Thirty years of internal strife in Northern Ireland have taken a toll on economic conditions in the areas surrounding the border between the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland. Eighteen months ago, Jean Kennedy Smith, the U.S. ambassador to Ireland, challenged the HBS Club of Ireland to find a way to help the communities in this region.

In considering what they could do in this volatile area, club members decided to focus on what they do best: business management. And they decided to utilize a format with which they were all very familiar: case method discussion. The culmination of their efforts was a weekend seminar held in January that was an enjoyable combination of academic discussion, public service, and relaxation.

The event centered on three new case studies on companies situated near the border between Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland: International Test Technologies, a small high-tech startup; Montex, the only remaining manufacturer of jeans in Ireland; and IJM, a manufacturer of timber frame buildings. Held at the Ballymascanlon Hotel, a venue near the border, the seminar allowed alumni - from the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland, as well as a few Irish natives living in England - to get to know each other in a casual atmosphere, giving them free time between planned activities.

"We wanted to begin, in a small way, the process of building bridges between the communities and encouraging people from both sides of the border to begin the process of building trust and understanding," says club president Tom Fitzgerald (MBA '82), who worked with club members James Shay Garvey (MBA '84) and Dermot Berkery (MBA '91) for eight months to organize what they called the "Step Up" workshop.

About 65 HBS graduates and guests, the ambassador, and a number of influential local and regional business and civic leaders participated in the weekend. "While some people are already involved in cross-border business, we wanted to use the HBS network to help expand business opportunities and understanding in the counties on both sides of the border," explains Fitzgerald.

The efforts of Fitzgerald and his colleagues included identifying the three companies that would benefit from serving as case-study sites, commissioning and working with several case writers, finding business professors to volunteer to lead the sessions, and even constructing a large whiteboard to enable the discussions to mimic those conducted at HBS.

By all accounts, the hard work of the organizers paid off. "I congratulate the HBS alumni in Ireland on a very successful program. They have combined 'hands-on' business advice with a tangible interest in cross-border communication - so vital in building a lasting peace on the island of Ireland," said Smith. "This event was truly in the best Harvard tradition of public service."

Participants in the exercise agreed that taking a step back from daily activities to look at the bigger picture was invaluable, for the companies as well as for the discussants. Because the CEOs of each company were there to participate in the discussions, the dialogue was interesting, lively, and productive. "Ours was a grassroots effort to get involved in the communities and see if we could offer business advice," says Fitzgerald, noting that small groups of alumni will continue to work with each of the three companies. Fitzgerald, who hopes that the weekend might offer a useful model for others interested in helping their local communities, concludes: "The event easily surpassed our expectations."

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