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    Affordable lighting for mass appeal

    Candles Killer: Igniting a blue ocean at the bottom of the pyramid

    In villages long dependent on dangerous kerosene lamps, Shenzhen Power-Solution (SPS) sparked a revolution with the Candles Killer, a solar lamp priced under $5. By stripping design to nine components and leveraging everyday items like water bottles for stands, SPS unlocked affordable, safe light for millions. By 2023, 55 million people across 66 countries were illuminated, while 6.7 million tons of carbon emissions were avoided. Could this simple innovation be the blueprint for serving the world’s most underserved markets?

    Winter Nie and Yunfei Feng
    November 2025
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  • Rituals Cosmetics: Building the world’s leading well-being brand in Asia

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    Case reference: IMD-7-2411, ©2023
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    By Carlos Cordon and Nick Georgiev

    Case reference: IMD-7-2451, ©2023
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    By Niccolò Pisani and Inès Augier

    Case reference: IMD-7-2423, ©2023
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    Case reference: IMD-2711, ©2025
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    By Kazuo Ichijo and Yunfei Feng

    Case reference: IMD-2710, ©2025
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    Case reference: IMD-2709, ©2025
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  • Not so black and white: Grupo Inca’s black alpaca dilemma (B)

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    Case reference: IMD-7-2610, ©2024
  • Not so black and white: Grupo Inca’s black alpaca dilemma (A)

    By Vanina Farber, Carolina Duran Silva, Baris Silahcioglu, Hugo ten Zijthoff and Shih-Han Huang

    Case reference: IMD-7-2609, ©2024
  • Moon Creative Lab: Mitsui’s venture studio

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    Case reference: IMD-7-2544, ©2024
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    Rituals Cosmetics: Building the world’s leading well-being brand in Asia
    By Dominique Turpin and Sandeep Puri
    Case reference: IMD-7-2411 ©2023
    Summary
    Rituals, founded in the Netherlands in 2000 by Raymond Cloosterman, has had double digit growth over the last 15 years. It had taken the European b…
    Best-selling Case Study
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    Reference IMD-7-2411
    Copyright ©2023
    Copyright owner IMD Copyright
    Organization Rituals Cosmetics
    Industry Consumer Goods, Cosmetics and Perfumes
    Available Languages English
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    Marketing
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    Apple’s supply chain transformation
    By Carlos Cordon and Nick Georgiev
    Case reference: IMD-7-2451 ©2023
    Summary
    In 2022, Apple lost US$1.5 billion in Black Friday sales due to iPhone supply constraints. One in three retail stores across the US and Europe expe…
    Best-selling Case Study
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    Reference IMD-7-2451
    Copyright ©2023
    Copyright owner IMD Copyright
    Organization Apple
    Industry Consumer Goods, Consumer Electronics
    Available Languages English
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    Operations
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    Future-proofing HEINEKEN: The EverGreen strategy
    By Niccolò Pisani and Inès Augier
    Case reference: IMD-7-2423 ©2023
    Summary
    Dolf van den Brink, CEO of HEINEKEN, left the company’s global headquarters in Amsterdam for a company retreat. Over the next three days, the entir…
    The Case Centre Awards and Competitions 2025 – Strategy and General Management Category; 2023 EFMD Case Writing Competition Award – Continuous Improvement: The Journey to Excellence Category
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    Reference IMD-7-2423
    Copyright ©2023
    Copyright owner IMD Copyright
    Organization HEINEKEN
    Industry Consumer Goods, Beer
    Available Languages English
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    Digital
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    Chugai (C): Navigating the next century of global innovation
    By Kazuo Ichijo and Yunfei Feng
    Case reference: IMD-2711 ©2025
    Summary
    Chugai C focuses on the company’s future as it celebrates its 100th anniversary in 2025. In 2021, Chugai launched its ambitious ‘TOP I 2030’ growth…
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    Reference IMD-2711
    Copyright ©2025
    Copyright owner IMD Copyright
    Organization Chugai Pharmaceutical
    Industry Healthcare, Pharmaceuticals
    Available Languages English
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    Research Information & Knowledge Hub for additional information on IMD publications

