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Hey, Guardians of the Case Method! Got Diversity, Equity and Inclusion on Your Mind? Strategies for all case stakeholders to help make cases more DEI-friendly
This article initiates a discussion with the guardians of the case method to make teaching cases more "DEI-friendly." It outlines how instructors, case writers, and other case stakeholders can consider the principles of diversity, equity and inclusion in the cases they select, write, review and publish. For instructors, a DEI case teaching toolkit along with other useful resources are provided. For case writers, DEI guidance for writing cases and instructor manuals and suggested exemplar cases are offered. The article concludes with a compiled list of contemporary resources about DEI teaching considerations in business schools. -
Individual entrepreneurial orientation: Considering a transition from corporate leadership to entrepreneurship
This is a teaching case study regarding the decision to enter entrepreneurship as a career choice. The case is set in the years 2018-2021, during which the case protagonist Alexandra Schneller faced the decision of becoming an entrepreneur or not. Coming from a working-class background, her career vision did not originally entail entrepreneurship. After business school, Schneller had entered various corporate roles, including finance management and a dual study model in a large German corporate. At the same time, she was an eager participant in well-being workshops and yoga classes and was becoming increasingly interested in pursuing a career in such an area full-time. She increasingly noticed that founding her own business would be something she would feel passionate about and began to investigate if her personality would suit an entrepreneurial career. The case ends with the decision that is to be discussed in classes, if Schneller should start her own business offering an online platform for workshops or if she should continue her corporate career or explore other options. -
SoccerGrlProbs
This case focuses on a potential student entrepreneurship opportunity based on the social media presence of three Division I soccer teammates. The case explores the opportunity using the Business Model Canvas and Value Proposition Canvas to draw student attention to significant elements of business building that should be considered. It highlights considerations such as the strengths and weaknesses of the entrepreneurs' position and examines potential conflicts, including athlete status and NCAA rules, the realities of social media revenue potential, and the challenges that starting a product-focused company would entail. -
Illumen Capital: Bias Reduction to Unlock Impact and Returns
Building on Nobel Prize-winning research, nearly a decade of experience investing in impact funds, and a lifetime of social and economic justice advocacy, Daryn Dodson's Illumen Capital, an impact investment fund-of-funds, was at a critical juncture. Prior to founding Illumen in 2017, Dodson struggled with finding a way to transfer the success he had experienced in building awareness across teams at institutional asset allocators on topics of diversity, equity, and inclusion to long-term organizational change. Instead, he observed that the investment teams-those with the most power and leverage-rarely engaged in the work, and many investments were underperforming from both a return and impact perspective because of racial and gender biases. Indeed, research consistently showed that diverse managers offered alpha enhancements for investors-not just because diversity at the general partner level led to better investment decision-making and differentiated deal flow, but because diverse managers drove diversity at the portfolio company level as well. This meant a staggering missed opportunity considering that just 1.4 percent of the $82 trillion of the asset management industry was overseen by firms owned by women and people of color. Through Illumen's proprietary bias reduction programming, and because of its powerful fund-of-funds structure, Dodson was well positioned to reduce bias and unlock impact and returns. Specifically, the 10-year curriculum was a means of spurring long-term institutional change beyond one-off trainings; however, Dodson knew that changing one firm in an entire ecosystem was not enough. To elicit lasting change, he would have to enlist many firms working together to create field transformation and capitalize those firms with specific plans to reduce bias. Further, the fund-of-funds structure was a leverage point in the system; its top-down effect allowed 10 times more impact than investing at the company level. -
Suning.com: Managing the Challenges of Expansion
