Does forecasting have all the answers? A case study of elections in India

2018 ◽  
Vol 8 (2) ◽  
pp. 1-23
Author(s):  
Devendra Dhagarra ◽  
Mohit Goswami ◽  
PRS Sarma
Keyword(s):  
Real Life ◽  
Uttar Pradesh ◽  
Subject Area ◽  
Management Problem ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Qualitative And Quantitative ◽  
Indian State ◽  
Real Life Situation ◽  
Management Students

Subject area Forecasting. Study level/applicability The case is intended for Postgraduate level management students. Case overview The purpose of this case study is to explain various forecasting techniques, their applicability and the importance of forecasting to the students. This case also explains the management situations where the application of one technique may not be sufficient, thereby explaining the importance of simultaneous usage of qualitative and quantitative techniques for making crucial decisions. The case is focused on the district of Etah of the state of Uttar Pradesh in India. The real-life situation of elections in this district of an Indian state has been taken to explain the critical nature of forecasting accuracy in a management situation where the manager has only one chance to execute his project. Discussion in this case is limited to explaining various techniques available for forecasting and their applications and does not provide a solution to a management problem. Expected learning outcomes The students are expected to understand various forecasting methods and the managerial situations where these can be applied. The case also explains situations where it becomes extremely important to have fairly accurate estimates of future requirements and the application of one technique may not be sufficient, thereby explaining the importance of simultaneous usage of qualitative and quantitative techniques for making crucial decisions. Supplementary materials Teaching Notes are available for educators only. Please contact your library to gain login details or email [email protected] to request teaching notes. Subject code CSS 9: Operations and Logistics.

Entrepreneurial-oriented strategic renewal in a Brazilian SME: a case study

2020 ◽  
Vol 27 (2) ◽  
pp. 219-236
Author(s):  
Débora Monteiro Moretti ◽  
Flávia Chaves Alves ◽  
José Vitor Bomtempo
Keyword(s):  
Business Performance ◽  
Quantitative Methods ◽  
Real Life ◽  
Holistic View ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Strategic Renewal ◽  
Real Life Situation ◽  
Resource Environment ◽  
New Framework

PurposeFirms around the world seek new paths to maintain competitiveness and renew their businesses. Although entrepreneurial-orientation (EO) is extensively researched, there is some ambiguity regarding different variables that mediate the effects of such strategy on business performance. Hence, current literature lacks in-depth studies that provide useful tools for companies to implement effective change, in contrast to the quantitative methods normally applied.Design/methodology/approachThrough an in-depth case study, the authors explored whether the implementation of an entrepreneurial-oriented strategy by an incumbent firm in Brazil would renew its business and potentially increase its performance.FindingsThe study showed that performance is achieved when the pervasiveness of EO activities spurs the company's boundaries, promoting not only intraorganizational changes but also multiple-stakeholder engagement.Research limitations/implicationsThis study reinforces the idea that EO alone may not be sufficient to increase firm performance and must be considered more comprehensively. Although case studies always suffer from the problem of generalization, the authors provide a good illustration of a strategy being implemented in a constrained-resource environment.Practical implicationsThis paper contributes to practice by discussing a real-life situation of a small company from an emerging economy.Originality/valueThe authors provide a holistic view of the firm, presenting the managerial changes in a new framework, which combines EO and inward- and outward-looking perspectives.

The voice of the customer in the design of organized retail stores

2015 ◽  
Vol 5 (6) ◽  
pp. 1-7
Author(s):  
Gyan Prakash ◽  
Abhinav Vohra ◽  
Sangeeta Sahney
Keyword(s):  
Real Life ◽  
Subject Area ◽  
Retail Stores ◽  
Customer Requirements ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Design Elements ◽  
Retail Business ◽  
Real Life Situation ◽  
Design Characteristics ◽  
Voice Of The Customer

