Entrepreneurship, Strategic Marketing, Retail Management.
It may be used in marketing/strategy/organisation behaviour courses of MBA programmes as well as in specific executive education programmes dealing with business strategy, sales and marketing, entrepreneurship and organisation behaviour.
In 2002, Rajan Chhibba co-founded Intrim Business Associates (IBA), a niche strategy consulting firm in India. IBA pitched for a consulting assignment for retail strategy/implementation with a steel manufacturer in India, where they were pitched against a large global consulting firm. After conducting a diagnostic study and reaching a stage where IBA had almost got the project, the client put forth a demand which was make-or-break for IBA. The case puts forth the questions faced by Rajan Chhibba at the time of replying to the client: How was IBA different from global consulting firms? Was IBA willing to compromise on quality of the project to reduce costs? Was reduction of price the only option for getting the project? What factors should Rajan Chhibba consider before making his final pitch?
This case may help students to: appreciate an entrepreneur's smart strategy up against formidable competition, analyse the resources crunch an entrepreneur faces and how he overcomes them, understand how organisations learn from their experience and appreciate the challenges in a competitive environment.
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