The case describes how the Danish company Zirq Solutions, a subsidiary of Norwegian NG Group, brought circular economy thinking to the pharmaceutical industry. Under CEO Thomas Morch and the inventive CTO Jesper Vinther Dueholm, Zirq Solutions established the only industrial process in the world capable of recovering materials from used medical pens (to inject insulin or for fertility treatment) - and recycled them to make new products. Encountering multiple roadblocks on the journey towards establishing the new circular business model, they found that the best way to overcome them was partnerships.
Zipline delivers medical products via unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs). With its expansion to Ghana in 2019, Zipline became world's largest medical drone-delivery service, reaching over 25 million people. Founded in 2014 by Keller Rinaudo (CEO) and Keenan Wyrobek (CTO) in Half Moon Bay, California, Zipline is different from its Silicon Valley peers and has big ambitions: to serve 700 million people in need of medical supplies by 2024. The case study sheds light on the company, its drone technology and its new approach to the delivery of medical supplies. It also illustrates the difficulties ahead as it expands operations.
ORTA Anadolu, a denim manufacturer based in Turkey that produces jeans for major global brands, is seeking to embrace the movement for a circular economy by redesigning its products and processes. How easy is the task facing director Sedef Uncu? What are the barriers to and enablers for 'circular' fashion?
What does it take to build the infrastructure to recycle plastic bottles that is economically viable? The case looks at the economics of the circular economy, focusing on the development of a business case for a beverage producer to create a closed-loop PET bottle recycling facility on the island of Malta.
As late as 2020, the supply chain of the global chocolate industry was characterized by modern slavery and child labour, poverty, dire living conditions and deforestation. While players in the cocoa industry had launched certification and in-house sustainability programmes, experts claimed that these have had limited impact. This failing prompted alternative efforts to change the sector from within. One of them, Tony's Chocolonely, a Dutch brand, set out to challenge the industry and demonstrate that cocoa could be sourced differently. Created in 2005 after an investigative journalist exposed the "dark side" of the industry, Tony's became one of the market leaders in the Netherlands. It operated a fully segregated supply chain "from bean to bar" for all cocoa components in its chocolate, and paid farmers in Africa a higher price for their cocoa beans to help them earn a living income. It described itself as "an impact company that sells chocolate; not a chocolate company trying to make an impact". Its vision - "a cocoa industry with 100% slave-free chocolate" - went beyond its own operations and applied to the global industry, urging the big chocolate players to take responsibility along the entire supply chain. The size of Tony's Chocolonely compared to the global chocolate industry brings an analogy to mind: Could this David defy Goliath? Could a start-up with a social mission change an entire industry from within? To achieve 100% slave-free chocolate meant tackling a host of strategic, tactical and operational issues, many linked with the UN Sustainable Development Goals.
Since its inception in 2015, the 2030 Agenda for the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) has provided a blueprint for shared prosperity in a sustainable world - a world where all people live productive, vibrant, and peaceful lives on a healthy planet. With less than a decade to go, we need to ask if we are laying the right foundation to achieve the SDGs. How "SDG-smart" are we? How aware are we of the production, trade and financing of commodities that are widely consumed? This case provides an overview of the cocoa sector, its supply chain and structural abuses, challenging the audience to reflect upon their SDG awareness and how they - be they consumers or producers - can do better and how the leaders of tomorrow can bring about sustainable change. The case uses a novel format using a slide set only. The slide set has six parts, starting with introducing the cocoa sector and the issues of poverty, child labour and deforestation. It is followed by the current practices to tackle these issues, namely industry sustainability initiatives and third-party certification programs. It concludes with different components that allow for further in-depth discussion. The final discussion question is about what you as a leader of tomorrow would do differently to bring about true impact. This should prompt the audience to think critically about what they would do. Here, many different components can be considered and the case handles some of them: • Responsible consumption and production. • How can governments and legislation play a role? • How can emerging technologies help? • What role can be played by social impact companies? Can they drive change in the sector?
Praesens Care, a start-up based in Belgium, has developed a mobile laboratory with the aim of safely testing people for a wide range of killer diseases. Its mobile laboratories enable monitoring of infectious diseases and improve diagnostic capabilities in remote areas in Africa. The case tells the story from its origins to the difficulties encountered in the public health sector, with three questions at the core: what and who are its targets, how to align its operations to achieve them, and how to finance its operations.
