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This case describes the process of Austrian chocolate producer Zotter Chocolate entering the Chinese market. There are several things that make this company stand out: it is a small, family-run entrepreneurial firm from Austria that makes a wide range of unconventional flavors of chocolate. It prides itself on being organic and fair trade, and has attracted many loyal customers and visitors to its "chocolate factory" in its headquarters in Bergl, Austria. After successfully entering the German market-an "obvious" target for a firm from Austria-the founder, Josef Zotter, and his family considered where to go next, in 2010. After comparing the U.S. and Chinese chocolate markets, Zotter Chocolate selected China as its first major non-European market. The case introduces how Zotter sought out a local partner in Shanghai and decided to enter the market with an "experience-based" offering in its first chocolate factory outside its home market, overseen by the founder's daughter Julia. Their innovations and learning process are also presented in the case. The case ends with Julia's key concerns about Zotter China's next step when she has to leave China for Zotter Chocolate's Austrian headquarters in August 2017.

This case describes how Opple Lighting, a leading company in China's lighting industry, developed its e-commerce business as online selling brought wholesale changes to the traditional market. Numerous questions emerged as the company embarked on its e-commerce journey. The gulf between online and traditional offline distribution channels in lighting meant that many management figures opposed the move, seeing it as a threat to long-established business lines. Opple's e-commerce team needed to find a way to gain recognition and business support from other departments. While flexible pricing is common in offline stores, price transparency is a defining feature of e-commerce. The next hurdle was ensuring that the e-commerce business avoided direct competition with offline channels. Traditional lighting fixtures are the result of long-term R&D and are subsequently produced in large quantities, whereas e-commerce products undergo rapid iteration and come in small batches. The final challenge for this department was to determine how to iterate new products and which distribution channels to use. The case chronicles the development of Opple's e-commerce business unit between 2012 and 2019. During this period, the team continuously optimized different links, including product development, production, manufacturing, logistics, warehousing, marketing and after-sales service. It also adjusted organizational structure, pursued an innovative talent management approach and improved its performance incentive system. The BU's efforts paid off as online sales rose to make up 30% of total revenue in 2019, up from 6.5% in 2003. E-commerce became a new growth driver for Opple. The BU also spearheaded changes in the company's working culture, structure and incentive system. In 2020, however, Opple witnessed a decline in both online profit and growth rates as competition intensified. What lessons can Opple draw from its journey into e-commerce to be better prepared for the future?

This case focuses on the distinctive "paternalistic" leadership and management style of Ren Zhengfei, founder of Huawei Technologies Co., Ltd. (hereinafter "Huawei") and considers whether he needed to adapt his style in light of new challenges at the company. Ren's own military experience shaped Huawei's early corporate culture and management structure. It emphasized clear-cut goals, hard-and-fast rules, employee dedication and absolute obedience. At the same time, the company acknowledged the contributions of dedicated employees by remunerating them generously. This approach transformed Huawei into a company of strivers and fueled rapid business growth. Nevertheless, as the market evolved and employee characteristics shifted, the shortcomings of Ren's management model grew ever apparent. Consequently, Huawei's performance took a nosedive and employee satisfaction also sank. Beset by internal and external challenges, Huawei needed to completely rethink its approach to business, corporate culture and company management.

This case series tells a story of post-merger integration, depicting a string of challenges faced by Guangxi LiuGong Machinery Co., Ltd. during its cross-border M&A. As a large SOE specialized in R&D, manufacturing and construction equipment sales, LiuGong was one of China's most internationalized companies, setting a prime example for local peers in the construction machinery sector with global aspirations. The case series comprises two parts: Case (A) and Case (B). Case (A) introduces the background of LiuGong's globalization strategy, summarizes the acquisition of the civil construction machinery division of Polish state-owned firm HSW as well as its wholly-owned subsidiary Dressta, and describes the integration process of LiuGong Poland, managed by former HR Director Teddy Wu, who was appointed General Manager of LiuGong Poland at a critical moment. China headquarters deployed him to Poland with a series of missions to carry out. After the acquisition, wholly-owned Dressta continued to operate independently, but its performance fell short of expectations, and a significant part of its operations overlapped with those of LiuGong Poland. One of the first major decisions Wu faced was to determine whether merging Dressta with LiuGong Poland was necessary.

