This listing contains abstracts and ordering information for case studies written and published by faculty at Stanford GSB.
Publicly available cases in this collection are distributed by Harvard Business Publishing and The Case Centre.
Stanford case studies with diverse protagonists, along with case studies that build “equity fluency” by focusing on DEI-related issues and opportunities are listed in the Case Compendium developed by the Center for Equity, Gender and Leadership at the Berkeley Haas School of Business.
SAP Design Thinking Part A
The SAP Design Thinking case follows the path of Sam Yen, Chief Design Officer at SAP, on his quest to infuse design thinking into the SAP organization. Through a series of programs and events, Yen discovered that while employees of the multinational…
Bonnier News was Sweden’s leading media group and a paragon in the nation’s cultural, economic, and political circles. It was one of six divisions of Bonnier AB, a company founded by Gerhard Bonnier in 1804 that remained wholly owned by the Bonnier…
“Carlypso: Overcoming Bumps in the Road in the Used Car Industry” explores various challenges associated with scaling a start-up. In 2013, Christopher Coleman and Nicholas Hinrichsen cofounded Carlypso, a company that simplified the process of buying and…
In July 2013, Kesha Cash transitioned out of her stable role as co-founder of and fund manager for Jalia Ventures (“Jalia”), an initiative investing in early-stage mission driven “businesses operated by entrepreneurs of color,” to launch her own impact…
In January 2015, Jennifer Carolan, who had served as the managing director of the NewSchools Venture Fund Seed Fund (“Seed Fund”), spun off from the nonprofit venture philanthropy firm to create a for-profit social impact fund focused on education…
In the summer of 2015, after reporting another year of strong growth in programming and fundraising at miraclefeet.org, a nonprofit dedicated to providing treatment to children born with clubfoot in developing countries, co-founder and executive director…
In 2015, Generation Investment Management celebrated the successful 10-year track record of its flagship Global Equity Fund, which outperformed its benchmark index by over 500 basis points per year. A mainstream investment firm whose founders included…
In June 2009, the online gaming company Zynga launched the free social game Farmville on Facebook, which set a new record by reaching one million Daily Active Users four days after launch, skyrocketing to 30 million in six months. The case takes an inside…
Skype
At the end of 2011, Microsoft was closing its acquisition of Skype for $8.5 billion. Skype had more than 500 million registered users, revenue exceeded $600 million, and the company accounted for 40 percent of international long-distance traffic, making…
In June 2015, Peter Phillips, Chief Operating Officer of Frontier Services Group (FSG), was preparing an update for the board on how operations would support the company’s new strategy. Given the ongoing decline in the price of oil and the extractive…
Pay For Success and Social Innovation Financing: Serving Santa Clara County’s Mentally Ill Residents
In 2016, Santa Clara County was launching a six-year project aimed at reducing the enormous costs of treating its most acute mental health care patients − $45 million a year − while improving their treatment and quality of life. For the project, the…
In 1994, Arthur “Buzz” Schmidt, GuideStar’s founder, launched an organization with a staff of five. The organization, then known as Philanthropic Research, was formed with the simple goal of making basic information on nonprofits easily available to…
It is September 2013. The new Chinese President Xi Jinping will soon launch his tour in Central Asia. On this tour, the President is deciding whether to launch a grand investment strategy, which he calls “One Belt One Road” (OBOR). Through this plan, he…
In June 1991, India was in the midst of a currency and balance of payments crisis the likes the country had not seen since independence in 1947. The country’s foreign exchange reserves were barely enough to finance 13 days worth of imports. In the face of…
In December 2015, Angela Merkel, Chancellor of Germany and the de facto leader of the EU, faced the challenge of formulating an effective policy response to Europe’s migration crisis. Merkel must decide whether Germany can continue to host large numbers…
What's Up Moms
The What’s Up Moms case tells the story of three friends, Meg Resnikoff, Connie Kin, and Elle Walker, who co-founded a YouTube channel called What’s Up Moms to provide instructive and humorous video content targeted exclusively at moms. In June 2013…
ConvenientMD
The ConvenientMD case highlights the role of emotion and ambiguity in business interactions. ConvenientMD, led by co-CEOs Gareth Dickens and Max Puyanic, operated urgent care centers (UCCs) in the northeastern United States. UCCs are medical facilities…
UltraCase
The UltraCase case tells the story of a company founded in the 1970s by an avid scuba diver who decided to build a business around products that would maximize his diving experience. Among his first products included a waterproof flashlight and case…
ComplexAminos
This case explores the transformation of a company, ComplexAminos, from a failing start-up to a successful organization preparing for a liquidity event. After conducting a six-year turnaround strategy, the CEO needed to decide whether the company should…
In the fall of 2015, Beneficial State Bank was set to mark its third successive year of normalized profitability while continuing to fulfill its mission to promote social justice and environmental sustainability. At the same time, husband and wife…
In November 2004, as presidential hopeful John Kerry conceded the presidential race to George W. Bush, husband and wife team and Democratic supporters Tom Steyer (MBA ’83) and Kat Taylor (JD/MBA ’86) found themselves at an impasse in their political…
Goldiblocks
Debbie Sterling was waging war with The Pink Aisle—home to Barbie Dolls, tea sets, and Easy-Bake Ovens. Sterling had come to believe that early-age modeling and stereotyping by toy companies channeled girls away from science, technology, engineering, and…
Sitara
This case explores the International Finance Corporation’s (IFC) creative and effective use of the private equity business model as a tool to mobilize financing for economic development around the world. In its bid to provide more capital for private…