Strategy

Take a look at strategy-related case studies from the Fowler Center for Business as an Agent of World Benefit at Case Western Reserve University.

  • Woolworths SA: Making Sustainability Sustainable

    Company: Woolworths

    Publisher: ECCH

    Call Number: 209-040-1

    Year Published: 2009

    In February 2009, Justin Smith, Manager of the Good business journey at Woolworths, a leading South African department store, was a worried man. Woolworths had launched its five-year sustainability strategy just under two years before. After undertaking an impact assessment, Smith was concerned that the original targets had been set without a clear understanding of exactly what it would take to achieve them. If the sustainability goals were not reached, Woolworths could lose credibility among its shareholders, staff and consumers.

    What is the dilemma or tough decisions?

    What did Woolworths need to do to ensure that it achieved its sustainability goals?

    Website where case study can be found

    https://www.thecasecentre.org/products/view?id=90856

  • Waste Concern

    Company: Waste Concern

    Publisher: Stanford

    Call Number: SI-71

    Year Published: 2006

    Iftekhar Enayetullah and Maqsood Sinha, co-founders of Waste Concern in Bangladesh, had earned an international reputation for their innovative approach to dealing with the vast quantities of waste that threatened to overwhelm the overcrowded city of Dhaka. Having just been recognized by the Schwab Foundation for Social Entrepreneurship as "outstanding social entrepreneurs," the two were eager to take Waste Concern to the next level. Their ambitions included scaling up their waste processing operations, introducing new technology, and creating a new trading business selling credits for the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions under the framework develop by the Kyoto Protocol.

    What is the dilemma or tough decisions?

    To take decisions consistent with Kyoto-protocol related projects.

    Website where case study can be found

    http://cb.hbsp.harvard.edu/cb/web/product_detail.seam?E=73291&R=SI71-PDF-ENG&co…

  • Viridity Energy: The Challenge and Opportunity of Promoting Clean Energy Solutions

    Company: Viridity Energy, Inc.

    Publisher: Ivey

    Call Number: 9B12M035

    Year Published: 2012

    Viridity Energy, a smart grid company, is engaged in sustainability for two reasons. On one hand, it finds profitable opportunities by helping its customers cut energy bills. And on the other hand, it’s getting credit for that environmental responsibility. This case highlights the challenges and opportunities of smart grid companies to promote clean energy solutions, especially the challenge of doing less harm to include progressively greater eco-effectiveness in competitive markets.

    What is the dilemma or tough decisions?

    Viridity Energy, a smart grid company, is engaged in sustainability for two reasons. On one hand, it finds profitable opportunities by helping its customers cut energy bills. And on the other hand, it’s getting credit for that environmental responsibility. This case highlights the challenges and opportunities of smart grid companies to promote clean energy solutions, especially the challenge of doing less harm to include progressively greater eco-effectiveness in competitive markets.

    Website where case study can be found

    https://www.iveypublishing.ca/s/product/viridity-energy-the-challenge-and-oppor…

  • Verne Global: Building a Green Data Center in Iceland

    Company: Verne

    Publisher: Harvard

    Call Number: 9-509-063

    Year Published: 2009

    Verne Global, a pioneering startup created to build the first large-scale data center in Iceland, faces critical challenges regarding its green strategy. 

    What is the dilemma or tough decisions?

    How can Verne best integrate its Green strategy into its Sales and Marketing message?

    Website where case study can be found

    https://hbsp.harvard.edu/product/509063-PDF-ENG?E=823150&R=509063-PDF-ENG&conve…

  • The ReUse People: Turning Scrap into Sales

    Company: The ReUse People

    Publisher: Oikos

    Call Number: N/A

    Year Published: 2009

    This case discusses The ReUse People, an organisation that specialises in deconstruction of buildings, with the aim of reusing as much of the materials as possible, hence keeping them out of landfill. The organisation is facing a classical growth-related dilemma: should it grow organically, keeping most of the work in-house but hence limiting its growth rate, or should it “franchise” its deconstruction approach by certifying other companies in the deconstruction process? The mission of The ReUse People is squarely environmental, but the organisation is increasingly aiming to provide social benefits too by reaching out to community organisations and providing employment opportunities.

    What is the dilemma or tough decisions?

    Which expansion strategy is better for TRP?

    Website where case study can be found

    https://oikos-international.org/publications/the-reuse-people/

  • Costa Rica's Reputation as Ecotourism Destination at Stake?

    Company: The Nation of Costa Rica

    Publisher: ECCH

    Call Number: 508-103-1

    Year Published: 2009

    Costa Rica has gained the reputation as a preferred destination for ecotourism. It attracted foreign tourists with its beautiful landscapes and climate, national parks, wildlife refuges, beautiful plants, cloudy and rainy forests, and sky-kissing mountains. In addition, political stability and economic growth helped attract 1.9 million foreign tourists earning an estimated $1.92 billion revenues in 2007. But an increasing tourist flow and foreign direct investment in the real estate sector posed a threat for its ecotourism.

