Cheung Kong Graduate School of Business2023-12-15
On December 13, 2023, Cheung Kong Graduate School of Business officially released its latest English case book, Unleashing Innovation.
This is the second English-language casebook published by Cheung Kong Graduate School of Business. Since its establishment, Changjiang University has attached great importance to original, independent, in-depth, systematic and forward-looking research on Chinese issues, and has made great efforts to share management concepts and practices originating from China with the world, in order to break the "one-way exchange" from the West to the East, facilitate the "two-way exchange" between the East and the West in management concepts, ideas and practices, and contribute Chinese wisdom and Chinese solutions that can be used for reference by the world.
This casebook selects 11 of China's most cutting-edge enterprise giants, focusing on the fields of scientific and technological innovation, digital transformation, global ** chain, global market expansion, etc., which Chinese enterprises are good at or are focusing on, and systematically summarizes and shows the practical insights and success methods of different enterprises, in order to provide strategic inspiration and reference for global enterprises.
Unleashing Innovation
The "Digital Strategy and Enterprise Global Development" Business Salon and the Release Ceremony of the English Case Collection hosted by Cheung Kong Graduate School of Business were held on the same day as the Shanghai Campus.
Teng Binsheng, Professor of Strategy and Vice Dean of Cheung Kong Graduate School of Business, Tao Zhigang, Professor of Strategy and Economics and Vice Dean of Cheung Kong Graduate School of Business, Yili Group, a global development case company, Oatly, an overseas brand breakthrough case company, and senior executives from famous Chinese and foreign enterprises such as Google and PricewaterhouseCoopers gathered together to conduct in-depth research on topics such as global development, digital transformation and technological innovation practice of enterprises from their respective experiences and different perspectives. At the same time, the event attracted more than 100 visitors from first-class companies, multinational companies and well-known local companies.
Teng Binsheng, Professor of Strategy and Vice Dean of Cheung Kong Graduate School of Business, delivered a keynote speech.
Professor Teng Binsheng delivered a keynote speech on the theme of "How Overseas Brands Can Thrive in the Highly Competitive Chinese Market", and he shared their successful business practices in the Chinese market using cheese brand Microcolando and oat milk brand Oatly as examples.
Professor Teng said that in the competition in the stock market, the strategic transformation of international brands should seek breakthroughs in product selection, cut into the Chinese market through sinking and subdividing channel strategies, leverage the innovative marketing strategies of head IP, and continue to expand application scenarios in order to win a larger market. International brands should continue to improve their insight into localization trends, build a channel layout system according to local conditions, and combine brand value proposition with the needs of Chinese consumers on the basis of in-depth understanding of customer groups, so as to create lasting vitality of brands.
Prof. Teng Binsheng (left) talks to Zhang Chun (right), President of OATLY Greater China and alumnus of Cheung Kong Graduate School of Business
In the dialogue session with Professor Teng Binsheng, Zhang Chun, President of Oatly Greater China and alumnus of Cheung Kong Graduate School of Business, shared how Oatly's Oat Milk, a Swedish brand, has taken the Chinese market by storm.
Zhang Chun shared: "As a brand originating from Northern Europe, Oatly has achieved its current results in the Chinese market without an effective localization strategy. ”
After researching Oatly's global products, the team found that the best seller was Barista, and coffee is also a very popular drink in China, especially Shanghai. Therefore, they chose not to compete with the traditional big brands in the water and dairy markets for retail channels, but turned to boutique cafes. Through the "Three Ones" strategy of one city (Shanghai), one market (specialty coffee) and one product (barista), we finally became partners with tens of thousands of cafes and opened up the Chinese market. In the past few years since entering China, Oatly has continued to promote category construction and build brands through categories. With the cooperation of industry associations, partners and other forces from all walks of life, it has successfully launched a new plant-based wave in China, realized the "from scratch" of the domestic oat milk track, and fed back the track to achieve the simultaneous development of brand categories.
Tao Zhigang, Professor of Strategy and Economics and Vice Dean of Cheung Kong Graduate School of Business, delivered a keynote speech.
