Case Studies in Social Entrepreneurship and Sustainability: The oikos collection Vol. 2

466 Pages·2017·11.767 MB·English

by  Jost Hamschmidt, Michael Pirson

CASE STUDIES IN SOCIAL S EC
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ENTREPRENEURSHIP AND SUSTAINABILITY S TS
The oikos collection: Volume 2 T RE
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Case Studies in Social Entrepreneurship and Sustainability is the second volume result- RU
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ing from the oikos Global Case Writing Competition — an annual program launched in B ED
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2003 to promote the publication of high-quality teaching cases in corporate sustainabil- I I
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ity. This book expands the collection with award-winning global cases in the rapidly grow- I US
ing field of social entrepreneurship and sustainability. T R I CASE STUDIES IN
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The case studies in this book explore both the opportunities and pitfalls entrepreneurs S
— working with organizations with for-profit, hybrid and non-profit business models — H S
SOCIAL
face in targeting sustainability issues and how their values and core assumptions impact IO
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their business strategies. They describe new patterns of value creation, new alliances, C

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and the challenges of dealing with existing paradigms. It is clear that new ways of doing I
NA ENTREPRENEURSHIP
business with a common objective of maximizing social impact are substantially shaping L
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markets and society.

Case Studies in Social Entrepreneurship and Sustainability provides excellent learn-
ing opportunities, tells engaging stories, deals with recent situations, includes quotations T AND SUSTAINABILITY
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from key actors, is thought-provoking and controversial, requires decision-making, pro- e
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vides clear take-aways and is supported by teaching guidance and comprehensive teach- i
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ing notes available to faculty. o
s The oikos collection
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“This case collection highlights prize-winning teaching cases in the field of Social o
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Entrepreneurship and Sustainability. The accompanying chapters on what makes for e Volume 2
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an excellent case and teaching note make it an invaluable resource for case writers, t
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teachers and students in Social Entrepreneurship, Strategy and Sustainability.” n
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Stephen J. Kobrin, William Wurster Professor of Multinational Management, V
The Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania o
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“This collection of peer-reviewed quality case studies sheds light on diverse and
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inclusive social entrepreneurial practices in four continents. The focus on new pat- 2

terns of value creation and thought-provoking business models is unique. A must-

read for any Entrepreneurship class.”
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Anil K. Gupta, Professor, Indian Institute of Management Ahmedabad;
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Founder, Honey Bee network; and Executive Vice Chair, National Innovation m
Foundation India sc
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“A source of inspiration and a solid foundation for any impact-oriented course on m
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Social Entrepreneurship.” d
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Johanna Mair, Professor of Strategic Management, IESE Business School and a
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Academic Editor of Stanford Social Innovation Review d
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Greenleaf Publishing Cover design: [email protected]
Aizlewood’s Mill, Nursery Street,
Sheffield S3 8GG, UK
Tel: [phone]
Greenleaf Fax: [phone] Edited by Jost Hamschmidt and Michael Pirson
[email protected]
with a Foreword by Marina Kim, Ashoka
P U B L I S H I N G www.greenleaf-publishing.com
Case Studies in Social Entrepreneurship and Sustainability
The oikos Collection Vol. 2

