Motorcycle Offsetters, an aspiring startup, provided motorcycle enthusiasts with a platform to offset carbon emissions from their touring activities, contributing to the fight against climate change. Despite rapid growth, the venture faced financial instability. The founder, Andreas Gneist, aimed to devise a marketing and communication strategy to engage decision-makers in organizations offering offsetting services to a substantial motorcycle enthusiast base. Overcoming skepticism among environmental activists and countering the stigma associated with climate change efforts among deniers were pivotal challenges. Addressing these hurdles was crucial for the venture's success and financial sustainability.
The Calgary Social Value Fund (CSVF) was a newly created, student-run, impact investing fund working to make its first investment decision. The co-founder of CSVF was considering an investment in aGRO Systems Inc, a local, female-founded social enterprise that had been growing quickly and creating valuable impact in the community. aGRO Systems was deciding which growth strategy to pursue, and CSVF had to determine if it should invest in aGRO Systems—without knowing which growth strategy the organization would choose. The co-founder wanted to further assess aGRO Systems and evaluate its potential fit as a first investment for CSVF using the impact assessment tool developed for it.
In January 2023, the chief executive officer of New World Development Co. Ltd. (New World Development) faced a critical decision. With travel set to resume between Hong Kong and Mainland China, opportunities and challenges emerged in the post-pandemic era. An impending board meeting in February demanded a delicate balance between environmental, social, and governance (ESG) initiatives and the company’s financial health. Financial data revealed significant spending on ESG efforts, posing cash flow challenges. The CEO grappled with critical questions: Should ESG spending be cut to fuel post-pandemic investments? Could New World Development’s ESG image, cultivated amid COVID-19, be a competitive advantage with evolving travel patterns? Before the board meeting, he had to decide on a strategy to balance financial stability with sustainable innovation.
In August 2023, Kurma Vedic Village, located in the Srikakulam district of Andhra Pradesh, India, was steeped in Vedic culture. The 70 residents in the village embraced minimalistic life and achieved self-sufficiency through land, cattle, and Krsna consciousness. They renounced modern conveniences such as electricity, internet access, and cooking gas in favour of traditional agricultural methods, village technologies, clothes made from handloom, and barter systems for transactions, which led to a simple life of sustainability and self-sufficiency. Kurma Vedic Village relied on funding from devotees and guests to the village for its continuing service. It also provided traditional Vedic education to students in Vedic Mathematics, Mahabharata, English, Telugu, Sanskrit, and life skills such as carpentry, animal husbandry, weaving, and traditional constructions. However, it was facing various challenges related to funding, scaling, and geographic expansion. How could Kurma Vedic Village overcome the challenges and promote Vedic culture and lifestyle across India?
<div style="font-size: 0.95em; line-height: 1.4;"><p align="justify">In September 2024, the board of governors of the Indian Institute of Management, Visakhapatnam was holding a meeting to review, discuss, and deliberate on various experiences and learnings from phase 1 of the project to build a new permanent campus in Visakhapatnam, Andhra Pradesh, India. The first phase of the project had successfully achieved various objectives in terms of energy innovation, water and wastewater management, solar energy efficiency, rainwater harvesting, and other sustainability measures. It had made great strides toward achieving net zero carbon levels for the fight and adaptation against the challenges of climate change. The head of projects, was tasked with highlighting the importance of sustainability and innovation in energy efficiencies in the upcoming board meeting. He planned to demonstrate how the institute could benefit from and apply the five-star rating received by the Green Rating for Integrated Habitat Assessment to future phases of the project. He also wanted to emphasize how the institute could expand the scope of its sustainability strategies into future projects, considering the impact of potential changes in regulations, technology, finances, and other challenges.
The Green IT Program was an initiative of Schneider Electric’s (Schneider) Enterprise IT department, which had proactively identified opportunities to contribute to the company’s sustainability program. Initiated in 2015, the program had made appreciable progress, first by identifying internal opportunities and then by devising a data-driven approach to measure the carbon footprint of Schneider’s information technology assets and enable year-on-year reductions in greenhouse gas emissions. It had grown into a global initiative, with an integrated communications program launched to build stakeholder awareness, collaboration, and commitment throughout Schneider’s organizational hierarchy. For Zach Nimboorkar, senior vice-president, Technology Services and Operations, who led the project, and core Green IT Program members, Austin Brunero and Jaroslaw Richert, the aim was to build the strategic blueprint covering the next three years; one that could further galvanize the large and complex global ecosystem of internal and external stakeholders and deliver results on the ground.
