Bleucares: it cares for women. Do women care?

Research methodology The case has been developed with multiple rounds of interviews with the case protagonist, Ms Komal Baldwa from Bleucares. The interview was recorded, and the interview transcripts were reviewed and verified by Baldwa, and the case document was signed by her. To ensure data triangulation and strengthen the validity of the findings, the authors used quotes provided by the prospective candidates when they declined the job offer. These quotes are narrated in the “Echos of Stigma” section of the case. The human resource manager of the company helped the authors synthesise and analyse the response to understand the stigma patterns. The author also observed the users’ responses to the job posting made on the job portal towards the recruitment advertisement. The mentor, Mr Anirban Majmudar offered an expert opinion on socio-cultural insights. Case overview/synopsis The case describes the challenges Baldwa faced at Bleucares in hiring a female candidate to work for a sexual wellness company despite offering a competitive salary, performance-based incentives and other intangibles associated with the job. The Bleucares is a company manufacturing male latex condoms, which are free of parabens, glycerine, benzocaine and other artificial flavours for women’s sexual hygiene. She wanted her start-up to be a women’s company. However, the shortlisted female candidates are rejecting the job offer by citing societal and cultural stigma associated with working in the sexual wellness industry. The dilemma for Baldwa is how to address the stigma and convince women to join her company. Complexity academic level The case can be used to teach undergraduate and postgraduate students in management courses like entrepreneurship and human resource management. The case can be used for both in-class and online environments learning.