Strategy
July 2020
Haier’s Rendanheyi 2.0: An ecosystem revolution
By Michael Jacobides, Lisa Duke
Haier in 1984 was a small, local firm on the verge of collapse, with poor-quality products and low morale. Within 30 years, it was transformed by Zhang Ruimin, who took over as CEO, into one of the worlds’ leading white-goods manufacturers, with a reputation for quality and innovation and an incre...
July 2020
Haier in 2014: An entrepreneurial juggernaut facing a world of platforms and ecosystems
By Michael Jacobides, Lisa Duke
Until the 2010s, China had been known for inexpensive products and efficient, low-cost production and for copycat or OEM products rather than for leading-edge innovation. Yet, in a few short years, Chinese firms turned to quality and innovation, drastically increasing their market share. A shining e...
June 2020
Enel S.p.A.: A Traditional Utility Embraces the Digital Revolution
By Julian Birkinshaw, Ken Mark
The case study describes the digital transformation of Enel under the leadership of Francesco Starace from 2014 to 2019. Enel is one of Europe’s largest utilities, providing electricity to 71 million customers across Europe and South America. It is also an impressive success story. At the time the...
June 2020
Zensar Technologies
By Julian Birkinshaw, Tanvi Deshpande
The case study describes the digital transformation of Zensar Technologies Ltd. under CEO Sandeep Kishore. Zensar was a mid-tier IT services company based in Pune, India; profitable and successful but without any obvious differentiating features and with relatively weak growth. On his arrival in 20...
June 2020
CI&T Building an Entrepreneurial Management Model
By Julian Birkinshaw, Carolina Rossi Wosiack
The case study describes the growth of CI&T, from a start-up in Brazil to a 3,000+ person consulting firm with global reach in 2019. The case describes the stages of growth the company has been through over 25 years, focusing on both the market offering and the internal organisation structure/cu...
April 2015
Thomson Reuters: Building a Risk-Management Business
By Julian Birkinshaw, Stefano Turconi
The case tells the story of the evolution of Thomson Reuters’ risk business, from its creation in 2010 as Thomson Reuters GRC (governance, risk and compliance) to its position as a $700 million revenue business unit within the Finance and Risk (F&R) division of Thomson Reuters in 2016. The cas...
August 2019
Innovation and Agility at Tencent’s WeChat
By Julian Birkinshaw, Enrique de Diego, Dickie Liang-Hong Ke
This case analyses the evolution of Tencent, now (in early 2019) one of the top 10 listed companies in the world. The case focuses on WeChat, the social networking and lifestyle app created in 2010 and now (in 2019) with more than one billion users. It describes the emergence and growth of WeChat an...
January 2005
Brahma versus Antarctica: Reversal of Fortune in Brazil’s Beer Market
By Donald Sull
The case is set in June 1999 as Marcel Telles, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Companhia Cervejaria Brahma (Brahma) – the largest brewer in Brazil – considers a possible merger with the Antarctica Group (Antarctica), the second-largest Brazilian brewer. If the merger were to be completed...
February 2013
Eight19 (A): A Social Enterprise?
By Jeff Skinner, Tom Ryan
Eight19 is a technology-based start-up company based on Cambridge Science Park. The company is developing a new (and very low cost) solar-panel technology aimed primarily at domestic use in developing countries. The case describes the issues faced by eight19 as it develops a business model for the n...
April 2019
Yulife: Redefining Life Insurance
By Julian Birkinshaw, Ken Mark
Yulife is a digital-first life insurance and rewards company that is seeking to disrupt the centuries-old life insurance market. Its founders are a combination of insurance industry veterans and executives in finance, wealth management and gaming. The challenge the company faces is that it cannot go...