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In the summer of 2010, the members of the business development team of Target Systems were carefully considering the possibility of entering the Electronic Health Information (EHI) systems arena. The company had both breadth and depth of experience in providing logistics, project management and information technology (IT) services to clients in the public and private sector. Although the employees of Target Systems were experts in a full range of IT services, no one in the company had deep expertise about the way IT applications were being used to manage patient care or administer health care organizations. The lack of expertise implied that a movement by Target Systems into the EHI systems arena would call for the company to simultaneously develop new products and services for a new set of clients –– to engage in growth by related diversification. That strategy would stand in contrast to the growth by concentration strategy the team had employed throughout company history. To pursue a diversification strategy the team would have to decide if it should provide services to regional health information organizations, hospitals or individual physicians’ practices. It would also have to decide whether it would cultivate new capabilities by investing in internal development or by seeking a strategic partner that was already operating in the arena. Ultimately, the way the business development team weighed the opportunities versus the challenges of adopting a new growth strategy in the context of a still uncertain external environment would strongly influence its decision as to whether or not the company should enter this new arena.

In the summer of 2010, the members of the business development team of Target Systems were carefully considering the possibility of entering the Electronic Health Information (EHI) systems arena. The company had both breadth and depth of experience in providing logistics, project management and information technology (IT) services to clients in the public and private sector. Although the employees of Target Systems were experts in a full range of IT services, no one in the company had deep expertise about the way IT applications were being used to manage patient care or administer health care organizations. The lack of expertise implied that a movement by Target Systems into the EHI systems arena would call for the company to simultaneously develop new products and services for a new set of clients -- to engage in growth by related diversification. That strategy would stand in contrast to the growth by concentration strategy the team had employed throughout company history. To pursue a diversification strategy the team would have to decide if it should provide services to regional health information organizations, hospitals or individual physicians' practices. It would also have to decide whether it would cultivate new capabilities by investing in internal development or by seeking a strategic partner that was already operating in the arena. Ultimately, the way the business development team weighed the opportunities versus the challenges of adopting a new growth strategy in the context of a still uncertain external environment would strongly influence its decision as to whether or not the company should enter this new arena.

Ho Chi Minh Securities Corporation (HSC) was established in April of 2003. At the time, it was the 11th securities company to be founded in the Vietnam. From the outset, HSC provided a full range of securities trading and investment banking-related services. HSC was established to help restructure SOEs and to raise capital for development projects. That is, it was founded as a joint-stock company with the largest of the original investors being the Ho Chi Minh City Investment Fund for Urban Development (HIFU). In May of 2007, the Dragon Capital Group (Dragon Capital), a UK-based fund manager that had already established a foothold in Vietnam, took on just under 30% of HSC's shares. That change in ownership structure of HSC prompted a change in the composition of the board of directors and of the management team. The new team took a range of steps to strengthen the company and help distinguish it from rivals. They articulated a set of organisational values and took steps to shape an organisational culture. They shored up the financial foundation of the firm. They deepened and broadened the expertise embedded in different departments of the company. They introduced new products and services in order to penetrate new market segments. Despite a turbulent external environment, at the end of 2008, the team charted a strategy which called for HSC to increase market share.

In January 1999, William Durden was named the 27th president of his alma mater, Dickinson College. He quickly came to understand that for much of the 20th century, the Dickinson community had lacked a strong sense of organizational purpose. By autumn, Durden had turned to the life and writings of Dr. Benjamin Rush, the man responsible for securing the college charter in 1783, as the inspiration for the story. After introducing Durden and the challenges confronting Dickinson, the case describes the early history of the college and the ideas and accomplishments of Rush. It then provides students with a brief overview of the strategic challenges that had surfaced for Dickinson by the mid1990s. Finally, the conclusion indicates that Durden still had to resolve many issues associated with the identity story.