Asian Journal of Management Cases recent issues

Editorial

2008-07-29

Summaries and Discussion Questions

2008-07-29

Case Methodology for Adult Learning: A Critical Review of Theory and Practice

Tripathy, M. R. — 2008-07-29

The emergence of case-based learning underscores the relevance of traditional learning discourses in professional education. Modern day cases are not stories of the past but tools of experiential learning, which evoke sharp critical thinking, analysis, interpretation and application. Opponents of the case method may assert that case studies lack in rigour and reliability and that they do not address the issues of generalizability, which can be effectively tackled by quantitative methods. Cases are not designed to present a right answer, which one can memorize in the hope that it can be applied to similar situations. The learning comes from actually participating in the search for solutions. This article explores the domain of case-based teaching as a learning tool and the underlying issues and challenges inherent to the design, analysis and pedagogy of case form. It also attempts to make a critical review of systemic issues related to theory and practices.

Recrafting Iucn--Asia Regional Organization

Qureshi, Z. I. — 2008-07-29

The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN)—Asia Regional Organization's rapid growth in various countries as well as within the region put pressure on the existing organization structure and its capacity to manage growth in an effective fashion. The Asia Regional Director (ARD) realized that the reorganization of the Region had become imperative in order to manage this rapid growth. She felt the need to seek outside assistance to generate options for the reorganization. Therefore two consultants were hired to analyze the current situation and propose some options. The consultants handed in their proposals in May 2002 for discussion at a meeting in Bangkok. This meeting led to the creation of three Task Forces to tackle the contentious issues surrounding Country Programmes, Regional Thematic Programmes and Corporate Services. ARD told the three Task Forces that she would like to implement the reorganization by December 2002.

Zareen and Majid Durrani

Haque, E. u. — 2008-07-29

This disguised case focuses on the challenges faced by a female entrepreneur, Zareen Durrani, in balancing her personal and professional life. Details about the family background, education and work experience of the two protagonists of the case, Zareen and her husband Majid Durrani, are provided to understand their goals and aspirations. Both are ambitious professionals and their work related ambitions create serious tensions in their personal lives. While the case deals with deeper, macro-level factors (such as socioeconomic, cultural and traditional forces) in shaping the positions and worldviews of the protagonists, an immediate and very real issue of their children coming down with chicken pox brings all the tensions to a head. Which parent should take significant time out will be determined partly by the participants’ own worldviews of the appropriate roles assigned to the two sexes by society. The case examines interesting ways to explore and debate socially designated roles in Pakistani society. Majid Durrani poses specialization of labour, contract violation and cost-benefit arguments to make his case while Zareen has her own set of fairly valid arguments. The case will expose participants to the various issues that women face in balancing home and work.

Editorial

2008-03-12

Summaries and Discussion Questions

2008-03-12

Leisure Textiles: Salary Versus Piece Rate

Rana, A. I., Chaudhry, H. R. — 2008-03-12

This case study deals with Leisure Textiles, a knitwear manufacturer in Lahore, Pakistan. It describes the general practices followed in the sewing industry with reference to the compensation systems followed. It also deals with the roles of key characters in the sewing industry. Leisure Textiles had followed the predominant system of ‘piece rate’ for compensating its sewing workforce. However, in 2000 the company's CEO implemented the salary-based system in one of the sewing units on a test case basis. The case discusses the efforts made at implementing a salary-based system in place of the piece rate system and the problems associated with these efforts.

Oman Air: Challenges Of Repositioning Through Business Level Strategy

Rajasekar, J., Moideenkutty, U. — 2008-03-12

This case study describes the journey of Oman Air, the flag carrier of the Sultanate of Oman from operating losses to profitability. The main concern of Oman Air's top management now is to consolidate these gains and to ensure sustained profitability and growth over the long term. The airline has faced challenges from existing and emerging competitors operating on both full-service and low-cost business models. In addition, the recent strategic decision of the Government of Oman to pull out of the much larger Gulf Air made Oman Air the only national airline of Oman. Oman Air now needs to reposition itself from a major regional airline to a full-fledged international airline to service the long-haul markets.

