Résultats de la recherche

This case study focuses on the Montreal Community Loan Fund (ACEM), which fights poverty and exclusion through the administration of community credit. More specifically, ACEM provides training and offers loans to marginalized and vulnerable people for pre-start-up, start-up, and consolidation of businesses. The case describes ACEM’s recent history and how the organization long chose to increase the scale of community credit services through collaborations and partnerships, avoiding for decades the need to grow its own organization. In 2012, ACEM broke with tradition and launched its own scaling process to double its size.

The case thus describes an organization trying to stay focused on its social mission and core values while ensuring its own financial stability and protecting the interests of the network of independent community credit organizations that it co-founded. It thus provides an opportunity to discuss the variants of scaling and the challenges faced by a growing not-for-profit organization.

The case ends by describing a dilemma regarding ACEM’s financial instability. Students will be asked to make a decision regarding the current scaling process and propose a sustainable model that will make ACEM less dependent on government grants while respecting its core values.

Not long after John, BeautifulCoffee’s (BC) newly appointed producer partnership manager, began his evaluation of the business relationship between BC and its coffee producer organization in Nepal, he realized that the relationship fell far short of internationally recognized fair trade standards. Furthermore, production quality was low because of poor management at DCF-Gulmi. BC was investing substantial resources in helping the local community in Nepal, and the term “fair trade” had significant appeal to Korea’s ethical consumer segment. The fact that BC was unable to guarantee that DCF-Gulmi was being managed according to a democratic governance system – a key requirement for fair trade certification – raised legitimacy concerns for BC. John had to decide whether to prioritize social or business considerations. If he decided to prioritize the business aspect of fair trade, he would need to replace the partner supplier with a fair-trade certified, democratically run organization with the management capability to provide high-quality coffee beans. If this path was chosen, BC would still make a positive contribution to the well-being of coffee farmers – somewhere else – but would not help DCF-Gulmi improve its current situation, leaving it worse off than it was before it partnered with BC. Alternatively, BC could maintain its relationship with DCF-Gulmi, deepening its commitment to helping the farmers’ organization improve its quality management capability and comply with fair trade standards. But this would require a larger financial and human resource commitment to pay for the recruitment and training of personnel with the necessary expertise in organizational change, co-operative management, and capacity building. Students will discuss the moral and strategic issues surrounding these two choices.

The collective waste production of small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs) provides an incredible contribution to the degradation of ecological systems. However, the investigation of environmental impact focuses predominantly on large firms, leaving a void in understanding how smaller firms manage this critical area. This paper uses a case study approach to investigate the creative and proactive steps taken by SMEs to improve environmental performance beyond compliance expectations. Strategic choice theory, key events and circumstances concerning automotive repair businesses operating in a Northwest Baltimore City region are analyzed. Specifically, this case concludes that the key strategic actions taken by the repair shops to address their environmental impact on the regional watershed, such as alliance formation, cooptation, environmental enactment, and sharing of organizational resources, have led to increased ecoliteracy, better environmental performance, and overall enhanced business practices.

Ce cas illustre l'importance d'une cohésion coopérative comme facteur central dans la gestion de ce type d'organisation. Cette cohésion est d'abord associative, ensuite «association-entreprise», et finalement stratégique. Le cas d'Agropur présente d'abord l'effritement de cette cohésion au sein de cette coopérative mondialement reconnue pour son équilibre coopératif. Le processus de consultation entrepris par le conseil d'administration pour recréer cette cohésion est ensuite présenté. Les étudiants sont finalement placés en situation de membres du conseil pour élaborer une proposition à être soumise à l'assemblée générale.

In October 2016, a merger between the Canadian Cancer Society (CCS) and the Canadian Breast Cancer Foundation (CBCF) was announced. CCS was the largest cancer charity in Canada (revenues of $184 million in 2016), offering support programs and information services to patients and their families throughout Canada. CBCF was a large site-specific cancer charity (revenues of $36 million in 2016) and Canada’s third-largest charity funder of cancer research. With declining donations and increasing administrative costs, both charities were facing financial challenges.

This merger between the two charities was the largest in Canadian history. The leadership of both organizations hoped it would solve their financial problems by helping them to gain operational efficiencies and increase market power. Students are asked to decide whether the merger made strategic sense for both organizations. The answer lies in how well it addressed the financial, leadership, and brand awareness challenges facing each organization, while enabling them to remain relevant and impactful in an increasingly competitive market.

Ce cas relate un des rares cas de garderie coopérative. Le cas montre les quatre formes différents qu'a connues cette entreprise créée en 1982. Il s'agit d'un collectif formé de quatre personnes complémentaires et fortement engagées dans l'éducation des tout petits. Succès bien connu et reconnu à Sherbrooke, il s'agit d'un modèle qui pourrait faire école au Québec.

Ce cas raconte l'épopée de la création d'une entreprise qui vise la réinsertion de personnes handicapées sur le marché du travail. La création d'une entreprise, qu'elle soit individuelle ou collective, résulte souvent de le détermination d'une personne. Le cas montre l'engagement profond de la créatrice, Gaétane Lacroix, ainsi que la remise en question de la forme juridique de l'entreprise qui passera de coopérative à organisme sans but lucratif (OSBL). Un cas intéressant d'entreprise d'économie sociale.

Cette coopérative fut l'une des premières entreprises coopératives à être créée dans le secteur des services à domicile au Québec (1989). Il s'agit d'une entreprise pionnière qui a servi de modèle à des douzaines d'autres au Québec. Le cas relate les péripéties de la création et des dix premières années d'activité.

Cette coopérative est une des premières coopératives de solidarité à avoir été créée en Estrie et au Québec. Elle offre un service d'entretien ménager à domicile. Le cas montre les étapes de création d'une coopérative de services, les particularités de la dimension coopérative liées à sa création de même que les contraintes de gestion d'une petite entreprise de services.