Asian Journal of Management Cases recent issues

Editorial

2009-05-26

Summaries and Discussion Questions

2009-05-26

Human Resource Management at Oceatic Airways

Butt, A. N., Hemani, S., Rashid, Y. — 2009-05-26

This case study describes the journey of Oceatic Airways from a monopolistic environment, showing remarkable profitability, to a point where local and international competition stiffens and operational inefficiencies lead to a significant plunge in company profits. The main concerns for the newly appointed chairman are to revive the company in order to recover the huge losses, and to prepare the organization to meet the challenges of globalization and stiffer competition. The top management of Oceatic Airways now has to focus on overhauling the company's Human Resource System in order to build sustainable capacity, improve productivity and service quality, and integrate different HR areas, including recruitment, job description, training, performance appraisal and promotion to achieve organizational goals. The issue requires urgent attention since time is of utmost importance, wherein the overall company performance is deteriorating and the fuel costs are expected to rise, making the situation even worse.

No Dawn for 'New Dawn': The Non-Diffusion of an Innovation

Kumar, A., Shankar, R., Momaya, K. K. — 2009-05-26

This case describes events in the build-up to the diffusion of an innovation before it has reached critical mass. The innovation in question is the large-scale use of renewable energy to power telecom sites. A manager is passionate about this innovation, and it seems to be a sound solution to an urgent business problem. However, he struggles to get acceptance for his ideas from key stakeholders, and his proposal rides a roller coaster.

Rozee.Pk

Shaikh, S. E. — 2009-05-26

Rozee.pk is a case about how an entrepreneur, having recently migrated from the Silicon Valley to Pakistan, is working on the commercial launch of his fourth (commercial) dot-com venture—as a late entrant into the online job posting and search market. However, this investment is different from his earlier ventures because the revenue streams will be coming from within the low e-readiness economy of Pakistan. The key decision the protagonist faces is how to move from free to paid services; delays add to the ‘burn rate’ and allow heavy promotions by a rival to capture market share. Launching prematurely may hurt the Rozee brand in pursuing key accounts.

Editorial

Sipra, N. — 2008-12-15

Summaries and Discussion Questions

2008-12-15

ChangAn Automotive Co.--Making Supply Chains Work

Goh, M. K.H., Garg, M. — 2008-12-15

The car has evolved from being a horseless carriage to becoming a sophisticated engineering marvel. Accordingly, the challenges of modern day automotive supply chain management have become increasingly complex. This article describes the situation faced in a Chinese automotive supply chain by ChangAn Auto Co. Ltd (ChangAn)—China's fourth largest automotive manufacturer. The article elaborates upon the supply chain visibility and speed-to-market issues for ChangAn in the context of China's fast growth market realities and institutional environment.

Anjuman Samaji Falahi Behbood

Khattak, N. K., Khan, B. A. — 2008-12-15

The North West Frontier Province of Pakistan has historically been amongst the most backward regions of the country, and its rural communities, in particular, have suffered from the absence of social services and modern infrastructure including roads, sewage, drinking water and health facilities. This case looks at Anjuman Samaji Falahi Behbood's effort to set up infrastructure development projects in a village community. The focus of the case is on the issue of partnerships in providing services to such communities, and it highlights some of the major problems which arise when multiple stakeholders are involved. In the case, the critical issues raised include problems of participatory development, the natural outgrowth of partnerships and major impediments such as the unwillingness of the target communities to share the responsibilities associated with partnerships.

Chainaya Lozhka (Teaspoon) Company

Shirokova, G. V. — 2008-12-15

This case study gives an overview of the Russian fast food industry and how the Chainaya Lozhka (Teaspoon) Company entered this very competitive market. It pro-vides information about the company's development during the first five years of its existence and gives special attention to issues such as company management within the company life cycle theory. The case contains extensive information that can help in working out future strategies for the company's development and in choosing a suitable organizational structure that would meet business demands.

Erratum

2008-12-15

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.