Toyplace Production (Hong Kong) Ltd. was producing toys on an OEM basis, while other toy manufacturers were creating their own brand names, a trend that was changing the structure of the toy industry. Should Toyplace move into the branded toy market? Written for use in International Business courses that focus on the Pacific Rim. Designed as part of a module that introduces students to the varying forms of international production practiced by multinational corporations. The module contrasts internal and external modes of production using Toyplace to examine the latter in detail.

In September 1994, Sino Land, the best-known second-tier property developer in Hong Kong, was studying the possibility of a spinoff of its hotels and hospitality division into a separately listed firm. Under the proposed de-merger, the new holding vehicle, Sino Hotels (Holdings), would inherit equity interests in a number of hotels and restaurants. It was also scheduled to list on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange after elevation of Sino Land to a blue-chip Hang Seng Index constituent stock on February 28, 1998. The case looks at the rationale and the timing of the spinoff and investigates whether the event resulted in an increase in Sino Land's stock market value and improvements in its business.

In 1997, retail sales begain to slump for the Dairy Farm Group of Companies (DFG), a major food retailer based in Hong Kong with operations in many major cities in Asia Pacific. The Asian economic crisis of 1997 was one cause. However, another major cause was increasing competition from aggressive European and U.S. retail chains that were preparing to gain a foothold in the growing Asian market. DFG realized that to combat competition and retain its dominant position in Asia Pacific, it had to change its business strategy from that of "buying and selling" to "sensing and responding." The case investigates DFG's existing business systems and processes and looks at the possibilities of gaining competitive advantage, either by acquiring state of the art systems and technical infrastructure or through radical redesign of its critical business processes supported by technology.