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Environmental non-governmental organizations (ENGOs), one of the major forces in environmental protection, have developed rapidly in the past few years, especially in developing countries such as China. This paper aims to reveal how the ENGOs select their focuses, specifically if they only concentrate on one focus or on contexts in which they obtain various focuses and the motivations behind their choosing strategies.

The current research interviewed 103 leaders of ENGOs covering every province in mainland China and adopts existing theories of NGOs alongside diversification strategy from a management perspective.

The results showed that most Chinese ENGOs now tend to be diversified but face different challenges. This research highlights the importance of ENGOs’ resources and capacities in facing current challenges and suggests directions to improve their diversification strategy.

This research adds value to the research of environmental NGOs and gives suggestions to environmental NGO practitioners, in particular to those in emerging markets.

Brand alliance strategy is a popular strategy for multinational enterprises entering foreign markets, especially when domestic firms in the host market have a relatively weaker brand image. However, Volvo Construction Equipment's failure to acquire a domestic firm in China (Shandong Lingong Construction Machinery Company Limited [SDLG]) challenges existing management theory. Thus, the purpose of this study is to understand the reasons behind the failure of a leading international brand’s acquisition of a local brand in a fast-growing developing country.

This paper conducted a case study to illustrate how Volvo failed to benefit from the dual-brand strategy by analyzing its brand architecture strategy, the industry specificity of its heavy equipment, issues around its complex dealership and the implementation of optimal distinctiveness for the Volvo brand after acquiring SDLG.

Although Volvo’s dual-brand strategy with SDLG was theoretically valid, in practice, the strategy made the two brands very distinct in their business-to-business (B2B) consumers’ perception and dealers’ operation. Given a wrong estimation of Chinese demand in its premium market, Volvo, which targeted only the Chinese premium market, failed to benefit from its brand alliance with SDLG in the Chinese market.

The analysis of Volvo’s acquisition of SDLG enriches the current theory of international business and brand management. In particular, the results provide new insights into how leading international brands can avoid potential failure in a fast-growing market. Moreover, this paper highlights the difference of branding strategy in the B2B and business-to-consumer markets, which carries value to business executives.