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In 2018, Volkswagen Group's newly appointed chief executive officer renewed the company's commitment to Strategy 2025, an ongoing plan intended to radically transform the German automaker. Volkswagen was being challenged by tectonic changes in the automotive industry, including the phasing out of the long-standing internal combustion engine, ongoing digitization, the entry of new competition from technology companies, the introduction of electric vehicles, and the launch of ride-sharing applications. Strategy 2025 was designed to reshuffle the company's existing formal and informal structures and restructure the automaker into a nimble, agile, and innovative corporation ready to face the realities of mobility in the digital age. The new chief executive officer faced huge expectations concerning the effectiveness and sustainability of Strategy 2025. Was the automaker doing enough to transform into a competitive mobility company?

Building on his father's legacy, Omar Alghanim (MBA 2002) had been working on strengthening a performance-driven culture based on meritocracy in the family business, Alghanim Industries. The task had been particularly challenging because of traditional Middle East practice of relying on relationships and influence to conduct business. Omar's vision attracted and empowered like-minded employees who were rewarded on merit and who delivered on the firm's mission of providing excellent service to its customers. Together, they revamped the company's performance and compensation system and established a well-structured control and compliance mechanism. The next challenge for Omar was to transform the workforce from a mono-culture, male-dominant expat community to a diverse mix of people, cultures, backgrounds, and viewpoints. In particular, he needed to find a way to attract talented women and local Kuwaitis to become part of his organization.

By 2019, two-sided online platforms (or marketplaces) were among the highest-growing internet startups around. These marketplaces sought to match suppliers of assets for rent, physical products, or services with customers demanding them. Among the most notable two-sided platforms that quickly reached millions of customers were Airbnb, Etsy, and Uber. They offered short-term property rentals, handcrafted goods, and car rides, respectively. As two-sided markets grew past the 1 million customer mark, challenges of typical large businesses appeared. Among the challenges facing Airbnb, Etsy, and Uber were maintaining the fast pace of customer acquisition, reducing customer retention problems, and avoiding regulatory issues. How did these platforms balance their fast growth and massive size with so little time to adapt to ever mounting challenges? How did they adapt and change their customer acquisition tactics to grow from 1 million to many millions of customers so quickly? This is the third and final instalment of the Airbnb, Etsy, Uber trilogy.

PremiumSoft, a Hong Kong-based software company, relied heavily on its creative workforce to drive new product delivery, manage product upgrades, and incorporate customer feedback in its products. As founder and Director of Software Development, the core responsibility of Ken Lin was setting up strategic goals for the organization and identifying new products and opportunities for innovation to ensure the company's growth. In addition to this role, Ken had been the company's human resource (HR) manager since its founding. He alone handled all the HR-related activities including recruiting and retaining talent, and ensuring a healthy work environment. This role, however, had become more challenging over time. Demand for good developers was at an all-time high, and just across the border, Chinese companies such as Alibaba and Tencent were willing to provide Silicon Valley-like salaries and benefits to attract developers.

Yalia, a Chinese tech company that is experiencing rapid expansion overseas, has been sending more expatriates on assignment in recent years, but its approach to global mobility has not caught up. Managers are not strategic about the expatriation process. Existing mobility policy guidelines are unclear and has not been adjusted to address the company's expansion needs. Xiao Jing, the new human resources director at Yalia, is becoming frustrated with the outdated approach as she deals with a recent complaint from a Chinese mid-level manager, Fan Kewen. Fan, the head of Dubai's office, thinks it is unfair that his housing budget is lower than that of his US colleague from a newly acquired cloud solutions company, and he threatens to shorten his assignment. As she investigates further, she uncovered the difficulties of Fan working in a foreign culture, as well as differences in cultural and policy practices at Yalia and the acquired company. Jing suggests to Liu Hong, head of global strategy and managing director about a policy overhaul, but Hong dismissed, and instead asks her to use monetary incentives to keep assignees happy. What should she do? The case demonstrates how global mobility policies need to consider operational needs, business strategy and talent strategies. It breaks down the components of an expatriate package, and shows how culture can play into its design. It also shows the impact of having a well-structured, strategic approach to managing mobility programs.

The case examines the strategy, impact, and sustainability of a boutique philanthropy with a big goal: change the way people donate to charities. Epic Foundation was founded to support a portfolio of children's charities. Now, its leadership was considering taking on a broader role: to reshape the very nature of charitable giving-in the U.S., France, the United Kingdom and globally. Its wealthy, charismatic leader, Alexandre Mars, thought that Epic could be at the forefront of a movement to transform the global culture of giving. But there was an open question among the fundraising, communications and marketing teams at Epic about how to jockey between the management and growth of its portfolio and this new advocacy orientation. It was unclear whether Epic could simultaneously pursue both. Should Epic continue to grow and possibly diversify its portfolio of charities, or should it focus more on an advocacy model? Mars wanted to advocate for "making giving the norm"-a call for citizens to make frequent charitable donations through work, point-of-purchase and online channels. But were Epic's ideas truly innovative when it came to fostering this giving norm and was it positioned to advocate for it?

