ASEAN-CHINA Business Cases

Hum Sin Hoon Deputy Dean NUS Business School

NUS Business School

EMPHASIS 1.Localised Contents; Asianised Contents 2.Cases; Home - Asian Case Research Journal 3.Cases: Ivey Case Publishing; ECCH 4.Textbooks; Books, on Current Issues 5.Teaching Scholarship 6.ThinkBusiness:http://thinkbusiness.nus.edu

CASE 1: COMPASSION WEB

By Dr Yeo Wee Yong Department of Finance

SYNOPSIS
Paul Ong was an ambitious technopreneur, whose ideas were at the forefront of technology. Ong, similar to most technopreneurs, had not started his business, Compassion Web, with a well-developed business plan. Instead, Compassion had evolved according to the opportunities that landed at Ongs doorstep, and he had tried his best to make good decisions along the way. The business had initial successes but was soon swamped with challenges, which he did not foresee. Ong Urgently needed a business model that would make sense in the fast-changing environment. At the same time, the company was facing a lawsuit with a major client, and it could severely threaten Compassions survival. The company lacked the strong and unified leadership necessary to pull it out of its current difficulties.

CASE 1: COMPASSION WEB

EDUCATIONAL OBJECTIVES
The main objective of this case is to help students understand the following realistic challenges faced by an entrepreneur, especially a technopreneur (an entrepreneur in the technology industry). 1.Not every start-up is a Apple, Yahoo or Google. Behind every success story, lie hundreds of failures and perhaps thousands of surviving small enterprises. 2.A good technological product or idea is a necessary, but not sufficient criterion for success. Many bright technology-savvy entrepreneurs fail because of a lack of good business perspective. 3.Lack of or slow cash flow can provide hardships for start-ups. 4.Co-founders may have different perspectives of the business that may lead to conflicts. The equal equity share between co-founders can also lead to potential difficult consequences. The case is perhaps most suitable for a course on entrepreneurship. It can also be adapted for use in a class on angel financing or venture capital, where the potential investor contemplates whether to invest in the company and what changes it would make if it does decide to invest.

CASE 1: COMPASSION WEB

TEACHING PLAN
1.Trace the evolution of the company. What would you have done differently? 2.What would you recommend for the course of action regarding the lawsuit with Agribarn? 3.How would you deal with King? 4.Is the current business model sustainable? Would you invest in Compassion if you were running a venture capital fund? 5.What happened?

CASE 2: LAN-RAY GLOBAL PAYMENT SERVICES

By Dr Yeo Wee Yong Department of Finance

SYNOPSIS
Apollos Ong, Andrew Tan, and Edward Ong started Lan-Ray in Singapore to break into the prepaid cash card (PCC) business in China. Equity funds were sourced to acquire Protection Communications Network (PCN), a payment intermediary in Quanzhou, China, with a vast payment network, which could be instrumental to the success of the PCC business. However, PCN would need to demonstrate profitability before they could obtain the licence to run the PCC business.
Together, Lan-Ray and PCN venture into the mobile phone campus e-card business, initially assessed as a path for PCN to achieve profitability in the short run. However, the campus e-card business was struggling. At the same time, the acquisition of PCN by Lan-Ray hit a road block as PCN was unwilling to transfer shares to Lan-Ray.

CASE 2: LAN-RAY GLOBAL PAYMENT SERVICES

EDUCATIONAL OBJECTIVES
The main objective of this case to illustrate to students the realistic challenges faced by a small business entering into a foreign market.
1.Not all mergers and acquisitions are high profile, glamorous, or on a big scale. Acquisitions are common even among small and medium enterprises (SMEs). Acquisitions at such a level have certain unique challenges. 2.The issue of inadequate leadership. 3.The problem of overly positive optimism in a business venture.

CASE 2: LAN-RAY GLOBAL PAYMENT SERVICES

TEACHING PLAN
1.Was the initial distribution of the roles between Apollos, Andrew and Edward appropriate? How would you deal with the issue of leadership of Lan-Ray going forward? 2.Was the acquisition of PCN a good decision? What would you do to resolve the deadlock in the acquisition negotiation? 3.What would you do to salvage the business if you were Apollos? Is the original plan to break into the PCC business attainable? 4.What happened?

CASE 3: PURCHASING CONSORTIUM FOR THE BMS INDUSTRY IN SINGAPORE

By Dr Qi Mei Department of Decision Sciences

SYNOPSIS
Since November 2011, Dr. Siew Hwa Ong, director and chief scientist for Acumen Research Laboratories (ARL), had been conferring with SPRING Singapore on ways to improve the current procurement practices of the biomedical science (BMS) industry in Singapore. As a senior chief scientist and the founder of ARL, she saw and experienced tremendous purchasing inefficiency as well as quality issues in the existing procurement practice in sourcing needed supplies and equipment. She believed that a centralized procurement structure and process among all members of the BMS industry in Singapore would be a more efficient practice and was finalizing a proposal, in April 2012, to SPRING Singapore for initial funding to setup such a purchasing consortium. This consortium would be a new line of business for ARL.
This case exposes students to the biomedical R&D industry and its procurement and supply chain operations in Asia and fits modules and courses on global procurement and/or supply chain management. It also exposes students to entrepreneurship in Singapore and therefore can be used in a module on entrepreneurship.

CASE 3: PURCHASING CONSORTIUM FOR THE BMS INDUSTRY IN SINGAPORE

EDUCATIONAL OBJECTIVES
1.Distribution and supply chain for the BMS industry in Singapore. 2.Purchasing process and structure. 3.Purchasing consortium and e-markets. 4.Business model for the proposed ARL Purchasing Consortium

CASE 3: PURCHASING CONSORTIUM FOR THE BMS INDUSTRY IN SINGAPORE

TEACHING PLAN
1.What is a viable business model for such a consortium in Singapore? 2.How would ARL promote the purchasing consortium and recruit member companies? 3.How should ARL go about expanding the consortium internationally? 4.What happened?