Table Of ContentCEIBS Case Center Editor
China-Focused Cases
Selected Winners of the CEIBS
Global Case Contest
China-Focused Cases
CEIBS Case Center
Editor
China-Focused Cases
Selected Winners of the CEIBS Global Case
Contest
123
Editor
CEIBSCase Center
ChinaEuropeInternationalBusinessSchool
Shanghai, China
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Foreword
Effective“ChinaStories”HelptoPromoteManagementPractices
The case method plays a critical role in business school teaching. In addition to
management theories, business cases are perhaps the most valuable assets of
business schools. Since Harvard Business School (HBS) introduced the case
methodintoitsclassroomsintheearlytwentiethcentury,thisapproachhasreceived
highattentionwithinmanagementeducationcommunitiesthroughouttheUSAand
around the world. Compared with traditional teaching methods, the pedagogy of
case studies isgenerally perceivedas more vividand effective. According tosome
approximate estimates, in the top U.S. business schools that represent the most
advanced management education, more than 30% of their teaching activities are
basedonthecasemethod.Teachinginthebest-knownHBSisfullycase-based.Itis
safetosaythatthemoreprominentabusinessschoolisthemorelikelyitputsmore
emphasis on case-based teaching.
Sinceitsinception,CEIBShasattachedgreatimportancetothedevelopmentand
adoption of business cases in its classroom teaching, with very good results
achievedsofar.Likemostbusinessschoolsaroundtheworld,foralongtimeinthe
past, most of the cases used in CEIBS came from case libraries of major business
schools in the West, such as HBS. The reasons were quite straightforward. On the
onehand,asaChinesebusinessschoolstillinitsinfancy,itwasnecessaryforusto
drawontheadvancedexperienceoftopbusinessschoolsintheworld;ontheother
hand, we still did not have sufficient well-developed cases of our own, either in
quantityorquality,forclassroomuse—especiallythosethatwere“China-focused.”
However, with the advancement of China’s economy in recent years, there has
been an increasing number offoreign companies entering the Chinese market, and
more importantly, an even larger number of great Chinese companies have been
catching the world’s attention. In particular, since China became a net exporter of
capitalin2014,thedemandforChina-focusedbusinesscaseshasbeenontherise.
In answer to the needs of management education in Chinese business schools and
aroundtheworld,andalsotokeepabreastwiththerapiddevelopmentofeconomic
v
vi Foreword
trends and business practices, it is indeed high time that we develop and update
business cases to make them more relevant today, especially China-focused ones
that reflect the business environment and extract business practices and corporate
culture in China, inclusive of both experiences and lessons.
Business management in China has its own characteristics. Due to the rapidly
changing institutional environment and the cultural differences, management con-
cepts and experiences of many Western companies may not work for Chinese
companies. Moreover, Chinese entrepreneurs and their Western counterparts
working in China often have to face decision-making scenarios that may be
nonexistent in the West. Therefore, in recent years, major business schools around
the world have all paid more attention to China-focused business cases. Several
well-known business case libraries have even increased their budget to develop
such cases. Needless to say, it is all the more imperative for CEIBS, an important
representative of Chinese business schools, to make its best efforts to tell effective
“China stories.” This is not only for the sake of CEIBS’ own teaching needs, but
alsotoopenanotherwindowfortheworldtounderstandChinathroughcasestudies
and to have case-based management education play a role in assisting with the
progress of China’s economic development and business transformation.
ThehistoryofthedevelopmentofChina-focusedbusinesscasesisnotlong,but
the impact of such development has been increasing. Entrusted and supported by
authorities including the Shanghai Municipal Government and the Municipal
Education Commission, and thanks to active participation and cooperation of our
sisterschools,CEIBShassuccessfullycreatedandruntheGlobalPlatformofChina
Cases (ChinaCases.Org) that has so far collected over 1000 cases on business
practices in China. In the CEIBS classrooms, all the China-focused cases have
achievedsatisfactoryteachingresults,showingevenatendencytooutperformHBS
cases in usage. This was literally unimaginable in the past. Meanwhile, we have
been exploring better ways to use the business cases. For example, we have
deepenedourexchangeofideaswithbusinessexecutivesandinvitedthemtoclass
discussions; we have also experimented with what we call the Real Situation
LearningModeltomaximizestudents’exposuretoandobservationofrealbusiness
decision-making, helping them accumulate relevant experiences. We aim at
achievingoptimalcasestudyresults,whichwouldinturnproduceagreaterimpact
on management practices.
In addition, to further promote research from a global perspective on unique
managementissuesintheChinesebusinesscontext,andtodevelopbetterandmore
suitable cases for business management education in China, CEIBS has held the
Global Contest for the Best China-Focused Cases since 2015, inviting business
schools worldwide to submit high-quality China-focused cases for competition.
Over the past three years, this contest has received wide attention and recognition
among business schools at home and abroad, with approximately 200 submissions
receivedeachyear.Thecasescompiledintothisbookarehandpickedfromwinners
and nominees of the contest awards in the past three years. They exemplify the
Foreword vii
quality of well-developed business cases that tell “China stories” to the world.
Goingforward,CEIBSwillfurtheritseffortsonpromotingChina-focusedbusiness
case development and teaching in China and beyond.
