Summary of the Case The case titled ‘ekShop to Rule Them All?’ outlines the issues facing ekShop which is an assisted rural e-commerce platform established under a2i. It brings together several individuals and establishes e commerce entities of Bangladesh under one platform, whence people can buy desired products. The target customer of ekShop is the mass people of Bangladesh in general and the citizens living in rural and the most remote locations of the country in particular. Since its emergence, ekShop continues to grow. ekShop, at this moment, does not prioritize it’s financial sustainability to a great extent as the major concern of the relevant authorities is keeping the platform open for the public with the fear of loss of income for their service center entrepreneurs if the shop closes. product. CGS is identical with many advantageous features whereas the manufacturer could not properly communicate such valuable information to the target customers.
Case Summary A story exceptionally grows appealing to the business readers when the challenges of an organization are transformed into the sources of innovative entrepreneurial opportunity. The topic of discussion in the case enables the readers to enthusiastically develop a prying inquiry into how a well-reputed, leading company named Shyamoli Paribahan (SP) got confronted with challenges in the transportation sector; and how the survival strategy of the organization enabled it to transform challenges, or in other words, obstructionist force, into the fountain of business opportunity. SP—while facing challenges—adopted the strategic planning initiative that incorporates creative insights into the business venture and accuracy of direction in the right pathway. And as such, it was able to revitalize its business operation. The key strategy—which made SP successful—involved exploring the new river route by speedboats, a line of travel that connects the missing link between two highways. A 20-minute journey by speedboat shortens the total journey duration by 43%. This strategy alleviates unspeakable sufferings of passengers, travelling from Dhaka to Pabna and vice versa. The tagline ‘Quick Service’ as a convenient solution for SP became appealing to multiple customer classes. This strategy, indeed, helped the company allure a wide spectrum of customers in the business world. The communication strategies of SP including the big banner, Word-of-Mouth (WoM), etc. earned success. Within a short period of time, the strategies led to the creation of a brand buzz and strong customer base, a particular achievement which is highly desirable for the sustainability of business. Another important aspect of SP is that it is, no longer, complacent about its current strategies. It is always aware about the probable upcoming challenges including new competitors, fare of speedboat, future infrastructural development, abrupt weather issues, and the like. Nothing can dissuade the company from doing an update on the potential problems or risks and behaving accordingly. Such a cautious approach helps the organization to be on the right track and come up with a set of dynamic strategies.
Summary of the Case This case elucidates a rather unorthodox case of Business Process Outsourcing (BPO) initiative which is solely focused on producing high quality images for businesses to use for commercial purposes. Producing a clean and professional version of the image serves as a propellant force for online shopping. To make the tedious image processing task scalable, The KOW Company Ltd has implemented a hybrid of traditional project management methods and the fairly new SCRUM methodology. The reasons why business requires the images to be processed bear a link with responsiveness and clarity of image when viewed by consumers on a wide array of devices. And as such the ‘why’ factors, most importantly, are held responsible for the production of lucrative photographs. Moreover, it is reasonably assumed that most marketing outreach programs or campaigns attain higher reach among any given target demographic when paired with well processed high-resolution images. The size of the global photo editing services industry is estimated to be over $50 billion. Large retailers and other businesses which require a large number of photos to be edited and processed are often faced with two options. They can either hire a group of photo editors or they can outsource the whole work of image processing to a third party. Since the latter option often appears to be more cost-effective, businesses naturally gravitate towards obtaining service from companies such as The KOW Company Ltd. The company currently employs around4 00 people and processes more than 16,500 images a day. While giant retailers continue to expand their businesses online, companies like The KOW Company Ltd are thriving on such high-volume image processing jobs. They are currently providing image processing service to leading global retailers and football league. While owning a state-of-the-art solution center with all sorts of image processing services and studio support solutions, The KOW Company Ltd expects to experience drastic growth in the years to come. Despite the unavailability of data regarding the market share of image processing BPO occupied by Bangladesh-based companies, according to conservative estimation, The KOW Company Ltd currently holds about 25% of the market share in Bangladesh. By the end of 2018, The KOW Company Ltd carried out extensive promotion which caused them to gather a lot of clients, more than they could possibly cater to at that time. Eventually, the company hired more people and offered relevant training to form the sizable teams required to take on large scale projects. The KOW Company Ltd now helps customers with data-driven activities which include employee and client feedback, equipment allocation, and better turnarounds to operate the process in a smoother way. In the future, The KOW Company Ltd plans to take on more skill intensive work such as VFX, Pre-Press, and video editing by building on the current strategy of dividing complex tasks into simpler achievable goals assigned for a number of teams.
Case Summary Catering is a highly sophisticated industry across the globe, with the status of caterers being respectfully viewed everywhere. Unfortunately, the opposite scenario remains visible throughout the country. There is no gainsaying the fact that food service is an unavoidable part on all occasions, but what sounds true within the context of the existing Bangladeshi society is that neither the caterers provide global quality catering services nor do the customers respect the job of a caterer. ‘Alpha Catering Services Limited’ (ACSL) has embarked on this entrepreneurial activity, holding a well-planned mission to alter the perception of the catering service at national level. But ACSL has encountered challenges from companies—equipped with years of experience. Getting enlisted into the community halls and clearing dues from corporate clients constitute certain other major challenges of their B2B operations. In the midst of all these challenge laden situations, ACSL seeks to be the market leader. It has got certain strategies at the planning stage. The readers are asked to evaluate the strategies and suggest how they would have implemented them if they had become the CEO.
