HKTVmall, owned and operated by Hong Kong Technology Venture Company Limited (HKTV), is the largest online e-commerce platform in Hong Kong. Officially launched in 2015 as an "online supermarket", HKTVmall has morphed into an "online shopping mall" in just five years, serving more than 1 million consumers and almost 4,000 merchants and suppliers. The company recorded its first ever net profit in mid-2020, one year prior to the company's forecast, and became one of the few online shopping operators globally to make a profit in merely five years. Despite this success, Alice Wong, Group Chief Financial Officer and Company Secretary of the company, knew it was far too early to pop the champagne bottles and celebrate - as scores of dotcom businesses in the past had prospered and then subsequently gone bust, including in Hong Kong (e.g. adMart). The challenge now is how to sustain the company's momentum and even expand the business further, especially for the post-COVID 19 era. This case describes the business details of HKTV with a focus on its HKTVmall business. It traces the company's history, retail, and e-commerce environments in Hong Kong as well as the business strategies for HKTVmall. It helps students to understand, analyze, and discuss the company's key success factors, Hong Kong's retail and e-commerce competitive landscape, as well as the post-COVID 19 era for the company's development.
The case describes how Roman Khan and Jennifer Chen founded Linjer, a start-up with a limited budget, which successfully generated cashflows via crowdfunding. Linjer is a boutique design house in Hong Kong which offers minimally-designed leather bags and watches, which it sells online globally. Passionate about style and quality, the two founders started the venture in 2014 with a budget of US$20,000. Like most start-ups, Linjer faced limitations on access to traditional funding from financial institutions. As a result, the founders spent half the budget on their first crowdfunding campaign, creating video and photographs establishing Linjer as a classy, high-end brand, and more importantly, one whose products could initially only be procured through online crowdfunding. The rest of the money went to the production of prototypes of their first product, the Soft Briefcase. The case is set in September 2018, when Linjer's management is deciding on next steps the company will take: (1) to continue the business as is; (2) to take funding from venture-capital investors; and/or (3) other alternatives including, but not limited to, selling the company.
This case deals with the CEO selection at Hong Kong-based Global Brokerage Group (GBG) a medium-sized financial brokerage house dealing in securities, futures, foreign exchange, wealth management, and precious metals. Since its inception in 2001 the company, led by founder Anson Chan and his close knit cohort of family and friends, achieved steady growth and a solid presence in the local brokerage industry. In 2013, Anson believed it was time to prepare the company for its next phase of growth via listing on the stock exchange of Hong Kong. To transition GBG from a privately-held business to a publicly-listed entity his priority was to professionalize the company with clear segregation of roles and responsibilities at the top management level. In view of the upcoming IPO, Anson's first task was to appoint a strong CEO. The case sets out the industry context, the importance of regulations administered by the Securities and Futures Commission and GBG's organizational and operational structure. Students take on the role of Anson who is reviewing the profiles of six potential candidates and weighing their pros and cons. Who should he choose?
Case B is set 6 months after the selection of the CEO (Case A). An unsuccessful CEO transition unfolds as the new CEO fails to win the support of the top management team even after six months at the top position. Despite his best efforts, the new CEO could make no headway with any of his organizational change initiatives aimed at streamlining performance management and compensation systems. In fact, the situation worsened to the extent that he was ready to step down. The case provides an opportunity for students to analyze the reasons for the new CEO's failure and to what extent Anson was responsible for the situation. Anson's immediate priority was to devise an action plan to avert the impending organizational crisis.