Subject area Marketing, retail. Study level/applicability The case study is specific to the marketing demographics of Indian shoppers with respect to organized retail stores, and therefore, the inter-relationships between various design elements and the relative importance of certain parameters discussed in the text may not follow the same pattern elsewhere in the world. Case overview The case emulates the real-life situation of an organized retail store, Super Mart, to understand the inculcation of voice of the customer in the design of organized retail stores in India. It gives insights about factors which influence the shopping intent of customers while giving information about the inter-relationships among various design characteristics. It also gives an idea about inter-dependence between design characteristics and customer requirements. This is followed by certain questions, the responses to which can be interpreted from the text and the data provided therein. Expected learning outcomes The case aims to educate its audience about the following aspects of organized retail business: factors influencing offline shopping intent of customers; relative order of importance of customer requirements with respect to organized retail stores; inter-relationships between various design elements; and future trends in the organized retail space. Such a knowledge would help hone the skills of the next generation of business leaders in the retail space. Supplementary materials Teaching notes are available for educators only. Please contact your library to gain login details or email [email protected] to request teaching notes.

King's Biscuits Berhad: crafting the next move?

2011 ◽  
Vol 1 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-4 ◽  
Author(s):  
Boon-In Tan ◽  
Garry Wei-Han Tan ◽  
Keng-Boon Ooi
Keyword(s):  
Learning Outcomes ◽  
Real Life ◽  
Subject Area ◽  
Product Lines ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Marketing Environment ◽  
Future Challenges ◽  
Real Practice ◽  
Study Student

Subject area Management, marketing and branding and strategy. Study level/applicability Undergraduate and postgraduate management courses. Case overview This is a real-life case involving a confectionery manufacturer in Malaysia where it has grown over the years. As the market becomes more competitive, more challenges are confronting the company. Although there is still profit to be made, the margin is declining. Hence, the management of King's Biscuits Berhad must embark on the marketing environment scanning to prepare the company for future challenges and to ensure continued existence. As in the case of most strategy cases, little guidance was available for the students to reflect upon. Expected learning outcomes With the completion of this case study; student will be able to familiarize with the exercise of marketing environment scanning, determine the branding, product lines and positioning issues, adopt the marketing mix concept into real practice, and have the opportunity to visualize a true business scenario and simulate their minds and thinking towards managing a business. Supplementary materials Teaching note.

Managing the women managers: a case study of paper bag makers

2015 ◽  
Vol 5 (2) ◽  
pp. 1-17
Author(s):  
Anupma Srivastava ◽  
Amita Marwha
Keyword(s):  
Women Workers ◽  
Human Resource ◽  
Informal Sector ◽  
Urban Poor ◽  
Subject Area ◽  
Point Of View ◽  
Content Type ◽  
The World ◽  
Management Students

Subject area Human resource management. Study level/applicability It is appropriate for graduate students majoring in human resource or business management. Students who are interested in studying Asian economies in the world, as they are the most growing economies in the world and at the same time have a shocking number of people employed in the informal sector. Case overview This case study talks about women workers who face a glass ceiling at the management level and deplorable working conditions at the informal level. This case involves women in the paper bag-making business, a part of the urban informal sector. The paper bag-making business provides employment and income generation for the urban poor. The focus in this study is on women production workers, rather than entrepreneurs or professional managers. Focus of the study will be on the change in the pattern of income distribution within the family-based household, the degree of bargaining power derived from productive work and income and impact of technology on the plight of unskilled women force and how technology and vocational training can lead to utilization of manpower being wasted because of lack of synergy between technology and the informal sector in India. Expected learning outcomes Four key points of selection, training, assessment and leadership all have been addressed in this case study, and the relevance of these points is important from the point of view of management students who have to understand the linkages and the hidden costs these informal sector occupations come with and then to device an appropriate strategy to bring and use these human resources to their full capacity by utilizing the existing resources instead of adding new ones, which in development economics is known as Solow residual. Supplementary materials Teaching notes are available for educators only. Please contact your library to gain login details or email [email protected] to request teaching notes.

