Strategic tools for the practising manager

KIT

THE Retail sector will witness huge transformation during next five to seven years with more than $30 billion investments being planned in the organised retail domain.

THE Dominance of a few large players is imminent with about 70 per cent of the investments expected to come from the top seven players.

Almost 70 per cent of the $30 billion is expected to come from Indian players.

With this kind of investment, organised retail is expected to reach a size of around $90-100 billion by 2011, having a 20-22 per cent share of total retail.

Of the $30-billion investments being planned over the next five years, almost all investments (that is, 94 per cent) are slated for urban markets.

ALThough the investments being planned are expected to be across the spectrum of all types of cities, the majority of the investments (more than 60 per cent) is slated for the top 25 cities, which fall in the category of A-type or above.

Urban investments are slated to be across all formats, although majority share will be taken by supermarkets and hypermarkets.

NUGGETS
Selections from management journals

The emerging biofuel industry is attractive to many companies but full of uncertainty. Major factors affecting the industry's profitability "" feedstock costs, regulation, and technologies "" are in flux.

Despite these uncertainties, waiting to enter might be costly because resources are in short supply. Companies that decide to enter now will have to mitigate risk by hedging bets and building relationships that help reduce uncertainty and volatility.

Betting on biofuels
By William K Caesar, Jens Riese and Thomas Seitz
The McKinsey Quarterly, Number 2, 2007
Read the article at www.mckinseyquarterly.com

The imperial CEO is a thing of the past. Turnover among chief executives has reached a fairly high, but stable, plateau. In this "new normal" state, investors are taking a more active role in management, boards are learning to be more involved, and successful chief executives accept diverse points of view.

CEOs are finding they must embrace and reflect the concerns of board members, investors and other constituencies, including employees and government.

Today's inclusive CEOs must be willing to engage in dialogue with investors, employees and government; to surround themselves with managers who complement their own capabilities; and to maintain transparency in their communications about results and compensation.

The era of the inclusive leader
By Chuck Lucier, Steven Wheeler and Rolf Habbel
Special report, Summer 2007, strategy+business
Read the report at www.strategy-business.com