Strategy
April 2024
The Transformation of Digital China: Harnessing the Potential of Data, Cloud and AI
By Julian Birkinshaw, Dickie Liang-Hong Ke
In early 2024 Guo Wei reflected on another successful year for Digital China group of companies (DC), the group he had led for more than 20 years. As Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, he had overseen the transformation of DC from an IT distributor to an IT services market leader, and now leading...
April 2024
From hype to disillusionment: Metaverse’s rise, apparent fall and green shoots
By Michael Jacobides, Katie Round, Francois Candelon
This case study critically examines the evolution of the metaverse, interrogating its ascendancy, its perceived decline and the nascent indicators of its resurgence. Beginning with the concept’s origins in science fiction, it tracks the metaverse’s evolution through advancements in gaming and th...
April 2024
From adversity to leadership: Tanla Platforms’ journey to becoming India’s SaaS titan
By Florin Vasvari
The outlook for Tanla Platforms was notably positive. It was January 2024 and the Hyderabad-based SaaS firm had reported a 20.3% year-on-year rise in net profit for the October-December quarter of 2023 over the same quarter of the previous fiscal year. Additionally, Tanla had recently announced its ...
February 2024
Digital Dubai: Making Dubai the Digital Capital of the World
By Julian Birkinshaw, Neil King
When the Dubai Government announced in 2021 that it had processed its last-ever paper transaction, becoming the first government in the world to go paperless, it completed a 20-year journey of digital transformation that changed people’s lives across the emirate fundamentally. Since launching i...
December 2023
citizenM: Radical innovation in the hotel industry (Chinese language)
By Freek Vermeulen
In 2008, a group of five entrepreneurs and executives teamed up to launch an innovative hotel chain into what seemed like a highly competitive industry. Rattan Chadha, the founder of fashion company MEXX and Michael Levie, a hotel industry veteran, teamed up with Hans Meyer, a hotel development spec...
September 2023
Desso (B): Going Forward (Portuguese language)
By Ioannis Ioannou, Amandine Ody-Brasier
This is part of a case series. This case describes the strategic transformation of DESSO, a Dutch manufacturer of carpet tiles and flooring solutions. The first part of the case describes the difficult situation in which the company found itself in the early 2000s, following a series of changes in o...
September 2023
Desso (A): Taking on the Sustainability Challenge (Portuguese language)
By Ioannis Ioannou, Amandine Ody-Brasier
This is part of a case series. This case describes the strategic transformation of DESSO, a Dutch manufacturer of carpet tiles and flooring solutions. The first part of the case describes the difficult situation in which the company found itself in the early 2000s, following a series of changes in o...
October 2023
De Beers: Reverse-disrupting the Diamond Industry
By Stefano Turconi, Thomas Horton, Minerva Rojanapenkul
Set in September 2018, the case describes De Beers’ attempt to halt the escalating disruption to its core business posed by diamonds grown in laboratories. Since its inception over a century ago, De Beers had created and nurtured the perception of diamonds as rare objects and exclusive symbols of ...
October 2023
Gucci in the Metaverse
By Stefano Turconi, Umberto Lobina
Set in April 2022, the case chronicles how Kering-owned luxury-fashion house Gucci underwent a comprehensive creative and cultural transformation, making it more inclusive, agile and digital. Faced with the emergence of the metaverse, Gucci decided to take the lead, bargaining that a test-and-learn ...
March 2017
Raising capital for Financial Butler (C) (Chinese language)
By Bryan Stroube, Michael Bikard, Ken Mark
This case focuses on Nick Hungerford’s attempt to raise capital for his FinTech start-up, Financial Butler, (later renamed Nutmeg). The concept is a digital platform offering a revolutionary, transparent and fair service to an “untapped” market segment currently not served by wealth managers, ...