Cases by elea Professor of Social Innovation Vanina Farber, senior researcher Shih-Han Huang, Professor of Social Entrepreneurship and Coca-Cola Foundation Chair in Sustainable Development Sophie Bacq, and Stephan Schmidheiny Professor of Entrepreneurship and Finance Benoit Leleux have topped their categories in the 2025 EFMD Case Writing Competition.
The case “Green or greenwashing? A 95 million dollar sustainability paradox for Michelin and BNP Paribas,” co-written by Vanina Farber and Shih-Han Huang won the Responsible Business award – the authors’ second consecutive win in the category.
“It is a real honor to have our case recognized in EFMD’s Responsible Business category. Becoming a responsible business is a journey, and it is especially meaningful to see the case open up space not only for rich classroom discussion, but also for genuine self-reflection among participants,” said Huang.
The case examines the Tropical Landscapes Finance Facility Sustainability Bond (TLFF I), a blended finance initiative designed to support sustainable rubber production in Indonesia while balancing environmental, social, and economic goals. It highlights the tensions and controversies that emerged, such as greenwashing allegations, compliance concerns, and stakeholder conflicts, challenging students to analyze issues of legitimacy, accountability, and innovation in sustainable finance.
“It ends with a mirror, which invites executives to confront difficult realities: credibility can conceal risk, innovation can outpace accountability, and partnerships can strengthen projects while blurring ownership,” shared Farber. “When impact coexists with blind spots and unintended harm, leaders cannot rely on simple trade-offs. In a world of quick answers, this case demands nuance, critical thinking, and the ability to navigate when something genuinely good goes wrong.”
Last year, Farber and Huang won in the same category for their case Not so black and white: Grupo Inca’s black alpaca dilemma, co-authored with IMD EMBA graduates Carolina Duran Silva, Baris Silahcioglu, and Hugo ten Zijthoff.
Sophie Bacq, former IMD research associate, Valerie Keller-Birrer, and IMD MBA 2024, Ruth Shalom Kinyua won the African Business Case category with “The New Protein Buzz: Can Legendary Foods Africa Feed the World with Insects?”
The authors present a case about Legendary Foods Africa, a Ghana-based food tech company that produces sustainable protein from palm weevil larvae using innovative vertical farming techniques. It explores the company’s challenges in scaling, including expansion strategies, consumer skepticism, and balancing economic performance with social impact and cultural sensitivity.
“The case is a timely reminder that solving one of humanity’s most pressing challenges – how to feed a growing global population sustainably and equitably – demands that we expand our imagination about what food can be, where it comes from, and who gets to build the future of nutrition,” Bacq said.
DSS+: Carving Out a Sustainability Consulting Leader, co-written by Benoit Leleux and IMD Executive MBA graduates Giorgio Pignalosa, Larissa Margot Bieler, Mojisola Onabanjo Akinkunmi, and Nicolas Campodonico, won the Finance & Banking and the Entrepreneurship categories.
“It is always a great honor to be recognized by EFMD for a new teaching case, but especially when the case was developed with a team of IMD graduates,” said Leleux.
This case follows the journey of dss+, a global safety and sustainability consulting firm created through a 2019 management buyout and carve-out from DuPont Sustainable Solutions supported by Gyrus Capital. It addresses the company’s challenges in scaling globally, including managing rapid growth, strengthening competitive advantages, and deciding where to invest to sustain its momentum.
“The case offers a great illustration of the deeply entrepreneurial drivers of buyouts, enriching my current research on late-stage entrepreneurship, including not only private-equity-backed buyouts but also search funds and Entrepreneurship through Acquisition (ETA) in general,” Leleux added.
This is the second EFMD win in a row for Leleux, who won the Continuous Improvement category in 2024 for Moon Creative Lab: Mitsui’s venture studio, co-authored with IMD Adjunct Professor of Entrepreneurship and Management Jim Pulcrano, and IMD EMBA graduates Adam Hansson Tönning, Alexandra Loboda, Anette Papuga, and Daisuke Shinohara.
For more than 50 years, IMD’s faculty and experts have been producing case studies, which are regularly recognized in international competitions.
Access the entire collection of IMD cases here.
