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Majid Al Futtaim (MAF) is a lifestyle conglomerate present in 16 countries in the Middle East and North Africa, with annual revenues of $9.6 billion. The case focuses on its data-led, customer-centred transformation that unlocked new sources of growth and mitigated the effects of the covid19 pandemic on business thanks to the group's digital resilience. Students step into the shoes of key MAF business and analytics leaders who established three pillars as the basis of the transformation designed to develop a customer mindset, analytical skill sets, and a test-and-learn approach. They then set about aggregating data across a wide range of businesses and setting up analytics capabilities within the company. A 'deep dive' into an early transformation pilot at Carrefour - one of the operating companies of MAF - used case methology to craft digital and governance strategies that autonomized the use of data, empowered staff to better serve its 560 million annual customers, and ultimately secured new sources of growth.

This case describes Ant Financial's pursuit of innovation and landmark achievements in the field of finance. These innovations not only made up for its shortcomings in traditional financial services by providing inclusive finance, but also created new segments such as credit leasing. These new services posed a great challenge to traditional financial institutions and, by doing so, helped these institutions become more competitive. However, despite all these achievements, Ant Financial also faced many challenges. As a trailblazer in uncharted territory, it faced great technical uncertainties and had to overcome numerous hurdles, including regulatory blind spots, pressure from competitors, and the need to define new boundaries in innovation. Ant Financial's senior management had always been aware of these challenges: in May 2019, they held a two-day meeting to discuss the sustainability and boundaries of innovation, seeking to answer questions about the meaning of sustainable innovation today, what legacy Ant Financial would leave for posterity, and why.

In 2018, the Singapore-based real estate agency OrangeTee launched a new, online platform in response to disruptive innovation in the real estate sector. Property Agents Review allowed clients to rate and review OrangeTee's agents upon the completion of a real estate transaction. After a hard-fought campaign to overcome initial resistance to the idea, agents credited the new platform with an increase in referrals. OrangeTee proudly championed Property Agents Review as an example of embracing technology and a future-focused outlook. Nevertheless, the management team understood that there was more work to be done. For example, the platform's technology could be easily copied by competitors. What could they do to stay at the forefront of technology?

This case illustrates the challenges that retailers face when they aggressively pursue geographical growth by expanding both their physical store network and their online presence. It features Majid Al Futtaim (MAF) Retail, a franchisee of Carrefour hypermarkets in the Middle East, Africa, and Asia, a company that strived to strike the right balance of offline and online for each of the markets it served. MAF Retail had a strong presence in the Middle East, particularly in its home market, the United Arab Emirates, and it had been building its presence in Egypt, Pakistan, Kenya, Georgia, and most recently in Uganda. There were also opportunities to open hundreds more stores in each of these markets and expand into 15 other countries in Asia and Africa where it had a license. But the retail environment was changing across the globe, owing to a shift in consumer behaviors that accompanied the rise of the online-only players. CEO Hani Weiss had been driving a digital transformation within the company, building the necessary technology and online capabilities to provide a seamless experience to its customers. The company also partnered with online-only players to increase its reach to customers in countries where MAF Retail had a presence and to provide an online offer to customers where it had no online store. Going forward, Weiss faced hard choices in deciding which markets to prioritize. He also had to determine the right balance of offline and online for each market. Should he invest his resources in opening new stores, or in building online capabilities-or both? How would his strategy differ in the key markets?

Opportunity marketplaces are an example of a digital platform that can improve data-driven decision-making and align talent quickly to new priorities. In this pandemic-market environment, they represent a step change in companies' ability to efficiently and effectively match labor with tasks.

The case series titled "Indian Railways - Powering Through to Excellence (A) & (B)" are highly intricate and complex primary data pricing cases involving a public-private partnership (PPP) undertaking by the Indian government, specifically the Indian Railways (IR). The seed of the idea lived through multiple governments and IR administrations before becoming a reality. The pricing and plant development decision took seven years to execute. While the case can be viewed broadly as a study of a PPP project in India, the significant aspect of the project is that it was initiated primarily with price considerations in mind. The IR had been facing rising engine costs for its locomotives, poor asset utilization rates, exorbitant costs for replacement parts and underperformance in asset service and repair. The technology platform of its current fleet of 6,000 HP locomotives and spare components was nearly 20 years old.

The case series titled "Indian Railways - Powering Through to Excellence (A) & (B)" are highly intricate and complex primary data pricing cases involving a public-private partnership (PPP) undertaking by the Indian government, specifically the Indian Railways (IR). The seed of the idea lived through multiple governments and IR administrations before becoming a reality. The pricing and plant development decision took seven years to execute. While the case can be viewed broadly as a study of a PPP project in India, the significant aspect of the project is that it was initiated primarily with price considerations in mind. The IR had been facing rising engine costs for its locomotives, poor asset utilization rates, exorbitant costs for replacement parts and underperformance in asset service and repair. The technology platform of its current fleet of 6,000 HP locomotives and spare components was nearly 20 years old.

