Each year, the EFMD Case Writing Competition celebrates the power of storytelling in management education. The 2024 edition showcased an impressive collection of cases spanning industries, regions, and institutions, all reflecting remarkable innovation, depth, and impact.

We continue this special interview series by spotlighting the voices behind these outstanding cases and celebrating their meaningful contributions to management development.

In this interview, we are pleased to feature Africa Ariño, Ricardo Calleja, and David Pastoriza from IESE Business School and HEC Montreal, winners in the “Responsible Leadership” category.

‘Shifting alliances in the golf industry: The PGA Tour, the European Tour, and the Saudi Public Investment Fund’

1. Could you briefly introduce yourself and share your academic and/or professional background?

David Pastoriza is a professor of strategy at HEC Montréal, holding the Professorship Lallemand in Governance and Strategy in Sport. His research focuses on sport: competitive dynamics, governance challenges, and sponsorship strategies.

Africa Ariño is a professor of strategic management at IESE Business School, holding the Joaquim Molins Figueras Chair of Strategic Alliances. She specialises in the governance and dynamics of interorganisational relationships.

Ricardo Calleja is a lecturer of Business Ethics at IESE Business School His research explores the role of business in society, corporate political activity, and the ethical implications of technological disruption.

2. What personal or professional experiences inspired you to write this particular case?

As researchers, we were struck by the convergence of high-stakes competition, ethical dilemmas, and governance failures unfolding in the golf industry—a domain that exemplifies how business logic and public scrutiny can collide. More specifically, witnessing how the PGA Tour and the European responded to existential threats –be it a pandemic, a rival with deep pockets (the public investment fund of Saudi Arabia), or internal dissent– prompted us to explore the importance stakeholder governance in forming and managing strategic alliances.

3. What story were you aiming to tell through your case, and why do you believe it resonates today?

We aimed to chronicle not just the strategic chess match among the PGA Tour, the European Tour, and the Saudi PIF, but also the deeper structural dynamics at play. Particularly, how competitive disruptions can challenge a firm’s business model and its governance. The case explores how the viability of the PGA Tour and European Tour depend on executives’ ability to orchestrate the competing interests of its business model stakeholders (i.e., players, sponsors, broadcasters, fans). In an era where organisations face mounting scrutiny from stakeholders, the case resonates as a real-world illustration of what happens when financial imperatives and governance collide.

4. How did working on this case challenge or shift your perspective as an educator or researcher?

This case challenged our perspective in two major ways. First, this case sharpened our awareness of how fragile a business model can be when it relies on the alignment of multiple stakeholders. Even a well-structured, historically dominant model like the PGA Tour’s can be destabilized when stakeholders’ trust erodes – particularly the trust of those stakeholders whose resources are critical to the functioning of the business model. Second, it reaffirmed that strategic alliances are not just about synergies—they are about legitimacy. An alliance that makes financial sense can still fail if it alienates key stakeholders or undermines an organization’s credibility—ensuring that your key stakeholders have a voice and listen to one another’s interests emerged as important mechanisms of stakeholder governance during alliance formation.

5. If there’s one key insight or message you would like readers or students to take away from your case, what would it be?

Stakeholder governance is central to strategic viability. Students must not only learn how to structure deals or outmaneuver rivals, but also how to engage their business model stakeholders with transparency, legitimacy, and long-term trust.

The Sponsor’s Commentary

The category “Responsible Leadership” is kindly sponsored by Cork University Business School. EFMD deeply appreciates the invaluable sponsorship, the profound expertise, and the dedicated efforts of Cork University Business School in supporting the Case Writing Competition.

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

Cork University Business School (CUBS), University College Cork was launched in January 2015, consolidating a long and distinguished history of business education and engagement. CUBS, one of Ireland’s largest business schools, produces 1,500+ graduates annually and as a forward-thinking Business School, we aspire to build on UCC’s recognised leadership in putting sustainability at the heart of enterprise by advancing knowledge through cutting edge research and nurturing conscientious leaders who strive to build successful organisations that contribute individual, societal and environmental wellbeing.

2. What inspired your institution to keep sponsoring this particular category in the EFMD Case Writing Competition?

Sponsoring this category of the EFMD Case Competition long aligns with the mission of CUBS which places a strong emphasis on high-impact experiential learning and effective practice-oriented research. As such, we are delighted to offer sponsorship because it assists in the development of materials that are vital to experiential learning and also the focus on responsibility is increasingly important to all that we do as a school.

3. What trends or challenges in the business world make this category especially relevant right now?

The world is in a state of concern and flux that most have never experienced. There are major question marks over global leadership with concerns that custodianship and responsibility are being given insufficient attention. We need to continue to develop important case studies that can help us build the critical thinking and problem-solving skills of students around such fundamentally important concepts. To demonstrate responsible leadership is desired but most often challenging due to the complexity of competing interests that one is often faced with.

4. What stood out to you most about the winning case in your sponsored category this year?

There was a real quality and realism to the case that we believe can add much to helping the learning of students across the world in better appreciating the importance and challenges in leading responsibly.

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, and Finance and Banking. If you are interested in sponsoring the mentioned categories or launching a new category relevant to case writing and teaching, please contact Petra Grestenbergerova at petra.grestenbergerova@efmdglobal.org.

More information about the 2024 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. Follow the upcoming interviews from this series.