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Rockland Hospitals, a family-run entrepreneurial health care venture, had gone from a 90-bed capacity in 2004 to 808 beds in 2014. It had created an identity as an affordable, quality-driven health care provider in the National Capital Region of India. However, the managing director needed a growth plan that would achieve his goal of creating a medical corridor in the National Capital Region with a consortium of four super-specialty hospitals. Should he focus on capacity utilization and enhancing the efficiency of existing hospitals? Was attracting more medical tourists from foreign countries the answer? Or should he strive to create a health care network that reached the remotest corners of India?<br><br>Can be used with Rockland Hospitals: Innovating Health Care in India (B). 9B15A034

Rockland Hospital, a family-owned entrepreneurial health care group, had conceptualized an integrated health care network that could connect patients, clinics, diagnostic centres, secondary-care hospitals and three existing Rockland specialty hospitals through an information technology interface. Implementation and control of the strategy had to be seamless. When profitability and growth came with the necessary conditions of coordination, transparency and accountability, how could Rockland ensure effective, efficient medical treatment and services to the end user? Could Rockland manage the complexities of multiple stakeholders and multiple health care delivery paths?<br><br> Can be used with Rockland Hospitals: Innovating Health Care in India (A), 9B15A033.

In 2013, ShangGong Group — a Chinese sewing machine manufacturer — had successfully acquired three German manufacturing companies that were more technologically advanced than it was. The aim of these acquisitions was to help ShangGong catch up to other multinational players in the international market. While the CEO had learned a few lessons from the first acquisition, the strategic and operational challenges were different this time. He needed to act decisively while dealing with the companies’ many stakeholders in Europe and China. One of his goals was to strengthen ShangGong’s market position in China using both its German and domestic brands. Beyond the recent acquisitions in Germany, how could he solidify ShangGong’s leadership in China and eventually challenge the Japanese companies who were leading the global market?

Two engineers founded a start-up for the design and development of Internet of Things and wearable technology products. They received initial seed capital from family in lieu of equity shares. The company developed a product that could be used to search for misplaced items through the user’s phone. The product was expected to be ready for mass production in a week. However, in spite of potential huge demand, the company did not have funds for mass production because it used the seed capital on the design and development. The supplier would not produce unless the start-up paid up front. The technology start-up needed to analyze all the available options for funding mass production of its product and choose the most suitable one.

The director of JMD Oils, an edible oils firm, is considering the strategic options to drive his company to the next level of sales and profitability. The business has been showing a steady performance, but he feels that it could improve substantially. To increase profits, the director could increase sales volumes or increase gross margins. An increase in volume could be achieved by increasing the geographical footprint, which would require setting up additional factories. Increasing the margins would require a shift from a dealer push strategy to a consumer pull strategy, which could be achieved by brand building. The director needs to estimate returns from brand building and geographical expansion. The financial risks for each are different and the implementation challenges complicate the decision. What strategy will gain the confidence of investors and yield the best results for JMD Oils in the long term?

With over one million employees, Mega Railway Network is one of the largest recruiters in the world. As the result of criminal activity in one of its largest rail yards, a worker lost his life in the line of duty. The circumstances of the incident have led to a high-stakes strike action by workers at one of its busiest rail depots. As the divisional operations manager, chief transportation manager or the head of locomotive engineers (drivers), you must reconcile differences between management and staff or risk stalling the hundreds of freight and passenger trains that pass through each day. As a worker, you need safety and other concerns addressed.

A planning analyst at Cancer Care Ontario has been tasked to recommend a strategy for allocating new linear accelerator capacity to the province’s cancer treatment centres over a five-year period. Because the introduction of additional capacity requires the investment of capital resources and long implementation timelines, accurate and timely predictions are critical to the treatment of cancer patients. The planning analyst needs to devise an allocation strategy that will ensure quality radiation treatment across the province.

In December 2013, an entrepreneur based in Orange, a small town in Australia, is considering the difficulties besetting his five-year-old start-up, the Orange Watch Company. He faces seemingly insurmountable challenges: his business is located far away from major cities; Australia is not close to the demand or supply market for high-end watches and watch parts, which is largely in Asia and Europe; and he has limited financial resources. Yet he continues to persist in his efforts to grow the firm. He has come close to bankruptcy several times and his venture is far from being able to provide a steady stream of income. He is wondering whether to continue to push forward or if he should shut his business down.

In mid-October 2007, the chief executive officer (CEO) of the TSX Group was contemplating his strategic options. In March 2009, a decade-long non-compete agreement between the TSX Group and the Montréal Exchange would expire. Under this agreement, the former had been the sole exchange for trading senior equities in Canada while the latter had the monopoly on exchange-traded derivative contracts. Afterwards, both exchanges would be able to compete directly in their respective businesses. The CEO believed a merger between the two Canadian exchanges made strategic sense, especially given the current merger wave globally, but his counterpart had rebuffed his advances. What was the best way to bring his rival to the bargaining table? Should the TSX Group make a hostile bid? How much of a premium for shares should be offered?

The inventory manager of sales and distribution for Toffee Inc., a confectionery company, had just concluded a meeting with all relevant personnel. The meeting had not been entirely positive. The words of the production manager still echoed in his ears: “If the ingredient inventory is not re-examined and re-worked to the firm’s advantage then [soon] the final products based on these ingredients will cease to yield the kind of profits that the firm expects.” The inventory manager needed to prepare a comprehensive forecasting and inventory management plan with a view to minimize the cost of managing the supply chain by judicious use of resources, better forecasting, and improvement in the ingredient inventory purchasing and management systems.