The case recaps the development of a contemporary online furniture brand in China, and the path of development to ride on the wave of digital retail. From an art store in Beijing's 798 Art District to becoming an online furniture brand on Tmall, Uvanart has positioned itself as an "affordable and artistic" furniture brand and built quite a following in the last few years. But China's home furniture market is fiercely competitive. Traditional custom-furniture brands Oppein (欧派家居), Soufeiya (索菲亚), and Homekoo (尚品宅配) have all gone public. Internet giants Alibaba and Tencent have teamed up with retail mall operators Easy Home (居然之家) and Red Star Macalline (红星美凯龙), to gain a foothold in the growing market. Online furniture design brands like Zaozuo (造作) and Ziin (吱音) have won the hearts of China's millennial consumers as well as venture capitalists seeking high growth investment opportunities. Growth and scale are critical to Uvanart in the coming years. Was the "affordable and artistic" brand strategy a sustainable differentiation?

MP Maintenance was a social enterprise composed of several micro-businesses (landscaping, window cleaning, pressure washing, graffiti removal, litter pick up, etc.) offering transitional employment to individuals previously living on the streets. Like many budding social enterprises, MP Maintenance needed to carefully balance the organization's social mission and the financial competitiveness of the services that it offered. In May 2016, Matt Smedley, executive director and chief executive officer, and David Greaves, general manager, sat together in the company board room awaiting the arrival of the four college students who had agreed to help them develop a marketing strategy. Their common goal was to enable the social enterprise to continue to deliver on its mission - supporting the employees of Mission Possible - while generating an unrestricted flow of revenue. After seven years spent establishing and growing the business, a fresh set of eyes was welcomed.

Service Excellence in Organizations, Eight Key Steps to Follow and Achieve It, is a two-volume book published by Business Expert Press in 2019 and written by Fiona Urquhart, who leads Durham University's MBA module on service excellence and has consulted for an array of service and manufacturing organizations. Volume I deals with the basic tenets of service excellence, while Volume II suggests mechanisms, tools, and techniques to help embed to excellence as the foundation of value that the organization delivers. Both contain practical examples used by well-known companies; both also contain a self-assessment diagnostic tool that enables organizations to identify where they have built significant strengths in terms of service excellence and where opportunities to enhance their operations exist. In the first volume, the first chapter introduces the distinction between customer service and service excellence and some of the drivers behind this. It also outlines the benefits of a systematic approach to service excellence.

Service Excellence in Organizations, Eight Key Steps to Follow and Achieve It, is a two-volume book published by Business Expert Press in 2019 and written by Fiona Urquhart, who leads Durham University's MBA module on service excellence and has consulted for an array of service and manufacturing organizations. Volume I deals with the basic tenets of service excellence, while Volume II suggests mechanisms, tools, and techniques to help embed to excellence as the foundation of value that the organization delivers. Both contain practical examples used by well-known companies; both also contain a self-assessment diagnostic tool that enables organizations to identify where they have built significant strengths in terms of service excellence and where opportunities to enhance their operations exist. In the first volume, the second chapter considers how the brand entices by drawing the customer into a relationship. It addresses questions such as: the role branding plays for company, staff, and customer and its link to service excellence; how to develop engaging brands; how to use the brand throughout the consumer decision-making process to strengthen the customer relationship; what the role a company's core values play in brand development; and how to surface those core values.

Service Excellence in Organizations, Eight Key Steps to Follow and Achieve It, is a two-volume book published by Business Expert Press in 2019 and written by Fiona Urquhart, who leads Durham University's MBA module on service excellence and has consulted for an array of service and manufacturing organizations. Volume I deals with the basic tenets of service excellence, while Volume II suggests mechanisms, tools, and techniques to help embed to excellence as the foundation of value that the organization delivers. Both contain practical examples used by well-known companies; both also contain a self-assessment diagnostic tool that enables organizations to identify where they have built significant strengths in terms of service excellence and where opportunities to enhance their operations exist. In the first volume, the third chapter considers the importance of quality, both of product and service, to establishing the customer relationship. It considers the costs both of achieving quality and of having to put it right when it has gone wrong. It provides suggestions for gaining a deeper understanding of the customer perception of quality and some consideration of evaluation tools that are available to support this understanding.

Service Excellence in Organizations, Eight Key Steps to Follow and Achieve It, is a two-volume book published by Business Expert Press in 2019 and written by Fiona Urquhart, who leads Durham University's MBA module on service excellence and has consulted for an array of service and manufacturing organizations. Volume I deals with the basic tenets of service excellence, while Volume II suggests mechanisms, tools, and techniques to help embed to excellence as the foundation of value that the organization delivers. Both contain practical examples used by well-known companies; both also contain a self-assessment diagnostic tool that enables organizations to identify where they have built significant strengths in terms of service excellence and where opportunities to enhance their operations exist. In the first volume, the fourth chapter explores the importance for consumers to be able to trust the brands that they buy. It examines the role of trust in the decision-making process, in building loyalty, and its role in customer relationship marketing into the future, as customers become more involved in the development, production, and feedback of services, as well as marketing communications around services. It also considers how business processes support trust in the relationship and deliver the brand promise. Finally, It challenges companies to ask for feedback, deal with it constructively, rather than being defensive about it-own it and do something with it.

