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Learning outcomes are as follows: understanding the importance of aligning an entrepreneur’s personal orientation and values (e.g. detachment from the enterprise) with business decisions related to enterprise development; appreciating how prior exposure to business settings can be a source of entrepreneurship pursuits for an entrepreneur; and understand whether a different type of leadership can be instrumental in the creation, running and growth of an entrepreneurial venture, especially in terms of introducing differentiated offerings in the target market.

The case is about an entrepreneur, Sangeeth Varghese, with a very humble and conservative background, who worked in various firms, small and large, and become a young global leader at World Economic Forum, before foraying into entrepreneurship. He is driven by the core values of detachment and democratization, which is reflected throughout his life course and has developed his own views on leadership. After running his first venture LeadCap Ventures with some measure of success, Sangeeth is about to launch his new venture LeadBurg, a web- and mobile-based application for behavioral rating and competency discovery for individuals. The predicament for Sangeeth is about the uncertainties related to the new launch from a business perspective, as well as the concern whether the core principles of democratization and detachment that he identified with, would stand the test in this launch.

Master level program (e.g. MBA).

Teaching Notes are available for educators only.

CSS 3: Entrepreneurship.

Amongst other things, at the end of this case discussion, the student should be able to: diagnose situational factors that contribute to a brand’s positioning; explore important issues in implementing brand positioning strategies; use relevant models for understanding a firm’s internal and external environments to inform strategic decisions about customers and competition; demonstrate an understanding of target audience; identify the unique attributes of the competition to inform a firm’s positioning and competitive strategy.

Kaya FM derives its name from the isiZulu word “ikhaya”, which means “home”. The name reflects the mission of the radio station to provide a home for black South Africans who were denied many opportunities during the apartheid era in South Africa. Kaya FM has been broadcasting since 1997, following the deregulation of the media landscape in South Africa. However, by 2018, the radio landscape has become very challenging. Mainstream advertisers still do not consider Kaya FM as a preferred channel to reach their target audience. Overall, radio listenership is dwindling and advertising sales growth is not encouraging. Greg Maloka, Kaya FM’s station manager is considering how to preserve the station’s unique positioning as it competes with both more dominant stations and new entrants so that Kaya FM can truly be a home for Afropolitans for many years to come.

Honour’s and master’s level, as well as executive education delegates.

Teaching Notes are available for educators only.

CSS 8: Marketing.

The use of entrepreneurship to deliver profound social impact is a much-needed but poorly understood concept. While social enterprises are generally well understood, there is a considerable need to have a more common approach to measuring the different ways they create social value for us as well as to reduce the difficulties of starting and growing them in the difficult conditions of developing countries. In the northeast of Nigeria, for example, the mammoth challenge of rebuilding communities in an unfavorable entrepreneurship environment makes the need for a solution even more urgent. This case study illustrates a model of promoting entrepreneurship that advances the conditions of sustainable development goals (SDGs) in local communities using a configuration of the key theories of social impact entrepreneurship (variants of entrepreneurship with blended value or mission orientation, including social entrepreneurship, sustainable entrepreneurship and institutional entrepreneurship). The extent to which ventures can adjust and improve the extent of their contributions to the SDGs are shown using examples of three entrepreneurs at different stages of growth. From this case study, students will be able to understand how entrepreneurs can identify and exploit social impact opportunities in the venture’s business model, within the network of primary stakeholders as well as in the wider institutional environment with the support of Impact+, a simple impact measurement praxis.

The case study envisions training students how to hardwire social impact focus in the venture’s business model (social entrepreneurship), how to run ventures with minimal harm to the environment and greatest benefit to stakeholders (sustainable entrepreneurship) and how to contribute to improving the institutional environment for social purpose entrepreneurship (institutional entrepreneurship).

At the end of learning this case study, students should be able to: 1. discover an effective model for a startup social venture; 2. explore options for managing a venture sustainably and helping stakeholders out of poverty; and 3. identify ways to contribute to improving the institutional environment for social impact entrepreneurs.

