Default Category
-
Heritage Chickens: The Challenge of Genetic Sustainability
Joel Gehman; Marni Devlin Moses; Leanne HedbergCase IVEY-9B17M057-EEntrepreneurship, StrategyThe Poultry Research Centre at the University of Alberta farm was an internationally recognized research, development, and learning hub. It began the Rare Poultry Conservancy Program in 1986 as a way to maintain heritage chicken breeds. In 2009/10, as a result of the global financial crisis, university funding was reduced, and every campus department needed to cut programs or find creative ways to finance them outside of the traditional methods. ...Starting at €8.20
-
Earth’s General Store: Balancing People, Planet, and Profit in Organic-Food Retailing
Joel Gehman; Ashton Paulitsch; Maninder Pardais; Bernard Streeper; Brian Ballman; Taylor Love; Leanne HedbergCase IVEY-9B17M099-EEntrepreneurship, StrategyThe owner and operator of two stores that sold organic groceries and fair-trade goods in Edmonton, Alberta was proud of what he had built; however he was worried about the financial sustainability of his downtown location. Since its opening in 2014, the downtown store had constantly struggled to remain profitable in the face of extremely high overhead costs. The original Whyte Avenue location of Earth’s General Store, highly popular with its loya...Starting at €8.20
-
Calgary Drop-In Centre: Donor Information System
Derrick Neufeld; Deb Elkink; Michelle Woo; Dennis Dupuis; Dan HausermannCase IVEY-9B17E003-EInformation TechnologiesIn the spring of 2016, the director of finance and administration for the Calgary Drop-In & Rehab Centre was frustrated with the organization’s legacy donor and volunteer information system. The technology platform was outdated, data integrity was out of control, costs were spiralling, and most importantly, required information was not available on demand. The director was concerned that these issues with the organization’s information systems wo...Starting at €8.20
-
Mate1.com: Digital Dating Dilemma
Derrick Neufeld; Charles Wasserman; Dharsana Vijayaratnam; Thomas Yuk; Sharon Bir; Deb ElkinkCase IVEY-9B17E015-EEntrepreneurship, Information TechnologiesIn 2017, a successful online dating company, Mate1.com, based in Montreal, was pursuing a two-year goal of increasing revenue by 50 per cent and net operating margin by 15 per cent. However, its ambitions were being hampered by unavoidably high advertising costs, an inadequate reporting system, and a maturing industry life cycle. Should the firm explore new business models and consider acquiring a competitor—or was it time to divest and sell the ...Starting at €8.20
-
Fruits of Sherbrooke: Creating a Sustainable Business
Joel Gehman; Amy Hingston; Cuong Pham; Andrew Phelan; Matthew Townley; David Vetters; Leanne HedbergCase IVEY-9B17M088-EEntrepreneurship, StrategyIn 2010, three friends created Fruits of Sherbrooke as a way to rescue local fruit that would otherwise be wasted. The founders knew their efforts would be beneficial for the environment and for people in need of food. In February 2016, having grown their business into a successful social enterprise entirely through the help of volunteers, they faced important decisions. Realistically, they would not always be able to run the organization, which ...Starting at €8.20
-
EPCOR Utilities Inc: Modernizing Alberta's Electricity System
Joel Gehman; Jennifer Keith; Chelsey McLeod; Jolene Proulx; Leanne HedbergCase IVEY-9B18M109-EStrategyIn 2010, EPCOR Utility Inc.’s application to implement new metering technologies was denied by the Alberta Utilities Commission. By 2014, however, several key changes had taken place in regulations and in the cost of smart meters. With another application to the Alberta Utilities Commission due in just four months, the director at EPCOR Utility Inc. was contemplating several options, all of which involved carefully considering the interests of ma...Starting at €8.20