The cases examine how Danone, the leading French food company, and Grameen, Mohammed Yunus' organization, built Grameen Danone Food Limited (GDFL), the first "Social Business" ever co-developed according to the 2006 Nobel Prize winner principles.
During an informal lunch with Mohammed Yunus, Danone CEO's Franck Riboud agreed to form a Social Business (SB) in order to fight children's malnutrition in Bangladesh. This hand-shake resulted in the construction of a small plant in Bogra, designed to produce "shokti-doi", yoghurt specifically developed for Bangladesh. The development of such a new organizational form is far from being smooth, however, raising legitimate questions about its true potential as a way to alleviate poverty. Although no definitive answer can be provided at this stage, the case series provide instructors with enough details to illustrate the pros and cons of social businesses. More fundamentally, the series examine the use of market-based solutions to fight poverty and illustrate how firms exercise their Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR).
Case A is positioned in December 2008, at a time when GDFL's model is clearly not performing. It gives an historical perspective on the joint-venture, and underlines the tension between the business' social and the economic aspects.
Cases B and C are short follow-up cases designed to be distributed in class.