The EFMD Case Writing Competition has celebrated outstanding case writing and teaching since 1988. Over the years, it has brought together educators from around the world who are committed to making management education more relevant, rigorous, and impactful.

To offer a deeper look into the people behind this year’s winning cases, we are delighted to launch our blog interview series. Through these conversations, we explore the ideas, motivations, and experiences that shaped their work, uncovering the stories behind the submissions.

This article marks the beginning of the series, which we hope will serve as both a source of inspiration and a valuable resource for the wider academic and business education community. We invite readers to follow along as we highlight the voices behind the winning cases and celebrate their meaningful contributions to management education.

In this first interview, we feature Frantz Jean-Baptiste, Laurie Ferranda and Sheri Lambert, winners in the “Continuous Improvement: the Journey to Excellence” category.

‘Dooney & Bourke: Continuing to Tap into the Lucrative Chinese Luxury-goods Market’ 

1. Could you briefly introduce yourself and provide an overview of the case you have written?

Frantz: I am Frantz Jean-Baptiste, Vice President of Investor Relations at Veloce Capital LLC, where I lead capital raising and investor engagement for the firm’s real estate private equity platform. With more than two decades of experience across capital markets, private equity, investment management, and management consulting, I have held leadership positions at J.P. Morgan, General Motors Asset Management, and other prominent investment organisations.

The Dooney & Bourke: Continuing to Tap into the Lucrative Chinese Luxury-Goods Market case examines the strategic tension between growth and brand preservation. As a privately held company, Dooney & Bourke faces the challenge of expanding into new markets while maintaining the authenticity that defines its brand. Similar dynamics are frequently encountered in private equity, where family-owned businesses must carefully balance growth opportunities with preserving their culture, values, and long-term identity.

Laurie: I am Laurie Ferranda, an Adjunct Professor at Temple University and Associate Vice President at Merck & Co. Pharmaceutical company, where I lead a US-based Marketing team in the Oncology Business. I have worked my nearly two-decade career in Fortune 50 companies, leading Marketing, Sales, and Commercial Strategy.

The Dooney & Bourke: Continuing to Tap into the Lucrative Chinese Luxury-Goods Market case provides an interesting potential strategic pivot for an organisation, staying true to localised and known brand authenticity vs seeking rapid expansion opportunities in a lucrative, fast-growing market. My interest in authoring this case lies in the intersection of optimally marketing a brand and maximising strategy growth for an organisation, which aligns with many of the strategic questions I have solved over my career.

Sheri: I am Sheri Lambert, an Associate Professor of Marketing at the Fox School of Business at Temple University, where I teach consumer buyer behaviour, marketing strategy, and digital marketing at the undergraduate, graduate, and executive levels. Prior to academia, I worked on the agency side of the business, partnering with Fortune 100 companies on strategic marketing initiatives, brand development, and consumer engagement strategies. This case, Dooney & Bourke: Continuing to Tap into the Lucrative Chinese Luxury-Goods Market, reflects both my professional and academic interests in global branding, consumer behaviour, digital transformation, and strategic marketing decision-making.

As a DBA student, this work aligns closely with my research interests in consumer behaviour and digital marketing. The case bridges theory and practice by encouraging students and executives to apply strategic frameworks to real-world managerial tensions involving globalisation, technology, branding, and evolving consumer expectations.

2. Every case is built around a central tension that resists easy resolution. What is the tension at the heart of your case, and why does it matter?

At the heart of this case is a strategic tension between preserving Dooney & Bourke’s heritage as an accessible American luxury brand and adapting aggressively enough to succeed in China’s rapidly evolving luxury market. The company’s identity is rooted in craftsmanship, timeless design, and authenticity, yet Chinese consumers, particularly Millennials and Gen Z, expect digitally immersive, culturally localised, and socially driven luxury experiences. This tension matters because Dooney & Bourke cannot pursue every strategic path simultaneously. Peter Beaugard [the protagonist] must decide whether the company should prioritise localised branding, digital ecosystem expansion, or operational scaling to compete effectively in China.

The challenge is compounded by intense competition from brands like Coach, Prada, and Michael Kors, all of which have invested heavily in localised marketing and digital engagement. Ultimately, the case highlights a broader managerial question faced by many heritage brands: how to remain authentic while evolving to meet the expectations of younger, globally connected consumers in highly competitive international markets

3. What did writing this case reveal to you that you did not expect to find, and how has it influenced the way you think about your field?

Through writing this case, it revealed that the luxury goods market is no longer solely about the quality of a product, it is increasingly involving a broader ecosystem, including digital relevance, generational influence, and cultural relevance. This case uncovered the importance of digitally and locally led collaboration, which generates interest; that craftmanship alone is not enough.

For a market such as China, the American view of craftsmanship did not carry as much weight as anticipated, with the Chinese market deeming speed, the influencer ecosystem, and digital presence important. For the commercial strategy field (of one of the co-authors) in biopharmaceuticals, it influences and reinforces the importance of having localised knowledge on market needs, barriers to entry, and influencers of growth. A universal marketing and commercial strategy may not yield significant benefits or returns.

4. What broader themes or concepts in management does your case illuminate, and why are they important for students to engage with today?

The case challenges students to evaluate how a brand can balance authenticity with localisation while navigating China’s rapidly evolving digital and luxury retail landscape. It also explores issues related to consumer trends, social commerce, digital ecosystems, and international expansion strategy.

