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The chief executive officer (CEO) of Rosch Innovations and his team had developed a kinetic power plant that used the buoyancy force of air in water to generate electricity. This breakthrough innovation defied old principles of physics and was therefore difficult to comprehend and communicate. The CEO and his team had grown their network behind the scenes, careful not to raise too much attention from the powerful German energy lobby in the beginning. They had selected partners and investors that Rosch could manage without losing control. The plan to pursue an initial public offering (IPO) was shaping up in 2016. Major clients and investors were on board, yet the energy lobby was trying to discredit the company and its founder. With major projects lined up for funding, what was the right strategy? Which type of endorsement would help mute the critics and lead the way for an unprecedented IPO?

Amul Dairy, the market leader in the Indian milk industry, held its market position by pioneering several progressive initiatives and responding to consumer trends with continuous product development. Camel milk, a relatively new health-oriented dairy product, was being hailed as “white gold” and touted as a superfood in Australia and in some Western countries. Amul Dairy had an opportunity in 2015 to take advantage of changing consumer preferences and move ahead in the growing dairy market by launching the sale of camel milk in India. Should Amul Dairy enter the promising camel milk market? Given that Indian consumers were unaware of camel milk as a market product, how should Amul Dairy promote this unique product? How should the company leverage its substantial brand presence to overcome the challenges faced in the launch and distribution of camel milk?

Paytm enjoyed a position as the leader in India’s market for mobile wallets, a digital service that enabled payments to be made through mobile devices. Paytm’s major client, Uber, which developed and operated a smartphone-based, ride-hailing app as a way to compete with traditional taxi companies, had initially used Paytm’s mobile wallet as the sole payment mode for Uber rides in India. However, in 2015 Uber revised its payment policy by adding a variety of payment options, such as debit cards, credit cards, and the addition of several other mobile wallet providers. Did Uber’s strategies and plans represent a major concern for Paytm? Amid such changes in the highly competitive digital payment industry, what strategies should Paytm adopt to expand its own offerings and maintain its position as the market leader? What other options could the company pursue to ensure its sustainability and continuous growth?

<p style="color: rgb(197, 183, 131);"><strong> AWARD WINNER - Euro-Mediterranean Managerial Practices and Issues category at the EFMD Case Writing Competition</strong></p><br> The chief executive officer of Les Moulins de la Brague (LMB), a seven-generation French olive oil miller, was worried about the future of the business. LMB was trying to find a profitable niche in a market that was filled with multinational companies, whose products came in a variety of quality and price ranges, and filled the shelves of French grocery stores. Although LMB had achieved critical acclaim for its blended olive oils made with spices and flavours, the business was unstable for a number of reasons. First, weather conditions had caused a decrease in the number of olives harvested. Second, on the consumer front, shoppers’ interest in the health benefits of olive oil, promoted by the popularity of the “Mediterranean diet” seemed to have peaked. Finally, the market was flooded with various levels of quality: low-quality brands with low prices; medium-quality brands that dominated consumer markets; and many high-end premium brands that were produced by olive mills just like LMB. With a market environment pressured in so many ways, how could LMB keep its 200-year-old millstones turning?

In August 2014, La Société Energies Nouvelles & Environnement (ENOVE), a subdivision of Groupe Bismuth, was developing an expansion strategy in the unstable political and economic environment of Tunisia, the company’s home country. Tunisia was the birthplace of the Arab Spring, a series of political revolutions that started in 2010 and swept the Mediterranean region for five years. Tunisia was also quickly moving toward a democratically elected government, but the transition was not an easy one; the country experienced a setback of about 10 to 15 years, in regards to economic development. Years of functional corruption under the long-time president, Ben Ali, were followed by sustained economic growth in manufacturing, tourism, and education. This led the economy into a governmental vacuum. For the first time, workers began exercising their rights to demand better conditions. There was little governmental oversight on customs, labour, or taxation. The threat of terrorism, whether real or perceived, was always present. Under these conditions, ENOVE's president had to make a decision: Should ENOVE expand within Tunisia, or move their manufacturing operations to a more stable country, perhaps nearby Morocco?

Chinese automobile manufacturer Geely Automotive (Geely) bought the manufacturer of the iconic London taxi cab from its bankrupt British parent company. The manufacturer’s sole product, the TX4, was a highly specialized taxi vehicle ideally suited for taxi work. It included many features for disabled passengers such as a power-operated wheelchair ramp and a wide rear passenger door. However, the vehicle cost more than twice as much as its competitors and demand was not enough for successful mass production. On the one hand, increasing awareness of disability rights in most developed nations suggested that Geely would have an opportunity to take the TX4 worldwide with an aggressive promotional campaign, and would benefit from cheap production costs in China. On the other hand, transportation network companies such as Uber and Lyft seemed to be pushing the entire taxi industry towards extinction.

