Mystic Monk Case
CASE 1
Crafting & Executing Strategy 18th Edition
265
Mystic Monk Coffee
Overview
T
his 4-page case requires that students consider the future direction of a monastery located in Clark,
Wyoming and evaluate the vision, strategy, and business model of the monk’s fledgling coffee business.
As the case unfolds, students will learn of Father Daniel Mary’s vision to build a new Mount Carmel in the Rocky Mountains and transform the small brotherhood of 13 monks living in a small home used as makeshift rectory into a 500-acre monastery that would include accommodations for 30 monks, a Gothic church, a convent for Carmelite nuns, a retreat center for lay visitors, and a hermitage. Father Daniel Mary had identified a nearby ranch for sale that met the requirements of his vision perfectly, but its listing price of $8.9 million presented a financial obstacle to creating a place of prayer, worship, and solitude in the Rockies. Father Daniel Mary hoped to fund the purchase of the ranch through charitable contributions to the monastery and through the profits of its
Mystic Monk coffee business, which had earned nearly $75,000 during its first year of operation.
Suggestions for Using the Case
This case was written as a leadoff case and was carefully crafted by the case author to require students to draw upon most all of the concepts discussed in Chapters 1 and 2 to sufficiently prepare for a class discussion of the case. The case involves issues relating to mission, vision, objectives, strategy, business models, and decisive strategic leadership; the need for an action plan is obvious—these are the very things one looks for in a good leadoff case. And the nature of the case virtually guarantees the stimulating kind of class discussion one needs to get the course off on the right foot.
We think Mystic Monk Coffee (MMC) is an excellent leadoff case for the course (other good choices are Whole
Foods Market in 2010 and The O-Fold Innovation—all
Crafting & Executing Strategy 18th Edition
265
Mystic Monk Coffee
Overview
T
his 4-page case requires that students consider the future direction of a monastery located in Clark,
Wyoming and evaluate the vision, strategy, and business model of the monk’s fledgling coffee business.
As the case unfolds, students will learn of Father Daniel Mary’s vision to build a new Mount Carmel in the Rocky Mountains and transform the small brotherhood of 13 monks living in a small home used as makeshift rectory into a 500-acre monastery that would include accommodations for 30 monks, a Gothic church, a convent for Carmelite nuns, a retreat center for lay visitors, and a hermitage. Father Daniel Mary had identified a nearby ranch for sale that met the requirements of his vision perfectly, but its listing price of $8.9 million presented a financial obstacle to creating a place of prayer, worship, and solitude in the Rockies. Father Daniel Mary hoped to fund the purchase of the ranch through charitable contributions to the monastery and through the profits of its
Mystic Monk coffee business, which had earned nearly $75,000 during its first year of operation.
Suggestions for Using the Case
This case was written as a leadoff case and was carefully crafted by the case author to require students to draw upon most all of the concepts discussed in Chapters 1 and 2 to sufficiently prepare for a class discussion of the case. The case involves issues relating to mission, vision, objectives, strategy, business models, and decisive strategic leadership; the need for an action plan is obvious—these are the very things one looks for in a good leadoff case. And the nature of the case virtually guarantees the stimulating kind of class discussion one needs to get the course off on the right foot.
We think Mystic Monk Coffee (MMC) is an excellent leadoff case for the course (other good choices are Whole
Foods Market in 2010 and The O-Fold Innovation—all