WDI Announces Winners of Global Case Writing Competitions
Tuesday, September 17, 2024
With submissions from South Africa to Colombia and from Ireland to India, WDI Publishing proudly announces the winners of its 2024 HealthTech and the 2024 Diversity, Equity & Inclusion Global Case Writing Competitions.
The two competitions generated a combined total of 43 total case submissions, representing 37 different universities and higher learning organizations in nine different countries. This was the first year for the HealthTech Global Case Writing Competition, but the fourth year of the DEI Case Writing Competition, which is sponsored by U-M’s Ross School of Business and the William Davidson Institute. The HealthTech contest sought out academic cases around novel technology appropriate for a low- and middle-income country that contributes to improving, maintaining or monitoring the health of a given population. The DEI competition is designed to identify and publish new, relevant academic case studies that focus on DEI in business and/or feature diverse protagonists as business leaders.
“We are thrilled to see the enthusiasm for the contests continue to grow, in terms of both the number of submitted cases and the quality of those cases, according to our finalist judges,” said Sandra Draheim, Manager of WDI Publishing.
A division of the William Davidson Institute at the University of Michigan, WDI Publishing produces and distributes high-quality, cutting-edge business cases and other teaching materials for business schools around the globe. Case studies provide real-world lessons at the core of many business schools, and serve as an opportunity for students to apply the business concepts to their current or future careers.
All of the winning cases are available on wdi-publishing.com.
Below is a list of the winning authors, their cases, and finalist judges for each case writing competition:
2024 Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Global Case Writing Competition
First prize: $10,000
Global Firm and Local Labor: Delivering Paid Parental Leave
Authors: Ahmmad Brown, Assistant Professor of Instruction, Northwestern University School of Education and Social Policy, USA; Ritu Tripathi, Assistant Professor of Instruction, Northwestern University School of Education and Social Policy, USA
TriBrown Services is a fictional leading industrial technology company headquartered in the United States, with operations in 70-plus countries. After serving as an affiliate of larger companies for almost four decades, TriBrown established itself as an independent entity in 2017 and embarked on a major strategic restructuring. This included development of a people strategy that was inseparable from TriBrown’s DEI goals, a primary one being increased representation of women in all echelons of the organization. Protagonist Maya Marshall is hired as Vice President of DEI in 2018 and very soon her role is expanded to include People in the title. One key focus for her is to integrate the DEI initiatives with the organizational culture and build the internal talent pipeline for women to rise to leadership positions. A primary pain point that Marshall sets out to address is attrition among women team members due to child-bearing and caring roles in families.
The case focuses on the conflicting forces that Marshall must grapple with as she confronts unanticipated obstacles while trying to drive cultural transformation within the multinational company.
2nd Place: $5,000
Sheroes Hangout: Empowering India’s Acid Attack Survivors to Face the Future
Authors: David Wernick, Professor, Florida International University, USA; Johanna Clancy, Lecturer in Business Enterprise, University of Galway, Ireland; Priya Grover, Associate Professor, Symbiosis Centre for Management Studies, Noida, Symbiosis International (Deemed University), Pune, India; Nidhi Phutela, Director, Symbiosis Center for Management Studies, Noida, Symbiosis International (Deemed University), Pune, India; Jannik Pesch, PhD Student, Florida International University, USA
This case focuses on Sheroes Hangout, a social enterprise chain of cafés in India, initiated by the founders’ grassroots campaign Stop Acid Attacks (SAA) under its nonprofit organization, Chhanv Foundation. The name Sheroes — a combination of “she” and “heroes” — was chosen to underscore the courage of acid attack survivors who went on to staff and manage the cafés. The first café, based in the city of Agra, home to the Taj Mahal, initially employed five acid survivors; by 2024 the foundation employed over 30 survivors in four cafés, making it the largest employer of acid attack survivors in India.
The case centers on Alok Dixit, one of three Sheroes Hangout founders. As he reflects on his decade at the helm of the Chhanv Foundation, he is determined to take Sheroes to the next level. The question is how to do so given constraints of time, talent, and financial resources.
