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Midea Group: Founder to CEO Succession
Ziqian (Stella) Zhao; Jean LeeCase IVEY-9B17C012-ELeadership and People ManagementMidea Group Co., Ltd. was a white goods empire built by its Chinese founder over several decades; consequently, the Midea brand led the home appliance industry in China. In August 2012, the 70-year-old founder and chairman retired as board chairman. The founder’s chosen successor was a 45-year-old professional manager and the former chairman and chief executive officer of one of Midea Group’s firms. This manager faced a grim situation as he took ...Starting at €8.20
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Lenovo 2009: The Role of Board Chairperson in a Turnaround
Neng Liang; Ziqian (Stella) Zhao; Mike UseemCase IVEY-9B16M079-EStrategyLenovo, China’s largest personal computer manufacturer, had just replaced its American chief executive officer (CEO), the third replacement since the company’s 2005 acquisition of IBM’s personal computer business. The leadership shakeup was seemingly caused by the worsening conditions in Lenovo’s key target market and the company’s subsequent disastrous financial loss, but, in reality, the reasons were more complicated. Lenovo was dealing with th...Starting at €8.20
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Suntech Power Holdings: How to Avoid Bankruptcy
Daniel Han Ming Chng; Ziqian (Stella) ZhaoCase IVEY-9B17M106-EEntrepreneurship, StrategyIn 2013, Suntech Power Holdings Co., Ltd. (STP) was facing the threat of bankruptcy. The chief executive officer (CEO), who had founded the company in China in 2001, was aware of the complexity and challenges of an emerging global industry (solar energy) and economy (China). Fears of energy shortages had fuelled the growth rate for the global solar energy industry, and governments in many countries had introduced subsidies for solar energy initia...Starting at €8.20
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Li-Ning Co. Ltd.: A Leading Chinese Company Stumbles
Daniel Han Ming Chng; Ziqian (Stella) ZhaoCase IVEY-9B16M068-EStrategyIn 2012, Li-Ning Co. Ltd. (LNCL) was the third-largest sportswear company in China in terms of revenue, after international brands Nike and Adidas. Following its highly successful founding in 1990 by China’s Olympic champion and company namesake, Li Ning, the firm attempted to formalize its organizational structure and establish a professionally managed organization, while dealing with the rise of well-established international sportswear brands ...Starting at €8.20
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Yonghui Superstores: Profit-Sharing and Partnership Reform
Xiaoming Zheng; Ziqian (Stella) ZhaoCase IVEY-9B19C008-EEntrepreneurship, Leadership and People ManagementIn July 2018, several employees of Yonghui Superstores stood outside the company’s headquarters in Chongqing, China to protest a pay cut that had been imposed on them. In 2012, the national supermarket chain had rolled out a performance monitoring system that periodically identified employees with inferior results. A broad-range profit-sharing plan was linked to the new performance system and calculated results based on team performance. Yonghui ...Starting at €8.20
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Jia Yuan Company: Brothers Vying for Control of a Family Business
Ziqian (Stella) Zhao; Jin Song Huang; Liu RuiCase IVEY-9B20M110-EEntrepreneurship, StrategyJia Yuan Company was a small Chinese business founded by two brothers in 2005. The more ambitious of the brothers worked at the front of the business, successfully transforming it from a local sales agent for foreign branded products to a contractor for gStarting at €8.20
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Hengda: Realizing the Potential of the Procurement Department
Qun Wu; Ziqian (Stella) ZhaoCase IVEY-9B21E007-EInformation TechnologiesIn September 2019, the newly appointed manager of the procurement department at Jiangxi Hengda High-Tech Company Ltd., located in China, was wondering how to make his department more efficient. He took some time to understand the working relationships of his department with other internal departments and with external suppliers. During his research, he uncovered sources of conflict between the procurement department and other functional departmen...Starting at €8.20
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Alibaba Group: Fostering an E-commerce Ecosystem
Seung Ho Park; Ziqian (Stella) ZhaoCase IVEY-9B16M217-EEntrepreneurship, StrategyIn 2014, Alibaba Group (Alibaba), the largest e-commerce platform operator in China, boasted in its New York Stock Exchange prospectus about its e-commerce ecosystem, which was being built over time. Alibaba’s chairman and chief executive officer declared that the company’s mission was to “make it easy to do business anywhere.” However, the ecosystem, which was well suited for people’s Internet habits of the past, would not likely be up-to-date i...Starting at €8.20