Over the years, Yale SOM faculty have produced a large inventory of cases focusing on social enterprises and related topics. These cases allow instructors to focus class discussions on various aspects of how social enterprise create innovation and deliver impact; everything from governance to operations to program design. A selection of these cases are described below.
All Yale cases can be accessed at the CRDT (Case Research and Development Team) website. Many are free with registration. Instructors with appropriate credentials can write to case.access@yale.edu to be able to access preview cases for free as well as order teaching notes (when available).
Other questions about social enterprise cases can be sent to pseii@yale.edu.
Featured Cases
The Metropolitan Museum of Art
The museum’s newly appointed president, Daniel Weiss, discovers a hidden and growing deficit. How did this deficit arise? How can the museum avoid such unpleasant surprises in the future?
Lawrence Hall
A child services organization aspires to use AI to reduce the administrative burden on its care givers. How does the organization roll out AI given its tight resources?
Connecticut Greenbank 2018
In the wake of the cutbacks in state government support, the Greenbank needs to decide which programs to save and which to close.
Selco Foundation
An Indian foundation assembles user-centered ecosystem solutions that link solar energy to livelihood development in rural areas. But can the foundation’s bespoke methodology be diffused?
Peabody Museum
A natural history museum faces closing for two years due to extensive renovations. How can the organization maintain its connection with the public during this period and after it opens again?
Additional Cases About Social Enterprise, Innovation, and Impact
Investment
Innovative Program Design
Nathan Cummings Foundation
A foundation implements a full impact investing strategy, redeploying all holdings to support social and environmental change. How can the foundation balance financial returns and social outcomes?
Elemental Excelerator
A not-for-profit fund looks to invest in businesses that aim to mitigate climate change while embedding equity and social justice into their solutions. Which companies to choose?
New Hampshire Community Loan Fund
The fund wondered what might be done to create a larger secondary market for manufactured home loans, similar to the secondary market for mortgages.
Project Sammaan
A pilot project to provide community toilets in Bhubaneswar and Cuttack, India has run out of money before finishing its trial. How to proceed?
IBM CSC
The CSC program sends teams of IBM employees on pro bono consulting assignments to emerging markets. How could the program be improved?
Colombia – Work for Taxes
The fund wondered what might be done to create a larger secondary market for manufactured home loans, similar to the secondary market for mortgages.
Resource Allocation
Sustainability
ESSA and School District Cost Allocations
A school district confronts challenges in changing the district’s accounting system to comply with the federal Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA). How should overhead cost be allocated by school?
Cystic Fibrosis Foundation
By employing venture philanthropy techniques, the foundation has amassed the largest endowment of any medical charity. How should the charity distribute its funds?
Lyons City Schools
A contentious school board meeting produces differing counts for the number of enrolled students in the district. Gaining accurate numbers has huge financial implications for the district.
Cobalt
Microsoft must balance its need for reliable cobalt supplies with company ethical and environmental standards. Should Microsoft join a global moratorium on underwater mineral mining until the harm mining could do to the oceans is thoroughly assessed?
Vital Farms
A mission-driven network of family farms needs capital to continue their growth trajectory. How can Vital Farms balance its stakeholder interests against the pressures from capital markets, while maintaining its commitment to conscious capitalism?
Nike and Sustainability
Nike launched the Space Hippie project to create the lowest carbon footprint shoe in the company's history. How does Nike need to innovate established practices, from design and materials to manufacturing and marketing, to meet its ambitious goals?
Healthcare Management
Governance
Design at Mayo
The Mayo Clinic establishes a lab where clinicians could experiment with healthcare delivery models. Could the team of designers devise transformational changes in medical practice?
RIP Medical Debt
An organization that helps pay off unpaid medical debt receives an enormous gift. How should the money be spent to fulfill the organization’s mission?
Project M
In response to the spread of HIV/AIDs in South Africa, Project Masiluleke seeks to create programs to encourage testing. Could they create a self-testing kit?
The Board of the Metropolitan Museum of Art
This case looks at the Met’s financial crisis from the perspective of the museum’s board. What changes should the board contemplate in their process and relationship with the staff?
A Rare Disease Patient Registry
A research partnership contemplates building a patient registry for a rare illness. Should the registry be established as a for-profit entity or as a non-profit?
TEALS
An initiative to have software engineers volunteer teach classes in programming at high schools is incubated at Microsoft. Is the program better off as an independent entity?
Operations
Economic Development
Boston Public Schools
To curb its high transport costs, the district’s administration looks to stagger school start and end times. How can they decide on the optimal schedule?
SNAP 2011
Connecticut’s SNAP program was judged the worst in the nation in 2011. What changes could the incoming director implement to improve the slow service and mistakes?
Elm City Hospital
Could implementing a split-flow model in the hospital’s emergency room relieve congestion even while maintaining current staffing levels?
A Market for Little Caribbean
On the ground floor of a real estate development in Brooklyn, a developer must decide how to support a displaced community of local businesses.
EforAll
EforAll is a non-profit accelerator to provide poor immigrants and racial minorities with free assistance to launch their own businesses. Are the organization’s targets realistic?
NXTHVN
In New Haven, an organization builds an incubator of artists in the hopes of revitalizing the surrounding neighborhood. How should the program interact with its neighbors?