Sembcorp Industries, a Singapore conglomerate with assets of over S$22 billion, was undergoing a change in leadership. Tang Kin Fei retired as group president and CEO in April 2017 after 30 years with the company. Overseas operations accounted for 63% of their Utilities business' net profit, which formed the bulk of group earnings in 2016. Sembcorp's global power portfolio had doubled in the last five years. Rapidly developing economies, hungry for energy to fuel growth and urbanisation, were their key targets. There were growing concerns on the execution risks of developing a project pipeline in these markets and the environmental, social and governance (ESG) challenges involved. Sustaining their growth path might not simply be a matter of building on past success and replicating their business model overseas. How would they manage the inherent risks and complexities of the emerging markets, namely India, Bangladesh, Myanmar and China, albeit ripe with opportunities?

The Nanyang Technological University's Energy Research Institute (ERI@N), which focuses on the applied research, development and commercialization of innovative energy solutions, has developed an energy controller that would act as the heart of a microgrid. A microgrid is a local source of electrical power that feeds a relatively small network of electricity users, and even when attached to a centralized regional or national grid, is able to function independently. The ERI@N team in Singapore deploys 210 research staff and 150 PhD students from 26 countries to tackle emerging challenges in the energy industry. Two ERI@N flagship programmes - EcoCampus and the Renewable Energy Integration Demonstrator Singapore (REIDS) - develop and implement working solutions for energy efficiency and renewable energy integration. By 2017, ERI@N had amassed great depth of knowledge on the delivery of distributed energy resources (DER). The immediate challenges for ERI@N are: What is the best path to introduce its microgrid controller to a rapidly evolving market for distributed energy solutions, and how would it sustain its early lead in affordable DER technology?

This case chronicled the digital transformation of DBS Bank in seeking regional growth amidst a new digital era in the Asian banking industry. Led by its CEO, DBS invested heavily in technology and undertook radical changes to 'rewire' the entire enterprise for digital innovation. Key thrusts of its digital transformation strategy involved the revamp of its Technology and Operations organization, the development of scalable digital platforms, the leverage on technology to redesign the customer experience, and the internal incubation and external partnering in seeking new digital innovation. However, questions remain whether DBS has done enough to put digital at the heart of banking? What should be the next steps in their digital strategy? Where should the bank direct its technology investment dollars? How can DBS systematically assess the opportunities and threats of digital disruption in the banking industry and devise a set of possible strategic responses? How can DBS stay at the forefront of digital innovation to become the Asian Bank of Choice for the New Asia?

In the mid-1980s, following new directions in the Singapore government's national economic development policy, Port of Singapore Authority (PSA) set out on a plan to create an oil bunkering industry where none existed before. By the early 1990s, using standards development as a strategic tool, Singapore's port grew to be the top oil refueling centre in the world. In the 2000 decade, the new process technology of mass flow metering for quantity measurements could bring about significant operational efficiencies in the oil bunkering industry. However, it could change the standards put in place over the last three decades. The key challenge for Singapore was: how should the standards development process be managed to deliver the promise of the new technology, balance the interests of diverse groups of stakeholders while maintaining Singapore's position as the world's top oil bunkering centre?

This case depicts how institutional transitions in an emerging market shape the strategy and performance of a small business and its surrounding competitive dynamics. Elite Optical, a family-run business, was founded in Nanning, Guanxi Province, during China's economic reforms in the late 1980s. Its first eyeglass shop, opened in 1986, received immediate success when the only major competitor at the time was Heng De Li, a traditional state-owned enterprise (SOE). In 2013, the entrepreneurial family firm was celebrating its 28th anniversary, with 15 optical retail outlets in Nanning city. However, the competitive landscape in eyeglass industry has changed significantly and become more intense since the early 2000s when more domestic and international players entered the local eyewear market. Cheng Zhi, CEO and Chairman of Elite Optical, is contemplating how to respond to the competitive threats. At the same time, he also faces challenges on how to cope with the growth demand by transforming its family business into a professionally-managed firm in the near future.

The e-payments landscape in Singapore was previously dominated by two major card issuers with non-interoperable cards. The Infocomm Development Authority launched an initiative to develop an innovative standard that would provide an interoperable platform in order to boost local micropayments and open up e-payment services for consumers. The result was a pioneering ISO standard - the Contactless e-Purse Application Standard (CEPAS). This open standard, with unique security and high-performance features, enabled multiple payment applications offered by different issuers to be on a single smart card, which consumers could use for bus, taxi, and rail transport, car park and road usage charges, and retail micropayments. The case examines the significant challenges and trade-offs in the development and deployment of this platform innovation - such as orchestrating the efforts of multiple stakeholders and balancing various stakeholders' legitimate interests; incentivising investment in supporting infrastructure and complementary innovations; as well as promoting the adoption and diffusion of the cards by consumers and merchants. The CEPAS platform was also being leveraged for the next generation of e-payment innovations, such as payments via Near Field Communication-enabled mobile phones.

The case discusses the entrepreneurial paths taken by two men, a father and son team, who created a highly successful business venture in regional marine offshore industry in the first decade of the 21st century. The factors that contributed to venture's rapid growth are examined as well as the challenges they faced in taking their company, Ezra Holdings, to the next level of fast growth. Started in 1992, the entrepreneurs leveraged on their knowledge of the regional oil and gas (O&G) and marine engineering businesses to grow the firm into a global offshore support services company with market capitalisation of US$1.2 billion by the end of January 2010. The firm began as a small company managing and operating supply vessels supporting offshore O&G activities in the region. From managing small vessels, they moved on to build the essential capabilities needed to operate efficient offshore support services for O&G exploration and production projects of major global firms. To drive growth, they embarked on a series of asset acquisitions and joint ventures with other players. In a highly capital-intensive business, they were successful in prospecting for funds needed to secure the operating assets of their business. As they moved up the value chain in their segment of the industry, they also kept a lookout for industry veterans or specialists and technical staff from acquired companies to build their human resource pool. Ezra's decade of rapid growth is examined from several perspectives: • Entrepreneurship as the dynamic process of structure and action. • Capability building as an essential condition for new venture success as reflected in Ezra's resource acquisition strategies for funds, human capital and technical knowhow.