This case tells the story of Bas Fransen, who evolved from a senior executive at Fortune Global 500 companies to founder of EcoMatcher - a socially responsible enterprise planting trees for planet and profit. This story has two particularly interesting themes. This case focuses upon the human side of the story: how a corporate baron overcame the skepticism of his friends and colleagues, giving up his economic perks and social status to find a more meaningful career as a social entrepreneur. Its companion case (EcoMatcher: Beyond the Triple Bottom Line, USTXXX) focuses upon the end result: EcoMatcher as a truly socially responsible enterprise with a profitable and scalable business model.

This case tells the story of EcoMatcher - a green and socially responsible enterprise that has found a scalable and profitable business model planting trees. EcoMatcher is interesting partly as an excellent example of strategic corporate social responsibility (CSR); its core profit-making activity of planting trees is intrinsically good for the planet and its people. This differs from the triple bottom line approach employed by some other companies, which use green or prosocial activities to offset core profit-making activities that may harm society or the environment. Both strategic CSR and the triple bottom line approach can underlie improvements in environmental, social, and governance (ESG) reporting. This case focuses on EcoMatcher as an exemplar of strategic CSR while a companion case (EcoMatcher: Daring to Make a Difference, USTXXX) focuses on how EcoMatcher's founder made the difficult leap from corporate executive to social entrepreneur, trading off power, status, and wealth for more meaning in his work.

The key objective of this case is to provide students with the skills and understanding of how out-of-home (OOH) advertising is utilized as a channel for brands to communicate their messages to consumers, as well as how a media company contributes to the value chain in the industry. The six examples cited in the case illustrate the concept in practice as well as the developing trend of the interactive outdoor-and-online (O&O) model going forward. The case describes a situation faced by Asiaray Media Group (Asiaray), a company founded by Vincent Lam in Hong Kong in 1993. Despite entering the market as a latecomer amid fierce competition, Asiaray has grown in stature as a media enterprise and gained a strong foothold in Greater China and Singapore. Its success was largely attributed to its innovative spirit, particularly in developing its Space Management concept as highlighted in the case studies. The pandemic which began in 2020 brought disruptive and unprecedented changes to the economy and the advertising landscape. Despite signs of recovery in the first half of 2021, the company recorded a net loss of HK$113.7 million in the period, and its share price had plummeted close to 75% from just before the pandemic. Based on what he and the company have learned and built in the past, Vincent must now seek and seize the next opportunity, with innovation being a key for survival in these changing times.

DJI-Innovations is an early-stage company that developed hardware and software for remote-controlled helicopters and drones. Frank Wang, the CEO and founder is an exceptionally bright and passionate young man who has seen his company grow rapidly. Such growth confronts him with human resource challenges that his engineering background has not prepared him for. The case describes the situation and offers the following challenge to students: If you were Frank Wang, what will be your strategy to manage its human resources to meet DJI's challenges and needs during this critical growth stage and ensure that the core value of the company continues to serve as a driver of its competitive advantage?