05 Dec 2022
New Cases - November 2022
We are pleased to share the list of new INSEAD case studies published in November 2022.
All the cases are great illustrations of collaborative work between faculty, staff, students and alumni.
In the last five years, Professors Mark Stabile and Alexandra Roulet have collaborated on eight case studies in the Economics & Finance area. In their latest case, they shade light on president of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen and her efforts to protect people in the European Union from sudden price hikes in natural gas in 2022 in keeping with the UN Sustainable Development Goals "affordable and clean energy".
Professor Balagopal Vissa has co-authored a new case with Monisha Varadan, MBA'10 alumna and Entrepreneur in Residence at INSEAD, in which they explore corporate venture building, and the challenge of value creation through co-incubation of new ventures. Monisha Varadan has had published two artciles in HBR on entrepreneurship and venture capital with Professor Claudia Zeisberger :
- Is Corporate Venture Capital Right for Your Startup? by Nicolas Sauvage, Claudia Zeisberger, and Monisha Varadan (2022);
- How the VC Pitch Process Is Failing Female Entrepreneurs by Kamal Hassan, Monisha Varadan, and Claudia Zeisberger (2020).
Professor Atalay Atasu has co-written a new case with Benjamin Kessler, former Managing Editor of INSEAD Knowledge, which highlights Ambienta’s pioneering work in sustainable investing in private equity. Their collaboration reinforces the relationship between Ambienta and INSEAD. Several team members, including Nino Tronchetti Provera (Founder and Managing Partner) and Fabio Ranghino (Head of Sustainability & Strategy) are INSEAD alumni.
Under the supervision of Professor Claudia Zeisberger , two INSEAD MBA students have written an Entrepreneurship case about the start-up ecosystem in Vietnam. They explore early fintech investing in SE Asia and share the experiences of a first-time entrepreneur.
Read a 'scene setter’ for each new case below.
Spiralling Energy Costs Threaten Climate Change Goals by Mark Stabile, Alexandra Roulet, Brian Henry
Topic Economics & Finance; Region Europe
This case explores the social, political and economic dilemmas faced by Ursula von der Leyen, president of the European Commission and a passionate supporter of measures to limit climate change at a time of great upheaval in global energy markets. Holding fast to her climate goals and a commitment to shield the EU from soaring oil and gas bills, she is not afraid to enforce tough global sanctions against Russian President Vladimir Putin when Gazprom, the state-controlled gas monopoly, cuts off supplies of natural gas in September 2022. The case reveals the lengths to which von der Leyen goes, from solidarity measures such as a windfall tax on energy companies, to setting dynamic price limits on natural gas in the global energy markets in an effort to protect vulnerable people as winter approaches. Meanwhile, her commitment to renewable energy is undermined by some EU member states as the coal industry ramps up production in response to gas shortages.
Walking the Tightrope as a Corporate Venture Builder (A): Amoy Street Ventures’ Initial Partnership and Walking the Tightrope as a Corporate Venture Builder (B): The August Partnership Meeting by Balagopal Vissa, Monisha Varadan
Topic Leadership & Organisations; Region Global
The case examines the complex tri-partite relationship between an incumbent corporate, a venture builder and incubating ventures in the context of open innovation. It is set in an innovation created up in Singapore by an established commercial bank and its partner – a corporate venture builder, to jointly incubate new businesses.
Sustainable Investing in Ambienta (A) and Environmental Impact-Driven Private Equity Decisions at Ambienta (B) by Atalay Atasu, Benjamin Kessler
Topic Responsibility; Region Europe; Industry Investment Banking
This case study tells the story of Ambienta, an Italy-based asset management company that was an early entrant in the field of sustainable investing. From the very beginning, founder and managing partner Nino Tronchetti Provera saw sustainability as a “mega-trend” with broad implications for the national economy. By contrast, Ambienta’s competitors – a category that now includes some of the world’s largest asset managers – apply ESG-based investment criteria that often produce more questions than answers about how environmental sustainability can drive financial returns.
Investing in Vietnam’s Digital Investment Revolution: Insignia Ventures’ Investment in Finhay by Claudia Zeisberger, Paulo Joquino, Cici Mao, Ting Yan
Topic Entrepreneurship; Region Asia; Industry Venture Capital
The start-up ecosystem in Vietnam has seen rapid growth since 2020. This case follows an early entrant, Insignia Ventures Partners, led by Yinglan Tan out of Singapore, who is considering an investment in Finhay, a robo-advisor in the emerging fintech space in Vietnam. Is there potential to turn Finhay into one of the first ‘unicorns’ in Vietnam? Are the platform’s traction and market factors pointing to digitalization in financial services in Vietnam sufficient? How could Insignia, as an investor in Finhay translate the market potential and initial product-market fit into concrete growth? What is the best direction for Finhay beyond its current positioning to achieve unicorn status and market leadership in a highly competitive setting in SE Asia?