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Rethinking Partnerships to Drive Innovation and Business Value amid the New Normal

Pulse Survey Sponsored By HCL

Historically, times of crisis have resulted in periods of great innovation because organizations are forced to respond, to bounce back. The response to the Covid-19 pandemic has been no exception, as normal barriers to innovation dropped, internal decision making accelerated to accommodate remote work, and customer service had to be reimagined. As a result, most companies increased their collaboration with a wide range of parties, including technology partners, customers, government agencies, and industry and standards groups. Elevated, too, has been internal collaboration among employees. The success of this heightened collaboration has only created higher expectations for what partnerships can do for organizations moving forward.

Standout Traits for a Great Partner Case Study (With Examples)

It’s no surprise that partner case studies are a wee bit of a struggle to produce. Getting your customers to agree to a case study is one thing; getting your customer and your partner to agree to a case study is a miracle. On top of the fact that the partnerships world is still such a gray area for partner managers everywhere (let alone their leadership), partner case studies in SaaS are a rare sighting in the wild (think: the bat-eared fox. Do you even know what that is? 😝) . 

So, think of this roundup as snapshots of the elusive partner case studies that lurk in the depths of the SaaS ecosystem — a co-marketing material still so new that, just maybe, by producing one of your own, you’ll be ahead of the curve already. 

Below, we offer some partner case study standout traits, followed by a collection of examples located in (butler voice) the gallery , and a checklist for rolling out your own case study program.

1. Wow your readers by placing the results in the title.

While the rest of your case study should give the reader context, the results are what matter most to your potential buyers and their leadership teams. So, put the results at the top! SugarCRM kicks off its case study with Kyloe Partners and Bullhorn by sharing how they doubled lead-gen campaigns while cutting 60% of their customer’s workload.

Our suggestion: if someone were to ask you “What is the most impressive part of this case study?”, what is the first thing you’d say? That’s your headline.

2. Make the metrics obvious. 

If your customer has observed more than one area of growth, that’s awesome. Draw the reader’s eyes right to the numbers. In Facebook’s case study with Zapier and Wicked Good Cupcakes , they placed their metrics in a standalone box that makes the numbers the most important information on the page.

Meanwhile, Acquia’s case study with Third and Grove and King Arthur Baking Company features their results point-blank in a standalone line that reads “Results.” (Say what?)

3. Define the customer’s use case or challenge. 

It’s likely that your customers can use your integration for multiple use cases, so be clear about what this particular customer’s use case is from the start. In Microsoft Azure’s case study with Sourced Group and a Canadian bank , they clearly list out the challenge, the solution, and the result in three brief columns.

They also dive deeper into the bank’s challenges with a numbered list.

4. Define the audience or market. 

Your customers will want to know how you’ve solved challenges they’re facing internally or that their customers may be facing. Make an easy connection for them by pointing out the specific audience or market the case study applies to. 

Greenlight Guru’s case study with Rook Quality Systems explicitly describes how RQS’s clientele of medical professionals informs RQS’s product investments. 

5. Get customer quotes.

Tableau’s case study with AWS and ride-hailing app FREE NOW includes quotes from FREE NOW’s Head of Analytics showing how indispensable Tableau has been, in tandem with AWS, for their team’s daily operations. 

Tip: Repurpose your customer quotes by including them on your website, in press releases, and even in your outbound sales outreach. 

6. Put the results in perspective: Include a timeframe. 

Growth metrics don’t mean anything if they’re not tied to a before and after. Include the exact timeframe your analysis fits into.

And yes, Facebook’s case study with Zapier and Wicked Good Cupcakes is, indeed, cupcake-themed!

7. Get partner quotes.

You have quotes from your shared customer, why not also include a quote from your partner? Partner quotes can be especially useful for agencies who want to prove the value of their services to their customers and software vendors.

Cisco’s case study with Matternet and Stratus Information Systems includes quotes from individuals from Stratus Information Systems and Matternet — each of whom found the other to be invaluable while implementing Cisco’s software. 

8. Add personal stories.

Including brief personal stories can give extra life to an otherwise data-heavy document (think: the people behind the products and, more specifically, the customer service that makes working with a SaaS company so customer-friendly).

SugarCRM’s case study with Kyloe Partners and Bullhorn shares a meet-cute-ish story detailing how Kyloe Partners’ co-founder and director and Bullhorn’s co-founder met back in the day (Can’t you just see it in a movie?). 

9. Show them the people behind the product. 

Did I mention a big part of SaaS is that last “S”? It’s all about the service.

Greenlight Guru’s  case study with Rook Quality Systems talks about how much RQS values the company because of its relationship with GG employees. 

10. Avoid the “wall of text” effect. 

Grab your designer (Hi, Nick !), and develop a creative way to organize the benefits or data you’re showcasing in the case study.

Braze’s case study with Segment, Amplitude, and IBM includes a graphic displaying their in-platform activities. 

And Acquia’s case study with Third and Grove and King Arthur Baking Company includes the stakeholders, situation, challenge, solution, and results neatly laid out — bringing the good stuff front and center. 

11. Create video content.

For an extra special case study, and if your customer’s on board for the extra time commitment, consider creating a video. 

ActiveCampaign’s case study with Salesforce and the Museum of Science and Industry, Chicago , includes a video at the top that dives into what the MSI team’s work days look like, the challenges they experience, and how the ActiveCampaign-Salesforce integration has helped them. 

If you’re curious, we picked apart ActiveCampaign’s entire co-marketing playbook for getting to #1 in Salesforce’s marketing automation AppExchange .

From ActiveCampaign’s case study with Salesforce and the Museum of Science and Industry, Chicago 

Sensyne includes a case study video on their website , existing outside of their official case study with Microsoft and Cognizant , explaining how they’ve deployed patient monitoring capabilities during COVID-19. 

From Cognizant’s case study with Microsoft and Sensyne Health (video case study on Sensyne Health’s website) 

12. Talk up your partners.

Include context about your partners, and talk them up. This case study should make you and your partner shine! 

Tip: Include your partner case studies on the customer success section of your website and your partner page . It’s not just your potential customers reading these case studies, it’s also your potential partners. 

Amazon Web Services’ case study with Deluxe Entertainment Services and Capgemini features a description of Deluxe Entertainment Services in a standalone section on the right.

13. Include a CTA.

‘Nuff said.

14. Create ancillary content that promotes your case studies. 

Braze’s article in their Perspectives magazine links directly to their case study with Segment , Amplitude , and IBM .

If you’re developing partner case studies for the first time, or if you want to give your existing case studies a second life, check out our partner case study gallery below to gander everything we’ve mentioned thus far in a big picture view .

Partner Case Study Gallery: 

And now, a collection of examples to help inspire your own work.

1. Facebook, Zapier, and Wicked Good Cupcakes

Read the case study .

2. Braze, Segment, Amplitude, and IBM

3. greenlight guru and rook quality systems, 4. sugarcrm, kyloe partners, and bullhorn.

Read the case study . 

5. WPengine, BCF Agency, and Orangetheory Fitness 

6. activecampaign, salesforce, and the museum of science and industry, chicago, 7. microsoft azure, sourced group, and a canadian bank, 8. cisco, matternet, and stratus information systems, 9. aws, deluxe entertainment services, and capgemini , 10. boomi and workiva.

This case study is a little different. In Dell Boomi’s case study with Workiva , they talk about how Workiva’s developers use Boomi to develop integrations for a variety of customers. 

11. Tableau Software, AWS, and FREE NOW 

12. acquia, third and grove, king arthur baking company, 13. cognizant, microsoft, and sensyne health, your partner case study checklist.

Great, you have the fundamentals. But what now? To rollout successful case studies you’ll need to make a few decisions: Considerations for planning your partner case study strategy: 

• Will you develop joint case studies with some of your early adopters before going live with a given integration? (hint: case studies like this can help strengthen your press release and make the case for other customers interested in adopting) 
• Which customers do you have the best relationship with, who may be interested in participating in a case study?
• Is it okay to reach out to the above customers, or will it cause friction in their relationship with your sales or marketing team? (e.g. your team has already sent that customer a number of asks in the past month. Enough is enough!) 
• Are there specific use cases you’re looking to amplify through the case study? (e.g. an increase in revenue vs. a better leads to opportunities rate) 
• Will your case studies be more like a blog post-like or a fact-sheet-like? (note: Braze publishes case studies in their magazine, Perspectives ) 
• Will you create video case studies in addition to written case studies (like Cognizant’s case study with Microsoft and Sensyne Health )? 
• How long will your case studies be? ( ActiveCampaign and Salesforce’s case study with Museum of Science and Industry is quite extensive while Acquia, Third and Grove, and King Arthur Baking Company’s case study spans a single page.

Considerations for distributing your partner case studies:

• Where will your case studies live? Will they be gated with the goal of lead-gen? Or will they be available to the public? (Tip: If you make your case studies publicly available, you may want to consider a “Download PDF” button anyway so readers can pass the case study along to their team, just like Microsoft Azure does) 
• Will your case studies exist as standalone, downloadable documents, as dedicated pages on your site, or another format entirely?
• Will you pull quotes or pieces of analysis from your case studies as previews for a case study homepage — or for elsewhere on your site/marketing materials? (You’ll want to let your customer know your plans ahead of time)
• Will you use your case studies in nurture sequences to drive engagement with your leads?
• Will your case studies be part of a bigger campaign with the participating partner ?

