Singapore Management University’s (SMU) Centre of Management Practice (CMP) starts 2016 on a good note – or case – with news of an SMU-written case making it to the Top 15 Bestselling Cases in 2015 at the Case Centre, a renowned international case resource centre for business education.

The “Gillette’s ‘Shave India Movement’: Razor Sharp Against the Stubble (A)” case is among 15 top selling cases in the Knowledge, Information and Communications Systems Management category amongst other leading business schools at Harvard, Ivey, IBS and Cambridge. It was co-authored by Srinivas K. Reddy, Professor of Marketing, and Director of the Centre for Marketing Excellence, SMU’s Lee Kong Chian School of Business (LKCSB), and Christopher Dula, Senior Case Writer, CMP.

The Case Centre is a world-leading distributor of case materials and renowned global expert in case teaching and learning. It has the world’s largest and most diverse collection of management cases and teaching materials, including those from leading business schools, and over 500 academic and corporate members worldwide. Many business schools use cases to teach students about analysing and addressing real-life business problems effectively.

SMU’s Executive Director of the Centre for Management Practice and the Case Writing Initiative (CWI), Professor Philip Charles Zerrillo said, “When we began this effort nearly five years ago, we knew that the world lacked cases and insights into the business practices in this region. Getting ranked as a bestseller really demonstrates the quality of the cases that the faculty and team at SMU are producing and continues to be proof that there is a great appetite worldwide for Asian-based business cases.”

He added that CMP does multi-disciplinary work with various Schools in SMU, not just LKCSB. More than 140 cases have been developed by CWI to date, on Asian businesses and organisations across numerous topics. These cases help inform management thinking, and connect the University’s expertise with practice that improves efficiency for businesses, organisations, countries and the region. CMP also conducts case writing workshops across the region, develops original work to support case competitions and students participating in such challenges, and produces publications and thought leadership articles.

SMU enjoys a unique pedagogical advantage in having its faculty teach using their own case studies in undergraduate, postgraduate and executive education. The process of case writing also allows SMU faculty to develop richer experiences with the business community as they apply academic ideas to real-world situations.

For more information on:

• The “Gillette’s ‘Shave India Movement’: Razor Sharp Against the Stubble (A)” case, please see the Executive Summary of the Case below.
• SMU’s Case Writing Initiative and Cases, please visit: http://casewriting.smu.edu.sg/
• The Case Centre’s Top 15 Bestseller , please visit: http://www.thecasecentre.org/educators/ordering/selecting/popularcollections/bestsellers/2015kic

Executive Summary of the Case

Gillette’s ‘Shave India Movement’: Razor Sharp against the Stubble (A)

This case is the first part of a two-part series. Case A begins in April 2010, where Sharat Verma, the brand manager for Gillette India, together with Harish Narayanan, the assistant brand manager in the Singapore regional business unit, influence an R&D effort to redesign the Gillette Mach3 razor for the Indian market. By focusing on frugal innovation, they succeed in removing non-essential features of the razor design in order to reduce costs, thereby aligning the value proposition and price-point to the target segment. In addition, they also help develop an unconventional marketing campaign, called the “Shave India Movement”, which catalyses the previously unresponsive yet more affluent urban market, and results in record breaking sales for the Mach3 razor in 2010. Verma and Narayanan are left to analyse the mechanics underlying the success of this campaign, and determine if the movement can be further expanded. They must also determine if lessons from the campaign can be applied elsewhere, and if so, how?

This case can be used to explain how students can apply consumer adoption frameworks to developing marketing strategies. Students can also learn to identify potential challenges and bottlenecks within the consumer adoption process relevant to the target segment. Through the case discussion, they will have an opportunity to understand the strategic importance of frugal innovation in terms of successful consumer adoption of technological innovations, and recognise the importance of frugal innovation in gaining market share in developing countries.

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A second part of the series, Case B, is available. Please refer to SMU’s Case Writing Initiative for more information.