In 2011, the vice-president of Craig Manufacturing (CM)was preparing a presentation for the company's advisory board and senior management. Craig Manufacturing, based in New Brunswick, Canada, was a privately held, third-generation family business that manufactured attachments for heavy equipment used in large construction projects in Canada and the United States. The company had achieved a strong reputation by pursuing a differentiation strategy based on product quality, leading technology, and exceptional customer service. However, the company needed new revenue streams, as it was experiencing less demand for its customized heavy equipment attachments. The vice-president was about to suggest launching a new product line by producing attachments for mini, or compact, construction equipment and growing the company with a cost leadership strategy. However, entering this market would mean focusing on standardized products, in contrast to the company's traditional focus on customized attachments. Would the new product line and its cost leadership strategy help propel the company to be the leading manufacturer of industrial attachments in Canada and the United States?

Since 2009, Bilibili Inc.'s Bilibili.com (the B-site) had been an online video site providing services to fans of anime, comics, and games culture. After several years of effort, it had become a popular Chinese site for danmaku content and commenting technology. The B-site had a good reputation because of its excellent user experience: users did not need to watch endless pre-roll ads before enjoying video content because, in 2014, the B-site had promised that it would never use pre-roll ads as part of its profit model. However, in spring 2016, an important content provider, TV Tokyo Corporation, renewed its copyright contract and added terms requiring the B-site to add pre-video ads on anime series from TV Tokyo, which contradicted the B-site's promise to its users. How should the B-site address this public relations crisis and retain the trust of its users?

SenseTime Group Limited was founded in Hong Kong in 2014 to commercialize artificial intelligence for digital recognition of images, particularly human faces. After only three years in business, the company was profitable, with annual sales revenue of about US$100 million. In 2018, it employed over 2,000 workers and was referred to as the world's most valuable artificial intelligence start-up, with a valuation of US$7.6 billion. China had become the largest market in the world for facial recognition technologies, with its share of global sales expected to grow from 29 per cent in 2017 to 45 per cent in 2023. And the global facial recognition market was forecast to be worth US$6.5 billion by 2021. SenseTime Group Limited aimed to empower more industries throughout the world with its artificial intelligence platform. A key question in early 2019 for the company's co-founder and chief executive officer was how to adapt its strategy to achieve that mission in an increasingly fraught global environment.

In 2018, Swedish furniture maker IKEA was undergoing a significant transformation. Challenged by the rise of online shopping and changing consumer behavior, and mourning the death of its founder, the Company's top executives knew they had to step out of their comfort zones and embrace new strategic initiatives to stay relevant. But which initiatives, executed where, when and how, would enable IKEA to achieve its goals in a way that was profitable while creating an IKEA they would want to pass on to the next generation of co-workers and customers?

This case mainly describes how Shanghai Phoenix Bicycle Co., Ltd. (abbreviation: Phoenix), with a history of over 100 years, was disrupted and changed after multiple impacts brought on by the Internet and e-commerce, especially the bike-sharing business model and related new technologies. Phoenix evolved over time not only by opening up e-commerce channels, but also by extending its product offering from a single bike to multiple ones through vertical and horizontal diversification. It also formed a strategic partnership with ofo, a bike-sharing company, to participate in the design and manufacture of shared bikes and acquired resources and capabilities that were beneficial to the Phoenix brand's development throughout the process. As the President of Phoenix presiding over its difficulties, Wang Chaoyang had come to realize more and more clearly that the changes brought by bike-sharing to the bike industry would be disruptive. This disruptive change would eventually lead to the redefinition of bike products. And this redefinition would lead to the failure of the traditional business model in the bike industry. As a result, Phoenix had undergone fundamental changes in marketing, products, and manufacturing. However, how should Phoenix respond effectively? What resources and capabilities should Phoenix prepare in order to respond successfully? In July 2019, Wang Chaoyang had been facing these problems for a while.

This case covers the period from 2014 to 2020, when DBS embarks on its second strategy under the stewardship of Piyush Gupta. The aim is to become the Best Bank in the World (BBIW) by 2020. The bank reaches its objectives in 2019 and continues to garner more banking accolades. Building on Strategy 1.0 that is implemented from 2010 to 2014 to shape the bank up to international standards, DBS's Strategy 2.0 focuses on "Making Banking Joyful" through three key tenets: (1) digital to the core; (2) being customer obsessed; (3) creating a start-up culture. This case illustrates the requisite leadership and operational capabilities to translate the digital transformation vision into a strategy. It explains how the bank leverages technology as part of its strategy to make banking invisible for its customers, for example, by initially engaging employees through the adoption of hackathons and design thinking. The case also discusses how the bank successfully developed a start-up culture bringing everyone on the same understanding and developing digital tools. Finally, this case highlights the need for the top management team to canvass its Board's endorsement and investment support for a transformation of such size, scale, and duration.