What makes a partner case study great? We called out the best attributes and developed a checklist for planning your case study strategy.

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Cochrane Training

Case studies in partnerships.

Here you will find a series of case studies of partnerships in action within a range of Cochrane Groups. These talk about the background to the partnership, its development, the benefit to both sides and tips for Groups. 

If you have examples of partnership work that you would like to share, please contact Cochrane KT Department .

Cancer Review Group Network identifies potential stakeholders across the network in a mapping exercise

Cochrane Airways and a UK based charity, Asthma UK

Cochrane oral health and their global alliance of partners, cochrane rehabilitation and various national societies of rehabilitation medicine, cochrane rehabilitation and the international society of physical and rehabilitation medicine, cochrane child health and trekk (translating emergency knowledge for kids).

Partner(s): TREKK, a Canadian organisation committed to improving emergency care for children and families across Canada.  Partnership activities: identification of high quality evidence and development of KT tools for healthcare practitioners and parents, made available through the TREKK website.  Type of partnership agreement: formal Date: 2018 Read more 

Further examples

Here you can find links to a range of further examples of partnerships taking place across Cochrane.

Partnership for priority setting

• Neuro-Oncology Group Priority Setting Partnership
• Developing a research agenda for ENT, Hearing and Balance Care

Partnership for review dissemination

• BMJ partners with Cochrane Clinical Answers to boost knowledge at the point of care 
• Cochrane UK partnership with Mediwikis
• Cochrane Airways working with Sense about Science

Partnership for guideline development

• Cochrane Eyes and Vision partnering with American Academy of Ophthalmology
• South African Guidelines Excellence project
• Cochrane Incontinence: working with guideline developers

Partnership for consumer engagement

• Consumers United for Evidence-Based Healthcare (CUE)
• PartecipaSalute : Involving patients, citizens and their association in research 
• Consumer/patient engagement Cochrane Child Health

• Research and Economic Development
• UB Directory

Innovations to Impact

Creating a better world requires collaboration. Together, we help companies take technology innovations to market, leverage expert research , access high-tech facilities and hire talented students .

A biopharmaceutical startup spun out of UB, pioneering a novel drug class aimed at preventing the delivery of anticancer toxins to healthy cells.

An energy materials company creating catalysts to make clean energy more mobile.

A materials manufacturing company developing electrically conductive copper-based inks for printable, flexible electronics.

UB helps commercialize two green technologies.

This inventive company grows biodegradable materials for a sustainable future.

Garwood Medical

The life sciences company tackles implant infections with disruptive UB technology.

KSL Diagnostics

A national reference laboratory scales up diagnostics with funding, equipment and expertise from UB.

Lockheed Martin

Design and integration of mail automation technologies for postal services around the world.

M&T Bank

A partnership between the bank and UB shapes the future of emerging tech leadership and talent.

Ongoing startup support from UB helps this company build its tech and realize its mission.

A global company taps artificial intelligence and UB expertise to improve materials engineering.

National Football League

NFL optimizes team schedules with UB supercomputers.

POP Biotechnologies

Innovative therapies developed at UB target devastating diseases like cancer.

High-tech facilities and support from UB expedite diagnostic testing.

United States Postal Service

Artificial intelligence technology enables efficiency.

You First Services

Computerized simulation and UB technology help reduce the spread of COVID-19.

Case Studies

Driving innovation through partnerships, june 3, 2011.

Since BSR’s founding, we have been strongly committed to achieving our mission through powerful partnerships. BSR’s Partnership Development team is dedicated to catalyzing collaboration between business and social and environmental innovators in the public and nonprofit sectors to make progress on systemic sustainable development challenges.

With grant support from public and corporate foundations, governments, and multilateral institutions, we design unique partnerships on topics ranging from women’s health to the environmental impacts of port operations. By working with funders ranging from a Swedish aid agency to the Rockefeller Brothers Foundation, BSR leverages “venture capital,” our member company network, and our own expertise as well as the expertise of our diverse project partners to help solve development challenges in emerging economies.

HERproject | www.herproject.org

We expanded our factory- and farm-based women’s health training program—HERproject—with a major investment from the Swedish International Development and Cooperation Agency and ongoing support from the Levi Strauss Foundation. This support allowed BSR to link member companies with local partners who designed and provided training for female workers on health-related issues in Bangladesh, Indonesia, and Kenya from our original base in China, Egypt, India, Pakistan, and Vietnam. These training programs, now active in 50 factories, have impacted more than 70,000 women. Based on return-on-investment metrics, this training has not only brought improved worker health and awareness, it has led to reduced absenteeism, lower turnover, and increased productivity.

CiYuan (China Philanthropy Incubator) | ciyuan.bsr.org

With support from the U.S. Department of State, CiYuan is designed both to increase the impact of social investments in China, and to build the capacity and expertise of Chinese nonprofit organizations and their project partners to fund and implement additional efforts. For example, BSR is supporting a new, cross-sector collaboration that includes a multinational company (HP), a U.S.-based nonprofit (the Taproot Foundation), a local nonprofit (Huizeren), and a local foundation (the Narada Foundation) to advance the pro bono service model in China. Our hope is that this model will allow companies and civil society organizations to share skills and build stronger organizations capable of partnering with a wider range of partners.

Migration Linkages

A four-year program in partnership with the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, our Migration Linkages initiative helps protect the rights of migrant workers who are moving between developing countries. We connect multinational companies and their business partners with civil society groups, international organizations, labor unions, and governments to make the global migration system more transparent and advance responsible labor practices. In 2010, we launched a pilot program to protect human rights in the recruitment process for migrant workers in Malaysia and in the Persian Gulf.

Green Ports and Energy Efficiency

With new funding from the Rockefeller Brothers Fund, and building on our experience with BSR’s Clean Cargo Working Group , this project is aimed at evaluating the environmental performance of freight carriers, and working to make ports and terminal operators more sustainable. As a first step, we identified ports’ most significant sustainability issues and developed a framework for ports to consistently report on their performance on those issues. This funding also will allow BSR to expand our Energy Efficiency Partnership, a China-based effort to enhance the energy efficiency of small- and medium-sized enterprises in the Pearl River Delta.

Major Funders in 2010: Private, Corporate, Government

• British Consulate General in Guangzhou
• GE Foundation
• International Finance Corporation
• Levi Strauss Foundation
• MacArthur Foundation
• Rockefeller Brothers Fund
• Swedish International Development and Cooperation Agency
• U.S. Department of State

Let’s talk about how BSR can help you to transform your business and achieve your sustainability goals .

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Team-Building Strategies: Building a Winning Team for Your Organization

Discover how to build a winning team and boost your business negotiation results in this free special report, Team Building Strategies for Your Organization, from Harvard Law School.

Conflict and Negotiation Case Study: Long-Term Business Partnerships and Negotiated Agreements

Business negotiations: the signing of the contract is only the beginning of the negotiation relationship..

By PON Staff — on September 26th, 2019 / Conflict Resolution

To protect the future interests of their organization, negotiators sometimes must accept fewer benefits or absorb greater burdens in the short run to maximize the value to all relevant parties during negotiation – including future employees and shareholders – over time.

Suppose that the operations VPs of two subsidiaries of an energy company are preparing to negotiate the location of a new energy source within the company. Beta , the energy source, is limited in supply, but it is inexpensive and efficient to use in the present and grows in potency over time.

One subsidiary would reap short-term gains by using Beta immediately, while the other is generating a technology that would make even greater use of Beta in the future.

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In our FREE special report from the Program on Negotiation at Harvard Law School - The New Conflict Management: Effective Conflict Resolution Strategies to Avoid Litigation – renowned negotiation experts uncover unconventional approaches to conflict management that can turn adversaries into partners.

Retaining Beta for future use would create more long-term value for the company overall.

But because the future consequences of our decisions often appear remote, it could be difficult for the executives involved to negotiate this wise decision.

In negotiations , a temporal delay often exists between our decisions and their consequences, a situation that becomes complicated when ‘others’ – rather than ourselves – will be affected by our decisions.

In negotiations concerning long-term concerns, a strong symmetry exists between powerful present organizational actors and powerless future generations. Because those with control over the decision process have less at stake, the dependency of future generations on the present generation intensifies.

How do you maximize value in negotiations? Leave a comment.

