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This is the first of a three-case series (308-358-1 to 308-360-1). Muller & Company is a German, family-owned mid-sized company designing, manufacturing and marketing high-end office furniture. The declining market in Europe has driven down Muller''s revenues and profit margins, and Muller''s directors see growth in China and other parts of Asia as vital for Muller''s survival. Muller has an assembly and regional marketing headquarters in Sydney as a result of a recent large project. The directors must now consider whether and how Muller can tap into the phenomenal growth in China, whether from their current Australian base or by establishing operations in China. Key considerations are: (1) Muller''s financial and management resource constraints; (2) choice of value-chain activities to locate in China and in what sequence; and (3) Muller''s competitiveness in the market, and the transferability of it''s core management values. This case can be used as the background for role-based discussion, assigning case (B) Guenter Hahne, and case (C) Marc Schmidt (Managing Director, Germany and Director, Asia-Pacific, respectively) to different groups of students.