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This case demonstrates how, through trial and error, Qingdao Kutesmart Co., Ltd. ("Kutesmart," formerly known as Qingdao Red Collar Group Co., Ltd.) executed its strategy of "building a customer-to-manufactory (C2M) business ecosystem," following transformation from mass production to mass customization. In 2015, Kutesmart launched Magic Manufactory to explore consumer-oriented garment customization. However, when public response fell below expectations, the new brand closed its physical stores in the second half of 2016. Drawing on the lessons learned from the failure of Magic Manufactory, Kutesmart launched Cotte Yolan, a proprietary made-to-measure garment brand designed by founder Daili Zhang with an eye on handing over the reins to daughter Yunlan Zhang. To ensure a successful succession, Daili, who was about to retire, formulated Cotte Yolan's own governance framework and carried out a range of organizational changes. He believed that with this governance system, companies in other industries could also transform to customization and succeed in succession. Looking ahead, father and daughter had different views regarding the future position of Cotte Yolan: should it be a fashion brand, a made-to-measure garment supplier, or a project to promote the transformation and upgrade among traditional companies? In addition, would Cotte Yolan's governance framework prove crucial for implementing Yunlan's C2M strategy and leading the company into the future?

Beryl is a leading brand in China's goji berry market that has stayed ahead of the competition quality-wise and is the only one to build a name for itself both offline and online. Beryl made a foray into e-commerce in 2015 and quickly outperformed rivals with low-priced berries. However, its success came at the expense of brand image. In 2018, Beryl repositioned itself by axing lucrative low-price products that brought the company ¥70 million in sales and accounted for 70% of total e-commerce sales. It shifted focus to new goji berry snacks to satisfy the demand for health products among younger generations. In 2020, the Covid-19 outbreak dealt a severe blow to Beryl's offline retail. As a bulwark against the pandemic, Beryl decided to embrace internet retail and make livestream marketing a strategic priority.

Spreadsheet Supplement for Case CB0152

Feng Min, Sun Lei, and Li Shangzhen initially established Ruhnn as a Taobao brand called "LiBeilin". With the rapid development and growing integration of social platforms and e-commerce functionality, they partnered with fashion model Zhang Dayi to open an exclusive online private store. Following the store's promising debut, LiBeilin officially renamed itself Ruhnn and adopted an "influencers + incubator + supply chain" operating model. With its self-operated business, Ruhnn looked to optimize its model as the supply chain was too complicated and focus on influencer incubation and operations. It also brought in business partners to pursue monetization. Ruhnn's FY2021Q1 results indicated a dramatic surge in profitability, with the platform business becoming a significant driver of robust growth. In recent years, influencer marketing has exploded with a host of multi-channel networks (MCNs) mushrooming across China. Ruhnn faced a barrage of criticism for relying on Weibo despite declining commercialization. Ruhnn's management team faced several issues. Could influencer incubation be replicated at scale through institutional operations? How should Ruhnn empower influencers and better serve businesses with influencer marketing needs? Could the company's organizational structure keep up with the expanding influencer pool and business size?

This case series illustrate how Sanquan Food (hereinafter "Sanquan") evolved from a small family-run startup into an innovative listed company during China's reform and opening-up, and how the family's corporate "DNA" guided the strategic transformation. The cases offer a prime example of a smooth leadership succession at a Chinese family business and emphasize that successful successions are usually a drawn out process, rather than a one-off event. Case (A) describes how Sanquan's governance evolved as the business matured from a family-owned startup into a family-controlled public company. Governing family businesses is notoriously difficult due to the complex relationships between family members, company ownership, and management. This case describes the dynamic intersection between the "second curves" of corporate strategic upgrading and intergenerational succession at a time of sweeping social change in China. It explores family, business, and social systems to analyze how, and to what extent founders and successors are involved in business affairs, and looks at the key challenges faced by corporate decision-makers.

Case (B) discusses the implementation of closed-loop management at a family business that underwent a strategic transformation, and explores mechanisms for evaluating company performance by family, business, and social metrics.

The HR Lab served as an incubator within Bosch that rejuvenated the company with a history of more than a hundred years. Agile transformation solutions debuted in the Power Tools (PT) business unit, driven by the industry's evolutionary needs. Bosch used to sell Power Tools to two separate groups of consumers: Professional tools for users in trade and industry, and DIY, accessories and garden tools to amateur crafters like families or avid gardeners. However, e-commerce brought disruption to the past business model and threatened the unit's competitive advantage. To proactively provide employees with innovative solutions geared towards consumer needs, Rosa Lee, Executive Vice President of Bosch China, came up with the idea of the HR Lab. The idea followed rounds of discussions with Uwe Raschke, Bosch's board member responsible for Consumer Goods (including the Power Tools division and BSH Hausgeräte GmbH), and Elly Siegert, Bosch's Vice President for Human Resources in the Power Tools BU. HR Lab products such as Individual Development Dialogue, Team Staffing, Peer Recognition and Development Navigator were implemented in various Power Tools offices worldwide and received very positive feedback. However, new emerging issues pushed Lee to reflect and rethink how to measure the tools' efficacy and collect valid feedback for the initiative. After years of launching so many new HR Lab products, what should the team do next to achieve agile transformation for the entire company? Should Lee keep running the HR Lab or press pause to consider the future first?