Related Conflict Resolution Article:  The Deal is Done, Now What?  –  After a long round of business negotiations with a partner from Silicon Valley in a joint venture to manufacture devices using your tech and their know-how. The contract is unambiguous and its terms exact – all contingencies are covered and strong enforcement mechanisms are in place to insure compliance with the negotiated agreement. The foundation for the new partnership is solid and the dealmaking negotiation to arrive at this day is what helped build that foundation. But now what? As any experienced business negotiator knows, it takes more than a perfect contract to have a successful agreement. To work together with a partner and others, you need an effective working relationship based upon trust and mutual respect. In reality, business negotiators know that the signing of the contract is only the beginning of business negotiations between the two parties and that the building of a successful relationship between the two firms relies upon those same communication skills and negotiation skills that developed the foundational contract in the first place. A successful relationship with a partner, whether a domestic negotiator or an international negotiator, is, in many cases, the difference between success and failure. In this article, the Program on Negotiation (PON) at Harvard Law School takes negotiation strategies first published in the Negotiation Briefings   newsletter to show you how to transform a contract into a successful, win-win relationship.

Dealmaking – Relationship Rules and Business Negotiations  –  Here are some concrete guidelines for fostering a productive, value-creating relationship with your negotiating counterpart – in business and in daily life. These negotiation strategies and negotiation tips come from  The Global Negotiator: Making, Managing, and Mending Deals Around the World in the 21st Century   by Program on Negotiation faculty member Jeswald Salacuse .

Originally posted in May 2013.

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Preparing for negotiation.

Understanding how to arrange the meeting space is a key aspect of preparing for negotiation. In this video, Professor Guhan Subramanian discusses a real world example of how seating arrangements can influence a negotiator’s success. This discussion was held at the 3 day executive education workshop for senior executives at the Program on Negotiation at Harvard Law School.

Guhan Subramanian is the Professor of Law and Business at the Harvard Law School and Professor of Business Law at the Harvard Business School.

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Business growth

Marketing tips

16 case study examples (+ 3 templates to make your own)

I like to think of case studies as a business's version of a resume. It highlights what the business can do, lends credibility to its offer, and contains only the positive bullet points that paint it in the best light possible.

Imagine if the guy running your favorite taco truck followed you home so that he could "really dig into how that burrito changed your life." I see the value in the practice. People naturally prefer a tried-and-true burrito just as they prefer tried-and-true products or services.

To help you showcase your success and flesh out your burrito questionnaire, I've put together some case study examples and key takeaways.

What is a case study?

A case study is an in-depth analysis of how your business, product, or service has helped past clients. It can be a document, a webpage, or a slide deck that showcases measurable, real-life results.

For example, if you're a SaaS company, you can analyze your customers' results after a few months of using your product to measure its effectiveness. You can then turn this analysis into a case study that further proves to potential customers what your product can do and how it can help them overcome their challenges.

It changes the narrative from "I promise that we can do X and Y for you" to "Here's what we've done for businesses like yours, and we can do it for you, too."

16 case study examples 

While most case studies follow the same structure, quite a few try to break the mold and create something unique. Some businesses lean heavily on design and presentation, while others pursue a detailed, stat-oriented approach. Some businesses try to mix both.

There's no set formula to follow, but I've found that the best case studies utilize impactful design to engage readers and leverage statistics and case details to drive the point home. A case study typically highlights the companies, the challenges, the solution, and the results. The examples below will help inspire you to do it, too.

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People love a good farm-to-table coffee story, and boy am I one of them. But I've shared this case study with you for more reasons than my love of coffee. I enjoyed this study because it was written as though it was a letter.

In this case study, the founder of Volcanica Coffee talks about the journey from founding the company to personally struggling with learning and applying digital marketing to finding and enlisting AdRoll's services.

It felt more authentic, less about AdRoll showcasing their worth and more like a testimonial from a grateful and appreciative client. After the story, the case study wraps up with successes, milestones, and achievements. Note that quite a few percentages are prominently displayed at the top, providing supporting evidence that backs up an inspiring story.

Takeaway: Highlight your goals and measurable results to draw the reader in and provide concise, easily digestible information.

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This Airtable case study on Taylor Guitars comes as close as one can to an optimal structure. It features a video that represents the artistic nature of the client, highlighting key achievements and dissecting each element of Airtable's influence.

It also supplements each section with a testimonial or quote from the client, using their insights as a catalyst for the case study's narrative. For example, the case study quotes the social media manager and project manager's insights regarding team-wide communication and access before explaining in greater detail.

Takeaway: Highlight pain points your business solves for its client, and explore that influence in greater detail.

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My favorite part of Figma's case study is highlighting why EndeavourX chose its solution. You'll notice an entire section on what Figma does for teams and then specifically for EndeavourX.

It also places a heavy emphasis on numbers and stats. The study, as brief as it is, still manages to pack in a lot of compelling statistics about what's possible with Figma.

Takeaway: Showcase the "how" and "why" of your product's differentiators and how they benefit your customers.

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Zapier's case study leans heavily on design, using graphics to present statistics and goals in a manner that not only remains consistent with the branding but also actively pushes it forward, drawing users' eyes to the information most important to them. 

The graphics, emphasis on branding elements, and cause/effect style tell the story without requiring long, drawn-out copy that risks boring readers. Instead, the cause and effect are concisely portrayed alongside the client company's information for a brief and easily scannable case study.

Takeaway: Lean on design to call attention to the most important elements of your case study, and make sure it stays consistent with your branding.

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In true OpenAI fashion, this case study is a block of text. There's a distinct lack of imagery, but the study features a narrated video walking readers through the product.

The lack of imagery and color may not be the most inviting, but utilizing video format is commendable. It helps thoroughly communicate how OpenAI supported Ironclad in a way that allows the user to sit back, relax, listen, and be impressed. 

Takeaway: Get creative with the media you implement in your case study. Videos can be a very powerful addition when a case study requires more detailed storytelling.

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GitHub's case study on Shopify is a light read. It addresses client pain points and discusses the different aspects its product considers and improves for clients. It touches on workflow issues, internal systems, automation, and security. It does a great job of representing what one company can do with GitHub.

To drive the point home, the case study features colorful quote callouts from the Shopify team, sharing their insights and perspectives on the partnership, the key issues, and how they were addressed.

Takeaway: Leverage quotes to boost the authoritativeness and trustworthiness of your case study. 

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Contentful's case study on Audible features almost every element a case study should. It includes not one but two videos and clearly outlines the challenge, solution, and outcome before diving deeper into what Contentful did for Audible. The language is simple, and the writing is heavy with quotes and personal insights.

This case study is a uniquely original experience. The fact that the companies in question are perhaps two of the most creative brands out there may be the reason. I expected nothing short of a detailed analysis, a compelling story, and video content. 

Takeaway: Inject some brand voice into the case study, and create assets that tell the story for you.

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Asana's case study on Zoom is longer than the average piece and features detailed data on Zoom's growth since 2020. Instead of relying on imagery and graphics, it features several quotes and testimonials. 

It's designed to be direct, informative, and promotional. At some point, the case study reads more like a feature list. There were a few sections that felt a tad too promotional for my liking, but to each their own burrito.

Takeaway: Maintain a balance between promotional and informative. You want to showcase the high-level goals your product helped achieve without losing the reader.

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I've always been a fan of Mailchimp's comic-like branding, and this case study does an excellent job of sticking to their tradition of making information easy to understand, casual, and inviting.

It features a short video that briefly covers Hickies as a company and Mailchimp's efforts to serve its needs for customer relationships and education processes. Overall, this case study is a concise overview of the partnership that manages to convey success data and tell a story at the same time. What sets it apart is that it does so in a uniquely colorful and brand-consistent manner.

Takeaway: Be concise to provide as much value in as little text as possible.

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The gaming industry is notoriously difficult to recruit for, as it requires a very specific set of skills and experience. This case study focuses on how Workday was able to help fill that recruitment gap for NVIDIA, one of the biggest names in the gaming world.

Though it doesn't feature videos or graphics, this case study stood out to me in how it structures information like "key products used" to give readers insight into which tools helped achieve these results.

Takeaway: If your company offers multiple products or services, outline exactly which ones were involved in your case study, so readers can assess each tool.

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I'm personally not a big KFC fan, but that's only because I refuse to eat out of a bucket. My aversion to the bucket format aside, Contentful follows its consistent case study format in this one, outlining challenges, solutions, and outcomes before diving into the nitty-gritty details of the project.

Say what you will about KFC, but their primary product (chicken) does present a unique opportunity for wordplay like "Continuing to march to the beat of a digital-first drum(stick)" or "Delivering deep-fried goodness to every channel."

Takeaway: Inject humor into your case study if there's room for it and if it fits your brand. 

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Twilio does an excellent job of delivering achievements at the very beginning of the case study and going into detail in this two-minute read. While there aren't many graphics, the way quotes from the Intuit team are implemented adds a certain flair to the study and breaks up the sections nicely.

It's simple, concise, and manages to fit a lot of information in easily digestible sections.

Takeaway: Make sure each section is long enough to inform but brief enough to avoid boring readers. Break down information for each section, and don't go into so much detail that you lose the reader halfway through.

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Salesforce created a video that accurately summarizes the key points of the case study. Beyond that, the page itself is very light on content, and sections are as short as one paragraph.

I especially like how information is broken down into "What you need to know," "Why it matters," and "What the difference looks like." I'm not ashamed of being spoon-fed information. When it's structured so well and so simply, it makes for an entertaining read.

