Jennifer Walske

Fair Trade USA: Scaling for Impact:

This case study focuses on Fair Trade USA (the leading third-party certifier of fair trade products in North America) and founder, President, and CEO Paul Rice and his challenges scaling FT USA. The case study covers the growth strategies that he and his team are debating at a key point in FT USAs history amidst increasing competition from other certification organizations like Rainforest Alliance and Utz and general market confusion over consumer packaging labels. Rice and his team are grappling with how to make the Fair Trade USA label more prevalent as well as how to build a viable, long-term business model. The case discusses FT USAs role in helping companies like Hersheys develop sustainable supply chains.

The effect of founder experience on the performance of philanthropic venture capital firms

This article assesses the relationship between the experiences of the philanthropic venture capital firm’s founding team and the venture firm’s subsequent economic, social, and total performance. Results indicate that commercial and social experiences help economic and social performance, respectively. However, when pursuing the maximization of both social and economic performance, philanthropic venture capital firms perform best when the founding team has high levels of commercial experience and low levels of social experience.

What's Holding Back Social Entrepreneurship? Removing the Impediments to Theoretical Advancement

Abstract This article summarizes four contributions that were presented in a professional development workshop at the 2013 Academy of Management conference. The goal of the workshop was to discuss impediments to the theoretical advancement of social entrepreneurship. This papers first two contributors discuss assumptions and boundaries of social entrepreneurship, exhibiting contrasting views of whether theory should be aggregated or disaggregated. The other two scholars focus on specific topics that advance social entrepreneurship research, specifically, studying the implicit normative underpinning of social entrepreneurship and social innovation processes. This is part three of a three-part series dealing with the future of social entrepreneurship research and theory.

Comparing founders’ specific human capital in traditional versus philanthropic venture capital firms

The severe consequences of the global financial crisis 2008-2009 and numerous accounting frauds and financial scandals over the last fifteen years have let to calls for more ethical and responsible actions in all economic activities including consumption, investing, governance and regulation. Despite the fact that ethics in business and corporate social responsibility rules have been adopted in various countries, more efforts have to be devoted to motivate and empower more actors to integrate ethical behavior and rules in making business and managerial decisions. The Research Handbook of Finance and Sustainability will provide the readers but particularly investors, managers, and policymakers with comprehensive coverage of the issues at the crossroads of finance, ethics and sustainable development as well as proposed solutions, while focusing on three different levels: corporations, investment funds, and financial markets.

Revolution Foods: Expansion into the CPG Market:

Revolution Foods (RevFoods) is a fast-growing,

Built to Scale: A Comparative Case Analysis, Assessing How Social Enterprises Scale

100 million for-profit organization that has become a high-profile social enterprise, known initially for its healthy school lunch program. RevFoods has now chosen to enter the large and competitive consumer packaged goods (CPG) market, with the goal of becoming a trusted healthy meal product brand, suitable not just for kids, but also for families. This case outlines the challenges in managing two distinctive sets of distribution channels: one of which is through the public school system, and the other through major food retailers. This case also reviews the history of RevFoods and its growth over the last nine years since the companys founding.