Launch and closure of an Indian cement plant

2011 ◽  
Vol 1 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-11
Author(s):  
Margie Parikh
Keyword(s):  
Decision Making ◽  
Real Life ◽  
Subject Area ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Anchoring Bias ◽  
New Business ◽  
Subject Areas ◽  
Senior Officers

Subject area Decision making, behavioural decision making, heuristics, optimistic bias, confirmatory bias, anchoring bias, ready mix cement (RMC) business in India. Study level/applicability Post graduate management course, executive training program in the subject areas. Case overview Arco is a Projects and Infrastructure-sector company. Some of its key officials, believing that entering the RMC can be beneficial for Arco, plan entry into the manufacturing of RMC but order a feasibility report. The report confirms the hunch and Arco starts the business under the aegis of its associate, EG Ltd (EGL) which is into equipment rental business. At this time a new dimension of reality opens up but the senior officers refuse to accept a revised proposal which is adjusted to the new realities. After a few months and some losses, EGL closes down the RMC plant and rents it out. Expected learning outcomes This case study is developed with a purpose to provide a basis to discuss how decisions are taken in real life and how various behavioural elements affect the quality of decisions that affect not only the decision makers but many others and their organizations. Focus is especially on prejudice, heuristics and bias that creep into important organizational decisions such as venturing into new business. Supplementary materials Teaching note.

Authentic leadership: the case of Miloud Chaabi, a shepherd who became a business legend

2014 ◽  
Vol 4 (6) ◽  
pp. 1-12
Author(s):  
Abderrahman Hassi ◽  
Giovanna Storti
Keyword(s):  
Customer Service ◽  
Transition Period ◽  
Real Life ◽  
Business Administration ◽  
Subject Area ◽  
Mba Programs ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Day To Day Operations ◽  
Personal Reflections

Subject area This case study may be used in the following academic courses: Theories of Leadership; Leadership and Leaders Organizational Leaders Roles; Management Skills Ethics and Governance; and Ethics and Management Entrepreneurial Management. Study level/applicability This case study may be used in the following academic programs: Bachelor's in Business Administration; Master of Science in Business Administration; and MBA Programs. Case overview There is little doubt, if any, that values shape the decisions, behaviors and corporate moves that business managers and leaders make in their day-to-day operations. The following case study sheds light on the influence of personal values on individuals in leadership positions. To do so, concrete examples of observed behaviors, in cases where values have been honored and positive outcomes have been attained, will be reported. From hiring practices, contract bidding, compensation policies and/or customer service, the Ynna conglomerate group, a Moroccan holding corporation, has been led by a visionary who patiently started his life journey as a shepherd tending ewes, and decades later has emerged as an extraordinary business legend to emulate. Virtually all the decisions taken within his companies are influenced by his moral convictions and his values. Miloud Chaabi, listed in Forbes Magazine as one of the top 40 richest billionaires in Africa, is a principled and revered individual who has been spiritually leading his businesses in various sectors since 1948. Expected learning outcomes In general, the objective of the case study is to further enhance the understanding of leadership in general and values-based leadership in particular. The case study will assist students in developing their leadership-related skills through the discussion of a real-life situation and experience, and proposing solutions to a challenge face by the company in the area of leadership approaches. The case is designed to provoke and stimulate students' personal reflections about a particular approach of management, especially in a transition period. Supplementary materials Teaching Notes are available for educators only. Please contact your library to gain login details or email [email protected] to request teaching notes.

Automating attendance recording of contingent labours at a large construction site

2012 ◽  
Vol 2 (8) ◽  
pp. 1-9
Author(s):  
Saroj Koul
Keyword(s):  
Power Plant ◽  
Radio Frequency Identification ◽  
Power Plants ◽  
Subject Area ◽  
Management Control ◽  
Class Discussion ◽  
Construction Site ◽  
Large Power ◽  
Content Type

Subject area Operations and human resourcing. Study level/applicability This case study is intended for use in graduate, executive level management and doctoral programs. The case study illustrates a combined IT and HR driven participative management control system in a flexible organization structure. It is intended for a class discussion rather than to illustrate either effective or ineffective handling of an administrative situation. Case overview The case describes the situation of managing unskilled workforces (≥14,000 workers) during the construction phase of the 4 × 250MW power plants both for purposes of turnout as well as due compensation, in the event of an accident. The approved labour forces appointed for 45 × 8 h. Man-days after a rigorous fitness test and approvals of the safety officer are allocated housing and other necessary amenities and a commensurate compensation system. Expected learning outcomes These include: illustrating typical organizational responsibility structure at a construction site of a large power plant; illustrating the planning and administrative control mechanism in implementing strategy at a construction site of a large power plant; offering students the opportunity to understand and view a typical operational (project) structure; allowing students to speculate adaptations in the wake of an ever-changing business and company environment; and providing an opportunity to introduce a power scenario in India, Indian labour laws and radio frequency identification technology and to relate this to the case in context. Supplementary materials Teaching notes are available; please consult your librarian for access.

