TikTok's parent company, ByteDance, was launched in 2012 around a simple idea - helping users entertain themselves on their smartphones while on the Beijing Subway. In less than a decade, it had become one of the world's most valuable private companies, with investors confident that it could replicate a rapid ascent in China in country markets around the world. By May 2020, TikTok operated in 155 countries and, together with Douyin (its China app), it had engaged roughly a billion monthly active users, placing it in the top ranks of digital platforms globally. Some industry experts argued that it was the first consumer app operating at scale where artificial intelligence (or AI) was the product. TikTok had drawn the attention of competitors, regulators, and politicians, especially in the U.S., where commercial success was considered critical to ByteDance's long-term enterprise value. Both success and controversy raised a number of critical questions: What kind of platform was TikTok? How rapidly should TikTok's leadership attempt to validate and scale its monetization model outside of China? What effect would the COVID-19 pandemic have on TikTok's momentum and trajectory? Would TikTok become the first "Super App" with a global footprint? Or, if it moved too fast, did it run the risk of becoming "the next Vine" - a supernova that shone brightly only for a passing moment?
TikTok's parent company, ByteDance, was launched in 2012 around a simple idea - helping users entertain themselves on their smartphones while on the Beijing Subway. In less than a decade, it had become one of the world's most valuable private companies, with investors confident that it could replicate a rapid ascent in China in country markets around the world. By May 2020, TikTok operated in 155 countries and, together with Douyin (its China app), it had engaged roughly a billion monthly active users, placing it in the top ranks of digital platforms globally. Some industry experts argued that it was the first consumer app operating at scale where artificial intelligence (or AI) was the product. TikTok had drawn the attention of competitors, regulators, and politicians, especially in the U.S., where commercial success was considered critical to ByteDance's long-term enterprise value. Both success and controversy raised a number of critical questions: What kind of platform was TikTok? How rapidly should TikTok's leadership attempt to validate and scale its monetization model outside of China? What effect would the COVID-19 pandemic have on TikTok's momentum and trajectory? Would TikTok become the first "Super App" with a global footprint? Or, if it moved too fast, did it run the risk of becoming "the next Vine" - a supernova that shone brightly only for a passing moment?
The company's management is considering the possibility of launching a rebranding campaign around the promises "What you need. What you need to know." The questions are whether and when to launch the campaign in view of the large number of training efforts and supporting technologies needed to deliver on the promises.
Florida Power and Light (FPL) has developed a widely acclaimed quality improvement program (QIP). This exercise leads the students through the process that a division of FPL utilized in an attempt to "improve service." Specifically, the process requires students to define "better service" in terms applicable to the utility company, determine the causes of less than perfect service, choose what causes to attack, generate a list of potential solutions, and determine a plan of action. Students employ a variety of frameworks and statistical tools to complete each step of the process. Provides a good understanding of the QIP that is attributed with taking this utility company from a state of near-crises to a highly respected operation, and that has served as a model for many other successful domestic QIP's. Designed to introduce students to the process and prepare them for class. A rewritten version of an earlier case by the same authors.
Designed to be used as an in-class handout after Florida Power Light Quality Improvement (QI) Story Exercise (A). A rewritten version of an earlier case by the same authors.
The rapidly growing American subsidiary of an international resort company seeks to identify the factors underlying its success. The case describes the forces that shape the industry's structure, raising the issue of where it is possible for Club Med to establish a sustainable competitive advantage. Classic sources of competitive advantage are dealt with, leading to the role of corporate culture in creating a sustainable competitive advantage. The case also focuses on service quality from the standpoint of customer dissatisfaction and its associated costs.
Highlights the issue of high employee turnover in a multi-site, international subsidiary of a large resort company. Also described are service-quality problems the company has because the amount of value added through employee interaction with customers is high. Analysis of recruiting and hiring as a process flow is required to analyze the situation. There is also a cross-cultural issue due to a structural imbalance in the ratio of non-American (primarily French) managers to American managers.