Service Excellence in Organizations, Eight Key Steps to Follow and Achieve It, is a two-volume book published by Business Expert Press in 2019 and written by Fiona Urquhart, who leads Durham University's MBA module on service excellence and has consulted for an array of service and manufacturing organizations. Volume I deals with the basic tenets of service excellence, while Volume II suggests mechanisms, tools, and techniques to help embed to excellence as the foundation of value that the organization delivers. Both contain practical examples used by well-known companies; both also contain a self-assessment diagnostic tool that enables organizations to identify where they have built significant strengths in terms of service excellence and where opportunities to enhance their operations exist. In the first volume, the fifth chapter explores why customer needs are paramount and discusses customer needs versus customer desires-what do customers really want? It looks at customer expectations and satisfaction. How should organizations manage customers when things go wrong-what are the effects of fade or walk away versus active strategies that re-engage customers back into the fold? It also examines what makes service delivery fun for customers and staff alike.

Service Excellence in Organizations, Eight Key Steps to Follow and Achieve It, is a two-volume book published by Business Expert Press in 2019 and written by Fiona Urquhart, who leads Durham University's MBA module on service excellence and has consulted for an array of service and manufacturing organizations. Volume I deals with the basic tenets of service excellence, while Volume II focuses on approaches that will embed excellence, promote loyalty and advocacy, and ensure freshness of a product or service offering. These are all aspects that help to deliver sustainability for the organization, representing some of the robust strategies available to organizations, building on earlier robust strategies of outside-in thinking, branding, segmentation, quality, and trust building explored in the first volume. In the second volume, the first chapter explores ways in which drama and excitement can provide a more rewarding role for staff, resulting in added value and relevance for the customer, and helping cement the relationship, and promote loyalty.

Service Excellence in Organizations, Eight Key Steps to Follow and Achieve It, is a two-volume book published by Business Expert Press in 2019 and written by Fiona Urquhart, who leads Durham University's MBA module on service excellence and has consulted for an array of service and manufacturing organizations. Volume I deals with the basic tenets of service excellence, while Volume II focuses on approaches that will embed excellence, promote loyalty and advocacy, and ensure freshness of a product or service offering. These are all aspects that help to deliver sustainability for the organization, representing some of the robust strategies available to organizations, building on earlier robust strategies of outside-in thinking, branding, segmentation, quality, and trust building explored in the first volume. In the second volume, the second chapter explores the shift from transactional marketing to relationship building and ways in which this can be made part of the genetic make-up of the organization, rather than superficial window dressing.

Service Excellence in Organizations, Eight Key Steps to Follow and Achieve It, is a two-volume book published by Business Expert Press in 2019 and written by Fiona Urquhart, who leads Durham University's MBA module on service excellence and has consulted for an array of service and manufacturing organizations. Volume I deals with the basic tenets of service excellence, while Volume II focuses on approaches that will embed excellence, promote loyalty and advocacy, and ensure freshness of a product or service offering. These are all aspects that help to deliver sustainability for the organization, representing some of the robust strategies available to organizations, building on earlier robust strategies of outside-in thinking, branding, segmentation, quality, and trust building explored in the first volume. In the second volume, the third chapter considers how innovation in products and services, but also in systems, can ensure that the organization maintains its relevance for staff and existing customers, whilst also presenting them with new and exciting alternatives.

Rachael Ray built a remarkable career and brand, first as a cooking personality, and then as a lifestyle maven. This case explores her early career, decisions taken along the way, and the successes she achieved in publishing, television and as a spokesperson. As her career matured, the case follows the choices she made and charts the opportunities a brand personality such as Ray faces in reinventing themselves authentically over time. It provides students with insights into managing a career over the span of life events; the ways a narrative arc helps anchor an individual's story, and may need to be actively managed over time; and the tradeoffs at play in managing such a narrative.

In March 2018, Snap Inc. (Snap), based in Venice, California, and commonly known as Snapchat for its application that allowed users to send photos that disappeared, was looking for ways to grow its user base in the competitive social media platform industry and to differentiate itself from the other major platforms. To do this, it was trying to position itself as a "camera" company and to become relevant to a larger target market: adults aged 25 and older, a demographic that seemed already well-served by current social media platform options.

In 2017, the president and co-owner of MacKinnon Industries was considering the opportunity to diversify his business and bring a former family business back into the MacKinnon family. With an extensive background in acquiring and managing manufacturing businesses, he now had an opportunity to purchase Corkford Brewery Inc. (Corkford Brewery). The deal included the land, building, and equipment, as well as four successful brands from Tanzer Brewing Company, which owned Corkford Brewery. MacKinnon wanted to evaluate the financial viability of the business venture under three different potential operating scenarios, assess the potential of adding ciders to the product mix, and consider the price that he would be willing to pay to acquire the business.