Social commerce is a new trend in e-commerce that leverages individual relationships and affiliations to drive growth in online sales. The case compares two companies, Pinduoduo and Facebook/Instagram, and their different social commerce business models, notably social network based vs. social group based models.

When Alibaba, China’s leading digital platform and cloud-based services company, fails to acquire the US firm Moneygram, CEO Jack Ma decides to go it alone and develop a digital strategy using blockchain technology as the basis for a global remittance service, GCash, within its cloud services business.

Grab, Uber and Go-Jek compete in ride-hailing and related logistics and transport services (e.g., food delivery, courier service) across Southeast Asia, including Indonesia, Philippines, Vietnam, Thailand, Malaysia and Singapore. The case focuses on differences in company history and strategy, and how they shape the competition and ultimately performance differentials.

Go-Jek, a ride-sharing, food-delivery and logistics company, was the first ‘unicorn’ startup (private company valued over $1 billion) to be founded in Indonesia. Case (A) focuses on the launch of Go-Jek as a mobile ride-sharing and food delivery platform, the network effects, and the digital disruption of existing taxi drivers.