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.

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.

SoundCloud is one of the world's largest audio-share websites and a recent example of successful entrepreneurship to have come out of an unexpected place: Berlin. The case discusses how SoundCloud has flourished by identifying the type of ‘place surplus’ important for it to derive competitive advantage and succeed.

This case introduces the application of blue ocean strategy in the context of managing a business portfolio at the corporate level. Apple created future profits and growth not by exploiting existing demand, but by reconstructing industry boundaries to create new market space and unlock latent demand.

This case is excellent for teaching both MBAs and executives how to create a blue ocean strategy that is hard to imitate and sustainable. It focuses on Wikipedia versus Britannica.com in the online encyclopedia industry.