Inclusion to influence: scaling TokyoLife’s disability employment model

Learning outcomes After completion of the case study, the students will be able to: Case overview/synopsis This case study is set at TokyoLife, a retail chain operating in the fashion and lifestyle sector in Vietnam. Between 2018 and 2025, the company developed and implemented the Angel Project, an initiative focused on integrating people with disabilities into its workforce through structured recruitment, training and workplace support. The initiative expanded from a small factory pilot to selected retail stores and later the House of Angels stores staffed primarily by disabled employees. HongHanh Nguyen, Chief Happiness Officer at TokyoLife, led the design and implementation of the model. By 2025, external organizations had expressed interest in replicating the approach, yet few were able to adopt it successfully. HongHanh now faced a dilemma: how to strategically scale the Angel employment model beyond TokyoLife in a way that ensures impact, feasibility and sustainability, while maintaining the core values that defined its success. Students are asked to advise HongHanh, using knowledge of strategic management and social innovation to analyze the pathway for broader adoption and address the dilemma. Complexity academic level This case is designed for undergraduate students in business and management majors. It fits well within courses on strategy, organizational culture and social entrepreneurship, particularly when introducing frameworks on diffusion of innovation, shared value creation and change management. The case is most suitable for use in the mid-to-later part of the course, once students have foundational knowledge of organizational behavior or social impact models. Subject code CSS11: Strategy.