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BELL teaching cases explore sustainability related business challenges and capture business decisions that identify environmental challenges as business development opportunities. They are now freely available via the catalog below.
Case studies are listed in alphabetical order, with sector(s) shown in italics.
Reprint permissions: BELL teaching case studies are freely available for educational distribution, as long as they are used at no cost to students. If you have further questions about using the case studies, please visit WRI’s Permissions page.
A Toxic International Partnership (TIP)
This fictional simulation is based loosely on the actual experiences of chemical firms operating in Italy during the late 1980s.
(Business, Government, and Society, Organizational Behavior)
Alpha Motors Ltd.: Integrating life cycle environmental concerns into product design
The primary teaching objective of this case is to give students a basic understanding of Life-Cycle Analysis (LCA) and the issues involved when integrating life-cycle tools into the product design process.
(Business, Government, and Society, Operations and Production Management)
AT&T Environment and Safety
AT&T used “classic” total quality management techniques to eliminate an environmental hazard–the toxic chemical TCA–from its Columbus Works plant. Students prepare a process flow diagram identifying where the plant was at risk–or could eliminate risk–from TCA and to decide how AT&T should measure the plant’s progress toward total quality management. Students discover that many of TCA’s effects were far downstream from the design stage and that insufficient information was fed back to product and process engineers.
(Operations and Production Management)
Bayerische Motoren Werke AG (BMW) Version A
The leaders of the recycling group of a major German automobile manufacturer analyze two questions: how, if at all, should BMW modify the take-back infrastructure; and how should the company handle recovered scrap materials?
(Business, Government, and Society, Operations and Production Management, Strategy)
Bayerische Motoren Werke AG (BMW) Version B
The leaders of the recycling group of a major German automobile manufacturer analyze two questions: how, if at all, should BMW modify the take-back infrastructure; and how should the company handle recovered scrap materials?
(Business, Government, and Society, Operations and Production Management, Strategy)
Chlorine and the Paper Industry
Representatives from the pulp and paper industry, EPA, and Greenpeace come together in this exercise to define a viable path for the paper industry prompted by EPA’s development of a new cross-media emissions restriction rule in 1994.
(Business, Government, and Society, Organizational Behavior)
Chlorofluorocarbon (CFC) taxes at Distributor Inc.
This case illustrates how seemingly simple regulatory changes affect not only the explicit regulatory target (i.e. the manufacturer) but also the accounting systems and related business practices of distributors and users of the product.
(Accounting)
Coocafe R.L.
Cafe Foresta was positioned as “environmentally friendly,” but the coffee came in a non-recyclable package and was grown with the use of some chemical pesticides, herbicides, and fertilizers.
(Marketing)
Danish bottles Version A
Provides information used by the Commission of European Communities to make its ruling on whether Denmark created non-tariff trade barriers when it prohibited certain materials and containers.
(Business, Government, and Society)
Deja Shoe Version A
Deja Shoe’s founder and new management team wanted to develop a business strategy based on pro-environment principles that would enable the firm to out-compete established industry players Nike and Timberland.?
(Marketing, Strategy)
Deja Shoe Version B
Deja Shoe’s founder and new management team wanted to develop a business strategy based on pro-environment principles that would enable the firm to out-compete established industry players Nike and Timberland.?
(Marketing, Strategy)
Dow Chemical Company Version A
The Dow Chemical Company case provides an overview of the WRAP (Waste Reduction Always Pays) program.
(Operations and Production Management)
Dow Chemical Company Version B
The Dow Chemical Company case provides an overview of the WRAP (Waste Reduction Always Pays) program.
(Operations and Production Management)
Dunwell Industrial (Holdings) Ltd.
Description
Eastman Kodak
Charts the implementation of Total Quality Management (TQM) in the Utilities Division at Kodak Park and deals with the issues of implementing new programs in an era of downsizing, the problems associated with developing long-term preventive.
(Operations and Production Management, Organizational Behavior)
Epson (China) Co. Ltd.: Adoption of Environmental Management Practices
The case introduces students to environmental management in the fields of Logistics and Organizational Behavior, and the challenges of transferring corporate values between countries.
(Business, Government, and Society, Marketing, Operations and Production Management, Organizational Behavior)
Espirit International
Students must devise a plan for the fall season to bring Ecollection in line with Esprit’s overall marketing strategy.
(Marketing)
European Union Carbon Tax
This negotiation concerns the European Union’s (EU) proposal to adopt a carbon and energy tax to stabilize carbon dioxide emissions by the year 2000.
(Business, Government, and Society)
Expanding the Playing Field: Nike’s World Shoe Project Version A
This business case study provides students a view of the many strategic and internal challenges faced by multinational companies attempting to create a foothold in emerging markets.
(International Business, Marketing, Organizational Behavior, Strategy)
Green Island Cement (Holdings) Ltd.
Green Island Cement (Holdings) Ltd.
Honda of America Manufacturing Inc: Lean Manufacturing and Environmental Management at Honda
Covers the strategic, organizational, and operational decisions facing the environmental manager of Honda of America’s two manufacturing plants.
(Operations and Production Management)
Honeywell Inc: A Green Lights/Energy Star case study
This case introduces some key issues in “green marketing” and communications.