Brandix Group (Brandix), an apparel manufacturing firm with facilities in Sri Lanka, India, and Bangladesh, began its sustainability journey in the early 2000s, much before there were established practices in the apparel manufacturing industry, in an effort to combat and adapt to the challenges of climate change. The company had worked across all of the group’s establishments to ensure waste minimization, material efficiency, energy efficiency, and eco-efficiency in operations. Ashroff Omar, chief executive officer of Brandix, felt the time had come for Brandix to review its sustainability efforts and assess whether its sustainability strategy could be continued. He was planning to expand the scope of sustainability practices beyond firm boundaries, and explore the impact of possible changes in regulations, technology, and challenges from competitors.
When Enrique Layola joined the San Pedro City Agriculture Office, he was highly concerned about the worsening conditions of Laguna de Bay and their affect upon the livelihoods of local fishermen. Improving Laguna de Bay’s water quality was vital to increasing the region’s production of fish. The deteriorating water quality had resulted in the proliferation of water hyacinth, which was likely to increase further due to worsening water pollution. Layola was determined to overcome the water hyacinth problem in Laguna de Bay and carefully considered the most appropriate method for tackling the management of the water hyacinth.
In a letter to its members in September 2022, London Food Co-op (the Co-op) in London, Ontario, shared that it was struggling with a number of challenges. The pandemic had taken a toll on the Co-op’s financial position, to the extent that its viability was at risk. The main challenges it faced were decreasing sales, low membership, and a lack of awareness of the Co-op among Londoners. One of the managers of the Co-op needed to find solutions to help increase its sales and membership. The unique elements of the Co-op included its core values of sustainability and supporting a local food system, its co-operative business model, and its strong connection to the community.
The central objective of the social-sector organization Kudumbashree, in the state of Kerala, in India, was to alleviate poverty in the state by facilitating the formation of income-generating micro-enterprises (MEs) led by women. In February 2024, the executive director at Kudumbashree was considering implementing a goal-setting framework that would align the various stakeholders to common objectives and ensure systematic and accurate collection of information related to various interventions. However, most management goal-setting frameworks were applied to for-profit settings, so he wondered if they would work in the social sector. He was considering the objectives and key results framework, which was increasingly popular and required review of the results in the short term. Would applying this framework to Kudumbashree facilitate ME formation and sustenance?
After five years abroad, Soumaya Merhi, a Lebanese German entrepreneur, returned to Lebanon in 2013 with the goal of introducing superfoods to the Middle East. Despite limited resources, she launched TAQA Snacks (TAQA) in 2017, prioritizing sustainability alongside financial growth. By 2018, TAQA had seen remarkable 400 per cent growth, established a dedicated team, and ingrained its socio-environmental values. However, Lebanon’s severe economic crisis in 2019, compounded by COVID-19 disruptions, posed significant challenges. Despite setbacks, Merhi remained dedicated to her values and commitment to sustainability, investors, employees, and vision.
The Future Ready Food Safety Hub (FRESH) was a Singapore-based food safety research organization with a global reputation as an authority on assessing the safety and suitability of novel food products meant for sale in the Singapore market. As Singapore had become the first country in the world to approve the sale of laboratory-grown chicken, more and more companies were approaching FRESH for guidance in their safety dossier submissions to the Singapore Food Agency. With a small team of 10 members to keep up with the growing demand for its services, FRESH considered two options: engaging companies one-on-one to address the specific challenges they faced to meet novel food safety requirements, or adopting a consortium approach engaging multiple companies to collaboratively identify and prioritize common problems and develop optimal solutions for the industry. FRESH had to decide which option would best achieve its goals in advancing food safety research and building the novel food ecosystem.
Bryan Gilvesy, CEO of ALUS, must create a proposal to spend ALUS’ $100,000 marketing budget for their brand “New Acre Project”. The brand had experienced good growth in previous years, but sales had stagnated for the past two, creating concerns about the survival of New Acre Project. Gilvesy must invigorate growth and reach sales of $6 million by choosing a target market, whether he should offer carbon credits or not, and at what price. He also had to choose a promotional channel and the messaging New Acre Project would use going forward.
