Selections from management journals

NUGGETS

Over the past 20 years, waves of liberalisation have all but washed away protectionist barriers in developing countries. As multinational corporations from North America, western Europe, Japan and South Korea stormed into the emerging markets, many local companies lost market share or sold off businesses "" but some fought back.

India's Mahindra & Mahindra, China's Haier Group, and many other corporations in developing countries have held their own against the onslaught, restructured their businesses, exploited new opportunities, and built world-class companies that are today giving their global rivals a run for their money.

In this article, the authors, citing the results of their six-year study of "emerging giants", describe the three strategies these businesses used to become effective global competitors "" despite facing financial and bureaucratic disadvantages in their home markets.

While some capitalised on their knowledge of local product markets, others have exploited their knowledge of local talent and capital markets. And many of these emerging giants have exploited institutional voids to create profitable businesses.

Emerging Giants: Building World-Class Companies in Developing Countries
Tarun Khanna and Krishna G Palepu
Harvard Business Review,
October 2006
Subscribe to this article at www.hbr.com

Executives, in their search for ways to
make organisations function more successfully, frequently adopt simplistic solutions. A new analysis of more than 230 global businesses shows that combinations of carefully selected actions can be far more effective than one-dimensional interventions.

Although organisations tend to perform better when they use specific practices to make employees accountable, to set goals and priorities, and to establish a performance culture, they achieve the best results by undertaking all three simultaneously. Companies with a lot of organisational baggage "" the legacy, perhaps, of a strong culture or leadership style "" may need to modify this "base case".

Managing Your Organisation By The Evidence
Keith Leslie, Mark A Loch and William Schaninge
The McKinsey Quarterly,
2006 Number 3
Read this article at www.mckinseyquarterly.com

Strategic tools for the practising manager
KIT

THIS WEEK: INDIA'S RAPID RETAIL TRANSFORMATION

An investment of over $22 billion is expected in the next five years in Indian retail and supply chain.

At least 2.5 million additional direct jobs are likely to be created in the next five years due to the changing retail landscape.

Hyper-competition is expected to set in by 2008-09 as the footprint of the top six players starts overlapping in the top 20-30 towns.

The impact will be confined to 300,000 to 500,000 retailers in smaller towns who will come in the direct range of about 1,000 hypermarkets and over 3,000 supermarkets.

Currently, the retail market is worth $300 billion, with just $9 billion coming from the organised sector. However, organised retail, growing at 30 per cent a year, is expected to reach $26 billion by 2010.

BY 2010, the total retail market will cross $427 billion, with the bulk of the growth coming from the unorganised sector.

Kit by Technopak Advisors