January 2022
Teaching Plan
HBS Case Collection

Just Arrived: Integrating Refugees in Sweden

By: Brian Trelstad and Emilie Billaud

Format:Print
| Language:English
| Pages:11

Abstract

Teaching Plan for HBS Case No. 321-040. Just Arrived is an online platform that matches newly-arrived immigrants in Sweden with employment opportunities. As one of several for-profit and non-profit start-ups in Europe that is looking to address the refugee crisis, the case enables a comparative analysis of a few of the core choices that a social enterprise has to make when developing a solution to a problem of this scale and scope. Used as an introductory case for a course on social enterprise and systems change, it touches on the background and experience of the founders, and their product development process. It shifts to explore which business model (for-profit or non-profit) and organizational structure might be most effective in addressing the problem, and how to evaluate the effectiveness of their efforts. And finally, it looks at how these organizations are working to change the system in the long-term, with a combination of direct service to refugees and employers, as well as the indirect influence of the media and through national or European policy changes.