By June 2010, The Coca-Cola Company’s (Coca-Cola) micro distribution centre (MDC) network in Africa had proven to be incredibly successful. Coca-Cola had built up the network to distribute its products through small, independent local entrepreneurs to even smaller outlets, enabling the company to reach markets that traditionally had been very difficult to access. Now social marketers were approaching Coca-Cola for permission to distribute their own products using the MDC network.

By June 2010, The Coca-Cola Company’s (Coca-Cola) micro distribution centre (MDC) network in Africa had proven to be incredibly successful. Coca-Cola had built up the network to distribute its products through small, independent local entrepreneurs to even smaller outlets, enabling the company to reach markets that traditionally had been very difficult to access. Now social marketers were approaching Coca-Cola for permission to distribute their own products using the MDC network.

This case is set in 2015, when the City Lodge Hotel Group’s portfolio had risen to 55 hotels and an annual turnover of more than R1 billion. However, growing competition and increasing customisation within the hotel industry meant that in early November 2015, current group chief executive (CE), Clifford Ross, had concerns about the clarity of the group’s brand and whether it was losing its competitive edge. The case positions Ross deciding on how to clearly differentiate the different hotel offerings within the group.

No of pages: 7 pages

In 1985, the market regarded Hans Enderle as foolhardy when he resigned from the helm of one of South Africa’s leading hotel chains to launch a new concept in short-stay accommodation. However, by 1990, his City Lodge select service hotel concept boasted seven hotels, with 1 000 rooms. By 2015, the hotel group’s portfolio had risen to 55 hotels and annual turnover had reached more than R1 billion.

By December 2006, Capitec Bank, South Africa’s newest listed retail bank, had come a long way from its origins as a microlending organisation in 2001. Over time it had started introducing other banking services to its entry-level clients, so that by 2006 it offered all basic banking services. Capitec’s chief executive for marketing and corporate affairs, Carl Fischer, considered the organisation’s strategic plan for 2007: to position itself as a proper bank in a much broader target market.

Irene Ivy-Schuurmans and Dale Kneen started the Cape Herb and Spice Company in 1992, selling their wares from a modest barrow at the Cape Town Waterfront. They were housemates with full-time jobs, but both were passionate about cooking “wacky, creative and unusual” gourmet food with interesting herbs and spices that weren’t commercially available.

In January 2009, young entrepreneurs Ayanda Qunu and Thembi Bhayi abandoned their plans to start a fully owned contact centre, Yahluma Solutions Ltd, in Buffalo City in the Eastern Cape, South Africa. Even with the assistance of a financial incentive from the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) to encourage the establishment of business process outsourcing and offshoring (BPO&O) businesses, they asked themselves: could they have competed globally and locally? Was their decision to abandon their plans correct?

No of pages: 12 pages

It was June 2010 and Dave van Niekerk, the chief executive officer (CEO) of micro-lending company Blue Financial Services (BFS), had just handed in his resignation. BFS, which listed on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange AltX  in 2006, had in less than four years expanded its operations to 15 African countries from an original five and employed more than 3 000 people. During this time, however, the company had faced escalating problems that had resulted in a write-off of more than R1 billion and a share price – which had reached a high of 700 cents – dropping to 15 cents.

The objective of this note is to define black economic empowerment (BEE) and understand its context in South Africa. The reasons for black economic empowerment and the enabling legislation are discussed. The note also addresses the impact of black economic empowerment on South African businesses, as well as some of the challenges faced at the time this note was written.

No.of pages: 17

In December 2008, Charlene Lewison, marketing director of the Johannesburg-based family business, Birdi Golf Apparel, surveyed the company’s well-stocked shelves with pride – but also with a growing sense of unease. In the past 12 years, Birdi had become an established brand on both the professional and amateur golf circuits in South Africa.