3rd Place: $2,500
Between Autonomy and Concession: A Female Entrepreneur’s Struggle in Latin America
Authors: Marisleidy Alba Cabañas, Professor, Fundación Universitaria Konrad Lorenz, Colombia; Luis Demetrio Gómez García, Professor, Pontificia Universidad Católica del Perú, Peru
The case involves Liliana Gutiérrez de Piñeres, a Colombian entrepreneur who runs Lemaître, a management consulting firm specializing in regulatory compliance. Liliana faces discrimination from businessmen in her industry because she is a woman, and is tired of this situation. In 2022, the context of an international project in Chile—where she faced repeated slights from the client that appeared gender-based—catalyzed Liliana’s desire to leave the business. By the end of the case, she wonders whether to remain at the company’s helm as a female entrepreneur and face the challenges of a macho context, or put her husband in charge of the business, or sell the company altogether.
Finalist Judges, 2024 DEI Global Case Writing Competition: Latoya Booker, Director Inclusion Equity Institute at Grand Valley State University; Kenlana Ferguson, Psychologist and Director Equity, Learning & Culture at the Kalamazoo Community Foundation; Heather McBride Leef, Managing Director of Deloitte’s DEI Institute; John Lafkas, Senior Editor, Cases and Pedagogy, Harvard Business Publishing; Greg Merkley, Director Case Publishing at Northwestern’s Kellogg School
2024 HealthTech Global Case Writing Competition
First Place: $5,000
Authors: Steven Samford, Assistant Professor of Organizational Studies, University of Michigan – College of Literature Science and the Arts,
USA; Samantha Feldman, Student, University of Michigan – College of LS&A, USA
This case focuses on a widespread health concern to highlight the difficulties microenterprises in emerging economies encounter in the adoption of improved technologies. Specifically, it focuses on the common use of lead-oxide in ceramics production in Mexico, which has been identified by the government as a key health challenge for millions of Mexicans, both producers and users. Multiple international nonprofits and the Mexican government itself have made efforts to alleviate this problem, including helping develop a lead-free glaze to replace the long-used version. Uptake and diffusion have been mixed, though, highlighting the difficulties microenterprises have in dealing with the perpetuation of health and labor problems.
The case asks students to take on the role of a program director in an international non-profit that plans to deploy a pilot training program to help diffuse the use of the lead-free alternative in ceramics production.
2nd Place: $2,500
HealthX Africa: Empathetic Leadership as an Asset in Telehealth
Authors:
Soni Jha, Assistant Professor, Strategic Management, Purdue University – Ft. Wayne, Indiana, USA; Ravi Ranjan, Assistant Professor, Africa Business School, Morocco; Rajneesh Narula, Director, Dunning Africa Centre, Henley Business School, South Africa
HealthX Africa is a telemedicine provider with a mission to provide a doctor for every Kenyan, wherever they are in the country, and at whatever time (day or night) they need to access healthcare services. HealthX focuses on primary healthcare services, using advances in information technologies to enhance the quality, accessibility, inclusiveness, and affordability of healthcare services in Kenya.
This case focuses on HealthX’s scaling issues when the adoption of telemedicine started to level off after the COVID-19 pandemic faded. Despite experiencing meteoric success from 2021-2023, HealthX now faces challenges.
HealthX’s chief medical officer—Radha Karnad — harnessed the power of empathetic leadership to differentiate HealthX from other telemedicine startups in Kenya.
3rd Place: $1,000
Modern Health Tech and Ancient Ayurveda: A New Business Venture?
Authors:
Krantee Jamdaade, Associate Professor, Somaiya Vidyavihar University, India; Harshali Patil, Associate Professor, Somaiya Vidyavihar University, India; Avadhut Patwardhan, Assistant Professor, Somaiya Vidyavihar University, India; Anuja Agarwal, Adjunct Faculty, Somaiya Vidyavihar University, India
Ayurveda, a 5,000-year-old medical system, employs individualized lifestyle interventions and natural treatments, therapies, and remedies to balance body, mind, and spirit with the surrounding world.
This case study exemplifies the innovative amalgamation of Ayurvedic healthcare principles with modern data science and technology. Students will follow the protagonist’s journey from research to entrepreneurship in developing a personalized wellness treadmill that would provide monitoring information to physicians, and enable users to quickly apply self-improvement.
Finalist Judges, 2024 Health Tech Global Case Writing Competition: Emma Hannay, former Chief Access Officer, FIND; Monique Mrazek, Senior Investment Officer, International Investment Corporation; Matthias Ruger, Pediatric Orthopedic Surgeon, Global Surgery Foundation; Praveen Suthrum, Co-founder, NextServices and NovoLiver