The Vanca, an online apparel brand and supplier to online retailers (“e-tailers”) has achieved a fair degree of success by focusing on quality, innovative designs, “fast fashion” and a strong network with its customers. Management is looking to grow the business further; however, there are challenges such as uneven sales across some of its product ranges, maintaining its competitive edge and the threat from private labels being introduced by the industry’s three largest e-tailers. The Vanca’s chief executive officer, a successful entrepreneur, has called a meeting to consider these challenges and to prepare the company’s next growth model.

WoodBarn India was a construction company specializing in wooden houses and buildings. The company had worked primarily for business-to-business buyers but was fairly successful in earning a good reputation. However, to make profits, WoodBarn needed to tap into the Indian middle-class housing market, which was largely dominated by brick-and-mortar houses. The major challenge was to educate consumers and break the existing mindset that wooden houses were non-durable. Additional challenges related to procurement since the required raw material was not available in the domestic market and obtaining the same increased the final price of the product.

The Friends of Western Buddhist Order, an organization dedicated to spreading the teachings of Buddha in modern context, started a giftware company called Windhorse, with a two-part vision of making work a context for spiritual growth and raising money for charity. After operating for more than 20 years, Windhorse experienced challenges in keeping up with its rapid business growth. To bridge this gap, the company recruited non-Buddhists to the organization; however, many of the Buddhist members felt that the purpose and meaning that had bonded the members to the organization was fading. As a result, an increasing number of Buddhists started leaving the organization, while many new members were unwilling to work for the low remuneration. Was it viable for such a value-based organization to continue to pursue financial prosperity?

As a leading name in the Indian tractor industry, New Holland Tractors India (CNH) is known for its participative employee culture and holds the distinction of having no employee union organization to date, a feat generally unheard of in this industry in India. Thanks to its excellent community-management policies, CNH has derived certain indirect benefits in the form of increased workplace productivity and improved employee behaviours. The company wants to roll out some aggressive plans for growth, but of late, a series of altercations between its blue-collar and white-collar employees threatens to disturb workplace harmony. In terms of its human resource policies, CNH’s management team must decide whether to maintain the status quo or put some new strategies in place.

InfoSoft Global is a seven-year-old start-up in the charting-software market. In 2008, it earns revenues of US$3.35 million in a market that its founder estimates to be US$100 million. Should the founder continue growing steadily within a niche, as he had done in the past, or should he make some new strategic choices to target a bigger share of the US$100 million market? Which technologies and devices should he bet on? What customer segments should he focus on? Should he add more complementary products to his company’s portfolio? What new channels should he leverage for greater market reach, and what strategy must he adopt to get there?

<p style="color: rgb(197, 183, 131);"><strong> AWARD WINNER - MENA Business Cases category at the 2015 EFMD Case Writing Competition</strong></p><br>In September 2014, the chief executive officer of Michel Nassif et Fils, an importer and producer of food and printed goods headquartered in Beirut, Lebanon, is trying to figure out what decisions he needs to take to ensure the development of the company that had been founded by his grandfather a century ago. At the age of 48, right after the birth of his first son, he realizes that he needs a plan to ensure a viable future for this family-owned company. He knows that succession planning will involve the entire management team, none of whom currently has a leadership position. As had his father and grandfather before him, he alone makes all decisions for the company. He is considering whether to pick a potential successor internally to be trained and prepared for senior management or to remain at the head of the company until his son is old enough to take over.

Two employees at 8SK Consulting, a major firm with 800 staff in five divisions, need to find a way to manage their leader effectively. A junior hire who is ready to take on more responsibility in order to advance her career is frustrated – although her leader has previously played an important role as her mentor and guide in the company, he now seems to be in the way of her promotion to more important positions. A senior quality specialist wants to refuse an offered team leader role, because of family concerns, but is worried how that may disappoint her boss and how it might affect not only hers but his career. How can these employees effectively and proactively manage a leader in order to reach personal and career goals? Can be used with 9B15C025.

Tele-Tichon Limited, a private company in India’s telecom equipment manufacturing sector, was in deep financial trouble, after having experienced declining financial health for nearly 10 years. The company had made an attempt at corporate debt restructuring (CDR) six years earlier but its restructuring plan had not been approved. Now, with the company in deeper financial crisis and unable to service its mounting debt and interest burden, the chief executive officer and chief financial officer must weigh the various options for bringing their company back into the black.

In 2012, Pactera, a China-headquartered IT service firm, went public on the NASDAQ. In 2014, it was taken private by a consortium led by the U.S.-based global investment and advisory firm Blackstone. This accelerated the firm’s expansion in the U.S. market and its plans to move up the value chain. Pactera’s executive vice-president must formulate and implement the right strategy in order to continue its success in the U.S. market, gain access to cutting-edge technology and talent, and better compete against sophisticated American and Indian rivals. Failure to apply the correct strategy to its operations in the U.S. market could restrict its growth and negatively impact its performance in the global market.

Tremendous changes in the global competitive landscape threaten Deutsche Lufthansa AG, the largest airline group in the world. Three large Gulf carriers, Emirates, Etihad Airways and Qatar Airways, as well as Turkish Airlines, now stand to compete with Lufthansa on the traditionally profitable long-haul segment. Chairman of the executive board and chief executive officer has to act quickly if Lufthansa is to keep its top spot. Having ignored the threat from low-cost airlines in the past, Lufthansa must now be better prepared to respond. It is crucial that Lufthansa finds adequate strategic options for sustaining and further expanding its market-leading position.