Narrow Results

In 2014, Shanghai Husi Food Company Ltd. (Husi) was found guilty of supplying reprocessed and expired meat to their western fast food clients operating all over China. The company lied about production and expiration dates and provided false guarantees about the storage life of their products. Many Western fast food clients such as McDonalds and Starbucks were affected by the scandal. The case discusses the scandal, whistleblowing, and food safety issues in the People’s Republic of China.

Taobao is an online platform on which users can sell their products within China and all over the world. Many Chinese villagers use this opportunity and produce products to be sold on the platform. The problem is that they ignore international Intellectual Property Rights and produce and sell products that resemble brand products from all over the world. The case discusses the developments of the so-called Taobao Villages, the protection of property rights in China and foreign manufacturers’ responses to these challenges.

In August 2007, waters from an adjacent river flooded some of the tunnels of the Zhangzhuang mine near the city of Xintai. 172 miners were trapped in the mine and died. The flooding was caused by heavy rain and not by problems within the mine and was labeled as a natural disaster. Since China had just introduced a new set of regulations mandating payment of 200,000 yuan to the families of workers killed in industrial accidents, the question of whether the incident was a natural disaster or an industrial accident became significant for the families of the workers killed. The case discusses this incident and presents questions on labor safety, corporate responsibility and the current situation of mine workers in China.

This case describes how a Chinese entrepreneur started a business by buying up discarded vaccines and reselling them to hospitals and clinics. The entrepreneur, Pang Hongwei, was convicted once, but could still continue her activities very quickly turning it into a multi-million dollar business. Only in 2016 did the Chinese authorities put an end to this and arrest more than 300 business people and government officials involved. The case discusses the scandal and asks what responsible entrepreneurship is.