At the end of 2015 Laurent Madelaine was appointed the Head of Sears Holdings Global Sourcing SHGS the Hong Kong based subsidiary that provided merchandising global sourcing and testing facilities to American retail giant Sears Holding Corporation Laurent immediately received a clear mandate from SHC to optimize operations to eliminate waste and duplication and create an agile sourcing organization In February 2016 Laurent hired his former Tesco colleague Yasushi Yatchi Kumasegawa as a business analysis manager to find areas and methods of increasing efficiency within SHGS Laurent and Yatchi along with the other members of the leadership team restructured the organization in a manner that no employee at SHGS felt possible Announcing rationalization of SHGS as the goal the leadership team simplified the organizational structure and refocused resources in the right place reducing headcount from 890 in 2016 to 680 by February 2017 At the same time ambitious KPI targets on purchase savings and reduction in selling general and administrative spend were met The leadership team sought to continue their success in 2017 by completing a transformation to a nimble asset light organization that could anticipate market changes and the needs of SHC

Edwin Lee, is a fourth generation member of the Lee family. He owns and runs Sun Hing Group, and is a board member of the Simon KY Lee Foundation. The Foundation was established in 1985 and managed by Edwin’s grandfather until his passing in 2010. Largely inspired by the family’s experience with other charitable organizations, it underwent a major reorganization to accommodate a business model where social innovation is central to the Foundation’s charitable activities, and where the entire multi-generational family volunteers to participate in the decision-making process. As next in line to be the senior decision maker, Edwin’s challenge is to reconcile his professional ambitions of making a large-scale social impact as a philanthropist with his family’s wish for him to become the guardian of the family’s business. The question is, to what extent Edwin should be involved simultaneously with the family business operations and The Simon KY Lee Foundation’s charitable activities in achieving his personal and family’s objectives and in ensuring the Foundation’s future development?

Elizabeth Mok was the second born and the only daughter in the fourth generation of the Lee family. She was also the only one of five siblings who did not own shares in the family business, the world-renowned sauce maker Lee Kum Kee, headquartered in Hong Kong. For Elizabeth, it seemed natural not to own shares, as she had high respect for the traditional approach to succession planning, where females did not inherit a family business. Besides, she believed her brothers worked hard to build the firm’s international reputation and therefore deserved the shares more than she did.
Elizabeth was once again asked by her family to reconsider her decision not to own shares. This time, she could sense their determination to change the state of things.

Henry Tam, the logistic director at 7-Eleven’s Combined Distribution Centre (CDC), is considering how to tackle a high employee turnover rate. This challenge is partially the result of a shortage of labor in Hong Kong. Over the years, Henry has taken several steps to address the issue. These include collaborating with non-governmental organizations (NGOs) to train and employ disabled workers; adjusting the use of cold storage for perishable goods; how to handle bakery products; how bulk goods are packed and distributed; and adopting new technologies to improve employee productivity. Moreover, Henry offers the staff three hours of overtime per day, allowing them to earn more. Henry doesn’t know what else he can do to decrease the high turnover and retain his employees.