Background Peer-led programs with people who use drugs (PWUD) have been a key characteristic of the harm reduction in many countries, including their involvement in research. However, peer involvement in research is often limited to recruitment, consultation, and reporting back, rather than a genuine collaboration in the priority setting, design, and conduct of research. PWUD peer organizations face ongoing challenges to demonstrate the depth of their knowledge of current and emerging issues within drug-using networks and the value of their peer insights for effective research and policy. The identification of benefits, barriers, and enablers for meaningful participation of PWUD in research has often been limited to methodological rather than system level factors. Methods This paper draws on the experiences and findings of the What Works and Why (W3) Project, a 5-year collaborative study with peer organizations. The study drew on systems thinking methods to develop a framework to demonstrate the role of peer organizations within their community and policy systems. The study required peer staff and researchers to undertake the simultaneous role of drivers, participants, and analysts in the research. To identify the learnings in relation to meaningful participation of PWUD peer organizations in research, we drew together the insights and experiences of peer staff and researchers across the 5 years of the study Results The W3 Project provided insights into the nuances of community-engaged research practice and the ongoing benefits, barriers, and enablers to the meaningful participation of PWUD and their peer organizations. These included system-level barriers and enablers beyond individual research projects or methodology. The capacity of research and peer organizations to maintain meaningful peer participation in research can be restricted or enhanced by the systems in which they are embedded. Conclusions Recognizing peer organizations as active participants and drivers within community and policy systems can help clarify their unique and critical role in research. Achieving meaningful collaboration with PWUD peer organizations requires looking beyond good practice methods to the system-level factors with attention to the system-level benefits, barriers, and enablers.

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The objective of this case study is to enable students to analyze the financial impact of an unexpected catastrophic event on a retail business and how the strategic operational decisions made in response to regulatory restrictions and changes in tax policy impact the business’s risk tolerance and breakeven analysis. To provide students with a context for comparison, this case study provides students with the opportunity to analyze the financial statements of a retail business prior to the occurrence of an unexpected catastrophic event, how the catastrophic event impacted revenue and profitability, and how the risk reduction strategies the business employed contained the adverse impact of the factors brought on by that catastrophic event on breakeven. This case study addresses a core gap in the body of knowledge by analyzing a business in three distinct stages of the business life cycle: (1) in the start-up phase; (2) in pre-crisis operations mode; and (3) in crisis mode confronted with an unexpected catastrophic event amidst governmental shutdowns, state and federal regulatory restrictions, and emergency changes to the tax policy. Examining a fictitious restaurant (a composite of the sales statistics of three actual restaurants located in Long Island, New York from 2019 to 2021) in operation for one year prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, students are given the opportunity to think critically about how strategic operational decisions made to generate sales, to minimize risk, to comply with mandated state government policy, and to take advantage of federal tax relief policy, collectively changed the financial projections and impacted the breakeven analysis of that business. Students are able to evaluate business start-up costs, first year (pre-pandemic) sales and costs, and second year (during pandemic) sales and costs of a retail business. Students then evaluate how the United States’ federal PPP relief loan program, along with other pandemic relief programs for businesses and individuals, impacted profitability and business strategy. Students also assess risk, risk tolerance, and how the strategies employed to minimize risk impact a business. The motivation for this case study is to provide students with an illustrative example of an entity at various stages of the business life cycle, to explore the surrounding context of the impact of external environmental events, and to identify the effects of strategic operational responses to the various regulatory changes that were brought on by a catastrophic event. This case study is designed for use in courses that study revenue projection, tax, internal controls, breakeven analysis, and risk management. Teaching Note: While this case study uses a restaurant as a model, prior understanding of the restaurant industry is not necessary. Any student or instructor can use their practical knowledge and experience as a consumer to adequately analyze the issues presented.