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.

This case accompanies 1) a collection of business press articles; 2) two video clips; 3) a teaching note; 4) lecture slides. While the case and articles will be assigned as pre-reading, the video clips and lecture slides will be shown in the classroom by the instructor.

The objective of the case is to illustrate a market shaper's strategic challenges of staying innovative in a rapidly changing industry in a developing market environment with strong boundary conditions. Also the case illustrates the internal challenges of professionalising a company with significant creative forces and an entrepreneurial culture.

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.

The case describes the success story of Al Jazeera how it developed from a controversial Arab news channel to a globally respected brand. But how sustainable is Al Jazeera's success? Can it truly transform from an Arabic news channel into an international media network? Can it both leverage and demystify the original Al Jazeera brand when catering to global media consumers?