During the rapid growth of China's commercial health insurance industry in the 2010s, many third-party administrators (TPAs) emerged to provide administrative services to primary insurers. However, most of these TPAs were small and medium-sized companies (SMEs) that offered poor-quality services and were often short-lived. This made them incompatible with the long time horizons and high risk management requirements of the insurance sector. There were also additional structural, institutional, and technical obstacles that primary insurers had to overcome to collaborate with TPAs. To address these pain points, in 2010, Steve Zhang, then Managing Director of Munich Re Life China, and Eric Zhao, general manager of the operations department responsible for insurance innovation, established HAP (Healthcare Assistance Platform) with a view to creating a one-stop solution for the customers of primary insurers by integrating top TPAs under one roof. After a decade of growth, by 2020, the company offered more than 30 services through this platform. It had also developed a set of criteria used to screen and evaluate TPAs, ensuring the quality of its services, which earned the platform recognition from primary insurers. As direct competition in the health insurance market intensified, and insurers became increasingly aware of the importance of customer service and data collection, many primary insurers started to develop their own service platforms, while reinsurers and TPAs also began to experiment in this direction. HAP was originally launched as a supporting service for Munich Re, so it wasn't placed under pressure to grow by the company. However, as HAP's operations matured and market competition intensified, Zhang began to entertain the possibility that the platform might grow its user base from three million to ten million in three to five years or perhaps even become a future profit center for Munich Re. However, he needed to carefully consider how this objective

This case relates to Shanghai Huanxin Electronic Technology Company (hereinafter "Huanxin"), and discusses the company's decision to launch a new scheme for shared strollers. Huanxin, established in 2012, initially focused on providing technologies and services for government-funded public bicycle programs and metro cards. In 2016, following the arrival of bike-sharing in China, Huanxin rolled out its own scheme called '100Bike'. However, it was very short-lived. The company subsequently launched "Share++", an IoT SaaS platform for business customers which aimed to make their products and services (such as umbrellas) available for sharing. However, "Share++" soon encountered difficulties, including customer acquisition challenges and high operating costs. Therefore, Zhao Wei, CEO of Huanxin, decided to focus on a specific segment. By chance, he had heard his family complaining about the lack of baby strollers available for rent when they went on holiday. This inspired him with the idea of launching a stroller rental scheme. Should Huanxin enter into this new market?

This case explores the implementation of Huanxin's shared stroller scheme 'Pandastroller', launched in September 2017. To achieve rapid growth, Pandastroller established a franchising model in June 2018, which aimed to boost its market share by leveraging its franchisees' funds and marketing channels. The franchising model was gradually expanded, and by the first half of 2019, it had started to deliver positive results. However, the speed of expansion was still far below expectations. What could Pandastroller do to accelerate its expansion?

Hope Noah Health Management (Beijing) Co., Ltd. (hereafter Hope Noah) was one of China's earliest providers of medical tourism services. The company built a sterling reputation among customers, and demand for its services grew quickly. However, CEO Wang Gang wanted to achieve more than just handsome sales figures and hoped to provide customers with more effective, efficient, and affordable medical tourism services. He believed that the industry's prevailing pricing model, whereby customers were charged according to the amount, duration, and frequency of services ran counter to patients' interests, as less effective and longer treatments resulted in higher bills. To address this issue, Wang considered switching to an "all-inclusive" pricing model covering medical costs, service charges, and all other non-medical expenses arising from treatment. In addition to addressing patients' concerns about unpredictable expenses, this model would also force the company to increase efficiency, aligning the interest of patients with those of the company. However, Wang's proposal was unanimously opposed by other executives due to the financial risks associated with the inherent uncertainties of medical treatment. This case looks into a thought-provoking topic as it concerns China's inadequate medical resources, deficient healthcare system, rapidly aging society, and consumption upgrading trends. The case study will cover topics like basic pricing theories and innovative pricing methods while showing students how to formulate marketing strategies for companies by applying theoretical frameworks such as the marketing mix.

Mindray Medical International Limited, China's second largest medical device manufacturer, had global sales of 2.23 billion RMB in 2007. Since 2002, it had launched between seven and nine new products every year across four product lines: Patient Monitoring & Life Support products, the In-Vitro Diagnostic Products, Medical Imaging Systems and Veterinary. In 2006, Mindray's American depositary shares (ADS) were listed on the New York Stock Exchange. By the end of 2007, Mindray had sold medical devices to over 37,500 hospitals and clinics in China. It had 12 international offices and its products were sold in more than 140 countries. However, the company's US performance had not lived up to expectations. Founder and chairman, Hang Xu, had been approached by a leading investment bank to discuss the potential acquisition of Datascope, a mid-sized American producer of medical devices for the global marketplace. What should he do?

In just 15 years, founder Huang Guangyu had turned Gome Home Appliance Co. Ltd. into the largest home appliance retail chain in China in terms of sales. However, the company faces several internal and external challenges. It is becoming increasingly difficult for Gome to attract qualified employees, to obtain capital for its continued growth and to ignore its competitors. To respond to these challenges and the changing environment of the industry, Gome's once retired leader, returned as the company's General Manager and has implemented a major reorganization.