oikosCaseQuarterly_Issue5

Case Quarterly

Teaching Cases in Action

oikos Int

stude econo

Issue 5, Winter 2012

Sustainable Lifestyles Featured Case Writers and Cases: • Foreword • Benoît Leleux (IMD) - Noir/Illuminati II • Madeleine Pullman (Portland State University) - Portland Roasting Company • Andrea Erin Bass (University of Nebraska) - Lululemon’s commitment to the environment • Darrell Brown (Portland State University) – Burgerville: Sustainability and Sourcing in a QSR Supply Chain • Forthcoming case teaching events and other news • How to subscribe

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“Running along the beach” by Lululemon Athletica. Creative Commons Licence. Attribution 2.5 Generic (CC BY 2.5).

Foreword

Dear reader, Welcome to the oikos Case Quarterly 5/2012 focused on the topic of sustainable lifestyles. The question of sustainable lifestyles has received a considerable attention on both international and European levels.

Thus, the international Task Force on Sustainable Lifestyles was launched in 2002 as part of a global effort to promote sustainable consumption and production, or the so-called Marrakech Process, lead by the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) and the United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs (UNDESA). On the European level, the SPREAD Sustainable Lifestyles 2050 initiative was launched in January 2011 with a purpose to develop “a roadmap for strategic action for policy makers and [to] deliver innovative ideas for business, research and society”.

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In this issue we focus on two aspects of sustainable lifestyles: what and where we eat and what we wear.

We present four teaching cases related to the topic of sustainable food and clothing: Noir/Illuminati II (by Benoît Leleux) - eco-friendly luxurious clothing; Lululemon (by Andrea Erin Bass) – eco-friendly sports clothing; Portland Roasting Company (by Madeleine Pullman) – a coffee company with a strong commitment to sustainability; and finally Burgerville (by Darrell Brown) – a fast-food restaurant differentiating itself on the fresh, local and sustainable food. In addition to these cases, you may also be interested to check the

following two cases from the oikos online case collection: Kapai New Zealand– another fast-food restaurant or rather a healthy salad bar, and Phoenix Organic – organic beverages company (this case was covered in Issue 1 of oikos Case Quarterly).

From the ecch case collection other interesting “food” cases are a smoothies company Innocent Drinks and organic tea company Honest Tea, the majority shareholding in both of which is now owned by Coca-Cola; Green & Black’s organic and fair-trade chocolate – also is no longer independent but part of Cadbury Schweppes; Bionade Soda offering organic drinks, another example of a small entrepreneurial firm bought by a large mainstream market player – Dr. Oetker; as a contrast, Attune Foods in the organic breakfast cereal market is still a small and independent player with an ambition to become a leading digestive health brand in the USA. Also of interest may be two cases on organic food distributors – Pro Organics in Canada and Whole Foods Market in the USA. In the eco-friendly clothing market some interesting companies are Veja and its sneakers “with a conscience” (co-authored by one of the oikos PhD Fellows Kim Poldner), Freitag and its Swiss-made carry-all bags made of old truck tarpaulins, bicycle inner tubes and car safety belts (this case is offered by ecch for free), another eco-clothing brand OQOQO

Winter 2012 Issue 5 | www.oikosinternational.org/academic

started by the founder of Lululemon or a world-famous outdoor clothing company Patagonia producing highquality environmentally-friendly garments.

We hope that you will enjoy reading this issue and discovering these sustainable food and clothing companies. As usually, we would be very happy to receive your feedback, so do send us an email to case@oikosinternational.org.

