Bajrang Energy Systems Ltd, the manufacturers of Thermal Plant equipment and accessories believe that an increased belongingness in the minds of suppliers will improve product quality and successful supply rate. They planned 2 initiatives which they believed will derive more support and teamwork from suppliers in the long run. First one is conducting a Supplier Development Program (SDP) for suppliers from whom they expect more cooperation and they call them sub-optimal suppliers. Through this they intend to improve the trust and service of other suppliers as well. Second one is conducting a SRM (Supplier relationship management) programme which is nothing but a series of events promoting loyalty and pride of association executed with one selected supplier and thus demonstrating the need of strengthening the relationships to all suppliers. They are sure that a logical selection of participants and a professional conduct of these programs will satisfy the objectives like team productivity and continuous mutual growth. They decide to select suppliers and go-ahead with these initiatives.

Aditya Birla Retail Ltd. (ABRL) is the retail arm of Aditya Birla Group. India is one of the fastest growing retail markets in the world. ABRL launched its ‘More’ supermarkets in Coimbatore in 2007 and was operating 7 stores in Coimbatore. Initially, ‘More’ supermarkets appeared to be doing well but subsequently they failed to attract the customers and all the ‘More’ supermarkets in Coimbatore were closed down by 2011. Now, ABRL has asked its Assistant Manager-Marketing to analyse the reasons for the lack of patronage for ‘More’ supermarkets in Coimbatore and to prepare a report on their relaunching strategy. (The characters used in this case are fictional)

The case narrates how Tata Nano that was expected to be a revolutionary car struggled to survive in the Indian market. It explores the reasons behind the brand’s inability to arouse the potential car buyers’ interest and describes how the brand’s positioning was a major weakness. It examines the marketing communication tools used by the company and their effectiveness. The Teaching Note explains what led to a mismatch between the target buyers’ expectations and the brand’s positioning. The case is based on several secondary sources of information.

In 2010, Titan Industries Limited launched Zoop, a kids watch brand as part of its growth strategy. This was Titan’s second attempt in kids segment and this time it has been accepted very well in the market. The idea of re-entering this segment came from an interesting research. Since the factors influencing the performance of the product were positive, Titan developed this product and marketed with its established prowess in marketing & brand building. This case is all about the origin, development, introduction and initial performance of Zoop. The case contains detailed descriptions of strategic approaches in the introduction of Zoop and various factors that have been given attention by Titan. The author brings insights from the perspectives of strategy and marketing.

Anand, an MBA-student-turned-entrepreneur, was jubilant over his own textile trading venture until a credit-rating agency made a negative observation about the net worth of his business at the end of the first year. He became perturbed, as he was clueless about the actual status of the financial health of his business. With no internal accountant to help him, he was looking for ways to classify and summarize the financial transactions made in the past one year and understand the true worth of his small business.

The case narrates the role played by Melas where rural and small town (the feeder towns) people congregate once a year for the purpose of worshipping God and how this occasion and place are used for buying a number of products and consuming entertainment – the Indian and rural version of shoppertainment. But with urbanization and modern retail formats, they are losing their charm, as young people are gradually deserting them. Such Melas and Haats can be prevented from getting into oblivion by reinventing the same as a make-shift ‘Rural Mall’ by using contemporary technology and marketing knowledge.

A second generation business leader of a 40 year old Engineering company in the first decade of 21st century realized that a phenomenal change in operations and in the mode of conducting business supported by latest technologies was the only way for sustainability and for achieving the targeted growth. He was keen on completing a BPR exercise within a year. His executives foresaw numerous problems in executing transformations quickly without slowing down regular operations. How they succeeded in time as a team is the essence of this case.

ASM Cab Services, promoted by the ASM conglomerate, commenced operations in Coimbatore city with a fleet of 100 sedans. The existing cab services were provided mostly by individuals or amateur operators. While seizing this opportunity, ASM underestimated the requirement and was unable to meet the huge demand. It complicated the situation by frequently cancelling confirmed bookings. Customer complaints started pouring in and ASM further aggravated the situation by misusing CRM software by preventing booking by anyone with grievance history. General public shunned ASM and it had to find a way of turning around in the face of severe competition and revenue crunch.