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Case Study
Business to Business
Entrepreneurship
Finance
Strategy
Supply Chain
Nine Realms: Independent vs. corporate venture capital
This case is designed to discuss the tradeoffs between independent venture capital (IVC) and corporate venture capital (CVC). Students also have the opportunity to analyze two startup investment opportunities based on Nine Realms’ criteria. The case concludes with a discussion about a strategic choice faced by Nine Realms: should it continue as …
Nine Realms: Independent vs. corporate venture capital
Summary
This case is designed to discuss the tradeoffs between independent venture capital (IVC) and corporate venture capital (CVC). Students also have the opportunity to analyze two startup investment opportunities based on Nine Realms’ criteria. The case concludes with a discussion about a strategic choice faced by Nine Realms: should it continue as an IVC, list on the stock market or shift to a CVC? This allows students to debate the tradeoffs between the two approaches for the individuals involved.
Reference
IMD-7-2407
Copyright
©2023
Copyright owner
IMD Copyright
Organization
Nine Realms
Industry
Finance and Insurance, Venture Capital;Logistics and Supply Chain
Language
English
Contact
Research Information & Knowledge Hub for additional information on IMD publications
Case Study
Entrepreneurship
Family Business
Leadership
Sustainability
Maria Ahlström-Bondestam: Together everyone achieves more (Video case)
This case presents the unique approach to philanthropy of the Ahlström family. A group of 25 fifth-generation female Ahlström family members founded the Eva Ahlström foundation in 2010, in the name of the family matriarch Eva Ahlström (1848–1920), who was a big contributor to society in her time. This led to the establishment of the Ahlström Co…
Case Study
Disruption
Entrepreneurship
General Management
Global Business
Operations
Strategy
Cross-cultural virtual collaboration (C): Italian rotogravure team
The case series is an experiential exercise in virtual collaboration based on the commercial printing industry. Teams are located in Switzerland, Germany and Italy. One team is mandated to oversee the production of two prototype printers, while the other two teams are responsible for producing the new flexographic and rotogravure protypes. The t…
Cross-cultural virtual collaboration (C): Italian rotogravure team
Summary
The case series is an experiential exercise in virtual collaboration based on the commercial printing industry. Teams are located in Switzerland, Germany and Italy. One team is mandated to oversee the production of two prototype printers, while the other two teams are responsible for producing the new flexographic and rotogravure protypes. The teams are given strict deadlines, budgets and operating constraints.
The C case assigns the Italian team responsibility for manufacturing the rotogravure prototype.
Reference
IMD-7-2231
Copyright
©2022
Copyright owner
IMD Copyright
Industry
Media, Printing and Publishing;Manufacturing, Packaging and Containers
Language
English
Contact
Research Information & Knowledge Hub for additional information on IMD publications
Case Study
Disruption
Entrepreneurship
General Management
Global Business
Operations
Strategy
Cross-cultural virtual collaboration (B): German flexographic team
The case series is an experiential exercise in virtual collaboration based on the commercial printing industry. Teams are located in Switzerland, Germany and Italy. One team is mandated to oversee the production of two prototype printers, while the other two teams are responsible for producing the new flexographic and rotogravure protypes. The t…
Cross-cultural virtual collaboration (B): German flexographic team
Summary
The case series is an experiential exercise in virtual collaboration based on the commercial printing industry. Teams are located in Switzerland, Germany and Italy. One team is mandated to oversee the production of two prototype printers, while the other two teams are responsible for producing the new flexographic and rotogravure protypes. The teams are given strict deadlines, budgets and operating constraints.
The B case assigns the German team responsibility for manufacturing the flexographic prototype..
