Toronto-based financial technology (fintech) start-up Koho Financial Inc. (Koho) offered millennial consumers a new way to manage their money with no fees. Koho challenged traditional banking institutions by providing typical banking services digitally. In November 2019, the company had recently secured its series B funding round, bringing the total amount raised to US$57.5 million. Now, with expectations from its investors and growing competition, Koho had to develop new strategies to ensure its leading position. Should Koho continue competing directly with traditional banks, or should the company invest in new technologies and compete with other fintech start-ups? How could Koho acquire more customers? How would the changing fintech regulatory environment affect Koho's strategy?

As one of China's top three major state-owned air transportation companies, China Eastern Airlines Corporation Limited (China Eastern) had built an international brand image with a global influence. With the airline's unique Shanghai-based globalization, China Eastern's strategy remained focused on expanding its global footprint. In the face of growing competition from domestic and international rivals, China Eastern strove to carry out cross-border business, strengthen its co-operation with partners in the aviation industry, and accelerate its globalization process. Over the past three years, China Eastern had introduced its "Pacific Plan" and made concerted efforts in expanding its route network and optimizing transit opportunities in the North American market. With the implementation of the Belt and Road Initiative (a global development strategy adopted by the Chinese government), what strategy should China Eastern use to continue to expand its Shanghai-based globalization?

Naked Retreats, a hotel management company that adhered to a localized brand positioning strategy, made its debut in the Chinese hotel market in 2007. To allow customers to experience the restorative effects of closeness to nature, it launched Naked Stables, the first resort in China to have obtained a Leadership in Environmental Energy Design (LEED) Platinum certification. The founder of Naked Retreats, Grant Horsfield, was a South African who felt deeply connected to nature. Horsfield subsequently launched a series of explorative projects related to holistic living, including catering, education, and a co-working space. While the brand had success in some areas of its brand extension, it experienced failures in others. In 2018, Naked Retreats must decide whether to continue its horizontal extension or to focus on its most successful projects.

SF Express Group Co. Ltd. (SF Express) was a leading express delivery and logistics solutions provider in China. In May 2017, SF Express became involved in a dispute with the logistics-tracking platform Cainiao Network Technology (Cainiao), which was controlled by Alibaba Group Holding Limited. SF Express and Cainiao were the two largest players in China's express delivery market. The dispute, which involved an SF Express-affiliated smart package locker company that declined a data-sharing request from Cainiao, caused SF Express and Cainiao to sever their ties over proprietary data and cybersecurity. This severance caused significant disruption to China's e-commerce sector. After regulatory intervention, both parties agreed to resume sharing data for the time being and had to negotiate a resolution to their data dispute within 30 days. The chief information officer of SF Express needed to come up with an immediate solution to the dispute as well as a long-term data strategy for SF Express.

On August 3, 2015, Fitbit, Inc.'s (Fitbit) stock price hit an all-time high of $50.99. A few months earlier, when Fitbit went public on June 18, it had opened on its first day of trading at a price of $30.40 - 52 per cent higher than its initial public offering price. As what appeared to be the most successful initial public offering of the year, Fitbit attracted significant attention and inevitably drew controversy as well. Some investors saw great potential and a promising future for Fitbit. Others were less positive, calling it a fad without any real opportunity for future development. In the face of growing competition from rivals with more extensive consumer bases, Fitbit wanted to ensure that it achieved sustainable growth. What was Fitbit, and what could it become? The question concerned not only potential investors but also the chief executive officer of the high-tech company.

In the fall of 2014, the Alibaba Group, an e-commerce company that operates domestic and international marketplaces and provides Internet-based services from its headquarters in Hangzhou, China, startled the world with its record-breaking initial public offering on the New York Stock Exchange. The company's business plan differs from other major Internet companies such as Amazon and eBay by its strategies that are tailored to the particular circumstances of the Chinese economy and Chinese consumers. Now, the executive team has set its sights on achieving the next big thing - developing its online-to-offline business, a market sector estimated to be worth a trillion dollars in the age of the mobile Internet. However, the company faces stiff competition from Tencent, the other Internet titan in China. How can Alibaba integrate online and offline activities to increase sales and improve the consumer's experience - and, therefore, improve its own bottom line?