Hangzhou Kub Baby Products Co. Ltd. (Kub), an e-commerce company established in 2009, sold maternal and child products. After a decade of development, Kub had earned praise from customers for the high-value, high-quality, and cost-effective products it sold, but the company's own brand, KÜB, remained less well known. In July 2018, Kub launched a three-day brand marketing campaign, called "KÜB×Tmall Happy Day," which largely relied on new media. The event was successful with increased brand effectiveness; however, new media was increasingly fragmenting marketing and brand awareness. How could Kub maintain its brand success in that context?
IDL Innovation Hong Kong Co. Ltd. (IDL) was a well-known interior design company specializing in commercial retail centres. The design company’s goal was to help its partners create more value by presenting effective interior design. However, with the rise of e-commerce, the financial performance of the conventional retail industry had dropped significantly. To help the industry regain customers, the design company developed a new business framework that combined online components with traditional consumer social spaces, based on the common interests, wants, and needs of consumers. In September 2018, the design company transformed a shopping centre in Shijiazhuang, Hebei Province, China, that had been losing sales for some time. The shopping mall soon saw a substantial and consistent increase in foot traffic, sales, and revenue. The project was a great success for both the mall and IDL, but could this concept be also effective when applied to other projects?
On April 1, 2017, Flashfood.Shop, a new brand in self-service retailing of fresh meals, was founded in Dalian, Liaoning province, China. The self-service retail platform provided office workers with affordable and convenient fresh meals 24 hours per day. Flashfood.Shop used intelligent self-catering machines as its physical sales terminals and it used an intelligent self-catering system as its online service interface. By the end of June 2018, Flashfood.Shop had launched 51 catering machines, where customers could buy fresh meals. The company had 14 catering suppliers, 135 different types of catering products, and over 500,000 customers. However, along with its success, Flashfood.Shop incurred a loss in five consecutive quarters. After its establishment, the only source of income for the company was the sale of its catered products. However, operating costs were high due to the instability of the hardware and software systems, as well as low operating efficiency and other factors. Faced with these issues, the start-up’s founder and general manager was wondering how to resolve his company’s ongoing losses.
In 2012, Sina Weibo stood out from competing microblogging products and developed into the largest social media platform in China. However, in 2013, competition from WeChat, a lack of high-quality content, and the exposure of an excessive number of fake accounts led to difficulties for Sina Weibo. By addressing three aspects of user activity—content producers, content consumers, and the platform operator—Sina Weibo was able to get back on the right track. The platform went from a loss in 2014 to a profit in 2018. However, behind the prosperity, in January 2019, Sina Weibo was facing new threats—namely, the disappearance of Chinese Internet user traffic dividends and competition from rivals Toutiao and Douyin. Sina Weibo’s chief executive officer had to determine how to deal with these new threats.
At the end of 2017, the director of HY Capital, was facing an investment decision. Two years earlier, HY Capital had invested in Dalian New Vision Media Co. Ltd. (New Vision), a company working on augmented reality products for early childhood education. The investment provided New Vision with sufficient funds to enter the market. However, after a quick success, New Vision had saturated the market and could not make further significant progress. Thus, New Vision’s management team proposed to alter the company’s strategy to move into kindergarten to grade 12 after-school education. The strategic shift could be lucrative, but it was risky and would require more funds to support product development. The director was now wondering, should HY Capital support New Vision with further investments or just exit the investment?
The chief executive officer of Dalian Zhangzidao Chuo Cold Logistics Co., Ltd., a Chinese company that specialized in cold chain storage and logistics services for imported frozen aquatic products supply chain, faced a series of urgent decisions. Since beginning operations in 2014, the company’s business volume had increased faster than other enterprises in the industry. However, in 2017, the company still faced the typical dilemma of enterprises in its industry—a lower net profit margin. As a middle link in this supply chain, the company was in fierce competition with upstream suppliers, downstream buyers, and horizontal competitors. The chief executive officer faced some tough choices: Was the company capable of implementing a vertical integration strategy to enhance its competitive advantages? If so, should the company pursue forward integration or backward integration? And how could the company achieve vertical integration, given its current circumstances?
A businesswoman owned two franchised stores of Carpenter Tan Handicrafts Co., Ltd. (Carpenter Tan) in Panjin City, China. Carpenter Tan was a leader in the wooden crafts industry. When the first franchised store was set up in 2012, she was excited by and satisfied with Carpenter Tan’s franchise model. However, after her second franchised store was set up in 2014, she felt that this franchise model was restricting her development and autonomy. In 2016, Carpenter Tan suggested that the businesswoman open a third franchised store in Panjin, where the wooden crafts market was close to saturation. The businesswoman, who had become dissatisfied with Carpenter Tan’s franchise model, faced a tough choice about whether she should set up the third franchised store.
Founded in 2012 in Dalian, Liaoning Province, China, Dalian Venture Workshop Technology Service Co., Ltd. (Venture Workshop) was a business incubator that provided early stage start-ups with incubation and investment services. In 2014, China identified Venture Workshop as a “state-level technology business incubator.” By 2017, Venture Workshop had become the largest incubator in Northeast China. However, behind its prosperity, it had faced years of losses. Since its establishment in 2012, its only source of income was the fees it charged for renting office space to start-ups. Its standard rates were far lower than market prices, which made it difficult for Venture Workshop to generate sufficient income. In February 2018, the chairman of Venture Workshop needed to increase Venture Workshop's income and avoid subsequent years of losses. What was the best strategy to pursue?
Ziwo Agricultural Service Co. Ltd. (Ziwo), located in the city of Shenyang in Liaoning Province in northeastern China, was a market leader in sales of agricultural materials. In 2006, China began changing how cropland was distributed and used. Over the next few years, decentralized, small farm households gave way to larger, more centralized, family farms. The change undermined Ziwo’s business, driving it into a sharp decline in market share and income from 2008 to 2011.<br><br>In December 2011, the company considered integrating the supply chain vertically to survive the decline. Was this move necessary, and if so, which direction should the vertical integration strategy take—forward or backward? How could Ziwo even achieve vertical integration under its current circumstances? Finally, would vertical integration help Ziwo deal with an emerging threat from Chinese Internet retailers that were entering the agricultural supply chain?