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    Case Study
    China Resources Beer: Becoming future ready

    The China Resources Beer (CR Beer) case study is a compelling narrative of the world’s largest beer producer by volume under the leadership of CEO Hou Xiaohai. In 2016 CR Beer embarked on a pivotal transformation journey. This case study offers critical insights that particularly resonate with Chinese corporations navigating similar challenges i…

    China Digital Human Resources Strategy Diversity and Equity and Inclusion
    By Mark J. Greeven and Wei Wei
    Case reference: IMD-7-2538, © 2024
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    China Resources Beer: Becoming future ready
    By Mark J. Greeven and Wei Wei
    Case reference: IMD-7-2538 ©2024
    Summary
    The China Resources Beer (CR Beer) case study is a compelling narrative of the world’s largest beer producer by volume under the leadership of CEO Hou Xiaohai. In 2016 CR Beer embarked on a pivotal transformation journey. This case study offers critical insights that particularly resonate with Chinese corporations navigating similar challenges in an era marking the end of China’s rapid economic growth. Faced with industry saturation, changing consumer behaviors, the rise of digital technology and the imperative shift from expansive to high-quality growth, CR Beer’s story mirrors the predicament in which many Chinese companies find themselves today. The case delves into CR Beer’s strategic overhaul, how it optimized its vast 60,000-employee structure, streamlined operations and embraced digital transformation to remain competitive. CR Beer’s transformation was characterized by tackling “three mountains” – operational inefficiency due to numerous small factories with high costs and low-capacity utilization, weak brand presence in the high-end beer market and an underutilized and mismatched workforce. The study also highlights the company’s innovative approach to rebranding for younger consumers, integrating consumer insights into product development and exploring new business models. It underscores the importance of internal cultural shifts to support these external changes and the role of leadership in guiding transformation. CR Beer’s journey from traditional efficiency to future-readiness offers valuable lessons in managing large-scale organizational change, strategic management and business innovation. It provides essential insights for understanding the complexities of transformation in a rapidly evolving industry, making it a crucial read for those interested in organizational change, particularly in the context of the Chinese market and its unique challenges and opportunities.
    Reference IMD-7-2538
    Copyright ©2024
    Copyright owner IMD Copyright
    Organization China Resources Beer
    Industry Consumer Goods, Food and Beverage
    Available Languages English
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    Research Information & Knowledge Hub for additional information on IMD publications

    Related topics
    China
    Digital
    Human Resources
    Strategy
    Diversity and Equity and Inclusion
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    Case Study
    Feeding the dragon: Revisiting ChemChina’s acquisition of Syngenta

    Basel (Switzerland), March 2024. The acquisition of Syngenta by ChemChina in 2017 was a major event for the agricultural industry and, with a price tag of $43 billion, the largest ever foreign acquisition by a Chinese firm. A number of issues were flagged by analysts as key concerns, including governance, post deal integration, culture conflicts…

    Mergers and Acquisitions Business Transformation China
    By Benoit F. Leleux and Jiajin Wang
    Case reference: IMD-7-2577, © 2024
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    Case Study
    How Fuchs drives autonomy at scale to win in a fragmented world

    In a world where agility and global foresight are crucial for business survival and growth, the FUCHS case presents a compelling narrative of transformation. This case study follows FUCHS, a leading global lubricant company, on its journey to navigate the complexities of a rapidly changing business environment while staying true to its decentral…

    China Business to Business Global Business Strategy
    By Mark J. Greeven and Wei Wei
    Case reference: IMD-7-2539, © 2024
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    Case Study
    How Fuchs built a future ready China strategy

    The case describes the strategic evolution of FUCHS China under the leadership of Zhu Qingping as the company transformed into a vital contributor to the global FUCHS2025 strategy. With 30 years’ experience in the automotive industry, Zhu leveraged his expertise to navigate FUCHS China through the complexities of a rapidly evolving market, amids…

    Global Business China Business to Business
    By Mark J. Greeven and Wei Wei
    Case reference: IMD-7-2543, © 2024
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    Case Study
    The rise and fall of Byton

