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Non-profit management and corporate strategy.

The case is appropriate for teaching undergraduate students, executive MBAs and graduate students. The case is useful for an overview of hospice and palliative care in the developed and developing world, and for class room discussions of external analysis of non-profit organizations' ecosystems, funding needs and industry analysis.

Hospice care in the developed parts of the world is well established but in most developing countries, there are no organized hospice care facilities. This case focuses on a charitable organization, Brthya – Add Value to Life (Brthya – AVTL), that established and operates hospice care in Chennai, India. The Indian context for hospice care, and the ecosystem needed to sustain ongoing operations, are described along with a summary of four different models of hospice care used in other parts of the world.

The case will help students to understand: what hospice care is and its various forms; management issues related to funding and operating hospice care in particular and a non-profit in general; ecosystems that make non-profits sustainable in emerging economies; and managing expansion and growth in non-profit organizations, in emerging economies and globally.

Teaching notes are available; please consult your librarian for access.

Leadership, organizational behavior, entrepreneurship.

This case study is intended for undergraduate and graduate levels.

This is a leadership case about Agnes Jean Brugger, founder of the A.J. Brugger Education Project (also known as the A.J. Brugger Foundation (AJBF)) in San Juan del Sur, Nicaragua. It is the story of how and why she and Chris Berry co-founded this unique non-profit foundation in tandem with Piedras Y Olas: Pelican Eyes Resort (PEPO) in the late 1990s. The case focuses on how her identity and values shape the origins of AJBF and how the organization evolves in the context of the Nicaraguan and Anglo-American cultures. “Devoted to assisting Nicaragua through education and development of one of the country's most valuable and treasured resources: its young people”, the vision for AJBF was a cutting edge socially conscious venture that grew to meet the needs of the community that had captured Jean's heart and mind. The case ends in early 2009 on the precipice of the biggest economic down-turn the US economy has experienced in recent history. Standing at the edge of this cliff, Jean contemplates the numerous successful accomplishments of the foundation, while reflecting on the many leadership and organizational problems she, as Founder and Chair of the Board, faces.

The case will help participants to: evaluate and discuss leadership effectiveness, identifying responses to opportunities and challenges; explain cross-cultural identity from the Globe Study model and how it impacts organizational interactions; explore successful models of cross-cultural leadership through the lens of gendered theory; explore the ways in which social entrepreneurship can be seen as an extension of socially-minded leadership; describe how socially-minded entrepreneurship is different from traditional forms of entrepreneurship; describe social identity and evaluate its impact on leadership; and discuss the rich historical and community context that influences interpersonal and organizational dynamics.

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

The case opens with Martha Stewart's 2005 release from prison following her conviction for obstructing an insider-trading investigation of her 2001 sale of personal stock. The scandal dealt a crippling blow to the powerful Martha Stewart brand and drove results at her namesake company, Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia (MSO), deep into the red. But as owner of more than 90 percent of MSO's voting shares, Stewart continued to control the company throughout the scandal.

The company faced significant external challenges, including changing consumer preferences and mounting competition in all of its markets. Ad rates were under pressure as advertisers began fragmenting spending across multiple platforms, including the Internet and social media, where MSO was weak. New competitors were luring readers from MSO's flagship publication, Martha Stewart Living. And in its second biggest business, merchandising, retailing juggernauts such as Walmart and Target were crushing MSO's most important sales channel, Kmart. Internal challenges loomed even larger, with numerous failures of governance while the company attempted a turnaround.

This case can be used to teach either corporate governance or turnarounds.

Students will learn:

• How control of shareholder voting rights by a founding executive can undermine corporate governance

• The importance of independent directors and board committees

• How company bylaws affect corporate governance

• How to recognize and respond to early signs of stagnation

• How to avoid management actions that can make a crisis worse

• How weaknesses in executive leadership can push a company into crisis and foster a culture that actively prevents strategic revitalization

How control of shareholder voting rights by a founding executive can undermine corporate governance

The importance of independent directors and board committees

How company bylaws affect corporate governance

How to recognize and respond to early signs of stagnation

How to avoid management actions that can make a crisis worse

How weaknesses in executive leadership can push a company into crisis and foster a culture that actively prevents strategic revitalization

Strategic management of nonprofit organizations.

This case is appropriate for graduate level program/executive education courses; advanced topics in nonprofit management or strategic management of nonprofit organizations.

This case focuses on the central dilemma faced by arteBA Foundation in 2008. arteBA Foundation's chairman, Facundo Gómez Minujín, received an offer from a foreign company to purchase the art fair launched 17 years before – and by then acknowledged as the most prestigious fair in Latin America. Leading art fairs around the world were managed by for-profit companies that could view arteBA as a strategic asset to tap into new markets. Gómez Minujín called for an urgent board meeting. The young chairman had his qualms about selling the fair. In addition to corroborating arteBA's brand positioning in the region and rewarding the organization's efforts over the years, this purchasing offer afforded the possibility to undertake several projects to further develop and promote Argentine art – the true driver for most arteBA's members. The case describes the foundation's background and the fair's growth until the crossroads in November 2008. They include several accounts of instances in which the foundation took financial risks to enhance the fair's positioning, such as granting subsidized space to emerging galleries at its Young Neighborhood Program, expanding to include aesthetically risky offerings at its Open Space section, and financially supporting Brazilian galleries to attend the fair in order to enhance its Latin American scope and regional consolidation. Similarly, the case depicts how the foundation chose to uphold fair continuity in critical years (2001) amidst a dismal domestic setting. The dilemma presented by this case hinges on an organization's ability to build a market-based venture while preserving and pursuing its mission. To promote Argentine artists and art, arteBA Foundation had to help art galleries – for-profit businesses – to adopt more professional practices. Another challenge described in this case revolves around the need to “manage quality” in detriment of greater, immediate revenues. The last section revisits the central dilemma faced by arteBA Foundation. The mixed reactions of board members on the fair's purchase offer described in the introduction unfolded in a passionate debate at the board meeting. Two prevailing positions emerged in reference to the future of the organization. For some board members selling the fair afforded arteBA a chance to finally undertake new challenges, such as launching a grant program, offering financial support to artists, consolidating a new venture (South Limit), etc. Opposing board members contended that, without the fair, the foundation made no sense and that no other initiative could have such an impact on its field of choice. Finally, the board found it impossible to reach a decision on this matter in just one meeting and decided to resume its discussion after a recess.

This case has been designed to advance the following teaching objectives: gaining a better understanding of market-based ventures carried out by social organizations; discussing the alignment of market-based ventures to social missions at social organizations; adequately interpreting market trends to try to align them to a nonprofit's mission; identifying the primary capabilities needed by social organizations to manage profitable market-based ventures; developing a positive market orientation as a source of opportunities for a nonprofit; appreciating the significance of an active, committed board for market-based venture development; and highlighting the primary role of entrepreneurship and innovation when it comes to launching market-based ventures that add value to a nonprofit's brand.

Teaching notes are available.