The case ONE2ID B.V., Growth Challenge explores the challenges a small company faces when the founder controls every aspect of the firm. Over the past eight years, the firm has grown from a whiteboard strategy exercise conducted with the firm's founder and his investors to a company with a manufacturing plant, direct sales in the Benelux and Germany, and some initial distribution in other parts of Europe. Strategic choices made during the startup phase require reexamination as the founder struggles with balancing competing demands on his time and the challenges of "letting go" of some of his decision-making authority. While the firm has been very profitable with little debt and a sound business model, continued growth has challenged the company due to a lack of management staff capable of taking on greater responsibility. The firm has concentrated its growth focus on the Benelux countries. Unless the company expands into other European markets, ONE2ID growth will be limited. Anton Damen, the founder, must decide how to structure the company for additional growth as he determines what role he will assume in 2021.

The Analog Devices case explores the complexities of strategy execution post-acquisition. Analog Devices, facing industry consolidation and struggling with the internal challenges associated with developing a critical technology organically, decides to use an acquisition strategy to gain the resources they need to compete effectively. ADI's CEO, Vincent Roche, embarks upon a three-year courtship of Linear Technologies, attempting to convince their CEO and founder to sell the firm. After three years and successively higher offers, Bob Swanson, LTC's founder, agreed to the merger. The case begins as ADI starts the post-merger work to integrate the two firms' operations. ADI's senior management begins to discover the differences between the two firms' cultures, styles, systems (specifically the reward systems), staffing patterns and metrics by which the firms evaluate business opportunities. In addition, ADI faces the prospect of integrating a strong culture formed by LTC's founder and Chairman, whose outsized personality was deeply imprinted in LTC's DNA. ADI's senior management were veterans of the semiconductor industry with a background in both internal operations and acquisition integration. The management team was experienced in both large- and small-scale acquisitions prior to the LTC acquisition. However, the LTC acquisition was their largest acquisition to date. Management realized the need to balance speed of integration against moving too quickly for their staff to adjust to the challenges of this complex integration. Market forces were also in play as larger competitors acquired smaller firms, and value chain activities - especially at the customer specification and design part of the value chain - were changing as customer requirements of increasingly complex production solutions were evolving.

The One Fund case was written to challenge students to think more deeply about the relationships between institutions, policies, and stakeholders. The case was designed to help students understand the complexities of planning, organizing, and executing a complex mission over a short period of time with cooperating and conflicting institutional interests, varying societal expectations, and embedded relationships developed over decades. Our intent is to deliver a modest contribution to exploring how the relations between institutions and policies are positively affected when combined with determined entrepreneurial actions. The case was written for use in a class on Institutions and Policies. It may also be used in an undergraduate strategy class to introduce students to strategy in the area of non-profits. In this context, we explore the relationship between non-profit and for-profit enterprises, comparing the mutual interests of the constituents they serve. Lastly, we introduce students to antecedents that help form the PEST factors that influence firm-level strategic choice.

Previous research highlights tensions that social hybrids face by spanning categories. This article explores the emergence of legislation to support a new category for social hybrids, focusing on Benefit Corporation legislation in the United States. It presents quantitative analysis of state-level factors that make a state suitable for a social hybrid category (attractiveness for for-profit business and nonprofits, existing social hybrid organizations, legislative intensity, and political leanings) followed by qualitative analysis of the arguments marshaled for the creation of the Benefit Corporation legal form. These findings raise important insights for research on social hybrids and suggest a range of practical implications.

Sullivan Container operated both new industrial steel barrel production and the reconditioning of industrial steel drum and plastic containers in several plant locations in the United States. The firm operated in an industry with a checkered past, characterized by periods of price fixing and environmental problems. A new management team acquired the firm in 2007 and began revamping manufacturing practices and focusing on environmentally sustainable practices. Faced with the severe economic crisis in 2009, the firm continued to pursue sustainable practices, but now faces a critical question as investment costs in sustainable practices increase. The key question we explore is: Given the industry history, will build sustainable practices into their business model drive a customer's Willingness to Pay? The case allows students to explore the challenges of creating a Willingness to Pay for aspects of value creation that may have no immediate positive effect on their customer's internal operations.

Theo Chocolate, Inc. is a small start-up chocolate manufacturer struggling to establish brand recognition in the highly competitive branded gourmet chocolate segment. Theo's unique value proposition, of being "the only organic, Fair-Trade, bean-to-bar chocolate factory in the United States," drives its business. The company was started and operates under the premise that socially responsible business practices are cornerstones of its operations. Since its inception, Theo has built a loyal and growing following, especially in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States. Its first three years were spent building this customer base and forging a brand based on its value proposition and everyday business practices. However, despite steady improvements in all financial indicators, to date Theo had not been profitable - the company expected to break "into the black" in its fourth year. The case explores the challenges Joe Whinney and Debra Music (the Founder/CEO and VP of Sales and Marketing, respectively) face as they emerge from the first stage of the entrepreneurial venture. The key decision facing the company, and Debra in particular, is whether Theo can in fact afford to stay true to the strategy and value proposition that has defined its existence. It is trying to establish a unique brand in a marketplace that is dominated by large well-established competitors with significant resources at their disposal. It has not been profitable in doing so. The case provides students an opportunity to wrestle with very real issues that idealistic entrepreneurs face - compromising principles, brand-building, managing cash flow and planning for the future.