個案總覽

E+Co, an award-winning impact investment focused on the introduction of clean-energy technologies in developing countries, made 287 investments totaling over USD45 million since its 1994 inception. However, in 2011 new board members Dan Abbasi, Russell Diamond, and Bruce Usher had concerns about the financial health of E+Co's operations. In this case, students will be asked to review qualitative and quantitative material from the organization's business plan in order to determine whether its business model was fundamentally flawed.

VFC's primary purpose is to assist low-income families own vehicles so that they can achieve financial independence. Most of the vehicles VFC awarded to low-income families were donated. To supplement its budget, VFC also established a used car sales business called Freedom Wheels (FW) which soon became a profitable enterprise. Nearly all of FW's profits were transferred to support VFC's mission. Marty Schwartz, President of VFC, believed that allowing FW to retain more of its profits would allow it to grow its used car business which would bring even larger financial benefits to VFC in the long-run. In the short-term, however, this would reduce the number of vehicles awarded to low-income families-a sensitive issue for many members of his board. At the upcoming board meeting, therefore, Schwartz's primary challenge was to present an assessment of the potential impact on the vehicle award program of allowing FW to retain more of its profits, and to recommend what percentage of its profits FW should be allowed to retain. He was also prepared to examine other options for growing VFC's revenue, and to consider the wisdom of spinning-off FW as a separate for-profit entity.

In the American canon of anti-poverty programs, Moving to Opportunity (MTO)-a housing experiment conducted in the 1990s-stood out for its ambitious yet simple design. Under the experiment, more than 4,600 extremely poor families were randomly assigned to receive housing vouchers in five major American cities. Just like in clinical trials, MTO gave social scientists the opportunity to untangle the effect of place on poverty, and to learn if a better neighborhood could directly improve the lives of the poor. In 2003, a mid-term evaluation of MTO revealed a controversial and surprising outcome. After being placed in neighborhoods with low poverty, teen girls appeared to benefit far more from their new surroundings than teen boys. The rigorous empirical analysis of the MTO experiment had identified important differences by gender, but could not explain the social processes or experiences that led to those differences. A different research methodology would need to examine what the quantitative data could not. This case profiles the qualitative research conducted by Harvard sociologist Kathryn Edin and others on MTO teens. With the help in-depth interviews the researchers offer a deeper understanding of the daily experiences and behavioral patterns that shaped the divergent outcomes between MTO male and female adolescents. Case Number 2007.0

Endeavor Global was a nonprofit that for 15 years had worked to nurture entrepreneurship in emerging markets by selecting local high-impact entrepreneurs for mentoring and aid in scaling up their businesses from committed local business leaders. In summer 2012, Endeavor received an invitation to replicate its model in Miami, Florida, and the Endeavor board was meeting to debate the value of such a move. At issue were questions of organizational mission and the relevance of Miami, as well as branding, funding, and focus. The invitation had come in the midst of a major expansion effort by Endeavor into new emerging markets and threatened to disrupt those efforts and tax a new hybrid funding model which Endeavor was implementing. Founder Linda Rottenberg with the support of her board must determine the implications of possibly opening in Miami on Endeavor's resources and mission? How could Rottenberg justify to overseas affiliates a choice to invest in a first-world city?

At its best, business is about innovating to meet society's needs and to build a profitable enterprise. But many corporate leaders are struggling to achieve those twin goals. In a study of more than 30 companies that have succeeded in creating so-called shared value, the authors identified five mutually reinforcing elements: (1) Embedding a social purpose. This may involve reemphasizing a firm's founding mission, as Danone's CEO did in 2000 to refocus the company on its origins as a manufacturer of healthy food. (2) Defining the need. Some firms conduct extensive research to develop a comprehensive view of the social problem. Before launching a micronutrient-reinforced spice product for low-income consumers in India, Nestle studied nutritional deficiencies in the country and visited 1,500 households to understand cooking customs and diets. (3) Measuring shared value. To monitor an initiative in Brazil to increase the employability of youth, Coca-Cola spent months planning how to achieve business and social goals and then established intermediate measures to track progress. (4) Creating the optimal innovation structure. The right structure for a social enterprise depends on whether the firm already has a clear social purpose, understands the targeted problems, is able to solve them, and builds a strong business case for doing so. (5) Co-creating with external stakeholders. Effective social innovators enlist external stakeholders in their efforts to understand social needs and to execute their strategies.

"PCDA" is the Spanish acronym for Pastillas Contra el Dolor Ajeno (Pills for Other People's Pain).The case outlines the methods employed by the Spanish branch of Médecins sans Frontières, hereafter MSF (Doctors Without Borders) to develop a physical product that could be used to raise funds for the organization's social initiatives. The case focus is set in mid-March 2011, a few weeks after Juan Ramón Axta's appointment as the new head of the PCDA project at a time when sales were plummeting. The PCDA was successfully launched in November 2010. This cutting edge idea and the campaign created to publicize it received wide media coverage. The PCDA was initially very successful with consumers. The initiative was seen as a unique innovation in Spain and around the world. During the first 20 days that followed the product launch, 1.5 million packets were sold. After three months, sales reached 3 million packets. Pharmacies complained of constant stock outs. The sales of the PCDAs surpassed all previous forecasts. Based on this initial success, MSF ordered an extra 3 million packets. However, at the end of February sales dropped by 400,000 packets (i.e., a 50% decline from the previous month). At that pace MSF feared sales in March would not exceed 100,000 packets. This sharp drop in sales created significant uncertainty about the campaign's future. Atxa had to decide whether MSF should continue with the project or cancel it. He wondered whether he should put an end to it and learn from the experience. He had only recently been placed in charge of it, so he felt compelled not to choose this option. However, what was the best thing to do?