Reference
IMD-7-2230
Copyright
©2022
Copyright owner
IMD Copyright
Industry
Media, Printing and Publishing;Manufacturing, Packaging and Containers
Language
English
Contact
Research Information & Knowledge Hub for additional information on IMD publications
Case Study
Disruption
Entrepreneurship
General Management
Global Business
Operations
Strategy
Cross-cultural virtual collaboration (A): Swiss project management team
The case series is an experiential exercise in virtual collaboration based on the commercial printing industry. Teams are located in Switzerland, Germany and Italy. One team is mandated to oversee the production of two prototype printers, while the other two teams are responsible for producing the new flexographic and rotogravure protypes. The t…
Cross-cultural virtual collaboration (A): Swiss project management team
Summary
The case series is an experiential exercise in virtual collaboration based on the commercial printing industry. Teams are located in Switzerland, Germany and Italy. One team is mandated to oversee the production of two prototype printers, while the other two teams are responsible for producing the new flexographic and rotogravure protypes. The teams are given strict deadlines, budgets and operating constraints.
The A case mandates the Swiss team with overall responsibility for managing the production of the two prototypes.
Reference
IMD-7-2229
Copyright
©2022
Copyright owner
IMD Copyright
Industry
Media, Printing and Publishing;Manufacturing, Packaging and Containers
Language
English
Contact
Research Information & Knowledge Hub for additional information on IMD publications
Case Study
Entrepreneurship
Venture Capital
Finance
Strategy
Private Equity
Israel Secondary Fund (ISF): Completing venture capital in the start-up nation
The case documents the genesis and development of Israel Secondary Fund (ISF), an innovative venture capital secondary fund operating in Israel, a country dubbed “the start-up nation” for its very dynamic technology sector, in particular in leading-edge applications such as drones, cybersecurity, avionics, advanced materials, software, etc. It o…
Case Study
Sustainability
Entrepreneurship
Values-based entrepreneurship: Opaline’s bubbles (Abridged, French translation)
Orsières (Valais, Switzerland) April 2020. Opaline, an original juice production company with high social and environmental standards had begun in 2010. It took founder Sofia de Meyer over 10 years to build a responsible and impactful company aligned with her own aspirations, not just a lifestyle venture but one that would capitalize on her deep…
3rd prize in the 2022 HEC CSR Challenge case writing competition
Values-based entrepreneurship: Opaline’s bubbles (Abridged, French translation)
Summary
Orsières (Valais, Switzerland) April 2020. Opaline, an original juice production company with high social and environmental standards had begun in 2010. It took founder Sofia de Meyer over 10 years to build a responsible and impactful company aligned with her own aspirations, not just a lifestyle venture but one that would capitalize on her deeply rooted values, shared with many in the valley. Opaline was her experiment to prove to the world that a different type of capitalism was possible, one that put human and environmental aspects where they belonged – at the epicenter of a business revolution. De Meyer had regularly been asked in interviews why Opaline was not trying to grow faster, rather than ensuring that its existing suppliers and distributors developed alongside the company. She always replied by drawing an analogy with a growing forest, in which no tree stood much higher than the others or else it would fall, alone, with the next storm. The analogy proved robust but now a more violent storm – a global pandemic – was brewing that was hurting everyone at once. What would it mean for all the projects the team had set out for 2020? And more fundamentally, could Opaline weather this storm as it had already done several times thanks to its strong ecosystem of partners? Would it pay the price for not having extended its roots deep enough when it could?
