Zhongzhi, a virtual reality (VR) company founded in late 2016 and based in Nanchang, China, used its VR films to lay the groundwork for its entry into the metaverse as a business. Since 2021, the first year of the metaverse, Zhongzhi has focused on developing the JiuTian Intelligent Space Platform, which integrates all kinds of digital technologies—such as VR, blockchain, and digital twin—to embed diverse case contents. Zhongzhi’s operations have encompassed three key areas: vocational education, a science and technology centre, and rural revitalization. However, establishing a sustainable metaverse business remains a significant concern. The company was confronted with a strategic dilemma: whether to focus all efforts on a core business area or diversify into new ventures that offer long-term sustainability.
Zhongke Xinke (Beijing) Technology Co. Ltd. (Zhongke Xinke), founded in November 2016, enjoyed a high reputation in China’s makerspace industry. Miao Jinsheng, the founder of Zhongke Xinke, sensed the changing environment and the development challenges of the enterprise and created the Foreseeing Unicorns Project. Jointly launched with the Jiangxi provincial government, the project supported the success of entrepreneurs and helped Jiangxi Province to discover and cultivate unicorn enterprises, creating shared value economically and socially. However, its commitment and close ties with the local government limited Zhongke Xinke’s future growth to a certain extent. How could the project grow by balancing its commitment to Jiangxi Province with its need to grow outside the province (national)?
In 2008, Goldwind bought 70 per cent of Vensys’ shares through its German subsidiary to obtain a range of strategic assets, including a professional research and development team and associated design capabilities, intellectual property rights of permanent magnet direct drive (PMDD) technology, and corresponding wind turbine designs. Over the years, the post-merger integration (PMI) process of an emerging market multinational enterprise (EMNE) and a developed country multinational enterprise (DMNE) saw many conflicts. By the end of 2021, the general manager of Goldwind Germany needed to strengthen the integration process between the two companies to facilitate its growth in Europe and elsewhere.
The founder of Jucai Human Resources Development Co., Ltd. had witnessed the development of China’s human resources service industry over the previous 20 years. In the company’s early stages, it had mainly relied on the advantage of information asymmetry of the Internet to carry out online recruitment services. But from 2015, the founder became interested in and confident about the prospects of providing a talent assessment service for public institutions and thus decided to start such a service. After five years of development, the company had become a leading enterprise in the domestic talent assessment service for public institutions. However, with the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, talent assessment services for public institutions suddenly stagnated. The founder realized that this service was too dependent on government policy support, although income from this service accounted for 70 per cent of its revenue. If public institutions shifted their talent assessment business from outsourcing assessment to independent assessment, the company would face a severe challenge. Therefore, the founder had to consider how his company could reduce its dependence on policies and achieve sustainable development by using existing data resources.
Ebidding, Shanghai Huizhao Information Technology Co., Ltd.’s key product, was China’s only “Internet+” integrated bidding and procurement service provider, integrating supply chain management consulting, project implementation, and electronic bidding platform operation. Its main business was to provide enterprises with a full-process electronic bidding and procurement solution. The Ebidding team had developed a full-process electronic bidding platform in 2012, and it had been upgraded and developed regularly since then. A business expansion opportunity emerged for Ebidding as a result of shutdowns during the COVID-19 pandemic. As a result of precautions to combat COVID-19, offline bidding and procurement across China were severely curtailed. Electronic bidding procurement projects were also stalled due to the inability of experts to evaluate online bids. To seize this market opportunity, gain competitive advantage, and grow its business in the face of significant uncertainty, Ebidding would have to determine how to quickly develop a remote decentralized bid evaluation system, gain acceptance for it, and lead customers to accept the new system.
The general manager of Lidu Liquor Co. Ltd. (Lidu) was considering the next phase of the company’s marketing plan. From 2016 to 2018, unit sales had risen from ¥80 million to ¥300 million, largely due to Lidu’s unconventional marketing programs. But by mid-2019, national and domestic brands had noticed Lidu’s success. With competition increasing, Lidu’s future growth might not come as easily. The general manager wondered how best to modify the company’s immersive experiential marketing plan so that Lidu could stay ahead of the competition.
In 2017, the successful Canadian innovation center TEC Edmonton initiated a joint venture with TusStar, an important Chinese accelerator, and found itself in the middle of a debate about the challenges and opportunities of Chinese investment in Canada’s technology sector. Both organizations were unique collaborations among industry, academia, and government. This joint initiative had added significance because of the implications for these stakeholders. The role of government was also significant, especially regarding the role of the Chinese government in innovation. The partnership was also nationally significant because of the important roles TEC Edmonton and TusStar played in the innovation ecosystems in Canada and China. How could TEC Edmonton define its role underpinning its relationship with TusStar and the Chinese government and make a compelling case for this new cooperation to stakeholders in industry, academia, and government?
Founded in late 2014, Xinke used a crowdfunding café model to provide a platform for communication among entrepreneurs and investors. In June 2015, Xinke co-operated with a leading real estate company to create a crowd innovation café, and in August 2016, it received A-round financing that led to the establishment of a crowd innovation fund and the creation of a self-access media platform. Xinke had opened a high-end shared office to provide all around services such as funds, publicity, and venues for settled enterprises. It had a network of crowd innovation space (CIS) platforms in various cities across China and was beginning to build a nationwide CIS platform. Could the crowd innovation ecology designed by Xinke inject new vitality into the development of the CIS? How should Xinke’s crowd innovation eco-strategy be improved? How could Xinke realize professionalization in and improvement of the crowd innovation ecology?