Faculty from INCAE Business School and Portland State University Win oikos Case Writing Competition 2013

oikos Global Case Writing Competition Winners 2013

We are happy to announce the winners of the 2013 oikos Global Case Writing Competition. This year the first prize in the corporate sustainability (CS) track goes to “Florida Ice & Farm: Sustainability Champion from an Emerging Economy” by John Ickis, Ximena Garcia and Andrea Prado (INCAE Business School, Costa Rica). In the social entrepreneurship track (SE) the first prize goes to “Madécasse: Competing with a 4x Fairtrade business model” by Scott Marshall, Darrell Brown, Bex Sakarias and Min Cai (Portland State University, USA).

The Florida Ice & Farm case (1st prize, CS) describes how this enterprise (FIFCO), Costa Rica’s leading beverage company, develops and implements a triple bottom line strategy that addresses not only its financial returns but also its social and environmental performance. This initiative was adopted during the financial crisis, severely testing FIFCO’s commitment to sustainability. The first prize for the best case in the corporate sustainability and social entrepreneurship tracks is CHF 5,000.

The Madecasse case (1st prize, SE) is based on the struggle of Brett Beach and Tim McCollum, co-founders of Madécasse to survive and succeed with its singular “4x Fairtrade” business model selling single-origin chocolates in high-end groceries and chocolate boutiques internationally. Students are challenged with fully comprehending the value proposition of Madécasse and how it can be aligned with and communicated to current and emerging customer needs.

Second prize in the CS track goes to the case by Ram Subramanian (Montclair State University, USA) – “Chipotle Mexican Grill, Inc.: ‘Food with Integrity'”. Chipotle Mexican Grill, Inc. is a restaurant chain with not only good tasting food but also a commitment to both the environment and people. However, in 2012 the company faced a number of challenges students will have to confront against the backdrop of a free-fall in the company’s stock price.

In the SE track the second prize is awarded to Manish Agarwal and D. Satish (IBS, Hyderabad, India) for their case “Husk Power Systems: Lighting up the Indian Rural Lives”. This case focuses on the challenges the company faces to scale up its unique model to generate and distribute power to the poor who live in remote parts of India by using an indigenously developed modified gasifier system that runs on rice husk. The prize money for the second place in both tracks is CHF 2,000.

Third prize in the CS track is awarded to Murray Silverman (San Francisco State University, USA) for the case of “Protecting Our Oceans: Sustainability at Holland America Lines”. The case outlines how Holland America Lines, a sustainable leader in the cruise industry, internally discusses an initiative to reduce fuel consumption in its fleet. Third prize in the social entrepreneurship and corporate sustainability tracks is CHF 1,000.

Third prize in the SE track goes to N.Craig Smith and Robert J. Crawford (INSEAD, France) for the case “Ziqitza Health Care Limited: Responding to Corruption”. Ziqitza (ZHL) is an Indian emergency medical services company with a strong anti-bribery policy. The case explores the dilemmas of the CEO who must decide how to respond to a government official who demands a bribe and the consequences it may have for the company.

Finally, two runners-up in the CS track are “Embedding Sustainability At Novo Nordisk: The Compassion Vs Competitiveness Dilemma” by Debapratim Purkayastha and Adapa Srinivasa Rao (IBS Hyderabad, India) and “Modernizing Dharavi: If you build, will they come?” by Abhijit Roy (University of Scranton, USA) and Mousumi Roy (Independent scholar)

In the SE track only one case was selected as runner up since, according to the criteria of judges, the track chair and the manager of the competition, only four selected cases fulfilled high quality standards to be considered for participation in the final round. Consequently, the runner up case is “All Good Bananas: Selling the FairTrade Message” by Eva Collins and Steve Bowden (University of Waikato, New Zealand), and Kate Kearins and Helen Tregida (Auckland University of Technology, New Zealand).

Winning cases were selected in a double-blind review process by the oikos judging committee comprised of distinguished scholars from all around the world including Magali Delmas (University of California at Los Angeles, USA), Andrew J. Hoffman (University of Michigan, USA), Paul Shrivastava (Concordia, USA), Christian Seelos (IESE Barcelona, Spain), Gabriel Berger (Universidad de San Andrés, Argentina), Francesco Perrini (Bocconi University, Italy) and other leading faculty.

Following last year’s initiative oikos recognizes the commitment of its jury members with the best review award given by the case authors of the 2013 edition. In the CS track the Best Reviewer Award goes to Friedrich M. Zimmermann (Karl Franzens University Graz, Austria). The Best Reviewer Award in the SE track goes to Cheryl Kernot, (CSI, Australia).

