The Future Vintages of a Cultural Commodity in China: Silver Heights Winery Leader, Emma Gao
Date
2024
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
Women’s Leadership Initiative, Lerner College of Business & Economics, University of Delaware
Abstract
This case study examines the outlook of China’s wine market from 2021 to 2022 with focus on the operations of Silver Heights Winery and its leader, Emma Gao. Due to Western influence and an expanding middle class, China has seen a recent spike in alcohol consumption, particularly with the luxury commodity of wine. Currently, China is one of the world’s leading populations in total wine drank per year, and winemakers from across the world rely heavily on these Asian consumer markets to maintain steady profits. In addition, the Chinese government is eager to become one of the world’s largest producers of wine to take a proverbial sip of these potential profits. The kicker is that in recent years, Chinese consumers seemed less likely to purchase a domestic commodity than their international counterparts, despite China’s growing popularity among wine connoisseurs. This case poses the question of whether Chinese winemakers should attempt to bridge the culture gap between Chinese wine labels and foreign audiences or if it is better to diagnose the issues that would allow them to tap the keg of a huge potential domestic consumer base in China.
Learning Outcomes
By the end of this case study, students should be able to:
• Appraise the need for continued focus on cabernet sauvignon or product diversification.
• Identify the competitors of Silver Heights Winery and how the organization can leverage its competitive advantage.
• Identify the roles of the leadership of Silver Heights in preparing for global climate change.
• Assess Emma Gao’s global mindset competencies and offer suggestions for how she can improve.
• Recommend to the leaders of Silver Heights Winery whether to focus their operations on domestic Chinese markets or international markets.
Description
Time period: 2021-2022
Geographical setting:
Region: World/global
Country: China; France; United States; United Kingdom
Location: Ningxia
Featured companies: Silver Heights Winery
Employees: 11-50
Type: Privately held
Industry: Wine
Other keywords: Founded in 2007
Featured protagonist: Emma Gao (Female), Chief Winemaker at Silver Heights Winery
This case was written by Shuchi Sanghvi, Nicholas Sava, and Kelly Wild, graduate students at the University of Delaware, under the supervision and guidance of their professor, Dr. Amanda Bullough, and editorial assistance from her Graduate Assistant, Tosin Idowu-Kunlere.
This case is intended to be used as the basis of class discussion rather than to illustrate either effective or ineffective handling of a management situation. All of the material in this case study is based on secondary data from published sources. The authors have not interviewed the business leaders in this case.
The version of record is available at: https://www.thecasecentre.org/products/view?id=200822
©2024 Amanda Bullough. No part of this publication may be copied, stored, transmitted, reproduced, or distributed in any form or medium whatsoever without the permission of the copyright owner.
Keywords
global climate change, global mindset, competitive advantage, business expansion, business strategy, product diversification, international market expansion, fast fashion, diversity, decent work and economic growth, industry, innovation and infrastructure, responsible consumption and production
Citation
Sanghvi, Shuchi, Nicholas Sava, Kelly Wild, Amanda Bullough, and Tosin Idowu-Kunlere. “The Future Vintages of a Cultural Commodity in China: Silver Heights Winery Leader, Emma Gao,” Women’s Leadership Initiative, Lerner College of Business & Economics, University of Delaware, 2024.