This case explores two dimensions of organization and human resource management (HRM). First, the case illustrates how Xibei evolved from an unknown northwest Chinese cuisine restaurant into one of the country's leading restaurant chains in a fiercely competitive catering market. Specifically, it describes how Xibei developed an organization and HRM system that supported strategic implementation, such as rapid expansion and product innovation. Second, the case expounds on how Xibei's founder and executive team responded to change. In particular, the case illustrates Xibei's paradox when reinforcing strategic implementation, such as the perspective of top-down versus bottom-up innovation, and centralization versus decentralization. It also stimulates discussion on organizational rigidity during growth, taking the chance on a Covid-19 outbreak.

This case examines how a traditional manufacturing company can be challenged by a new market environment and its strategic options. The company in this discussion, TIDIY, is a middle-sized ceramic tile company based in Foshan. In 2014, TIDIY split from Oceano, a sibling brand under parent company Teda, and became an independently managed entity. TIDIY's restructuring coincided with major changes in the construction ceramics market in China. As such, TIDIY faced a market that was fundamentally different to the one in 2004 when it was founded. Once rapid growth had slowed, overcapacity and product similarity created fierce competition, and the industry was fragmented. The preferred sales model also changed from selling via distributors, to strategic partnerships with large real estate developers. Newly independent TIDIY had to find its own path. Compared with better-established competitors, TIDIY's brand awareness and access to capital were limited. What should TIDIY do to achieve differentiation? This case explains how TIDIY leveraged anion technology and "charted itself a new path". Company chairman Feng Hongjian and Managing Director Li Qiang renamed the brand "TIDIY Ceramic Tiles", upgraded stores into anion experience centers and sciences museums, trained distributors' salespersons, engaged designers, improved customer satisfaction to create positive word-of-mouth, iterated products. He implemented various policies to provide strong organizational support. These strategies enabled TIDIY to grow by 37% during the first year after independence. TIDIY then set itself a goal to double its revenue in three years. To this end, TIDIY identified three possible strategies: investing in R&D and inventing tiles with new functions, applying anion technology to products other than tiles, or expanding its business scope to the health industry. What might be the right strategy for TIDIY? This case will help students understand the challenges and strategies of transforming a

This case relates to Shanghai Huanxin Electronic Technology Company (hereinafter "Huanxin"), and discusses the company's decision to launch a new scheme for shared strollers. Huanxin, established in 2012, initially focused on providing technologies and services for government-funded public bicycle programs and metro cards. In 2016, following the arrival of bike-sharing in China, Huanxin rolled out its own scheme called '100Bike'. However, it was very short-lived. The company subsequently launched "Share++", an IoT SaaS platform for business customers which aimed to make their products and services (such as umbrellas) available for sharing. However, "Share++" soon encountered difficulties, including customer acquisition challenges and high operating costs. Therefore, Zhao Wei, CEO of Huanxin, decided to focus on a specific segment. By chance, he had heard his family complaining about the lack of baby strollers available for rent when they went on holiday. This inspired him with the idea of launching a stroller rental scheme. Should Huanxin enter into this new market?

This case explores the implementation of Huanxin's shared stroller scheme 'Pandastroller', launched in September 2017. To achieve rapid growth, Pandastroller established a franchising model in June 2018, which aimed to boost its market share by leveraging its franchisees' funds and marketing channels. The franchising model was gradually expanded, and by the first half of 2019, it had started to deliver positive results. However, the speed of expansion was still far below expectations. What could Pandastroller do to accelerate its expansion?

The case describes the process of entering the China market undertaken by InMobi, an Indian Internet Company that provides a mobile advertising platform and value-added services for brands. InMobi was intentionally developed as an international venture by its founders. After opening offices in South Africa, Europe, and North America, the board had a long discussion and eventually decided to enter the China market. The case describes how, under the leadership of Jessie Yang, InMobi China successfully adapted to the unique ecosystem of China's internet industry. In 2019 InMobi's China revenue exceeded $100 million for the first time, accounting for over one-quarter of its parent company's global revenue, and next only to the US market. The case ends by noting the expansion of the Beijing office by inviting InMobi technologists from India and also plans for spinning off InMobi China as an independent company. After achieving the aspiring milestone, Yang also faced the business growth challenges. How could she strengthen InMobi's first-mover advantage in the China mobile advertising market and maintain good relations with headquarters to gain autonomy and trust?

