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• Case | HBS Case Collection | September 2019 (Revised November 2019)

  Pinduoduo

  Feng Zhu, Krishna G. Palepu, Bonnie Yining Cao and Dawn H. Lau

  Founded in 2015 by serial entrepreneur, Colin Huang, Pinduoduo Inc. (PDD) had become China’s fastest-growing e-commerce platform in history. PDD pioneered a new approach to online shopping that allowed shoppers to share products, invite friends to form shopping teams, and purchase together at discounted prices. The company’s rapid development helped it debut on the Nasdaq in July 2018, only three years after its inception. The fast growth was partly boosted by PDD’s heavy investment in marketing and branding, such as through coupons and promotions. How should the company make its competitive advantages more sustainable? Could its business model be replicated outside China?

  Keywords: Disruption; Growth and Development Strategy; Transformation; Business or Company Management; Emerging Markets; Technology Platform; Online Technology; Technology Industry; Retail Industry; China;

  Citation:

  Zhu, Feng, Krishna G. Palepu, Bonnie Yining Cao, and Dawn H. Lau. "Pinduoduo." Harvard Business School Case 620-040, September 2019. (Revised November 2019.)  View Details

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• Case | HBS Case Collection | August 2019 (Revised November 2019)

  Transforming Hindustan Unilever

  Krishna G. Palepu and Rachna Tahilyani

  In October 2013, when Mehta had taken over the reins of Unilever’s business in India and the larger South Asia region, HUL had been going through a difficult time. Caught in the midst of a weakening economy, falling consumer spending and increasing competition, growth at the firm had slowed. HUL was underperforming not only the market index but also the FMCG index. At the same time, HUL was struggling with many internal woes, ranging from slow market responsiveness to a higher cost structure. The next quarter had not brought any relief. With the external situation worsening, Mehta wondered what changes he needed to make to ensure consistent, competitive and profitable growth at HUL. The case is accompanied by a video in which the CEO outlines his thinking, and the choices he made. The video can be used in class as the class discussion unfolds to bring closure to the discussion, and to brief the class on what actions were taken.

  Keywords: Change Management; Transformation; Leading Change; Performance Improvement; Consumer Products Industry; India;

  Citation:

  Palepu, Krishna G., and Rachna Tahilyani. "Transforming Hindustan Unilever." Harvard Business School Case 120-022, August 2019. (Revised November 2019.)  View Details

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• Working Paper | HBS Working Paper Series | 2019

  Intelligent Design of Inclusive Growth Strategies

  Robert S. Kaplan, George Serafeim and Eduardo Tugendhat

  Improving corporate engagement with society, as advocated in the Business Roundtable’s 2019 statement, should not be viewed as a zero-sum proposition where attention to new stakeholders detracts from delivering shareholder value. Corporate programs for sustainable and ethical sourcing practices, however, have fallen far short of solving the underlying causes of extreme poverty, extensive use of child labor, and threats to the environment and human health. We identify several causes to explain this disappointing shortfall in societal performance, including traditional company policies and incentives that inhibit the implementation of innovative, inclusive growth strategies. We propose the role for a new actor, a catalyst, to help companies forge new relationships with external funders, local intermediary companies, NGOs, and community leaders. The catalyst aligns the multiple stakeholders from multiple sectors into enduring, mutually beneficial relationships that produce more value than that currently produced when stakeholders connect only by transactional relationships. The catalyst attracts funding from public and private sources to invest in the new ecosystem, which can generate attractive financial returns while alleviating poverty and environmental degradation. Finally, the catalyst engages the multiple participants to collectively co-create explicit strategies and scorecards of metrics, which serve to motivate, create accountability, and enable an enduring governance model for a multi-stakeholder ecosystem.

  Keywords: inclusion; sustainability; performance measures; Environmental Sustainability; Social Issues; Strategy; Governance; Corporate Social Responsibility and Impact; Business and Stakeholder Relations;

  Citation:

  Kaplan, Robert S., George Serafeim, and Eduardo Tugendhat. "Intelligent Design of Inclusive Growth Strategies." Harvard Business School Working Paper, No. 20-050, October 2019.  View Details

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