Doing Business in South Asia

At The Case Centre we are dedicated to advancing the case method in business and management education worldwide. This includes offering a diverse case collection for institutions globally to bring the real-world into their classrooms, allowing students to learn about business both locally and further afield. Doing Business in South Asia: A Case Study Collection achieves exactly this; featuring situations, issues, leadership, and organisations relating to South Asia, and beyond. Case topics include strategic management and challenges, localisation strategies of global companies, emerging global brands, digital transformation, sustainability, diversity, equity and inclusion, and economic development. As well as students having access to case topics that are relevant to their locality, I believe that for greater energy and engagement in the classroom they need case protagonists that they can identify with. And the cases in this book deliver a wide range of fantastic protagonists. Students can gain a huge amount from learning by the case method. Within the context of real-life decision-making, they can learn business and management theory while at the same time developing a wide range of vital skills that enhance their employability, including challenging assumptions, overcoming prejudices, testing theories, and debating solutions. Faculty also find that the case method changes classroom dynamics, making learning a far more exciting, interactive and enjoyable experience for all. The cases in this volume are compact too – each less than five pages. They can produce the same in-depth analyses and high-calibre classroom discussions as longer cases and are ideal for undergraduate classes where it can be difficult to persuade students to read long cases; for executive education where participants are pressed for time; for taster and introductory sessions to familiarise students with the case method; and for icebreaker sessions at the start of a course. This book also includes an important chapter on case preparation and analysis for students. If students would like to deepen their skills in this area I also recommend our Learning with Cases: An Interactive Study Guide. Visit: www.thecasecentre.org/LWCguide. Congratulations to all who contributed to this excellent case book. Vicky Lester, Chief Executive Officer, The Case Centre. We have been following case method as an important pedagogical tool for many years in our institution. The case method provides our students with exposure to real world situations and enables them to apply management concepts in these practical situations. We have found that it helps our students to learn important industry-relevant skills. Asian countries have been playing an increasingly important role in the global economy. Therefore, case studies pertaining to these countries form an essential component of the curriculum in business schools. In this context, ‘Doing Business in South Asia: A Case Study Collection’ is a welcome addition to the repository of management case studies. With the increasing interest in the use of case studies which are shorter in length, faculty members will definitely find this collection very apt for use, especially in undergraduate programs and executive education programs. The volume has interesting case studies on a variety of contemporary topics, ranging from digital transformation, and localization strategies of global companies to sustainability and diversity. As an Economics faculty member, I found the cases on India, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh in the part on Economic Development extremely interesting. I understand that the volume is supplemented by online resources for instructors to adopt these cases in the courses they teach. This will make it convenient for them to take these cases to their classes. Students will find the introductory chapter on preparation for a case discussion and analyzing a case very useful. I congratulate the editor and the contributing authors for coming out with this interesting collection and eagerly look forward to the publication of the volume. Dr C S Shylajan Dean and Professor, ICFAI Business School, Hyderabad