Rohnert Park, CA - The Wine Business Institute (WBI) at Sonoma State University (SSU) announced that Dr. Sandra K. Newton and Dr. Armand Gilinsky, Jr., wine business professors at SSU, received notification that their case study, "NakedWines.com - Disrupting the Wine Industry?", will be published in the Fall 2015 (Vol. 35, No. 4) issue of the Case Research Journal, a leading academic journal for cases in business and related disciplines. The case study will also be available from Harvard Business School Publishing, among other case distribution outlets. It was originally presented at the North American Case Research Association conference in British Columbia, Canada, where it won the Gold Award for best case.
"It's gratifying to be recognized by a highly selective and demanding research journal that accepts less than 16 percent of submissions it receives. More importantly, it's rewarding to know that students and faculty around the country will benefit from the insights provided by our case study and Instructor's Manual," Professor and co-author Sandra Newton said.
"We're grateful for the assistance of the company's two founders, Rowan Gormley, Chief Executive Officer, and Derek Hardy, Chief Technology Officer, who visited with our undergraduate, MBA, and EMBA students and provided invaluable help on this project," Professor and co-author Armand Gilinsky said.
"Time and again, our faculty address the industry's urgent issues with case scenarios that represent an evolving and dynamic marketplace. This is helpful to wine business students, faculty, and professionals everywhere. Wine education programs worldwide will be teaching this along with other SSU case studies. It's testament to our role as global leader of wine business research and education," Damien Wilson, Hamel Family Faculty Chair of Wine Business said.
The NakedWines.com (NWC) business model uses revenue generated from online subscribers, who make up 95 percent of NWC customers, to fund startup winemakers. Recipient winemakers work on consignment to sell their wine through a restricted mobile application that allows subscribers to rate and purchase featured wines. The company is projecting to grow from 100,000 subscribers to 200,000 and $96 million in sales by the end of the year.
For more information about the case study, "NakedWines.com - Disrupting the Wine Industry?", or for information regarding wine business seminars, certificates, and degree programs with the Wine Business Institute and School of Business and Economics, please contact (707) 664-3235, winebiz@sonoma.edu, or visit www.sonoma.edu/sbe.