In early 2015, the chief information officer at Lumière Business Solutions (Lumière) was reflecting on the impact of technology on the company’s business performance. Lumière had been using cloud technology to provide clients and employees 24/7 access to project progress and documentation. Clients appreciated the fact that, despite being a small firm, Lumière was as competitive and quick to respond as any other big market-research company. What were the factors that had made this adoption easy? How much of the firm’s efficiency could be attributed to the cloud? So far, most of Lumière’s applications on the cloud had been sourced from Google Marketplace, but with other players like Microsoft getting into cloud technology aggressively, should Lumière start to explore these new offerings as well? Given the trade-offs that Lumière had made while choosing the cloud, would this technology continue to pay off in the future?

Uber was a technology company that relied on its mobile app and word-of-mouth advertising to reach customers interested in its transportation services. It prided itself on being an on-time, stylish, unique, and modern transportation option. However, in 2014, Uber faced many challenges and questions as an industry incumbent. Could its business model succeed despite being heavily reliant on buyers’ willingness to pay a substantial premium in some situations? Could the model be sustained and expanded into cities worldwide? How could the regulations protecting the taxi industry be overcome in so many diverse markets? Finally, how could Uber position its business model in a way that would create entry barriers to keep rivals out of the market?

In 2014, as large investments poured into the e-commerce space in India, there was a general expectation that the online retail (e-tail) industry was heading toward a consolidation that would squeeze out smaller players. While e-tailers in India focused on following a marketplace model and developing a brand for their online market platforms, fashion2go created a product brand that targeted a very specific segment of young customers. Fashion2go was therefore faced with the challenge of demonstrating to its investors that its strategy was capable of ensuring long-term business viability and sustainability. Without further investments, fashion2go could not expect to continue building its brand and its operations, both of which were critical for the company’s planned aggressive growth.

<p style="color: rgb(197, 183, 131);"><strong> AWARD WINNER -Corporate Social Responsibility Award, European Foundation for Management Development (EFMD) Case Writing Competition</strong></p><br>In the fall of 2013, the family-owned Martin Bauer Group, a German-based company and world leader in the business-to-business market for tea and herbal extracts, became interested in the idea of collaborating with the frugal innovation company EinDollarBrille (OneDollarGlasses). The Martin Bauer Group was engaged in multifaceted corporate social responsibility activities, both domestically and abroad. Specifically, it fostered the development and diffusion of frugal innovations, which were affordable products or services developed under strict financial constraints to cater to low-income individuals in emerging markets. These companies usually worked in collaboration with partners. One such frugal innovation company, OneDollarGlasses, created durable, yet affordable, eyeglasses for people in the African country of Sudan, a prime sourcing market for the Martin Bauer Group. The work of OneDollarGlasses illustrated the reasons, motivations, and challenges that innovators often faced within developed and emerging markets when engaging in corporate social responsibility activities. Should The Martin Bauer Group work with OneDollarGlasses? Could the company be helpful and make a meaningful difference to the people in emerging markets by collaborating with frugal innovators like OneDollarGlasses? What benefits would there be for the Martin Bauer Group if they do?

In February 2015, Premier Explosives Limited (PEL) was preparing for a sudden expansion. The Indian company was the sixth-largest manufacturer of explosives in the country and also made defence products such as solid propellants and pyrogen igniters. PEL had many prominent customers in the mining industry and defence business, and exported bulk explosives to a number of countries. PEL signed a joint venture agreement with the well-regarded Kalyani Group, to manufacture additional defence products. To fund the expansion, PEL approached the Commercial Bank of India for a preferential allotment of equity shares to mobilize ?510 million and an enhancement of working capital limits from ?460 million to ?740 million. The Central Bank of India's president of the investment banking group perused the proposal, but was presented with a dilemma due to the recent slowdown in the mining and infrastructure sectors - the main industries that used PEL's products. Given the decline and the associated risks, should the banker reject the funding proposal for PEL to expand?

In April 2011, a university professor of accounting and finance was examining the financial statements of Pangang Group Steel Vanadium & Titanium Company (Pangang), a leading Chinese steel manufacturer listed on the Shenzhen Stock Exchange. Pangang had a dramatic turnaround in its reported net income in 2010 with its share price rising over 60 per cent in a six-month period. The professor suspected that the controlling shareholder of Pangang - Anshan Iron and Steel Group Corporation (Ansteel) - had been manipulating Pangang's earnings to artificially inflate the stock price. The timing coincided with the expiry of put options awarded by Ansteel to minority shareholders as part of a restructuring. Was Pangang manipulating its earnings to influence stock prices? Was there sufficient evidence to expose the fraudulent scheme to the public or report the case to the Chinese securities regulators?

In July 2015, PT Trias Indra Saputra (TRIAS), Indonesia’s leading welded cable ladder producer, had just won its largest-ever tender bid. The news could get even better if it adopted alternative materials that were potentially more profitable. The production director was tasked with weighing whether TRIAS should fulfill the tender using its traditional supplier or the new materials. While more expensive, the new materials would cut out several production processes and associated costs. However, using the new suppliers presented significant risks. Only two mills, in Korea and Japan, supplied the appropriate material, and both companies presented different prices and import costs. Since TRIAS could be penalized if it did not supply the goods on time, the production manager also had to calculate the likelihood that each company could be delayed in supplying the order and how much that would reduce profits if it happened.

