The Shorefast Foundation is a charitable organization that aims to spark a rural renaissance and promote economic and cultural resilience in the isolated communities of Fogo Island and Change Islands, Newfoundland, Canada, using a social entrepreneurship model. The cases also highlight the importance of rural places as repositories of local knowledge, culture and traditions. The two Shorefast cases illustrate the initial formation of the Foundation and the implementation issues surrounding the building of a multimillion dollar five star Inn. They are best used together as a series, but can be used independently as well. Case A provides information about the socioeconomic background of Fogo Island as well as an in depth profile of the founder of the Shorefast Foundation, Zita Cobb. The case illustrates how the founder of an organization can shape an organization's goals, vision, and beliefs. It also describes the model of social entrepreneurship that was being proposed and the organizational structure of the Shorefast Foundation and its affiliates as it stood before the construction of the revenue-generating Inn. Learning objectives: The case can be used to 1) introduce the concept of business models in general and explore the differences between 'traditional' and 'social entrepreneurship' business models; 2) help students understand the link between a founder's values, beliefs and objectives (managerial preferences) and strategy formulation and implementation; 3) introduce students to the organizational challenges involved in social entrepreneurship and the tensions to be negotiated between environmental, economic and social goals.
Neven Murugan is developing FanMode, an app that allows sports fans all over the world to broadcast their reactions in real time into stadiums where their team is playing. It also provides social networking across sports fans. The company is growing, and its founders face the questions of where to locate their headquarters and how to structure their company, and the legal issues surrounding these decisions, including intellectual property regulations, tax laws, and ownership structure. This case provides an example of a company that, due to the nature of its product, has had to operate globally from its earliest days and establish itself in many locations simultaneously.
Pemberton Products is a U.S. market leader in the cookie and bakery snacks segment of the sweet snack market. Looking to expand into the salty snack market, the company acquires Krispy Inc., a maker of salty snack crackers located in the southeastern U.S. To compete with premium cracker brands, Pemberton plans to reformulate and re-launch the Krispy brand as "Krispy Natural," which offers natural ingredients, improved taste, and revised packaging. Market tests in Columbus, Ohio show market share results that are double the company projections while results in 3 cities in the southeastern U.S. fall well below expectations. The marketing director must interpret the market test results, consider possible competitive responses to the new brand, and present his recommendation for a national rollout to the VP of sales and marketing.
At the end of 2011, one of the largest food retailers in Brazil, Grupo Pão de Açúcar, or GPA (a subsidiary of Companhia Brasileira De Distribuição, or CBD), was reviewing its accounts payable terms with suppliers in search of additional value. Manager of analytics Maria Cristina Santos was examining the trade credit terms GPA had with Oalem Ltda, a family-owned melon grower located in northeastern Brazil. Oalem, like most small family businesses, was financed with bank loans and equity that was held predominantly by the family. The case examines how accounts payable (trade credit) terms should be set or negotiated between a large retailer and a small supplier, especially when the bargaining power between the two may not be equal. The case demonstrates that trade credit terms can be as important as the terms of more traditional forms of financing.
"A midsize community hospital must choose a strategy to compete with an expanding regional rival. The strategy, focused on acquiring patient volume, includes expanding investment into integrated care, setting the reimbursement structure for revenue collection, and moving to a capitation-based payment system. The case presents an evaluation of revenue models to select that which best supports a given business strategy. This case is designed to introduce a health care audience to financial analysis. It provides a straightforward introduction to hospital financial-statement ratio analysis and hospital operating statistics, so it can also serve to introduce any audience with a business or medical background to hospital finance."
In February 2009, the additional director at the Child In Need Institute (CINI) received the most challenging assignment that CINI's board of governors had ever given him - to prepare a comprehensive proposal recommending whether the organization should continue as a non-government organization (NGO) driven primarily by donations and grants, or should venture into social business. He had a month to give his recommendations. CINI was a reputable 37-year-old NGO from Kolkata (Calcutta), India, with a mission of "sustainable development in education, protection, health and nutrition of child, adolescent and woman in need." Over the years, CINI had fought child malnutrition through health clinics and educating mothers, and had provided shelters and a path to betterment for street children. Despite recognition at CINI that donor funding was becoming scarce, any proposed social business was controversial because it ran the risk of alienating existing donors and replacing CINI's existing purpose with a profit motive. This case has global relevance, as the challenges that CINI met in 2009 are faced by thousands of social enterprises across the world.
