"NFT"is a unique type of asset in the art as well as technology world. In 2021, a digital art collection of 101 cartoon apes was sold for USD24.4 million, setting a record high at Sotheby's online auction. This case first briefly introduces the auction industry and Sotheby's, including both its online and offline contemporary art sales. Students will gain an appreciation of how NFT can disrupt and challenge traditional markets. It also exhibits the projects Sotheby's undertook to bridge the gap between the burgeoning market of NFTs and the physical collectible market. Then it describes how an NFT was sold, as well as the costs and risks involved. Finally, it brings about the "what's next" question for auction houses like Sotheby's, marketers, art collectors and all stakeholders at the intersection of art and technology.

Galen is a start up company in the field of MRI imaging striving to compete with Philips, GE and Siemens. The protagonist, Mr. Wong needs to develop up a business strategy and an irresistible offer to attract Dr. Comstad, a leading scientist in the field, and other co-creation partners to cooperate with a small start up company. The case illustrates the advantage of co-creation business models over in-house solutions especially with regards to R&D and product development. It unveils the reasons for both companies and partners to engage in cooperation.

Walmart miscalculated when it entered China using its "Every Day Low Prices" strategy. It struggled with value proposition, local regulations, staff incentive schemes, logistics, and significant economic and cultural differences between regions. After two decades it developed successful operations in China. With Chinese led disruption labelled as "New retail," that meant full integration between online and offline commerce, Walmart had to ensure its continued success in this new environment.

Starbucks has noted rapid growth in China, targeting 70% growth in three years. Although popular among a Chinese clientele, it is facing a number of internal and external challenges related to the Chinese economic slowdown, and issues associated with the paradox of growth. As a leader in innovation, it has developed and implemented top-notch solutions across domains such as HR, R&D, CRM, design, digital, product development, supply chain, electronic payment, etc., and needs to continue the innovation process to stay ahead of the competition. What can it do to expand and innovate continuously? As growth reduces elasticity, what should it do to retain the flexibility to address market demands and interruptions quickly?

For years, Chinese manufacturers displaced Western companies by offering lower prices. More recently they began to disrupt by challenging existing business models. Displacement was easy to combat by improving processes and lowering costs but fighting disruption required innovation along business models, which entailed transformation of business processes as well as reformulation of value propositions. With iPhone generating about two thirds of its revenue, Apple was trying to boost its service and other product lines. It had also invested in solar powered energy systemsas well as a wind turbine technology in China. The Company also ventured with Didi (the company which outdid Uber in China) to develop self-driving vehicles. Exploring new strategic pastures, however, Apple had to ensure the success of iPhone 8 while further leveraging its platform ecosystem. It was not clear how Apple could reposition itself to sustain the pushback by the Chinese brands while exploring new strategic pastures in light of possible tightening of the Sino-U.S. economic relations.

Entering 2017, Tencent and Facebook are reinventing their business models in areas including social media, e-commerce, fintech, gaming, mobile, IoT and VR, among others. The case illustrates the advantage of platform business models over pipeline models or a traditional product focus. It unveils the power of Chinese accelerated innovation and demystifies so- called Chinese "copycat" culture. It also shows how the two tech giants Facebook and Tencent have applied different business models and acquisition strategies, which to a large extent have been conditioned by social, geopolitical and regulatory issues. In showing that Tencent excels in multiple areas when benchmarked against Facebook, another case objective is to encourage students to challenge widely held beliefs that Chinese companies cannot innovate or are incapable of being global players. The case also reveals challenging aspects of doing Internet business in China, including the country's business culture, as well as the Great Fire Wall and how it boosted the Chinese economy, making it difficult for Western technology firms to enter.