Search results

This case describes a real-time crisis experienced by the co-founder (Mr Yang) of a multi-national Chinese company operating in Vietnam during the 2014 Vietnam riot. After the strike broke out, Mr Yang made several critical decisions to protect and save both his factory and employees.

This case is applicable to graduate-level management courses such as: Business ethics, Decision-making, Business Communication and Cross-Cultural Management. Students should have some knowledge in Decision-Making concepts (e.g. “bounded rationality”); in Cross-Cultural Management concepts (e.g. “culture norms”); and in Strategic management theory such as “institution-based view” (e.g. formal vs informal institutions).

Part A of the case introduces the main character (Mr Yang) and his factory in Vietnam, the escalation of the strike and the course of the crisis. It also elaborates the important critical decisions Mr Yang made to save both his factory and employees. Part B of the case describes the rescue of Mr Yang and his Chinese employees, his actions after the crisis and strategic positioning in future business. Part C of the case introduces the aftermath of the riot and Mr Yang's reflection regarding the crisis.

The instructors may emphasize different learning objectives in different courses. Business Ethics: help the students learn to recognize, clarify, speak and act on their values when conflicts arise. Decision-Making: helps the students understand the logic of sense-making in crisis and the concept of bounded rationality. Business Communication: helps the students learn to raise issues in an effective manner and learn to deliver their own responses effectively. Cross-Cultural Management: helps the students identify and analyze the many ways in which managers can voice and implement their values in the face of critical moments in a different cultural environment.

Teaching notes are available for educators only. Please contact your library to gain login details or email support@emeraldinsight.com to request teaching notes.

Strategic management.

This case is suitable for graduate students, postgraduate students and MBAs.

YC Company is a foreign trade SME operating in the lighting fixtures export business in Ningbo City, a major outdoor lighting products manufacturing base in mainland China. Established by Li Lele in 2008, the sales revenue and gross profit of YC Company have been increasing every year, reaching $ 4.06 million and ¥ 1.00 million, respectively, by the end of 2011. However, the growth rate of profit lagged far behind the growth of sales revenue. If this situation were not controlled, YC Company would hardly survive in this increasingly competitive market. Li Lele, the CEO of the company, was trying to find a way to enlarge the profit margin.

This case lets students learn more about strategic management. Students are expected to learn: how to precisely identify and map a problem; and how to select a better solution by analyzing the context and using some strategic analysis tools, such as Porter's Five Power, Smile Curve, SWOT. In the learning process, students are expected to acquire a better knowledge of some strategic management theory/method, international business, the condition of small and medium trading companies in China.

Teaching notes are available for educators only. Please contact your library to gain login details or email support@emeraldinsight.com to request teaching notes.

Ethical decision making, business ethics.

This case is applicable to MBA, EDP and EMBA courses.

TOREAD, a professional provider of outdoor equipment in China, started in business by producing and selling tents. To meet market demand, TOREAD expanded its product line which ranges from outdoor durable tent products to “pan-outdoor” products including footwear and clothing. During the critical expansion phase, TOREAD was challenged by a quality problem in a batch of outsourced sandals that had been manufactured by a contracted supplier. By researching different options and going through an ethical decision making process, TOREAD made the choice of destroying all “problem sandals”. Since then, TOREAD has focused development on product quality improvement and product innovation to establish a sustainable brand image and generate social benefits. TOREAD's decision making in the critical development phase helped it to become the leader in the outdoor product industry in China.

This case may be used for courses such as business ethics and strategy. By learning this case, students can understand the process of making ethical decisions when facing moral dilemmas among corporate decision makers, employees and relevant interested parties, and learn how to make strategic decisions to balance company profit growth and social benefits in critical development phases.

Teaching notes are available for educators only. Please contact your library to gain login details or email support@emeraldinsight.com to request teaching notes.

After reading and analyzing the case study, the students would be able to identify the main stakeholders and decision-makers and their importance and influence on the environment for a product, evaluate the value chain of the product and critical decision-makers, evaluate the various ways to avoid falling into the trap of greenwashing and examine the marketing strategy to market an environmentally friendly product.

LIKO-S is a Czech manufacturing and construction company. The company has been designing and creating intelligent solutions, such as green facades or vertical greenery systems, to save energy in building heating and cooling systems. The company launched green facades in the Czech market. However, the main obstacle was the need for supporting data to showcase the positive environmental impact of green facades. Under these circumstances, Libor Musil’s main objective was to overcome prevalent misconceptions about green facades and find a suitable market segment. The situation worried the company, as LIKO-S had heavily invested in developing and marketing the green walls. The management had to tackle this challenge as soon as possible to recover the substantial research and development and marketing investments. Furthermore, owing to lack of information, even genuinely sustainable products were seen as greenwashing. In addition, bad or wrong customer perceptions of these walls might spill over to other products, tarnishing the company’s image and threatening its survival in the domestic market. Under these circumstances, competitors might enter the Czech market, jeopardizing the company’s overall profits. Consequently, Libor was in a great dilemma about managing the financial and reputational risk of the company. Should Libor close the green walls unit, explore different markets/uses or help increase awareness among the general population about green walls by finding a suitable marketing strategy?

The case study was designed for graduate-level students in the strategic management (CSR and innovation module) courses. However, the case could also be an excellent addition to marketing courses dealing with customers’ perceptions of innovative products and strategies to improve the adoption of the product.

Teaching notes are available for educators only.

CSS 3: Entrepreneurship