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Benchling is an impressive entity in its own right. Biotech R&D and health care nuances go right over my head. But the research and digging I've been doing in the name of these burritos (case studies) revealed that these products are immensely complex. 

And that's precisely why this case study deserves a read—it succeeds at explaining a complex project that readers outside the industry wouldn't know much about.

Takeaway: Simplify complex information, and walk readers through the company's operations and how your business helped streamline them.

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The concision of this case study is refreshing. It features two sections—the challenge and the solution—all in 316 words. This goes to show that your case study doesn't necessarily need to be a four-figure investment with video shoots and studio time. 

Sometimes, the message is simple and short enough to convey in a handful of paragraphs.

Takeaway: Consider what you should include instead of what you can include. Assess the time, resources, and effort you're able and willing to invest in a case study, and choose which elements you want to include from there.

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I may be biased, but I'm a big fan of seeing metrics and achievements represented in branded graphics. It can be a jarring experience to navigate a website, then visit a case study page and feel as though you've gone to a completely different website.

The case study is essentially the summary, and the blog article is the detailed analysis that provides context beyond X achievement or Y goal.

Takeaway: Keep your case study concise and informative. Create other resources to provide context under your blog, media or press, and product pages.

3 case study templates

Now that you've had your fill of case studies (if that's possible), I've got just what you need: an infinite number of case studies, which you can create yourself with these case study templates.

Case study template 1

If you've got a quick hit of stats you want to show off, try this template. The opening section gives space for a short summary and three visually appealing stats you can highlight, followed by a headline and body where you can break the case study down more thoroughly. This one's pretty simple, with only sections for solutions and results, but you can easily continue the formatting to add more sections as needed.

Case study template 2

For a case study template with a little more detail, use this one. Opening with a striking cover page for a quick overview, this one goes on to include context, stakeholders, challenges, multiple quote callouts, and quick-hit stats. 

Case study template 3

Whether you want a little structural variation or just like a nice dark green, this template has similar components to the last template but is designed to help tell a story. Move from the client overview through a description of your company before getting to the details of how you fixed said company's problems.

Tips for writing a case study

Examples are all well and good, but you don't learn how to make a burrito just by watching tutorials on YouTube without knowing what any of the ingredients are. You could , but it probably wouldn't be all that good.

Have an objective: Define your objective by identifying the challenge, solution, and results. Assess your work with the client and focus on the most prominent wins. You're speaking to multiple businesses and industries through the case study, so make sure you know what you want to say to them.

Focus on persuasive data: Growth percentages and measurable results are your best friends. Extract your most compelling data and highlight it in your case study.

Use eye-grabbing graphics: Branded design goes a long way in accurately representing your brand and retaining readers as they review the study. Leverage unique and eye-catching graphics to keep readers engaged. 

Simplify data presentation: Some industries are more complex than others, and sometimes, data can be difficult to understand at a glance. Make sure you present your data in the simplest way possible. Make it concise, informative, and easy to understand.

Use automation to drive results for your case study

A case study example is a source of inspiration you can leverage to determine how to best position your brand's work. Find your unique angle, and refine it over time to help your business stand out. Ask anyone: the best burrito in town doesn't just appear at the number one spot. They find their angle (usually the house sauce) and leverage it to stand out.

Case study FAQ

Got your case study template? Great—it's time to gather the team for an awkward semi-vague data collection task. While you do that, here are some case study quick answers for you to skim through while you contemplate what to call your team meeting.

What is an example of a case study?

An example of a case study is when a software company analyzes its results from a client project and creates a webpage, presentation, or document that focuses on high-level results, challenges, and solutions in an attempt to showcase effectiveness and promote the software.

How do you write a case study?

To write a good case study, you should have an objective, identify persuasive and compelling data, leverage graphics, and simplify data. Case studies typically include an analysis of the challenge, solution, and results of the partnership.

What is the format of a case study?

While case studies don't have a set format, they're often portrayed as reports or essays that inform readers about the partnership and its results. 

Related reading:

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Hachem Ramki

Hachem is a writer and digital marketer from Montreal. After graduating with a degree in English, Hachem spent seven years traveling around the world before moving to Canada. When he's not writing, he enjoys Basketball, Dungeons and Dragons, and playing music for friends and family.

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Developing a Partnership Business Plan Case Study

• To find inspiration for your paper and overcome writer’s block
• As a source of information (ensure proper referencing)
• As a template for you assignment

Background Information

Company description and viability, specific issues to consider, business plan, market analysis, business growth, works cited.

The success of every business organization depends on various issues such as management, leadership, decision-making, and responsibilities of different shareholders. The proposed idea is to have a partnership business. The main objective of the business will be to provide consulting services to different clients and companies. The partnership business should also be ready to provide quality services to every client. The proposed partnership will bring together three former schoolmates. However, it will be appropriate for the three individuals to consider specific issues before forming the partnership. This approach will be critical towards ensuring that the company emerges successful and profitable (Gage 63). Several agreements should be considered before forming the partnership business.

The proposed company will be providing consulting services to different clients. Such services will target companies in variouss industries thus making it easier for them to realize their potentials. The company will be able to address the needs of many clients and promote their businesses. However, the biggest issue to consider is whether the idea to form the company is feasible. It is notable that things are no longer promising at Engulf and Devour. That being the case, a new opportunity can be attractive and profitable for the three partners (Sutton and Geddes 47). The nature of the business will ensure the company provides quality consulting services to every client.

The first contract is profitable because the partners will get $ 75,000 every month. The client will also cater for various expenses incurred by the members. That being the case, the idea is plausible and can eventually make the partnership business successful. The situation indicates that Engulf and Devour is no longer profitable. This fact explains why there is need to look for a new opportunity. The decision to form a partnership is agreeable and can result in greater profits. A proper managerial strategy will also be needed at the company. However, it will be appropriate to consider a number of elements before entering into this partnership (Clifford and Warner 21). This is the case because various problems might arise and eventually make the partnership unprofitable. Such issues can also destroy the company.

Partnership Agreements

A partnership agreement is “one of the vital tools used to protect businesspeople and their companies” (Eisner and Cohen 29). Several elements should be “included in the partnership agreement” (Eisner and Cohen 29). The agreement should also be signed by every business partner. To begin with, it will be necessary “to determine how much every partner will be expected to contribute to the partnership before starting the business” (Richmond 523). The agreement should indicate the roles and duties of every partner. The partners will “also have to decide how losses and profits will be shared” (Eisner and Cohen 32). The issue of money should be handled carefully because it can affect the future and sustainability of the business.

The partners should also “indicate the type of consent every partner should obtain before obligating the company” (Richmond 519). This is the case because liabilities can eventually affect the success of the partnership business. More often than not, a partner will “bind the partnership without consent from the other members” (Richmond 523). However, this practice can have disastrous implications on the survival and future of the business. The “decision-making process should also be taken into consideration” (Eisner and Cohen 35). The business agreement should indicate how every decision will be made. This approach will ensure various decisions are made in a proper manner. A proper decision-making process will always ensure the consulting firm runs smoothly.

A partnership business “can become troublesome when one person dies or leaves the company” (Richmond 527). That being the case, a proper agreement will be required before starting the firm. The agreement will indicate how the other two partners will manage the business. Business partners “might fail to agree over certain issues” (Gage 53). Any form of disagreement can make it impossible for the business to run smoothly. It will therefore be appropriate to have a clause indicating how every conflict will be resolved. These agreements and considerations will be vital towards the continued performance of the firm.

Management Structure

The nature of management determines the success of every business organization. Partnerships should also be managed properly in order to emerge successful. A proper management structure should be defined before starting the company. The structure will ensure every partner has his or her unique leadership roles. The structure will also promote the level and nature of decision-making. Problems will also be resolved in a timely manner (Sweo and Pate 69). The structure will also encourage every employee to focus on his or her duties. The three partners will also have their distinctive roles. They should also work tirelessly in order to make the company successful.

A proper business plan will definitely make the proposed partnership successful. After indicating the roles and responsibilities of every partner, the next important thing will be to outline the specific aspects of the business. The partners will also use the plan to identify new opportunities and strengths that can make the company more profitable (Sweo and Pate 103). A good business plan will ensure the company realizes its business potentials. The business plan should also propose the most appropriate marketing strategies. The plan will therefore make it easier for the partners to make accurate decisions, address various problems, and focus on the best business outcomes. It is agreeable that the partnership business will be profitable.

The current situation shows that the market is promising. The partners have already managed to win a contract. Many companies will also be in need of consulting services in the coming years. Although the number of similar companies is increasing steadily, the agreeable fact is that the firm will be able to offer outstanding consulting services (Sutton and Geddes 28). The partners also possess the best entrepreneurial and business skills. Such competencies will make it easier for them to emerge successful. The firm should also focus on emerging industries in order to have a sustainable business.

It will also be necessary to consider new opportunities in the market after forming the partnership. This analysis will make it possible for the leaders to identify new practices and incentives that can eventually make the firm more profitable. It will therefore be appropriate to form the partnership in order to achieve the best business objectives. A proper advertising strategy will also be required in order to deal with competition (Sutton and Geddes 52). The company will also be able to inform more clients about its superior services. The “approach will also make it easier for the business to identify new market segments and opportunities” (Eisner and Cohen 34). These practices will safeguard the company’s future and also make it more successful.