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    Mergers and Acquisitions
    Organizational Culture
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    Chugai (B): Alliance with Roche to be among the best
    By Kazuo Ichijo and Yunfei Feng
    Case reference: IMD-2710 ©2025
    Summary
    Chugai B examines the pivotal strategic alliance formed in October 2002 between Chugai Pharmaceutical and Swiss giant Roche. Facing constraints in …
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    Reference IMD-2710
    Copyright ©2025
    Copyright owner IMD Copyright
    Organization Chugai Pharmaceutical
    Industry Healthcare, Pharmaceuticals
    Available Languages English
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    Strategy
    Mergers and Acquisitions
    Organizational Culture
    Global Business
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    Chugai (A): Overcoming adversity with a transformative leap
    By Kazuo Ichijo and Yunfei Feng
    Case reference: IMD-2709 ©2025
    Summary
    Chugai A traces the transformative journey of a leading Japanese biopharmaceutical firm from its founding in 1925 to the early 2000s. Starting with…
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    Reference IMD-2709
    Copyright ©2025
    Copyright owner IMD Copyright
    Organization Chugai Pharmaceutical
    Industry Healthcare, Pharmaceuticals
    Available Languages English
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    Strategy
    Mergers and Acquisitions
    Organizational Culture
    Global Business
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    Not so black and white: Grupo Inca’s black alpaca dilemma (B)
    By Vanina Farber Carolina Duran Silva Baris Silahcioglu Hugo ten Zijthoff and Shih-Han Huang
    Case reference: IMD-7-2610 ©2024
    Summary
    Picking up where Case A ends, Case B reveals that Grupo Inca decided to innovate internally and develop a new fabric from the rare black alpaca fib…
    2024 EFMD Case Writing Competition Award – Responsible Business Category
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    Reference IMD-7-2610
    Copyright ©2024
    Copyright owner IMD Copyright
    Organization Grupo Inca
    Industry Manufacturing, Textile
    Available Languages English
    Contact

    Research Information & Knowledge Hub for additional information on IMD publications

    Related topics
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    Business Ethics
    Sustainability
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    Not so black and white: Grupo Inca’s black alpaca dilemma (A)
    By Vanina Farber Carolina Duran Silva Baris Silahcioglu Hugo ten Zijthoff and Shih-Han Huang
    Case reference: IMD-7-2609 ©2024
    Summary
    Grupo Inca, a conglomerate that owned Peru’s leading textile business with a long history of working with alpaca fleece, was at a crossroads regard…
    2024 EFMD Case Writing Competition Award – Responsible Business Category; The Case Centre Awards and Competitions Winner 2025 – Outstanding Compact Case
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    Reference IMD-7-2609
    Copyright ©2024
    Copyright owner IMD Copyright
    Organization Grupo Inca
    Industry Manufacturing, Textile
    Available Languages English
    Contact

    Research Information & Knowledge Hub for additional information on IMD publications

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    Social Innovation
    Business Ethics
    Sustainability
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    Moon Creative Lab: Mitsui’s venture studio
    By Benoit F. Leleux Jim Pulcrano Adam Hansson Tönning Alexandra Loboda Anette Papuga and Daisuke Shinohara
    Case reference: IMD-7-2544 ©2024
    Summary
    This case follows the steps taken by Kaichi Yokoyama, Moon Creative Lab’s CEO, to establish the entity as a pioneering venture studio and entrepren…
    2024 EFMD Case Writing Competition Award – Continuous Improvement: The Journey to Excellence Category
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    Reference IMD-7-2544
    Copyright ©2024
    Copyright owner IMD Copyright
    Organization Moon Creative Lab, Mitsui Group
    Industry Finance and Insurance, Venture Capital
    Available Languages English
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    Research Information & Knowledge Hub for additional information on IMD publications

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    Entrepreneurship
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