This is the first of a three-case series (IMD-2-0103 to IMD-2-0105). This case describes the founding of a fair trade coffee company. It specifically asks the participants to develop a business plan for the introduction of fairly traded Mexican coffee into the Dutch market.
Building a sustainable, profitable business: Fair trade coffee (A)
Summary
This is the first of a three-case series (IMD-2-0103 to IMD-2-0105). This case describes the founding of a fair trade coffee company. It specifical...
Reference
IMD-2-0103
Copyright
©2003
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IMD Copyright
Available Languages
English
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Research Information & Knowledge Hub for additional information on IMD publications
Building a sustainable, profitable business: Fair trade coffee (B)
Summary
This is the second of a three case series (IMD-2-0103 to IMD-2-0105). This case takes the reader through the actual creation and growth of the fair...
Reference
IMD-2-0104
Copyright
©2003
Copyright owner
IMD Copyright
Available Languages
English
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Research Information & Knowledge Hub for additional information on IMD publications
Building a sustainable, profitable business: Fair trade coffee (C)
Summary
This is the third case of a three case series (IMD-2-0103 to IMD-2-0105). The growth of fairly traded coffee combined with Max Havelaar coffee seem...
Reference
IMD-2-0105
Copyright
©2003
Copyright owner
IMD Copyright
Available Languages
English
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Research Information & Knowledge Hub for additional information on IMD publications
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Here’s what we predicted for 2024… how did we do?
Summary
Did our predictions for 2024 come true, a turbulent election year, bitcoin and CBDC, COP29 and electric cars, China, EU integration and Euro football
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The geopolitical context
Summary
Companies don’t operate in a vacuum. Corporate leaders have to navigate political dynamics, and in Chapter 12 we discuss nonmarket strategies. But there’s a global dimension to sustainability that’s worth a separate discussion. Will rising geopoli...
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Why now?
Summary
In the past, many business leaders could operate much like
the generic merchants in Adam Smith’s Wealth of Nations.
They could pursue their own personal and corporate ends,
while resting assured that an “invisible hand” would promote the pub...
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Defining sustainability
Summary
In today’s complex and fast-paced business environment,
sustainability has evolved from a buzzword into an essential
element of long-term success. Yet the concept is often misunderstood or oversimplified. Some critics question the
necessity ...
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Seizing opportunities rather than managing risks
Summary
As any executive will tell you, moral suasion will not convince most companies to commit to sustainability. Even major long-term threats will not do it. Companies need positive reasons to undertake significant investments. Fortunately, sustainabil...
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Leading the sustainable business transformation A playbook from IMD
Summary
Based on extensive research conducted in the past several years at the International Institute for Management Development in Switzerland (IMD), Leading the Sustainable Business Transformation: A Playbook from IMD helps readers understand why susta...
Copyright
©2025
Copyright owner
External Copyright
Available Languages
English
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Time to go green? What bonds are best for you?
Summary
Green and sustainability-linked bonds offer companies new funding to reach sustainability goals. Salvatore Cantale and Barry Gavin explain how to balance processes with outcomes to tap into a booming market.
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Deepening the conversation on systemic sustainability risks: A social-ecological systems approach
Summary
Narrow views of systemic sustainability risks can result in ecological concerns being neglected, as well as giving rise to unequal distribution and exploitation of natural resources, creating injustice. Given recent advancements in integrating jus...
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IG4 Capital: Private equity with a purpose
Summary
SEPTEMBER 2023, SÃO PAULO (BRAZIL). Gustavo Buffara was painstakingly putting the finishing touches on the IG4 Private Equity Fund III presentation. Co-founded by Gustavo in 2016, IG4 Capital had grown to become a leading force in private equity in Latin America with a unique value proposition that focused on private equity special situations. With 52 professionals worldwide across seven offices (in São Paulo, London, Lima, Madrid, Bogotá, Washington, DC and Santiago), the firm was now heading to manage some $1.7 billion, with more than $1.1 billion invested in special situations over recent years. What made Gustavo particularly proud was the fact that the firm was able to operate not only under the highest sustainability standards, as an early signatory of the Principles for Responsible Investment (PRI), but also as a fully certified B Corp, a first in emerging market private equity. IG4’s portfolio companies now generated more than $2 billion of turnover with around 20,000 employees in different countries across Latin America, and many of them had achieved or were on their way to their own B Corp certifications. Could a Cerberus-inspired special situations strategy, often perceived as brutal, be adapted to a more culturally sensitive, developing-market equivalent, with clearer environmental, social and governance (ESG) integration? In other words, could “vulture capital” be turned into “culture capital”? The value proposition resonated with investors, and the track record of IG4 Funds I and II were now solid pillars upon which to build. But what else could the company do to ensure that its private equity investments in different segments, with a deep ESG toolbox, would help establish sustainable capitalism in the Latin American region? What else should it consider doing to reaffirm its ESG credentials even further?
Reference
IMD-7-2545
Copyright
©2024
Copyright owner
IMD Copyright
Organization
IG4 Capital Partners
Industry
Finance and Insurance, Private Equity
Available Languages
English
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Research Information & Knowledge Hub for additional information on IMD publications