The other important thing to consider is the ability to expand this company. The success of the proposed partnership will depend on the commitment of the members. The members should focus on different opportunities and locate new clients (Richmond 542). The business should improve its services in order to remain profitable. It will also “be appropriate to offer support systems and feedbacks to every client” (Sutton and Geddes 52). The company will grow exponentially within the next few years because the number of customers is growing steadily.

The proposed partnership business will be successful. Many individuals and companies are currently in need of different consulting services. The company will offer quality consulting services in order to support its clients. The identified contract shows clearly that the company will be able to attract more clients. It will also be appropriate to have a proper partnership agreement. This agreement should become the backbone of the company. The agreement will ensure every person focuses on the best goals and activities (Sutton and Geddes 93). Every decision in the firm will also be made in a professional manner. In conclusion, the decision to form the proposed partnership is plausible. The partners will eventually achieve their business potentials. The partners will also use their competencies to provide evidence-based consulting services to every client. The above analysis shows clearly that the partnership can succeed if every person focuses on the best outcomes.

Clifford, Denis, and Ralph Warner. Form a Partnership: The Complete Legal Guide. New York: Nolo Press, 2012. Print.

Eisner, Michael, and Aaron Cohen. Working Together: Why Great Partnerships Succeed. New York: HarperBusiness, 2012. Print.

Gage, David. The Partnership Charter: How To Start Out Right With Your New Business Partnership. New York: Basic Books, 2004. Print.

Richmond, Douglas. “The Partnership Paradigm and Law Firm Non-equity Partners.” Kansas Law Review 1.1 (2010): 507-551. Print.

Sutton, Garrett, and Cindie Geddes. How to Use Limited Liability Companies and Limited Partnerships. New York: Success DNA, 2009. Print.

Sweo, Robert, and Sandra Pate. International Business: A Practical Approach, New York: CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform, 2014. Print.

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IvyPanda. (2020, May 13). Developing a Partnership Business Plan. https://ivypanda.com/essays/developing-a-partnership-business-plan/

"Developing a Partnership Business Plan." IvyPanda , 13 May 2020, ivypanda.com/essays/developing-a-partnership-business-plan/.

IvyPanda . (2020) 'Developing a Partnership Business Plan'. 13 May.

IvyPanda . 2020. "Developing a Partnership Business Plan." May 13, 2020. https://ivypanda.com/essays/developing-a-partnership-business-plan/.

1. IvyPanda . "Developing a Partnership Business Plan." May 13, 2020. https://ivypanda.com/essays/developing-a-partnership-business-plan/.

Bibliography

IvyPanda . "Developing a Partnership Business Plan." May 13, 2020. https://ivypanda.com/essays/developing-a-partnership-business-plan/.

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3 of the Must-Know Partnership Law Cases of 2021

In this alert, we summarise three of the most notable and interesting Partnership and LLP law cases heard by the UK courts in 2021, with some practical commentary on how these cases might affect LLPs and partnerships, and their members and partners.

1. Dixon Coles and Gill (a firm) v Right Reverend, Nicholas Baines, Bishop of Leeds and another [2021] EWCA Civ 1097

Summary of case

The Court of Appeal held that innocent partners in a firm of solicitors are not always liable to former clients of the firm for losses caused by the acts of a fraudulent partner.

One of three individuals carrying on a solicitor’s partnership, Partner C, had been misappropriating funds from the firm’s client account for many years. Partners A and B were entirely innocent and unaware of the misappropriation. Approximately three years after discovery of the fraudulent conduct, proceedings were issued against all three partners by a former client of the firm, on the basis that they were trustees of the funds that the client had paid into the client account of the firm and which Partner C had misappropriated. Specifically, the former client relied upon sections 10 (liability of the firm for wrongs) , 11 (misapplication of money or property received for or in custody of the firm) and 12 (liability for wrongs joint and several) of the Partnership Act 1890.

Partners A and B sought to defend claims in relation to certain losses on the basis that claims had been commenced after expiry of the relevant limitation period. The key issue related to whether the innocent partners could rely on sections 21 (1) and (3) of the Limitation Act 1980 (“LA”), which provide as follows:

(1) No period of limitation prescribed by this Act shall apply to an action by a beneficiary under a trust, being an action –

(a) in respect of any fraud or fraudulent breach of trust to which the trustee was a party or privy; or

(b) to recover from the trustee trust property or the proceeds of trust property in the possession of the trustee, or previously received by him and converted to his use.

(3) Subject to the proceedings provisions of this section, an action by a beneficiary to recover trust property or in respect of any breach of trust, not being an action for which a period of limitation is prescribed by any other provision of this Act, shall not be brought after the expiration of six years from the date on which the right of action accrued.

The partners argued that they were not “party or privy” to Partner C’s misconduct. The Court of Appeal agreed that the innocent partners were not “party or privy to” the misconduct, and that they could therefore rely on section 21 of the LA as a defence to claims against them in respect of monies appropriated by Partner C more than six years before the commencement of litigation.

Practical takeaways

The Court of Appeal’s decision will offer some reassurance to innocent partners facing claims from former clients because of a fellow partner’s misconduct, to which they are not party or privy. It should also serve as a useful reminder to those advising on claims to be brought against individual partners of a partnership that a delay in issuing proceedings may enable innocent partners to avoid liability to a certain extent by relying on relevant provisions of the LA.

2. Re Bell Pottinger LLP, Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy v Geoghegan and others [2021] EWHC 672 (Ch)

The High Court held that members of an LLP, who were not members of the LLP’s management committee, could potentially be liable to face disqualification proceedings under the Company Directors Disqualification Act 1986 (“CDDA”).

The Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (“Secretary of State”) sought disqualification orders against three members of former PR Agency, Bell Pottinger LLP (“Bell Pottinger”), which went into liquidation in September 2019, on the ground that they were not fit to be concerned with the management of a company or an LLP. Only one of the members had been a member of Bell Pottinger’s management committee. The other two members tried to argue that the CDDA did not apply to them as they were not members of the management committee and were not involved in its management.

It was held that Parliament intended to “ cast a wide net ” and, therefore, that potential liability to face disqualification proceedings was not limited to members on the management board or at a level equivalent to a director in a company. The Court also confirmed that the conduct relied upon for disqualification could be anything done in their capacity as an LLP member.

Some may view this as a harsh decision, given the potential exposure to disqualification faced by members of an LLP who do not sit on the management committee of an LLP and are not otherwise concerned or authorised to deal with the management of the LLP. However, it serves as a reminder that those who take up positions as members of an LLP and who benefit from limited personal liability for loss and damage caused to third parties by the LLP, should reasonably be expected to be held to high standards of behaviour.

3. Tribe v Elborne Mitchell LLP [2021] EWHC 1863 (Ch)

The High Court held that, when deciding how to allocate profits to members of an LLP under the terms of an LLP Deed, management need to act rationally.

The partner concerned claimed that he was not awarded a fair profit share in his last two years at the firm after more than 25 years of service. The court agreed that the principles developed in Braganza v BP Shipping Ltd Braganza v BP Shipping Ltd [2015] UKSC 17, concerning the exercise of discretionary powers, applied to the senior partner’s decision to make recommendations as to allocations among the partners. This meant that, in making his recommendations, the senior partner had been duty-bound not to “ take into account irrelevant matters or ignore relevant ones ”. His recommendations could not be “ outside the range of reasonable proposals that might be made in the circumstances ”. Indeed, in this case, the court found that the profit allocation had been within the range of proposals that it was reasonable for the senior partner to make.

The High Court’s decision confirms that members of an LLP, particularly those exercising management powers, will be held to a particular standard when allocating profits and cannot act capriciously or irrationally in the decision-making process. However, it also shows that following a reasonable and explicable process should make it difficult to challenge any ultimate decision as to profit allocation. Those exercising discretionary powers in making recommendations and/or decisions regarding the allocation of profit (or indeed other discretionary decision making regarding LLP members such as, for example, equity partner promotions or partner suspension or exits), would be well advised to consider the basis of previous decisions and clearly document the basis of their current decision and rationale, setting out a non-exhaustive list of the range of relevant matters to be taken into account and irrelevant factors to be ignored in the exercise of their discretionary powers.

If you have any questions arising from this alert, or require specific legal advice in relation to similar issues, please contact Zulon Begum or Clare Murray (Partners), who specialise in partnership issues for partnerships, LLPs, partners and LLP members. Please click   here to see the overview of our market-leading Contentious and Non-Contentious Partnership Practice.

CM Murray LLP   is Ranked Band 1 and Tier 1 for Partnership Law by  Chambers and Partners UK  and  Legal 500 UK , and is recognised as “one of the legal world’s strongest offerings in this area.”

If you would like to stay up to date with the latest Partnership law news and updates from CM Murray, subscribe  here .