Credit Suisse, a leading Swiss banking institution in the private and investment banking sectors, had a poor performance after the financial crisis of 2008 and was trailing its global peers. The bank appointed Tidjane Thiam as new CEO of the bank in July 2015, with the mandate to turn the bank around. When Tidjane Thiam joined, Credit Suisse had a weak capital position, which prevented it from effectively competing. Additionally, the bank had some businesses which were "structural" loss makers and hence a drag to the Group's profitability and capital positions. Even more important than the underperforming businesses and weak capital position, it was apparent that Credit Suisse was lacking a clear and consistent strategy. Private banking and investment banking businesses were operating to some extent as independent operations and the bank was not taking advantage of synergistic opportunities across its businesses. The board asked the new CEO, Tidjane Thiam, to conduct a detailed strategic review, in close collaboration with the Group Board, to restructure the bank. The case is centered on this strategic review and explains the position of the bank prior to the arrival of the CEO.

This case describes DuPont's sustainable seaweed program, in partnership with the New England Aquarium, and discusses the changing market landscape for seaweed: an undervalued ingredient widely used in much of the world's food supplies, fertilizers, industrial gums, pharmaceuticals, biofuels, plastic, and more. Seaweed production is rapidly expanding around the globe and is projected to generate 500 million tons of dry weight by 2050, accounting for approximately 10% of the world's supply of food. Conflict over marine resources is also increasing, as multiple users and maritime industries vie for space, including offshore renewable energy, aquaculture, tourism, transportation, and shipping. After DuPont developed the first sustainable seaweed standards in 2018, the company announced its efforts to move toward a circular economic business model. The case challenges students to determine whether DuPont should lead a pre-competitive collaborative initiative to refine and share its sustainability standards with other seaweed companies. But would this threaten Dupont's competitive advantage?

Launched in 2010, CredEx Fintech Co. Ltd. (CredEx) operated until 2017 as a mobile credit platform, connecting lenders and borrowers in the Chinese small- and microcredit market. In 2017, the Chinese government introduced a regulation to address misconducts in the credit market. As a result, CredEx needed to transform by utilizing mobile credit technology to enable and support licensed financial institutions to explore mobile credit markets. In 2018, however, this change posed many challenges, such as how to add a new business model that served enterprise consumers as well as how to manage dual business models.

On May 2, 2019, So-Young International Inc. (So-Young) became the first Chinese Internet-based company in the cosmetic surgery sector to be listed on the Nasdaq Stock Market. With effective use of the Internet and mobile devices, So-Young provided a one-stop resource that allowed consumers to access information about cosmetic treatments, search for and purchase cosmetic surgery services, and benefit from peer and professional support during recovery. With its service, So-Young had positively transformed a fast-growing Chinese cosmetic surgery market that was lacking transparency and trustworthy information. The company had used a process of enterprise business model innovation to build its brand image, expand its audience, and engage the cosmetic surgery industry value chain. While the process had been successful, So-Young faced competitive and internal challenges that it needed to overcome to maintain its leadership position and grow future prospects.

How to position Netflix in the Indian entertainment market?

The case captures the high-profile takeover of KUKA, the German industrial robotics gem, by the world's consumer appliances leader, the Midea Group ("Midea") in 2016. Against China's national agenda of Made In China 2025 ("MIC 2025"), the acquisition plays well to the narrative in the country, but it raised scepticism across Europe and in North America. Discussion will focus on examining the value chain of the two companies to identify areas of new value creation. The objective is to provide a canvas for students to explore strategies for growth, for competitive advantage, and for market leadership. Through the discussion and analysis, students will come to grasp the set of complex challenges facing a Chinese company on a cross-border M&A. The case also exposes the cultural differences between China and the developed economies, particularly in management culture and the culture for innovation, and provides the context for discussions on these issues.

By 2020, Umesh Shah could rightly be proud of what he and his team had accomplished over the last eight years to capture white space consumers, i.e. those consumers that Unilever operating units had progressively labelled non-core or new groups created by emerging megatrends, such as globalization and digitalization. Unilever International UI was created with the mandate to create the capabilities to reach out to these consumers and re capture them for the Group. It quickly proved its case when it doubled the turnover it had inherited in less than four years. In a second phase, it doubled it again, reaching a turnover of €1 billion in 2019, ahead of plans. UI's strong performance was acknowledged within Unilever when it won the prestigious Unilever Global Compass Award in 2019. UI was now preparing to embark on the next phase of its journey, labelled UI 3.0, with the goal of again doubling its turnover to €2 billion. Three areas were singled out for attention:(1)making a strong business case for the market potential;(2)building the capabilities to scale by investing further in digital marketing and the partner network; and(3)maintaining and even enhancing the unit's entrepreneurial culture, ensuring motivation and proper compensation for its intrapreneurs. Getting to €1 billion in sales had not been easy but doubling it again would increase UI's complexity by an order of magnitude. How could UI keep pace and remain entrepreneurial while at the same time maintaining its strong governance and control systems? intaining double digit annual growth would require focusing on ever-larger opportunities and their inherent complexities, and placing larger bets, some of which would definitely fail. Was UI ready to cope with larger failures? And what about the Unilever mothership? It relished the unit's success, but would it still be there in difficult times? Umesh knew that UI's past achievements only earned it additional runway; he and his colleagues could not be