Navigating an eternal ocean – EnerGaia’s emergent strategy in the market for Spirulina

The case follows the evolution of EnerGaia, a technology firm pioneering rooftop production of spirulina (blue-green algae) in developing markets. The narrative and discussion questions focus on the strategic choices of the CEO, Saumil Shah. Core questions regard Saumil’s options for positioning his...

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Main Authors: SCHILLEBEECKX, Simon J.D., MERRILL, Ryan Knowles
Format: text
Language:English
Published: Institutional Knowledge at Singapore Management University 2019
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Online Access:https://ink.library.smu.edu.sg/cases_coll_all/259
https://smu-my.sharepoint.com/personal/chiweichan_smu_edu_sg/_layouts/15/onedrive.aspx?listurl=https://smu.sharepoint.com/sites/admin/CMP&id=/sites/admin/CMP/cases/SMU-19-BATCH [PDF-Pic]/SMU-19-0008 [Energaia]/SMU-19-0008 [Energaia].pdf&parent=/sites/admin/CMP/cases/SMU-19-BATCH [PDF-Pic]/SMU-19-0008 [Energaia]
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spelling sg-smu-ink.cases_coll_all-12622022-02-10T08:52:16Z Navigating an eternal ocean – EnerGaia’s emergent strategy in the market for Spirulina SCHILLEBEECKX, Simon J.D. MERRILL, Ryan Knowles The case follows the evolution of EnerGaia, a technology firm pioneering rooftop production of spirulina (blue-green algae) in developing markets. The narrative and discussion questions focus on the strategic choices of the CEO, Saumil Shah. Core questions regard Saumil’s options for positioning his company within the value chain and the trade-offs he faces in pursuing a mid-end market in Europe for dry spirulina powder versus lower cost spirulina in the developing markets of Asia. The case describes how Saumil leverages reputation to obtain resources. EnerGaia wins various awards from development organisations (Blue Ocean, USAID) that love its mission to help the poor with a new farming system. A social mission also helps attract quality interns and biologists. A challenge of these financial and reputational influxes is that they enable the firm to continue without necessarily becoming profitable and that they may risk pushing the firm in a specific direction that may not be sustainable in the long-run. Now the firm may appear to be “going corporate”, deviating from its roots and “springboarding” on the reputational advantages of a socially-oriented start-up model to become a profit-seeking biotech firm. In identifying and realising an emergent strategy, Saumil and his staff must wrestle with sustaining a consistent identity, allocating scarce resources, and building scalable processes. The case concludes by asking which direction its CEO should take for 2018: should he continue working towards developing markets in multiple countries while chasing development grant money as a social enterprise, or should he focus on commercial partnerships? Also, while working with his scientists, should the CEO continue his pursuit of an Eternal Ocean breakthrough to empower scaling of the EnerGaia solution across rural landscapes, or should he focus on pioneering farm-scale organics to supply high-priced spirulina (and the tech to produce it) to a rapidly growing European market? 2019-05-01T07:00:00Z text https://ink.library.smu.edu.sg/cases_coll_all/259 https://smu-my.sharepoint.com/personal/chiweichan_smu_edu_sg/_layouts/15/onedrive.aspx?listurl=https://smu.sharepoint.com/sites/admin/CMP&id=/sites/admin/CMP/cases/SMU-19-BATCH [PDF-Pic]/SMU-19-0008 [Energaia]/SMU-19-0008 [Energaia].pdf&parent=/sites/admin/CMP/cases/SMU-19-BATCH [PDF-Pic]/SMU-19-0008 [Energaia] Case Collection eng Institutional Knowledge at Singapore Management University Commercialisation Social entrepreneurship Social enterprise Fund raising Growth strategy Resource-based strategy Entrepreneurial and Small Business Operations Strategic Management Policy
institution Singapore Management University
building SMU Libraries
continent Asia
country Singapore
Singapore
content_provider SMU Libraries
collection InK@SMU
language English
topic Commercialisation
Social entrepreneurship
Social enterprise
Fund raising
Growth strategy
Resource-based strategy
Entrepreneurial and Small Business Operations
Strategic Management Policy
spellingShingle Commercialisation
Social entrepreneurship
Social enterprise
Fund raising
Growth strategy
Resource-based strategy
Entrepreneurial and Small Business Operations
Strategic Management Policy
SCHILLEBEECKX, Simon J.D.
MERRILL, Ryan Knowles
Navigating an eternal ocean – EnerGaia’s emergent strategy in the market for Spirulina
description The case follows the evolution of EnerGaia, a technology firm pioneering rooftop production of spirulina (blue-green algae) in developing markets. The narrative and discussion questions focus on the strategic choices of the CEO, Saumil Shah. Core questions regard Saumil’s options for positioning his company within the value chain and the trade-offs he faces in pursuing a mid-end market in Europe for dry spirulina powder versus lower cost spirulina in the developing markets of Asia. The case describes how Saumil leverages reputation to obtain resources. EnerGaia wins various awards from development organisations (Blue Ocean, USAID) that love its mission to help the poor with a new farming system. A social mission also helps attract quality interns and biologists. A challenge of these financial and reputational influxes is that they enable the firm to continue without necessarily becoming profitable and that they may risk pushing the firm in a specific direction that may not be sustainable in the long-run. Now the firm may appear to be “going corporate”, deviating from its roots and “springboarding” on the reputational advantages of a socially-oriented start-up model to become a profit-seeking biotech firm. In identifying and realising an emergent strategy, Saumil and his staff must wrestle with sustaining a consistent identity, allocating scarce resources, and building scalable processes. The case concludes by asking which direction its CEO should take for 2018: should he continue working towards developing markets in multiple countries while chasing development grant money as a social enterprise, or should he focus on commercial partnerships? Also, while working with his scientists, should the CEO continue his pursuit of an Eternal Ocean breakthrough to empower scaling of the EnerGaia solution across rural landscapes, or should he focus on pioneering farm-scale organics to supply high-priced spirulina (and the tech to produce it) to a rapidly growing European market?
format text
author SCHILLEBEECKX, Simon J.D.
MERRILL, Ryan Knowles
author_facet SCHILLEBEECKX, Simon J.D.
MERRILL, Ryan Knowles
author_sort SCHILLEBEECKX, Simon J.D.
title Navigating an eternal ocean – EnerGaia’s emergent strategy in the market for Spirulina
title_short Navigating an eternal ocean – EnerGaia’s emergent strategy in the market for Spirulina
title_full Navigating an eternal ocean – EnerGaia’s emergent strategy in the market for Spirulina
title_fullStr Navigating an eternal ocean – EnerGaia’s emergent strategy in the market for Spirulina
title_full_unstemmed Navigating an eternal ocean – EnerGaia’s emergent strategy in the market for Spirulina
title_sort navigating an eternal ocean – energaia’s emergent strategy in the market for spirulina
publisher Institutional Knowledge at Singapore Management University
publishDate 2019
url https://ink.library.smu.edu.sg/cases_coll_all/259
https://smu-my.sharepoint.com/personal/chiweichan_smu_edu_sg/_layouts/15/onedrive.aspx?listurl=https://smu.sharepoint.com/sites/admin/CMP&id=/sites/admin/CMP/cases/SMU-19-BATCH [PDF-Pic]/SMU-19-0008 [Energaia]/SMU-19-0008 [Energaia].pdf&parent=/sites/admin/CMP/cases/SMU-19-BATCH [PDF-Pic]/SMU-19-0008 [Energaia]
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