This case looks at the well-known failure of the computer-aided despatch system that the London Ambulance Service implemented in 1992. As the date for publication of the results of the enquiry into the incident approaches, John Wilby, former chief executive of London Ambulance Service wonders what went so desperately wrong at LAS. Was it just the IT industry that generated so many problems and cost so many millions, or was the LAS failure the result of gross mismanagement? Or perhaps it was both?

It was June 2011 and South African passenger rail company, Metrorail, was celebrating its success in moving passengers during the 2010 FIFA World Cup™. The organisation had done much to improve its infrastructure, safety and image for the event. Now Lucky Montana, group chief executive officer (CEO) of the Passenger Rail Agency of South Africa (PRASA) – the state-owned enterprise that owned Metrorail – considered what the organisation should do to ensure that Metrorail become the preferred, regular transport service for thousands of daily commuters still using taxis or their own cars.

In July 2009, businessman and entrepreneur, Martyn Mills of MCM Wines, reconsidered his marketing strategy. He had been exporting his own wine to China since 2003 and had recently signed an agreement with the prestigious South African wine estate, Groot Constantia, to export its wine to that country as well. However, conducting business in China was complex and expensive and, earlier that year, he had partnered with a new importer in China to help combat certain of the challenges.

Massmart acquired Game in September 1998. Unlike its own mass retailer, Dion, which had experienced difficulties since 1993, Game had enjoyed great historical success. The merger of the two businesses was an obvious decision, but Massmart was haunted by the fact that its attempt to merge Dion and Makro five years previously had proven to be a disaster. This case examines the complexities of mergers and acquisitions by comparing and contrasting Massmart’s Dion/Makro merger with the Dion/Game merger.

No. Pages: 23 

In September 2014, Calum McCracken, chief executive officer (CEO) of Next Generation Network Telecommunications (Pty) Ltd (NGN Telecoms), met with his partners to discuss the company’s Kenyan dilemma.

It was 21 February 2006. Maria Ramos, CEO of Transnet, one of the largest parastatals in South Africa, was facing a strike by the unions, representing more than 85 000 people. After consulting government and key customers, the Transnet board had chosen to cut away those of its businesses not associated with freight transport after the government, its sole shareholder, had given it a mandate to reduce the cost of doing business.

This case is about competing bids from AngloGold in South Africa and Newmont in America for the control of Normandy, Australia's largest gold producer. The choices facing AngloGold in its strategy to acquire Normandy and ward off the competing Newmont bid are presented. The vagaries of national perceptions and loyalties, exchange rates, media and investor relations and the key role of arbitrageurs and hedge funds are introduced.  A platform to analyse and compare strategies for bidding and target companies to respectively gain and resist control, is created..

No of Pages: 8

Marketing manager at South African Breweries, Trevor Hughes, investigated how best, to meet the needs of both an established, sophisticated market and, at the same time, the markets in townships and rural areas. He had hired a consultancy firm which had not produced results. He wanted to prevent a repeat failure. A number of dilemmas had to be addressed to ensure ‘value for money’. Hughes pondered over which firm he should hire, wondering whether he should give preference to a local firm, or an international one that had a long working history with SAB. How could he measure success?

Against a background of intense merger and acquisition activity in the brewing industry, Chief Executive of South African Breweries (SAB) Graham Mackay, faced a difficult decision in early 2002. By this time talks about the possible acquisition of the USA’s second largest beer producer, Miller Brewing, by SAB, were well advanced. The proposed deal would reshape the top tier of the global brewing industry, catapulting the fourth and seventh largest brewers in the world to the number two position.

In mid-2017, David Gluckman, director of Lumkani, contemplated the company’s next strategic move. Lumkani, a South African start-up company, manufactured an early-warning fire detection system designed for shack-dwellers in informal settlements, with the aim of reducing deaths and damage due to fire in those communities.

No of pages: 11 pages