Supplement to case CB0101 Case (B) describes Wu's new critical issue after the merger - whether or not to retain the former Dressta's President.

This case describes why and how Advantech Co., Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as Advantech) has transformed in the age of the Internet of Things (IoT). Aware of the ecosystem attributes of the IoT industry and committed to the company's principle of altruism, Advantech strategically positioned itself as an "IoT platform provider" and an "enabler" of IoT applications. Since carrying out reforms in terms of its internal management, external cooperation, and development model, Advantech has evolved from an industrial computer maker into an IoT solution provider. Since the launch of the "co-creation model" at the end of 2016, Advantech has drawn attention from many excellent companies in traditional industries. With the Internet of Everything close at hand, Chairman KC Liu is well aware that there are many challenges to overcome as Advantech strives to build an industrial IoT ecosystem, the evolution continues. Case discussion will be carried out based on a three-step analysis of ecosystem strategy (seeing the ecosystem-choosing your position-winning the game) proposed by Ron Adner. Students will take a close look at the critical decisions made by Advantech as it made inroads into the IoT ecosystem as well as its organizational transformation and exploration as the company implemented strategic decisions. Through this case, students will not only learn about the latest developments of the emerging IoT industry, but will also gain a systematic understanding of "ecosystem strategy" and get to know a new corporate growth model called "co-creation."

invisaWear is a start-up that used Internet of Things (IoT) technology to create a fashionable, single-purpose wearable for young females to provide them with peace of mind when faced with a dangerous situation. The smart product consisted of a charm attached to either a bracelet, necklace, or key chain which, when pressed, sent an SOS to the user's family, friends, and optionally, the police. The case study illustrates the entrepreneurial steps of identifying an opportunity, assembling a team, gathering resources, and then thinking big but starting small. In describing the invisaWear line of smart jewelry, the case provides a primer on IoT and it highlights the steps required to build smart, connected products.

This case provides an opportunity to evaluate different strategic factors that influence decision-makers when creating a country brand that is able to withstand today's competitive global context. It also explores the challenges of public-private partnership. Building a brand is not easy and to attempt one in the context of a country is quite challenging. It becomes even more difficult when dealing with developing countries, short- and long-term socio-economic crises, and constant pressure from a neighbor like the United States that has considerable influence on a country's image.

Havilah Merchants Nigeria Ltd. is Nigeria's leading one-stop shop for outfitting libraries and archives. It serves three primary market segments: (i) public university libraries, (ii) multi-national companies in the oil and gas industry and (iii) banking industry. Over the years since its incorporation in 1995, Havilah has successfully executed many library and archive projects, and its products and services have become the benchmark in the local industry for quality. Yet, in 2015, despite their operational successes, Lanre Adesuyi, the founder and CEO of Havilah, and his management team are at a crossroad. While the business is profitable, with a fairly strong order backlog, their expansion to date has consumed their cash, leaving them with no working capital to fund the projects in the pipeline. Unless changes are made, they run the risk of stagnating, and in doing so, disappointing their customers and diminishing their brand. After careful consideration of several options to raise more funds - such as increasing the bank borrowing or issuing stock - Havilah's management team has decided to focus instead on generating more cash within their value chain. Specifically, the management team was deliberating whether Havilah could work with its customers and suppliers to reduce the working capital requirements and alleviate the cash flow pressures. On other words, could Havilah harness untapped cash potential from its value chain? The case examines several potential modifications to the terms of Havilah's engagements with its varied customers (universities, banks and multinational oil and gas companies) and suppliers of books and shelving materials, and attempts to quantify the potential effects these value chain initiatives could have on Havilah's cash position.