3rd prize in the 2022 HEC CSR Challenge case writing competition
Copyright
©2022
Copyright owner
IMD Copyright
Organization
Opaline
Industry
Consumer Goods, Food and Beverage
Language
French
Contact
Research Information & Knowledge Hub for additional information on IMD publications
Case Study
Sustainability
Entrepreneurship
Values-based entrepreneurship: Opaline’s bubbles
Orsières (Valais, Switzerland) April 2020. Opaline, an original juice production company with high social and environmental standards had begun in 2010. It took founder Sofia de Meyer over 10 years to build a responsible and impactful company aligned with her own aspirations, not just a lifestyle venture but one that would capitalize on her deep…
Case Study
Entrepreneurship
Sustainability
Values-based entrepreneurship: Opaline’s bubbles (Abridged)
Orsières (Valais, Switzerland) April 2020. Opaline, an original juice production company with high social and environmental standards had begun in 2010. It took founder Sofia de Meyer over 10 years to build a responsible and impactful company aligned with her own aspirations, not just a lifestyle venture but one that would capitalize on her deep…
3rd prize in the 2022 HEC CSR Challenge case writing competition

Case Study
Digital
Disruption
Entrepreneurship
Celonis: Building a lean digital ecosystem
To maintain its position as the category leader in process mining and execution management, Celonis needed to be able to facilitate – or even automate – corrective measures on these processes to edge closer to process mining nirvana, i.e. a fully automated, intelligent and real-time execution management system (EMS). But how to determine the rig…
2023 John Molson MBA International Case Writing Competition – 3rd Prize

Case Study
Strategy
Entrepreneurship
Marketing
Innovation
Roasting plant coffee: From engineer’s dream to customer’s delight
Our story starts in 2001. Mike Caswell, an engineer and early Starbuck’s employee, creates a technology that permits better flavor and increased margins, for fresh-roasted coffee in retail stores. Years of engineering and fundraising, franchising, disputes, hopes and frustrations ensue. Jamie Robertson joins in 2017, as both investor and CEO …
Case Study
Business to Business
Digital
Disruption
Strategy
General Management
Marketing
Entrepreneurship
Customer Centricity
Sascar: The five next years
When SASCAR was acquired by Michelin in 2014, it was barely staying afloat, selling telematic services on price. The case describes how the new CEO and CMO turned SASCAR around in five years. Without explicitly referring to it, they used customer-centric principles: they focused on customer benefits (value conception), achieved buy-in from custo…
Sascar: The five next years
Summary
When SASCAR was acquired by Michelin in 2014, it was barely staying afloat, selling telematic services on price. The case describes how the new CEO and CMO turned SASCAR around in five years. Without explicitly referring to it, they used customer-centric principles: they focused on customer benefits (value conception), achieved buy-in from customers and third parties (value delivery) and got beyond the fixed-pie mindset (value capture). The results were startling: despite the growing competition, SASCAR evolved from a money losing, “me-too” local fleet management firm into a profitable leader in a growing market. The case goes on to discuss issues that the company will need to address, including performance-based business models, a branding strategy, international expansion and relations with Michelin.
Reference
IMD-7-2143
Copyright
©2022
Copyright owner
IMD Copyright
Organization
Sascar
Industry
Manufacturing, Technology;Logistics and Supply Chain, Transportation
Language
English
Contact
Research Information & Knowledge Hub for additional information on IMD publications
Case Study
Digital
Disruption
Entrepreneurship
Strategy
Start-up
Advertising
Social Media
Sustainability
Largo.ai in Hollywood: Good enough?
The case tells the story of Sami Arpa a young entrepreneur with a passion for the movie industry. Sami Arpa and his start-up Largo leverage technology to improve the movie industry. Largo launched in 2018 with the platform for short films called Sofy.tv. In 2020 Largo launches its own SaaS B2B platform providing an AI algorithm for the film-maki…
Case Study
Sustainability
Entrepreneurship
Strategy
Supply Chain
Diversity and Equity and Inclusion
Lionheart Farms (Philippines) and the tree of life
Lionheart Agrotech Limited, the holding company of Lionheart Farms is developing a large-scale sustainable hybrid coconut plantation with integrated processing and manufacturing capacities in the Philippines. The case describes the idea of the founders, their journey, the challenges they met and how they solved them. The case explores the key c…
2023 Financial Times Responsible Business Education Awards – Highly Commended

Case Study
Entrepreneurship
Strategy
China
Sustainability
Transforming Geely: From fridges to motorcycles to EVs … to?
The case is about the continuous entrepreneurial transformation, over two decades, of a company in terms of increasingly advanced technologies and international product markets. It describes how Geely, a leading player in the global automotive industry, started in the 1980s with its founder capitalizing on a series of opportunities during the ti…