    Byton was a Chinese electric vehicle company founded in 2016 with the goal of developing affordable, connected EVs. Daniel Kirchert, a seasoned automotive industry executive with extensive experience in luxury cars in China, was invited to join the start-up. With Daniel’s leadership and vision, Byton quickly became one of the most talked-about s…

    Entrepreneurship China Leadership
    By Mark J. Greeven and Yunfei Feng
    Case reference: IMD-7-2473, © 2023
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    The rise and fall of Byton
    By Mark J. Greeven and Yunfei Feng
    Case reference: IMD-7-2473 ©2023
    Summary
    Byton was a Chinese electric vehicle company founded in 2016 with the goal of developing affordable, connected EVs. Daniel Kirchert, a seasoned automotive industry executive with extensive experience in luxury cars in China, was invited to join the start-up. With Daniel’s leadership and vision, Byton quickly became one of the most talked-about start-ups in the EV industry. The company raised around $700 million in funding from prominent investors such as FAW Group, Qidian Holdings and CATL, and secured partnerships with suppliers and strategic partners to support its innovative designs and technology. Byton’s first car model, the M-Byte, was unveiled at the 2019 Consumer Electronics Show (CES). However, despite the initial success and buzz, Byton faced financial difficulties and began experiencing delays in bringing the M-Byte to market. In early 2020, Byton entered bankruptcy proceedings due to a lack of cash flow and the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on the global economy. Daniel left Byton for another career.
    Reference IMD-7-2473
    Copyright ©2023
    Copyright owner IMD Copyright
    Organization Byton
    Industry Automotive, Automobiles
    Available Languages English
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    Research Information & Knowledge Hub for additional information on IMD publications

    Related topics
    Entrepreneurship
    China
    Leadership
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    Case Study
    Chips and change: Navigating geopolitics at TSMC

    Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company, better known as TSMC, was the leading contract manufacturer of semiconductors, controlling 90% of the production of the most advanced chips. Almost all of its manufacturing capacity was in Taiwan, a self-governing island off the coast of China that the government in Beijing was determined to unify with…

    Global Business Business to Business China General Management
    By David Bach
    Case reference: IMD-7-2485, © 2023
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    Chips and change: Navigating geopolitics at TSMC
    By David Bach
    Case reference: IMD-7-2485 ©2023
    Summary
    Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company, better known as TSMC, was the leading contract manufacturer of semiconductors, controlling 90% of the production of the most advanced chips. Almost all of its manufacturing capacity was in Taiwan, a self-governing island off the coast of China that the government in Beijing was determined to unify with the mainland. This placed TSMC at the heart of the 21st Century’s most consequential geopolitical fault line and in the middle of Great Power rivalry over a key industry with pivotal civilian and military applications. The case provides key facts and figures on the industry and its development to frame at a high level the key corporate strategy decisions facing TSMC’s leadership – (i) where to locate major production sites and (ii) how to balance the myriad political stakeholders that are seeking to shape the industry’s evolution in line with their national security- and economic interests.
    Reference IMD-7-2485
    Copyright ©2023
    Copyright owner IMD Copyright
    Organization Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company Limited
    Industry Materials, Semiconductors
    Available Languages English
    Contact

    Research Information & Knowledge Hub for additional information on IMD publications

    Related topics
    Global Business
    Business to Business
    China
    General Management
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    Case Study
    Midea: The digital transformation of a home appliances giant

    Over the past decade, Asian companies have been launching accelerated and wide-ranging digital transformation initiatives. This has enabled some of them to become leading national and even international players, as well as digital pioneers in their respective industries. This case examines the successful digital transformation undertaken by the…

    Business to Business China Digital Disruption General Management Strategy
    By Mark J. Greeven, Yunfei Feng and Wei Wei
    Case reference: IMD-7-2425, © 2022
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    Case Study
    Transforming Geely: From fridges to motorcycles to EVs … to?

