Kinbor from Guangbo: Reinventing Planner Journals through Intrapreneurship

Kinbor, a pioneer and top brand of creative planner journals in China, was launched in 2015 by Guangbo Group (Guangbo), a leading stationery manufacturer and worldwide exporter. In January 2022, Jessie Yu—Kinbor’s, founder and general manager— was facing several urgent issues in moving the start-up forward. Like many intrapreneurial projects, Kinbor was only contributing a small fraction to Guangbo’s total annual revenues, so pressure to boost sales and scale up the operation was mounting. In addition, Kinbor’s incongruence with the parent company’s business model was making integration a challenge. Externally, major stationery industry competitors were launching their own creative planner journal brands, thereby intensifying the market’s competition. Kinbor had to find the right strategy to address these issues.

This case is suitable for entrepreneurship or strategy courses with a focus on intrapreneurship, corporate entrepreneurship, or corporate venturing at both the undergraduate and graduate levels (including MBA or EMBA). Depending on specific requirements, the case can be appropriate for the following courses (and topics):<ul><li>Entrepreneurship (concept, theories, and practices of intrapreneurship)</li><li>Corporate venturing (motives and processes of creating a start-up internally)</li><li>Corporate strategy (internal and external pushes for corporate renewal, success factors and organizational complexities of intrapreneurship)</li></ul>The goal of the case is to enable students to develop a thorough understanding of intrapreneurship. More specifically, the case discusses why and how a leading stationery company renews its core business through intrapreneurship in an industry that is mature and competitive but is undergoing fundamental shifts. It focuses decision-making on the strategic and organizational challenges that emerge between the intrapreneurial start-up and its parent company. After completion of this case and assignment questions, students will be able to achieve the following objectives:<ul><li>Understand the motives of intrapreneurship.</li><li>Identify the factors and practices leading to a successful intrapreneurship.</li><li>Learn the pros and cons of intrapreneurship.</li><li>Practice decision-making and formulation strategies to handle intrapreneurship challenges.</li></ul>

• Entrepreneurship
• Intrapreneurship
• Corporate renewal
• Business venturing