Introduction

Comics as Case Format, Comics for Engagement and Impact

In this issue of April 2019, we have indulged in a bold experiment—publishing a case ‘Its Bank’s Policy’ by Debapratim Purkayastha in Graphic Novel (comic) format.

The link between comics and childhood continues to be very profound. There is a kind of strong drive behind our love with comics, an inconsolable nostalgia mixed with an irresistible desire not to grow up. The bond is more about a crave for innocence that we nurture inside us, and which comics allow us to satisfy easily.

Telling a story with a picture is a very old, very human thing to do. When one picture fails to say quite enough, people will intuitively hit on the idea of putting a second picture next to the first. This can be seen in Neolithic cave paintings, Egyptian murals, Greek pottery and Renaissance altarpieces.

Comics have the potential to improve the quality of life of people by transforming attitudes, awareness, and behaviour around social issues; comics can create new opportunities for practitioners and audiences. Non-fiction comics have been increasingly embraced within journalism, medicine and health care and law. Fairly recently, comics have been well received amongst science communication audiences and publishers as a form of science journalism, in particular.

Researchers have turned to comics as valid outputs for displaying research findings in print and online publications that can lead to the wider adoption of such research and can influence public policy. By arguing that comics creation is a ‘way of thinking’, comics have also become academic outputs in their own right. Graphic novels or comic book narratives can work across platforms, engage younger, more visually oriented readers, and transcend cultural borders. As Cohn (2014) notes, ‘growing research suggests that sequential images combined with text are an effective tool of communication and education (Nakazawa, 2005; Nalu and Bliss, 2011; Short, Randolph-Seng and McKenny, 2013), beyond just being entertainment’.

A good case written in comic format (akin to Graphic Novel), like any story, needs balance between three aspects. Truth (authenticity) to make your story believable, suspense (conflict) to make it interesting, while adding a human connection (audience) enables readers to see themselves and make an emotional connection.

Competing in the Digital Age

The present issue of April 2019 is about the saga of digital age. In the age of Fourth Industrial Revolution, the ongoing developments in data science, artificial intelligence, automation, material science and genomics are few of the important forces that hold the potential of completely redefining the broader society. Innovations in these areas are likely to have enormous social benefits in the coming years, improving health, education, transportation and other sectors around the world. At the same time, these innovations may raise significant issues related to privacy, security, the future of work and equality of opportunity. Indeed, as artificial intelligence gradually gobble up a wider array of human tasks, the challenge will be to understand what it means to be distinctively human.

Destination Digital: Building the Talent to Get There

In a digitalized economy, consumers receive, respond and express their experiences using social media, therefore excellence in digital space has become one of critical criteria for business success. Innovations in the digital space are required to compete in today’s fast-changing world. While several firms have recognized the crucial role of investing in digital, most firms are finding it difficult to recruit, select and train the right digital talent and determine the best structure for their firms. Although finding a right digital talent is difficult, firms can take few steps to hire, integrate, nurture and develop such talent.

Retaining Humanity while Being Pro-Technology

The current debate on the effect of digital age on our lives is the best example of an oxymoron. One section of experts focuses on the dark view of the outcomes and highlight the adverse impact of technology can have on our society. Another section points out the organizational challenges introduced by technology to incumbent firm’s business model. There are several examples of shift of power from the clutches of established enterprises to new firms as the latter, using technology, starts offering better services or products. Looking through the lens of change, it appears that the rapid transformation of markets caught the existing firms unaware.

Often the third perspective of the man versus digital technology issue finds hard to gain a place due to overwhelming anxiety. Undoubtedly, it is acknowledged that technology plays the role of a driver for societal and organizational development. Some optimism needs to be injected into the debate. Taking a pro-technology stance does not force a person to be anti-human.

Can We Remain Humane while Adopting Technology?

Instead of forging a synergetic relationship between technology and humanity, most often the ‘dark future’ or ‘challenges’ narratives polarize the importance of technology against a more human workforce. New technologies all the way from fire, wheel, steam power through to the printing press, bicycle, car, airplane to the invasion of social media have usually offered more autonomy, more options and made people less reliant on those with power over their lives. Most likely the same will happen this time also.

It is hard to verbalize fears. It is tougher to understand and share that the overall inspirational vision is to help organizations see novel opportunities. Today, only ideas can bring transformation in society and show organizations the path of progress. The difficult part in leveraging the power of ideas is that a good one seldom comes to surface. Our thoughts are severely limited by our existing knowledge. We get overawed in the narratives that revolve around challenges and dark futures. A balance between technology and humanity can be found if we collectively focus on reimagining the world.