Liudmila Nazarkina oikos Case Quarterly Editor

Next issue of oikos Case Quarterly (Spring, 2012) will be focused on the topic of Sustainable Housing and we will feature the following cases: • “Kimpton Hotels: Balancing Strategy and Environmental Sustainability” (by Murray Silverman and Tom Thomas) • “Hunghom Peninsula in Hong Kong: A Realistic Call for Corporate Social Responsibilities” (by Terence Tsai and Shubo Philip Liu) • “The ReUse of PEOPLE: Scrap to Sales” (by Charles J. Corbett and William G. Powell)

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Noir/Illuminati II: Defining Socially Responsible Affordable Luxury Clothing

by Benoît Leleux The Case Story

2007 was going to be the year of Noir/Illuminati II. The two entities were like Siamese twins; Noir designed and produced luxury clothing for women, while Illuminati II was set up to produce high quality, fair-trade, organic cotton fabrics of the highest quality both for Noir and other leading fashion brands. Together, they provided the basis for a totally new concept in fashion, one that would bring back “social substance” in a world that mostly ignored it. Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) was making its way into most other industries: why could it not infiltrate fashion? Was there any way to improve the “feel good” factor of beautiful clothes with a clear social responsibility message? Could egocentrism rhyme with eco-friendliness? Noir/ Illuminati II would define socially responsible affordable luxury clothing. Putting the concept into operation was the real challenge: Would customers buy the story?

Would investors follow him in this venture?

Teaching the Case

The case offers a unique environment to tap the “hidden assumptions” of CSR, i.e. push the concept to its limits where participants start to feel very uneasy about it. In particular, the idea of using CSR as a business purpose or foundation, and to

Benoît Leleux

leverage CSR to make money, seems to rub many participants the wrong way. For others, it is the very idea of using “values” such as corporate social responsibility for mercantile purposes that creates a mental blockage that requires discussion.

These issues are made even more “lively” by the very entrepreneurial, charismatic founder, who does not shy away from stating clearly his intents. His video interview, in this respect, is a highlight of the case discussion, in particular his reference to the Catholic Church as one of the best brands ever built on guilt!

“Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) was making its way into most other industries: why could it not infiltrate fashion? Was there any way to improve the “feel good” factor of beautiful clothes with a clear social responsibility message?”

The case is very different from the traditional CSR cases that often show traditional business situations in which the adoption of CSR principles brought some clear benefits to society. In this case, the benefits to society are clearly questionable (what is another luxury fashion brand, however socially responsible, bringing to society?) while the private benefits of adopting CSR for the company are all too visible. The key questions

Dr Leleux is Stephan Schmidheiny Professor of Entrepreneurship and Finance at IMD, where he was director of the MBA program and of Research and Development. He was previously Visiting Professor at INSEAD and Associate Professor and Zubillaga Chair in Finance and Entrepreneurship at Babson College, Wellesley, MA (USA). He obtained his Ph.D. at INSEAD, specializing

addressed are thus the following: • Are private benefits to CSR antagonistic to its social or “greater good” purpose? Can one reconcile the two perspectives?

• Can CSR or other “value system” be used as the foundation of a forprofit business model?

• What the pitfalls of using a “value” as an essential element of a business positioning?

Practically speaking, the students are asked to address the following set of issues: • How strong was the product positioning? Affordable luxury was very much an oxymoron, but then again these kinds of conflicts never prevented brands from becoming successful.

• Did Noir’s price/quality positioning really make sense in the competitive fashion industry?

• Did it make sense to push two brands (Noir and Illuminati II) at the same time? Was the original rationale still strong enough?

• From a placement strategy point of view, did it make sense to go global from the start or was there value in testing the home market first?

• Are uniforms for large corporate clients supporting or hindering the development of the brand and its perceived positioning in the market?

in Corporate Finance and Venture Capital. His latest books include “Investing Private Capital in Emerging and Frontier Market SMEs” (IFC, 2009) and “Nurturing ScienceBased Startups: An International Case Perspective” (Springer, 2008).

His teaching cases have earned a dozen European case writing awards.

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• Which investor would be best for Noir Illuminati II to accelerate the business as well as to support the company, its basic values and principles in the long run?

• Did he have the right team to grow the business?

• Was the envisioned market entry strategy sufficient to support the planned growth?

• How attractive would Noir Illuminati II be to companies like Gucci and LVMH from a portfolio point of view? Why would they possibly want to acquire him? If that exit route was really unlikely, than how would he best prepare for the next alternative route for exit?

The case takes the concept of CSR in a number of provocative directions, allowing the class discussion to go into some often misunderstood issues about CSR in general. These issues include: • Can CSR be commercialized? Is it OK to build a profitable business around CSR activities?

