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TATA
CONSULTANCY SERVICES
SMART MANAGER CASE CONTEST
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smart thoughts
students
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manish kumar
urele
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student, iim bangalore
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On the superficial level, it seems
that the motive behind Bainz’s support for the law would be CSR (corporate social
responsibility) or its concern towards society, but the underlying motive is to
acquire the immense competitive advantage this would give him. The decision is a
wisely taken strategic move.
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shivkumar
s
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student, iim lucknow
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A very important thing to be considered
in the given context was the rapidly diminishing consumer confidence in the processed
foods industry. There was a huge public uproar on the issue. Bainz, by supporting
the legislation, would help reinforce consumer belief in the quality of his products.
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nitish diora
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student, vesimsr
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The smaller firms might not be able
to meet the increasing costs and they would either have to merge or get acquired
by bigger firms to survive. Bainz can acquire a few of these firms and improve its
hold on the market as well as reach the untapped market. This would eventually increase
the share capital of the company.
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chaitanya
shangloo
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student, iift
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S J Bainz should initiate a sort
of industry-wide social campaign on his own which would publicly state his aim of
expediting the process of improving manufacturing of processed foods and hence enhance
the overall quality of the goods being produced.
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neha prakash
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student, iim lucknow
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Free market does not mean that companies
have the right to play with people’s lives. The argument that the legislation is
aimed at curbing free markets is a ploy by rivals to reduce operating costs and
provide sub-standard food to the public.
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dinesh dharra
student
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The argument that the passing of
the legislation would hurt the free market is flawed. The legislation would lead
to the formation of a regulatory body that would set certain minimum standards for
the industry and safeguard the interests of the consumers. The regulators are a
norm in every industry.
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murali krishnan
nair
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student, iim ahmedabad
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In the short term, Bainz will effectively
eliminate any competition by raising the entry barriers and making it very expensive
to serve the market. Thus, many struggling companies will quit or become acquisition
targets for Bainz. It will also have the first-mover advantages of brand identification,
technological leadership and vertical integration
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nishtha anand
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student, iift
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By supporting the government, Bainz
is looking at a short-term horizon. It might be an impediment for the competitors
in the short run, when they are looking to make changes in their production procedures,
packaging, distribution, etc. But once these changes are made, Bainz would lose
the competitive advantage of superior quality his product has had for the past so
many years.
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amit kumar
khare
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student, iim lucknow
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Bainz’s support for the legislation
is justifiable both as a common citizen and as an entrepreneur. The passing of regulations
would not have any effect on the freedom of law-abiding producers but would certainly
remove producers providing inferior quality products. This then would result in
a more levelled ground as all the producers would have almost the same technology
and would compete on other aspects.
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nayanjyoti
choudhury
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media cell, imi
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This was not entirely a business
decision to reinforce Bainz’s own competitive advantage. Had it been that way, Bainz
would have tried to influence the legislation processes as well, patent his quality
processes and lobbied to make them the standards so that rivals would either have
to pay him or share their profits with him or exit the industry. But we do not find
any such evidence. Bainz’s primary stand in this case would be upholding consumer
interests and conveying the message of honestly delivering what is promised to the
customer. This is actually more in line with a long-term perspective of continuing
business rather than aiming for short-term gains.
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saradha nandhini
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student, iim lucknow
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Bainz, being the market leader in
his field, did not make efforts to spread quality awareness among his rivals. This
could be counted as a minor flaw against Bainz’s functioning, since a market leader
is christened not only based on market share but is also expected to maintain and
help maintain the standards in the industry.
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smart thoughts
managers
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rohit sud
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junior management, dr reddy’s
laboratories
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People have a right to safety, and
this should be implemented by corporations as well, not just as a component of free
markets. Whenever a revolutionary change is needed in any field, the existing setup
will always try to resist the change. However, it is up to great thinkers and executors
to give the people something new to think about. If it were up to the common people,
they would be happy still riding around horses instead of cars and aeroplanes. But
some people had the courage to support something new, and that courage and self-belief
brought about revolution after revolution.
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sneha saraf
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junior management, motorola
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We cannot blame Bainz for being opportunistic.
Had he not supported the government intervention, the consumer movement would have
gained so much momentum that the competition’s products would have been boycotted
eventually.
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kristy fernandez
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l&d officer
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Bainz was not thinking of the bigger
picture. He wanted to protect his establishment by capturing the market with his
existing short-lived competitive edge of meeting the minimum standards of quality
and health.
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nitesh kumar
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manager-operations, gram
tarang self help co-operative group ltd
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S J Bainz is the market leader now.
Maintaining leadership position is the main challenge with most companies after
their initial success. Bainz should try to make an association of all the organized
players in the food processing industry and convince them to support regulations.
He should ensure competitors use best use practices he has gained in the course
of business, which will help them realize that quality is the key to be in the market.
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gargi sharma
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management, tcs
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If his fellow industry people require
help, Bainz, as industry leader, can even convene a dialogue with his peers to form
a consensus on the issues surrounding the legislation (that can be tabled before
the government) on how to implement the new standards, share or buy technology,
create common research centers for the entire industry, procure government aid or
bank loans to support the industry wide initiative for quality, connect with scientists
on the best way of preserving food and sharing the knowledge thus acquired across
companies.
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madhusmita
tulabandula
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junior management, freelance
consultant
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Advocating government regulation
on minimal food standards doesn’t amount to anti-free market legislation. It increases
the quality of perishable consumers and benefits society as a whole. Bainz adopted
this position true to his company values and corporate strategy.
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anand venkataraman
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junior management
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There is nothing wrong in a commercial
organization such as Bainz furthering its own interest by also espousing public
good. This falls within the realm of ‘corporate social responsibility’, ‘social
advertising’ and ‘socially responsible positioning’ in the truest sense of the term
and actually walking the talk by investing in the right technology for producing
pure processed food. Furthermore, if such rivals felt so right about their stand,
they were always free to conduct scientific tests and prove that their current products
were safe.
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chirantan
mandal
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junior management
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Bainz differentiates itself by its
high quality focus. The same would get diluted if the competition is necessitated
to improve their quality. If the law is passed, the marginal profits that Bainz
stands to leverage due to the short-term competitive advantage would depend on the
idle capacity of its factories and distribution network and whether it can gear
up sufficiently promptly to cater to the increased demand of their goods without
needing to invest in new fixed assets.
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