This short case describes how Ana L. Mamede, Hellmann's brand manager at Unilever Portugal, responds to an aggressive campaign by rival Kraft Heinz by developing a brand "purpose" for Hellman's mayonnaise focused on reducing food waste. When Heinz, the ketchup king, sought to increase its market share by offering high discounts and enhanced distribution, it threatened Hellmann's lead in Portugal and throughout Europe. Ana pushes promotional activities in the short term, which yield good results, but realises a new plan is needed for Hellman's in the long term. She considers three options: (i) further promotional activities, (ii) innovation - developing the product line by launching new products and flavours), (iii) branding and communication - enhancing the brand's identity by developing a purpose - to inspire consumers to waste less food.

In order to protect its operation from 2007 onwards, Dragonair needed to replace a spare engine that was deemed beyond economic repair back in late 2002. Three options were available to address this need. First, Dragonair could purchase the engine outright, which would require it to place an order with the manufacturer 12 months in advance and pay an upfront deposit. Second, the airline could choose a sale-and-leaseback transaction with a leasing company whereby it would sell the engine it purchased to the leasing company and then lease it back from the leasing company for an agreed period. Third, the airline could lease a new engine directly from a leasing company, in which case the leasing arrangement would be the same as the sale-and-leaseback transaction.

In early 2006, a taskforce at the Hong Kong Dragon Airlines ("Dragonair") was formed to evaluate alternative ways to replace a spare engine. The potential options were to either purchase the engine outright or to lease the engine via a direct lease or a sale-and-leaseback arrangement. However, to assess and compare the attractiveness of each option, the taskforce must first determine an appropriate discount rate to use.

Founded by Priscilla and Raymond Lee and headed by chief executive officer Stephen Miller, Oasis Hong Kong Airlines was perhaps the world's first long-haul, low-cost carrier. The airline received approval to fly to London, Cologne, Berlin, Milan, Oakland and Chicago in November 2005. It announced its acquisition of two Boeing 747-400s in March 2006 and planned to start its maiden service to London Gatwick in October 2006. Aspiring to bring the best features of both traditional and budget airlines together, the airline pioneered a business model that offered a world-class, long-haul product at an affordable price, but it was too early to tell if the airline would be successful.

GOME, founded by Wong Kwongyu, had grown from merely a 100-square-metre store in Beijing in 1987 to the industry leader in electrical and home appliance retailing in China, with 259 traditional stores and 4 digital stores by 2006. Its success stemmed from its low-margin, high-volume strategy, which was complemented by its striving for service quality and innovation. In 2006, GOME faced the new challenge of tuangou, or group purchase. In order to amass bargaining power to demand discounts from retailers, consumers with similar needs in China united through the Internet and showed up en masse at retailers at pre-arranged times and dates. They would put relentless pressure on retailers and would press for greater discounts. This emerging consumer behavior had spread like wildfire in China and retailers had different reactions. Some yielded to the pressure and offered greater discounts, some only entertained tuangou that had been pre-arranged and/or pre-registered, while others refused to give in and maintained a fixed-price policy. It was up to GOME to determine how best it could deal with this new phenomenon.

Jewellworld.com was established in April 2000 to take advantage of the business opportunity presented by the Internet. Participating in Jewellworld.com's B2B platform was like participating in a virtual Jewelry trade fair, through which sellers could showcase their products to buyers online and buyers could contact sellers and even place orders online. However, Jewellworld.com quickly realized that Hong Kong's jewelry industry was by no means at the forefront of information technology. Facilitates discussion around a strategic/marketing planning process, which involves: sizing up the business environment, sizing up the company, identifying and generating strategic options, and assessing the options.

Since 1974, the Multifibre Arrangement (MFA) had been the systematic means for developed countries to restrict textiles and clothing imports from developing countries, which did not conform to the GATT/WTO rules. In 1994, however, the Agreement on Textiles and Clothing was signed, prescribing a 10-year progressive phase-out of the MFA and integration of GATT 1994 rules. By late 2004, the complete phase-out of the MFA on January 1, 2005 had rekindled the debate between protectionists and free-trade advocates. Meanwhile, firms in Hong Kong, one of the world's major textiles and clothing exporting nations, were gearing up for the change.

Founded by Mr. Yuen Shu-Wah in 1982, Manfield Coatings Co. Ltd. was a niche player producing customized industrial coatings for various industrial products. A quality management system was first implemented at Manfield in 1996. By 1997, Manfield was certified for ISO 9001:1994. In the following years, Yuen continually pitched the company against audits and examinations through award applications, and Manfield continued to receive quality awards and certificates.

Indonesia was hit hard by the Asian economic crisis. By October 8, 1997, its currency, the rupiah, was down 60% from its pre-floatation value. The rupiah fell to a historic low of 16,500 against the dollar on January 23, 1998. Capital flight accelerated and social unrest was widespread. On February 4, Professor Steve Hanke suggested to President Suharto that a currency board system could stabilize the currency. While Suharto was highly receptive to the idea, the IMF was not. It threatened to withdraw all its support to Indonesia. It was up to Suharto to decide which way to go.

Computer Reservation Systems (CRS) vendors have enjoyed an indispensable role in the travel industry--75% to 80% of all airline bookings are made by travel agents using CRSs. But by mid-1998, their solid position in the industry is being threatened by two forces: the Web Sites run by airlines that are capable of accepting bookings directly from customers, and a new CRS, supported by travel agencies around the world, called Genesis. It is scheduled to go on trial in fourth quarter of 1998 and for launch in 1999.