Note: Additional running cases are provided on the Companion website, including the Manage
Your Health, Inc. case from the seventh edition of this text, now with updated tasks based on this
edition. Template files are also available on the Companion website. This running case starts
here and continues through Chapter 13. Tasks based on this case are explained in the following
Tasks section; throughout the book, these tasks will build on work done in previous chapters and
scenarios.
Economic inequality is a huge issue. A recent study found that the world’s 80 wealthiest
individuals own as much as the entire world’s poorest 3.5 billion people. The richest 1 percent of
the world’s population control half of the world’s total wealth.15 Many individuals, corporations,
charities, and government agencies have projects and programs in place to attempt to tackle
this and other important global issues such as sustainability, but there are many opportunities to
do more.
A grassroots group of college students has decided to work together to do their part in
making the world a better place. The students are from many different countries, and several
of them met at global conferences, through study abroad experiences, or on various Internet
groups. Strategic goals of this group include developing skills for both college students and for
needy populations, sharing information on existing products and services that promote economic
growth and sustainability, and promoting entrepreneurship. Leaders of this group were reviewing
some ideas for projects (all with a significant IT component) that they could do to support their
strategic goals:
- Global Treps: Many people are familiar with the television show called Shark Tank where
entrepreneurs (sometimes called “treps”) present their business ideas to a group of investors
or sharks. Several colleges, high schools, and even elementary schools throughout the
world hold unique versions of a shark tank like event. You believe that creating a nonprofit
organization with one central mobile-friendly website/application to assist groups in
organizing these types of events would spark even more entrepreneurs throughout the
world. You would plan to hold several shark tank like events during the term of the project
and create a site and applications to help continue developing more global treps. This site/
application would include the following capabilities:
• Provide guidelines and templates for running a shark tank type of event.
• Accept donations from potential investors targeted toward specific schools or
organizations wishing to host an event (similar to the popular www.donorschoose.org
site where people can fund teacher’s requests).
• Accept ideas for needed new products or services.