Megan M za is a half-Mexican female entrepreneur who quit her high-paying job in marketing to launch Bandida, a cold-brew horchata beverage brand. As a social enterprise, Bandida aims to manufacture its product using only partners that are women and people of color. M za soon struggles with issues of cultural identity and ponders whether she can launch her product if she hasn''t met all of her social goals. As M za strategizes how to break .....more

Identifying the next big thing is often treated as an exercise in analyzing trends. But that''s misleading. By the time a trend is established, any opportunities it presents have probably been captured by competitors. And although a company may need to reflect trends in its business plans, that may mean catching up with rivals rather than gaining a competitive edge. To take advantage of emerging trends, companies must identify them when they .....more

The Valuing Employment exercise can be used to show the importance of impact measurement in designing incentives and contracts. The exercise has two phases. In the first phase, participants play the role of managers at the State of Massachusetts Infrastructure Department. They are tasked with evaluating competing bids for a 10-year, $100 million project from two finalist companies: Infrastructure Bay and Infrastructure Gold. Participants are asked .....more

In May 2019, amidst of an ever-worsening trade war between the U.S. and China, President Donald Trump added Chinese telecom giant Huawei to the Department of Commerce''s "entity list," essentially forbidding American firms from doing business with the company. Huawei, along with another Chinese telecom firm, ZTE, seemed poised to lead the globe in 5G technology, a step-wise shift in mobile communications that would be rolled out .....more

In March 2020, Zach Sims, co-founder and CEO of online education platform Codecademy, prepared for a meeting with his Chief of Staff Kunal Ahuja to discuss the company''s goals. Codecademy billed itself as the largest online resource for computer science literacy and programming skills in the world. It had 45 million active users in 190 countries learning to code by taking its online courses. Ahuja had engaged the leadership team, product .....more

The General Electric Company''s (GE''s) iconic Appliances division enjoyed a significant role in the company throughout the 20th century, representing one of the most recognized engines of the GE brand. By the 21st century, however, GE had changed its focus to technology and infrastructure businesses, and GE Appliances'' contribution represented less than 5% of GE''s revenue and profit. Recognizing GE Appliances'' .....more

In an industry that is struggling to diversify, Kathryn Cooper and her co-directors at CTIP have created a highly successful model for supporting non-traditional founders in early-stage medical-technology companies. Cooper''s personal and professional journey as a Black female entrepreneur sets the stage for CTIP''s approach to diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) in the underserved pediatric market. Central to CTIP''s DEI .....more

This case addresses the events that took place following the conclusion of the case "Facebook''s Libra (A): The Privatization of Money?" In October 2019, several months after the conclusion of the A case, multiple members of the Libra Association announced that they were leaving the project. Observers speculated that the departures were due to Libra''s inability to meet regulatory scrutiny. Nevertheless, the Libra Association .....more

In 2018, Edna McConnell Clark Foundation in a bold move transferred all its assets to a fund pooled with other General Partners and Limited Partners, called Blue Meridian Partners, to focus substantial long range investments in a few carefully chosen nonprofits. The fund was intended to find proven, scalable solutions to problems that trapped America''s young people in poverty. In addition to discussing the merits and demerits of this new .....more