Publications
Publications
- April 2004 (Revised August 2004)
- HBS Case Collection
BuildingBlocks International
Abstract
BuildingBlocks International (BBI) plans to accomplish its mission to help children in developing countries succeed in school by bringing management expertise to local organizations. Two years after founding BBI, however, the team hasn't figured out exactly how to make it work. In their model, a firm would support BBI in two ways: by donating money and by lending BBI a highly skilled employee for anywhere from four months to a year. This employee would live in the developing country and work with the local organization to improve its effectiveness. So far, they've not been able to convince any firm to sign on, although few have said "absolutely not." Presents the options for the selling strategy. There are three potential entry points into the organization: senior management, philanthropy, and human resources. Moreover, there are two substantial value propositions: social benefit and leadership training of the employee. Where should BBI focus its selling effort, and what should the main message be? Allows for quantification of the social benefits delivered by BBI and discussion of when and whether this would be useful in the selling process. Rich description of BBI's selling process at a single site makes it possible to draw inferences about what is really going on, why things aren't working out, and what might be changed in the sales strategy.
Keywords
Citation
Godes, David B. "BuildingBlocks International." Harvard Business School Teaching Note 504-085, April 2004. (Revised August 2004.)