Abstract
This editorial piece was composed on 2 June 2020 when working from home; our normal days in the now-suddenly-distant past may well have often blunted us into somehow getting through them. Our lives have suddenly experienced brakes that have resulted into an unpredictable length of the time due to disruption and led us to reflect upon our experiences and feelings that all of us have been going through during the past two months that is shocking, unexpected, unpredictable, unknowable, new; much that we have not felt before and not seen. What is it like to live today knowing that we do not know what tomorrow and the day after will unfold?
We hope and pray that by the time this issue of December 2020 is due for release, the world will get respite from the clutches of COVID-19.
On 11 March 2020, the World Health Organization declared that COVID-19 can be characterized as a pandemic. The disease is caused by the novel coronavirus SARS-CoV-2, which rapidly overwhelmed the entire world. The virus was first detected in China in December 2019, and, on 30 January 2020, the outbreak was declared a Public Health Emergency of International Concern, which later evolved into a pandemic.
The devastating and unpredictable spread of COVID-19 throughout the world has caused unprecedented global lockdowns and immense burden for healthcare systems, affecting severely the economy of countries and the lives of people. The path of recovery will be a calculated trade-off between physical distancing and economic growth.
The sectors such as travel and tourism, hospitality, aviation, mass transit, banking, retail, mutual funds, MSME are facing the brunt of COVID-19. Sectors of telecom and healthcare may have been spared. The pandemic has highlighted the important roles played by doctors and healthcare workers in providing medical care, sanitation workers keeping places clean, police and armed forces helping to maintain safety and law and order, and people engaged in providing essential services. These ‘COVID warriors’ are committed to their profession despite the high-level risk to their lives.
To respond to COVID-19, many countries are using a combination of containment and mitigation activities to delay major surges of patients and level the demand for hospital beds, while protecting the most vulnerable from infection, including elderly people and those with comorbidities.
The coronavirus has transformed our lives. Schools are closed; we’re confined to our homes and the future feels predictably uncertain. Why write during a crisis? Why submit cases to SAJBMC?
Two reasons. One, we are living in history. Future historians may look back on the journals, essays, cases and art that are being created now to tell the story of life during the coronavirus. Writing can also be deeply therapeutic. It can release the pent up stress within us by the way of expression of our fears, hopes and joys. It can help us make sense of the world and our place in it. Two, even though temples of learning are closed, it doesn’t mean learning should stop. Writing can help us reflect on what’s happening in our lives and form new ideas. Search for a new normal.
Post COVID-19, business models, leadership styles, communication, resilience, collaboration, survival and coping mechanism, ownership styles, social values, mindfulness about ecological well-being, professional and personal relationships will change forever. New norms will be in place for workplaces, personal hygiene, consumption and investments. New delivery models for learning will emerge. The impact on higher management education will be for the better and will be lasting.
Amid all this chaos, fortunately, the case writing, submission and publication of SAJBMC went on smoothly. The number of case submissions experienced a spike. The editorial team is grateful to all those case authors who could keep their calm and concentrated on writing cases.
Each one of the twelve cases presented in this issue of December 2020 is linked with some theory that will give reason to a management faculty to select the case for a course.
The first case in the series ‘Innovation at the Bottom of the Pyramid: Empowering Rickshaw Pullers’ written by Sharma, Singh and Singh narrates a story of a successful social entrepreneur in uplifting the quality of life of rickshaw pullers by introducing a new product with product and process innovations. The case fits the entrepreneurship or product and process management chapters.
In the next case ‘IPO Underpricing and Media Sentiments: Avenue Supermarts and Vaswani Industries’, Gupta, Singh and Yadav, using the theory of information asymmetry, try to analyse the impact of media sentiments on initial public offering (IPO) underpricing. The case has been tested in the course of a financial market.
The third case in the series titled ‘Danone India: The Challenges of Expanding into an Emerging Market’, written by Pandey and Yadav, outlines the struggles of Danone India, a French-based firm that envisioned high stakes in the Indian dairy market but had to exit early due to its inability to adapt to the Indian market conditions. The case can be used to teach environment scanning and exit strategies adopted by a firm.
The fourth case ‘Facilitating Women Prosperity with Higher Purpose at Vyomini’ by the authors Mishra, Sharma and Agrawal uses the theory of conscious capitalism which states that when business is done consciously, it promotes humanity intrinsically. With an entrepreneurial inclusive business model, the case probes four tenets of higher purpose, stakeholder integration, conscious leadership, and conscious culture and management and can be used in either a course on organizational behaviour or entrepreneurship.