Extended abstracts of our winning and runner-up cases are now available online in the oikos Case Collection. Inspection copies will soon be made available there as well.

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oikos International

posted May 23, 2013

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oikos FutureLab

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The oikos FutureLab is the biggest event in the annual oikos calendar which gathers representatives from the entire oikos community. It provides a 2-day platform for 140 participants to inspire, discover and develop joint perspectives on the future of sustainability in management and economics. It leverages our global network of student members, alumni, advisors, faculty and partners for action. It offers a “laboratory” to design initiatives, engage the oikos community in pursuing them and fuel our journey towards higher impact.

The 2013 oikos FutureLab will take place on 11 – 12 November in St. Gallen. It will focus on “Transforming Education” and on opportunities to drive change at faculties for economics and management. As a platform focused on solutions and action, the oikos FutureLab will offer insights to co-learn with our members and partners and to identify opportunities to take oikos to the next level as an effective learning organization.

Find more information and register here. 

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oikos International

posted May 23, 2013

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Become a Student Reporter at the World Resources Forum 2013 in Davos, Switzerland

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oikos International

posted May 19, 2013

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oikos Newsletter May 2013

The possibilities are immense when young enthusiastic students join hands to seek solutions for the most complex challenges in our societies. In this month’s issue, learn how oikos Pune is coming up with innovative ways to tackle issues of waste management and river pollution. Also, discover how Youth Forum can be a great platform to open a dialogue between students, academia and NGOs, an oikos Tbilisi experience. If you want to bring out your journalistic side, you can apply to become a Student Reporter at the World Resources Forum 2013 or the oikos Young Scholars Entrepreneurship Academy in Switzerland. And finally, we present to you Regular Kramer, who has recently launched oikos Alumni in Zurich. Read more

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oikos International

posted May 3, 2013

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oikos Young Scholars Entrepreneurship Academy

Creating Hybrid Ventures:
Legitimacy and Sustainability Challenges in Social Entrepreneurship

The fourth oikos Young Scholars Entrepreneurship Academy provides a unique platform to develop scholars in the early stages of their careers. Exceptional PhD candidates, post docs and young faculty are at the center of the program. The academy aims at advancing academic research, at building networks and at preparing the ground for research relevant for theory and practice. Read more

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oikos International

posted May 2, 2013

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oikos enters Canada

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oikos International

posted May 1, 2013

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Student Clubs Shape Universities into a Proper Place for Personal Development

How could students improve learning environment at their universities? Why is it still difficult for them to get involved in university governance? What should Georgian universities do in order to implement sustainability in their structure? These were crucial questions discussed during the Youth Forum organised by oikos Tbilisi.

Youth Forum, Tbilisi

After issuing the report on “Examination of Higher Education Reforms and the Quality of Higher Education in Georgia” last year, oikos Tbilisi has started another big project focused on active involvement of students in university education and governance. In April, oikos members supported by the Open Society Foundation organised the Youth Forum in order to find strategies how to improve the current university education.
The forum brought together 90 different stakeholders: students & student organisations representatives, NGOs as well as academics and administrative staff of universities.

How to create universities, which would support personal development of students and help them to gain the right competences? How could students contribute to the university governance and improve the learning environment? Why is it still difficult for them to get involved in university governance? These were crucial questions discussed during the forum.

Most of the stakeholders claimed that the best strategy how to improve the university environment is establishing respectful student organizations and clubs with different visions and goals. Involvement in student organizations also improves the quality of education as it helps students to gain a different level of knowledge and skills due to organizing and managing various projects. Also, better financial support for student initiatives and more opportunities for collaboration with professors and administrative staff on university reforms are crucial.

Higher education plays an important role in educating students about sustainability. Nowadays universities in developed countries take the responsibility to educate students about environmental issues and support the development of sustainable innovations.

Georgian universities should respond to this trend. During the Youth Forum, oikos Tbilisi directly involved students in identifying the best strategies for advancing the sustainability goals in universities. The Youth Forum participants agreed that Georgian universities need to start expanding environmental research programmes, integrate sustainability issues in the curriculum and implement environmental management in their campuses.

The head-manager of the project Levan Pangani said: “I am proud that we are carrying out such an event which is bound to get productive results. It is another step towards our goal of expanding the awareness and availability of information about sustainability”. As a member of student non-governmental organization you can shape the university life and education.

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oikos International

posted May 1, 2013

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