• Can you claim to be CSR compliant when only parts of your activities are?

• Can you be entrepreneurial in the world of social responsibility?

The case is supported by extensive pedagogical material, including extensive teaching notes, based on repeated use in both MBA and executive education programs.

It includes a DVD containing the original 2008 New York Fashion Week presentation, a studio interview of Noir founder and CEO Peter Ingwersen discussing all major aspects of the business, from launch until July 2009, and Powerpoint presentations by Peter Ingwersen of his career and aspirations with Noir / Illuminati II.

Favorite Cases

CSR and social entrepreneurship can be addressed in many different ways, some standard some much less so. I personally love to use the Wiphold case, another provocative case set in South Africa in 1994, where 4 black women set up a private equity investment vehicle as an empowerment tool for disenfranchised women in the townships. And succeeded to create one of the largest financial services firm in the country, developing new products for the bottom of the pyramid.

New Case Development

Learning takes hold better when standard concepts are portrayed in unusual settings or extreme conditions. Only then can you really see the trade-offs implied, the paradoxes that have to be dealt with. Cases in general tend to be too descriptive and politically correct: for pedagogical purposes, the case method needs controversy and extreme positions, not consensual thinking. Case writers should let themselves engage more controversial causes in less familiar geographical territories…

Case Purchase Information

Inspection copy of the case “Noir/ Illuminati II: Defining Socially Responsible Affordable Luxury Clothing” is available from the online oikos Case Collection. The case is available for purchase from ecch: Part A (IMD-3-1909) and Part B (IMD-3-1910) and it is also part of the new oikos Case Collection book (Volume 2): Case Studies in Social Entrepreneurship and Sustainability published by Greenleaf.

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“Downtown Betty – Vancouver Eco Fashion Week – Day 1 – Feb 23 2011” by Salty Soul. Creative Commons Licence. Attribution 2.5 Generic (CC BY 2.5).

Winter 2012 Issue 5 | www.oikosinternational.org/academic

Portland Roasting Company: Farm Friendly Direct

by Madeleine Pullman The Case Story

This case describes the issues and dilemmas facing a company in their efforts to differentiate their product through a social sustainability program. Over the years, the company has built a strong reputation with their sustainability efforts, particularly amongst their peers in the specialty coffee industry. There is some question as to whether

Madeleine Pullman Madeleine (Mellie) Pullman is the Willamette Industries Professor of Supply Chain Management at Portland State University. Her major research interests include sustainability and supply chain management, sustainable food and beverage supply chains, and experiential service design.

Currently, she is researching social networks of sustainability and food cooperatives. She is on the board of several food non-profit groups including Upstream Health, Food Alliance, Portland Public Market, and the Slow Food Chapter of Wallowa County. She works with many regional sustainability-focused food and beverage producers, distributors, and retailers. In addition to authoring books on Food Supply Chain Management, Service Operations, and Restaurant Design, her articles have appeared in numerous journals and periodicals.

this reputation has been visible to consumers and if consumers see the value-proposition. The case covers the history of coffee, the specialty coffee industry, the supply chain and roles of different participants, and the competitive landscape. Furthermore, most of the competitive eco-labels and certification schemes are discussed.

The reader is asked to decide the appropriate method for conveying the company’s social sustainability efforts to the marketplace and beyond that, to consider how one might measure and monitor social programs in the developing world.

The case is designed to highlight decisions related to marketing and operations strategy, pros and cons of certification, and particularly social sustainability versus the other aspects of sustainability.

“The discussion can begin with the core competencies of the company, Portland Roasting Company (PRC). While many students will argue that quality is PRC’s core competency, others will realize that their social sustainability program is their strong suit. ”

Teaching the Case

This case can be used to examine the differences between social and environmental sustainability programs and how these programs are conveyed to the marketplace.

It would be appropriate for a strategy, marketing or supply chain management class in a business school or for a food policy class. For a strategy class, it could be used to convey the potential competitive advantage that companies receive from sustainability programs and products. For a marketing class, the case can be used to cover branding efforts related to sustainability certification, market saturation, and marketing methods for conveying credence attributes (attributes of a product not readily conveyed to the consumer unlike price or quality).