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PARTNERSHIP BUSINESS CASE STUDY

by admin | Aug 11, 2022 | Samples legal papers

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Partnership Business Case Study

Partnership form of business involves two or more parties who have to sign a contract agreeing to share responsibilities and profits and losses. Generally, the real intention means that he or she should be no desire to deceive since the signed contract is legally binding ( Lan 2016) . The partners are known to lack what is called the limited liability, which means that when their entity plunges in debts and cannot pay back, the personal resources of the partners may be used to settle that ( Pollock 1890) This essay entails discussing the partnership form of business, latent liabilities and partner’s legal rights.

Partnership Act 1890

People are considered partners because this contributed to cash, property expertise, intellectual property, and others. All the parties in their form of business have to share responsibilities, profits, and costs of the firm. All the parties sharing the duties in the business are normally liable for every firm’s engagement as general partners ( Pollock 1890) . There are liabilities of outgoing and incoming partners. In Floydd v Cheney, it was held that the partners owe each other a duty of good faith, which should prevent one from engaging in actions that jeopardize the smooth running of the business. In Keech v Sandford, it was held that a partner should be put himself or herself above the conflict of interest. In case other parties in the partnership business had admitted an individual, the person cannot withdraw himself or herself from liabilities that were accrued or the activities that occurred before they entered the firm.

In case a mutual consent exists on that issue, and it is allowed in the contact, the incoming person, therefore, will not incur liabilities to existing creditors that co-partners administered. A similar principle normally applies to outgoing partners. Liabilities may not be discharged even in situations where an individual has retired from the business ( Cumberlege, 2018) . However, in the case of mutual agreement exists, the situation would play out differently. As such, it will not have liabilities to debts that were accrued after the retirement of the person from the business. 

In case of no contract or agreement, all accrued debts before retirement of a person from the business will be the partner’s responsibilities. The contract or agreement may be formal with signatures and also formally expressed orally by partners. It may also be inferred from the existing facts. The creditors are legally right to claim their money to such individuals, no matter whether they are part of the firm of not ( Cumberlege, 2018) . The prescription purpose exists to protect the interests of the creditors. It is nowadays common knowledge that all parties are supposed to be responsible for their deed: all incoming partners need to go after getting consent from the existing partners, outgoing partners do not need consent. 

The mutual duties and rights of partners may be understood by mutual consent in case of no law violation. Actual consent needs to be inferred from the fact that should be done formally, and all partnership normally have exclusive rights to the property of the partnership ( Cumberlege, 2018) . The partners are known to co-own the properties of partnership business; the share of partners is the existing partnership assets proportion. All partners are legally right to convert the shares into cash as they prefer, and their debts and liabilities may be discharged from the business of the partnership ( Pollock, 1890) . Rules with regards to their profit distribution exist, all rights, duties, and interests of partners need to be determined based on the agreement of partnership and as the law prescribes. 

All partners have to share losses and profits equally. They usually have shared interests and shared interests. The profits proportion a partner could get form the company is always determined in comparison with the losses a partner is going to suffer. Advanced costs that partners expand for partnership purposes and running of busies need to be regarded as personal payments and common costs ( Pollock, 1890) . Every partner has a right to participate in the management of the business and partners have a duty of diligence and care to the business every partner is supposed to devote faithfully to the business and use their intelligence and skills to generate more profits ( Cumberlege, 2018) . Moreover, the partners have a right to claim reimbursement of salaries and the intelligence community. In the case of different thinking opinions among the partners, the decision will be made from majorities point of view. However, all partners can express their opinions in the process of decision making. Again, all partners have a right to inspect financial reports on partnership books. No changes can take place in the business without signed consent from the present partners. 

If someone wants to leave the partnership entity, several ways can be explored. They may retire based on a partnership agreement or retire by providing written notice to the remaining partners to reveal his or her intentions. It is legally wrong for partners to participate in similar business without consent from existing partners ( Cumberlege, 2018) . A partner may also be mentally ill or died, leading to exit from the partnership form of business; the remaining partners will terminate the partnership through expulsion notice.  

In AIB plc v Martin, the duties of partners and mutual rights, whether defined by the act of ascertained by agreement, could be varied based on the partner’s consents, and the consent may either be inferred or express from dealing course. Partners also need faith and trust between each other since, as soon as they make bad decisions, they increase the risk that spills over to their personal accounts ( Milman 2018) . Partners should always consider circumstances and find out if the business is financially viable since the partnership is a small business, and it would be better if the partners consulted each other before making business decisions.                  

Application

From the facts of the case, it was legal for the Gary, dan, and Karen to form a partnership form of business Food’R’Dral that orders seas food from a company called Seawishh Foods Limited. Gary unlawfully retired from the partnership form of business. While he has a right to withdraw from the business, he was supposed to stick to the laid down plans of retiring from the general partnership business. He can only retire from the business after meeting the fixed terms based on the agreement or retire from the business at will after providing written notice to the remaining partners to reveal his intentions. After being considered retired from the business, a partner ceases their labilities for all deed done and debts accrued before he retired ( Milman 2018) . The partner may negotiate the terms based on the partnership agreement. The legal duties and rights of every partner may be varied by agreement even in a situation where there is mutual consent, and no law has been violated. 

Dan should acknowledge the kind of contract he agreed to. It must be established if the contract says that it is a single continuing contract where he is found liable for debts incurred when he was a partner. Again, a series of contracts deal with creditors of the business being made before his retirement date ( Milman 2018) . He will not be found liable for incurred debts. Still, the coming partners will cater to that instead. Dan was supposed to provide the creditor his retirement notice and write an official letter showing his intent to leave the partnership form of business. Dan would suffer if he had some assets in the partnership business, or he individually contributes towards the payment to creditors. 

Dan will most likely get a contribution from the business to pay the creditors since one cannot leave the business without having informed the existing partners. It would be a good move even if he leaves the business without having to notify the members of the public. The court would most probably find all partners, including Dan and Gary, liable for the amount owed to the creditor. A retired partner will always continue being liable for existing partners’ actions on behalf of the business until he or the remaining partner provide a retirement’s public notice ( Cumberlege, 2018) . In case a third party without knowing that he once was a partner in the business, then he is not going to be personally liable to the third party. 

In this case, Dan has not provided a public retirement notice nor has his fellow partners. Such means that he is still fully liable for the debts of the firm since the firm cannot sustain itself financially at the moment. Dan should understand that even after retirement, he has to continue being liable for the firm’s activities, which were done before his retirement. It is only an agreement between him, the partners, and a third party. In this case, the creditor who supplied fresh seafoods for the company. Also, such an agreement could be implied by the course of the dealing between the reconstituted firm and third party post his retirement announcement ( Lan 2016) . If Dan retired at will, then he needed to have provided a public notice and a written notice to the other partners, Karen and Dary, about his intention to retire from the firm. 

The partnership act provides a real understanding of the partnership form of business, according to the partnership act. The partnership is a form of business existing between two or more parties who want to generate profits from the business ( Milman 2018 . Disputes in the partnership are rare, and when they occur, they are simple to solve. The partners are always supposed to sign a contract understanding that they are for all firm’s engagements as partners. Such is entirely different from what the registered company holds under the corporation act. 

However, a mistake made by one partner will affect all other partners. Dan should not assume that he will not be liable for the actions of Karen and Gary. If Food’R’Deals is found to be struggling financially and thus unable to pay its debts, the personal properties of Karen, Gary, and Dan will be taken to settle the firm’s debts. Section 9 holds that partners are jointly liable for the obligations and debts of the partnership business. Therefore, innocent partners will lose the investment, and his personal property if one of the partners misbehaves or makes wrong decisions ( Milman 2018). Partnership usually acts as a safeguard of making sure that all members are liable, and such is usually the cases when corporate veil protection is lifted under the company law. 

Limited Liability Company

In business terms, liability is, in simple terms, the debt that a company or individual has to pay. Such could be in the form of asset finance loan accumulated tax, unpaid invoices rent falling, and others, for a limited company that may not meet its liabilities. The limited liability protects the company directors, such generally means that one will not be held responsible personally for limited company debts unless they signed as personal guarantors. Solomon v. Solomon entails separate corporate personality principles. It holds that shareholders in a limited company are never liable for debts of the company beyond their nominal share value. The case established principles that limited liability companies are different from its members.

If Dan or other partners were directors, they could not be held responsible personally since the liabilities of the company are its wone and do not attack to directors. The only circumstances that could make the directors be held personally liable for the debts of the company are he engaged in personal guarantee. The company is unable to meet the said obligations if a director also allows the company to continue trading when it is insolvent or fails duties as director, he will lose limited liability protection and even held liable for all the incurred debts. Secondly, Dan and other partners could be held personally liable after narrowing money and has a director account, which is overdrawn, a liquidator may pursue him for amount recovery. 

Again, directors who engaged in criminal or deceiving activities may compel the court to break the veil and make them responsible for any debts of the company. A director who cannot repay such liabilities will be compelled to sell or refinance assets. A director may be forced into bankruptcy by such actions. In Gilford Motor Co v Horne, the defendant was former company’s director who agreed that he would never steal customers from his employer, it breached the agreement, the court found him liable as he engaged in sham activities. Also, if a director cannot fulfill his duties, he may be barred or disqualified from acting as a director for 15 years. If Gary, Karen, and Dan were directors of a company, they would not be held personally responsible for that. 