© 2011 Greenleaf Publishing Limited
Published by Greenleaf Publishing Limited
Aizlewood’s Mill
Nursery Street
Sheffield S3 8GG
UK
www.greenleaf-publishing.com
Printed in Great Britain on acid-free paper by
Antony Rowe Ltd, Chippenham and Eastbourne
Cover by LaliAbril.com
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced,
stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any
means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise,
without the prior permission in writing of the publishers.
British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data:
Case studies in social entrepreneurship and sustainability.
-- (The oikos collection ; v. 2)
1. Social responsibility of business. 2. Sustainable
development.
I. Series II. Hamschmidt, Jost. III. Pirson, Michael.
338.9'27-dc22
ISBN-13: 9781906093471
Contents
Acknowledgements ............................................................... viii
List of Contributors ................................................................ix
Foreword ...........................................................................xi
Marina Kim, Director, Ashoka U
Part I: Introduction ........................................................... 1
1.1 Preface ....................................................................... 2
1.2 Cases in Social Entrepreneurship and Sustainability:
What Makes an Excellent Case? ........................................... 4
1.3 Teaching Notes: Combining Contents with Concepts .................... 8
1.4 Introduction to the Cases .................................................. 11
Part II: Understanding the Nature of the
Social Entrepreneur ........................................................ 21
2.1 The Meaning of Social Entrepreneurship ................................. 22
J. Gregory Dees
Case 1
So You Want to Be a Social Entrepreneur?
Starting Out, Scaling Up and Staying Committed .............................. 31
Michael Gordon
vi Case Studies in Social Entrepreneurship and Sustainability: The oikos Collection Vol. 2
Case 2
Gram Vikas ........................................................................ 43
Imran Chowdhury and Filipe Santos
Case 3
KickStart: A Business Model to Tackle Poverty ................................69
Saji Sam George and V. Namratha Prasad
Case 4
Kapai New Zealand: Eat Your Greens! .......................................... 89
Helen Tregidga, Kate Kearins and Eva Collins
Part III: Entrepreneurial Action for Developing
Inclusive Markets .......................................................... 111
Case 5
Fabio Rosa: Bridging the Electricity Divide in Brazil ......................... 112
Aytha Harish and Vivek Gupta
Case 6
Dr. Reddy’s: Medicine is for People, Profits Follow .......................... 134
Bala Chakravarthy and Sophie Coughlan
Case 7
ALTIS: A Microfinance Startup in Rural Nepal . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 158
Jacen Greene and Scott Marshall
Case 8
VisionSpring: A Lens for Growth at the Base of the Pyramid ............... 178
Molly Christiansen and Ted London
Part IV: Topic Spotlight: SE Approaches for Tackling
Water Challenges .......................................................... 203
Case 9
Procter & Gamble’s PuR Water Purifier:
The Hunt for a Sustainable Business Model .................................. 204
Lisa Jones Christensen and Jessica Thomas
Case 10
Trevor Field and the PlayPumps of Africa ..................................... 228
Debapratim Purkayastha
Contents vii
Case 11
WaterHealth International:
Providing Safe Drinking Water to the Bottom of the Pyramid Consumers . 256
Hadiya Faheem and Debapratim Purkayastha
Part V: Scaling, Legitimacy and Profit Challenges
for Mission-Driven Organizations ................................... 291
Case 12
Business Model Innovation by Better Place:
A Green Ecosystem for the Mass Adoption of Electric Cars ................ 292
Ramalingam Meenakshisundaram and Besta Shankar
Case 13
Noir/Illuminati II ................................................................. 317
Benoit Leleux
Case 14
The ReUse People: Turning Scrap into Sales ................................. 346
William G. Powell and Charles Corbett
Case 15
LivingHomes .................................................................... 370
Rebecca Henn and Andrew J. Hoffman
Part VI: Resources ........................................................ 417
6.1 Guidelines for Case Writing .............................................. 418
6.2 International Case Writing Competitions ............................... 419
6.3 Case Collections and Journals .......................................... 422
6.4 About the oikos Global Case Writing Competition ..................... 426
6.5 About oikos ............................................................... 447
6.6 Literature .................................................................. 449
About the editors ............................................................... 452
Acknowledgements
This book is the result of a fruitful collaboration between oikos and Ashoka. We
would like to express our gratitude to Marina Kim and her team from the Ashoka
University Program, who enthusiastically supported our collaboration from the
very first moment. Furthermore we thank the donors of the oikos Foundation:
Avina Foundation, Ernst Schweizer AG, Fondation Looser, Fondation Andre Hoff-
mann, Helvetia, Knecht & Müller AG, Mercator Foundation Switzerland, Rhomberg
Bau, UBS AG and Stiftung Drittes Millennium. Their support for oikos in general
and the oikos Global Case Writing Competition in particular have provided the
platform on which to build the collection of cases for this book. In that context, a
special thank you goes to Evelyn Braun, Nadine Felix, Andre Hoffmann, Randolph
Koller, Christian Leitz, Hubert Looser, Peter Müller, Sindy Schmiegel, Hansruedi
Schweizer and Hansruedi Zulliger, whose commitment to oikos has always been
and continues to be a strong encouragement and driver for our work. Thank you! At
the same time, we are indebted to all the members of the oikos Case Writing Com-
petition’s Social Entrepreneurship Track award committee—their ongoing support
provided a strong academic base for this publication: Leo Bartlett, AISE Brisbane,
Australia; Gabriel Berger, University of San Andres, Argentina; Marie Lisa M. Daca-
nay, AIM, The Philippines; Gregory Dees, Duke University, USA; Anil Gupta, IIM,
India; Roberto Gutiérrez, University de los Andes, Colombia; Kai Hockerts, CBS
Copenhagen, Denmark; Kate Kearins, Auckland University of Technology, New
Zealand; Johanna Mair, IESE Barcelona, Spain; Patricia Márquez, University of San
Diego, California; Sharon Oster, Yale University, USA; Francesco Perrini, Bocconi
University, Italy; Jim Phills, Stanford University, USA; Madhukar Shukla, XLRI Jam-
shedpur, India; Chris Steyaert, University of St. Gallen, Switzerland; Mark Swilling,
University of Stellenbosch, South Africa; Phil Auerswald, George Mason University,
USA; Julie Battilana, Harvard Business School, USA; David Cooperrider, Case West-
ern Reserve, USA; Minna Halme, Helsinki School of Economics, Finland; Cheryl
Kernot, CSI, Australia; Roger L. Martin, Rotman School of Business, Canada; Alex
Nicholls, University of Oxford, UK. Liudmila Nazarkina added tremendously to the
project. Many thanks!
List of Contributors
• Bala Chakravarthy, IMD Lausanne
• Imran Chowdhury, ESSEC Business School
• Mary Christiansen, William Davidson Institute/Ross School of Business, Uni-
versity of Michigan
• Lisa Jones Christensen, Kenan-Flagler Business School, University of North
Carolina
• Eva Collins, University of Waikato Management School
• Charles J. Corbett, University of California, Los Angeles
• Sophie Coughlan, IMD Lausanne
• J. Gregory Dees, Fuqua School of Business, Duke University
• Hadiya Faheem, IBS Center for Management Research, Hyderabad
• Saji Sam George, IBS Center for Management Research, Hyderabad
• Jacen Greene, Portland State University
• Michael Gordon, University of Michigan
• Vivek Gupta, IBS Center for Management Research, Hyderabad
• Aytha Harish, IBS Center for Management Research, Hyderabad
• Rebecca Henn, University of Michigan
• Andrew J. Hoffman; University of Michigan
• Kate Kearins, Auckland University of Technology
• Benoit Leleux, IMD Lausannne