeiting, high-value currency notes of ?500 and ?1,000 denominations would be withdrawn from circulation. The currency to be removed in the demonetization exercise was worth ?15.4 trillion, or 86.9 per cent of the total value of currency in circulation. The old currency would be replaced with new ?500 and ?2,000 notes, but the transition would limit cash liquidity for 50 days in the Indian economy, which was heavily dependent on cash to facilitate both consumption and production. How would this process affect India, which had been identified as the world’s fastest-growing economy? Would demonetization have the desired effect of purging the economy of black money and moving India toward a cashless economy with increased growth? Or would it simply bring India’s remarkable growth story to a grinding halt and discourage investments?
In December 2016, the debt-stricken Greek government announced the distribution of a sizeable “Christmas gift” to its low-income pensioners, a one-time bonus that would cost the government €617 million. This cost was in addition to suspending increases in the value-added tax on some Greek islands. These plans were in clear violation of the terms of a bailout provided to Greece by Eurozone nations in 2015, which required Greece to implement austerity measures and achieve specific fiscal targets. What was the reason for Greece’s economic troubles and why did Greece’s debt-to-GDP (gross domestic product) ratio climb to its current three-digit figure? Faced with an imminent exit from the Eurozone, how could the country’s government solve Greece’s longstanding fiscal problems?