Design workshops in the age of climate change

2017 ◽  
Vol 6 (1) ◽  
pp. 48-63 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jeroen De Waegemaeker ◽  
Eva Kerselaers ◽  
Maarten Van Acker ◽  
Elke Rogge
Keyword(s):  
Climate Adaptation ◽  
Real Life ◽  
Water System ◽  
Added Value ◽  
Policy Makers ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Regional Project ◽  
Design Workshop ◽  
Specific Barriers

Purpose As policy makers address the issue of climate adaptation, they are confronted with climate-specific barriers: a long-term horizon and a high degree of uncertainty. These barriers also hamper the development of spatial planning for climate adaptation. So how can spatial planners encompass these barriers and steer the general debate on climate adaptation? The paper aims to discuss these issues. Design/methodology/approach This research analyzes the strengths and weaknesses of an international design workshop on climate adaptation, and drought issues in particular. Design workshops are originally an educational setting but they are increasingly employed as a tool to explore alternative futures on a complex, real-life design problem. The case study illustrates how climate-specific barriers emerged throughout the design workshop and clarifies how they were encompassed by the participating design students. Findings The research clarifies the added value of a design workshop on climate adaptation. The paper highlights specific promising characteristics of the design workshop: the visualization of future adaptation challenges and the current water system, the focus on a regional project instead of sectoral adjustments and the integration of the adaptation challenge with other socio-economic goals. In the case study Flanders, however, the necessary participation of climate experts and policy makers of other domains proved challenging. Originality/value The paper argues that a design workshop has the potential to enrich the debate and policy work on climate adaptation. In many countries with low-planning tradition, however, additional tools are needed to help set the “adaptation agenda.”

Kiwanis Pancake Day – a service operations management case study

2011 ◽  
Vol 1 (4) ◽  
pp. 1-10
Author(s):  
Andrew Tiger ◽  
Robert Howard
Keyword(s):  
Operations Management ◽  
Demand Management ◽  
Service Operations ◽  
Subject Area ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Service Operations Management ◽  
Management Experience ◽  
Management Case Study ◽  
Management Issues

TitleKiwanis Pancake Day – a service operations management case study.Subject areaOperations management.Study level/applicabilityUndergraduate and MBA OM courses.Case overviewKiwanis International is a global service organization dedicated to improving the world by helping children. The Durant, Oklahoma chapter holds its primary annual fundraiser the first Tuesday of November, which is also Election Day. The chapter sells and serves fresh pancakes throughout the day; therefore, the event is the Kiwanis Pancake Day. While serving in his first Pancake Day, Robert Howard, a new Kiwanian, notices service operations management issues such as long lines, spiky demand, and customers leaving before being served. Based on his management experience in the grocery business and his academic training in queuing systems, Robert performs an analysis of the system with the purpose of improving service operations.Expected learning outcomes Perform queuing analysis., Understand demand management., Explain the psychology of waiting.Supplementary materialsTeaching notes and spreadsheet‐based multiple‐server simulator.

Gold Valley Chemical Corporation Dubai

2011 ◽  
Vol 1 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-4
Author(s):  
Gwendolyn Rodrigues
Keyword(s):  
Change Management ◽  
Learning Outcomes ◽  
United Arab Emirate ◽  
New Products ◽  
Subject Area ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Chemical Corporation ◽  
Innovation And Change ◽  
Business And Management

Subject area Entrepreneurship, innovation, change management. Study level/applicability Undergraduate and Postgraduate Business and Management. Case overview This case study focuses on the development of a young entrepreneur in an indigenous industry in Dubai, United Arab Emirate. His entrepreneurial zeal resulted in the creation of a culture of innovation. His fascination for change spurred him to develop new products and he won accolades for innovation. Expected learning outcomes This case can be used to teach entrepreneurial development, innovation and change management. Supplementary materials Teaching notes are also available.

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