SBE (Pvt.) Ltd: The Focused Selling Approach

Amir, I., Qureshi, K. — 2008-03-12

In order to achieve better sales growth, Unilever Pakistan Limited (UPL) launched Project Ferrari in July 2002. The launch was the culmination of preparatory work done over a year and a half. Significant investments in terms of time, money and other resources were deployed to conduct an internal assessment of marketing and sales operations of UPL. An assessment of the concerns and issues of stakeholders in the external environment was also done. The external assessment focused on benchmarking UPL's sales and distribution practices and processes with leading multinational manufacturers and distributors in the country. In this regard, a number of UPL distributors were interviewed. The external environment assessment also involved a detailed census of UPL's point of purchase (POP) outlets. This effort, and the subsequent launch of Project Ferrari, was undertaken to achieve a double-digit average annual sales growth through a ‘focused selling’ approach. This approach entailed focusing UPL and distributor sales efforts on product category, as opposed to product assortment. In the two-year post-launch period, UPL faced stiff resistance from SBE (Pvt.) Limited. SBE was one of their major distributors for a part of Lahore. SBE's management believed that if significant revisions were not made in the project, it would have a negative impact on the viability of distributor operations.

Editorial

2007-07-25

Summaries and Discussion Questions

2007-07-25

Recruitment Strategies: Exploring the Dimensions in the Indian Software Industry

Ghosh, P., Geetika, — 2007-07-25

People's skill sets rather than technology drive the growth and success of software organizations, where ideas and information form the basis for profit generation and wealth accumulation. This article is an attempt to establish the significance of recruitment strategies, especially in the Indian software industry. The size of an organization, among various other factors, plays an important role in determining the type and shape of a strategy, including human resource strategies. This article aims to examine the different strategies of recruitment by software organizations on the basis of size (in terms of number of employees) with the help of a survey. The findings corroborate the proposition that recruitment strategies of such organizations vary with their size and that such strategies are focussed to meet short-term requirements.

Customer Service and the Dilemma of Product Warranty: A Case of FastTrack Motors India Limited

Kumar, S., Singh, S. — 2007-07-25

Responding to economic liberalization and realizing the great market potential, a number of multinational enterprises (MNEs) based in developed countries are expanding their operations to the developing world, either through foreign direct investment or through joint ventures. These MNEs are trying to translocate product quality standards as well as customer service standards from their home countries to host countries. In the process, customer expectations from these MNEs in the developing countries have risen very high, but the MNEs are struggling to meet them, especially with respect to the customer service aspect. They are facing many constraints; the major ones have to do with the archaic outlook and traditional mode of doing business by their dealerships. This case summarizes some such problems being faced by one multi-national automobile giant in India—FastTrack Motors India Limited. The case has a strong essence of customer satisfaction and deals with different stages of customer reaction.

Pronto Promotionals

Asad, U., Rana, A. — 2007-07-25

This case is about a promotional products company, Pronto Promotionals, established in 1994 by the two siblings Saulat Salahuddin and Najaf Yawar. Pronto from day one followed a leveraged growth strategy, relying heavily on sub-contracting and developing partnerships with specialized small and medium-sized vendors while retaining certain key activities in-house. Although the cost of different products offered by Pronto had decreased considerabily over the years, Pronto was still not very profitable. Najaf had just left the business and Saulat was reflecting on how to turn the company around.

Lahore Woven Garments Consortium (LGC)

Ghani, J., Fayyaz, A. — 2007-07-25

In October 2005 Jawwad Chaudhry, Director Musterhaft and Chairman LGC, was reflecting upon the performance benefits and sustainability of the Lahore Garments Consortium (LGC) Guarantee Limited. LGC consisted on eight woven garment manufactures and exporters. The CEOs of Musterhaft and Cotton Web were two particularly active members of LGC. Members of the consortium benefitted from joint purchases, joint skill development and joint marketing. Variations in the size of the firms in terms of number of machines, employees, product quality and target markets were some of the factors influencing the ability to develop consensus and a shared vision among consortium members.