The case, set in mid-2017, traces the evolution of a gender-responsive regional level multi-stakeholder platform called GREAT Women ASEAN, dedicated to the economic empowerment of women micro-producers. In 2008, Jeannie Javelosa (Jeannie) and her friends Regina Francisco and Pacita Juan, had set up ECHOstore under a private entity called Earth Life Store Supply Inc. ECHOstore retailed organic products to upmarket consumers of Manila, Philippines. Identifying the potential to improve the marketability and earnings of the micro-producers, the trio founded ECHOsi, a non-profit foundation in 2009. ECHOsi helped micro-producers improve their products as well as their market base by providing market-linking and business support services through its network of business owners and intermediaries. The Philippines Commission on Women (PCW) roped in ECHOsi as the private sector partner to implement the projects of GREAT Women Programme (GWP), a Women Economic Empowerment (WEE) programme funded by the Canadian government. The efforts resulted in a seamless ecosystem of government agencies, private enterprises and non-profits collaborating to create an inclusive economy for micro-entrepreneurs. As the GREAT Women brand garnered commercial traction, its ownership was transferred to ECHOsi, which entrusted its commercialisation to Earth Life Store Supply Inc. The United States Agency for International Development (USAID) eventually identified the GWP as an ideal WEE model to be replicated in the ASEAN region. It enlisted the help of ECHOsi to integrate women micro-entrepreneurs into the regional value chain. Jeannie was in the process of creating a collaborative network of business owners, intermediaries, facilitators, donors and government agencies to sell the products of beneficiaries under the GREAT Women brand. As the impact model scaled, Jeannie had to prepare for the risks involved in franchising the social enterprise and also find the means of funding the expansion.

AMÓS Health and Hope was a Nicaraguan non-governmental organization (NGO) founded in 2007 to empower rural communities to establish their health needs and develop action plans to solve them. It also supported these communities, following up on their plans and providing guidance to execute the actions planned. Dr. Laura Chanchien Parajón, AMÓS´ Medical Director and co-founder, was working on a funding application to be submitted to the United States' Agency for International Development (USAID), hoping that it would allow the organization to expand its operations in Nicaragua. AMÓS' new project sought to fight diseases transmitted by the Aedes Aegypti mosquito, like , Zika, Dengue, and Chikungunya. The rate of these diseases among Nicaragua's population showed a growing trend over recent years. Dr. Chanchien had scheduled a meeting for the next day with Dr. Parajón, the organization's Executive Director, to decide whether they would submit the application or not. Dr. Parajón had some qualms about this new project, including whether it would draw AMÓS away from its mission and whether the organization had the capabilities required to execute it successfully.

In June 2018, the co-founder of a work-integration social enterprise in Calgary, Alberta, called CMNGD (Commongood) Linens, took stock of the impact her venture had on helping homeless people get back on their feet and into meaningful employment. Her ambition was to expand into other Canadian cities, but she was worried that scaling CMNGD might place so much strain on the venture that its viability could be thrown into question and its core mission put at risk. She knew that a lot was at stake, not only financially, but also for the vulnerable people she was trying to help. She and her husband had to carefully weigh the options and decide on the best way forward.

In December 2016, the founder and chief executive officer of R3 was preparing for an offsite meeting, where his management team would debate what business model to pursue to extract the most value from the company's new distributed ledger product called Corda. Founded in 2014, R3 was a blockchain technology company with headquarters in New York. R3 was leading a consortium of over 100 banks, financial institutions, and technology companies to develop a distributed ledger technology that could meet the needs of the financial services industry. R3 had run a number of proof of concept tests of existing distributed ledger technologies with its bank members before deciding to develop an enterprise-grade distributed ledger from scratch. R3 was still privately-owned and controlled by the founder, but had financed its research and development by selling memberships in a joint venture to a consortium of over 40 banks. With Corda operational by mid-2016, the founder had to decide what business model to follow to monetize the investment in Corda. A second question was how to finance R3's future growth.

In January 2018, the governor of the Bank of Japan (BoJ), was preparing for a meeting of the policy board of the BoJ. While the broad macroeconomic indicators hinted at a Japanese recovery, Japan still continued to have an inflation rate well below its target of 2 per cent. The accommodative, unconventional monetary policy of quantitative and qualitative easing engineered by the governor in 2013 had resulted in a bloated balance sheet for the BoJ, with little success in overcoming deflation. Was it time to wind up Japan's monetary stimulus? What would be the results of continued monetary stimulus, especially for businesses? Would the Japanese economy be able to recover from deflation without such monetary stimulus?

