This case traces the development of Canyou Group over 22 years, starting from its origins as a small computer interest club in 1997 to an organization consisting of a foundation, 14 non-for-profit firms, and 42 for-profit companies, two of which are listed. As Canyou developed, the mission of the founder, Weining Zheng, remained crucial to decision-making. He wanted to prove the worth of disabled persons by showing that they can create value and gain approval from the market. Canyou faced three critical strategic decisions during its formation, which were key to determining this social enterprise's development. By making decisions in line with its mission, Canyou showed how it evolved to find success utilizing disabled employees to create value for the firm. In understanding Canyou's success, the firm has built complementary assets focused on its employees. Specifically, it developed a unique human resource system that captures the needs of employees and a corporate culture that supports them. Moreover, it designed a supporting structure with its "Three-in-One" model to help Canyou support the disabled while generating profits and contributing to its mission, resulting in a virtuous cycle. This case provides an opportunity to analyze Canyou's decisions during its development. Specifically, the case allows students to consider both the external and internal activities that a firm with this unique mission should explore and, more importantly, what activities it should reject. After discussing these decisions, the case provides an opportunity to analyze how the mission created complementary assets geared towards disabled employees, leading to a source of sustained competitive advantage. Finally, this case discusses Canyou's future challenges. While the case protagonist Weining Zheng understood that Canyou had a solid foundation, he needed to consider how it could build on disabled people's value while increasing its success after he left the firm (and this world).

This case follows the development of Daddy Lab, a Chinese social enterprise founded in 2015 by Wenfeng Wei. With extensive experience in product safety testing, Wei started Daddy Lab to tackle the social problem of poor-quality and hazardous consumer products used by children and their families in China. By identifying, testing, and reporting such products to the public via social media, Wei became an internet celebrity. Nicknamed "Daddy Wei," he racked up millions of followers on China's most popular social media platform, WeChat. In 2018, Daddy Lab received China Gold Social Enterprise certification from the China Charity Fair. That same year, Daddy Lab generated average monthly revenue of approximately ¥5 million by selling high-quality, non-hazardous products online. As Daddy Lab continued to grow and tackle its social mission, it faced numerous challenges. Social entrepreneur Wei realized that he faced the dilemma of trying to make the world a safer place for children and their families while making a profit to sustain this purpose. Wei had established a model to make profits through Daddy Lab's dual roles as a "reviewer" and a "seller" but wondered whether it was appropriate for this social enterprise. As Wei considered Daddy Lab's future, the following questions kept him awake at night: Was Daddy Lab's current business model effective in achieving its social and financial goals? How could Daddy Lab better manage its dual roles as a "reviewer" and a "seller"? How could Daddy Lab become more sustainable in the future?

This case presents an overview of China's FMCG industry in the early 2010s from the perspective of WinChannel, an information service provider to major FMCG companies in China. It describes the three major distribution channels (i.e., Routes-to-Market) and focuses on the challenges facing the traditional trade channel through which FMCG companies provide their products to millions of "mom-and-pop" stores (i.e., small, independently owned and operated convenience stores), especially in rural parts of China. In early 2015, Zhen (Andrew) Cui, Founder and CEO of WinChannel, is exploring how he can help improve the reach and efficiency of the traditional trade channel and wonders if the emerging online/mobile B2B FMCG platforms offer the best solution for the increasingly digitized FMCG retail industry in China.

This case aims to help students understand how digitization is enabling and shaping the transformation of the traditional FMCG industry in China. It introduces Andrew Cui's response to the challenges posed in Case (A)-i.e., how WinChannel could improve the reach and efficiency of the traditional trade channel when online/mobile B2B FMCG platforms were emerging in the market. In May 2015, Cui launched Huixiadan, a mobile-based B2B FMCG ordering platform, connecting a select group of leading FMCG companies and their numerous distributors and wholesalers with potentially millions of mom-and-pop stores in China. Huixiadan has used mobile technologies to develop an inclusive and collaborative business model linking most players in the existing traditional trade channel. However, it faces fierce competition from many online competitors seeking to disrupt the FMCG industry, including Chinese e-commerce giants Alibaba and JD.com. Cui is wondering how competitive and sustainable Huixiadan's business model is and what he should do to withstand the competitive threats even as he tries to exploit opportunities in the traditional FMCG industry in China.

While there is widespread support for the notion that organizations with better reputations outperform their rivals, there is uncertainty about how to create such a reputation, especially among the managers responsible for this task. For example, organizations often give money to worthy causes or create social responsibility programs in the hope that this will appeal to their stakeholders. When approaches such as these are only loosely coupled to the strategy of the organization they appear to be "bolted on" rather than "built in." Thus, they are likely to foster a reputation that is less consistent with the principal actions of the organization and less credible. They are also easy for competitors to imitate. Because of this, a reputation grounded in the strategy of the organization has a better chance of providing a sustainable competitive advantage. This article presents a normative framework that illustrates a strategy-led approach to reputation building.