Growing Pains at Commonwealth Dairy

Name: Growing Pains at Commonwealth Dairy (English version)
SKU: BAB-239

Cohan, Peter;Hariharan, Sam

Product #:BAB-239

Supplier:Babson College

Discipline:Entrepreneurship

Details:Case (PDF) • 17 pages • 2016-08-01

Subjects:

Entrepreneurship Start-ups Venture capital Cross-cultural management Product development Growth strategy Investment management Management Product management Corporate strategy Entrepreneurship

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The Growing Pains at Commonwealth Dairy case provides an interesting situation to explore the challenges faced by a fast-growth company and the potential ways to address these challenges. Specifically, Commonwealth Dairy (CD) faces challenges that may be categorized along the following dimensions: a) how to continue the rapid pace of growth, b) how to manage the administrative challenges which the two founding managers faced, brought on by growth and the establishment of a second location of operations, c) how to manage the changing roles of the co-founders and the increasing need for more formal management systems and processes, and d) how to manage the changing nature of the co-founders' relationship with their primary investor from Germany. The co-founders face some key decisions regarding the future of CD in terms of its growth trajectory, the CD organization's ability to sustain its entrepreneurial energy and values in light of explosive growth, the relationship between CD and their primary investor Ehrmann, and finally, the co-founders' personal aspirations and roles.

Learning Objectives

This case is suitable for courses in Strategy, Strategy Execution, or Entrepreneurship. We have used this case very effectively in a Strategy Execution course, where it has led to an animated discussion. The primary learning objective of the case is to help students understand and analyze the different kinds of challenges faced by co-founders of a very successful entrepreneurial venture when confronted by explosive growth, and what actions they may take to cope with these challenges. The case is relatively open-ended in presenting the different options that management may have, so it is rich in allowing students significant creative freedom in generating managerial options, as well as in proposing criteria to help choose among these options.