Science Fiction World (SFW) was set up in 1979 as a publishing unit of China's state-owned Science and Technology Organization to promote science and technology. For more than three decades, this leading science fiction publisher had survived China's tightly regulated publishing industry. However, with the accelerated technological and social changes sweeping across China, SFW faced new challenges and had to assess how the changes could impact the future sustainability of its print-based book and magazine publishing business.

This case is a study of the transnational collaboration in China's motorcycle industry from the 1980s to 2010s between Chongqing Jianshe Motorcycle Co. (CJM), a Chinese state-owned enterprise (SOE), and Yamaha Motor Co. (YMC), a Japanese global motorcycle company. It examines the implications and outcomes for the joint venture (JV) arising from differences in the JV partners' organisational cultures as well as from different industry practices, and highlights the systemic influence of political and economic factors in a fast-changing business context on each partner's strategic imperatives. It also discusses the impacts of these factors on the JV operations and outcomes. The case study provides an opportunity to explore the issues and challenges confronting cross border joint ventures at various phases of development and to identify key factors that could shape the prospects and potential of such collaborations.