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In the summer of 2014, a large energy company was poised to begin expanding its unconventional natural gas operations in northeastern British Columbia in the hopes of capitalizing on the Canadian province's determination to build a liquid natural gas industry. The company had secured mineral rights from the province but had not simultaneously pursued surface rights from a First Nation community that historically had used the land. When a seismic exploration team appeared on the tribe's traditional territory without consulting it, as was customary (and in some cases legally required), the company unwittingly ignited a firestorm of protest from both First Nation and non First Nation local citizens. Recognizing the importance of social acceptance both to operations and profitability, the company sent senior vice president Maria Paquet to participate in fireside discussions with tribal, regional government, and environmental leaders in the hopes of finding some common ground. Could these leaders arrive at sufficient trust and agreement to allow the company to move forward with its plans? Or would the company face gridlock, community blocking, or even financial peril? In a small-group role-playing exercise, students will step into the shoes of each of these stakeholders as they try to forge a path forward that is acceptable to all.

Social entrepreneurship, Business Strategy.

MBA/MS.

The case discusses about Evans Wadongo, a Kenya-born engineer and social entrepreneur, and his efforts of lighting up the rural communities of Kenya through his MwangBora solar lanterns. Wadongo through his social enterprise Sustainable Development for All-Kenya (SDFA-Kenya) economically empowered women, educated children and empowered youth by creating employment opportunities for them. By 2012, SDFA-Kenya had successfully impacted the lives of 1,20,000 people, benefited more than 60 community groups and set up around 30 economic ventures.

Concept of social entrepreneurship, business model innovation, product innovation, bottom of the pyramid as a market, sustainable development, triple bottom line.

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

Atlantic Basin Refining, Inc. (ABR), a Virgin Islands company located on the island of St Croix, reached a tentative agreement with Hess and Petroleos de Venezuela SA to purchase the two companies’ joint venture, Hovensa, LLC in November 2014. Hovensa operated the large St Croix oil refinery that had been closed since 2012, but the deal required approval by the Virgin Islands Senate. Although reopening the large refinery would generate a significant boost to the local economy, past operating losses, and financial and legal issues associated with Hovensa, raised concerns about the feasibility of ABR’s proposal. The case is set in late 2014 as the government is working to ensure that the decision to allow ABR to purchase the refinery reflects the long-term interests of the Virgin Islands.

The case was researched using secondary data and all materials are available to the public. This was necessary due to the ongoing legal battle concerning the refinery’s sale. No disguises of people or entities were used. Frequently cited sources include government and court records, newspaper articles, and internet sources.

The case is most appropriate for undergraduate courses in management or finance where capital budgeting decisions are analyzed.

The case draws on literature related to capital budgeting and management.

This case describes the coal-procurement process of a small electric utility. The manager of the production fuel department must decide how much coal to purchase from each vendor and how to allocate the purchased coal among the utility's three coal-burning plants. The situation can be modeled and solved as a linear program. Sensitivity analysis can be used to help formulate a strategy for negotiating with the vendors and to address other special issues.

In 2007, BP sought and received regulatory approval to expand operations at its Whiting Refinery in northwest Indiana. Had the project gone forward as planned, the refinery would have discharged significantly higher levels of pollutants into Lake Michigan, but would have also contributed to economic development in the region. The result of BP seeking and being granted regulatory approval triggered a firestorm of controversy from multiple segments of society. This case study draws from secondary sources to examine the positions of a variety of stakeholders who influenced BP's decision as to whether or not it should expand its Whiting Refinery. Relevant stakeholders included for analysis are citizen and environmental organizations, political groups, trade associations, BP's employees, and stockholders. The intended target audience for this case is upper-level undergraduate business students studying issues related to business and society, such as corporate social responsibility and sustainable development.

MBA/MS level programs.

Social entrepreneurship, sustainability and business strategy.

The case discusses about how social entrepreneur Katerina Kimmorley founded Pollinate Energy with five of her friends to provide solar lights to the urban slum dwellers in Bengaluru, the capital city of Karnataka, a state in the Southern part of India. The company recruited people known as “Pollinators” for distributing their solar lights to the communities on installments making it affordable to them. To scale-up its sustainable energy initiatives and expand its global reach, Pollinate Energy merged with the US-based solar energy company Empower Generation in 2018 to form Pollinate Group. Since the company was making losses and was a nonprofit organization, the new CEO of Pollinate Group Sujatha Ramani and the senior management team had to tackle the challenge of scaling up the company while financially empowering women microentrepreneurs from marginalized communities.

Study Pollinate Energy’s business model and explore ways in which it can be made sustainable. Discuss the personality traits of Kimmorley which contributed to her success. Discuss how the merger with Empower Generation will help Pollinate Group in expanding its global reach. Explore ways in which the venture can be scaled up further.

Pollinate Group focused on women empowerment to tackle the gender inequality challenge. The company provided equal opportunities for men and women, thereby removing discrimination from access to opportunities, sources, services and promotion of equal rights.

Teaching notes are available for educators only.

CSS 3: Entrepreneurship

Cummins Generator Technologies India Limited (CGTIL) was in the process of setting up a world-class factory at Ranjangaon based on “lean” production principles. The project team, however, went a step ahead and married “green” with “lean”. While lean is about taking the system inefficiencies out, the green is about harmony with nature. The case is about CGTIL's journey of deriving synergies between seemingly conflicting objectives of lean and green.

Marketing.

This case is oriented to undergraduate (BA) students taking courses in marketing strategy, branding, new product development and market research.

This case deals with the events surrounding branding and positioning of a compact fluorescent lamp (CFL) by a multinational company settled in Mexico. After working in a private–public partnership (PPP) that deployed millions of CFLs in the Mexican market, the company is now striving to understand customer repurchase behaviour. The company executives are struggling with product, technology, and distribution issues. Their primary task is to develop an appealing marketing strategy and a tactical plan in the context of reduced budget and sceptic customers.

This study's task is to enhance student's ability to perform functional marketing analysis; to frame issues according to a given business model to solve the problems that organizations face in developing innovative products; and to propose alternate courses of action and formulate competitive marketing strategies.

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

The case deals with comparison of two events namely Bhopal Gas Tragedy and BP Oil Spill Tragedy. Specifically, the case compares the negotiation process and its outcome. In other words, the case compares how negotiation was carried out on behalf of victims of these tragedies and resulted in optimal outcomes in one situation and sub-optimal outcomes in another situation. It case also provides insights into cross-cultural issues in negotiation process as one of the events took place in emerging economy (India) and other one in a developed economy (USA). The case gives insight for individuals on how handle communication process during the course of negotiation.