If Dan were a director in a limited company, he would have to follow a unique process to resign. He would, first of all, put his intention of resigning in writing and provide it to the directors who are remaining. He would have no obligation to give reasons for his resignation. Even though it is not legally mandatory, the director may be compelled to notify the users/ customers of the decision and let them understand that the person they should contact after this departure ( Jelsma and Nollkamper, 2018) . After fellow directors accept the resignation, a specific form TM01 is to be completed and take into the company’s house so that his names can be removed from company records. 

At this departure point, liabilities will be over, and he would only help responsible for activities that took place during his director’s time. If he never acted outside the company law while he was serving as the director, he will be free to leave the company. If the company at the point of departure is found to be in a debtor plunges into debt after his resignation, nothing would happen because of limited liability. Such means that the company’s debts belong to the company, and they are not the personal responsibility of the director. In case the company fails to meet the debts, it may enter insolvency procedure as a way to close and clear its outstanding debts ( Jelsma and Nollkamper, 2018) . Only current directors will initiate that process. After a director resigns, they lose control over the company and cannot initiate, prevent, or liquidate a specific procedure. 

If this case involved a Limited company, only personal guarantees could affect the directors. All the personality guaranteed debts will be the individual’s responsibility, and the money has to be paid back. While Gary had asked Karen not to place orders of fresh foods from Seawish, but buy from local supermarkets, Karen ordered from Seawish who do not understand anything to do with Gary’s request. The partners, in this case, have to pay Seawish the owed money since the limited liability never protects the partners. Gary cannot hold claim that requesting Karen to buy produce from the local market, but not from a creditor Seawish, is a justification for Karen to incur the said debt. In partnership, all the partners are liable for business expenses and costs, unlike in a company. 

In sum, partnership entails two or more people coming together to run a business to generate profits. The form of business is regulated by the Partnership Act of 1890, which states the relationship between people who agree to run a partnership form business. While it is rare for partnership business to have a serious misunderstanding, there are factors like sharing of duties and responsibilities, loss and profits, and costs that mostly bring legal problems to the partners. For instance, a partner who wants to retire must understand that he or she has legal duties that cannot be absconded. In the case study, it is clear that the decisions made by Karen might plunge the business into financial uncertainty and affect the retired party—Dan. He will be forced to be legally liable for the debts of the company because he did not write a notice of retirement. Also, theirs is a partnership and not a limited liability company. The business people may avoid such challenges by forming a limited liability company that does not allow creditors to take personal resources to cater for the debts of the company. 

Reference List

Cumberlege, J., 2018. Why companies and not partnerships?  Practice Management ,  28 (4), pp.36-37.

AIB plc v Martin

Floyd v Cheney [1970] Ch 602

Gilford Motor Co Ltd v Horne [1933] Ch 935

Jelsma, P.L. and Nollkamper, P.E., 2018.  The limited liability company . LexisNexis.

Keech v Sandford [1726] EWHC J76

Lan, L.L., 2016. Corporate law [Book Review].  Singapore Journal of Legal Studies , (Mar 2016), p.214.

Milman, D., 2018. Legal problems associated with the identification of partnerships.  Nottingham Insolvency and Business Law Ejournal ,  2018 (6), pp.13-29.

Pollock, F., 1890.  A Digest of the Law of Partnership: Incorporating the Partnership Act, 1890 . Stevens.

Salomon v A Salomon & Co Ltd [1896] UKHL 1, [1897] AC 22

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Business school teaching case study: Unilever chief signals rethink on ESG

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Gabriela Salinas and Jeeva Somasundaram

Roula Khalaf, Editor of the FT, selects her favourite stories in this weekly newsletter.

In April this year, Hein Schumacher, chief executive of Unilever, announced that the company was entering a “new era for sustainability leadership”, and signalled a shift from the central priority promoted under his predecessor , Alan Jope.

While Jope saw lack of social purpose or environmental sustainability as the way to prune brands from the portfolio, Schumacher has adopted a more balanced approach between purpose and profit. He stresses that Unilever should deliver on both sustainability commitments and financial goals. This approach, which we dub “realistic sustainability”, aims to balance long- and short-term environmental goals, ambition, and delivery.

As a result, Unilever’s refreshed sustainability agenda focuses harder on fewer commitments that the company says remain “very stretching”. In practice, this entails extending deadlines for taking action as well as reducing the scale of its targets for environmental, social and governance measures.

Such backpedalling is becoming widespread — with many companies retracting their commitments to climate targets , for example. According to FactSet, a US financial data and software provider, the number of US companies in the S&P 500 index mentioning “ESG” on their earnings calls has declined sharply : from a peak of 155 in the fourth quarter 2021 to just 29 two years later. This trend towards playing down a company’s ESG efforts, from fear of greater scrutiny or of accusations of empty claims, even has a name: “greenhushing”.

Test yourself

This is the fourth in a series of monthly business school-style teaching case studies devoted to the responsible business dilemmas faced by organisations. Read the piece and FT articles suggested at the end before considering the questions raised.

About the authors: Gabriela Salinas is an adjunct professor of marketing at IE University; Jeeva Somasundaram is an assistant professor of decision sciences in operations and technology at IE University.

The series forms part of a wider collection of FT ‘instant teaching case studies ’, featured across our Business Education publications, that explore management challenges.

The change in approach is not limited to regulatory compliance and corporate reporting; it also affects consumer communications. While Jope believed that brands sold more when “guided by a purpose”, Schumacher argues that “we don’t want to force fit [purpose] on brands unnecessarily”.

His more nuanced view aligns with evidence that consumers’ responses to the sustainability and purpose communication attached to brand names depend on two key variables: the type of industry in which the brand operates; and the specific aspect of sustainability being communicated.

In terms of the sustainability message, research in the Journal of Business Ethics found consumers can be less interested when product functionality is key. Furthermore, a UK survey in 2022 found that about 15 per cent of consumers believed brands should support social causes, but nearly 60 per cent said they would rather see brand owners pay taxes and treat people fairly.

Among investors, too, “anti-purpose” and “anti-ESG” sentiment is growing. One (unnamed) leading bond fund manager even suggested to the FT that “ESG will be dead in five years”.

Media reports on the adverse impact of ESG controversies on investment are certainly now more frequent. For example, while Jope was still at the helm, the FT reported criticism of Unilever by influential fund manager Terry Smith for displaying sustainability credentials at the expense of managing the business.

Yet some executives feel under pressure to take a stand on environmental and social issues — in many cases believing they are morally obliged to do so or through a desire to improve their own reputations. This pressure may lead to a conflict with shareholders if sustainability becomes a promotional tool for managers, or for their personal social responsibility agenda, rather than creating business value .

Such opportunistic behaviours may lead to a perception that corporate sustainability policies are pursued only because of public image concerns.

Alison Taylor, at NYU Stern School of Business, recently described Unilever’s old materiality map — a visual representation of how companies assess which social and environmental factors matter most to them — to Sustainability magazine. She depicted it as an example of “baggy, vague, overambitious goals and self-aggrandising commitments that make little sense and falsely suggest a mayonnaise and soap company can solve intractable societal problems”.

In contrast, the “realism” approach of Schumacher is being promulgated as both more honest and more feasible. Former investment banker Alex Edmans, at London Business School, has coined the term “rational sustainability” to describe an approach that integrates financial principles into decision-making, and avoids using sustainability primarily for enhancing social image and reputation.

Such “rational sustainability” encompasses any business activity that creates long-term value — including product innovation, productivity enhancements, or corporate culture initiatives, regardless of whether they fall under the traditional ESG framework.

Similarly, Schumacher’s approach aims for fewer targets with greater impact, all while keeping financial objectives in sight.

Complex objectives, such as having a positive impact on the world, may be best achieved indirectly, as expounded by economist John Kay in his book, Obliquity . Schumacher’s “realistic sustainability” approach means focusing on long-term value creation, placing customers and investors to the fore. Saving the planet begins with meaningfully helping a company’s consumers and investors. Without their support, broader sustainability efforts risk failure.

Questions for discussion

Read: Unilever has ‘lost the plot’ by fixating on sustainability, says Terry Smith

Companies take step back from making climate target promises

The real impact of the ESG backlash

Unilever’s new chief says corporate purpose can be ‘unwelcome distraction ’

Unilever says new laxer environmental targets aim for ‘realism’

How should business executives incorporate ESG criteria in their commercial, investor, internal, and external communications? How can they strike a balance between purpose and profits?

How does purpose affect business and brand value? Under what circumstances or conditions can the impact of purpose be positive, neutral, or negative?

Are brands vehicles by which to drive social or environmental change? Is this the primary role of brands in the 21st century or do profits and clients’ needs come first?

Which categories or sectors might benefit most from strongly articulating and communicating a corporate purpose? Are there instances in which it might backfire?

In your opinion, is it necessary for brands to take a stance on social issues? Why or why not, and when?

