This case describes Saudi Telecom Co.'s (STC's) transition from a government-run entity to a business competing on the open market. Early in its transition phase, STC recognized it would need to transform its employee and company culture to succeed. Led by Dr. Khaled Biyari and his immediate predecessors, STC's cultural transformation was widely heralded as successful by 2018. But Biyari left the CEO role that year, leaving Nasser Bin Sulaiman Al Nasser to take over the position. The change at STC's helm represented a critical inflection point for a company that, as the incumbent provider of all telecommunications in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, was seen as critical to the success of the country as a whole. The case is intended to show how a management change might be handled during a firm's critical years. Could Al Nasser continue the cultural improvements of his predecessor? And how would he go about building on the legacy of Biyari, whose personal vision and leadership presence was seen as essential to STC's achievements? Could Al Nasser push STC to become the modern, digital company it would need to be to attract talent in the highly competitive technology pool?

The Chery Automobile case focuses on the Chinese company, which, in 2007, was the fourth largest automotive company in China. Chery was growing at enormous speed, and was already exporting to over 50 countries, primarily in the Middle East and Eastern Europe. Chery was determined to enter the coveted U.S. and Western European markets, and in 2007 it struck a strategic alliance with the struggling U.S.-based Chrysler Company. The case explores the barriers that Chery was facing trying to enter these markets and asks students to evaluate if the strategic alliance was the best strategy for it to eventually establish itself independently in the mature and discerning U.S. and European markets.

This case finds Chery after the collapse of its alliance with Chrysler. For Chrysler it meant losing one of its most promising routes to building a competitive small-car lineup for consumers who were pinched at the pump by rising gas prices. For Chery, it meant losing Chrysler's technical ability, quality, and regulatory ratings consistent with U.S. and Western European markets. Students place themselves in the shoes of Chery executives as the company goes about creating a new strategy to tap into the U.S. and European markets.