Abstract

In the beginning of 2018, Lincoln Zhang (Zhang), president of Wanda Cultural Industry Group (hereafter “Wanda Cultural” or “the company”), was thinking about how to take the company to the next phase of international growth. Wanda Cultural had four sectors: films; sports; travel innovation; and children’s entertainment & education. In 2012, the company made its first bold overseas-expansion move to acquire the US cinema chain AMC. Since 2015, its films and sports sectors had rapidly internationalized primarily through acquisitions. However, the path of internationalization was not always smooth, especially in 2017. For instance, because the Chinese Government had seriously limited capital outflow for overseas acquisitions since the end of 2016, Wanda Cultural had to cancel an acquisition of Dick Clark TV Productions. Even worse, its parent Dalian Wanda Group, founded by Chairman Wang Jianlin, suffered from defamation and there were fluctuations in their subsidiaries’ share and bond prices due to a series of rumors in the media that were related to the company’s overseas expansion.

Zhang was pondering how to increase the company’s profit contribution to Wanda by: creating synergies within his multinational business portfolio, shaping market growth, and entering new markets, etc.

Learning Objectives

After studying the case, students will be able to: • Analyze the innovative models that contributes to Wanda a success in China • Evaluate the challenges for building a world-class multinational corporation (MNC)with a strategic goal for the Wanda group • Examine the concepts and frameworks in global business • Develop winning strategies for the global markets • Recommend branding strategies for Wanda in building a world-class multinational corporation (MNC). How should Wanda build a global brand? Is there a “Wanda Model”? Can emerging market multinationals (EMNC) learn from this innovative model?