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Updates
Titan's
Foray into the Prescription Eyewear Market in India
-- Shirisha
Regani, Satya Prakash Medisetti
©
2006, ICMR . All Rights
Reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored
in a retrieval system, used in a spreadsheet, or transmitted
in any form or by any means - electronic or mechanical, without
permission. To order copies, call +91-40-2343-0462/63 or write
to ICMR, Plot #49, Nagarjuna
Hills, Hyderabad 500 082, India or e-mail: info@icmrindia.org.
Website: www.icmrindia.org
Sunsilk
Gang of Girls: A Case of Marketers Targetting Consumers through
Emerging Media Channels
--
Rajiv Fernando,
Debapratim
Purkayastha
©
2006, ICMR. All
rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced,
stored in a retrieval system, used in a spreadsheet, or transmitted
in any form or by any means - electronic or mechanical, without
permission. To order copies, call +91-40-2343-0462/63 or write
to ICMR, Plot #49, Nagarjuna
Hills, Hyderabad 500 082, India or e-mail: info@icmrindia.org.
Website: www.icmrindia.org
Case
in Focus
The
South African Economy : Coping
with the Legacy of Apartheid
-- Barnali
Chakraborty, Sachin Govind, S S George
The
South African economy is characterized by extreme income disparity
along racial lines. Many blacks are unemployed and poor, while
most whites are better off. This uneven distribution of wealth
is the direct result of the apartheid system that was followed
by the government between 1948 and 1994. The case chronicles
the state of the South African economy from the 1950s—when
many apartheid laws were passed—till the mid-2000s, when
the economy was showing good growth. It discusses some of
the policy initiatives taken by the African National Congress
(ANC) government after coming to power in 1994 and the implications
of these policies for the South African economy. It also discusses
the criticisms against the government's policies. The case
ends with a discussion on the future prospects of the South
African economy.
©
2007 ICMR. All
Rights Reserved. For accessing and procuring the case study,
log on to www.ecch.cranfield.ac.uk or www.icmrindia.org
Pfizer's
Torcetrapib Failure : The
Risks of New Drug Development
-- Debapratim
Purkayastha, Rajiv Fernando
This
case is about the failure of Torcetrapib, a high profile drug
for lowering cholesterol that was being developed by Pfizer
Inc. (Pfizer). Pfizer, the world's largest pharmaceutical
company, was the leader in the cholesterol drug market due
to its blockbuster drug, Lipitor. Its dependence on Lipitor
was high as the brand accounted for around 25% of the total
revenues of Pfizer. There were great expectations from Torcetrapib
as Pfizer hoped that it would compensate for the potential
decrease in Lipitor's revenues when its patent expired in
2010. Because of its novel mechanism of action, experts believed
that Torcetrapib would become a best-selling drug within a
few years of its launch. Pfizer planned for one of the biggest
ever clinical trials (in terms of the number of patients under
trial) for Torcetrapib, ignoring warnings about some safety-related
issues with the drug. It had also planned to launch the drug
only in combination with Lipitor in an effort to protect the
sales of Lipitor post 2010. Due to intense criticism from
doctors and patient groups, Pfizer later decided to offer
Torcetrapib as a standalone pill that could be used in combination
with any cholesterol lowering drug. But Torcetrapib's development
had to be stopped as it was linked to some deaths in the test
population. This unfortunate development had left Pfizer with
no key developmental drug in its pipeline that could compensate
for the drop in Lipitor's sales post 2010. This case discusses
the impact of the failure of Torcetrapib on Pfizer and the
reactions of various stakeholders (doctors, investors, etc.)
It also outlines the risks of new drug development in the
pharmaceutical industry.
©
2007 ICMR. All
Rights Reserved. For accessing and procuring the case study,
log on to www.ecch.cranfield.ac.uk or www.icmrindia.org
The
Verizon-MCI Merger
-- Indu
P, Vivek Gupta
The
case discusses the merger of one of the largest telecom companies
in the US, Verizon with MCI (formerly known as WorldCom).
Verizon acquired MCI, mainly because of the synergies in operations
and their complementary businesses. The decision to merge
was also influenced by the prevailing scenario in the US telecom
industry, which was witnessing consolidation. Verizon was
finally able to acquire MCI in January 2006, though the merger
process started in February 2005. At the same time, the merger
of AT&T with SBC was also announced. Several consumer
groups expressed their concern over these mergers as they
were of the view that these mergers were a sign of a duopoly
in the US telecom market. Verizon created a unit called Verizon
Business, combining enterprise and government customers of
MCI and similar operations of Verizon. Other businesses of
MCI were integrated with the corresponding businesses of Verizon.
Though there were doubts raised by industry experts about
the success of post-merger integration of both the companies,
it went through without any major hiccups. Analysts were of
the opinion that credit must go to Verizon for being well-prepared
for the merger and making it as `merger of equals.' In the
financial year 2006, operations of Verizon Business were spread
over 150 countries and it generated revenues of US$20.5 bn.
©
2007 ICMR. All
Rights Reserved. For accessing and procuring the case study,
log on to www.ecch.cranfield.ac.uk or www.icmrindia.org
Book
Review
DHIRUBHAISM
:The
Remarkable Work Philosophy of Dhirubhai Ambani
-- Author:
A G Krishnamurthy
Reviewed
by Bharat Krishna
DHIRUBHAISM
is a book that describes the personality traits and leadership
qualities of Dhirubhai Ambani, which propelled his phenomenal
rise from a young petrol attendant to the chairman of India's
first Fortune 500 company in less than three decades.
©
2007, A G Krishnamurthy. All Rights Reserved. IUP holds the copyright for the review.
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