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Product cover image for Helga Wear: The Unzipped Potential of Women’s Workwear

Helga Wear: The Unzipped Potential of Women’s Workwear

Vania Sakelaris, Janice Byrne

Product #:W32629
Supplier:Ivey
Discipline:Entrepreneurship, General Management
Setting:Canada, 2021
Details:Case (PDF) • 15 pages • 2023-06-13

Subjects:

GenderDiversity and inclusionCognitive biasBehavioral scienceEntrepreneurship

Industries:

Fabrication and manufacturing

Geography:

North AmericaCanada
Your Price:$9.71

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The case traces the story of Jodi Huettner, a mechanical engineer, and her journey to launch Helga Wear Inc. (Helga Wear), a company that developed personal protective equipment (PPE) in the form of workwear specifically designed for women. Huettner started the venture following her own struggles working in PPE designed for men. The case outlines the various challenges she encountered in bringing her product to market and illustrates how gender bias affects not only product design but also product demand. The case also follows the “idea journey” of an innovation, outlining the founder’s bootstrapped approach and her interactions with multiple stakeholders along the way. It also demonstrates the importance of considering the role of the broader ecosystem—such as industry standards—in shaping product demand.

Learning Objectives

This case would be well-suited to undergraduate- and graduate-level courses on entrepreneurship. It may be better suited to the earlier part of the course and is a particularly useful case for illustrating the effects of gender bias, beyond the gender of the entrepreneur. By working through the case and assignment questions, students will have the opportunity to do the following:

  • Observe how new ventures often emerge from a personally experienced problem.
  • Follow the idea journey of an innovation, moving from initial idea generation to implementation.
  • Appreciate how gender bias can manifest in product design (and translate to market demand).
  • Consider ways that a bootstrapped entrepreneur can mobilize support and resources.
  • Appreciate the importance of ecosystem barriers for entrepreneurs.
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Case Study: Helga Wear: The Unzipped Potential of Women’s Workwear (English version) | Ivey Publishing