For a supply chain management class, the case could highlight the role of supply chain structure in the development of sustainable product lines particularly social sustainability which has received limited attention outside of worker issues in the apparel industry.

The discussion can begin with the core competencies of the company, Portland Roasting Company (PRC).

While many students will argue that quality is PRC’s core competency, others will realize that their social sustainability program is their strong suit. Mark, PRC’s president, has been very involved with these activities since the company’s inception and the coffee’s premium pricing is used to support these efforts. Then the question becomes, if social sustainability is the company’s core competency, how effectively is this conveyed to the final consumers, and is this an order winning attribute for consumers?

Finally, the students are asked to decide how this attribute could be conveyed to consumers (through various choices around certification) and/or through different marketing channels, promotions, or alternative methods. The case can draw on the following frameworks: Marketing Strategy, Supply Chain Strategy, Social, Environmental, and Economic Sustainability, and Certification Programs & Ecolabeling.

The suggested readings to accompany the case for graduate level include: 1. Golan, E., Krissoff, B., Kuchler, F., Calvin, L., Nelson, K. and Price,G. (2004), “Traceability in the U.S. food supply: Economic theory and industry studies”, Economic Research Service, U.S. Department of Agriculture, Agricultural Economic Report No. 830.

2. Gladwin, T.N., Kennelly, J.J. and Krause, T. (1995), “Shifting paradigms for sustainable

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development: Implications for management theory and research”, Academy of Management Review, Vol. 20 No. 4, pp. 874-907 3. Jennings, P.D. and Zandbergen, P.A. (1995), “Ecologically sustainable organizations: An institutional approach”, Academy of Management Review, Vol. 20 No. 4, pp.

1015- 52.

4. Kleindorfer, P.R., Singhal, K. and Van Wassenhove, L.N. (2005), “Sustainable operations management”, Production and Operations Management Journal, Vol. 14 No. 4, pp.

482- 92..

Favorite Cases

As I teach a food supply chain class, those that teach a foodrelated class such as food policy or food systems would benefit from the oikos award winning case Burgerville: Sustainability in the Supply Chain (included in this issue) and Country Natural

Beef (available from the PSU Center for Global Leadership in Sustainability); both of which cover a similar theme of value chains built around sustainability.

Additionally, I use these cases to highlight other issues around sustainability, supply chain decisions, and food: Cooperative Group Fair Trade Chocolate, McDonald’s Corporation: Managing a Sustainable Supply Chain, The Cage-Free Egg Movement, and Red Tomato: Keeping It Local.

New Case Development

I would like to see case development around the institutions that are making great steps with sustainability, social issues and food policy. One example of this might be the Kaiser Health Care Group which is doing some great work on carbon footprint-based purchasing decisions and obesity policy.

Another example are the various

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school systems and jails in the western US and European countries which are trying to bring in healthier and more sustainable food in a low cost and highly politicized environments. Additionally, there are opportunities to cover food aid programs that are trying to encourage local purchasing rather than dumping cheap foreign commodities in needy countries to the detriment of social sustainability.

Case Purchase Information

Inspection copy of the case “Portland Roasting Company: Farm Friendly Direct” is available from the online oikos Case Collection.

Please contact Mellie Pullman to obtain licensed copies of this case.

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“Eden Project Coffee” by Tico24. Creative Commons Licence. Attribution 2.5 Generic (CC BY 2.5).

Winter 2012 Issue 5 | www.oikosinternational.org/academic

Lululemon’s commitment to the environment: A tangle of seaweed, suppliers, and social responsibility

by Andrea Erin Bass The Case Story

This case describes the events surrounding Lululemon Athletica Inc.’s (Lululemon) VitaSea fabric controversy. Lululemon was an active wear retailer based in Vancouver, Canada. The company was committed to the environment and sustainability efforts, as evidenced through its materials management, selection of suppliers, and energy efficiency in its buildings. An article released by the New York Times in 2007 challenged the integrity of Lululemon’s VitaSea product line. The article purported, through independent tests, that the VitaSea fabric did not contain seaweed, as the product label claimed. Lululemon challenged the article by ordering its own independent tests, but before too

Andrea Erin Bass Andrea Erin Bass is a Doctoral Student in Management at the University of Nebraska. A native of Canada, her research is directed at both strategy and entrepreneurship in complex environments. Erin has experience teaching strategic management and organizational behaviour at both the undergraduate and graduate level. Private-sector experience in the energy industry influences her research questions and her subsequent interest in the role of strategy in energy and sustainability.

long found itself questioned by the Competition Bureau of Canada.

