This case illustrates the key role played by a local distributor in the luxury goods industry in the Middle East. By partnering with the Chalhoub Group, western firms have built a competitive advantage across the six countries of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC).

Carvajal traces the 110-year history of one of Colombian’s oldest family-owned firms from a small print shop to one of the largest paper product conglomerates in Latin America. Founded in 1904 by Manuel Carvajal, a Colombian educator and erstwhile politician, the company has contributed to Colombia’s economic and intellectual development ever since.

A well-known lingerie retailer in Colombia, Leonisa is a family-owned company that barely survived a second-generation succession crisis. Brothers Joaquín and Julio Ernesto Urrea founded the firm in 1956, and over 50 years built one of the most recognizable brands in Latin America.

Paris-based S.T.Dupont is engaged in the manufacture, marketing and sale of luxury goods for men and women, including lighters, pens, jewelry, leather goods, eyewear, watches, belts, fragrances and casual and formal attire. Founded in 1872 by an entrepreneurial French photographer and carriage-maker, the company began making luxury leather luggage for wealthy aristocrats.

WGSN is the world’s largest trend forecasting agency, supplying services to Fortune 500 fashion and lifestyle brands. Under the leadership of Carla Buzasi, who has been CEO for 11 years, WGSN has integrated AI technology into almost every aspect of its subscription-based service.

This two-part case collection presents the profiles of 39 family-run firms that are 'Hénokiens', a French association whose members have survived for more than two centuries. The oldest member, a hostel in Japan named Hoshi Ryokan, has been in business for 1,300 years over 46 generations.

The case investigates the role of creative directors in the luxury fashion industry. When in October 2015 Raf Simons quit Christian Dior, industry observers wondered why anyone would voluntarily walk away from such an esteemed fashion house, and who would replace him. Beneath the glamorous veneer, the luxury and fashion industry puts tremendous stress on creative directors.

The case charts the history of MöllerGroup, a longstanding family business in Germany, which designs, manufactures and markets components for the global automotive industry and construction parts for industrial applications. It makes functional parts for mechanical engineering, automotive technology and other sectors.

The case highlights the role of innovation in the conservative oil and gas industry. A team of Italian engineers in the turbomachinery solutions unit in GE Oil & Gas division, based in Florence, build a centrifugal compressor that is half the weight and a third of the size of a traditional compressor.

Dow Jones, publisher of The Wall Street Journal, had been a source of wealth, pride and prestige for the Bancroft family for much of the 20th century. From 1928 to 2007, the family lived off company dividends and left the day-to-day management of the publishing business to senior journalists who had worked their way up through the ranks of the WSJ.