Chipotle Mexican Grill, Inc. competes in the fast casual segment of the restaurant industry. Its founder and current co-CEO has always emphasized not only good tasting food but also a commitment to sustainability through the mission statement: "Food with Integrity." The company has positioned itself as a differentiator, using both food quality and a commitment to sustainability as factors that isolate it from its competitors. However, in 2012, the company faces a number of challenges from increased competition and rising food costs. As a result, a hedge fund investor has recently called for shorting the company's stock. The co-CEOs must decide on the best course to confront these challenges as the company's stock price is in a free fall.
In January 2013, the CEO of the Russian automotive company Gorky Automobile Plant (GAZ) was pleased with the results of the recently implemented changes to the company’s product-market strategy and the related organizational processes. He believed that this series of radical changes could help GAZ further cement its domestic market leadership position and at the same time allow it to complete a dramatic turnaround that had resulted in the company's most profitable year ever. He was now planning the launch of the third generation all-new Gazelle Next light transport truck, which he believed would take the company to a new level of competitiveness and revenue growth in Russia, and even more importantly, in other emerging markets.
La Presse, a French language newspaper in Montreal and the largest French language newspaper in North America, published an article summarizing the judgment of a trademark infringement case involving Lassonde Industries, a large Quebec conglomerate with sales of almost Cdn$760 million, and Olivia’s Oasis, a small Quebec manufacturer of health and beauty products with sales of Cdn$250,000. Initially, Olivia’s Oasis had successfully defended itself and it was awarded damages and costs by the courts. However, Lassonde appealed, which resulted in Olivia’s Oasis having to pay its own legal costs — a judgment that could bankrupt the small company. By the end of the day, thousands of readers and members of the public had reacted via social media with such vehemence that Lassonde felt pressured to pay Olivia’s Oasis’ costs. The issues are related to the management of a company’s reputation and the potential impact of negative public reaction in the long term.
Wendy Peterson was recently promoted to Vice President of Sales at the Plano, Texas, office of AccountBack, an accounting software and services company. To penetrate a perceived market niche, Peterson hires Fred (Xing) Wu, whose familiarity with and access to Chinese business leaders in Plano is valuable. Wu was born and raised in China, partly educated in the U.S., and immigrated to the U.S. in 2005. Within 12 months, he had signed his regional team's largest client, but Peterson has reservations about Wu's performance and is uneasy about their working relationship. Wu has requested an assistant-unprecedented within AccountBack's flat organizational structure. Peterson reflexively perceives the request as unreasonable, but in responding she must take into account the implications her decision will have on the rest of her sales team, as well as her own career. This case is ideal for courses on managing performance, managing conflict, leadership, cross-cultural differences, conflict and negotiation, employee development, and performance evaluation.
Altius Golf is the clear leader in the golf ball market despite a long-term decline in the number of golfers and a drop in sales following the financial crisis. The firm has maintained its position by introducing generations of advanced, super-premium golf balls that allow their customers to emulate professional golfers. The company has been losing market share to lower-priced competitors and the CEO wants to introduce a new program called Elevate to foster the next generation of golfers. With Elevate, the firm will introduce a ball that is more forgiving and easier to drive for distance and offer it at a price 40% below the company's flagship brand. Elevate will be available through "off-course" channels such as golf specialty stores and big box retailers instead of "on-course" pro shops where the firm typically sells its products. The board of directors is divided on whether to support the decision. Students must perform a quantitative analysis of the CEO's proposal to understand the potential risks and gains before making a final recommendation.
Judy and John DeRight, looking to diversify their investment portfolios, have retained Angus Cartwright, Jr. to identify prospective real estate acquisitions. Mr. Cartwright has four potential properties that he feels merit an in-depth financial analysis. The case provides an opportunity to examine the various components of real estate return--cash flow, tax benefits, and futures--and measure the profitability of a proposed investment through the calculation of net present value, internal rate of return, and capitalization rate.
AVA is a three-year old e-commerce company in the Philippines. From its early start mimicking the Gilt Groupe concept of online flash sales, the company has grown into a broader e-commerce platform for local fashion commerce. Oliver Segovia needs to evaluate where AVA should go next and answer some complicated personal questions. The case considers issues related to e-commerce platforms, diaspora-based international exchanges, business location choice, and global entrepreneurship broadly.
Essar Group (Essar), a large diversified conglomerate based in India, needs to raise significant capital through an initial public offering (IPO) and has to decide whether to do so through the Indian Stock Exchange, the London Stock Exchange or the New York Stock Exchange. The company will have to continue to report in Indian GAAP and, if it decides to list its IPO in the United States or Europe, it also will have to adopt either U.S. GAAP or IFRS. The chief financial officer of Essar has to recommend to management where to raise the needed capital and what accounting standard to adopt. The B case 9B13B015 discloses the decision and describes some of the implementation issues.