Asian Journal of Management Cases

India’s non-banking financial institutions (NBFIs), broadly constituting the less-regulated shadow banking sector, have been plagued with scams, triggering a domino effect in the Indian money market. Major corporate governance issues were highlighted in NBFIs with the unfurling of the ILF&S fraud; it virtually created a sub-prime crisis. In such a scenario, where the shadow banking sector was subject to change in regulations to ensure vigilance, corporate governance lapses had again led to the meltdown of Kapil Wadhawan led Dewan Housing Finance Limited (DHFL). Registering a net profit growth of 25% in the third quarter of financial year 2017, DHFL was one of India’s leading housing finance companies with a value of whopping ₹1.01 trillion as its asset under management (AUM). The company had nose-dived from its coveted position, suffering a loss of ₹22.23 million for the last quarter of the financial year 2018–2019. The company’s credit ratings of commercial papers and non-convertible debentures were downgraded; non-payment of interests led to enforcement of resolution plan, with the board of directors acceding to nationalized banks. The company’s reputation had crashed with its share prices, amidst allegations of lookout notice issued for its promoters for siphoning funds through shell companies. The case describes the oversights and negligence of DHFL in terms of corporate governance practices in the context of the NBFC (non-banking financial company) sector. The jury is out to evaluate whether Wadhawan had followed the rules of corporate governance in letter and spirit, or the tightening noose of regulations and market sentiments around the ‘shadow banking’ sector of India spelt doom for DHFL.

Tehmina Khan, a 35-year-old, married mother of two, had been working as an assistant professor at a private sector university, University of Management and Information (UMI), School of Business. For the last few years, she had been saving for her retirement via a provident fund (PF) with her employer. The fund had been posting generous returns for years up until July 2018, when it posted earnings well below the inflation rate for the same period. Tehmina wanted to be financially self-sufficient in her post-retirement years and sought no financial dependence on her posterity for that matter. The meagre returns heightened her concerns about the future eventualities, so she had to decide if she should switch to another retirement plan. She needed to explore alternative retirement plans and identify how she could participate in a voluntary pension system (VPS) outside her employer’s PF. Also, if she decided to go ahead with VPS, she had to decide which asset management company(s) and portfolio manager(s) to allocate her savings to.

The case comprehensively discusses the details about different retirement benefits and mechanisms and distinguishes aspects of private and public sector retirement plans in Pakistan. Most importantly, the case includes data on the performance of seventeen out of a total of nineteen pension plans operating in Pakistan. It also includes data on asset allocations of pension funds; overall macroeconomic, historical and stock market performances; and yield curve for the last 10 years.

Small cars accounted for 75% of the cars sold in India; electrification of these cars and making them affordable was one of the major challenges apart from the infrastructure. Hence, leading automakers saw this as highly impracticable. However, Mahindra Electric Cars Pvt. Ltd., India’s only electric car maker, firmly believed that electric mobility, though in the nascent stage, is the future of the automotive sector. The case tries to deals with Mahindra Electric Cars Pvt. Ltd.’s opportunities and challenges, the pioneers in electric mobility in India in the wake of government decision. It raises certain imperative questions like: Is the Indian market ready for electric cars? What will be the likely impact on the current market scenario? Can the automaker create a favourable perception in consumers’ minds towards electric cars? Will this new category thrive in a hyper-competitive conventional market? This case is written based on insights provided by the company. The case authors interacted with the four-member Mahindra team in Bangalore, India, and got first-hand input.

Filli Café in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) has captured a slice of the market with the unique taste of zafran tea. This was superimposed by applying a unique branding strategy. The brand’s unique selling proposition was to create a homely ambience at Filli Café, where people could chat for hours while immersed in the joy of a warm, soothing cup of tea. This led to the brand’s huge success, with the target audience being the expatriates and Emirati population, as they liked the taste of the zafran tea. The challenge in front of the Chief Executive Officer, Mr Rafih Filli, was to grab the market and work on diversification and expansion globally.

Nikolai Asia Pacific in Johor Bahru Malaysia is a leading manufacturer of vegetable oils and fats. The Senior Manager of Human Resource and Organization Development (HROD) had concerns about employees at managerial levels. He felt that they were not playing their role in championing organizational changes being made for improvement in performance. He expected the managers should be able to foresee the struggles the organization will face in the coming years and initiate changes even when everything seemed to be going well. This case presents an opportunity for first-year undergraduate students to understand needs assessment for training and non-training interventions for managers of an organization. The case discusses issues of performance discrepancies among managers despite the various initiatives taken by the HROD department. In order to emulate reality, the event that led the HROD to take action has been recorded in the case study. The identified gaps will prompt learners to identify tools and approaches necessary in such a situation.

Dr Reddy’s Laboratories Ltd (DRL) was one of India’s success stories in the pharma space, wherein a founder’s dream turned into a reality. It had a remarkable growth over three decades, with impeccable quality and regulatory standards, as it went on to become the number-two pharma company in India by sales. However, in the last 3 years, DRL was navigating one of the most challenging times it had ever faced for various reasons. Sales were stagnated, profits had plunged, costs had spiralled and manufacturing sites grappled with US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) issues—and more importantly, its growth strategies were not delivering results. This resulted in value erosion, reduced number of new product approvals, customers doubting the capabilities, competitors doing much better, etc. Also, it questioned whether DRL continued to be the bellwether or not for the Indian pharma fraternity as competitors raced ahead. This case highlights the global and Indian context of the pharma industry, along with details of three main competitors based on secondary data sources, and analyses the ongoing issues in DRL. Finally, it concludes by highlighting the six decision buckets and the way forward to make DRL a bellwether again in the Indian pharma industry.