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Two managers in the Power Tools division of German multinational corporation Robert Bosch GmbH (Bosch) have been tasked with devising potential solutions for addressing tensions between the regional headquarters (RHQ) for the Eastern Europe and Middle East region of Bosch Power Tools' Blue Emerging Markets business unit. The RHQ faces challenges in managing its geographically dispersed subsidiaries, with the subsidiaries complaining about slow decision-making, a lack of efficiency, and a limited understanding of customer needs. Bosch Power Tools must rethink its approach to the Blue Emerging Markets unit and the organizational set-up of the RHQ. Thus, the two managers are meeting with senior managers from across the Eastern Europe-Middle East region and the board of management (Case A) in order to determine the best way to address the issues (Case B).

Dalian Xinyi Electronics Co., Ltd. (Dalian Xinyi), founded in 2014 and based in the province of Liaoning, China, had created a catch doll brand, Paw Toy, and operated more than 10 physical catch doll stores across the country. To deal with fierce competition from offline competitors, Dalian Xinyi had developed an online claw game application (app) in 2018 and had become a domestic Chinese catch doll brand, operating both an online app and offline stores. Although the performance of the online catch doll app was improving, especially in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic, Zefei Su, the founder and president of Dalian Xinyi, knew that the online app still faced design flaws such as a lack of ranking and sharing functions, problems with simple brand promotion strategies, and fierce competition from other online catch doll apps. Su was facing an important decision concerning Dalian Xinyi’s future: Should the company return its focus to the operation of offline catch doll stores, even while online catch doll gaming seemed to be a future trend?

The chief executive officer of Zoomcar, an Indian car-rental company, had recognized that the costs of vehicle ownership were high for many individuals who needed vehicles only sporadically. The venture capital-funded, entrepreneur-driven business had launched in 2013, gone through three changes in its business model between 2016 and 2019, and identified a gap in the market with adequate demand to be fulfilled. Having adjusted its business model twice to circumvent the issue of supply, in 2020 it believed that it had identified the perfect product-market fit that would solve consumers’ concerns over owning versus hiring vehicles. The business's shared-mobility model would allow customers to reduce the total cost of vehicle ownership by offering their vehicles for short-term hires to other users on the Zoomcar platform. Now, it needed to resolve three issues: First, how could it get more cars on the platform? Second, even if it had the cars, how could it get people to adapt to a shared-mobility ecosystem? Third, how could it manage all of this while maintaining viable unit economics and ensuring long-term profitability?

Droom Technology Private Limited (Droom), a used-automobile marketplace platform based in India, had identified a big-ticket item with an average selling price of ₹200,000–₹600,000 and harnessed its innovative technology to build an online ecosystem. In doing so, it had stayed clear of inventory management by following a marketplace model like that used by Flipkart Internet Private Ltd. and Amazon.com, Inc. in India, bringing all participants—including used-vehicle dealers, individual buyers and sellers, and financiers—into the online marketplace. Subsequently, Droom created functional, monetary, time, and psychic values for its customers through its various automobile inspection, valuation, records search, insurance, and other services. Droom went from having a single revenue source to having six independent revenue sources through its subsidiaries, which each offered a unique combination of values and collectively created a tough barrier for competitors to penetrate. By April 2020, the start-up had enjoyed some success, but looking to increase its growth, it faced some questions: Was it offering too much for too little? Was its pricing justified by the value offered? Were its performance metrics commensurate with the value provided? Finally, what strategy would successfully shift Droom from a hybrid to a completely online model ready for listing on the Nasdaq exchange?

Pai’s Bakery was a 30-year-old family business based in Belagavi, in the southern Indian state of Karnataka. The owner was working on a sales territory realignment plan in response to complaints from the company’s sales team. Sales representatives claimed that their wages were not proportionate to their efforts and that productivity was hampered by poor territory planning and restrictive business policies. The Pai’s Bakery owner wanted to address the sales representatives’ concerns and improve the company’s relationship with all retail outlets to achieve key business objectives. Based on these priorities, she prepared a realignment plan for the sales territories. However, she was surprised by the negative reaction by the sales representatives, who opposed the new plan. Pai’s Bakery had to find a mutually beneficial path forward immediately to avoid serious damage to the company’s business operations.

Ben Van Weelden, Manager of Scenic Floral, was considering providing direct-to-door delivery to Northern Ontario stores for its main customer, Metro Inc. Scenic was looking for ways to increase sales and profit, but also had its eye on providing coast-to-coast delivery of cut flowers in Canada, with the help of its partner-shareholder, Petals West. However, it would need to be advantageous for both Scenic and Metro to make this a viable option.

