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After completion of this case study, students will be able to describe the funding path for start-ups, including the amounts and profiles of the usual investors or sources of funds, according to the moment in their life cycle and the characteristics of the initiative; highlight the challenges faced by start-up founders in weak entrepreneurial ecosystems and risky institutional environments; and argue in favor of or against different modes and typical instruments of venture capital (VC) investments in the early stages of new businesses, each of them different regarding dilutions, valuation potential, depth of negotiations and term sheets.

Asistensi, a technology and telemedicine start-up founded in 2020 in Venezuela by three entrepreneurs (Andrés Simón González-Silén, Luis Enrique Velásquez and Armando Baquero), raised US$3m in less than a year in a seed round in which it attracted the attention of professional VC funds such as Mountain Nazca, Alma Mundi Ventures and 468 Capital. Everything was set for launching operations in Mexico and the Dominican Republic in April 2021. However, a series of difficulties led to higher expenditure than planned, prompting the entrepreneurs to seek additional capital. The decision on the financial instrument to be associated with the potential valuation and shareholder dilution figures has been posed as a dilemma.

The case study focuses on understanding the start-up financing process. It can be used effectively in management- and finance-related subjects for graduate students taking introductory topics in entrepreneurship and entrepreneurial finance, as well as introductory executive education courses in entrepreneurship, entrepreneurial finance and VC.

Teaching notes are available for educators only.

CSS3: Entrepreneurship

Urban poverty, mobilization, leadership, communication

This case is intended for graduate/postgraduate and MBA courses that discuss management issues in relation to corporate social responsibility, business and society or global issues. This case was successfully tested in an MBA course on sustainable development. These teaching notes result from this in-class experience.

The morning of January 22, 2009. Cali, Colombia – Alicia Meneces was a member of the inaugural panel of the Simposio Internacional: Microfinanzas y Construcción de Paz (International Symposium: Microfinance as a Tool for Peacebuilding). The panel was composed of Álvaro Uribe (President of the Republic of Colombia), Enrique Garcia Rodriguez (President of the Development Bank of Latin America-CAF) and Luis Alberto Moreno (President of the Inter-American Development Bank). Her presence contrasted with that of the other panelists on several accounts: she was the only woman, she was the only panelist with direct and daily experience in poor neighborhoods and she was the only one familiar with the everyday processes of community mobilization in relation to microcredit in underprivileged communities. The case focuses on the message that Alicia Meneces intended to deliver to the audience of the Symposium based on her trajectory as a woman, as a community leader, and as the founder of the first Grameen microfinance institution in Colombia.

After using this case, students will be able to improve their understanding of poverty traps in developing countries; appreciate the challenges of living in poverty and the mechanisms of poverty production; and understand different forms of leadership.

Teaching Notes are available for educators only. Please contact your library to gain login details or email support@emeraldinsight.com to request teaching notes.

Entrepreneurship and family business.

The case is suitable for BA and MBA levels and for courses focusing on family businesses, entrepreneurship, or small and medium-sized enterprises.

The Gomez family is the owner of Colchones Eldorado, a Colombian mattress company, in business for more than 50 years. Its founder and CEO Gumercindo Gomez, 75 years old, had no succession plan but he wanted to ensure the future of his business. Given the urgency of this situation and the complexity of the family structure, Martha Gomez, General Manager, hired a consultant to design the succession plan. To prepare this plan, the consultant must take into account: the preservation of stock ownership within the family, the company's sustainability under the new CEO family member, and the assurance of the family harmony.

These include: understanding the characteristics of a family business in the Latin American context; recognizing the stages of the family ownership; and identifying personal characteristics and roles of family members in order to design the basis of the succession plan.

Teaching notes are available for educators only. Please contact your library to gain login details or email support@emeraldinsight.com to request teaching notes.

For the design of this case study, the authors used primary sources of information from the shops visited by them in preparation of the case and website of Fred Perry and secondary sources of information from both academic and journalistic publications.