For students, this case will help in educating them on a pragmatic approach to designing social impact ventures – one that calibrates where they are on well-differentiated scales.

For business schools, entrepreneurial development institutions and policymakers, this case study can help them learn how to target entrepreneurial development for specific development outcomes.

The case study is preferably for early-stage postgraduate students (MSc or MBA).

Teaching notes are available for educators only.

CSS 3: Entrepreneurship.

This case study focuses on social entrepreneurship in emerging markets, looking at what is social entrepreneurship, theories of market failure, opportunity generation through effectuation, social franchising and funding.

Students of social entrepreneurship, development studies, sustainable livelihoods and asset-based development. It is useful for customised or short programmes or for students with a background in business (e.g. Diploma in Business Administration/MBA/custom programmes) wanting to understand social enterprise and blended theories of social and economic change.

The case tells the story of Unjani container clinics which are providing affordable, quality access to people who struggle to access South Africa’s crumbling public health system. Dr Iain Barton recognised the role that nurses can play to relieve pressure on the system, by providing primary healthcare. He piloted Unjani using shipping containers as clinics with support from his company, Imperial Health Sciences. The story of Unjani is therefore one of startup and sustainable growth, partnership and building independent, self-sustaining social enterprises in a franchising system. The theory explored includes the importance of context, the role of market failure in spotting opportunity, developing opportunity through effectuation, defining social entrepreneurship and funding and growing the organisation.

The teaching objectives are framed by Mair (2010) who finds that where social entrepreneurs operate affects what they do and how they do it. Objective 1: Explores the influence of context on social entrepreneurship helping students frame a definition of social entrepreneurship. Objective 2: Students are able to connect the theory of market failure to opportunity identification and effectuation for social entrepreneurs. Objective 3: Students apply the definition of social entrepreneurship based on Santos’ (2010) Positive Theory. Objective 4: Students will be able to apply knowledge of social franchising models, as an approach to scaling. Objective 5: Students understand the principles of resource dependency theory and are able to use the funding spectrum as a tool to identify funding types.

Links to two videos are provided in the case. Recommendations are also made for materials to be used in the class, e.g. Global Competitiveness Index and Gapminder World, which are excellent tools to demonstrate the social and economic growth divide.

CSS 3: Entrepreneurship.

At the macro level, the case study enables the students to appreciate the complexity emerging market economies face in achieving economic development and environmental sustainability without comprising each other. The students understand the importance of behavioural change and empowerment of communities in projects dealing with transformational social changes. Theoretically, the students learn about the change mechanisms and organisational practices market-based organisations install to drive their positive social change (PSC) projects. At the micro level, students learn about the process of setting up Mangalajodi Ecotourism Trust (MET) – that not only enthused the local community economically but also instilled it with awareness and motivation towards sustaining its ecosystem. Analytically, at macro level, it assists the students to have a lens of PSC framework to examine corporate social responsibility, social entrepreneurship and BoP strategies of market-based organisations to affect social change. Application/problem solving: The case study explains to the students how the PSC levers of motivation, capability and opportunity structures were applied by NatWest Bank during different phases of project execution. As management grapples with new problems, the students are encouraged to use the levers to recommend an action plan. It allows students to apply SWOT and think of competitive strategies for MET. It allows students to think of strategies that may apply for a better management of Ecotourism at Mangalajodi.