Solectric was a small solar power venture located in Sydney, Australia. The founder was an academic entrepreneur who was planning to return to his academic career. A new business development manager had been hired to explore and enter markets with varying degrees of uncertainty and potential profitability. The capital was running out and an unfocused strategy was exacerbating negligible sales revenues. Together, they were faced with the decision of which market(s) to focus on, how to allocate available capital, and how to consider the implications regarding distribution of equity and control.

In April 2010, the chief executive officer (CEO) of Steelworks, a Singapore-based metals company recently acquired by an Indian conglomerate, embarked on a plan to realign the organization's structure and processes across its subsidiaries. However, he had difficulty getting the long-serving general manager of a plant in China to sign off on the current year’s audited financial statements. This led to a tense and bizarre confrontation between the CEO and the regional general manager. The restructuring project was taking autonomy from regional unit heads. Was that the problem? Was Steelworks mismanaging its subsidiaries? Had the general manager of the Chinese plant, a Singaporean expatriate, been seconded to China for too long? It was unclear how a member of the senior management team who had been with Steelworks for his entire career could behave this way and jeopardize his position. What could the CEO have done differently?

Alexander Cooper is gearing up to lead an expansion strategy for the scrappy and super successful car sharing service, Uber. While the company has not been without its controversy, it is making headway in far off places like India. It is looking to scale its model in India, China, and the rest of Southeast Asia, but is increasingly running into regulatory hurdles. Cooper is forced to think hard about what Uber's expansion strategy should be and how it will impact the company's operations. Uber currently markets itself based on word of mouth, but in markets like China where two companies dominate 99% of market share, this may be unrealistic. What path should this sharing economy company take?

In April 2015, Coromandel International Limited (CIL), a manufacturer of fertilizers based in Chennai, India, requested that the National Bank of India increase CIL’s existing short-term finance arrangement. CIL operated 14 state-of-the-art manufacturing facilities across India with a combined installed capacity of four million tonnes per annum and over 2,000 employees. It sold its products through a countrywide dealer network as well as in its own 800 retail chain stores, with plans for aggressive expansion both at home and to various countries in Southeast Asia, Latin America, and Africa. However, CIL was dependent on government subsidies and, because many of its raw materials had to be imported, was also dependent on a positive foreign exchange rate. Over the previous three years, CIL had acquired four fertilizer companies as part of its growth strategy in inorganics. With extended short-term financing, CIL could integrate these companies and take advantage of the resulting synergy. The country head of the Wholesale Banking Group was concerned that CIL’s request would exceed the bank’s exposure norms on the fertilizer industry as well as the bank’s prudential exposure limits on a single borrower. Should the bank accept CIL’s request for enhanced short-term borrowing?

After more than 1,100 people lost their lives in the 2013 collapse of the Rana Plaza garment factory building in Bangladesh, executives of Joe Fresh, a Canadian fashion and lifestyle brand, had to respond. Along with numerous other Western retailers, Joe Fresh had sourced much of its merchandise from the Rana Plaza factory. The disaster evoked an emotional public reaction, ranging from sympathy to outrage. The clothing industry had become a critical part of Bangladesh’s economy, and this was not an isolated incident. How would the Rana Plaza incident affect the public perception of Joe Fresh, and what could the company do to improve that perception? More fundamentally, how could Joe Fresh balance its competitive position, obligations to shareholders, and customer demands with ethical sourcing?

In March 2015, the founder and chief executive officer of Nyassa Retail Private Limited — a manufacturer of premium natural and luxury bath and body products based in Mumbai — was contemplating how to ensure the company’s future growth. Product acceptance had been phenomenal, allowing the company to build up a reasonable market share, with healthy profit margins. Although Nyassa had experimented with franchising as a quick way to gain a foothold in and cater to new target markets, it had quickly realized that the odds of losing control over the process due to lack of infrastructure were too high and might result in dissatisfaction and poor service. Thus, it had focused on developing its chain of exclusive retail stores, kiosks, and “shops in shops.” As competition from both Indian and international companies increased, the company was exploring online marketing options, return policy, packaging changes, and cross-selling for its new ultra-premium products. Should it penetrate deeper in India, skim the markets that showed high potential, launch the brand in overseas markets, or accept venture capital funding to achieve its goals?

Mahindra & Mahindra Limited was the largest manufacturer of farm equipment in India, with a more than 40 per cent market share. It manufactured five different tractor brands in the domestic market, including a brand of mini-tractor, the Yuvraj 215 NXT. This brand was targeted at small farmers with less than two hectares of land, who were primarily dependent on bullocks or power tillers for farming but aspired to own a tractor to increase productivity at an affordable price. Although such farmers formed over 70 per cent of the farming population, the penetration of tractors in this segment was the lowest. While the situation demonstrated high potential, selling tractors in this segment was challenging due to low product awareness, limited access to information, and low financial resources among target customers. With such a product in its portfolio, how should Mahindra & Mahindra Limited promote the Yuvraj 215 NXT among small and marginal farmers?