    What is the dilemma or tough decisions?

    Costa Rica has gained the reputation as a preferred destination for ecotourism. It attracted foreign tourists with its beautiful landscapes and climate, national parks, wildlife refuges, beautiful plants, cloudy and rainy forests, and sky-kissing mountains. In addition, political stability and economic growth helped attract 1.9 million foreign tourists earning an estimated $1.92 billion revenues in 2007. But an increasing tourist flow and foreign direct investment in the real estate sector posed a threat for its ecotourism.

    Website where case study can be found

    https://www.thecasecentre.org/products/view?id=84934

  • Sustainability at Tetra Pak: Recycling Post-Consumer Cartons

    Company: Tetra Pak

    Publisher: Ivey

    Call Number: 9B12M069

    Year Published: 2012

    Tetra Pack India aimed to uphold its image of an environmentally responsible company by meeting its goals for recycling post consumer cartons (PCC). While Tetra Pack’s ‘Renew’, ‘Reduce’, ‘Recycle’, ‘be Responsible’ philosophy succeeded in other regions of the world, the particular geographical, socioeconomic and political climate in India posed various challenges. Tetra Pak India’s team redefined its strategy by forging partnerships and alliances with non-governmental organizations, scrap dealers, rag-pickers, commercial establishments and organizations that champion the cause of the environment.

    What is the dilemma or tough decisions?

    With ever-changing mindsets, increasing regulations and growing customer expectations, how can Tetra Pak face the future challenges to ensure that its success from the PCC recycling initiative can be sustained and scaled up?

    Website where case study can be found

    https://www.iveypublishing.ca/s/product/sustainability-at-tetra-pak-recycling-p…

  • Tennant Company: Can “Chemical-Free” Be a Pathway to Competitive Advantage?

    Company: Tennant

    Publisher: Ivey

    Call Number: 9B12M020

    Year Published: 2012

    The case of Tennant Company is one that describes a floor-cleaning company that differentiated itself by introducing chemical-free cleaning equipment. Not only did it strategically evolve as an environmentally responsible sustainable business, it also used that same principle to its competitive advantage. By marketing its products as equally effective in performance, competitive in price and “greener” on the environment, the revamp was a success to all involved parties.

    What is the dilemma or tough decisions?

    Is a proven ecological innovation without any customer or financial trades-off enough of a business proposition to meet customers’ expectations, investors’ ambitions, and the company’s goals? And if so, where do you draw the line in making superior environmental performance the basis for competitive advantage?

    Website where case study can be found

    https://www.iveypublishing.ca/s/product/tennant-company-can-chemicalfree-be-a-p…

  • Taj Hotels: Building Sustainable Livelihoods

    Company: Taj Hotels

    Publisher: Ivey

    Call Number: 9B13C032

    Year Published: 2013

    This case explores issues faced by the corporate sustainability manager at the corporate headquarters of a large hotel group in a developing nation as she implements her company’s corporate sustainability strategy through supplier partnerships with bottom-of-the-pyramid (BoP) social organizations. Under the rubric of responsible purchasing, the hotelier’s “Creating Sustainable Livelihoods” initiative engaged cause-based nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) by exploring opportunities where the products or services of such organizations could substitute for similar products or services sourced from for-profit suppliers. 

    What is the dilemma or tough decisions?

    The case illustrates the challenges inherent in a Base-of-the-Pyramid responsible purchasing strategy, including the delicate balance between meeting business objectives while supporting social causes. These challenges revolve around developing and implementing cross-sector partnerships with BoP nonprofit producer organizations in the Indian context. Discussion is likely to center less on differences in partners’ missions, cultures, and long-term objectives, and more on the difficulties present in organizing even when those differences are reconciled, especially through symbiotic long-term obj

    Website where case study can be found

    https://www.iveypublishing.ca/s/product/taj-hotels-building-sustainable-livelih…

  • Sustainable Conservation--Where Next?

    Company: Sustainable Conservation (SusCon)

    Publisher: Harvard

    Call Number: 9-304-017

    Year Published: 2004

    Sustainable Conservation (SusCon) is an environmental nonprofit in San Francisco that works collaboratively with the private and public sectors to achieve positive environmental change. The organization forms partnerships with industry and government agencies to devise solutions to environmental problems that are both economically viable and environmentally beneficial. After 10 years of work focusing exclusively on California, the organization is considering expanding its reach outside the state as a step toward national expansion.

    What is the dilemma or tough decisions?

    What issues to consider while thinking of expansion?

    Website where case study can be found

    http://cb.hbsp.harvard.edu/cb/web/product_detail.seam?E=15959&R=304017-PDF-ENG&…