The retailer was forced to remove claims on the VitaSea fabric label.

The company took its commitment to the environment one step too far, and made environmental claims that it could not support.

Teaching the Case

Lululemon was attractive to me as a case study because the company had achieved remarkable growth in a short amount of time. Initially, I was interested in the path of growth for the company, and insight into any “growing pains” the company had experienced. Shortly after initially sifting through some archival data, I discovered the VitaSea controversy. My early reaction was disappointment in Lululemon; however, as the evidence mounted, I discovered that this topic wasn’t as black-and-white as I had originally suspected. Many stakeholders embodying divergent viewpoints were represented in the events that surrounded the controversy in 2007. I wanted to write the case in a way that paralleled my research experience, so the question became, “How do I write a case in which the resolution becomes more elusive as the story develops?”

This case is appropriate for use in both undergraduate and graduate level courses in strategic management, marketing, and business ethics and social responsibility. Within a class on strategic management, this case can be used to discuss how to approach synergistic problems with marketing, suppliers, and negative publicity. Instructors may find that in the beginning of case discussion, students feel the resolutions to these problems are very clear; however, as discussion ensues, the resolutions to these problems become less clear and more indefinable. Similarly,

in a business ethics and social responsibility class, discussion will likely circle around the conflicting constraints experienced by firms; or how to create a feasible, realistic, verifiable corporate social responsibility initiative that is representative of the entire business (including the suppliers that are used and the marketing efforts that are employed)? Regardless of the course in which this case is used, the purpose is to illustrate how a company can become overzealous in its commitment to sustainability and social responsibility, without being able to substantiate its claims or actions with verifiable information.

“The company took its commitment to the environment one step too far, and made environmental claims that it could not support. ” This case can be used in group work or on an individual basis, and should trigger questions about ethics in marketing, supplier selection, and the negative result of a company’s use of public image to take advantage of customers. The case can also promote discussion of factors associated with employing an environmentally-conscious initiative, or using sustainability in CSR and marketing efforts.

The case should take approximately one hour for review and discussion, with an additional half hour to an hour for ideas regarding Lululemon’s next steps.

Most students will have personal experience with athletic apparel, but may not be familiar with Lululemon. Students may not have thought much about the difficulties associated with adopting a strong corporate social responsibility initiative and the grey area that surrounds sustainability as applied

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to organizations. This case provides students with an opportunity to examine the challenges a firm can face when its commitment to sustainability, the environment, or social responsibility is questioned.

One way to introduce this concept to students is to begin the class by asking the students, “How important is a corporate social responsibility initiative? How important is sustainability to companies?”

Questions such as these serve as icebreakers and the instructor can quickly move on to more analytical discussion questions.

The case involves many different players: Lululemon, SmarfiberAG, the New York Times, and the Competition Bureau of Canada among others. If a role play is desired, the class can be divided into student groups. During class discussion, each group can

represent a group of stakeholders and subsequently raise concerns or support relative to that group.

Favorite Cases

I really enjoy “So You Want to be a Social Entrepreneur: Starting Out, Scaling Up, Staying Committed”

by Michael Gordon from the oikos Case Collection. This case is really interesting and I think portrays the importance of social entrepreneurship in creating a viable future for our world. From outside the oikos Case Collection, the case “Microfinance and the Kipsigis of Southwest Kenya”, by Glenn Brophey and Robin Wiszowaty, is a great introduction for students to the impact of microfinance. I want students to walk out of my class feeling that they have the potential to make a difference, and both of these cases serve as a starting point for inspiration.

New Case Development

I am biased toward strategy and entrepreneurship, but I would like to see cases written about what the “little guys” in energy are doing.

