EFMD encourages and rewards innovative and impactful cases in management development each year. This year again brought an exceptional variety of winning cases across various industries. We interviewed the winners to find out more about their motivation, inspiration and significant challenges. The following interview is with Trilochan Tripathy & Benudhar Sahu of XLRI Jamshedpur, the winners of the “MENA Business Cases” category.

‘TruKKer: The Uberization of Trucking in MENA Region’

What was the inspiration for your case?

We got an opportunity to meet Gaurav Biswas, the founder of the startup ‘TruKKer’ in one of the CEO Conclaves organised by Xavier School of Management (XLRI), a premier B-School in India.   As a moderator for the said event, the first author of the case got inspired by Biswas’s journey from developing the start-up from scratch to a mega trucking platform in the MENA region. Biswas recognized a significant gap in the UAE’s freight forwarding market, where customers struggled to get a suitable truck on time and at a reasonable cost. He established a trucking platform to fill the gap and get business opportunities in the region. TruKKer adopted Uber’s app-based technology to connect those who needed to move goods with those that could move them. Biswas believed that uberization of trucking was essential to sort out excess capacity problems and increase efficiency in the trucking industry. This uberization of the trucking industry and its phenomenal growth in the MENA region impressed us to develop a case on TruKKer.

What were the major challenges in designing the case?

Initially, it was a little difficult for us to organize the thoughts around TruKKer to develop a full-fledged case due to the non-availability of data in the public domain. However, in-depth desk research helped us gather vital information from diverse sources on TruKKer’s vision, mission, business model, deployment of state-of-the-art technology and strategic growth plan in the MENA region and beyond to craft an award-winning case.

What would you like to highlight from your case?

The case highlights TruKKer’s phenomenal growth in the MENA region owing to (i) its regional advantage of the emerging trucking business, (ii) use of innovative and cutting-edge technology, (iii) asset-light business model, (iv) continuous innovation and growth, and (v) Government plays a key role in creating an enabling business ecosystem.

How do you believe your findings could impact society and business in the future?

The case is designed to help students with courses in New Venture Innovations and Business Strategy. The products and services offered by TruKKer are meant to create an improved ecosystem with a positive socio-economic impact on the community. From the business point of view, TruKKer is a classic case of identifying problems in the trucking industry, finding an innovative digital solution, seeking funds for expansion, and achieving business targets. The case helps students to analyze and understand how innovation-led freight solutions and cutting-edge technologies help a start-up disrupt the industry.

Delve into a wealth of valuable insights within the remaining Case Writing Competition interviews.

The Sponsor’s Commentary

The category “MENA Business Cases” is kindly sponsored by the School of Business, The American University in Cairo (AUC). EFMD greatly values the sponsorship, the expertise and the effort of the sponsor to contribute to the Case Writing Competition.

Shereen El-Bowety from the School of Business, The American University in Cairo (AUC) shares more information about sponsoring the category.

‘Even though case studies are gaining significant momentum in higher education worldwide and are recognized as highly effective and innovative pedagogical tools, their implementation in the MENA region faces unique challenges. One of the primary hurdles is the prevailing educational culture in the MENA region, which tends to prioritize traditional teaching methods over more experiential approaches like teaching with cases.

At the AUC School of Business and El-Khazindar Business Research and Case Center (KCC), we believe that fostering a community of case writers and users in the MENA region can amplify the impact of case studies on business education.

Furthermore, the diversity of the MENA region adds complexity to case writing, as cases must be relevant and resonate with students from various cultural backgrounds. And that is why we encourage the creation of cases that reflect the region’s rich cultural diversity, providing students with a deeper understanding of the complexities of business challenges in the MENA context.

At the AUC School of Business and KCC, we are committed to driving this transformation by supporting faculty, fostering a case writing community, and creating culturally relevant cases. By overcoming the challenges and embracing the opportunities, we can ensure that case studies become an integral part of the educational landscape in the MENA region.’

About Sponsorship

EFMD Case Writing Competition is proud to have dedicated sponsors who drive management education towards impactful teaching and learning. Sponsoring a category allows you to showcase your institution’s expertise in the specific field of management education in the wide EFMD network. The choice of category, its exact definition and any specific conditions are the privileges of the sponsor. Sponsorships for the following categories are currently available – Bringing Technology to Market, Continuous Improvement: the Journey to Excellence, Hidden Champions, Responsible Business, MENA Business Cases, and Responsible Leadership. If you are interested in sponsoring the mentioned categories or launching a new category relevant to case writing and teaching, please check out our category sponsorship opportunities page or contact Hansol Park at hansol.park@efmdglobal.org.

More information about the 2022 EFMD Case Writing Competition can be found on the EFMD Case Writing Competition page. Please visit The Case Centre’s webpage to access the collection of the winning cases. See other interviews from this series.