As part of its broader commitment to sustainable development and climate change action, the NatWest Group (formerly Royal Bank of Scotland Group) launched its Supporting Enterprise Programme in India in the year 2007. The project aimed at creating income-generating opportunities for indigenous and economically vulnerable sections of society living in critical natural ecosystems. The project was under the leadership of N. Sunil Kumar, a zealous nature lover, with over two decades of experience in business strategy and public affairs and a specialty in environmental sustainability. He headed Sustainable Banking at NatWest and was head of NatWest Foundation-India. The Mangalajodi project shared the problems many of NatWest’s other projects in India presented. Poor communities that relied solely on natural resources for their sustenance slid deeper into poverty as ecosystems degraded. Lacking alternative sources of livelihood and facing scantier resources, the communities helplessly caused additional damage to weak ecosystems when they drew on the resources even more vigorously. Poaching of migratory birds for supplemental income was a huge problem at Mangalajodi; it was not only rapidly altering the ecosystem to sustain the birds but also deteriorating and weakening its ecology as a whole. Measures to eliminate poaching were failing in the absence of alternate means of livelihoods and a strong incentive to protect the birds. MET was established under the project in 2009. A decade later, it had become a resounding success. A community-owned and run enterprise, MET was providing direct employment to over 100 poorest families at the tiny village and creating income-generating opportunities and entrepreneurial ventures for many others. Poaching was practically negligible at Mangalajodi, and the community was drawing huge admiration for its role in conserving the ecosystem. However, the progress of Mangalajodi Ecotourism was paradoxical, on the one hand; its popularity was rising but, on the other hand, it was becoming overcrowded and looked ill managed. Its rising commercial value was bringing in more land developers, builders and investors, but permanent concrete structures were also coming up quite unscrupulously. There were many challenges – how should growth of ecotourism at Mangalajodi be managed? What mechanisms and practices ensured that the community was empowered enough to participate in decisions of land use, infrastructure, energy and waste management at Mangalajodi? How should MET become more competitive and innovative to grow despite future challenges?

The case study is useful for students of Management at Under Graduate and Post Graduate Levels for understanding the following: the sustainability of fragile ecosystems; the community at the intersection of sustainable development and natural resources conservation and protection of biodiversity; knowing in detail about the planning, implementation and management of ecotourism projects; and decisions regarding community-based ecotourism projects.

Teaching Notes are available for educators only.

CSS 7: Management Science

The case can be used at undergraduate and postgraduate level, in management development programmes or in Executive Education programmes.

Social entrepreneurship, social inclusion, business model innovation, sustainability, strategy design and strategy execution.

The case explores the development of MITTI Café, an organisation that trains and employs individuals with intellectual, physical and/or psychiatric disabilities to work in inclusive kitchens and cafes in India. The protagonist is the founder of the café, Alina Alam, who has won several international awards for her work. The case highlights Alam’s approach and how she is trying to challenge societal and business perspectives relating to disability. From 2017 to 2021, Alam has scaled and operationalised the business, building her core team, leveraging several partnerships with stakeholders and putting into place offerings, processes and procedures that created a sustainable business model and blueprint.MITTI Café aligns itself with several of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), with sustainability and social impact at the core of its strategy. As Alam considers the future in July 2021, what else needs to be taken into consideration to scale either within India or abroad?

Following reading and exploring the case, students should be able to identify how social exclusion and inclusion manifests in a business context, and how social entrepreneurship ventures such as MITTI Café can address this challenge; identify capabilities in the context of people with disabilities; recognise how stakeholder relationships can be leveraged as a force for good and for growth, and address SDGs through social enterprise; identify and categorise resources and capabilities within organisations; evaluate opportunities for growth and scale.

The case explores how the protagonist is challenging the concept of “ability” and through her work with the differently abled providing scalable opportunities for social inclusion and dignity.

Teaching notes are available for educators only.

CSS 11: Strategy.

After completion of the case study, the students would be able to identify and evaluate organizational culture as a critical element of organizational resilience and assess its fit to the business context, evaluate different elements of organizational resilience and their contribution to business adaptation and develop leadership approaches that help adapt and leverage organizational culture to foster individual, team and organizational resilience.

This teaching case covers topics of organizational leadership, including organizational culture and organizational resilience. This case study is appropriate for the postgraduate and executive education programmes. This case study covers the approach to organizational leadership and resilience of the OKKO, a Ukrainian retail petrol station network. The dilemmas considered by top managers of the company emerged in February–April 2022 amid the unfolding Russian invasion of Ukraine. The case study protagonists solved multiple business and organizational dilemmas to continue efficient business operations while allowing the organization to adapt to a complex and fast-changing environment. They leveraged a distinct corporate culture, strong employee engagement and established business processes and management practices to ensure the viability of the business.