The tension between globalisation of a commercial marketing strategy and localisation is evident as the case uncovers that expansion of a universal or US-based strategy is not likely to create broad market adoption. There is a fine balance between maintaining a brand’s core identity and enabling local marketing adaptation to meet the expectations of different market consumers.

5. If your case continues to be taught a decade from now, what do you believe it will say about the period in which it was written?

If this case continues to be taught a decade from now, I believe it will capture a pivotal moment in the evolution of global luxury, digital commerce, and consumer culture. The case reflects a period in which brands were grappling with the accelerating impact of digital transformation, the growing influence of Gen Z and Millennial consumers, and the increasing importance of social commerce.

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The Sponsor’s Commentary

The category “Continuous Improvement: The Journey to Excellence” is kindly judged by The Case Centre. EFMD deeply appreciates the invaluable expertise and the dedicated efforts of The Case Centre in supporting the Case Writing Competition. Vicky Lester tells us more about case writing and the winning case: 

1. Could you share a brief overview of your institution?

The Case Centre is the independent home of the case method and a registered charity, dedicated to advancing and promoting the case method in management education worldwide.

Our work includes:

• Providing access to a world-leading, diverse collection of teaching materials.
• Helping faculty and schools showcase their case impact through awards, competitions, bestseller lists, and our Impact Index.
• And offering professional development through workshops, scholarships, and webinars.

For more than 50 years, our mission has been to help bring classrooms to life through real-world stories that develop critical thinking, decision-making, collaboration, and leadership skills. We believe that the case method remains one of the most powerful ways to prepare students to navigate complexity, uncertainty, and change in an increasingly dynamic world.

By supporting the global case method community, we help ensure that future managers and leaders are equipped not only with knowledge but with the judgment, adaptability, and practical skills needed to make a positive impact in organisations and society.

2. What qualities distinguish a truly great teaching case from a merely good one, in your view?

A good teaching case presents an interesting business situation and provides valuable learning opportunities. A truly great teaching case goes much further. It combines rigorous analysis with compelling storytelling, drawing students into a real-world situation and placing them in the role of decision-maker.

Great cases capture attention from the outset and challenge students to wrestle with ambiguity, competing priorities, and incomplete information. They do not simply provide answers; they stimulate discussion, encourage multiple perspectives, and require students to apply judgment rather than follow a formula.

The most memorable cases create an emotional as well as an intellectual connection. They bring organisations, people, and decisions to life through authentic stories that resonate with students and make learning more engaging and impactful. Long after the classroom discussion has ended, students often remember the story, the dilemma, and the lessons they learned from it.

The best cases also help students develop essential employability skills such as critical thinking, communication, collaboration, ethical reasoning, and decision-making under uncertainty. In an era where information is increasingly accessible and technologies such as AI can provide answers instantly, the ability to analyse, interpret, question, and make sound judgements has never been more important. Great teaching cases help cultivate exactly those capabilities.

3. Why is sponsoring a case writing competition a meaningful way for your institution to contribute to management education?

Sponsoring a case writing competition aligns closely with our mission to advance excellence in case teaching and learning globally. Competitions such as the EFMD Case Writing Competition celebrate and recognise the outstanding work of case authors who transform real-world challenges into engaging and impactful learning experiences for students.

By supporting these awards, we help shine a spotlight on innovative teaching materials, encourage the development of new cases that reflect contemporary business challenges, and promote the sharing of best practices across the global management education community. Recognition also helps elevate the status of case writing as an important scholarly and educational contribution, while inspiring educators to continue developing high-quality cases that have a meaningful impact in the classroom.

At The Case Centre, we believe that stories are one of the most powerful ways people learn. Great teaching cases bring organisations, leaders, dilemmas, and decisions to life in ways that engage students far more deeply than theory alone. Through our support of competitions such as this, we are helping to encourage the creation of those stories and ensuring that future generations of students can learn from authentic, real-world experiences.

Ultimately, these competitions contribute to better management education by encouraging the creation of cases that help students connect theory with practice and develop the skills needed to become effective future leaders.

4. What does the winning case in your category reveal about the kind of thinking business schools should be cultivating in their students?

The winning cases in our sponsored categories highlight the importance of developing students who can think strategically, adapt to changing circumstances, and navigate increasingly complex business environments.

The Continuous Improvement category winner, Dooney & Bourke: Continuing to Tap into the Lucrative Chinese Luxury-goods Market, demonstrates the importance of understanding global markets, evolving customer expectations, and the need for organisations to continuously adapt in order to remain competitive. It encourages students to think beyond immediate decisions and consider how businesses sustain success through agility, innovation, and long-term strategic thinking.

This case reinforces a powerful message for business schools. The future demands graduates who can navigate ambiguity, evaluate competing priorities, integrate diverse perspectives, and make informed decisions in situations where there may be no obvious right answer. Beyond technical knowledge, students need to develop curiosity, resilience, ethical judgement, and systems thinking.

These are precisely the capabilities that the case method helps cultivate and that future leaders will need to thrive in an increasingly uncertain and rapidly changing world.

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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, Finance and Banking, and Responsible Business. To find out more, please contact Petra Grestenbergerova at petra.grestenbergerova@efmdglobal.org.

More information about the 2025 EFMD Case Writing Competition winners can be found at 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.