This case starts by exploring the brief history of Alibaba from 1999 to 2020 from the perspective of strategy and values. The case shows how a company's strategy and values are mutually interdependent, but each retains a degree of autonomy. Values are based on and then applied to the implementation of strategy. The case next describes how Alibaba used values to influence and check employee behavior. It highlights Ali's unique value-centric rules, organizational structure, and value-based KPIs while describing the company's evolution toward a more flexible approach concerning values. It links this evolution to the company's different development stages. The case concludes by specifying the challenges Ali faced and would face in enforcing and popularizing its values, namely (i) business expansion was bound to dilute Ali's values; and (ii) business diversification would introduce other business cultures. The main purpose of this case study is to identify potential solutions to these challenges.

Fitzie, a sports and fitness brand that manufactured, marketed, and sold sports and lifestyle footwear and apparel, had been doing relatively well in its Eastern Europe, Middle East, South Asia, and Africa (EMESAA) region, with double-digit growth for the past two years. However, the business had been affected by the global COVID-19 pandemic, with the business forecast for 2020 reduced by 39 per cent. As a result, Fitzie's global team had reduced the EMESAA region's marketing allocation for 2020 by the same ratio. Archana Roy, the marketing head of Fitzie's EMESAA region, had to present her marketing plan for 2021 to Fitzie's global team at the end of September 2020. What had worked in the past might not yield results for 2021, as significant shifts in consumer behaviour had occurred and different markets moved asymmetrically. It was important to prioritize and align all local stakeholders for strong execution and to ensure that the global team allocated the required marketing budget. Was there a need to reconsider the well-established marketing budget allocation process and, if there was, what should the criteria be for reallocation?

In early 2021, PepsiCo Inc. (PepsiCo), one of the world's largest food and beverage companies, was undergoing immense criticism for its role in global health issues including obesity, diabetes, heart disease, malnutrition, and cancer. As far back as 2010, executives at PepsiCo had recognized that "society, people, and lifestyles have changed" and that PepsiCo had no choice but to move in healthier directions. Although PepsiCo had made impressive strides in reducing the negative health impacts of some of its products, criticism persisted that it was not going far enough.

In May 2019, the founder of SaladStop!, a Singapore-headquartered healthy salad chain with locations across Asia, was looking for innovative ways to improve the customer experience at SaladStop! stores worldwide. In six months, the founder was planning to renovate one of his branches in Singapore. This renovation would set a precedent for future outlets in terms of layout and design. The founder was aware of rising customer dissatisfaction caused by some service quality issues. As such, there was an urgent need to find a way to maintain customer interactions at SaladStop! while paying attention to customers' expectations. Should SaladStop! embrace new technologies in the restaurant business, or should it continue to focus on offering a truly authentic customer experience by relying on traditional human touchpoints?

Leaders will need to offer a compelling rationale for why post-pandemic work models that include some degree of in-person collaboration are not only good for the company but also valuable for employees. The authors explain how organizational network analysis a methodology that maps employees' working relationships can help guide leaders' return-to-office decisions and show employees how hybrid work can improve their own effectiveness.

The Canada Pension Plan Investment Board (CPPIB) is one of the largest pools of investment capital in the world and follows a rigorous "Total Portfolio Framework" in its approach to investment management. In April of 2021, John Graham was just two months into his role as Chief Executive Officer, and he must decide how to lead the organization to outperform the increasingly competitive market. CPPIB had several structural and developed competitive advantages, but with assets under management projected to grow to C$1 trillion by 2030, Graham faced the challenge of scaling the organization's investment strategy for the future. As Graham settled into the chief executive's role, would he be able to lead CPPIB to meet its strategic goals?

A monolithic, highly interdependent organization can become a modular one by turning traditional business processes whether financial, legal, or HR-related into microservices with application programming interfaces. APIs can help codify interactions among departments, reduce ad hoc communication, and minimize coordination complexity.

In 2019, Ajith Rai, Executive Chairman of Suprajit Engineering Limited (SEL), a pioneer in the design and manufacture of mechanical control cables in India, is contemplating his company's future growth strategy in the face of changing trends and demands in the automotive sector. Established as a private limited company in 1985, SEL became a public limited company in June 1995. In its over three decades of existence, SEL had grown from a single-product, single-customer, single- segment, single-brand, and single-location company to a multi-product, multi-business, multi-brand, multi-customer, multi-location, global company. SEL's growth and evolution as a truly diversified company was the result of Rai's ability to expand its operations in domestic and overseas markets organically and inorganically through acquisitions. In 2019, when the case is set, new developments in the automotive sector, both in terms of new technology as well as competition, made it necessary for SEL to take stock and plan for the future. Rai decided it was time to conduct a thorough analysis of the business, its growth both organically and inorganically, its ability to integrate its acquisitions, and its environment, in order to reinvent itself and identify the next wave of growth. By tracing SEL's inspiring growth story and highlighting the reasons behind its success, the case provides valuable insights into the rapid growth strategies used by entrepreneurial firms.