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Usha Martin Limited: Unravelling the Vertical Integration Strategy
Nitin PangarkarCase IVEY-9B21M024-EStrategyIn May 2020, Usha Martin Limited (Usha Martin), a diversified engineering group based in India, was debating strategies for continued future growth. In April 2019, the company had divested its steelmaking and related operations to reduce its debt load. Though the divestment meant a large decline in the company’s sales for the year ended March 2020, the company managed to reverse the trend of losses incurred in several recent quarters and years to...Starting at €8.20
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The Airbnb Business Travel Vertical in Asia: The Way Forward
Nitin Pangarkar; Yuan Kay ChungCase IVEY-9B17M144-EStrategyIn March 2017, Airbnb needed to make some important decisions regarding its strategy for the Airbnb Business Travel Vertical (ABTV) in Asia. Despite a short history of less than three years since the formal announcement of its launch, the ABTV had exhibited promising performance. The business travel market offered many attractive characteristics, including its large size. Despite the attractiveness of the business travel segment, two issues relat...Starting at €8.20
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Sobha Group Real Estate: Backward Integration for Quality
Macomber, John D.; Thapar, AlpanaCase HBS-219034-EFinanceFrom humble beginnings in Kerala, India, Mr. PNC Menon built a reputation for quality, detail, and trustworthiness, earning him major construction commissions in the Gulf region. This paved the way for venturing into real estate development in Dubai, UAE. Striving to control quality and schedule, his firm, Sobha Middle East, self-performs a wide range of tasks - an unusual set of choices in the global real estate and construction industry. In mid...Starting at €8.20
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Ola Electric's Audacious Scooter Plans on Fire
Nitin Pangarkar; Neetu YadavCase IVEY-W33537-ELeadership and People Management, StrategyOla Electric Mobility Pvt. Ltd. (Ola Electric) was launched in 2017 by ANI Technologies Pvt. Ltd., better known as Ola Cabs, as a venture for making electric scooters. Bhavish Aggarwal, one of Ola Cabs’ founders, acquired a 92.5 per cent stake in Ola Electric and pursued a path of rapid expansion. By 2022, Ola Electric had successfully raised a large amount of capital from investors, developed several subsystems (especially software) of its produ...Starting at €8.20
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Ghassan Nuqul and the Nuqul Group: Preserving a Father's Legacy
Wing, Christina R.; Cohen, Lauren H.; Thapar, AlpanaCase HBS-624030-EService and Operations ManagementThe Nuqul Group was established in 1952 by Elia Nuqul, a Palestinian refugee who fled his hometown in 1948 with his family to Jordan. He overcame many hardships in his initial years there, but subsequently started a trading business that grew to become one of Jordan's largest family businesses. Its flagship company, Fine Hygienic Holding (FHH), was a leader in hygienic paper products across the Middle East and North Africa. In March 2023, Ghassan...Starting at €8.20
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Careem: Base Camp or Mountain Peak Designing an OS for Scaling
Ghosh, Shikhar; Yucaoglu, Gamze; Thapar, AlpanaCase HBS-819049-EEntrepreneurshipStarting at €8.20
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Tiger Balm: Internationalization and Product Extension
Nitin PangarkarCase IVEY-9B15M128-EStrategyHaw Par Corporation’s healthcare division produces Tiger Balm, the external analgesic rub that has gained global popularity. Despite delivering strong results, the division remains dependent on Asian markets, which poses challenges with regard to low affordability, weak protection of intellectual property and aggressive competition. To achieve sustained growth, the company’s executive director is considering several alternatives: geographic expan...Starting at €8.20
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Singapore Airlines: Surviving the COVID-19 Pandemic
Nitin PangarkarCase IVEY-W26385-EStrategyIn August 2021, Singapore Airlines Group (SIA) was at a critical juncture in its history. Since early 2020, the COVID-19 pandemic had forced commercial travel to almost a standstill, requiring SIA to idle most of its fleet. The group’s overall revenues had declined by 76 per cent in the 2020/21 financial year, resulting in a loss of S$4.27 billion. The massive cash bleed forced the group to issue new capital, thus diluting the stake of its existi...Starting at €8.20
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Careem: Raising a Unicorn
Ghosh, Shikhar; Thapar, AlpanaCase HBS-818022-EEntrepreneurshipThis case follows two ex-McKinsey consultants, Magnus Olsson and Mudassir Sheikha, who in search of finding their true purpose decide to found Careem, a Dubai-based ride-hailing service. Following its launch in July 2012, Careem experiences rapid growth of 30 percent per month in the UAE and other countries in the MENA region, surpassing the co-founders' expectations. However, as a result of such immense growth, the startup struggles with various...Starting at €8.20
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Happy UAE
Schwartzstein, Joshua R.; Hall, Brian J.; Chang, Tiffany Y.; Sameh, Karim; Thapar, AlpanaCase HBS-918041-EEconomicsThis case centers around the United Arab Emirates' (UAE) national goal of raising the happiness of its residents and visitors through ambitious government initiatives. They combined this bold national goal with an accountability structure (incentive plan) built on Key Performance Indicators (KPIs), as more typically done at a company level. A key case protagonist is Ohood Al Roumi: the UAE and the world's first dedicated Minister of State for Hap...Starting at €8.20