As a traditional retailer focused on selling home appliances, Suning.com Co. Ltd. (Suning) grew quickly and became a leading retailer in China, dominating the market until the 2000s. By 2021, however, Suning was facing challenges, including fierce competition from e-commerce giants such as Alibaba Group Holding Limited, Jingdong, and Pinduoduo Inc. and from its upstream brand manufacturers. It also faced financial pressure in its core business due to aggressive expansion. Suning's revenue, assets, and equity declined, and its net income, which had significantly declined since 2018, had been in the red since 2020. Should Jindong Zhang, co-founder of Suning, change the company's current business strategy? How could Zhang use an omnichannel structure to ensure Suning's sustainable growth? -
LaCroix and PFAS: Redefining the Role of Science and Regulation
This case investigates LaCroix sparkling water and its connection to perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS), as a study of chemical compounds in carbonated beverages has captured the public's attention. At the time of this case, PFAS were not heavily regulated, but the media coverage and body of research surrounding this class of chemicals suggested state and federal rules were on the horizon. The protagonist is Josephine Hudson, a fictional character with the title of president of customer satisfaction for National Beverage, LaCroix's parent company. She must address many questions including: Was there anything that could be done to remove the PFAS in LaCroix? If so, would this increase costs for production as well as the price for the end-customer? Was the company at risk of any legal challenges? -
Starting a Student-Run Business at Loyola University Chicago, Spreadsheet Supplement
Spreadsheet supplement for Case NA0732 -
FlexShyft: Term Sheet Negotiation (A)
This case describes a fictional company, FlexShyft, as its cofounders navigate and negotiate the terms of an offer to invest in the company's Series B financing round. The cofounders review and evaluate each clause of the term sheet from the venture capital firm Storm Point Ventures to understand the implications for the company, FlexShyft's existing investors, and themselves. The case is designed to be taught as a simulated negotiation, in which students are split into two groups and asked to either roleplay as investors from Storm Point or FlexShyft cofounders. Students in both groups will be given additional information - the B1 or B2 case - and be asked to negotiate the terms to arrive at a deal. -
FlexShyft: Term Sheet Negotiation (B1) - Founders
Case Supplement for Case E774A -
FlexShyft: Term Sheet Negotiation (B2) - Venture Capitalists
Case Supplement for Case E774A -
FlexShyft: Term Sheet Negotiation, Spreadsheet Supplement
Spreadsheet Supplement for Case E774A -
Antigal: Strategy and Succession Challenges in a Family-Owned Vineyard with Global Ambitions
Antigal is an Argentinian winery with an integrated business model including vineyards, wine production, and distribution. Antigal is owned by the Cartoni family. Virgilio Cartoni entered Antigal as a minority shareholder in 2007, and in 2016 he and his wife Ana Maria took full control of the winery. Antigal consists of three companies. Virgilio and Ana Maria have four children: Stefano, Francesco, Alessandra, and Antonella. Since 2016, the couple each own 20% of the vehicle ROCKY, parent to two companies of Antigal, and the four children own 15% each. Virgilio and Ana Maria also own 50% each of the vehicle BACO, parent to the third company of Antigal. In mid-2018, Antigal became a multi-generational family-managed firm with Stefano, Alessandra, and Francesco working as company managers. Francesco, Virgilio, and Ana Maria's second-oldest son started working for a Chilean producer and exporter of wines following his graduation from university, and he soon realized that the future of the wine business was in China. Consequently, in 2016 he moved to China to work for the Chilean company there. In 2018 Francesco resigned from the job to start a full-time MBA program and begin to build relationships for his family business. Francesco, along with his brother and sister, has a vision to bring Antigal to the next level. There are many challenges ahead for the company to overcome: How to structure the family business governance? How to expand the business and increase the enterprise value of the firm? How and how much could China contribute to it? -
Antigal: Brand and Company Value of a Family-Controlled Wine Business
At the end of 2018, Francesco Cartoni was concluding his first MBA term when he decided to start working as an executive assistant for his family company, Antigal Winery (Antigal). Antigal encompassed three companies. Two were based in Mendoza (Argentina): Cepas del Sur S.A., which owned the vineyards, and Botega Antigal S.A., which performed the wine production. The third company, Cork Alliance Inc., was a wine wholesaler and importer/distributor based in Miami, Florida (US), that owned a special license to import alcohol. In past years this company structure allowed Antigal to achieve a wide distribution in the US and gain higher profit margins. However, after Francesco joined the company and decided to expand distribution in China, Antigal's sales started to grow significantly in Asia as well. Francesco wanted Antigal to have an even greater presence in China, but once he joined the company, he wanted first