We’ve all read the cases about Exxon and Shell, now it’s time to see what some SMEs in the energy industry are doing: Are they focusing on new technologies, alternative sources of energy, or, from a more critical perspective, are they the ones that are pulling the heavy hitters like Exxon and Shell away from “what’s next”?

I would also like to see cases on microfinance institutions. Usually we see case studies on the people these MFIs help – but what about the MFIs themselves? If we can use business and entrepreneurship to decrease poverty levels, wouldn’t that be a great thing to both research and teach?

Case Purchase Information

Inspection copy of the case “Lululemon’s commitment to the environment: A tangle of seaweed, suppliers, and social responsibility” is available from the online oikos Case Collection. Please contact Andrea Erin Bass to obtain licensed copies of this case.

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“Ask A Yogi – 4” by Lululemon Athletica. Creative Commons Licence. Attribution 2.5 Generic (CC BY 2.5).

Winter 2012 Issue 5 | www.oikosinternational.org/academic

Burgerville: Sustainability and Sourcing in a QSR Supply Chain

by Darrell Brown The Case Story

This case describes issues faced by a company attempting to instill its cultural values in its operational practices. Burgerville’s longheld values are compatible with the sustainability on a variety of dimensions. The company’s slogan “Fresh. Local. Sustainable.” introduces a number of incompatible goals. As the company attempts to live up to and into its values, it has negotiated through a number of difficult sustainability-oriented decisions. The case sets up another decision by discussing the earlier decisions and identifying the

Darrell Brown Darrell Brown is the Les Fahey/ KPMG Accounting Fellow and a Fellow in the Institute for Sustainable Solutions at Portland State University. With a B.S. in forestry and a Ph.D. in accounting, Dr. Brown teaches and researches at the intersection of business sustainability and measurement. He teaches metrics for understanding and reporting the social and environmental impacts of organizations, and the odd managerial and accounting system class. His current research interests include measurement issues related to organizational impacts on social and natural systems. Specifically, he is interested in how organizational reporting practices influence sustainability-oriented behaviors, both internally and externally to the organization.

conflicting sustainability attributes of deciding where and how to source a primary ingredient on its menu, chicken.

Burgerville works with its suppliers to promote sustainability goals throughout the supply chain. As the company attempts to address conflicting sustainability issues, the protagonist must weigh economic, environmental and social issues in the supply chain. Over the years, the company has built a strong reputation with their sustainability efforts, to which they attribute the ability to weather difficult economic times as a premium participant in a traditionally cost-based industry.

The case highlights decisions related to operations strategy, including issues of counter-balancing potentially conflicting sustainability goals, the ability to maintain price premiums due to positive reputation and quality, and the ability to influence the supply chain beyond the reach of the company.

Teaching the Case

The case can be used to teach the following focus areas: Best Practices into the Sustainable Supply Chain, Supply Chain Strategy, Social, Environmental, and Economic Sustainability, Certification Alternatives, and Local sourcing.

The case can be taught as part of a MBA Operations/Supply Chain Management, Marketing or Strategy class. Our school has a food certificate program and a supply chain major so we have used it in the Food Purchasing and Logistics class, but it can be integrated into a traditional purchasing class too.

This case introduces a wide range of sustainability-oriented issues, from treatment of migrant farm workers to support of local production to environmental and social certifications to environmental impacts of food transport. The primary focus of the case tends to be internal, as the company

attempts to ensure that its values are manifested in its actions. There are clearly external ramifications of these actions, however, both in impacts on the supply chain and on the reputation of the firm in the eyes of its partners and it customers. The case is appropriate for strategy, marketing, and supply chain management classes.

“This case introduces a wide range of sustainabilityoriented issues, from treatment of migrant farm workers to support of local production to environmental and social certifications to environmental impacts of food transport. ” For a strategy class, the string of sustainability-oriented decisions provides fodder for discussing the alignment of corporate vision and mission with strategic actions.

The ultimate decision faced by the company provides students an opportunity to confront a real situation where the alternatives all have positive and negative sustainability impacts.

The company’s decisions have implications for its reputation along the supply chain and in the eyes of customers. For a marketing class, the case can be used to consider the impacts of these decisions, and future decisions, on a consumer base that is traditionally considered to be uninterested in sustainability.