    The case is about the continuous entrepreneurial transformation, over two decades, of a company in terms of increasingly advanced technologies and international product markets. It describes how Geely, a leading player in the global automotive industry, started in the 1980s with its founder capitalizing on a series of opportunities during the ti…

    Entrepreneurship Strategy China Sustainability
    By Mark J. Greeven, Patrick Reinmoeller, Lisa Simone Duke and Wei Wei
    Case reference: IMD-7-2321, © 2022
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    Case Study
    CATL: Global battery supremacy

    Contemporary Amperex Technology Co Ltd (CATL) was founded in 1999 under the name ATL. Initially, it had no technology of its own, and the founder, Zeng Yuqun, traveled to the US and acquired a patent for a lithium-ion polymer (LiPo) battery from Bell Laboratories. Then, through a series of technological breakthroughs that came one after the othe…

    Strategy Technology Management China
    By Mark J. Greeven, Yunfei Feng and Patrick Reinmoeller
    Case reference: IMD-7-2302, © 2022
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    Case Study
    Youhualin: Digitizing the supply chain in China

    Youhualin, a Chinese technology company driven by operations research, artificial intelligence and big data technology, provides intelligent decision-making solutions to help companies optimize operational issues that have been persistent pain points. In 2013, China Eastern Airlines was looking for a solution to one of the industry’s toughest pr…

    China Digital Strategy Artificial Intelligence
    By Mark J. Greeven, Patrick Reinmoeller, Yunfei Feng and Erik Walenza-Slabe
    Case reference: IMD-7-2350, © 2022
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    Case Study
    SEA: A $140 billion hidden Alibaba?

    Sea Limited, founded in Singapore in 2009, is a consumer internet company. It started out as Garena, a digital entertainment company (like Tencent), then expanded to e-commerce (like Alibaba), and then digital payments and financial services (like Ant Financial). The company, with its roots in China, was founded by Chinese entrepreneurs who buil…

    Strategy Digital Technology Management China
    By Mark J. Greeven, Patrick Reinmoeller and Yunfei Feng
    Case reference: IMD-7-2337, © 2021
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    Case Study
    Pop Mart: LEGO or Disney?

    In June 2020, Pop Mart, a 10-year history Chinese trendy toy company achieved market value of US$15 billion, higher than LEGO or Hasbro. Pop Mart toys are not traditional; they are not for kids but for Generation Z. It’s business model uses innovative ways to sell trendy toys. It combines designer toys and blind boxes to provide the feeling of e…

    Strategy China
    By Mark J. Greeven, Patrick Reinmoeller and Yunfei Feng
    Case reference: IMD-7-2303, © 2021
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    Case Study
    Shein: Another Amazon or terminator of Zara?

    As an international B2C fast fashion e-commerce platform established in Nanjing, SheIn’s business model seems to be more superior than Zara. It is faster, it has more products, the price is lower. SHEIN uses a revolutionary supply chain management system to support its super-fast fashion, and it deployed a comprehensive social media marketing st…

    Strategy China
    By Mark J. Greeven, Patrick Reinmoeller and Yunfei Feng
    Case reference: IMD-7-2298, © 2021
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    Case Study
    Ping An: How a Chinese insurance firm became a tech giant (A)

    The case illustrates how Ping An can anticipate digital trends such as cloud computing and evolve from its core business to expand to new areas. Ping An began by selling property and casualty insurance but soon expanded to banking and financial services. The firm then invested heavily in I.T. development in order to take part in the Internet eco…

    Finance Digital China Future Readiness
    Best-selling Case Study
    By Howard H. Yu, Yunfei Feng and Anouk Lavoie Orlick
    Case reference: IMD-7-2138, © 2020
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    Case Study
    Ping An: How a Chinese insurance firm became a tech giant (B)

    While Ping An is so successful to transform and reinvent itself to a tech giant, it discovered the demand of small and medium sized financial institutions to deploy technology. In December 2015, Ping An set up OneConnect, a fintech spinoff, to export its internal technology and repackage them as services to other banks and insurance companies in…

    Finance Digital China Future Readiness
    By Howard H. Yu, Yunfei Feng and Anouk Lavoie Orlick
    Case reference: IMD-7-2243, © 2020
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