The case examines the strategy, impact, and sustainability of a boutique philanthropy with a big goal: change the way people donate to charities. Epic Foundation was founded to support a portfolio of children's charities. Now, its leadership was considering taking on a broader role: to reshape the very nature of charitable giving-in the U.S., France, the United Kingdom and globally. Its wealthy, charismatic leader, Alexandre Mars, thought that Epic could be at the forefront of a movement to transform the global culture of giving. But there was an open question among the fundraising, communications and marketing teams at Epic about how to jockey between the management and growth of its portfolio and this new advocacy orientation. It was unclear whether Epic could simultaneously pursue both. Should Epic continue to grow and possibly diversify its portfolio of charities, or should it focus more on an advocacy model? Mars wanted to advocate for "making giving the norm"-a call for citizens to make frequent charitable donations through work, point-of-purchase and online channels. But were Epic's ideas truly innovative when it came to fostering this giving norm and was it positioned to advocate for it?

This case study examines the B Corp certification process of Paris-based food products company Danone's North American business. With $6 billion in sales, in 2018 Danone NA became the largest Certified B Corp in the world by a factor of two. The certification of this massive entity created many strategic and logistical challenges for both Danone and B Lab, the non-profit that certifies B Corps. B Corp certification assesses a company's social and environmental performance, and so the case study provides an opportunity to discuss an on-the-ground example of how some of the largest companies in the world are becoming more accountable to the general public. Furthermore, looking forward, students can analyze how the system that B Lab set up to certify mostly smaller and medium-size organizations can be improved in order enable larger organizations to join the B Corp movement. More generally, a key question is about consumer awareness and support. When will large numbers of consumers start making purchases based on their social and environmental values?

ABC (A Better Community) provided pro-bono and paid management consulting services to nongovernment organizations in mainland China. Founded in 2008, ABC had quickly expanded from a voluntary group in Beijing with 7 volunteers in to a well-organized NGO with several hundred volunteers operating in 4 cities, serving more than one hundred NGOs. However, the rapid development also brought many challenges to both the running of the organization and how to best achieve its social mission. Case number 2119.0

In 2008, Du and Lu, two experienced professional volunteers passionate about improving the state of mental health and well being among Chinese youth, founded Growing Home in Beijing, China. The nonprofit organization has since evolved from teaching children that have migrated to big cities from rural areas, to focusing on developing bedtime stories particularly for children in rural residential schools. As the demand for Growing Home's program expands, they face a decision on the organization's next step forward. Despite struggling with conflicts such as a lack of expertise and experience in commercializing the program, and establishing relationships with the government and other NGOs, the team is determined to reach the later stages of an ambitious 7-stage timeline designed to scale the NGO's social impact, and ultimately create significant institutional changes within China's education system. Case number 2123.0

First Respond is a for-profit Chinese social enterprise focused on developing emergency services with the mission of making China a safer place. In China, there is a severe lack of first aid awareness and systems, and to fill this gap, First Respond delivers first aid training, products and services, and solutions to both businesses and individuals in the private and public sectors. They also provide in-race first aid service for marathons. Looking to the future, key challenges include how to most effectively communicate their social mission to stakeholders and how to best sell their products and services in China, a market with a number of institutional barriers to public safety. Case number 2103.0

After more than 25 years of operation, Beacon Group had grown from having 3 small classrooms on the fourth floor of a commercial building, to a network of 21 centers across Hong Kong with over 60,000 students enrolled per year. The key long-term challenge for the industry was that due to low birth rates in Hong Kong, over the next decade there will be a precipitous decline in the number of senior secondary school students, who account for the lion's share of market demand for tutorial services as they prepare for the Hong Kong university entrance exam. Given this impending demographic shift, Beacon Group needed to find new sources of demand for their services. Options included expanding into Mainland China, establishing new on-line offerings to lower costs and further to introduce new products and services to appeal to a more diverse set of students. In addition to this core challenge, the case provides opportunities to discuss the following topics: how a family business can scale in the face of numerous challenges, and how leaders can design creative incentive systems to attract and retain key professional talent.

This case study shows the evolution of the Chinese television program Fei Ni Mo Shu (You are the One), from an unrecognized show in 2010 to becoming a television phenomenon in 2015. The success of Fei Ni Mo Shu (You are the One) has resulted from it reflecting the current Chinese labor market, people's career attitudes and what Chinese employers demand from the employees. As Fei Ni Mo Shu enters its sixth year, the show's producer grapples with questions of how to keep the show fresh and appealing as the underlying social and economic conditions that led to its success change.

To achieve its goal of redefining success in business, B Lab recognizes it needs to scale. Its strategy to do so requires B Lab to depend heavily on new partners, venture into new markets, influence new audiences, and to strike a balance between standards and flexibility. Is this the right strategy to achieve B Lab's ambitious goals? Is the business world ready to commit, with real accountability, to purposes beyond shareholder value?