Professor Tao Zhigang delivered a keynote speech on the theme of "Strategic Exploration and Challenge Breakthrough of Chinese Enterprises Going International". He said that with the continuous change of the international situation and the deepening of digital transformation, globalization has entered 20 times. In the context of the accelerated restructuring of the global first-chain system, promoting the industrial layout in blue ocean markets such as Southeast Asia and Africa is of great benefit to the global expansion of Chinese enterprises.
Professor Tao pointed out that Chinese enterprises should focus on three winning strategies for their overseas development: market entry strategy, overseas brand strategy and reputation of overseas employers. The prospect of Chinese brands going overseas is promising, and a more open "China +" global industrial system will lead globalization20 towards greater success.
Professor Tao Zhigang (left) talks to Shang Zhihu (right), General Manager of Digital Technology Center of Yili Group
Subsequently, Professor Tao Zhigang had a conversation with Shang Zhihu, General Manager of Yili Group's Digital Technology Center, to discuss how digital transformation can help Chinese enterprises go global.
Shang Zhihu shared Yili's digital experience that although the actual application of individual technologies will be affected by factors such as market culture in different countries, in general, technology is inclusive and borderless, and good digital products can often be applied around the world. How to use the most appropriate digital technology to improve the operational efficiency of the organization, so as to better help the enterprise improve its competitiveness in different markets, is what every enterprise needs to consider.
In the face of the increasingly severe global economic situation, what are the challenges and opportunities for Chinese enterprises to go global?How can enterprises capture new opportunities through digital transformation, chain upgrading, and brand localization?
In the roundtable dialogue session, chaired by Xie Weisi, Shanghai Director of The Economist Corporate Organization, four senior executives from famous Chinese and foreign companies shared their thoughts based on their respective corporate experiences.
In the roundtable dialogue session, from left to right, Xie Weisi, Hua Xiaoliang, Shang Zhihu, Tang Jun, and Yao Di were in order.
Shang Zhihu, general manager of Yili Group's Digital Technology Center, shared that there are great differences in different markets, and it is important for enterprises to plan the top-level design of technology infrastructure in advance before expanding their overseas business.
Yao Di, head of legal affairs at Google's Shanghai office, said that generative AI is a development direction that all enterprises should actively embrace. Enterprises should not only stay in the initial stage of digitalization in digital transformation, but should also adopt AI. Generative AI makes the digital transformation of enterprises more technically easier, for example, in the field of brand overseas advertising and marketing, cross-cultural market research, enterprise customer service, knowledge quiz assistant, etc.
Hua Xiaoliang, PwC Strategy& China Partner, observed that Chinese companies often face the problem of brand positioning when going overseas, and many companies still stay at the level of expressing who I am and what functional values I provide, while more mature European and American companies pay more attention to the personalized differences of brands, social responsibility and social value, rather than just functional valueAt the same time, Chinese enterprises should take advantage of the digital capabilities they have cultivated in the domestic market and actively promote the digital collaboration and upgrading of the value chain with partners in overseas mature markets, which is also a new tool to open up overseas markets or distribution channels, and enable them to develop their strengths and avoid weaknesses.
Tang Jun, a leading lithium industry company and the financial director of Albemarle Asia Pacific of the United States, shared the growth opportunities in the Chinese market from the perspective of the industry, as electric vehicles become the general trend of future travel, there is still a lot of room for development and investment opportunities in improving the endurance of lithium batteries, charging convenience, material innovation and even battery technology.
The release of the latest English casebook, Unleashing Innovation, has come to a successful conclusion. Chen Jian, assistant director of the Case Center of Cheung Kong Graduate School of Business, shared the writing story behind it:
In the process of writing the case, we realized that due to the continuous changes in the environment and market, the development of enterprises is not always smooth sailing, and it often takes great courage and tenacity for enterprises to make strategic choices and insist on innovation investment. Through these cases, we hope to document a tribute to the entrepreneurial spirit. ”