Shanghai, China Dr. Mingjun Li
President and Professor of Management
Dr. Dipak C. Jain
President (European) and Professor of Marketing
China Europe International Business School
Contents
FamilyMart: “Internet Plus” Strategy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1
Chen Lin
Jinhuobao: A B2B E-Commerce Platform for FMCG in the New
Retail Era. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23
Hua Zhang, Wenying Qian and Shuyang Li
OnePlus: A Chinese Tech Startup Aiming to Disrupt the Global
Smartphone Market. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41
Syeda Maseeha Qumer and Debapratim Purkayastha
Huawei’s Quest for Global Markets. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 65
G. V. Muralidhara and Hadiya Faheem
TECNO Mobile’s Growth Strategies in Africa. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 81
Syeda Maseeha Qumer and Geeta Singh
Can Starbucks Sustain Its High Prices in China? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 103
Debapratim Purkayastha, Benudhar Sahu, S. Venkata Seshaiah
and Trilochan Tripathy
Ofo: A Bike Sharing Firm from Campus. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 119
Rui Wang and Liping Qian
From Product Brand to Platform Brand: Business Evolution
of Internet Clothing Brand Handu. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 137
Jiaxun He and Liangjie Zhu
Why Didn’t the SF Heike Project Succeed? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 167
Gang Zheng and Shan Hu
Haidilao’s Crisis Management: Threats, Opportunities
and Corporate Values . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 183
Chengli Shu and Shaoting Zheng
ix
Introduction
The case method, by definition, presents a decision-making situation based on
actualbusinesscaseswithoutofferingreadysolutions.Asaprogramdesigneranda
classroomfacilitator,theprofessorputsstudentsintheshoesofadecision-makerin
acasetoanalyze,thinkover, anddiscusspossiblesolutions.Thisteachingmethod
canquicklybooststudents’abilitytoapplymanagementtheoriesandconcepts,and
acquire management expertise and wisdom. Along with the boom in management
education in mainland China, the case method is being heavily promoted.
Founded at China Europe International Business School (CEIBS) in 2001, the
Case Development Center (the Case Center) has made much headway in helping
ourfacultymembersdevelopandapplyChina-focusedcases.Overour17yearsin
case development and case method promotion, we realized that assembling and
publishingananthology oftypicalChina-focused cases woulddeliver asignificant
boost to the development and use of these cases in China and beyond. The
IntroductionwillsummarizetheevolutionofthecasemethodinChina,practicesat
the Case Center, Global Contest for the Best China-Focused Cases, and intention
andprocessofpublishingthisanthologytohelpreadersunderstanditsbackground.
The Case Method in China
The case method in management education originated from Harvard Business
School (HBS). In the mid-1940s, HBS went to great lengths to promote the case
method, a project that was bankrolled by large U.S. charitable foundations for the
next 20 years. In the early 1980s, the case method was introduced into China and
grew in popularity. The National Center for Industrial Science and Technology
Management Development (NCISTMD) at Dalian systematically applied the case
methodtoteachingbusinessmanagementinChinaforthefirsttime,developedthe
xi
xii Introduction
firstbodyofChina-focusedcases,andcreatedChina’sfirstbusinesscaselibraryin
1987.PekingUniversityinitiatedtheChineseCompanyCaseLibraryin1997,and
Tsinghua University, supported by government subsidies, started to develop busi-
ness cases in 1999. After a proposal by the China National MBA Education
Supervisory Committee, Dalian University of Technology led the establishment
of the China Management Case-Sharing Center, with an aim to advance the
developmentofChina-focusedmanagementcasesandpromotecasesharingamong
business schools across China. In addition, Chinese business schools also stepped
up cooperation with their overseas counterparts in case method training and pro-
motion. For example, both Richard Ivey School of Business and HBS have laun-
ched case method training workshops for Chinese business schools.
Thanks to years of efforts by business schools, the case method has steadily
gained acceptance in China’s management education community. In order to
encourage business schools to apply the case method, the Ministry of Education
(MOE)officiallyincludedthe“100OutstandingTeachingCasesAward”conferred
by China Management Case-Sharing Center in the third round of the MOE’s dis-
ciplinary evaluation index initiative for management education in 2011. In 2015,
MOE issued guidance on strengthening the case method for professional degree
(including MBA) postgraduates, emphasizing case development, case teaching,
case instructor training, and instructor evaluation and motivation, especially with
respect to sharing the cases. Also, MOE initiated a State-Level Case Library for
Professional Degrees Education and a Center for Teaching Case Promotion.1
Nevertheless,thecasemethod’sstatusinChinesemanagementeducationisstillfar
fromperfect.Forexample,thereisashortageoflocalizedcases,particularlyonesthat
addressemergingpracticesandchallengesinChina’suniqueenvironment.Duetoa
lack of relevant incentives, business school faculty members are not yet strongly
motivatedtodevelopnewcases.Meanwhile,thecasemethod’spenetrationamong
businessschoolsremainslow,andfacultyexpertiseineffectivecaseteachingmust
continue to improve. In addition, research has revealed that Chinese teaching case
authorslacknecessaryskillsindigestingrawcasematerialsandwritingeffectively.
Specifically, many teaching cases show problems in readability, conformity with
writingnorms,andappropriatedecisionpoints.2SomecasesdevelopedinChinain
recentyearsalsorevealcertainworrisomepatterns,suchas:ahighamountofrational
analysis at the expense of equally important noneconomic and cultural factors; an
excessive focus on the CEO and strategic-driven decision-making; a tendency to
describetheprotagonistasasingle-mindedanalystinapolitics-freeorganization;and
1“Opinions of the Ministry of Education on Strengthening the Case Study and Co-Supervision
Centers for Professional Degree Postgraduates,” Web site of the Ministry of Education, http://
www.moe.gov.cn/srcsite/A22/moe_826/201505/t20150511_189480.html,May7,2015.
2WangShujuanandMaXiaolei,AnalysisoftheCurrentSituationofManagementCaseWritingin
China:SummaryoftheFirst“100OutstandingTeachingCasesAward,”JournalofManagement
CaseStudies,2010(4),266–271.