Under the leadership of CEO and President Shen Guojun, China Yintai was increasingly committed to philanthropic initiatives. Drawing upon his experience as an entrepreneur and a philanthropist, Mr. Shen saw the urgent need to build bridges between business practices and philanthropy and cultivate a new business culture that incorporated "shared value." The case study documents Yintai's recent collaboration with Peking University on founding China's first masters program of social enterprise management. By training management professionals for China's philanthropy sector, Yintai and Mr. Shen expected to bring about revolutionary impact in the long run and change the face of China's philanthropy.

Tracks the first six months of a recent MBA grad, Tim Keller, at Katzenbach Partners, a boutique consulting firm focused on organizational change and strategy. Covers how Keller initially struggles with his assignment and ends with a question of whether or not he should attend a meeting that he was not invited to, where more senior consultants plan to implement the system dynamics tool that he was responsible for creating-on a Sunday when he had a major personal engagement.

This case provides an opportunity to examine and discuss how a traditional Chinese private business was launched and developed into a globalizing, multi-industry corporation. It also highlights how second generation entrepreneurs successfully developed an innovative industry model to sustain a green and profitable business, how the company valued, motivated and retained its talent, and how Chinese private enterprise can go global.

A company with a strong commitment toward corporate social responsibility since its founding days, Green Mountain faced an ethical decision point in 2007 as new information from the field uncovered a chronic dire problem facing coffee communities-seasonal starvation. Company leaders are driven to re-assess their social impact and address this widespread problem while aligning their efforts with their broader, rapidly expanding business of selling coffee.

As the founder of a new "ethical" bank focused on environmental sustainability, Jay McGuane realizes that he has to come up with clear rules about how the board should make decisions on "values" grounds--and quickly. Already, the bank is facing loan approvals involving two hot-button issues. Without clear guidelines, the bank's directors may fall into bitter squabbling, which could lead to resignations, negative media attention, and a flight of investors. Expert commentary comes from Ken LaRoe, chairman and CEO of First Green Bank, and John Replogle, president and CEO of Seventh Generation.

As the founder of a new "ethical" bank focused on environmental sustainability, Jay McGuane realizes that he has to come up with clear rules about how the board should make decisions on "values" grounds--and quickly. Already, the bank is facing loan approvals involving two hot-button issues. Without clear guidelines, the bank's directors may fall into bitter squabbling, which could lead to resignations, negative media attention, and a flight of investors. Expert commentary comes from Ken LaRoe, chairman and CEO of First Green Bank, and John Replogle, president and CEO of Seventh Generation.

As the founder of a new "ethical" bank focused on environmental sustainability, Jay McGuane realizes that he has to come up with clear rules about how the board should make decisions on "values" grounds--and quickly. Already, the bank is facing loan approvals involving two hot-button issues. Without clear guidelines, the bank's directors may fall into bitter squabbling, which could lead to resignations, negative media attention, and a flight of investors. Expert commentary comes from Ken LaRoe, chairman and CEO of First Green Bank, and John Replogle, president and CEO of Seventh Generation.

As Fei Cheng Wu Rao, China's most popular entertainment program, enters its fourth year, company leaders grapple with questions of how to keep the show fresh and reach new markets. In particular, the show is poised to expand to Africa, yet there are significant questions about how to tailor a program designed to capture the attention of a unique demographic within China to new cultural contexts.

The mining giant Anglo American attempts to differentiate itself through its social performance, yet public expectations are still growing. Maintaining a "social license" to operate was increasingly challenging and critical to business success. The case considers Anglo American's options to stay in front of these trends. How can the protagonist promote greater professionalization of social performance inside the organization, and greater integration with business decisions? The organization was also under pressure to increase social investments as part of the company's social license. Could significantly more value - for the company, host governments, and local communities - be created by leveraging the company's core operations, such as increasing the amount of goods and services purchased from local suppliers?

First Green Bank is a bank start-up in the midst of the financial crisis which aims to promote sustainability while making money as a bank. The case presents an ethical dilemma as the bank considers a loan to an arms manufacturer.

Brooks and Tyler are first cousins who are running Erbe, a line of sustainably produced herb-infused vodkas. Brooks put up all his savings--$250,000--to get started, and just a month later Tyler quit a lucrative private equity job to join the new venture. The time has come to decide how to divide the remaining 90% stake in Erbe (the company's investors hold 10%). Brooks feels he's entitled to the lion's share; Tyler believes he should get half. With commentary from Courtney Reum, the founder of Veev Spirits (on which this case is based), and Jon Olinto, a cofounder of b.good, a chain of high-quality fast-food restaurants.

Brooks and Tyler are first cousins who are running Erbe, a line of sustainably produced herb-infused vodkas. Brooks put up all his savings--$250,000--to get started, and just a month later Tyler quit a lucrative private equity job to join the new venture. The time has come to decide how to divide the remaining 90% stake in Erbe (the company's investors hold 10%). Brooks feels he's entitled to the lion's share; Tyler believes he should get half. With commentary from Courtney Reum, the founder of Veev Spirits (on which this case is based), and Jon Olinto, a cofounder of b.good, a chain of high-quality fast-food restaurants.