In June 2017, a bancassurance director at South Africa's Liberty Group Limited (Liberty) was making his way to a public school in Soweto, south of Johannesburg. Liberty was an insurance company in South Africa, part of Liberty Holdings, a leading financial-services group with representation in 24 countries across the African continent. As he drove along the highway he wondered how he could encourage more business leaders at Liberty to get involved and ultimately contribute to improving the country's public-education system. He recognized that there were ethical implications in using the school in Liberty's marketing campaign-a campaign that would eventually contribute to a goal of sustainability. Various issues had to be considered that related to conducting business with people at the bottom of the pyramid and a decision had to be made.

As one of its first international projects, the China Guangxi Corporation for International Techno-Economic Cooperation (GCITEC) began a joint venture initiative with a local Pakistani firm in September 2015. The joint venture centred around constructing a canal in the Khus area of northern Pakistan. The Chinese firm brought funding and technical experience; the Pakistani partner brought local experience and local construction staff. After working together for several months, significant problems began to emerge between the two sides. These tensions resulted from differing management cultures and institutional differences between the Pakistani and the Chinese business environments. The president of GCITEC's Pakistani branch was faced with a choice: find a way to renew the partnership and fix both the immediate personnel conflict and its underlying factors, or, if the conflict was beyond reconciliation, dissolve the joint partnership and bear the cost of this choice.

The legal availability and use of marijuana is on the rise. More than half the states in the country allow its use for medical purposes, eight of which also permit it for recreational purposes. The manufacture, sale, and use of marijuana is largely a cash business because it is still against the federal Controlled Substance Act. Most banks will not allow such businesses to open a bank account as a result. This case addresses the ethical issues faced by a CPA who is asked to accept the client's request to hold back reporting 25% of the cash sales as taxable income, arguing that since it is a cash business no one would be the wiser. The tax accountant does not want to go along with the firm's request as she knows it would be wrong to do so. She values honesty and integrity in tax reporting and is concerned about violating the AICPA rules of professional conduct, especially the acts discreditable rule. In preparation for a meeting with her superiors, the tax accountant considers ways to effectively voice her values by responding to the likely reasons and rationalizations she might encounter. The associate teaching note addresses the stakeholders, how to build a coalition to support her position, and the most powerful and persuasive responses she can make to positively influence her superiors.

The Cattier family had been active in the Champagne region of France for over 250 years. Starting out as growers of grapes, they moved into champagne production, initially for local consumption. By 2017, the Cattier company, which had reached 35 full-time employees, engaged in related diversification activities on multiple fronts and internationalized its market. Cattier was selling its champagne to markets such as the United States, Japan, and the United Kingdom. The company also created new product formats, developing signature branding and packaging. Cattier also partnered with fashion houses, bistros, and an international distributor owned by the American rap artist Jay-Z. However, Cattier faced a multitude of challenges in 2017. There was fierce competition in the home market, while sparkling wine consumption was down in all key European markets. Rising protectionism and the possibility of raising trade barriers in key export markets also created new risks. These challenges were compounded by the fact that harvest conditions for producing vintage wines were unpredictable. Cattier was considering using further diversification to manage these threats. However, how would diversification address Cattier's problems?

In 2016, Fair and Handsome, a skin-whitening cream produced by Emami Limited, led the men's fairness skin cream category in India, with a market share of 60 per cent. In late 2017, however, the company faced both a public backlash and an adverse court decision about its marketing of the product. A growing movement called Dark is Beautiful was galvanizing support against companies that portrayed fairer skin colour as a means for both personal and professional fulfillment. The company had also appealed a lower court's decision to ban the company's use of skin whitening in its advertisements. Since the product was earmarked for significant growth in the next five years, the company needed to develop an immediate response. What should it do?

In March 2018, a report on workplace harassment issues was brought to the chief executive officer of Nike, Inc. (Nike), Mark Parker. The report was a result of a covert survey conducted by the female employees at Nike headquarters in Beaverton, Oregon, after the company's human resources (HR) department failed to respond to the women's repeated complaints. Soon, several senior executives left Nike. Although Parker took several steps to strengthen HR, some employees wondered whether the women's complaints had been handled appropriately. Nevertheless, according to experts, the behaviour the women described did not amount to harassment in legal terms. Was Parker's response to the survey a matter of reputation management or of genuine ethical concern? Why did the HR department not respond to the female employees' complaints earlier? If a case of harassment in legal terms could not be made against the executives, should they have been let go? If senior executives like Edwards committed or condoned harassment, should Parker allow those executives to receive severance packages?