個案總覽

Hisense Group Co. Ltd. (Hisense) was a leading manufacturing enterprise in the Chinese household appliance industry. In 2010, Hisense began to lay out its online channels. At that time, the same products had different prices in different channels, which caused fierce channel conflicts. To solve this problem, Hisense segmented online and off-line products and took a series of actions to help off-line channels improve efficiency and reduce prices. Therefore, Hisense successfully changed from having different prices for the same products to having different prices for different products. However, in early 2020 the new model was challenged again, and channel conflicts soon reappeared. How would Hisense break the recurring channel conflict this time?

Hisense Group Co. Ltd. (Hisense) was a leading manufacturing enterprise in the Chinese household appliance industry. In 2010, Hisense began to lay out its online channels. At that time, the same products had different prices in different channels, which caused fierce channel conflicts. To solve this problem, Hisense segmented online and off-line products and took a series of actions to help off-line channels improve efficiency and reduce prices. Therefore, Hisense successfully changed from having different prices for the same products to having different prices for different products. However, in early 2020 the new model was challenged again, and channel conflicts soon reappeared. How would Hisense break the recurring channel conflict this time?

Beijing’s Palace Museum was facing the threat of becoming irrelevant and obsolete. A former imperial palace, it housed thousands of priceless cultural relics of historical importance and was once a destination in high demand. However, over time, the museum found its popularity with modern youth was waning. To address this problem, the Palace Museum chose to follow in the footsteps of other global museums and in 1998, launched a digital transformation. By June 2020, the museum had made steady progress in its digitalization over the previous two decades. It formed partnerships with online media platforms and experimented with innovative technology in key areas of its systems and structures. However, this transformation did not come without criticism. Was the museum sacrificing its integrity and its cultural import by leaning too heavily on science and technology? If people could access the collections online, would anyone still bother to visit? The museum was challenged to weigh the risks and benefits of digital transformation.

Beijing's Palace Museum was facing the threat of becoming irrelevant and obsolete. A former imperial palace, it housed thousands of priceless cultural relics of historical importance and was once a destination in high demand. However, over time, the museum found its popularity with modern youth was waning. To address this problem, the Palace Museum chose to follow in the footsteps of other global museums and in 1998, launched a digital transformation. By June 2020, the museum had made steady progress in its digitalization over the previous two decades. It formed partnerships with online media platforms and experimented with innovative technology in key areas of its systems and structures. However, this transformation did not come without criticism. Was the museum sacrificing its integrity and its cultural import by leaning too heavily on science and technology? If people could access the collections online, would anyone still bother to visit? The museum was challenged to weigh the risks and benefits of digital transformation.

Holding a massive beer festival brought the Chinese city of Qingdao and Tsingtao Beer Co. Ltd., China’s most famous beer brand, direct economic benefits and public awareness. However, through the Qingdao International Beer Festival—a natural advertising opportunity—foreign beers benefited as well. To date, Chinese beer brands held less than half of the high-end Chinese beer market. China levied no tariffs on beer imports, which increased the market competition. Were the objectives of Tsingtao Beer and the local government fully aligned with regard to the annual festival? Was the beer festival helping one more than it helped the other? Did it help Tsingtao Beer’s competitors? Should the Qingdao International Beer Festival work to recapture or emphasize some of its own cultural uniqueness?

Holding a massive beer festival brought the Chinese city of Qingdao and Tsingtao Beer Co. Ltd., China's most famous beer brand, direct economic benefits and public awareness. However, through the Qingdao International Beer Festival-a natural advertising opportunity-foreign beers benefited as well. To date, Chinese beer brands held less than half of the high-end Chinese beer market. China levied no tariffs on beer imports, which increased the market competition. Were the objectives of Tsingtao Beer and the local government fully aligned with regard to the annual festival? Was the beer festival helping one more than it helped the other? Did it help Tsingtao Beer's competitors? Should the Qingdao International Beer Festival work to recapture or emphasize some of its own cultural uniqueness?

With the increase of globalization in trading and online shopping, phony products are on the rise in the market. This article introduces a range of technologies that have been implemented in the supply chain to deter counterfeiters. Technology for both product authentication and tracing and tracking products in the supply chain will be discussed, along with the advantages and disadvantages of each solution. Additionally, success stories on combating counterfeits are introduced. Finally, issues related to rising anti-counterfeiting costs, collaborative efforts in fighting fakes, and a multi-pronged plan are explored.

What has long been recognized by teachers, physicians, and behavioral scientists holds true for management: One person's expectations shape another person's behavior. If a manager has high expectations, employees are likely to excel; if expectations are low, employees will likely respond with poor performance. In this HBR classic article from 1969, J. Sterling Livingston draws on numerous case studies and other research to demonstrate the importance of managerial expectations to individual and group performance. Consider the insurance executive who identified his six best agents and assigned them to his most capable manager. Not surprisingly, this group surpassed its already ambitious target. Equally unsurprising was what happened to a group of low producers assigned to the company's least capable manager. Their performance declined even further. But what happened to the group of average agents assigned to an average manager? That group increased its productivity by a higher percentage than the top group, because the manager refused to consider herself--or her agents--less capable than the superstars. And managers' beliefs about themselves influence how they view and treat their employees.

Formal education programs emphasize the development of problem-solving and decision-making skills, but give little attention to finding and exploiting opportunities or to dealing with potential problems. Effective managers, on the other hand, share characteristics that cannot be taught in a classroom: they need to manage, they need power, and they have the capacity for empathy. Furthermore, managers develop leadership capacities by firsthand observation of their environment and by an assessment of feedback from their actions. Managerial aspirants must be taught how to learn from their own first-hand experiences. McKinsey Award Winner.