Grow Out of the Box

Chandrasekaran Nagarajan, Sathya Saminadan R S, Vijayalakshmi Balasubramaniam

Product #:W41936

Supplier:Ivey

Discipline:Entrepreneurship, Strategy

Setting:India, 2024

Details:Case (PDF) • 12 pages • 2025-04-10

Subjects:

Geography:

India Asia

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In September 2024, Karthic Rathinam was contemplating the future of his company, Out of the Box, based in Chennai, India. Founded in 2021, Out of the Box was a small but growing company that had built a strong reputation as an innovative designer and producer of cardboard products that pushed the boundaries of design and sustainability. At 25 years old, Rathinam was not the typical business owner; his entrepreneurial journey was not steered by careful planning but rather embodied a roller coaster of creativity. To take Out of the Box to the next level, Rathinam’s auditor and mentor both encouraged him to adopt a more strategic approach to scaling his enterprise. Rathinam wondered if he could design Out of the Box as meticulously as he designed his products.

Learning Objectives

This case may be taught in entrepreneurship courses for undergraduate and graduate students in business management. It is also suitable for executive education programs aimed at start-up entrepreneurs and individuals who want to diversify their family-owned businesses into new ventures. This case provides opportunities to discuss strategic management and B2B marketing in core marketing management courses. After working through the case and assignment questions, students will be able to do the following:

Understand the effectuation model of decision-making in entrepreneurship.
Analyze the process of effectuation during the initial start-up stage of entrepreneurial ventures.
Realize the drivers of the business-to-business (B2B) segment for a firm with an established presence in the business-to-consumer (B2C) segment.
Examine Out of the Box’s business plan for the next three years and understand the rationale of Rathinam’s choice.