Teaching note for product W41562.

The Calgary Social Value Fund (CSVF) was a newly created, student-run, impact investing fund working to make its first investment decision. The co-founder of CSVF was considering an investment in aGRO Systems Inc, a local, female-founded social enterprise that had been growing quickly and creating valuable impact in the community. aGRO Systems was deciding which growth strategy to pursue, and CSVF had to determine if it should invest in aGRO Systems—without .....more

When Enrique Layola joined the San Pedro City Agriculture Office, he was highly concerned about the worsening conditions of Laguna de Bay and their affect upon the livelihoods of local fishermen. Improving Laguna de Bay’s water quality was vital to increasing the region’s production of fish. The deteriorating water quality had resulted in the proliferation of water hyacinth, which was likely to increase further due to worsening water pollution. Layola .....more

In late 2019, the chief people officer at World Vision Canada was feeling overwhelmed. Eighteen months earlier, she had exited her intense and successful career in the private sector to join World Vision Canada, a leading international development charity. While she embraced the organization’s mission-driven ethos of collaboration and collegiality, it had led to an excess of meetings. In just the past week, she had attended more than 100 meetings. .....more

In February 2014, Global 3PL, one of the largest logistics companies in the world, announced an ambitious expansion strategy. In accordance with that plan, the company struck an agreement in 2017 with TradeIX Limited (TradeIX) to optimize its working capital management. TradeIX was a start-up based in Dublin, Ireland that offered blockchain technology solutions to help companies manage trade finance more efficiently, especially in the area of accounts .....more

Launched in 2010, CredEx Fintech Co. Ltd. (CredEx) operated until 2017 as a mobile credit platform, connecting lenders and borrowers in the Chinese small- and microcredit market. In 2017, the Chinese government introduced a regulation to address misconducts in the credit market. As a result, CredEx needed to transform by utilizing mobile credit technology to enable and support licensed financial institutions to explore mobile credit markets. In 2018, .....more

By 2019, Facebook Inc.’s (Facebook’s), popular social media and social networking service (known as Facebook) that launched in 2004, had emerged as one of the world’s largest market capitalizations. Over its 15 years, the company had experienced public relation incidents that led to controversies regarding its social media business model. Most criticism related to the unethical ways the company had handled its users’ personal data. By 2019, the level .....more

In 2018, the chairperson of Nissan Motor Co., Ltd. (Nissan), Carlos Ghosn, was arrested for alleged misconduct and criminal offences related to underreporting remuneration and misrepresenting annual disclosures. Detailed investigations revealed similar misrepresentations by the company’s chief executive officer (CEO) Hiroto Saikawa, who was forced to resign. The actions of senior officials left a deep stain on Nissan’s reputation, causing investors .....more

In 2017, the general manager and head of business conglomerate Mahindra and Mahindra Limited (M&M)’s largest factory in Igatpuri, Maharashtra, faced several challenges related to the company’s goal of achieving zero-waste-to-landfill certification from an environmental agency. Since the Mahindra Group’s chief executive officer had decided to focus on sustainability as a key to long-term growth, M&M had to find practical ways to manage waste .....more

Paul Hardy parlayed a degree in fashion and an early-career job as a personal shopper at high-end retailer Holt, Renfrew & Co., Limited (Holt Renfrew) into a successful career as a Canadian luxury-goods fashion designer. He was a survivor in the industry, adapting to various exogenous shocks, most recently COVID-19. The pandemic resulted in the cancellation of events and social gatherings at places where women typically wore his designs. In addition, .....more