For a supply chain management class, the case highlights the role of a significant, but not dominant, company and its ability to influence sustainability all along the supply chain. The case introduces issues of worker rights, environmental footprint, and local development.

These issues play out on several dimensions as the company must make decisions about which sustainability attribute it will support. As the company develops, it also influences its supply chain

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partners, creating levers to change the sustainability behaviors of its partners as well.

The overall discussion of the case could start with an articulation of the values that BV has carried with it throughout its existence. The discussion often then leads to how and whether these values and their manifestations in the business model really do create a competitive advantage in this marketplace.

Favorite Cases

There are a number of good cases that bridge supply chain, marketing and strategy. The Portland Roasting Company oikos award winning case (also discussed in this issue) is a great case for looking at how these 3 functional areas interact to both create challenges and opportunities to convey socially sustainable attributes for a direct trade coffee

importer and roaster. For instructors looking for some well known companies with excellent sustainability strategies, frameworks, and cross disciplinary issues, I suggest “Cradle-to-Cradle Design at Herman Miller: Moving toward Environmental Sustainability” and “Patagonia”.

“In the industry of ‘burgers, shakes, and fries’, the ability to have a business model that looks, from the outside, just like a host of competitors, and can maintain a significant price premium over the competition is rare.”

New Case Development

Many of the companies that we write about are smaller companies with solid sustainability value systems and try to integrate these values in all their programs and products. On the other hand, it is

important to look at what some bigger companies are doing and then to question how the product might conflict with the company’s attempts to add some sustainability programs to improve their image.

Maybe this is the “broken 3 legged stool of sustainability”?

Examples of these could be CocaCola or companies like Pampers.

Pampers’ “Carrying for Baby’s Around the World” program is a charitable, social mission oriented program which is lauded but the product itself continues to cause massive environmental problems.

Similarly, Coke has recently started resource conserving efforts (water and energy) but the beverage contributes to huge social problems.

Another interesting case possibility would be to look at the Sisters of St. Francis and their method of forcing social change with McDonald’s, Kroger, Wells Fargo and many other publicly traded firms.

Case Purchase Information

Inspection copy of the case “Burgerville: Sustainability and Sourcing in a QSR Supply Chain” is available from the online oikos Case Collection. Please contact Darrell Brown to obtain licensed copies of this case.

News ecch: Advanced Case Method Workshop 26-27 March 2012 Venue: IMD Switzerland

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Led by award-winning case author and teacher Kamran Kashani, this workshop for experienced case users will be a case study on case teaching and writing. The fundamental principles of effective discussion leadership will be explored and different approaches will be assessed. The workshop will discuss the case development process and how to design an effective case based course.

The workshop will be of benefit to a wide audience, including: (1) case teachers and writers keen to improve their performance and refresh their skills; (2) faculty and trainers who have taught with or written cases but never received any formal training; (3) those from any sector or discipline.

Fees: £495/€645 non-residential.

Fees include course materials and lunch. ecch member organisations receive 10% discount. More information on the ecch website.

Winter Winter 2012 2012 Issue Issue 5 5| | www.oikosinternational.org/academic www.oikosinternational.org/academic

The Future of Fashion @ CasePlace.org CasePlace.org put together a collection of fascinating case studies and other teaching materials on the Future of Fashion. This Teaching Module uses the context of the fashion industry to discuss topics that are shaping the future of all industries. These topics include sustainable resource management, the challenges and opportunities of global growth, workforce management, and the role of ethical consumption in business. More information on the CasePlace.org.

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Stair Climbing� by Lululemon Athletica. Creative Commons Licence. Attribution 2.5 Generic (CC BY 2.5).

Winter 2012 Issue 5 | www.oikosinternational.org/academic

Contact We would like to hear your experiences of teaching innovative corporate sustainability and social entrepreneurship cases! If you have any suggestions for improving this periodical, or information you may want to share with the community of case writers and instructors, we would appreciate your feedback.

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“I love lulu” by Lululemon Athletica. Creative Commons Licence. Attribution 2.5 ic (CC BY 2.5).

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