Green banking adoption has gained momentum in the past few decades in both the developed and developing economies. In the next case ‘Infrastructure Development Company Limited Solar Home System Program: A Sustainable Solution for Energizing Rural Bangladesh’, authors Ali Bukhari, Hashim and Amran outline the initiative of green banking adopted by Pakistan’s banking industry.
Using the four dimensions of the 4A framework as applied to the solar home system business model IDCOL had enriched the lives of more than 12 per cent of the population of Bangladesh. IDCOL is expected to face a decline in investments in the rural electrification sector as its flagship SHS programme is currently under threat of becoming non-existent. The case ‘Infrastructure Development Company Limited (IDCOL) Solar Home System Program: A Sustainable Solution for Energizing Rural Bangladesh’ written by Ahmed, Niza, and Ahmed broaches the subject on how IDCOL plans to position itself amidst the dilemma of Bangladesh’s changing market. They are evaluating the options of softer financing, expansion in other user segments, developing newer products, and exploring different projects, entering markets in other countries. An apt case for a marketing course.
Written by Farzana, Pero and Othman, the seventh case, ‘The Dream’s Door: Educational Marginalization of Rohingya Children in Malaysia’, in the series deals with the educational marginalization of Rohingya children in Malaysia. With the support of statelessness theory, the case attempts to answer to two questions: Are Rohingya in Malaysia ‘refugees’ or ‘economic migrants’? Should the children of Rohingya be given access to education? The case can be used in courses of humanitarian law or international politics.
Cases on corporate governance deviance are rarely written. Authors Chatterjee and Hazarika have penned the journey of Infosys between 2014 and 2017 under the leadership of the first non-founder member. The case ‘Corporate Governance Deviance: A Case Study of Infosys’ discusses entrepreneurial ambitions and zeal to grow saddled with lack of cognizance of corporate governance resulted in deviance leading to turmoil followed by the resignation of the CEO. The company values, the roles of founder members, institutional investors, shareholders and other aspects came under the scanner to understand the reasons behind the corporate governance deviance. A good homegrown case on ethics and governance.
In a well-crafted case, ‘Inmates as Labour Pool: A Case of Inter-organizational Collaboration’, on inter-organizational collaboration, Shree, Brahmankar and Singh suggest how a large pool of prison inmates can be engaged in productive activities to earn a livelihood and develop some skill set. The jobs to be contracted were selected based on the security needs, matching competency, low set-up and training cost, and future expansions. Initially, jail authorities leased out portions of premises to firms. Inventory was brought in the jail and finished items were transported back to the user.
In a networked economy, inter-organizational collaboration has a secured place and an important role. It is a part of the organizational behaviour course.
The tenth case, ‘York University and Cupe 3903—Future of Collective Bargaining Rights’ is on the future of collective bargaining rights between York University and Cupe 3903 by authors Mehrotra and Risavy. Developed based on labour relations, integrative versus distributive negotiation, and third-party interventions, the case presents a more effective way to resolve the crisis. It can be used in the course of strategy to explain competitive distributive or collaborative integrative strategies.
In the case titled ‘Christian Medical College and Hospital: Serving with a Sense of Calling’, the author Puja Jain probes why the doctors of the CMC&H stay longer and do not do private practice. Due to financial constraints, CMC&H neither is a very good paymaster nor has swanky infrastructure. The author tries to explore answers to certain questions such as what is the approach of doctors towards their work and what is there in this charismatic CMC&H due to which doctors decide to stay with it. Is it due to the unique business model of the CMC&H which is successful in engaging the doctors purposefully?
The twelfth and the last case titled ‘SuperShip—Journey of a Successful Entrepreneur’ is about a firm providing specialized freight forwarding and express delivery services for e-commerce transactions in Vietnam. In four years, SuperShip has grown steadily to become a prestigious and well-established enterprise in the fast-moving freight forwarding market. The case highlights how through participation in union-association and volunteering activities, implementing small business plans to earn extra money during college days can help in developing leadership, negotiation and interpersonal skills and hone the entrepreneurship trait. A good case for the entrepreneurship course.
Five of the twelve cases are set in economies outside India. One case each from Canada, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Malaysia and Vietnam.
We hope you will like the collection of cases and find them useful for your courses. Also, a gradual shift to case study research will be beneficial for both the authors and the journal. Send your comments to ak.dey@bimtech.ac.in.