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In the 1980s, the true effects of 100 years of asbestos mining in South Africa became apparent, as thousands of former miners and those who lived in the mining communities developed asbestos-related diseases (ARD), all fatal. The companies responsible-the British Cape plc, in particular-were all multinational companies based in other countries. This case, the first in four (labeled A through D, UV 1350 through UV1353), explains the history of asbestos mining in South Africa, the complicated relationship between the multinational companies and an apartheid and post-apartheid South African regime, and details the struggles and issues that many ARD-afflicted South Africans faced in bringing the multinationals to justice and seeking redress.

Presents the systems approach to law and management, a construct for understanding how public law affects the competitive environment and a firm's resources. Describes how the legally astute manager can use legal tools to assess opportunities, develop the firm's value proposition, and select and perform the activities in the value chain. Also, explains the social context in which business operates.

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Corporations that talk tough about cracking down on intellectual property theft need to look closely at their own organizations.

Founded in 1980 by Bill Drayton, Ashoka was a professional organization that identified and invested in leading social entrepreneurs globally. Analogous to a venture capital firm for social start-ups, Ashoka found and supported outstanding individuals with ideas for far-reaching social change by electing them to a fellowship of social entrepreneurs. As defined by Ashoka, the social entrepreneur had the same makeup as a business entrepreneur--in mental attitude, vision, bias for action, and skills--but the social entrepreneur sought to better the world in some way. Until 1997, Ashoka focused solely on locating and supporting social entrepreneurs in developing countries. Over the next three years, however, Ashoka entered a new stage, requiring it to shed its trappings as a "global development organization." Ashoka updated its mission to address the demands of a rapidly expanding citizen sector and its more than 1,500 leading social entrepreneurs. Because Ashoka's new mission required a kind of risk-taking and willingness to "make things happen in a bigger way," Ashoka made a commitment to hire only social entrepreneurs for its key functions. The new mission and hiring commitment attracted leading business entrepreneurs to Ashoka for the first time, triggering unprecedented organizational growth and allowing Ashoka to open for business in the U.S. Addresses the challenges facing Ashoka in the U.S.

Persistent demand from people who have been denied the blessings of parenthood has created an assisted-reproduction market that stretches around the globe and encompasses hundreds of thousands of people. In the United States alone, nearly 41,000 children were born via in vitro fertilization (IVF) in 2001. Roughly 6,000 came from donated eggs, and almost 600 were carried by surrogate mothers. U.S. legislators have been reluctant to regulate this market. As a result, there are no national policies for IVF, which requires creating--and often discarding--embryos, or for many other technologies. State laws vary widely, and many states have no legislation on these subjects whatsoever. Although fertility specialists generally seem delighted to practice in an unregulated gray area, a modicum of regulation and the establishment of agreed-upon norms could lead to substantially lower prices, wider access, and an expansion of the market to the millions who have not yet sought out assisted reproduction. Among those millions are fertile individuals seeking to ensure that they'll be able to produce offspring in the future. For example, the technology already permits young women to freeze their eggs, thus preserving their fertility (in case, for instance, they marry late in life). The fertility trade is in some ways analogous to the markets for personal computers and DVD players, which were initially considered luxury items but migrated to the mass market, earning manufacturers the revenues to finance further innovation. A widening of availability and the introduction of property rights, rules, and institutional policies would make the marketplace more sensitive to the social, medical, and ethical issues that are emerging from the science. For example: Should there be age limits on infertility treatment? Should new procedures be subject to rigorous testing? It is time for U.S. society to begin discussion of these complex questions.

The B-case of this three part series shows how performance lagged behind expectations. Women dropped out of the scheme, sales decreased during the harvest season, and the system risked losing momentum. HLL needed to decide whether to wait for the system to eventually take off, or to implement changes to the complex system of interdependent variables and players. This case shows how a mere innovation, as outlined in the A-case, is insufficient to create a sustainable model. Learning, facing reality, and giving the system time to evolve are key success factors.

The C-case of this three part series presents the actual changes that were implemented, the rather impressive successes achieved over time, and HLL's vision for the future. Within less than a decade, HLL hopes to build a pool of 100,000 self-employed women covering 500,000 villages, and reaching 500 million people, thus creating opportunities for rural women and their families to live in improved conditions and raise their overall standard of living.

