Abstract
Welcome to the second issue of 2019. Last year, Suleman Dawood School of Business (SDSB) at Lahore University of Management Sciences (LUMS) became the first business school in Pakistan to receive the prestigious AACSB International accreditation. AACSB International’s vision is to transform business education for global prosperity. Its mission is to foster engagement, accelerate innovation and amplify impact in business education. That is exactly what aim to do through the research and scholarship carried out in the School. Asian Journal of Management Cases is an important part of the School’s research portfolio.
The 8th Asian Management Research and Case Conference at the UAE University in Al Ain successfully concluded on 26 March 2019. The theme of the three-day conference was ‘Social Responsibility, Sustainability and Management: Issues and Strategies in Asia’. Out of the 210 submissions received for AMRC 2019, 61 papers and 28 cases were presented by 54 institutions from different parts of the world. Dr Jonatan Pinkse (University of Manchester) delivered the first keynote address on The Paradoxes and Tensions in Corporate Sustainability in an Asian Context, and Dr Christopher Cowton (University of Huddersfield) talked about Doing Research in Business Ethics and Corporate Social Responsibility: Challenges and Opportunities in his keynote. Dr Yehya Al Marzouqi (Tawazun Economic Council) delivered the third keynote address on Inspiring Innovation followed by Dr Edwina Pio’s (Auckland University of Technology) keynote on Eco-Spirituality: Transdisciplinary Learnings for Organisations.
This conference is a collaboration between SDSB-LUMS, IIM Bangalore, UAE University, Universiti Sains Malaysia, University of Dhaka and University of Wollongong Dubai. SAGE Publications India graciously sponsored the awards for AMRC 2019.
In this issue, we have seven very interesting and diverse cases for your classrooms. In the case WRC Auto Sendirian Berhad: Potential to Survive after Crisis, authors Mohammad and Quoquab feature Iskandar Shah, a manager of a local car dealership in Malaysia, who has to make a strategic decision about how to sustain his business temporarily until the supply chain recovers after a natural disaster. The case is designed for students studying marketing and will enhance their understanding about market segmentation, marketing mix, how to analyze the external and internal environment using SWOT, how to understand the macro-environment using the BEST analysis and calculate the break-even. I enjoyed reading this case, and I am sure you will enjoy teaching it as well.
The second case, Hawk’s Engineering Works: At the Crossroads of Growth¸ revolves around an automotive parts supplier based in Lahore, Pakistan. The case has been written for use in entrepreneurship courses and is suitable for a WAC assignment as well. It seeks to provide students with a basic understanding of the challenges that small and medium-sized entrepreneurial organizations face as they grow into large companies.
A strategy case Prabhat Dairy: The Crossover Challenge in the Indian Market involves addressing a company’s strategic positioning in a dynamic market. Prabhat Dairy, serving as an intermediary to the bigger players in India’s dairy industry, wants to move into the consumer market. It now faces significant challenges related to this crossover and has to come up with the right strategy to move forward. A must-read for all; the case is suitable for a course in strategic management at the undergraduate and MBA level.
Moving towards the areas of leadership and governance, our fourth case revolves around the challenges faced by the board of governors of Namal College, the brainchild of Imran Khan. The case narrates the journey of Namal College from its inception in 2002 until August 2014 when the Vice Chairman of Namal’s Board, Abdul R. Dawood, contemplates the challenges that Namal has faced, and the role the Board and its members can play in taking the college closer to its vision and mission. Dawood is concerned about critical governance issues to ensure Namal’s sustainability and growth. The authors Butt and Hemani have positioned this case for graduate and executive courses on higher education management and leadership.
The case RIL’s Strategic Alliance with British Petroleum is an analytical case that discusses the pros and cons of the alliance between Reliance Industry Ltd. (RIL) and British Petroleum (BP). The former lacked the technical expertise that BP provided, and the latter wanted to enter into a new market. The case analyzes whether this much-anticipated alliance was successful or not. The impact of this alliance on RIL by analyzing its operational efficiency, financial performance and stock gains in the pre and post period of the alliance are also investigated. A very relevant case that would be a superb value addition to any classroom.
A sales strategy case Driving Mobile Accounts Sales: Strategic Imperative for Telenor Pakistan features a manager who has to decide on how to effectively utilize the mobile accounts sales officers to achieve their yearly targets. He had to choose among different possible options for their expansion. With the advent of new products and different sets of customers, companies often find it difficult to change their existing approaches to sales. In order to be successful, it is imperative for organizations to modify their processes. This case will demonstrate all of this. It is ideal for a module on sales. Within a sales force management course for MBA students, the case can be used as a capstone case in the last session.
The last case of this issue is another analytical case in which the case writer presents the story of a public sector organization (Punjab Vocational Training Council) that created a monitoring and evaluation (M&E) framework. This case can be very useful to managers and consultants attempting to develop an M&E framework for an ongoing programme. Findings and analysis are presented in such a way that the case bears the appearance of a systematic guideline. While the case is focused around developing a results framework (RF), the learning can easily be generalized to other platforms, specifically the logical framework approach (LFA).
We appreciate the input and feedback from our reviewers and contributors. We are obliged to our readers for their continued support and encouragement—a reminder that you may contact the authors directly for the teaching notes to the cases published in the journal.
I hope that you enjoy teaching and reading this issue.