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This three-part case covers the history of Samsung from its origins as a small trucking company to one of Korea's largest conglomerates. Part A, "Drivers of Success, Family Assets and Business Strategy", charts the growth of Korea's the export-led economy after the end of Japanese occupation in 1945, driven by a handful of family-owned 'chaebols'. Founder Lee Byung-chull's trucking business, set up in 1938, diversified in the aftermath of the Korean War, as he forged a strong political network that enabled him to embed his family's influence and assets in the business strategy. Part B, "Heart Attack Puts Succession Planning at Risk", describes how the ill health of the second-generation leader Lee Kun-hee deprived the firm of a clear succession plan. As the de facto leader of Samsung, his son had to build up his power base to assume the role in the context of a complex ownership structure. Part C, "Court calls time out on Lee Jae-yong", examines how the de facto heir was convicted of bribery and given a five-year prison sentence, prompting speculation that he would run the Samsung empire from his cell.

This three-part case covers the history of Samsung from its origins as a small trucking company to one of Korea's largest conglomerates. Part A, "Drivers of Success, Family Assets and Business Strategy", charts the growth of Korea's the export-led economy after the end of Japanese occupation in 1945, driven by a handful of family-owned 'chaebols'. Founder Lee Byung-chull's trucking business, set up in 1938, diversified in the aftermath of the Korean War, as he forged a strong political network that enabled him to embed his family's influence and assets in the business strategy. Part B, "Heart Attack Puts Succession Planning at Risk", describes how the ill health of the second-generation leader Lee Kun-hee deprived the firm of a clear succession plan. As the de facto leader of Samsung, his son had to build up his power base to assume the role in the context of a complex ownership structure. Part C, "Court calls time out on Lee Jae-yong", examines how the de facto heir was convicted of bribery and given a five-year prison sentence, prompting speculation that he would run the Samsung empire from his cell.

Worldwide, there is no parallel comparison to China's Tencent Holdings. The $22 billion tech giant is a collective answer to Facebook, WhatsApp, Spotify, Kindle, Skype, Pinterest, Apple Pay and others. This case explains how Tencent built a digital platform business from scratch over a period of nearly two decades. Undoubtedly, it gained significant benefits from being an early mover in developing a massive one-billion-strong user base on its gaming and messaging platforms. However, what is exceptional about Tencent is that it has been able to successfully monetize its social audience at scale - a tough challenge for most digital platform companies. Tencent's double digit growth boosted investor confidence that the company would continue to tap the spending power of its users while leveraging the growth potential of its still-nascent advertising and payments businesses. Could the most valuable company in Asia, continue to meet shareholder expectations in 2017 and beyond? Learning objective: 1. Understand the platform business model compared to the traditional pipeline business model; 2. Recognize how network effects create value on a platform; 3. Examine the three types of value that digital disruptors deliver - cost value, experience value and platform value; 4. Comprehend the challenges in monetizing platforms effectively.

Taking over as the CEO in 2014, Mr. David Abney announced that expansion in the emerging markets was his number one priority and the company would make acquisitions to build capabilities overseas. This goal meant deeper penetration of the growing Southeast Asian economies. India represented a lucrative opportunity as one of the largest economies in the world with a GDP of over $2 trillion. Not only was the market large, it was growing fast at a rate of over seven percent annually-despite the global slowdown. UPS had already entered the Indian courier service market, although a period of neglect had allowed DHL to enter, partner with Blue Dart, and win three times the market share of its next largest competitor. UPS with its renewed global strategy was returning to India but now faced intense competition. Despite the competition, India offered a huge opportunity to established organized players in this segment as the country sought to build roads and infrastructure at a record pace. In 2017, the Goods and Services Tax law converted India into a single market rendering the state borders irrelevant, aiding the seamless movement of goods across the country. The new government, which won the general elections on a development mandate, had also brought in crucial reforms to improve the ease of doing business in India. Given these changed circumstances, what should be UPS's strategy to expand in India? Which lessons from those other markets could be leveraged in India?

In March 2009, Ulrich Bez, CEO of British carmaker Aston Martin Lagonda Ltd., found himself grappling with some tough news from Switzerland. The company had just debuted a novel car concept, its first crossover model under its rarely used historic Lagonda brand, at the Geneva Motor Show, but the negative press criticizing the four-wheel drive, four-seater car's design and concept was troubling and unexpected.

In 2017, a successful online dating company, Mate1.com, based in Montreal, was pursuing a two-year goal of increasing revenue by 50 per cent and net operating margin by 15 per cent. However, its ambitions were being hampered by unavoidably high advertising costs, an inadequate reporting system, and a maturing industry life cycle. Should the firm explore new business models and consider acquiring a competitor-or was it time to divest and sell the firm?

In June 2017, the U.S. president had made a statement regarding his stance on Cuba-U.S. relations. Business leaders were very attentive, as his actions could impact the softening U.S.-Cuban relations started by his predecessor in 2016. A recent MBA graduate in Canada and an avid cigar smoker, viewed this scenario and wondered what effect it would have on the current environment, and if there was potential in the Cuban cigar industry. With an inheritance of $1 million coming available in the next month, he thought back to his strategy sessions and looked to evaluate this industry.

