What a Fictional HBR Case Study Reveals About the Real Work of Today’s Death‑Care Professionals

Harvard Business Review recently published a fictional case study about a funeral company — Monteverde Memorial Group — at a crossroads. In the scenario, the leadership team is debating whether to shift their business model in response to changing consumer expectations, rising cremation rates, and internal questions about culture, staffing, and long‑term strategy. The company isn’t real — but the pressures, tensions, and choices certainly are.

And that’s what makes the case study worth our attention.

Even in fictional form, it recognizes something funeral directors, cemeterians, and cremation professionals have long understood: this profession is constantly adapting. Consumer needs evolve. Cultural norms shift. Cremation continues to rise — with CANA’s State Cremation Rate Milestone Report predicting cremation will be the preferred form of disposition in every U.S. state by 2033. These changes don’t just alter the numbers; they reshape how we talk with families, how we design services, and how we think about the future of our organizations.

The Memorial Group in the Mirror

While the pandemic didn’t influence the cremation rate, this case study shows how the crisis accelerated answers to questions Monteverde Memorial Group posed for their five-year growth plan. Forces beyond the disease – namely land costs and cremation growth – came into focus more quickly.

We see the case study’s executive grapple with his own negative feelings about cremation and confront the shifting consumer values with which he disagrees.

In our own business reflections, the case study raises questions like:

• How do we adapt to what families want today?
• How do we communicate value when “meaningful” looks different for every family?
• How do we balance tradition with innovation?
• How do we support staff in a profession built on emotional labor?
• How do we evolve our business models without losing the heart of what we do?

If you’ve wrestled with any of these questions — and most professionals in death care have — you’re already living the strategic conversations that business schools consider worth teaching.

Easier Said Than Done

At the end of the case study, the fictional experts offer recommendations about listening deeply to families, clarifying your value proposition, investing in staff well‑being, and staying adaptable in the face of cultural change. These aren’t abstract business theories. They’re the same principles that guide strong, community‑rooted death‑care organizations every day.

Our members don’t need a fictional company to tell them what’s changing. They see it when a family chooses a gathering in a hotel ballroom instead of a chapel. They see it when someone plans a living funeral and feels that the ceremony they held in life met their needs. They see it when families talk about value — not just price — and make choices that reflect their priorities, not tradition.

Cemeterians see it in the growing demand for flexible memorialization options. Cremation professionals see it in the questions about new disposition methods and witness cremation. Funeral directors see it in the desire for personalization, simplicity, or new kinds of gathering spaces.

Turning Questions Into Strategy

These are the real world decisions shaping the future of death care. And they’re the conversations our members have been leading long before this HBR case study.

They’re also the questions worth talking about — openly, honestly, and together. Every firm  is wrestling with its own version of “What should our cremation strategy look like?” Some are rethinking service offerings. Some are exploring new partnerships or spaces. Some are trying to articulate value in ways that resonate with today’s families. And many are simply trying to figure out where to begin.

CANA exists for exactly these conversations. Our community is a place where professionals compare notes, share dilemmas, test ideas, and learn from one another’s experience. If the themes raised in the case study echo challenges in your own business — or spark new questions — we want to hear them. Your insights, your uncertainties, and your strategies are part of the collective wisdom that strengthens this profession.

As cremation becomes the preferred choice nationwide, the need for thoughtful dialogue and shared learning only grows. CANA’s mission is to be the trusted authority and educator on all aspects of cremation — and that includes helping you shape the plans, policies, and practices that will carry your organization forward.

The HBR case study may be fictional, but the questions it raises are real — and our members are already answering them with creativity, compassion, and clarity. That’s something worth celebrating.

For more than 105 years, CANA has created space for professionals to share what’s working, what’s changing, and what’s keeping them up at night. That longevity isn’t an accident — it’s proof that when cremation professionals, funeral directors, and cemeterians come together, the profession moves forward.

If the questions raised in this piece are ones you’re wrestling with too, CANA's 108th Annual Convention this August is designed for exactly these conversations. It’s where people compare notes, test ideas, and build strategies they can take home. We wouldn’t ask you to step away from your business in the middle of August without good reason — and the reason is simple: the conversations happening there help shape the future of cremation care.

We hope you’ll join us in Minneapolis this August 12-14. See what we have planned and register: cremationassociation.org/CANA26