Praesens Care, a start-up based in Belgium, has developed a mobile laboratory with the aim of safely testing people for a wide range of killer diseases. Its mobile laboratories enable monitoring of infectious diseases and improve diagnostic capabilities in remote areas in Africa. The case tells the story from its origins to the difficulties encountered in the public health sector, with three questions at the core: what and who are its targets, how to align its operations to achieve them, and how to finance its operations.
Tom Hermans, CEO of EMMA Safety Footwear, is excited about the idea of developing the world's first circular safety shoe - one that adheres to the cradle-to-cradle design principles. This could be a transformational strategy, differentiating EMMA from the crowded safety shoe market in Europe and extending a long tradition of social responsibility since its establishment in 1931. Careful consideration and research are required because this would impact almost every aspect of EMMA's operation - the business model, internal operations, the global supply chain, and the company culture. Questions remain about whether this is the best way to differentiate EMMA. What kind of change management would EMMA and its suppliers need to deploy the circular initiative? How could the business model be reinvented to capture the economic benefits of circular shoes? Can Tom and his team push through this drastic change in a conservative company in a conservative market?
This case is the continuation of EMMA Safety Shoes (A): Designing a Circular Shoe. EMMA reached 100% circularity in shoe design at the end of 2019, but this impressive achievement did not mean its journey to the circular economy was over. EMMA Safety Footwear - Implementing the Circular Business maps out several milestones in the transition of its business model, recycling logistics, supply-chain management and internal culture to make the circular shoe a sustainable business. A series of events between 2019 and May 2020 push the company in the right direction, but to be truly successful means taking the lead for the entire safety footwear industry, getting stakeholders such as customers, dealers, business partners, and competitors on board.
This case explores the events leading to the creating of a multi-stakeholder platform, the Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO). The promotion of palm oil as an alternative to fossil fuels has increased demand, hence the "palm oil dilemma": to produce oil more sustainably or save the forests? The ability to respond to NGOs and the additional cost of certified palm oil are some of the future challenges facing the RSPO.
The introduction of a new class of persistent herbicides is anticipated by DuPont as a game-changer for the firm and its customers. Instead, the product creates unforeseen damage to vegetation. The mobilization of the customer base soon extends to the general public and regulators, leading to withdrawal of the product and ultimately the sale of the DuPont business unit concerned.
The introduction of a new class of persistent herbicides is anticipated by DuPont as a game-changer for the firm and its customers. Instead, the product creates unforeseen damage to vegetation. The mobilisation of the customer base soon extends to the general public and regulators, leading to withdrawal of the product and ultimately the sale of the DuPont business unit concerned.
The introduction of a new class of persistent herbicides is anticipated by DuPont as a game-changer for the firm and its customers. Instead, the product creates unforeseen damage to vegetation. The mobilization of the customer base soon extends to the general public and regulators, leading to withdrawal of the product and ultimately the sale of the DuPont business unit concerned.
Case A offers an overview and Case B explores specific aspects of a major Indian construction firm which seeks to use corporate social responsibility as a strategic tool in its quest for rapid growth at home and abroad. Source materials include on-site interviews of the firm's executives, line managers and workers in Delhi, Mumbai and Lavasa, as well as corporate reports, scholarly articles, and domestic and international press articles.
Case A offers an overview and Case B explores specific aspects of a major Indian construction firm which seeks to use corporate social responsibility as a strategic tool in its quest for rapid growth at home and abroad. Source materials include on-site interviews of the firm's executives, line managers and workers in Delhi, Mumbai and Lavasa, as well as corporate reports, scholarly articles, and domestic and international press articles.
Strong urbanisation leads to mega-cities with huge environmental problems. Singapore has managed to combine strong economic and population growth with keeping the city liveable and green. There is a lot to be learned from their unique experience.
The announcement that BP PLC, the world's third-largest oil firm, was going "beyond petroleum" generated scepticism from news media, indifference from investors, and outraged opposition from environmentalists in 2000. When BP's Alaska employees raised safety and environmental concerns in 2002, stakeholder groups, news media and regulators were drawn into the conflict.