Case Summary The case represents the success story of an emergency contraceptive pill Peuli. The people get struck with wonder as they concentrate upon the fact that a product from a relatively less known company transormatively changes into one of the top brands in Bangladesh. This case vividly depicts how an ordinary pharmaceutical company named Ziska, came face to face with intense competition as well as hurdles; while promoting a contraceptive product named Peuli in Bangladesh market. The story demonstrates how a well-thought-out marketing program results in making the product a very successful brand. The key points attributable to the grand success of Peuli brand include picking the right brand name; generating awareness among people through seminars; introducing medical education sessions and peer group discussions; using social networking sites like Facebook along with conventional media; launching special TV program entitled “Peuli Health Show” conducted by doctors in an astute way; introducing emergency helpline number to cater to the needs of people seeking medical products; forging unique distribution system in which online order and quick delivery are ensured and the like. Briefly speaking, the case encompasses all the issues that Peuli had to address in its journey, especially the measures it took to overcome the taboo among the general population, doctors, and even the pharmacists. Ziska was very much intuitive in understanding the nature of consumer behavior. The consumer insight helped Ziska come up with appropriate marketing programs. Eventually the brand achieved such a high degree of success as to heighten the image of the manufacturer-Ziska, although Ziska was supposed to enhance the brand image of the product Peul.
Case Summary The case deals with the expansion strategy of Star Cineplex (SCP) in 3 new different locations within Dhaka. Apart from its Branch at the Bashundhara City Shopping Complex, one of the new branches has already got started and it is operating at full gallop at Dhanmondi. Two other branches in Mohakhali and Mirpur will be introduced soon; a particular initiative that will cater to consumer needs and wants in different price ranges and services. The operating expense of SCP will go up as a result of this expansion. Thus, SCP needs to sustain its growth by means of service excellence, thus ensuring customer value.
Case Summary This case is about Sheba.xyz, a new platform for service marketplace which initiates, facilitates and coordinates every type of home improvement service. Currently, the company delivers personal services and high involvement services as well such as beauty services. This marketplace has a lot of potential opportunities. The opportunities include alluring more and more customers but the costs appear as an impediment for their entry into this field. Sheba.xyz tried to utilize their existing assets in order to achieve value maximization.
Case Summary The case depicts the success story of the SME financing division of one of the leading financial institutions of the country, LankaBangla Finance Limited (LBFL). The company has been operating for over two decades in the market. Despite being a financial institution, the company took around a decade to initiate its core business. While the company enjoyed initial success with retail and corporate products, it struggled for 3 to 4 years to succeed with small and medium enterprises (SMEs). This case simply reflects the journey of SME financing— from struggling to develop a strong portfolio base to continue growth at higher rates. The case does not focus on any problems; nor does it review the situation in depth.
Case Summary Bdjobs Training, in all likelihood, provides the best training facility for job-seekers in Bangladesh. In fact, it appears bigger and more potential than any other organization in playing host to the training programs in the country’s education and training sector. The way the organization serves as facilitator of the training industry at national level enables it to achieve an unsurpassable position. As a dynamic and booming industry, it is continuously confronted with certain challenges that need to be addressed properly so as to hold its present well-reputed position. The organization does not have to work under pressure from too much external competition at industrial level. However, the challenges and hurdles that it faces internally while in operation are tremendously critical to the sustainability of its business. Hence, it usually comes up with its own R&D that helps improvise its strategies to meet the challenges more effectively. In fact, it is the basic requirement of the industry.
Case Summary The Daily Star is the leading English national daily in Bangladesh. With the arrival of the era of change, the organization started rethinking its revenue model. Consequently, it began to move into the field of digital media. In fact, a high degree of uncertainty hangs heavy upon it, since a change occurred in the traditional structure of advertising-supported revenue model (a business approach that emphasizes the sale of advertising as a major source of income). The Daily Star is forcibly in competition not only with the local players (segments of the local market that earn the monetary income from displaying advertisements online, social networking sites; and the other innovative web-based platforms) but also with the global giants like Facebook and YouTube. At present, The Daily Star is on the lookout for new ways of advertising revenue to overcome the challenge.
Summary of the Case The TV viewing industry has come a long way over the years. After decades of domination by cable TV operators, the industry landscape is experiencing positive disruption in the form of newer and more innovative forms of technology. This case highlights the story of Akash DTH, the first ever Direct-To-Home (DTH) service launched in Bangladesh, from its inception to current day. Even after a shaky start, Akash emerged stronger than ever in a highly competitive industry. With forward-looking strategies and strong support from its parent company BEXIMCO, Akash managed to make its mark within a short period of time. This case postulates that there is a chance for the industry landscape to be completely different from what we know today. In the case a question arises, “to what extent will Akash be able to clear the clouded skies and stay relevant?”
Case Summary The case deals with the rise and downfall of a renowned Bengali magazine named UNMAD. The appropriate English term for UNMAD is insane or mad. The organization incorporates the cartoonists who—by their comic, incongruous and absurdist representations—caused amusement and satirized or caricatured human situations. The case shows how the people’s artistic sense imbibed the pleasure of humor from cartoons in the past and how such a form of art evolved in the present era. In fact, it depicts the way people’s choice absorbed a change in the sense of taste from printed version of amusement to digital format of humor with the march of time. The story identifies the underlying reasons for an inescapable shift in human taste. It talks about the time when a single issue of magazine sold out, nearly 30,000 copies per month; and also when the company has to sell other merchandises to stay afloat in the business. There are questions on “what could have been done?” or “what still remains possible to do to save the company?” UNMAD is the only humor-oriented cartoon magazine that injected the satirical sense and components of humor into the mindset of the vast multitude of people.