Value selling at SKF Service (B): Facing a tough buyer

Chris Tung is President of Strategic Development at Chinese e-commerce multinational Alibaba Group. He tells Amit Joshi how the company is integrat...

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, amidst geopolitical fragmentation and the challenges posed by Covid-19. FUCHS China, representing a significant portion of the FUCHS Group’s revenue and profits, was at the forefront of adopting innovative product strategies. The case focuses on the development and implementation of the “5S” and “360-degree” solutions. These strategic initiatives enabled FUCHS China to offer specialized, high-tech products (5S) while comprehensively meeting customer needs (360). The case further highlights the company’s market approach, emphasizing the importance of segmentation and the “3L” Localization strategy. This approach not only tailored FUCHS China’s offerings to specific market segments but also enhanced its operational efficiency and responsiveness to local market dynamics. A key element of FUCHS China’s strategy was the development of its team, particularly through the innovative “Huangpu Class” initiative, which focused on nurturing segment leaders and building a robust leadership pipeline. Finally, the case also features FUCHS China’s unique culture, a blend of proactive, performance-driven ethos balanced with German precision and Chinese flexibility. This cultural synthesis was instrumental in fostering a self-driven and adaptable workforce, capable of navigating the challenges and opportunities in China’s lubricant market. Concluding with a forward-looking perspective, the case provides insights into how FUCHS China, under Zhu's visionary leadership, positioned itself as a future-ready player, ready to tackle the upcoming challenges and seize new opportunities in the global lubricant industry.

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 decentralized roots. The story unfolds from the company’s humble beginnings, detailing how FUCHS has grown into a global player under the stewardship of CEO Stefan Fuchs. It emphasizes the challenges of operating in a fragmented market and the need to embrace new global forces, such as digitalization, sustainability and evolving customer expectations. The case highlights the strategic pivot FUCHS makes when it created its first ever corporate strategy, “FUCHS2025,” marking a significant shift in the company’s approach to global market dynamics. A central theme of the case is how FUCHS rethinks its matrix organization and implements agile networks. This strategic move illustrates how FUCHS balances its traditionally decentralized structure with a growing need for global integration and efficiency. The case details the intricacies of these networks, particularly focusing on HR, to show how FUCHS harnesses the power of cross-functional collaboration and shared leadership. Readers of the case will gain a comprehensive understanding of how a traditional, family-led business can successfully adapt to global trends and internal challenges. It’s a tale of strategic evolution, highlighting the delicate balance between maintaining core values and innovating to stay competitive in a fragmented world. The FUCHS case is not just a story of a company, but a blueprint for businesses facing similar global challenges, demonstrating how to win in a decentralized yet interconnected market landscape.

Many companies overestimate customers’ appetite for sustainable products, flooding the market with offerings that don’t sell. The reality is, socia...

The case explores the efforts of Hamilton Mann, Group VP, Global Digital Marketing & Digital Transformation at Thales, to build a sales enablement platform as part of Thales’ larger digital transformation. “ContentFlix” aimed to be a one-stop sales enablement platform bringing together content for presentations and sales pitches and integrating solutions from across the business. Thales’ key account teams were used to operating in silos and via face-to-face interactions. Similarly, marketing and sales were distant and did not work together as effectively and seamlessly as they could. ContentFlix was intended to break down those silos and encourage collaboration between the company’s different businesses and marketing and sales teams. Mann’s team had launched ContentFlix quietly, tackling each implementation challenge as it came, and adoption had been steady. The Covid pandemic changed everything. Enforced lockdowns meant that remote cooperation between units became the only way to do business. The platform’s adoption accelerated beyond Mann’s expectations and continued to grow post-pandemic. The case explores how the team planned the platform, supported its rollout across Thales and continued to build it throughout the pandemic and beyond. The case explores in rich detail the obstacles and challenges as well as the successes Mann and his team face. The case closes with the rise of generative AI (GenAI). The team starts to consider where GenAI could enhance ContentFlix. What possibilities were there to take the platform to its next stage of development?

The case documents the early struggles, the growth phase and the success of Solutech, a start-up company developing software for salesforce automation. The company has to decide on product portfolio expansion, a strategy for geographical expansion, and whether or not to accept external funding to accelerate growth.

The CEO of Revier Cattle Company, Tom Revier, had been an innovator in sustainable farming and humane livestock practices for over two decades. He ...

The case describes how Patricia Heidtman, chief innovation and sustainability officer and member of the executive board at Sika, creates a roadmap ...

The collaboration between ZENITH and Nona Source – the LVMH group’s resale platform for deadstock – resulted in a 2021 product launch that saw ZENITH unveil a series of changeable textile straps as part of its women’s watch collection named DEFY Midnight. It reflected a choice the ZENITH brand made to step outside its traditional territory and endorse eco-conception and innovative collaborations. The challenge for the company was to ensure that the experimentation would not compromise in any way the underlying perception of luxury.

The (C) case describes the customer’s after-sales experience. The participants need to identify what went wrong again and how the brand might save the customer relationship.