Software development company iQmetrix Software Development Corporation (iQmetrix), headquartered in Vancouver, Canada, had enjoyed success and growth for over two decades. In July 2017, iQmetrix was confronted with the challenge of managing this growth while maintaining its organizational culture as a non-hierarchical, innovative, and open place to work-a place where the best ideas could come from anywhere and where people shared ideas openly and transparently with all. iQmetrix was considering the implementation of holacracy, an organizational design based on the fluid structuring of roles and teams and broadly shared leadership. As the company's five executives prepared to meet, they needed to consider whether the organization could adopt such a radical organizational form and whether this would foster the continued success of the firm.

This technical note provides descriptions of the basic forms of organizational structure and the conditions under which each organizational design choice might be made.

In April 2015, a legal associate at Spitzberg Elevators Corporation, a U.S. corporation operating in Hong Kong, was tasked with recommending how the company should respond to Hong Kong's new anti-competition legislation, which was scheduled to be enacted within eight months. The legal associate first needed to review the legislation, specifically the key portions that could have an impact on her company's imminent plans to bid on several elevator contracts. She also needed to decide whether to recommend the company take a proactive stand by complying with the not-yet-enacted legislation or continue to comply with the current rules until the new legislation would take effect.

Logset Oy (Logset) was a privately held, specialized forest-machine manufacturing firm in Koivulahti, Finland. The firm had a strong presence in Europe but not in North America. Canada, with 42 per cent of its land mass covered by forest, was an appealing market, although 15 years of effort had not resulted in any appreciable increase in sales there. Logset had a strong dealer network in Ontario and Quebec. However, efforts to recruit a dealer for Atlantic and Western Canada had been unsuccessful. What strategy should Logset use to enter into partnerships with Canadian companies?

In 2017, Miami was rated #1 among U.S. cities for startups, but about 40th for "scale-ups" - growth companies. This case shows how leaders of incubators and accelerators supported startups and a culture of entrepreneurship, but also describes some factors limiting growth, including a lack of local venture capital, big companies to serve as local customers or partners, and biases on the part of investors. The question is whether co-working spaces, training programs, and networks go far enough to build a new tech center for the future economy.

The effects of Miami's startup scene have not reached many "left-behind" lower-income Black communities, which are disproportionately affected by problems such as segregation and racial discrimination, lack of transportation access, crime, education quality, government incompetence, and climate change. Leaders such as mayors, real estate developers, civic entrepreneurs, and community activists are offering solutions to the systemic problems faced by Miami's lower-income Black communities. Can more innovative thinking and the entrepreneurial spirit help move such areas into the tech economy/green jobs future?

Supplement to case 717004.

In early 2016, the newly appointed recycling planning coordinator for an industry-leading food packaging and processing company, Tetra Pak International SA (Tetra Pak), was reviewing his company's recent success in creating a recycling chain in China. By 2015, Tetra Pak China had successfully created a recycling chain system, increasing China's recycling rate from almost zero in 2004 to 28 per cent. It had done so by following a four-stage process: scanning the recycling market, building awareness and selecting partners, creating recycling capacity, and securing the recycling capacity. While the recycling planning coordinator was pleased with this recent success, he knew that questions remained: How could Tetra Pak continuously motivate recyclers to grow? How could Tetra Pak support recycling activities to achieve an even higher recycling rate? How could Tetra Pak achieve its recycling targets without much financial support?

Business owners and managers are told that anyone who cannot see the benefits of social media marketing is unfit for their positions, stupid, or incompetent. As organizations, brands, and products fill the social media landscape with boring content that wastes resources and alienates customers, a small voice can be heard exclaiming; "who told you that was a good idea?" In this book, Hans Christian Andersen's cautionary anecdote of the Emperor's New Clothes provides the backdrop to a review of the use of social media platforms in the marketing of an organization, brand, or product. Chapter one provides the reader with a background to social media. This starts with its history and adoption in the digital age before identifying the key elements that make up digital social media, namely, social networks, online communities, social sharing, user-generated content, and blogging.

Business owners and managers are told that anyone who cannot see the benefits of social media marketing is unfit for their positions, stupid, or incompetent. As organizations, brands, and products fill the social media landscape with boring content that wastes resources and alienates customers, a small voice can be heard exclaiming; "who told you that was a good idea?" In this book, Hans Christian Andersen's cautionary anecdote of the Emperor's New Clothes provides the backdrop to a review of the use of social media platforms in the marketing of an organization, brand, or product. In chapter two, the public's use of social media is examined along with the digital platforms on which it is conducted. The chapter concludes by considering why the public might interact with organizations, brands, or products on social media.

Business owners and managers are told that anyone who cannot see the benefits of social media marketing is unfit for their positions, stupid, or incompetent. As organizations, brands, and products fill the social media landscape with boring content that wastes resources and alienates customers, a small voice can be heard exclaiming; "who told you that was a good idea?" In this book, Hans Christian Andersen's cautionary anecdote of the Emperor's New Clothes provides the backdrop to a review of the use of social media platforms in the marketing of an organization, brand, or product. Chapter three analyzes what social media marketing consists and what it does not. Details of the key models associated with social media marketing are also included.