SMA-PL

Case Study Questions

Please read the case studies and prepare submissions according to the following
plan:

Session 1-2

Case Study: Should You Compromise Your Founding Principles for Faster Growth?
(Individual Submission- Word File or PPT before the class)

1. Should the company explore the B2C market?

2. How can a cause like the transgender right to livelihood and dignity be measured as a
potential basis for an effective and sustainable brand positioning in a highly competitive
market?
3. What are the challenges of creating differentiation in a commoditized market?

Session-3

Case Study: Machine Learning Algorithms to Drive CRM in the Online E-Commerce Site at
VMWARE (Please read the case and prepare for the following questions for discussions- No
submission required)
1. How is CRM being used to drive online sales?
2. How can data analytics be used to improve the quality of the leads?
3. If you were to translate this business requirement to the analytics team, what
parameters would you ask the technical team to be included in your requirements? How
should we go about to validate the model?
4. To what extent do you think that sampling of the data used in machine learning would
influence the outcome of the results of the algorithm?

Session-4 &5

Case Study: Netflix: Hustling for more in India’s crowded OTT Space
(Group PPT submission before the class)

1. Conduct analysis for the OTT industry and the major players in India. Discuss the importance
of the Indian OTT market for Netflix.
2. Discuss the possible strategies for Netflix to increase its subscriber base in India? 
3. Should Netflix compete by offering a wide selection of movies or should it focus on
generating exclusive content such as Squid Game, Money Heist and Sacred Games?
4. What would it take for Netflix to win – what combination of factors and sequence of
actions?
5. Discuss the possible strategies for Hotstar to defend its leadership position.

Session-6

Case Study: Ben and Jerry’s Homemade

(Group paper submission before the class (1 page-add appendix if needed) to answer 2 nd or 4th
or 5th question)

1. Explain the basic governance structure of a publicly listed company (such as Ben and Jerry’s)
and how this might differ from a private company.
2. Assess how well a company has fulfilled its mission statement and issue an AIM-based grade
to each aspect of the mission statement.
3. Calculate and explain basic financial terms/ratios such as net income and return on equity
and price to earnings multiple.
4. Explain what a takeover is and how a company becomes a takeover target.
5. Explain the decision that needs to be made and recommend the course of action that Henry
Morgan should take as Board member.

Session-7

Case Study: Big Jim's Gym (Group Paper Submission (1-page) to answer the questions)

1. What is the main problem that Big Jim is facing? 

2. How did he end up in that situation?

Session-8

Case Study: Should This Team Be Saved?

Session 9-10

Case Study: Sarva Pharmaceuticals in Cambodia: Fight or Fold?

(Group PPT submission before the class)

1. What were John Taing’s critical failures with control of the salesforce? What are the
possible implications?
2. How should Sarva restructure its product portfolio?
3. Sarva is considering several actions to strengthen its marketing function. What is a good
starting point?
4. How should Sarva modify its sales strategy and align it with its marketing strategy?
5. What other strategies could turn the company around?