HSBC Commercial Banking was a key business for HSBC Holdings plc, contributing one-third of the bank’s profit in 2019. In 2016, the regional head of Commercial Banking, Asia Pacific, began initiating a series of open innovation programs in Hong Kong. The programs aimed to embrace collaboration in the innovation and technology ecosystem to co-create value for Commercial Banking’s small and medium-sized customers.<br><br>Now, in 2020, the regional head of Commercial Banking and his innovation team leader were discussing their innovation initiatives. They reviewed what they had achieved in the last four years. What value had they created for not just the small- and medium-sized customers but also the ecosystem stakeholders? What challenges had they met, and how well had they resolved these? Had the proper culture and talents been in place to meet these challenges? Had they measured the performance of the team properly to keep their colleagues motivated about sustainable innovation? They also explored a few critical areas for future growth. The regional head of Commercial Banking wondered what more they could do in Hong Kong, and how they could replicate the success they had achieved in Hong Kong in other emerging markets in Asia.

In April 2012, Qingke Facilities Leasing Ltd. (Qingke), a technology-based real estate management company, was founded to provide a long-term apartment rental service to young professionals in Shanghai and some other cities. The goal was to rent constructed but vacant apartments on the Shanghai market by leveraging information technology resources for all operations and by employing a model of standard apartment renovation.<br><br>A decentralized long-term apartment rental model was introduced to China’s market in 2014 by leading Internet-based companies and was booming by 2017. At the end of 2018, Qingke was one of the top ten brands in the long-term apartment rental market, running 100,000 renting units in coastal cities in China with revenue of ¥1.2 billion that year. However, to sustain rapid market growth and create a large-scale Internet economic model, Qingke would have to overcome many uncertainties and challenges, including capital acquisition; strong competition; constraints to its financial resources, team building efforts, work force development, and sustainability; and extension of the business model.<br><br>By the beginning of 2019, Qingke had come a long way; the US$100 million in funding he received in 2018 signified a major accomplishment in Qingke’s progress since its establishment in 2012. However, competitors were targeting Qingke with the aim of overtaking its market share. How could the recent funding strengthen Qingke’s position in the housing rental market and gain sufficient market share? Should Qingke increase investment in information technology to upgrade its data processing abilities and capacity, or should it build its brand to promote market exposure and awareness?

The Berlin-based start-up, Lytt, was founded in late 2019 with the aim of offering employees a means to speak up about misconduct at work through a digital assistant, which enabled them to communicate difficult topics safely and anonymously. Lytt wanted to help companies understand their working climate and sustainably promote their employees’ satisfaction and health. In August 2020, the owners of Lytt had to develop the right go-to-market strategy, keeping in mind the potential impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on their decisions.

The general manager of Lidu Liquor Co. Ltd. (Lidu) was considering the next phase of the company’s marketing plan. From 2016 to 2018, unit sales had risen from ¥80 million to ¥300 million, largely due to Lidu’s unconventional marketing programs. But by mid-2019, national and domestic brands had noticed Lidu’s success. With competition increasing, Lidu’s future growth might not come as easily. The general manager wondered how best to modify the company’s immersive experiential marketing plan so that Lidu could stay ahead of the competition.

The Asia sourcing manager at the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), a humanitarian organization working in conflict areas, had contributed to the 2009 creation of an ethical procurement policy to respond to urgent needs around the world. Her mandate was in line with the ICRC’s strategy of improving the flexibility, cost effectiveness, and sustainability of its supply chain. Ethical procurement could not be enforced, however, when sudden conflicts or natural disasters relied on local purchasing or cash transfer programs to meet the needs of distressed populations. Ten years later, despite efforts to systematize and expand the ethical procurement policy, emergency relief items were still being procured from local and regional markets through traders or cash transfer programs not covered by the policy. How could the ICRC address this gap and promote the ethical procurement of relief items at the local level in emergency situations?

In 2019, an American couple were travelling the world when they settled in Bali and were employed by Spice Island Cruises (SIC). At the time, SIC was controlled by a venture capitalist who ignored local indigenous business traditions and measured success with short-term key performance indicators. A collision between the Western and Indonesian organizational cultures resulted, and following a crisis meeting of SIC partners, the venture capitalist sold his share in the company. The American husband was appointed general manager and had only two weeks to prepare an action plan for SIC before taking over. What strategy should he follow to restore the company's reputation and employees’ trust and to develop a successful future?

In 2019, SATS Ltd. (SATS), the primary ground handling and inflight catering service provider at Singapore’s Changi Airport, was considering its growth strategy for the next five years. China and Japan were identified as target markets in the cold chain logistics sector. Should the company consider the Chinese air cargo market, which was in a stage of high growth but fraught with bureaucracy? Or should it focus on the Japanese air freight industry, which was more established but challenging for foreign investments? The senior vice-president of SATS needed to choose between the two opportunities.

