Hong Kong-based Li & Fung Group was a trading company renowned for skillful management of its supply chain. The bulk of its business came from the trading of soft goods, which comprised garments and apparel, with the remainder consisting of hard goods such as furniture, fireworks and promotional items. Its major market was the US, followed by Europe, which contributed about one-quarter of its turnover. With the global economic downturn in 2009 following the collapse of the American housing and credit markets, and with the fashion industry expected to be severely affected, how could Li & Fung continue to grow its business and achieve the target of doubling its turnover to US$20 billion for the period 2008-2010?

On the evening of 20 October 2008, Citic Pacific, the Hong Kong arm of the CITIC Group, China's largest state-owned investment company, stunned the stock markets by announcing that it would lose as much as HK$15.5 billion (approximately US$2 billion). The company stated that these losses were due to foreign exchange exposures that it had been aware of for six weeks, but had failed to tell the investors about. In an apologetic statement to the public, Larry Yung Chi-kin, the chairman of Citic Pacific, acknowledged the losses and admitted that the contracts had not been properly authorized. Investors and analysts subsequently attacked Citic Pacific for its corporate governance and internal control practices. They expressed shock that the company would make such risky transactions and that it would delay the disclosure of these large potential losses for six weeks. What does this incident say about Citic Pacific's internal risk management and its board of directors, particularly the independent directors? Has the company demonstrated effective corporate governance standards and mechanisms through alignment of its top-level managers' decisions with the interests of the shareholders?

Private entrepreneur, Tony Fernandez took over the debt ridden AirAsia airlines from the Malaysian government in December 2001, months after the terrorist attacks of 9/11. One month later, he relaunched the airline as South-East Asia's first low cost carrier (LCC) and achieved an instant success with increased profitability and rapid route expansion. Under the tagline of "Now Everyone Can Fly", AirAsia was able to keep the lowest cost structure among its competitors and offered low airfare to customers. Being innovative down to the corporate bone, AirAsia pioneered several new services for its operation, including an ambitious plan that many other low cost, short-haul carriers viewed as risky-extending services to include long haul routes. In 2007, AirAsia was ranked as the best LCC in the Asia region. Its success had not only inspired many LCC followers in the Asia Pacific region, but also severely threatened the well-being of full-service operators, especially its major competitor at home, Malaysia Airlines ("MAS"). In May 2008, MAS initiated an unexpected price war by launching the "Everyday Low Fare" campaign, offering zero fare for domestic and short-haul flights, which were largely dominated by AirAsia. Amid surging flight operation costs globally and ever intense competition in the Asia Pacific region, how could AirAsia increase its competitiveness?

The strategy of Citibank (China) Co. Ltd ("Citi") in China has evolved as the business environment has changed. Since the start of its operations in China in 1902, the global banking giant has preferred opening offices as branches (when allowed by the government) rather than subsidiaries. In 2001, China announced that it would join the World Trade Organization and would undertake a series of measures to open up its banking sector. By this time, Citi had realized that the pace of its growth in China had been very slow. Consequently, the bank reviewed its strategy and decided to enter the market as an embedded, or genuinely local, bank. Citi's July 2008 agreement with China Unionpay ("CUP"), China's only national bankcard association, allows Citi's debit cardholders to enjoy the convenience of access to CUP's vast network in China. The agreement is the latest milestone in the bank's strategy to establish its presence in the emerging and rapidly growing China market through a series of strategic alliances. Why has CitiUnionpay changed its strategy and started entering such co-operative alliances? What are the risks and advantages associated with using such co-operative strategies?

McDonald's, the world-famous American fast food franchisor, entered mainland China in 1990, when Chinese franchise law did not even exist. In this once-closed country whose market only opened up to foreign investors in 1978, McDonald's had to adapt to an unfamiliar and rapidly changing environment. Not only was food culture in China vastly different from that in the West, but food culture, lifestyles and legal structure were altering as a result of surging economic growth and massive urbanization. Competition was also intensifying as local and foreign restaurants sought to capitalize on China's increasing affluence. As the growing middle class demanded higher standards from these companies, McDonald's local business practices in terms of food healthiness, employee welfare and other socio-environmental issues were put under close scrutiny in China. While the nation's booming economy provided environmental conditions suitable for fast-food culture, the environment also posed challenges to the survival of fast-food operators in the country. Would McDonald's be able to sustain its momentum as China transformed into a developed nation?

Cheung Yan, the chairperson and co-founder of the Nine Dragons Paper Holdings Company ("Nine Dragons") has been globally recognized as one of the foremost strategic business leaders of Asia. Cheung had started off modestly in 1990, by setting up a paper-recycling unit in the US, called America Chung Nam. This unit collected waste paper from the US and shipped it to China. By 1995, Cheung had recognized the huge opportunity for paper manufacturing in China, given its ever-rising demand for export packaging. With the support of her husband and brother, she returned to China and established Nine Dragons, which started off with two paper machines and made 600,000 tons of kraft linerboard per year. By June 2007, the company was a behemoth paper powerhouse, with 13 giant paper-making machines, about 8,600 full-time employees, US$1.4 billion in annual revenue and US$300 million in profits. With a huge expansion program in place, it was expected that by 2009, Nine Dragons would be Asia's top producer of packaging paper, and the first in the world in terms of production capacity. In a male-dominated industry of Asia, how has Cheung succeeded in being celebrated globally as a business leader? What are the qualities and abilities she possesses that have made her such an effective strategic leader?

While entrepreneurial creativity is a desired behavior in most firms, it is difficult to understand both how this complex phenomenon occurs and how to increase its rate of occurrence. Understanding and increasing managerial creativity is important not only in developed economies but also in developing economies, where the research discussed herein was conducted. Argues that a solid knowledge base, a well developed social network, and a strong focus on identifying opportunities are all necessary inputs toward entrepreneurial behavior. High-tech entrepreneurs interviewed in Hong Kong, however, indicated that creativity also plays a critical role in the entrepreneurial process. Attesting to this, they credited their competence with their being able to make the associations and bisociations needed to develop new products, leading to their entrepreneurial success.

Pioneering the discount store concept in cosmetic retailing in Hong Kong, Eleanor and Simon Kwok had succeeded in building Sa Sa into one of Asia's largest cosmetic and beauty service retailers. Enunciates Sa Sa's growth in the face of a host of environmental contretemps, including the Asian financial crisis and the SARS pandemic. Escalating rents coupled with lower-than-expected tourism figures harbingered continual turbulence in its core market, Hong Kong. Under pressure to maintain margins, other causes of concern were continued losses from its operations in China and the unsatisfactory performance of its beauty services division. Additionally, it appeared that Sa Sa was facing a positioning paradox--that of being a low-cost retailer, stocking goods from parallel imports, while trying to project the upmarket image required by the global brands it stocked. Evaluating Sa Sa's current status, students can develop strategies that would enable Sa Sa's continued success and ability to compete in the changing retail environment.

Incorporated in 1983, Giordano International consolidated its position as a leading casual apparel retailer in Asia Pacific by offering customers value for money, good customer service, and classic, simple designs. By constantly improving its operating efficiencies, the company survived the Asian economic downturn and the outbreak of Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS). Its newest challenges, however, were increased competition, surging rents, higher interest rates, and the omnipresent threat from the avian bird flu. How Giordano could sustain its past success was perhaps the most critical question confronting its management. Provides an opportunity to examine what strategy would ensure Giordano's continued success over the intermediate and long-term future.