It was September 2009 when 21-year-old entrepreneur Lu Chengdui first considered entering the partnership that led to his becoming the chairman and general manager of Wenzhou Cijueshi Science and Technology Co. Ltd. (Cijueshi) in Zhejiang Province, China. Lu started his entrepreneurial efforts when he was in college; he became a serial entrepreneur and achieved great performance. His story drew the attention of both the media and the public. Lu was known for his perseverance and his courage in overcoming difficulties and pursuing his dreams for success. He was a role model for college students who wanted to be entrepreneurs. As he considered a possible involvement in Cijueshi, a company that specialized in developing, selling, and repairing pottery and porcelain, Lu wondered about entering a business in a field where he had no practical experience. What had made him so confident in his previous entrepreneurial success? How had he motivated himself to realize his entrepreneurial targets? He looked back at his entrepreneurial experiences to date to find answers to these questions and motivation for this new endeavour.
In March 2015, the managing director of VariCut Electronics Component Company in Shanghai, China, was contemplating whether the company should shift its business focus from label printing to label printers. Because of fierce competition and a slowdown in the company's 12-year-old label manufacturing business, the company was finding its competitive advantage hard to sustain. In contrast, the company's emerging business of producing label printers had been doing well, with 30 per cent annual growth. Although the label manufacturing business had begun to struggle, it was still the main source of company revenue (80 per cent). It was uncertain whether the company's survival and growth could be sustained if it decided to give up the label manufacturing business in order to focus on label printers. Should the company give up the label manufacturing business to make way for the label printer business? Or should it consolidate the two businesses and transition to the label printer business gradually?
In 2012, Pactera, a China-headquartered IT service firm, went public on the NASDAQ. In 2014, it was taken private by a consortium led by the U.S.-based global investment and advisory firm Blackstone. This accelerated the firm’s expansion in the U.S. market and its plans to move up the value chain. Pactera’s executive vice-president must formulate and implement the right strategy in order to continue its success in the U.S. market, gain access to cutting-edge technology and talent, and better compete against sophisticated American and Indian rivals. Failure to apply the correct strategy to its operations in the U.S. market could restrict its growth and negatively impact its performance in the global market.