A retired bank CEO, one of Turkey's most admired leaders, wants to start a leadership institute to develop emerging leaders in the eastern Mediterranean region. Describes his biography and values, the models he established for excellent financial performance and corporate social and environmental responsibility at the bank, and his attempt to partner with an American university to establish the institute. His first approach did not work; what should he do now?

This paper reflects on the role of ethics in field of finance.

When a senior audit partner at a well-established Washington-based audit firm discovers that one of his employees has disseminated inaccurate information, the partner must figure out the reason--lack of communication, racial tension, or misguided management are all possibilities--and subsequently decide what course of action to take. See also the B case (UV1345).

In 1996, a meningitis epidemic swept across Nigeria. Thousands of children were struck and, lacking appropriate medicine, were liable to die from the disease. Doctors at Pfizer had an antibiotic that could probably save most of these children's lives. The drug was new, however, and had not yet undergone clinical trials with children. The company must decide whether to use the Nigerian outbreak as the site for a new and potentially risky trial.

Describes the events leading up to the imposition of the London congestion charge. Views about the congestion charge, both pro and con, are presented. Also discusses, in general terms, the economics of traffic congestion, pointing out that an unregulated market for driving will not reach the social optimum. Contains sufficient data to estimate the deadweight loss in an unregulated market and the reduction of the deadweight loss due to the imposition of the congestion charge in 2003.

Provides an overview of the Coca-Cola System in Chile and focuses on the Coca-Cola Chile Foundation (CCFCH), a nonprofit organization dedicated to education. Created in 1992 with donations from Coca-Cola de Chile S.A. (CCCH) and the bottling companies Embotelladora Andina S.A., Coca-Cola Embonor S.A., and Coca-Cola Polar S.A., the foundation now faces an expansion dilemma in its most important program, the TAVEC Laboratories. Under this program, CCFCH donated interactive scientific laboratories to public schools as a way to help them teach physics, chemistry, and biology. Each donation cost approximately $60,000. In December 2004, Eduardo Romo, corporate relations manager of CCCH and general manager of CCFCH, was reviewing a proposal to simplify the laboratories, reducing their cost and, thus, allowing more of them to be implemented in schools throughout Chile. Focuses on this decision and an analysis of the pros and cons of the proposal and the overall role of the social initiative for the Coca-Cola System in Chile.

CARE's Rural Entrepreneurship and Agribusiness Promotion project is a new, market-driven approach to development in Kenya. Although the project has been successful from a development standpoint, it is not commercially viable. The sector manager must determine how to improve the project and make it commercially sustainable.

In 2003, industrial manufacturer Eaton, the NGO Environmental Defense, and shipping giant Federal Express formed a partnership to develop a hybrid electric delivery truck. While Environmental Defense had experience setting up successful partnerships with corporations, this was the first time that a product with a significant high tech component would be launched in the commercial marketplace. Eaton fulfilled its goal of delivering a working prototype on time and FedEx began a small pilot program with the hybrid truck in 2004. Media coverage of the new truck was positive and the project won the Roy Family Award for Environmental Excellence at the Kennedy School of Government in May 2005. However, the path to full-scale commercialization of the vehicle was both costly and complex. HKS Case Number 1820.0

Nestle is the largest milk firm in the world. For over a century, it has developed a milk model procurement program that improved the well-being of the small-scale farmer and the ultimate consumer. Can it partner with other firms and institutions to make even greater use of this model and can it do so in a manner that is consistent with host country goals and equally useful to the long-term viability of Nestle?

Nestle as the largest milk company in the world, has a history of economic development, nutrition, health, and food safety in all the major countries of the world. Each milk model is tailor-made to the needs of each country's political, social, and economic priorities.

If managers always acted on their values, heroic whistle-blowing might never be required. But, research shows, people don't think that doing the right thing is part of their jobs.

Presents the corporate social responsibility initiatives of Pantaleon, a leading sugar company from Guatemala, and their relation to its competitive strategy. Since 1990, Pantaleon's management invested in projects aimed at the communities surrounding the mill, featuring educational, health-related, and environmental programs. These activities reinforced corporate strategy, which included infrastructure and agricultural practices updates, vertical integration, and internal and regional expansion of productive capacity and markets. In the second half of 2004, becoming a worldwide leading sugar mill entailed significant strategic challenges for Pantaleon's top executives. In turn, these challenges posed two problems: defining the company's position on social projects undertaken by Pantaleon Foundation and Fundazucar and analyzing the internal consistency of its competitive strategy.