Cases in this issue
| Case title and target audience | Authors | Synopsis |
|---|---|---|
| MoveAhead: lessons in pragmatism for an idealistic social-entrepreneur Target Audience: Undergraduate Business Policy and Strategy, Small Business Management or Entrepreneurship courses | Sambhavi Lakshminarayanan, Simon Best and Evelyn Maggio | In 2011, Darnell started the 1.0 version of his nonprofit named “Grow Forward” to provide academic tutoring and physical fitness training to youth in Brooklyn. Despite the popularity and community benefits of this free program, it proved to be financially unsustainable. Darnell desperately wanted it to be viable nonprofit. He resolved this dilemma by launching a for-profit called “Maximum Result International” (MRI). Darnell planned that MRI would later be associated with, and partially fund, a 2.0 version of the nonprofit. The challenge was in ensuring that it did not succumb to the same fate as Grow Forward |
| Navigating the tides of an emerging global cannabis industry: the Aphria-Tilray merger decision Target Audience: Undergraduate and graduate strategy courses, International; business course, Cannibis industry-focused course | Majid Eghbali-Zarch, Jennifer Marlowe and Sandy Brennan | The cannabis industry in Canada started to form after the legalization of recreational cannabis in 2018 and edibles in 2019. As more countries were eying the Canadian experiment and contemplating legalization, many believed that the industry had great potentials globally for both medical and recreational products. Similar to any industry in its nascency, the cannabis industry structure was undefined and product definitions and categories were unclear. As a result, the firms in this industry had to deal with ambiguities, uncertainties and complexities that wouldn’t exist in an otherwise established and mature industry. The strategic question, thus, for potential entrants is whether, when and how to enter the industry. The case, with its pedagogical focus, intends to provide grounds for analyzing a nascent industry and its attractiveness, as well as exploring the way an industry can provide a country with an edge compared to others. Finally, given the nature of industry, the case presents a learning opportunity for students to envision themselves in a decision making context with a high level of uncertainty, ambiguity, and complexity |
| The Bakery Shop (TBS) takes the heat: crisis management, social media and corporate reputation Target Audience: Undergraduate introductory business ethics course, upper-level corporate governance course | Ahmed Mohamed Abdel-Meguid | In 2015, The Bakery Shop (TBS), a growing Egyptian business specialized in premium baked goods, launched a new fusion dessert “The Croissant Om Ali”. Triggered by social media the new product was an instant hit resulting in orders which exceeded TBS’s initial projection. However, there was a sudden turn of events when some consumers began showing symptoms of food poisoning. Once again social media came into play with an aggressive customer backlash towards TBS. Its three founders had to devise an appropriate action plan to address the crisis and salvage TBS’s tarnished image |
| Café Tato’s strategic initiatives: business continuity in COVID-19 realities Target Audience: Undergraduate and graduate strategic management courses | Som Sekhar Bhattacharyya and Christo Fernandes | “Café Tato” was the most popular and the oldest tea cafés in Goa, India. It had a presence in Panjim and Margaon in Goa. On 24th of March, 2020 India went into an economic and physical lock down because of COVID-19 pandemic related crisis. One week down the line on 31st March 2020, Mr Pranav Dhuri (hereby referred as Pranav) one of the owners of ‘Café Tato’ was contemplating how to ensure business continuance once there was semi-normalcy restored. What would the initiatives that need to be undertaken was critical for success of Tato the legendary café in Goa was playing in the mind of Pranav |
| Stakeholder power play: Delta Airlines, voter rights and Georgia Senate Bill 202 Target Audience: Undergraduate business ethics or business in society courses | Stephanie Raible, Olugbenga Adeyinka, Sarah Holtzen and Megan Douglas | On March 26, 2021, the media was buzzing about Georgia Senate Bill 202 (S.B.202), which included voting regulations perceived to negatively target Black voters. As the head of the state’s largest employer, Edward Bastian, CEO of Delta Airlines, found himself at the center of this heated political issue. While Bastian had initially shown support for the bill, the rise in opposing voices and pressure to boycott Delta presented increased pressure to think about their various stakeholders and potentially reevaluate their strategy. Should Bastian stay consistent with their initial support of S.B.202, speak out to oppose it, or remain silent? |
| Designing a social enterprise: the story of Conflictorium Target Audience: Undergraduate Entrepreneurship courses | Amrita Harshvardhan Bihani and Nimit Ashwinkumar Thaker | Conflictorium, situated in Ahmedabad since 2013, is a museum which acknowledges and discusses conflict through various art forms. Since its inception, the museum has fostered values like diversity, transparency and care reflecting in how it deals with its people and finances. Now, as the museum plans to reach out to new audiences it is confronted with a challenge to preserve its cherished values and still expand its activities |
| Avaneetha Textiles: empowering women through education Target Audience: Undergraduate Entrepreneurship courses | Satya Nandini Arjunan, Minu Zachariah and Mathew J. Manimala | Although women are capable of writing their own destiny regardless of what they are and where they come from, Kalpana Anand, the Executive Director of Avaneetha Textiles, believes that education plays an essential role in empowering women. Accordingly, she is on a mission to offer shop-floor jobs to young underprivileged women aspiring dropouts that provides them an opportunity to learn while they earn. Established in the year 2004 in Coimbatore, Avaneetha Textiles is currently being managed by two sisters Uma (Managing Director) and Kalpana. Although this business model supports around 900 young women, not all have made the most of it. Only 25% of their employees benefitted from the “learn-while-you-earn” program promoted by the company. Kalpana realized that such a conduct would hinder the achievement of empowering women. Therefore, the challenge before her was to motivate more women to enroll for different courses and thereby improve the quality of their life |