New Face of Corporate Governance in the Globally Networked Economy

Past 70 years have witnessed tumulus geopolitical and economic transformations, the emergence of globalization and the massive growth in multinational corporations. Corporations work in increasingly challenging work environment, with the expansion of activities beyond their home country and movement between different legal and cultural systems. US corporate governance model, which was initially viewed as a benchmark model for the rest of the world, has failed in recent times. Structured academic and public debate on corporate has begun, with global innovative models being developed to ensure economic growth and innovation. Key trends involve an important movement of investment capital to actively managed funds, increased regulation, more active roles for independent directors, shareholder activism, whistle-blower policy, proxy advisory firm influence, workers and shareholders invited to join the board, and engagement between companies and shareholders. The external environment in which firms operate also influence their changing roles and responsibilities. In today’s digital world, firms’ operations and their social and environmental costs and benefits are under constant scrutiny.

The April 2019 issue of South Asian Journal of Business and Management Cases presents a bouquet of nine cases linked with the above thoughts.

The issue opens with a case ‘Its Bank’s Policy’ presented by Debapratim Purkayastha in a comic format. It is a multidimensional case that can be used in communication, OB, and ethics courses. We hope that the uniqueness of the format will help engaging students in a class and produce impactful learning. We are anxious to hear from those faculty who use it.

The second case is of a digitally empowered village Akodara in Gujarat, India. The case demonstrates that if proper infrastructure is made available and there is a strong will power to plan and implement to challenge the status quo, nothing is impossible. The ICICI bank adopted this village and made it 100% digital. The initiative holds the potential of transforming the lives of rural folks.

Bala Bhaskaran has authored the third case on Tata Group which revolves around the change of guard at the helm. The case traces the challenges of succession as experienced by the group and the emerging issues of adapting to a new paradigm of global connect. The case dwells on the dilemma whether profit maximization is the only prime objective of an organization or social commitment should also be given importance.

In the next case, John Sim explores the potential of appreciative inquiry (AI) as a process for leadership development. As a relational approach, AI is poised to develop new leadership by encouraging upcoming generations to collectively envision novel and inspiring futures and engage in participatory action. The case draws from data derived from a case study of AI in a military setting to support this claim.

Jyoti Ahluwalia and Mandeep Mahendru authored the case that follows on shares buy back of Tata Consultancy Services (TCS). It highlights the reasons why companies, such as TCS, may opt for share buyback and whether such decisions impact the investment options that companies might otherwise pursue with the same cash and resources. The case discusses how tax laws impact buyback decisions and bring an international perspective with regard to how buybacks have fared in the USA during the past decade.

Based on the experience of interacting with the CEO of the firm ‘Second Selection’, the author Kohei Nishikawa describes the challenges faced in bringing humanistic change in the organization. The case presents a road map and suggests various interventions used in transforming the firm. The process took four years.

Identifying, on-boarding and engaging talent for a firm that is dealing with emerging technologies is very exciting. In the case placed next, the authors Sumi Jha and Purnima S. Sangle have attempted to capture the dilemma of Mr Rao, founder of PrideVel, whether market is ready with potential talent pool to work on the emerging IT solutions like In-memory computing with SAP S/4 HANA, which is at its nascent stage, or his model of talent creation from internal resources will still deliver results.

Ramachandran Veetikazhi and Gopinath Krishnan in the case that follows have examined the corporate governance issues at Wells Fargo & Company. The bank was embroiled in controversies due to its cross-selling tactics and the enormous pressure the management exerted on the employees to ensure its success. Investigations by media, followed by statutory agencies revealed creation of fake accounts without the knowledge of the customers, sometimes forging their signatures. The case should stimulate discussions in the class on why corporate governance practices fail, despite seemingly healthy governing structure.

In the last case in this series, author Soma Dey charts the path of research, strategic collaborations and acquisition of strategic assets that enabled Biocon to become the leading biosimilar manufacturer in India. However, the biosimilar market remains a difficult market globally. The regulatory environments in different countries are a major challenge. Also, various other large global pharmaceutical companies are actively seeking access to this market, thereby increasing the competition for all. Biocon has to face all these issues as it goes ahead with an outward-looking plan of expanding its biosimilar and biologics portfolio.

We believe that the collection of nine cases presented in this issue, which have been written based on the experience derived from real life, will help the faculty and students of management to learn from case studies. In particular, the comic case ‘Its Bank’s Policy’ will create excitement in a class. It will motivate others to experiment with comic cases. We expect that the discussions in the class as well as outside, will give rise to debates around the issues of talent acquisition and nurturing in a digital environment to produce authentic leaders who are always alert to select ethical alternatives while striving for a balance between economic and social impacts of their decisions.