EFMD encourages and rewards innovative and impactful cases in management development each year. This year again brought an exceptional variety of winning cases across various industries. We interviewed the winners to find out more about their motivation, inspiration and significant challenges. The following interview is with Wiboon Kittilaksanawong & Marta Paszta of Saitama University and Nagoya University of Commerce & Business, respectively, the winners of the “African Business Cases” category.

‘Reel Gardening: Pursuing a Social Mission through Market Mechanisms’

What was the inspiration for your case?

Our inspiration to write the Reel Gardening case came from the increasingly vital role of social entrepreneurship in economic growth and inclusion for developing economies. Also, Marta Paszta, one of the case authors, during her internship at the Disaster Management unit of the United Nations Centre for Regional Development (UNCRD), was inspired by an article about Claire Reid, the founder of Reel Gardening, which led her to research about ways to help vulnerable societies live independently and sustainably.

What were the major challenges in designing the case?

The Reel Gardening case was written based entirely on the published data. However, we also had an opportunity to discuss with Claire Reid to really understand the business. The major challenge in writing this case was finding the data to rationalize the case. Because Reel Gardening was still a very young start-up when we began writing the case in 2014, the company’s data shared publicly were very limited. It had been almost 8 years later until the company had grown up and the published data were sufficient for us to complete such a case study meaningful for entrepreneurs, business executives and scholars.

What would you like to highlight from your case?

Reel Gardening was a social start-up undertaken by a female entrepreneur who sought, developed, and validated a scalable business model. The company applied commercial strategies to maximize social impacts alongside profits for sustainable operations. As wonderful as it sounds, it’s however not easy to achieve such a dual commercial and social goal. It’s important to know that a great idea is not everything, but leadership, belief, and persistence should all be included as critical success factors of a social enterprise.

How do you believe your findings could impact society and business in the future?

Social enterprises create jobs, provide innovative products and services, and promote sustainability for the future. We, therefore, believe that as a social start-up, Reel Gardening is a great case study, especially for young entrepreneurs who dream of starting a business that could grow profitably and expand across national borders sustainably to solve global issues, particularly poverty and hunger.

Delve into a wealth of valuable insights within the remaining Case Writing Competition interviews.

The Sponsor’s Commentary

The category “African Business Cases” is kindly sponsored by China Europe International Business School (CEIBS). EFMD greatly values the sponsorship, the expertise and the effort of the sponsor to contribute to the Case Writing Competition.

Shimin Chen from China Europe International Business School (CEIBS) shares more information about sponsoring the category.

In the current global context, why is case writing and teaching on African Business Cases important?

Promoting case writing in Africa is essential for several reasons. First, African cases represent academic and business community perspectives, experiences, and voices from Africa. This category provides African scholars and practitioners a platform to share their insights, expertise, and innovative solutions to address local challenges. Second, case writing in Africa produces local knowledge and wisdom about African business practices, entrepreneurship activities, social issues, and development initiatives. Third, case writing can contribute to economic development by showcasing successful strategies, business models, and entrepreneurial ventures in Africa to inspire and guide aspiring entrepreneurs, investors, policymakers, and development practitioners and foster innovation, economic growth, and job creation. Finally, African case studies also offer valuable opportunities for international students, researchers, and business professionals to learn about African markets, challenges, and opportunities, which promotes cross-cultural understanding, diversity, and global business knowledge.

What are the reasons CEIBS encourages case writing on African Business Cases by sponsoring this category?

As the fastest-growing market in the world, Africa attracts global attention. CEIBS launched our Africa campus in Accra, Ghana, in 2008, and we have been committed to helping prepare highly competent innovation-oriented managers and executives capable of leading and growing their organizations in the increasingly dynamic African economic environment. The development of the African market witnessed many important management topics worthy of discussion, including entrepreneurship, social innovation, female leadership, etc. By sponsoring this category, we hope to encourage more African business cases to help promote management education in emerging markets and facilitate the exchange of knowledge and experience between the continents.

What would you like to highlight from the winning case?

The winning case provides quite an interesting story with explicit and clear teaching points, and its teaching note is systematic and comprehensive, which can help students fully understand the basic concepts, models, and challenges of social enterprises in Africa and beyond.

About Sponsorship

EFMD Case Writing Competition is proud to have dedicated sponsors who drive management education towards impactful teaching and learning. Sponsoring a category allows you to showcase your institution’s expertise in the specific field of management education in the wide EFMD network. The choice of category, its exact definition and any specific conditions are the privileges of the sponsor. Sponsorships for the following categories are currently available – Bringing Technology to Market, Continuous Improvement: the Journey to Excellence, Corporate Social Responsibility, Responsible Business, MENA Business Cases, Responsible Leadership, and Women in Business. If you are interested in sponsoring the mentioned categories or launching a new category relevant to case writing and teaching, please check out our category sponsorship opportunities page or contact Hansol Park at hansol.park@efmdglobal.org.

More information about the 2022 EFMD Case Writing Competition can be found on the EFMD Case Writing Competition page. Please visit The Case Centre’s webpage to access the collection of the winning cases. See other interviews from this series.