to have a clear idea about the value of Antigal. Francesco and his siblings spent the following months collecting any relevant information, and with the help of his accounting professor, they started to make an accurate company evaluation. To provide a comprehensive view of Antigal, this case study analyzes the company's past performance. By using financial ratios, common size analysis and trend analysis are performed. Then, to evaluate the company value of Antigal, two evaluation methodologies are applied: (i) Multiples and (ii) Discount Cash Flow (DCF). The case study also shows the limits of these two techniques and proposes alternative methods. In evaluating the company, many issues are considered: What is the best way to evaluate Antigal, which encompasses companies located in different countries? What is the best method to account for the high inflation rate in Argentina? How could global economic trends, such as the burst of the COVID-19 pandemic, and wine industry trends, impact Antigal's future growth? Antigal recorded stable sales in the -
Appendix_Antigal for Students, Spreadsheet Supplement
Spreadsheet Supplement for Case CB0180 -
ReMaterials: Scaling up frugal innovation solutions
ReMaterials was started in 2012 by Hasit Ganatra, when he realised the potential of an alternate product that could cater to the current needs of people living in slums. Slums are characterised by inadequate facilities, one of which is durable housing. Ganatra observed that metal sheets were the most commonly used roofing material in slums and the household had to adjust with leaky roofs in monsoons, high temperatures in summer and very little ventilation throughout the year. The residents of such houses were unable to pay for a concrete roof which was the only other option available in the market. Instead, they found it more affordable to undertake yearly repairs. Ganatra felt the need for an alternate roofing solution keeping affordability in mind. To achieve this, he experimented with industrial and agricultural waste for almost a year and came up with a roofing panel made from waste cardboard, which he called 'Modroof.' The price of Modroof is almost half that of the concrete roof and it can last for about 20 years. In 2015, ReMaterials partnered with microfinance institutions, which offered housing loans for the underprivileged, to boost sales. In the beginning of 2017, ReMaterials aimed to achieve 500 installations by the year end to become profitable, but it was able to complete only 100 installations by the end of December 2017. Envisaged as a social enterprise, the dilemma before Ganatra was how to go about making ReMaterials profitable while keeping specific core areas in sight. There were multiple options available to him but he did not want to compromise on his vision or lose the freedom to experiment. -
Singhania Vs Singhania
The case focuses on a family feud that started with a property dispute and became public news in 2017. Gautam Singhania (chairman and managing director, MD, of Raymond Limited, India) and his father, Vijaypat Singhania, are involved in the dispute. The case narrates both sides of the story. It provides an opportunity to discuss succession management, as well as "family feuds", their reasons and their repercussions on a family business. The case offers interesting insights into the overlap of family, business and ownership dimensions in a family business. The case ends with the speculation of whether such disputes could ever be settled. -
REDF Impact Investing Fund (RIIF): Alternative Risk Ratings
In February 2022, nearly three years after the launch of the REDF Impact Investing Fund (RIIF), a 501(c)(3) debt fund providing financing and capacity building to grow social enterprises employing individuals overcoming barriers to work, CEO Carrie McKellogg was both humbled and hopeful. Much had been learned in her time at the helm of RIIF, both within the portfolio and in relation to the employment social enterprise (ESE) sector as a whole. Specifically, she recognized that the ESEs with whom REDF had worked for over two decades had difficulty gaining access to and were not comfortable with credit; in fact, she had identified that the traditional underwriting process and credit risk methodologies that they were using perpetuated barriers to accessing credit. Indeed, the inequitable effects of the pandemic paired with ongoing racial injustices and structural challenges highlighted the role of RIIF as an important tool to accelerate the growth of the ESE field, and their crucial work to provide a more inclusive economy for all. -
Homecoming Capital: Developing an Impact Strategy
