Moeed’s Externship Imbroglio: The Case of Identity Concealment

Abstract

The case is focused on the dilemma faced by an enthusiastic, career oriented and ambitious MBA student who is troubled by the following complicated situation related to his past winter externship with the fertilizer company, Fatima Fertilizer: a) Instructed by his boss to conceal his organizational identity and pose as a university student in order to gather information, the protagonist is now thinking whether he did the right thing. b) The protagonist is also confused whether the benefits of the social responsibility of this particular project, and obligation to offer beneficial products to poor farmers to minimize their losses and play their part in the development of an agricultural country outweigh the negatives of identity concealment.

This case was prepared for inclusion in Sage Business Cases primarily as a basis for classroom discussion or self-study, and is not meant to illustrate either effective or ineffective management styles. Nothing herein shall be deemed to be an endorsement of any kind. This case is for scholarly, educational, or personal use only within your university, and cannot be forwarded outside the university or used for other commercial purposes.

2024 Sage Publications, Inc. All Rights Reserved

Resources

Exhibit 1. Fatima Fertilizer

Fatima Fertilizer Company Limited was established in 2003 as a joint venture between Fatima Group and Arif Habib Group. It comprises a production set-up which is dedicated to producing two intermediate products, namely ammonium and nitric acid, and four final products namely urea, calcium ammonium nitrate (CAN), nitro phosphate (NP) and nitrogen phosphorous potassium (NPK). The facility is situated in Sadiqabad, Rahim Yar Khan. The company lays great emphasis on social responsibility, community welfare and business ethics. Moreover, Fatima Fertilizer is the first and only greenfield project in line with the Government of Pakistan’s Fertilizer Policy of 2001 which aims to promote investment in this field due to the growing demand in the fertilizer industry.

Source:Fatima-group.com (2014)

Exhibit 2. Abdul Moeed’s Two Weeks Externship Schedule at Fatima Fertilizer

Tuesday, 8th January

Determine the charges of receiving different forms of SMSs to the farmers and the penetration of telecom operators in our areas of interest. Research on similar cases of direct marketing using bulk Voice SMSs.

Wednesday, 9th January

Discussion with call centre team at Fatima Group to understand a previous experiment done using SMSall.pk.

Thursday, 10th January

Finalize questionnaire for focus groups.

Friday, 11th January

Focus Group with farmers.

Saturday, 12th January

Evaluate the results of focus groups

Sunday, 13th January

Evaluate the results of focus groups

Monday, 14th January

In-depth interviews with farmers.

Tuesday, 15th January

In-depth interviews with farmers.

Wednesday, 16th January

Evaluate the results of the in-depth interviews.

Thursday, 17th January

Put together the results of the market research and prepare the final deliverable report.

Friday, 18th January

Present the deliverables to the supervisor.

Source: Authors’ notes.

Exhibit 3. Sarsabz Brand

Fatima Group, along with Pakarab Fertilizers, was responsible for launching the Sarsabz brand in 2011. Under the umbrella of this brand, Fatima Fertilizer produced Sarsabz CAN, Sarsabz NP, Sarsabz NPK and Sarsabz Urea. These helped in providing a balanced and secure source of nutrients to all sorts of soils and crops at all stages of plant development and growth. To achieve the desired positioning of the Sarsabz brand, Fatima Fertilizer went for brand building through the creation of customer touch points with a long-term plan to scale out and achieve high awareness levels among the farmers with respect to the different products being offered under the brand name of Sarsabz. With the help of unique customer touch points, Sarsabz brand could be differentiated from the brands offered by competitors.

Source:Fatima-group.com (2014).

Exhibit 4. English Translation of Questionnaire, Originally Administered in Urdu, for In-depth Interviews with Farmers

1. Mobile Communication
  • Which telecom operator do you use?
  • How often do you use SMS service?
  • Are you able to read SMSs?
  • What language do you prefer reading SMSs in?
  • Do lengthy SMSs hold your interest?
  • Have you received any advertising via SMS? If yes, did you find it interesting and can you recall anything specific that you found interesting?
  • What do you think about Voice SMS?
  • Have you received any advertising via Voice SMS? If yes, did you find it interesting and can you recall anything specific that you found interesting?
  • What language would you prefer the Voice SMS to be in?
  • Would you prefer fertilizer advertising in text SMS or Voice SMS format?
2. Information Service
  • Companies in India have started to send weather information, soil information, daily fertilizer prices, authorized dealer details, special dealer offer information and daily wholesale mandi prices of crops to farmers. Would you be interested in receiving this type of information?
  • Is there any other type of information that you feel you need?
  • If a company was to offer this information service, will you subscribe?
  • Will it attract you towards buying products of the company?
3. Farmer Club Idea
  • What is your opinion about this initiative?
  • Will it attract you towards buying the company’s products?
  • Would you be willing to leave your current preferred brand and buy the product of the company which is offering this facility?
4. General
  • What is your preferred brand of fertilizer?
  • Have you seen any advertisements of fertilizer brands recently?
  • If yes, did you find them effective?
  • Will you change your brand after seeing an effective ad?
  • Will you be more inclined to change your brand due to advertising or value added services offered by a company?

Source: Authors’ notes.

Exhibit 5a. Farmer’s Risks

Figure

Source: Authors’ notes.

Exhibit 5b. Fatima Fertilizer’s Focus Areas to Mitigate Farmer Risks

Figure

Source: Authors’ notes.

This case was prepared for inclusion in Sage Business Cases primarily as a basis for classroom discussion or self-study, and is not meant to illustrate either effective or ineffective management styles. Nothing herein shall be deemed to be an endorsement of any kind. This case is for scholarly, educational, or personal use only within your university, and cannot be forwarded outside the university or used for other commercial purposes.

2024 Sage Publications, Inc. All Rights Reserved

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