In October 2021, the founder and chief executive officer of Microsign Products Ltd. in Bhavnagar, Gujarat, India, was planning to expand the company, but wanted to ensure consistency for employees with disabilities. The company was planning to increase its list of products and expand its market by partnering with foreign companies. Despite his expansion plans, the founder wanted to continue his company’s mission to “Able the disabled.” He had been committed to social responsibility since launching the company in 1987 by hiring individuals with disabilities. He was now wondering if he needed new employee policies to support his vision of hiring people with disabilities into mainstream workplace positions and promote career growth for his employees. How would his expansion plans affect the company’s work culture? How could he be sure to retain the “family” workplace model he had always promoted?
In late 2017, Zara, a major Spanish multinational retail clothing chain specializing in fast fashion, was the target of a negative campaign initiated by the workers of one of the company’s Turkish suppliers, Bravo Tekstil, who had been left without pay after their employer declared bankruptcy and disappeared overnight. Zara was in the media spotlight, and Clean Clothes Campaign, the garment industry’s largest alliance of labour unions, was pressuring the company to compensate for the workers’ losses and pay three months of wages and severance. Although not legally liable, Zara offered to pay about one-quarter of the Bravo Tekstil workers’ claims to limit its reputational damage. Bravo Tekstil’s workers remained largely dissatisfied with this offer and promised further actions against the Spanish multinational enterprise (MNE). In the short term, Zara had to decide how to respond effectively to these specific allegations, and over the longer term, it had to develop a more deliberate strategy for managing its suppliers’ potential irresponsibility.
In August 2020, Sterlite Copper, a mining company in India, was shut down for good by the Madras High Court following a lengthy legal battle with the local Indian community, who accused the mine of environmental pollution. This verdict was a blow for Anil Agarwal, the executive chairman of the mine’s parent company, Vedanta Resources Limited (VRL), because the mine’s closing not only caused serious economic losses but also damaged VRL’s reputation around the world. Subsidiaries of VRL had successfully operated in Ireland and Australia—both developed economies—but had faced strong opposition in developing economies such as Zambia, Namibia, and India. Although VRL publicly advocated for corporate social responsibility and had received awards for its sustainability practices, the company continued to experience a lack of social consent from the local communities surrounding its operations in developing countries. Why was VRL failing in those countries despite its profitable operations? Were there cleaner and more efficient ways of extracting minerals to improve the company’s sustainability? Or were there other environmental, social, and governance factors that made mining difficult in developing economies?
Ivan and Dan MacKinnon grew up on a farm in Bath, Ontario, where the brothers learned about the importance of farming and local supply chains. In 2014, the brothers put together their farming assets and brewing and engineering skills and launched their farm-based brewery, MacKinnon Brothers Brewing Company. After nearly 10 years of operations, the MacKinnons were faced with a growth challenge. Should they leverage their farm brewery brand and grow its distribution beyond the local region? Or should they “dig in” on their local farm concept and explore more sustainable growth options in the food and beverage tourism industry?
This case addresses managing critical mineral supply chains by focusing on cobalt used in lithium-ion (Li-ion) batteries and the impact of mining operations in Central Africa, particularly in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC). Minespider, a Berlin-based start-up, tackled these issues with a blockchain platform. Following blockchain’s evolution since Bitcoin in 2009 and Ethereum in 2015, Minespider developed the digital battery passport (DBP). Minespider’s broad industry application highlighted its potential for tracking materials, ethical sourcing, and supply chain transparency. In 2017, Minespider focused on understanding the market, identifying ideal customers for their unique blockchain solution and partnerships, optimizing supply chain management, and showcasing blockchain’s value in this sector in order to make the most impact.
Established in 1980, Chandos Construction (Chandos), a Canadian general contractor, prioritized inclusivity, collaboration, and innovation. As the largest B Corporation–certified commercial builder in North America, Chandos aimed to create a legacy and promote shared prosperity through employee ownership. The vice-president of Collaborative Construction at Chandos, Jen Hancock, championed initiatives such as lean integration and waste diversion policies. In September 2023, she prepared for a meeting with the project management team to propel sustainable construction initiatives forward. She aimed to advance Chandos’s sustainable construction and believed that integrated project delivery (IPD) could revolutionize the industry, aligning with the company’s goal of achieving net zero by 2040. Despite challenges in wider IPD adoption and collaboration on smaller projects, Chandos saw an opportunity to lead by emphasizing both environmental and human health aspects.