In April 2019, just two months shy of his graduation from Stanford Graduate School of Business ("Stanford"), Cody Evans was looking forward to converting his professional and academic experiences to real-world impact. Having worked at both the largest private equity firm in the world and an energy infrastructure developer in Africa, Evans brought a unique blend of investment rigor and entrepreneurial spirit to Stanford. More importantly, he was driven and inspired by energy as a fundamental building block for economies. During his time at Stanford, he was drawn to new legislation meant to spur economic growth and job creation in low-income communities through tax-advantaged investment. These emerging Qualified Opportunity Zones (QOZs) were the topic of multiple articles published by Evans alongside distinguished professors, specialists, and leaders in the economic and community development fields. With expertise in the area and a passion for energy infrastructure projects, Evans wondered if he could combine the social benefits of QOZs with the environmental impact of existing solar incentives. The U.S. Internal Revenue Services (IRS) had not yet written the rules on the innovative concept, so the risk levels were high while the return was uncertain. With graduation approaching, Evans would have to make some key decisions. In addition to settling on a viable investment thesis, he would have to assemble a team and think about how best to raise capital. -
Nuveen: Evaluating a Private Equity Impact Investment
For five years, the private equity impact team at Nuveen led by Rekha Unnithan, CFA, had been watching Samunnati, a specialized agriculture value chain solutions provider located in Chennai, near the southeastern coast of India. Its mission was to support smallholder farmers, who comprised roughly 87 percent of Indian farm workers, by providing financing and capacity building for farmer collectives and larger, more diverse agri-enterprises. Through market linkages and working capital, Samunnati sought to raise the access, purchasing power, and connectivity for agricultural value chains in India. Launched and led by a career banker with deep expertise in rural and agricultural finance, Samunnati was poised to transform the agriculture ecosystem in India while improving the income and livelihoods of hundreds of millions of smallholder farmers. First introduced to Samunnati in 2014, the Nuveen team had followed the company's journey from a pilot project in the unbanked tiers of a single state in India to an agritech enterprise operating in 14 states and over 30 value chains across India. In early 2019, Samunnati began raising its Series D round of financing to further its growth, and the team at Nuveen was ready to take a closer look. Despite Samunnati's success to date, agriculture had historically been a risky sector with significant volatility, particularly at the value chain level. In addition, the company was in its growth stage, so its systems and processes needed to further mature-specifically its information technology strategy, impact framework and reporting, and preparations as a Systemically Important Non-Bank Finance Company, a designation assigned to Samunnati given its size and significance in the economy. Finally, given the marginalization of smallholder farmers throughout history, the Nuveen team was sensitive about safeguarding this vulnerable member of the agricultural ecosystem; specifically, they wanted to ensure that the investment would not -
Los Angeles Cleantech Incubator (LACI): Launching a Cleantech Debt Fund
After completing a successful two-year pilot, the Los Angeles Cleantech Incubator (LACI) was ready to launch its inaugural Debt Fund. The goal was to capitalize companies solving the greatest challenges related to climate change across three priority spaces in cleantech: transportation, clean energy, and sustainable cities. Spearheading the effort was Alex Mitchell, senior Vice President of Unlocking Innovation through the empowerment of start-ups-one of the three pillars of the organization's theory of change-in addition to Market Transformation through partnerships and pilots, and Enhancing Community through workforce development and programs. For over a decade, LACI had worked with nearly 300 start-ups through its incubator program to help sustainable start-ups, particularly those founded by and serving underrepresented individuals and communities, gain access to capital and scale their businesses. The Debt Fund would draw heavily on LACI's expertise and existing portfolio to provide loans with interest rates at or below market rates to companies that had achieved market traction but did not have the cash flow required to qualify for traditional loans. Specifically, the Debt Fund would focus on capitalizing minorities who were disproportionately affected by the cost and lack of access to equity funding. As its incubator program portfolio was nearly 33 percent women and 33 percent underrepresented founders of color, Mitchell needed a plan for preventing biases from imbuing the lending process at LACI while staying true to the organization's social mission of building a more sustainable and equitable ecosystem. In addition, while LACI had developed an impact framework for the incubator program that not only aligned with portfolio companies but underscored the importance of start-up engagement in the process, he struggled with how best to do the same with the Debt Fund. Finally, LACI would be partnering with other cleantech start-ups ("incubator partners") in the