Editorial Policy

2007-07-25

Editorial

2006-11-27

Summaries and Discussion Questions

2006-11-27

Investment Opportunities in Madhya Pradesh Relative to Other Indian States in the WTO Regime: A Comparative Analysis with Special Emphasis on the Pharmaceutical Sector

Dubey, J., Dubey, R. — 2006-11-27

The World Trade Organization (WTO) has set rules for international trade, with the objective to provide maximum benefits to the consumers. One of its aims is to remove trade barriers to international competition. The Organization is based on the principles of free trade; predictability through binding and transparency; national treatment (treating foreigners and locals equally); granting most favored nation status; dismantling trade barriers, for example, removal of quota restrictions and tariff bindings; and promoting fair competition. At the same time developed nations have used their power while negotiating the rules of trade, and this has posed a great challenge to developing countries. It can be claimed that the rules have been framed in a way which gives opportunities to serve customers of the WTO countries. Only companies with a competitive advantage can survive in the global arena, and this also applies to Indian industries. Since the WTO prevents the use of subsidies and other protective measures, the economic environment will change. This requires bringing major changes in the business system in India. Under this system, the textile, food processing and leather industries will benefit. Although there is confusion among the Indian pharmaceutical companies at present, in this area also India can take the opportunity to grow. Madhya Pradesh needs to create a welcoming atmosphere for these companies. This article presents the economic conditions in Madhya Pradesh and discusses the reasons for the backwardness. It makes a comparison of the industrial potential specific to the pharmaceutical industry of Madhya Pradesh with other developed states in India.

Xenitis Group of Companies

Bagchi, S. N. — 2006-11-27

The Xenitis Group of Companies emerged as a significant player in the personal computer (PC) market in the Indian subcontinent after the introduction of its Aamar PC, priced below Rs 10,000. Starting as a trading company and then launching its own desktop, Xenitis had seen its annual turnover grow from Rs 20 million to excess of Rs 1,780 million. Buoyed by its success in the Indian market, Xenitis planned to expand in international markets, targeting an annual turnover of Rs 50,000 million by year 2010. The entry of new players, offering low-priced PCs with similar configurations, in both Indian and international markets posed a serious challenge to Xenitis. The launch of sub-Rs 15,000 PCs with credit facility offered by financing companies also posed a threat to Xenitis, as consumers could now opt for higher-end PCs from better-known manufacturers.

LRBT Hospital, Lahore

Rana, A., Asad, U. — 2006-11-27

It was 11 January 2003. Justice Amir Raza,¹ the President of the Hospital Executive Committee, Layton Rahmatullah Benevolent Trust (LRBT) Free Eye Care and Cancer Hospital at Township, Lahore, was on his way back from Karachi after attending the annual budget meeting with the administration of LRBT Base Hospital (also the head office). As usual the meeting had gone smoothly for the most part, except during the discussion on capital expenses. The head office administration felt that the Lahore Hospital should be able to make do with lower-cost equipment since the hospital was after all a charity-funded institution.

Global Power Company, Pakistan

Butt, A. N., Hemani, S. — 2006-11-27

As of 14 December 2004, Tariq Ali, CEO, Global Power Company, had successfully completed negotiations with his primary customer, Water and Power Development Authority (WAPDA), and the Federal Government. The negotiation process was almost complete and required the final approval from the newly established regulator, National Electric Power Regulatory Authority (NEPRA). It was on 9 March 2005, that Mr Ali made his first presentation to the regulator and within three months’ time heard the disappointing news of NEPRA's unilateral changes to the terms of agreement. The regulator's verdict had left Mr Ali with two choices; to restart negotiations with NEPRA or to go to court.

Editorial Policy

2006-11-27