Cooking Up Success in Turkey: Entrepreneurs on the Path to Growth

CASE COLLECTION

The four cases in this collection are each about an entrepreneur with a business operating in the Turkish food and agriculture sector. Each entrepreneur encounters a dilemma on the path to growing their business, as there were significant events unfolding in Turkey at the same time, including the Syrian refugee crisis and COVID-19.

The collection is designed to be flexible and appropriate for a wide range of audiences and contexts. For example, the cases are appropriate for adoption in both entrepreneurship training programs and university courses. Each case is freestanding, so instructors can decide which case(s) to use in a program or course. While each case is about an entrepreneur in the Turkish food and agriculture sector, the dilemmas and discussion questions are transferable to entrepreneurs in other economic sectors in emerging markets. Additionally, the external factors (e.g., the Syrian refugee crisis) and how they affect the entrepreneur in each case can be incorporated into the class discussion at the instructor’s discretion.

After reading and discussing the cases, students should be able to apply critical thinking to entrepreneurship-related dilemmas, identify key entrepreneurship concepts and apply them to address business challenges, understand strategies for growth in the context of small and medium enterprises in emerging markets, and understand unique challenges refugees encounter in building sustainable livelihoods in their host countries.

The following cases are free to download:

Following the Scent to Success to Grow her Rose Water Business: The Case of Zeina Wazzan
Zeina Wazzan, a Syrian refugee now living in Turkey, has been selling rose water and other essences on a small scale. As the case begins, she is at an inflection…
Publication Date: 05/06/2021 Product ID: 2-945-000
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A Cheese Producer Pursues a New Market through E-commerce: The Case of Mohamed Bakkar
When Mohamed Bakkar started Besma in 2016, he was among the few producers of Syrian-style cheese in Istanbul. About five years later, while Bakkar had a customer base of ten…
Publication Date: 05/06/2021 Product ID: 3-090-835
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A Social Entrepreneur Explores Alternative Business Models During the COVID-19 Pandemic: The Case of Rawan Hudaifa
In 2020, Rawan Hudaifa, the Syrian migrant and entrepreneur behind Tina Zita (TZ), found her social enterprise in dire circumstances amid the COVID-19 pandemic. Due to public fear, a ban…
Publication Date: 05/06/2021 Product ID: 2-918-962
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An Artisanal Bread Baker Diversifies her Product Line: The Case of Devrim Mumcuogullari
Devrim Mumcuogullari had been baking and selling bread successfully for the past two years. Her business had grown as her high-quality and nutritious products attracted new customers through word-of-mouth. With…
Publication Date: 05/06/2021 Product ID: 1-121-143
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