Business Commons^™

Hytch Rewards: Incentivizing Sustainable Behavior, Jeff Cohu

Faculty Publications

Mark Cleveland, Co-founder and CEO of Hytch Rewards, was facing a dilemma. His technology- based startup, Hytch Rewards, was at a critical juncture in the company launch. The company

had just recorded its best quarter in company history, but the pandemic had placed the company’s future in jeopardy. Mark pulled together his team of advisors and investors and asked the question, “Should we pause, pivot, or continue to pursue the launch of the company?”

The team came back equally divided among the three options. “Some of our group said we should stop development work and place the company on hold …

Chasing The Entrepreneurial Dream: The Case Of The Poke-A-Dot Organizer, Jeff Cohu

Faculty Publications

This teaching case study examines the development and launch of a new consumer product by a solo entrepreneur and the challenges of achieving sales growth in a small, bootstrapped startup with limited resources. The case follows Jane Lee, founder and CEO of Poke-A-Dot, LLC, as she considers her next steps in pursuing her company launch. The narrative discusses the company’s history and challenges to achieve sustainable growth. Some major themes presented in the case include market validation, startup marketing strategy, and entrepreneurial passion and resilience.

Qalo: When Is It Time To Exit?, Jeff Cohu

Faculty Publications

The case follows the origin story of the startup company QALO from its inception and launch through the first few years of scaling up the business to a potential exit decision by a co-founder. The case is intended to be used in undergraduate entrepreneurship or sales and marketing courses at the junior and senior level. The case is designed to illustrate the challenges of scaling a fast-growing startup and to evaluate the options of a founder's exit strategy. The case is useful to demonstrate concepts such as lean startup methodology, sales channel selection, startup business model development, and exit strategy …

Revisiting The Purpose Of Business, Joseph Bamber, Andy Borchers

Faculty Publications

While it is easy to see the ways that business has gone global today, it is less easy to see how scriptural ideas for holistic business are currently put in practice. We have outlined themes related to business found in Scripture and used them to create a holistic scorecard for businesses. We also compare recent views on the purpose of business and some businesses that follow these models using the scorecard. We include the classic 1970 essay by Milton Friedman (“The Social Responsibility of Business is to Increase Its Profits”) and continue through John Elkington (Cannibals with Forks), Mackey & …

The Evolution Of A Christian Business School's Mission--Bringing "Business As Mission" To A Business School's Mission, Chuck Capps, Rob Touchstone, Ray Eldridge, Leanne Smith, Andy Borchers

Faculty Publications

Colleges of business typically seek accreditation to achieve legitimacy and raise their reputations. Major business school accreditors (AACSB, ACBSP, and IACBE) all base their accreditation standards on college-created mission statements. This paper describes how one Christian business school developed a unique mission statement in response to both accreditation standards and as a spiritual transformation catalyst. This statement calls for the college to “develop business leaders who embrace the values and virtues of Jesus,” and it is now being inculcated through curricular and co-curricular activities. This paper details how three programs in particular: Business as Mission, Servant Leadership, and Service Learning—manifest …