This note explores the current state of venture philanthropy in the U.S. and its future. Based on interviews with 28 practitioners in the field of philanthropy and a review of the literature since the publication of the article introducing the concept of venture philanthropy (Virtuous Capital: What Foundations Can Learn from Venture Capitalists) sixteen years ago, the note discusses the signifiant impact venture philanthropy has had on the nonprofit sector despite its small size relative to total philanthropic giving. Venture philanthropists make large, multi-year, unrestricted grants coupled with significant non-financial capacity building support and rigorous performance measurement with the goal of increasing a nonprofit's ability to serve more people more effectively. This note discusses the full set of venture philanthropy practices and their impact on grantees. It also explores what could be done to increase this type of results-driven philanthropy in the U.S. and poses questions regarding the future trajectory of the field, including venture philanthropy's role in driving societal-level scaling of impact. This note is aimed at both the philanthropic sector overall as well as venture philanthropy practitioners.

The case describes the inception and early stage evolution of RuralShores - a business process outsourcing organization established in rural India (Rural BPO). RBPO is a unique business model that involves the rural poor in delivering remote services such as transaction processing via telecommunication links. Although India has a thriving BPO business, all BPO organizations are located in urban centers. The founders of RuralShores conceptualized the rural BPO model so that it can be inclusive, empower rural women and solve problems of large-scale migration. Locating a BPO organization in rural India enabled significant savings in cost. However, it had its attendant challenges, such as dealing with poor quality infrastructure and a lower level of skills among the employees. RuralShores not only overcame these challenges but also ensured that its service levels were on par with those of urban BPO organizations. In the process, it was able to create positive impact in the lives of its employees as well as give a boost to the local economy. This motivated it to embark on an aggressive plan of scaling that involves geographic expansion through a franchisee model and increasing the scope of RuralShores' activities.

This case focuses on the growth of an innovative non-profit institution that motivates aboriginal children to attend school by harnessing their love of football.

In 2009 IFMR Capital sought to create new funding options for microfinance institutions by using a structured finance approach to attract a new class of capital market investors, including pension funds, bank treasury desks, mutual funds, and private wealth financiers. But what financial structure would be most attractive to these nonbank funders? Would the existing market infrastructure be sufficient to support the new financial structure? How would IFMR Capital ensure that the interests of all participants were aligned correctly? Would microloan securitization be scalable? In this case, students analyze the components of the launch of IFMR Trust Pioneer II to answer these questions.

Grameen America, an independent not-for-profit organization using Grameen Bank's lending methodology and expertise, was launched in 2008 in Queens, New York. It targeted the growing segment of the U.S. population which was underserved by traditional financial institutions. What changes, if any, would Grameen America need to make in applying Grameen's business model to the US market? And what were its prospects for future growth?

This case provides an overview of the nonprofit organization PATH and its Safe Water Project-a five-year effort launched in late 2006 with $17 million in funding from the global development unit of the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. The purpose of the grant was to evaluate to what extent market-based approaches could help accelerate the widespread adoption and sustained use of household water treatment and safe storage products by low-income populations. One of the key objectives of this effort was to explore how the private sector could help make HWTS products more affordable. By conducting a portfolio of field-based pilots in collaboration with commercial partners, the PATH team sought to better understand the effect of different pricing, consumer financing, and subsidy models on demand within low-income population in developing countries. Over several years, the Safe Water Project team experimented with different affordability models, including microfinance loans for water filters and a layaway program. Although specific results varied across the pilots, which spanned India, Cambodia, and Kenya, they collectively gave rise to series of important insights about the affordability of HWTS products.

Supplement for case 510104

Supplement for case 510104

Ashifi Gogo, founder and CEO of Sproxil, wants to scale his mobile product authentication technology to new applications and new regions, but he is uncertain which business model to use. Sproxil is a Nigeria-based company that verifies the authenticity of medicines using a scratch-off code and SMS. Students are asked to examine the role of private and public actors in verifying the quality of medicines as well as the advantages and disadvantages of non-profit and social enterprise models in providing people at the Base of the Pyramid with this much-needed service.

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.

Arunachalam Muruganantham is a social entrepreneur dedicated to solving India's menstrual health problems. He developed an unprecedented product: a low-cost, locally produced sanitary pad. In a paragon effort of frugal innovation, he reverse-engineered the industrial processes used to make sanitary-pads. The result was a small-scale, low-cost machine that could manufacture quality pads sold at a retail price 20% lower than the cheapest mass-produced brands. However, no one bought his pads until his wife began to sell them. Soon the two were unable to keep up with demand. This helped Muruganantham realise the importance of including women as stakeholders in the operation. His next step is to figure out how to scale-up to increase availability and access to the pads.

Madison Ayer, Honey Care Africa (HCA) CEO, is looking to scale the business to generate more benefits for Kenyan small-holder farmers. He is seeking a better assessment of HCA's impacts on farmer families, especially children age 8 and under, to attract investors for the expansion. Ayer is also attempting to reduce side-selling by building stronger relationships with farmer families and perhaps hiring brokers. Students are asked to identify opportunities to generate greater impact and enhance the enterprise's value proposition.

Spreadsheet supplement for case CU285.