Fred Perry is a premium clothing brand, well-known for its polo shirts. It was created by Mr Fred Perry, a British tennis player. The brand’s stated values are integrity, personality and individuality. Throughout its history, the brand has been adopted by different British subcultures but recently it has faced a challenge because of the brand appropriation by the Proud Boys, a US far-right white supremacy group and other extremist groups as Antifa and hooligans. The nature and actions of the group mean that Fred Perry runs the risk of losing control over its brand equity. This brand hijack means that Fred Perry risks alienating some of its customers by openly opposing the group but also by embracing this subculture’s appropriation. Practically, the brand opposed the appropriation in a press release and by putting an end to the sale of the black and yellow polo shirts in the USA and Canada. Fred Perry has also made a lot of efforts to reposition the brand away from extremist groups while maintaining its strong historical and cultural roots. Through this case study, students will have the opportunity to discuss this topic and explore solutions for brands that face this type of dilemma.

This case is designed to be used in a marketing management, brand strategy or consumer behavior/culture course, especially in the subfield of market segmentation in the telecommunications sector. Specifically, this case is designed for college seniors or master students with basic strategic marketing training. This case will help students understand the difference between the brand identity that the brand owners intend and the brand image that consumers actually perceive. It provides the basis of discussions on the topics of brand management, consumer culture, consumers-brands relationships, brand architecture, brand equity, brand appropriation and repositioning strategy.

The contribution of the present case lies in the critical view that every business actor should exercise – be it general manager, middle management, supervisor or executive – when building a strong organizational culture in corrupt political environments.

The purpose of this case study is to explore the dilemma in which Marcelo Odebrecht, once CEO of Odebrecht, found/determined whether to continue with the business model established by the founders of Odebrecht or take a new path for the organization. After exploring the corrupt acts of Odebrecht and the scope of Operation Lava Jato, the reader can reflect on the importance of organizational culture (according to the three levels proposed by Schein) in the face of the emergence of corruption. By generating discussions about organizational culture, business ethics, political culture and corruption, the organizational culture of Odebrecht is problematized in relation to its real behavior.

Students of administration, business and international business undergraduates and graduates, as well as members of senior management in companies in the infrastructure sector. Also, given the plurality of possible readings, it is recommended that the case also be used in courses or specializations in organizational psychology, organizational sociology or organizational anthropology.

Teaching Notes are available for educators only. Please contact your library to gain login details or email support@emeraldinsight.com to request teaching notes.

CSS 5: International Business.

A student can evaluate the variables related to the corporate governance decision for the future of the companies while simultaneously facing other internal factors, such as understanding the owner's address style. In addition, the student will be able to balance and weigh current resources, understanding that the conceptual frameworks of agency theory, resource dependence theory, agency and transaction costs, as well as the types of leadership and power are useful to understand this type of companies, common in emerging markets.

This case describes the actions of Nestor Salcedo Guevara, founding partner of Industrial Andina S.A. and owner of NSG Service Stations, companies focused on industrial manufacturing and retail fuel sales, respectively. The case covers a period of 40 years, from the founding of Industrial Andina S.A. in 1978, its restructuring into a family business in 1982, the strategic decisions concerning the political and economic situations from the eighties to the new millennium, and the creation of NSG Service Stations in the year 2000, until August 2018, when Nestor faced the decision to expand NSG Service Stations and reactivate Industrial Andina SA with new projects. Therefore, Nestor must decide the next steps for the future of both companies. This case study highlights several challenges of business economics and administrative strategy facing entrepreneurs or experienced managers and allows to discuss in class concepts of corporate governance such as ownership structure, incomplete contracts, management styles and defensive strategies associated with the power of the CEO - Owner.

Undergraduate students in Business Administration or Economics and post-graduate MBA. Business Economics courses, Strategic Management, Corporate Governance courses.

Teaching Notes are available for educators only.

