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BUSINESS UPDATES
Adidas Launches
`Me, Myself'
Campaign in Singapore
© 2009 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 the ICMR,
Plot #49, Nagarjuna Hills, Hyderabad 500 082, India or e-mail: info@icmrindia.org. Website: www.icmrindia.org
Transforming Bata
© 2009 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 the ICMR,
Plot #49, Nagarjuna Hills, Hyderabad 500 082, India or e-mail: info@icmrindia.org. Website: www.icmrindia.org
ShareIdeas.org: Social Innovation in the Mobile Phone Industry
© 2009 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 the ICMR,
Plot #49, Nagarjuna Hills, Hyderabad 500 082, India or e-mail: info@icmrindia.org. Website: www.icmrindia.org
CASE IN FOCUS
Trevor Field and the PlayPumps
of Africa
-- Debapratim Purkayastha
The water crisis in the African countries is quite severe with two out of five people lacking access to
improved water supply. The implication of this problem goes beyond diseases and deaths due to water-related
disease. Particularly in peri-urban and rural areas, women and girls have to commute long distances (up to 8
kilometers) and spend hours collecting water from water sources that could be contaminated. In places where people
rely on bore-wells, pumps may breakdown forcing them to go back to unsafe water sources. Since the
responsibility of fetching water in Africa is linked to gender, women and girls spend a disproportionate part of their
time hauling water. This prevents the girl child from attending school regularly and women from indulging
in other economic activity or spending more time with their family.
Touched by the hardship faced by these people, Trevor Field (Field) a UK-born advertising professional
who had immigrated to South Africa, sought to do something to address this problem. In the late-1980s,
he chanced upon a child's roundabout (merry-go-round) fitted with a pump that could pump water as it
turned. Field worked with the inventor of this roundabout to bring about improvements in the system and
later developed the PlayPump Water System (PlayPump) that was attached to a high-capacity storage tank and
a tap. The four surfaces of the storage tank were used as billboards for commercial and public
education/social (such as HIV/AIDS prevention) messages. Revenue earned from the advertising helped maintain the
water systems for up to a decade.
Field co-founded a for-profit organization with a social mission, Roundabout Outdoor Pty Ltd. (RO) to
install and maintain these PlayPumps in various parts of Southern Africa. The funds for installing the
PlayPumps were arranged by PlayPumps International (PI), a non-profit organization also co-founded by Field. By
the end of 2007, more than 1,000 PlayPumps had been installed in four countries in Southern Africa.
Experts felt that the PlayPump was a social innovation that was also sustainable. Field had succeeded
in scaling up installations of the water system across five countries in Southern Africa by adopting an
innovative business model based on collaboration with individuals, corporations, governments, foundations,
and non-governmental organizations, they said. However, Field faced a number of challenges in scaling
up further as he aimed to install 4,000 PlayPumps in 10 African countries by 2010.
© 2009 ICMR. All Rights Reserved. For accessing and procuring the case study, log on
to www.ecch.com or www.icmrindia.org
BUSINESS STRATEGY
Tata Motors'
Acquisition of Jaguar and Land Rover
-- Indu P and Vivek Gupta
In June 2008, India-based Tata Motors Ltd. announced that it had completed the acquisition of the two
iconic British brands—Jaguar and Land Rover (JLR) from the US-based Ford Motors for US$2.3 bn. Tata Motors
stood to gain on several fronts from the deal. One, the acquisition would help the company acquire a
global footprint and enter the high-end premier segment of the global automobile market. After the acquisition,
Tata Motors would own the world's cheapest car—the US$2,500 Nano, and luxury marquees like the Jaguar
and Land Rover. Though there was initial skepticism over an Indian company owning the luxury brands,
ownership was not considered a major issue at all. According to industry analysts, some of the issues that could
trouble Tata Motors were economic slowdown in European and American markets, funding risks, currency risks, etc.
© 2009 ICMR. All Rights Reserved. For accessing and procuring the case study, log on
to www.ecch.com or www.icmrindia.org
MARKETING
Zappos.com: Focus on Customer Service
-- V Namratha Prasad and S S George
The case discusses the growth of Zappos.com (Zappos) into a major online shoe company, with
particular focus on the steps the company took to integrate customer service into its culture. It also details the
various initiatives which Zappos took to improve its customer service. The case also describes Zappos' use of
employee-generated media and social media to increase brand awareness and customer advocacy. The case ends with
a discussion on some of the challenges facing the company, as the economic situation in the United
States deteriorates.
© 2009 ICMR. All Rights Reserved. For accessing and procuring the case study, log on
to www.ecch.com or www.icmrindia.org
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