In July 2016, Community Sponsorship Organization opened a retail outlet in Kochi, Kerala, India, called Aditya—The Solar Shop, which sold energy-saving and solar-powered products. The shop was opened with the support of the Indian government’s Ministry of New and Renewable Energy for a limited period of two years. After that time, the shop would have to find its own means for sustainability. The shop helped support the local community by operating as a commercial business. However, Aditya—The Solar Shop was facing several business operation challenges, including reaching an agreement with manufacturers of solar systems on quota allocation, increasing sales at the shop, and determining how to provide after-sales support to customers.

Jane Zhou, an equity analyst at a large asset management firm, was preparing a report on EOS Imaging (EOS), a French medical device company that her firm had invested in. EOS’s drastic fall in First Quarter (Q1) 2019 revenue caught Zhou’s attention, as the company had maintained a continuous growth record up until 2018. In Q1 2019, EOS only achieved 1 per cent of its Q1 2019 equipment sales revenue. Also, during Q1, EOS made a significant change to its general sales agreement, leading to a corresponding change in revenue recognition timing. Zhou wondered if the revenue slowdown could be mainly attributed to the accounting method change rather than to weakening demand. It was crucial for Zhou to understand the impact of this change and to decide whether she should recommend her portfolio manager to liquidate the firm’s position in EOS or not.

In June 2020, the head of Customer Centre at DBS Bank Ltd. (DBS), the largest commercial bank in Singapore, was wondering how to leverage the bank’s current success in digitalization to create a competitive advantage. As a business leader, she was facing major decision points. How could she increase awareness of the bank’s digital assets among existing customers? How could she further digitalize the customer centre? In addition, the COVID-19 global pandemic, which had disrupted businesses worldwide, had been both a challenge and an opportunity for DBS. What should be the bank’s next steps? The head of the Customer Centre needed to find a way forward for DBS in the context of an industry that itself was not only in the middle of internal disruption but was also undergoing rapid transformation.

Janet Zuccarini, the sole owner and visionary behind the Gusto 54 Restaurant Group (Gusto 54), had leveraged her industry experience to grow the restaurant group into a huge success story. Gusto 54 owned and operated nine restaurant concepts in Toronto and Los Angeles, and rapid expansion plans were underway. In a competitive, low-margin industry, where more than half of new restaurants failed, Gusto 54 had found a way to outperform its peers and consistently achieve its desired profit margins. Gusto 54’s strategy was grounded in innovative growth, the use of technology, and empowerment of all employees to take an entrepreneurial approach to their roles. <br><br>This two-part case allows students to examine in Case A how Zuccarini built an organizational culture that invested in employees and entrusted the leadership team with autonomy. The strategy had been effective in fuelling the company’s present growth, but as Gusto 54 expanded, Zuccarini wanted to ensure that the growth plans did not compromise the family-style culture her employees valued. Case B picks up Gusto 54’s story in September 2020, the restaurant having dealt with the challenges of the first six months of the COVID-19 pandemic and a cultural self-examination amid the Black Lives Matter (BLM) movement. With Gusto 54’s previous expansion plans placing the restaurant in a financially precarious position, could the restaurant’s established culture help the restaurant survive the short- and long-term impacts of the pandemic and respond to the cultural crisis raised by the BLM movement?

The chief executive officer (CEO) of the soon-to-be completed CUHK Medical Centre Ltd. (CUMC) in Hong Kong must make a decision regarding health care logistics services. The hospital’s tender board is scheduled to meet in June 2019, and the CEO must recommend whether the logistics services needed by the hospital should be provided internally or by a third-party logistics (3PL) provider, and, if a 3PL provider, which provider should be awarded the business.

In March 2021, the chief strategy officer of Green Car Inc. (Green Car), an on-demand car-sharing services company, was contemplating the company’s strategic direction. In an on-demand car-sharing services model, a company owned vehicles and received a fee from consumers who borrowed those vehicles. The strategy of Green Car’s main competitor was to maximize its platform competitiveness by aggressively expanding its operational scale and scope, even if it meant incurring financial losses. In contrast, Green Car tried to achieve a balance of growth and profitability, which had resulted in continuous profits. The company now faced an important question for the company’s overall strategic direction: growth or profitability? Which strategy would be successful in the end?

Mahindra & Mahindra Ltd. (M&M), an Indian automotive giant, was pursuing strategies to retain the leading position in the domestic automotive space. Traditionally an SUV manufacturer, M&M created a new vertical—Advanced Technology Solutions (ATS)—to spearhead technology development as a means of competing with the multinational companies entering India. ATS’s technology pursuits had already translated into several successful products; however, by 2019, the head of ATS had reasons to be concerned about the unit’s future. The major areas of concern included investing in frontier technologies, bridging the time lag between technology conceptualization and deployment, and holding the team together into the future.