Case Research Foundation | Annual Report 2025

Helping keep the classroom vital and alive, grounded in the shifting complexities faced by managers around the world. The Case Research Foundation supports the mission of the North American Case Research Association (NACRA), to promote awareness, development, and dissemination of case research, writing, and teaching, through the provision of scholarships and grants and through other charitable and educational activities associated with this goal.

During 2025, we granted 10 Paul R. Lawrence Fellowships to enable doctoral students and early-career faculty members to attend the annual NACRA conference for specialized training in case research, writing, and teaching, and granted the Kay Guess Memorial Award in Accounting, Finance or Economics for the outstanding case presented at the NACRA conference.

“Well-researched and relevant cases from around the world, effectively taught in a social learning environment to facilitate the development of critical thinking, problem solving, ethical decision-making, and interpersonal communication, play a critical role in preparing students for the systemic fragility and uncertainty they face. I am excited to contribute to the transformational impact the Case Research Foundation’s programs will have.””

— Michael Goldman, Chair

New leadership

In early 2026, Michael Goldman was appointed Chair and Eric Dolansky was appointed Vice Chair, both for three-year terms.

Our 2025 Paul R. Lawrence Fellows

Our 2025 Fellows represented eight countries, including France, Brazil, Colombia, India, Nigeria, Sri Lanka, Korea, and the USA. These talented scholars are contributing to management education in a range of fields, from Data Analytics, Marketing, and Strategy, to Operations, Social Entrepreneurship, and Sport Management.

Meet the 2025 fellows

**The 2025 conference was held in Newport Beach, CA**

Paul R. Lawrence Fellowship experience

The 2025 NACRA conference was hosted in Newport Beach, California. Our 10 Fellowship recipients participated in specialized training in case research, writing, and teaching, including a dedicated morning session facilitated by Armand Gilinsky and Maria Ballesteros-Sola. Each Fellowship recipient was allocated to one of the unique discipline-based case roundtable tracks, during which they were able to learn directly from other case authors. The Fellowship recipients also met with their faculty mentors, contributed to the John Seeger Start-up cases workshop, attended the keynote address on the case method and AI, and engaged with case publishers and journal editors in the closing panel discussion.

Spotlight on 2025 Fellows

Awards

Congratulations to Siddharth Wadehra, PRL Fellow ‘25, a doctoral student from the Indian Institute of Management Ranchi, who received the Best Student Authored Case award at the 2025 NACRA conference, and who also presented his research on a framework for award-winning case studies during one of the conference’s New Views sessions.

Well done to another PRL Fellow ‘25, Magalie Dubois, Assistant Professor, Burgundy School of Business, who co-authored the case that was awarded Best Case Gold at the 2025 NACRA conference with InHaeng Jung, PRL Fellow ‘24, and Michael Goldman, PRL Fellow ‘15.

Testimonials

“Thank you so much again for everything you have done for us fellows. I cannot express how grateful I am for this opportunity and for the amazing opportunity to attend NACRA this year. I am amazed by the community that this conference has.” ”

— Alexia Lopes, PRL Fellow ‘25, Assistant Teaching Professor, Sport Management, Falk College of Sport, Syracuse University

“Thank you for curating this extremely enriching experience over the past three days. I am fortunate enough to have been exposed to some of the best case teachers and researchers across the world through the PRL Fellowship 2025. I shall continue to be in touch and contribute to case research, teaching, and writing in the future through NACRA and otherwise.””

— Arvind Shroff, PRL Fellow ‘25, Operations & Supply Chain Management, IIM Lucknow

Our thanks to the faculty mentors who supported our 2025 Fellows:

Randall Harris
Stephanie Raible
Maria Ballesteros-Sola
Olga Kandinskaia
Brooke Klaasen
Nicki Amos
Vijaya Zinnoury
Janis Gogan
Ram Subramanian
Michael Goldman

Previous Paul R. Lawrence Fellows making an impact

Xiangming Tao, PRL Fellow ‘24, published his “From Dorm Room to Doorsteps: The Rise of HungryPanda in Global Food Delivery” case which he presented and further developed at the 2024 NACRA conference, and for which he also recently won the Outstanding New Case Writer award from the Case Centre.

The competition judges added: "The case and teaching note are well written and clearly articulate the dilemma Kelu Liu faces as HungryPanda considers its next steps. Rather than focusing solely on entrepreneurship, the case offers a compelling growth story, with a strong explanation of the company’s background and the wider food delivery industry. We were particularly impressed by the clarity of the writing, the depth of the teaching note, and the quality of the exhibits."

Vijay Krishnamurthy, PRL Fellow ‘24, co-authored the case that was awarded Best Case Silver at the 2025 NACRA conference with Ram Subramanian and Sonia Mehrotra: “PLAETO: The 'Multiplay' Disruption in the Indian Athletic Footwear Market.”

Maria Ballesteros-Sola, PRL Fellow ‘16, was celebrated at the 2023 and 2025 NACRA conferences as a finalist for the Curtis E. Tate award for the best case in the Case Research Journal, for her two cases: “EOS International: Scaling Financially Sustainable Impact Through Technologies in Nicaragua and Beyond”; and “Pikolinos: Launching Spanish Footwear Manufacturing into Human Augmentation”.

Anjan Ghosh, PRL Fellow ‘16, was a finalist for the Organization and Management Theory Division’s Best Environmental and Social Practices Paper Award at the 2025 Academy of Management conference. This paper further developed his award-winning 2023 article in the Academy of Management Journal, which analyzed a longitudinal case study of the Child In Need Institute.

The Kay Guess Memorial Award

This award recognizes excellence in cases focused on Accounting, Finance, or Economics presented at the annual NACRA conference. The award was created to recognize the distinguished service of A. Kay Guess to NACRA and her contributions to case writing. Congratulations to Shikha Bhatia, Reena Nayyar, and Sanjay Dhamija, all from IMI Delhi, who received this award in 2025 for “Mankind Pharma Limited’s Acquisition of BSV: A Masterstroke or a Risky Gamble?”

Financials

Expenses

Fundraising

In 2025, we raised $18,266 from a range of individual and corporate donors. Our fundraising goal for 2026 is $25,000.

Donors

Allan Cohen
Andy Sinclair
Anne Lawrence
Armand Gilinsky
Caleb Chen
Danielle Clark
David & Sarah Hehman
Deborah & Tom Ettington
Emerald Publishing
Harry Lane
InHaeng Jung
Ivey Publishing
Linda Swayne

Magalie Dubois
Maria Ballesteros-Sola
McGraw-Hill Higher Ed
Michael Goldman
Michael Tushman and Marjorie Williams
Nada Elnalha Ramadan
Pawel Ziemianski
Ranjay Gulati
Sage Business Cases
Sandra Degrassi
Stephanie Raible
Viktor Golovii
Xiangming Tao