Category winner:
Apple and Conflict Materials: Ethical Sourcing for Sustainability

Debapratim Purkayastha and Adapa Rao Srinivasa

Debapratim talks about their pride of winning the award and the importance of remembering the reason for writing a case in the first place.

Special feeling

Debapratim said: “It is very special to win an award in the highly competitive Production and Operations Management category for the first time.”

Dealing with modern day slavery

Debapratim commented: “This case deals with the critical issue of modern slavery in the supply chain of MNCs and the wicked problem posed by conflict minerals. Many people cannot even comprehend how the evils of slavery have permeated our daily lives through the products we use, and how important it has become for MNCs to identify and mitigate risks in their supply chain. There were few cases on the topic and we took it upon ourselves to develop a case that will help take this issue into the classroom.”

Catering for all

He explained: “I always try to capture the interesting situations that arise in the real world with all its richness and complexity and bring it into a classroom. These situations often do not necessarily fall into watertight compartments – strategy, marketing, operations. So, while this Apple case is very useful in an Operations Management/Supply Chain Management class, it can be equally useful in a Strategy or a Business Ethics/Corporate Sustainability class. As an instructor, you can go deep into a specific subject area with this case or even approach it from a multi-disciplinary perspective.”

Shaping the future of students

He added: “Never lose focus of why you are writing the case in the first place! It helps to remember that you are not writing this case just as an ancillary part of your job as a management instructor, or doing this just to ‘get credit’; you are doing this to achieve certain objectives in the classrooms (for yourself and others using this case in their classroom). You are shaping the future of numerous students by helping them develop key skills that will contribute towards making them industry-ready.”

Follow-up case

Debapratim concluded: “While it is becoming increasingly important for MNCs to tackle the issue of modern slavery, it is usually not an easy solve as the supply chains are often unique, opaque and with multiple layers. High quality cases on this critical theme are also few. So, as an instructor, if you are looking for a follow-up case, you may try out this Nestlé case.”

About the authors

Debapratim Purkayastha is Dean (Case Research Center) at ICFAI Business School (IBS).
e debapratim@icmrindia.org
tw @dpurkayastha

Adapa Rao Srinivasa is a Case writer at ICFAI Business School (IBS).
e adapavasu@gmail.com