Climate Capital

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Huawei MSP Cloud Management Helps TD Africa Establish a New Benchmark for Network Managed Services

As one of the top distributors of Huawei Nigeria, TD Africa has more than 7000 active partners worldwide and a strong market influence. With a forward-looking strategic vision, TD Africa successfully builds an MSP-owned cloud platform based on iMaster NCE-Campus for MSPs. This rentable and sellable platform can provide leasing services for small and medium partners. This attracts more partners to participate in market development, in turn bringing more business opportunities.

Founded in May 1999, TD Africa is a pioneering ICT distributor in West Africa. Backed by effective partnership policies and a refined hierarchical distributor system, TD Africa has not only become a distributor for Huawei in Sub-Saharan Africa, but has also established itself as a key contributor to the cutting-edge technologies, services, and solutions across the region.

However, in Nigeria, many small and medium partners lack professional IT teams and network O&M capabilities, preventing them from attracting local business customers. These customers require efficient and flexible network management and O&M services, so that they can focus on developing their own core services. African partners urgently need to find a way to meet these requirements.

In 2023, TD Africa released Technology as a Service (TaaS) to implement the value-added distribution strategy. TaaS is a solution that bundles hardware, software, and services into a single predictable subscription package. It aims to help small and medium partners better focus on their core services and convert CAPEX into OPEX, enabling enterprises to quickly implement digital transformation as required to improve their market competitiveness. Above all, TaaS requires a cloud-based management and O&M platform to provide subscription-based network solutions for customers.

Empowering TD Africa to Better Serve Business Partners

To help small and medium partners expand into markets, Huawei's project team recommends the MSP model of iMaster NCE-Campus based on the TD Africa's value-added distribution strategy and TaaS. This helps TD Africa unleash more value from service capabilities and increase long-term return on investment (ROI) for small and medium partners and their customers. After careful observation and trialing, TD Africa finally chose iMaster NCE-Campus for MSPs and set up an MSP team.

As a smart brain and simplified O&M center for campus networks, Huawei iMaster NCE-Campus helps customers remotely and centrally manage their headquarters and branches. The platform integrates the advanced network digital map to help users accurately detect the network status and quality in real time, thereby gaining insights into the network running status. In addition to comprehensive technical solutions, Huawei also provides TD Africa with an MSP business model featuring "4x Easy".

• Easy to sell: Huawei iMaster NCE-Campus is rentable and sellable. In this way, sales packages and accounting modes can be designed based on customers' service targets. Through on-premises deployment of iMaster NCE-Campus, TD Africa provides basic support for small and medium partners, and flexibly charges them based on the number of online tenants and devices, which effectively reduces partners' investment in infrastructure. This business model not only enhances customer loyalty, but also improves revenue for partners, achieving win-win results.
• Easy to deliver: Easy-Branch deployment is supported to enable partners to quickly deploy small branch networks in batches. Specifically, upon one-time configuration of a branch network, the configuration data can be fully replicated to deploy similar branch networks. In this way, the deployment time of a single branch network is shortened to minutes, improving efficiency by 85%.
• Easy to maintain: iMaster NCE-Campus is a network automation and intelligence system that integrates management, control, analysis, and AI functions. By interconnecting with iMaster NCE-CampusInsight, iMaster NCE-Campus brings partners a brand-new network O&M tool — network digital map. The map can clearly display the network, service, and end user information of each customer, support network fault locating within minutes, and proactively push fault information. In addition, iMaster NCE-Campus supports one-click optimization of detected network faults, greatly improving the work efficiency of O&M engineers.
• Easy to develop: The platform provides combined functions such as Wi-Fi, LAN, and WAN management functions, increasing the profit margin of new services by 35%. In addition, the platform supports energy-saving technologies, reducing power consumption on the entire network by 13%. These key capabilities provide strong support for partners to develop their businesses and enable them to cover more business domains.

In terms of service modes, the MSP O&M team of TD Africa launches multiple service modes, including the TD Africa cloud renting service, TD MSP delivery service, and TD MSP operation service. These service modes not only help small and medium partners and their customers quickly achieve digital transformation, but also enable them to focus on core services, thereby improving their core competitiveness.

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The success of iMaster NCE-Campus for MSPs marks the enhanced cooperation between Huawei and TD Africa in the business market, and opens up a new business model for Huawei Datacom in Nigeria business market. All these achievements motivate partners to forge ahead and deepen cooperation between partners, so that they can independently carry out their businesses.

Looking into the future, TD Africa will continue to work closely with Huawei to draw on its rich experience and technologies in the network service field, help partners optimize platform usage and operation, and provide customers with top-notch network products and services. Together, let us lay a solid foundation for market development of African partners and promote the digital transformation of African enterprises.

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CHICAGO--( BUSINESS WIRE )-- ASCO Annual Meeting – The Precision Cancer Consortium (PCC ), in partnership with Massive Bio , has unveiled compelling results from a comprehensive study conducted on a multi-sponsor pharmaceutical platform. This study rigorously tested Massive Bio's existing artificial intelligence (AI) system, designed to refine the clinical trial matching process using real-world clinical and genomic data, focused on a multi-study oncology platform. The consortium includes top pharmaceutical giants such as AstraZeneca, Bayer, Eli Lilly & Company, GSK, Johnson & Johnson, Novartis, and Roche.

Manual screening of patients for cancer trials is traditionally a resource-intensive process, taking about 25 minutes per trial and limiting patient access to suitable trials. This not only restricts available trial options but also adversely impacts enrollment rates. In response, Massive Bio and the PCC implemented an advanced multi-trial matching method that integrates Next-Generation Sequencing (NGS) results and utilizes AI to enhance both the accuracy and efficiency of trial matching, particularly for targeted therapies.

Massive Bio’s established AI system uses computer vision and natural language processing to extract 180 structured clinical parameters from medical records, and has been optimized using GPT-4 Large Language Model (LLM) and fine-tuned for the oncology and biomarker-specific use case. This system matches patients to digitized inclusion/exclusion criteria of more than 14,000 actively recruiting interventional cancer trials, using an AI-driven recommendation algorithm.

Key Findings

• Patient Data Analysis: From a dataset of 5,707 cancer patients, only 1,557 (27%) had accessible NGS testing results.
• Trial Matching Improvements: The study matched 690 unique patients to at least one trial, creating 1,254 patient-trial pairs—a 1.82-fold increase due to the multi-trial matching approach.
• Potential Increase with Full NGS: Assuming full NGS testing availability, the study projected 2,635 matching pairs, indicating a potential 2.1-fold increase.
• Targeted Therapy Case Study: In lung cancer trials focusing on the EGFR gene, matching surged to a 12.4-fold increase for unique patients.
• Matching Efficiency: The system matched or exceeded theoretical rates in 80% of trials, significantly reducing manual effort with an estimated savings of 19,500 hours (nearly 100% efficiency).

The fusion of NGS and AI in a multi-trial matching framework has not only nearly doubled the potential eligibility for patients across various tumor types but also achieved a twelve-fold increase in matching efficiency for specific tumor profiles, significantly curtailing manual labor.

Future Directions

Further nationwide analysis is under consideration to expand upon these promising results.

Kurnaz S, Loaiza-Bonilla A, Carvallo Castaneda D, Huner O. Effect of a novel artificial intelligence (AI) –enabled multi-trial matching system on patient matching using real-world data. J Clin Oncol 42, 2024 (suppl 16; abstr e13501). 2024 ASCO Annual Meeting.

About the Precision Cancer Consortium (PCC)

The Precision Cancer Consortium comprises pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies dedicated to advancing precision oncology to improve patient outcomes by increasing access to comprehensive genomic testing and addressing precision diagnostics gaps. For more information, visit Precision Cancer Consortium.

About Massive Bio

Massive Bio empowers cancer patients to find optimal treatment options, utilizing AI to improve equitable access and precision in clinical trial matching, drug matching, and drug development. The company collaborates with numerous pharmaceutical companies, CROs, and hospital networks and has a global presence with nearly 100 personnel across 12 countries. Follow @MassiveBio on social media.

Precision Cancer Consortium Email: [email protected]

Massive Bio Erkan Terzi, Chief Marketing Officer Email: [email protected]

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Each NFRA order a case study for audit committees: Ajay Bhushan Pandey

Nfra has issued orders against several audit firms in india in the past, including the "big four", around the auditors' independence and their non-audit work.

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Auditors must do basic groundwork, not rely too much on ai: nfra chairman, nfra finds deficiencies in audit quality inspection of big four firms, nfra to set up sandbox for supporting innovation in auditing techniques, nfra to engage with companies for better insights: ajay bhushan pandey, at the big five, auditors want pay parity with their western counterparts, 5g subscriber up 20-25%, yet tariff upside may be minimal: report, delhi's airport among top 10 busiest airports in the world: full list here, india's goal is to have $44 bn space economy by 2033: in-space chief, reforms, initiatives helping transform an industry plagued by problems, india to be a top global commercial realty market: anshuman magazine.

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First Published: May 31 2024 | 6:28 PM IST

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