This case study is appropriate for postgraduate and executive education programmes. The level of difficulty is light to medium. Recommended pre-requisites are understanding human resources management terminology and reviewing preparation materials. The case study is suitable for teaching courses in leadership, people management and organizational development that cover corporate culture, leadership and organizational resilience.

CSS 6: Human resource management

Teaching notes are available for educators only.

This case study can be used at the graduate and executive levels.

This case study can be used in entrepreneurship, leadership, social entrepreneurship and human resource management.

Healing Fields Foundation is a non-governmental organisation (NGO) that was co-founded by Mukti Bosco to create an affordable and quality health-care ecosystem, primarily through women. The pragmatism of Mukti and her strong alignment with the core values of the foundation ensured that they emerged unscathed from past challenges. During the second wave of the pandemic in 2021, they employed bikers on a contractual basis to satisfy last-mile delivery demand in rural India. However, owing to the recovery post the second wave, the demand for their services dropped and subsequently their earnings. Being provided with four options by her COO, Mukti is cognisant of the social implications her decisions will have on all the stakeholders in the ecosystem.

A. Identify and prioritise key stakeholders of the organisation for effective decision-making. B. Differentiate effectual from causal reasoning and apply their right balance while making decisions. C. Delineate social entrepreneurs from their for-profit, non-mission-driven counterparts. D. Create value for the organisation’s stakeholders through the management of its diverse workforce. E. Formulate entrepreneurial solutions through the application of relevant concepts and frameworks.

CSS 3: Entrepreneurship.

Undergraduate, postgraduate and corporate education.

This case describes Ayanda Mbatha’s response, attitudes and beliefs after retrenched from his position as a technician and draughtsman at Rheinmetall Denel Munition during the COVID-19 pandemic. Mbatha responded with resilience to losing his job. Mbatha’s attitudes and beliefs enabled him to creatively search for a new job amidst escalating retrenchments. The case examines the factors important for resilience and demonstrates why resilience is an essential skill for individuals dealing with adversity. The case dilemma involves the choices Mbatha had to make during and after the retrenchment process initiated by his employer.

We designed this case to facilitate the understanding of what is resilience and why resilience is an essential skill for individuals facing adversity. Specifically, the case aims to help students to: 1. Describe the construct of resilience in the context of individuals. 2. Identify factors that promote resilience. 3. Explain what resilient individuals do in the face of adversity. 4. Evaluate the importance of resilience during adversity. 5. Evaluate the role of prior adversity in the development of resilience.

Teaching Notes are available for educators only.

CSS 6: Human Resource Management.

This case was written using primary data through various channels, including in-depth structured interviews with the CEO and other individuals at the Crisis Center of Tampa Bay (CCTB), as well as exchanging email messages and phone conversations with employees at CCTB. All interviews were recorded and transcribed. In addition, one of the authors took a tour of the main offices of CCTB and took notes on the physical facilities as well as the information provided by the tour guide. Public information from CCTB was used to enhance the information and provide background. All accounts presented in this case are real, and no information was altered or fabricated.

Clara Reynolds had been CEO of CCTB for over eight years. The agency had almost tripled its budget in the time she had been there. Her leadership style had positively impacted the culture of the organization. Employees valued her open and transparent leadership style. Employees saw her commitment to training employees, creating work–life balance and helping employees be exceptional at their jobs. There was an issue, however, with Transcare, the organization’s ambulatory service. The performance of the business was declining, and Clara wanted to update the board within 60 days at the next quarterly board meeting. She was not sure what she could do to increase engagement with Transcare’s staff, which would show the board that the staff was fully willing to do what was necessary.

This case is appropriate for teaching undergraduate or graduate-level courses in leadership, organizational behavior or principles of management. It is designed to be discussed during one class period. It will save time and improve the flow if the students read the case before class and are prepared when they arrive. Any information needed for the case discussion has been presented in the case; no further research by the students is necessary. Students should think about the role of leadership in a nonprofit. They should put themselves in the protagonist’s shoes throughout the reading of the case.