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Product cover image for REDnote: An Internationalization Opportunity

REDnote: An Internationalization Opportunity

Francis Sun

Product #:W43142
Supplier:Ivey
Discipline:International Business, Strategy
Setting:United States, China, 2025
Details:Case (PDF) • 14 pages • 2025-05-13

Subjects:

Business managementInternational businessStrategy

Industries:

Information technology and telecom sector

Geography:

United StatesChinaNorth AmericaAsia
Your Price:$9.71

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In early 2025, the looming ban of the popular social media application TikTok in the US prompted hundreds of thousands of American TikTok users to flood into REDnote, a Chinese social media application that was similar to TikTok but defaulted to the Mandarin Chinese language. Labelled with the “TikTok refugees” hashtag, these newcomers overcame language and other sociocultural barriers to communicate with local Chinese users in the application, considering making this online community their new virtual home after the TikTok ban. The REDnote management needed to decide whether they should serve the American users and, if so, how to serve them. They also needed to decide whether they should use the opportunity to enter the US market.

Learning Objectives

The case can be used in undergraduate, graduate, and executive training classes in international business or global strategy. Particularly, it can help students analyze and understand the regulatory risks associated with reverse foreign direct investment in developed countries by businesses from emerging markets. Students can practice using different international strategies to manage political risks in foreign markets.

From the class discussion of the case, students are expected to learn how to do the following:
  • Grasp international business opportunities opened up by unexpected events
  • Design a digital platform business model and strategy for international expansion
  • Navigate cultural and regulatory barriers in international expansion
  • Manage political risks arising from trade disputes between the home country and host country, specifically, the ongoing geopolitical tension between China and the US
  • Evaluate algorithm-driven competitive advantage in a global context
  • Select the best option for an international entry mode during a firm’s internationalization process
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Case Study: REDnote: An Internationalization Opportunity (English version) | Ivey Publishing