(Marketing)
IKEA and The Natural Step
This case analyses how large companies like IKEA can retain their entrepreneurial roots and innovative capacities.
(Operations and Production Management, Organizational Behavior, Strategy)
International Climate Change Partnership Case: An Industry Association Faces the Climate Change Issue
Case examines the successful response of the private sector to the CFCs and ozone depletion issue, and how this model may lend insight into the climate change issue.
(Business, Government, and Society)
Mobil Chemical Corporation
This case analyzes Mobil’s decision to enter the biodegradable bag market, the subsequent litigation against Mobil for deceptive advertising, and the implications of Mobil’s experience on the general issue of eco-labeling and environmental marketing.
(Marketing)
Mobil Corporation: A Green Lights/Energy Star
This case is designed for use in courses on organizational behavior and management style.
(Organizational Behavior)
Molten Metal Technology Version A
Tells the story of a high-tech start-up company in the hazardous and radioactive waste management field.
(Business, Government, and Society, Organizational Behavior, Strategy)
Molten Metal Technology Version B
Tells the story of a high-tech start-up company in the hazardous and radioactive waste management field.
(Business, Government, and Society, Organizational Behavior, Strategy)
MultiPaint Inc.
The case primarily covers the financial and managerial accounting aspects of addressing serious contamination at an idle manufacturing site. Some non-accounting issues are also addressed including legal, ethical and public-relations.
(Accounting)
Nike - Part B
As Tom Harge reflected back over
the past year’s efforts in developing the World Shoe concept, he could
not help but express his disappointment in the lack of progress on the
project. In fact, while CEO Phil Knight remained a supporter of the
concept, the World Shoe Project was now only alive in spirit.
(International Business, Marketing, Strategy)
Platanera Rio Sixaola S.A.
Platanera Rio Sixaola produced bananas using organic methods and earning the “Eco-OK” seal signifying improved agricultural methods. The cost of producing the bananas exceeded revenues. Did the Eco-OK label justify charging higher prices for his product?
(Marketing)
Proctor & Gamble Company: Disposable and Reusable Diapers – A Life-Cycle Analysis
Students are presented with an analysis of the full range of environmental impacts or “life-cycle analysis” of both disposable and reusable diapers and must decide which option to recommend.
(Strategy)
Rainforest Negotiation Exercise (RNE)
Specialty Glass Inc.: Cost Accounting and Hazardous Wastes
The case can illustrates how keeping environmental costs in manufacturing “overhead” can distort management’s understanding of a product’s manufacturing costs.
(Accounting)
St. Charles Medical Center: A Green Lights/Energy Star Case Study
Examines management’s efforts to evaluate the financial viability of joining EPA’s Green Lights and Energy Star programs, and which retrofit projects to undertake.
(Finance)
Tempes Corporation Version A
Tempes, a fictitious manufacturer of precision equipment for “extreme” sports, needs to decide between two different designs for its Water Moccasin.
(Finance)
Tempes Corporation Version B
Tempes, a fictitious manufacturer of precision equipment for “extreme” sports, needs to decide between two different designs for its Water Moccasin.
(Finance)
Tempes Corporation Version C
Tempes, a fictitious manufacturer of precision equipment for “extreme” sports, needs to decide between two different designs for its Water Moccasin.
(Finance)
The AES Corporation B
The case explores whether companies should take account of their environmental externalities, and how partnerships with environmental organizations can be used to minimize the cost of managing those externalities.
(Strategy)
The AES Corporation Version A
The case explores whether companies should take account of their environmental externalities, and how partnerships with environmental organizations can be used to minimize the cost of managing those externalities.
(Strategy)
The Boeing Company: Environmental Mitigation Costs
In 1991, Boeing Corporation wanted to expand its aircraft manufacturing plant in Everett, Washington, for production of its new 777 airplane. This case examines the impact of the $50 million in environmental mitigation costs the city imposed on Boeing.
(Accounting)
The Monsanto Company: Quest for Sustainability Version A
Explores the strategic drivers and implications of Monsanto’s sustainability-driven transition from a chemical concern to a life sciences entity.
(Business, Government, and Society, Marketing, Organizational Behavior, Strategy)
The Monsanto Company: Quest for Sustainability Version B
Explores the strategic drivers and implications of Monsanto’s sustainability-driven transition from a chemical concern to a life sciences entity.
(Business, Government, and Society, Marketing, Organizational Behavior, Strategy)
Western Oil & Gas Company: Strategic Financing for Energy Efficiency
This business case study shows students why there may not always be a bottom-line business case for environmental improvements.
(Accounting, Finance, Operations and Production Management, Organizational Behavior)
Weyerhaeuser Company: The Next 100 Years
Focuses on the company’s development since the turn of the century into a leading upstream producer of pulp and paper products, and the strategic challenges it faced as it tried to implement sustainable forestry.
(Strategy)
Wisconsin Electric Power Company (WEPCO) Version A
This case provides an analysis of the problems of leadership, organizational structrure and corporate culture that arise in pursuing an environmental strategy.
(Organizational Behavior)
Wisconsin Electric Power Company (WEPCO) Version B
This case provides an analysis of the problems of leadership, organizational structrure and corporate culture that arise in pursuing an environmental strategy.
(Organizational Behavior)