CSS 11: Strategy.

Identify the influence of contextual variables (i.e. politics) in the strategy of a military organisation. Analyse and evaluate strategic change options of a military organisation. Decide on a strategic change from the resources and capabilities model.

Colombia Aeronautics Industry Corporation (CIAC) is a Colombian mixed economy company that commercialises, maintains and repairs civil and military aircraft and aeronautical components. The case presents the decision that the manager must make regarding a change in corporate strategy because of the entry into force of the peace agreement between the Government of Colombia and the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC). This agreement assumes that the main line of business of the CIAC would be weakened (i.e. repair of military aircraft used in the internal armed conflict with FARC), because in a new peace scenario, the aircraft would not need as much maintenance as in the most critical stages of the conflict.

Master of Business Administration level (suggested courses: strategy, strategic management and organisational change). Undergraduate level (suggested courses: strategy and organisational change).

Teaching notes are available for educators only. Please contact your library to gain login details or email support@emeraldinsight.com to request teaching notes.

CSS 11: Strategy.

Students are expected to achieve identify the prerequisites and basic to an institutionalization process; prioritize strategic human resources processes as a basis for the growth of the company; analyze the importance of the stages in human resources management; define the areas of opportunity and their respective action plans; and propose the leadership skills that a leader requires.

Tramuntana® is a travel agency that stands out for being a prime service, which is promoted by its own customers. Its founder wishes to institutionalize his company. The main problem in which they face to grow and consolidate is to maintain their human resources, and in which they cannot be retained, and therefore, do not have a solid structure.

Undergraduate and Graduate School of Business and executive education.

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CSS 1: Accounting and Finance.

At the dawn of the twenty-first century, Boeing and Airbus, the leading manufacturers of large aircraft, were locked in a battle for market share that drove down prices for their new planes. At about the same time, the two industry heavyweights began developing new aircraft families to address the future market needs they each projected.

Aircraft take many years to develop, so by the time the new planes made their inaugural flights, significant changes had occurred in the global environment. First, emerging economies in the Asia-Pacific region and elsewhere were growing rapidly, spawning immediate and long-term demand for more aircraft. At the same time, changes to the market for air travel had created opportunities for new products. These opportunities had not gone unnoticed by potential new entrants, which were positioning themselves to compete against the market leaders.

In October 2007, the Airbus superjumbo A380 made its first flight. The A380 carried more passengers than any other plane in history and had been touted as a solution to increased congestion at global mega-hub airports. Four years later the Boeing 787, a smaller long-range aircraft, was launched to service secondary cities in a point-to-point network.

The case provides students with an opportunity to analyze the profit potential of the global aircraft manufacturing industry in 2002 and in 2011. Students can also identify the actions of participants that weakened or intensified the pressure on profits within the industry.

Audio format (.mp3 file) available with purchase of PDF. Contact cases@kellogg.northwestern.edu for access.

The purpose of this study is to use design thinking principles to understand the failure of the ‘new’ European Super League, and also understand how it could be redesigned.

This case has been developed from secondary sources, including news reports, social media sites, annual reports and websites of the Union of European Football Associations and the European football clubs. This case was classroom-tested with post-graduate management students in a design thinking course in May 2021 at an Indian business school, S.P. Jain Institute of Management & Research, in Mumbai, India.

In April 2021, a new football league – the European Super League, is announced as a breakaway rebel league, in direct competition with United European Footballers Association's Champions League. It is backed by the top 12 European clubs and officials in European football, besides the US investment bank, JP Morgan. The new league is touted as one intended to save football. It is, however, denounced by fans and shunned almost universally. The league, which has been planned for the past three and half years, faces collapse. Why did the European Super League fail? How could the founders design a new league?

This case could be used in an undergraduate or MBA classroom or an executive education programme in a design thinking course. It can also be used to teach marketing courses such as marketing strategy, new product development and consumer behaviour.