| Case title and target audience | Authors | Synopsis |
|---|---|---|
| Sambhavi Lakshminarayanan, Simon Best and Evelyn Maggio | In 2011, Darnell started the 1.0 version of his nonprofit named “Grow Forward” to provide academic tutoring and physical fitness training to youth in Brooklyn. Despite the popularity and community benefits of this free program, it proved to be financially unsustainable. Darnell desperately wanted it to be viable nonprofit. He resolved this dilemma by launching a for-profit called “Maximum Result International” (MRI). Darnell planned that MRI would later be associated with, and partially fund, a 2.0 version of the nonprofit. The challenge was in ensuring that it did not succumb to the same fate as Grow Forward | |
| Majid Eghbali-Zarch, Jennifer Marlowe and Sandy Brennan | The cannabis industry in Canada started to form after the legalization of recreational cannabis in 2018 and edibles in 2019. As more countries were eying the Canadian experiment and contemplating legalization, many believed that the industry had great potentials globally for both medical and recreational products. Similar to any industry in its nascency, the cannabis industry structure was undefined and product definitions and categories were unclear. As a result, the firms in this industry had to deal with ambiguities, uncertainties and complexities that wouldn’t exist in an otherwise established and mature industry. The strategic question, thus, for potential entrants is whether, when and how to enter the industry. The case, with its pedagogical focus, intends to provide grounds for analyzing a nascent industry and its attractiveness, as well as exploring the way an industry can provide a country with an edge compared to others. Finally, given the nature of industry, the case presents a learning opportunity for students to envision themselves in a decision making context with a high level of uncertainty, ambiguity, and complexity | |
| Ahmed Mohamed Abdel-Meguid | In 2015, The Bakery Shop (TBS), a growing Egyptian business specialized in premium baked goods, launched a new fusion dessert “The Croissant Om Ali”. Triggered by social media the new product was an instant hit resulting in orders which exceeded TBS’s initial projection. However, there was a sudden turn of events when some consumers began showing symptoms of food poisoning. Once again social media came into play with an aggressive customer backlash towards TBS. Its three founders had to devise an appropriate action plan to address the crisis and salvage TBS’s tarnished image | |
| Som Sekhar Bhattacharyya and Christo Fernandes | “Café Tato” was the most popular and the oldest tea cafés in Goa, India. It had a presence in Panjim and Margaon in Goa. On 24th of March, 2020 India went into an economic and physical lock down because of COVID-19 pandemic related crisis. One week down the line on 31st March 2020, Mr Pranav Dhuri (hereby referred as Pranav) one of the owners of ‘Café Tato’ was contemplating how to ensure business continuance once there was semi-normalcy restored. What would the initiatives that need to be undertaken was critical for success of Tato the legendary café in Goa was playing in the mind of Pranav | |
| Stephanie Raible, Olugbenga Adeyinka, Sarah Holtzen and Megan Douglas | On March 26, 2021, the media was buzzing about Georgia Senate Bill 202 (S.B.202), which included voting regulations perceived to negatively target Black voters. As the head of the state’s largest employer, Edward Bastian, CEO of Delta Airlines, found himself at the center of this heated political issue. While Bastian had initially shown support for the bill, the rise in opposing voices and pressure to boycott Delta presented increased pressure to think about their various stakeholders and potentially reevaluate their strategy. Should Bastian stay consistent with their initial support of S.B.202, speak out to oppose it, or remain silent? | |
| Amrita Harshvardhan Bihani and Nimit Ashwinkumar Thaker | Conflictorium, situated in Ahmedabad since 2013, is a museum which acknowledges and discusses conflict through various art forms. Since its inception, the museum has fostered values like diversity, transparency and care reflecting in how it deals with its people and finances. Now, as the museum plans to reach out to new audiences it is confronted with a challenge to preserve its cherished values and still expand its activities | |
| Satya Nandini Arjunan, Minu Zachariah and Mathew J. Manimala | Although women are capable of writing their own destiny regardless of what they are and where they come from, Kalpana Anand, the Executive Director of Avaneetha Textiles, believes that education plays an essential role in empowering women. Accordingly, she is on a mission to offer shop-floor jobs to young underprivileged women aspiring dropouts that provides them an opportunity to learn while they earn. Established in the year 2004 in Coimbatore, Avaneetha Textiles is currently being managed by two sisters Uma (Managing Director) and Kalpana. Although this business model supports around 900 young women, not all have made the most of it. Only 25% of their employees benefitted from the “learn-while-you-earn” program promoted by the company. Kalpana realized that such a conduct would hinder the achievement of empowering women. Therefore, the challenge before her was to motivate more women to enroll for different courses and thereby improve the quality of their life |
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