Strategic tools for the practising manager

KIT

This week: The Indian coffee market

With about 0.3 million tonnes of annual output, India is the fifth-largest coffee producer in the world, accounting for 4.5 per cent of total production. Over 75 per cent of production is exported, of which more than half is exported to four countries "" Russia, Italy, Yugoslavia and Japan. India has lost nearly two-thirds of the Russian coffee market to Vietnam in the past few years as Vietnamese coffee is 50 per cent cheaper than Indian coffee.

In India, Karnataka is the largest coffee-producing state, accounting for about 70 per cent of the production (of which 54 per cent is Arabica coffee and 46 per cent is Robusta). Robusta is dominant in Kerala (which accounts for 95 per cent of planted area) and Arabica in Tamil Nadu (which accounts for 82 per cent of planted area). Organic coffee consumption in many countries is picking up and is an opportunity for India. In the Past five years, coffee consumption in India has shot up from 60,000 tonnes to 80,000 tonnes. Coffee penetration stands at 65 per cent, considerably low as compared to tea, and consumption is highest among the 15-44 years age group.

Selections from management journals
NUGGETS

Richard Rumelt, a professor at UCLA's Anderson School of Management, has been one of the world's most influential voices on many important topics in the field of strategy: the role of industry in the profitability of businesses, the allocation of resources as well as the effects of diversification.

He explains why strategic planning isn't necessarily strategic, how Apple got the iPod right, and why bullet points aren't a great way to communicate. Rumelt also provides a glimpse into the emerging field of strategy dynamics, which can help companies identify important changes in their environments.

Strategy's strategist:
An interview with
Richard Rumelt
By Dan P Lovallo and Lenny T Mendonca
The McKinsey Quarterly, Number 4, 2007
Read the interview at www.mckinseyquarterly.com

For several years now, analysts have been predicting that India's information technology industry is set for a period of consolidation. It hasn't happened yet. While large firms like Infosys and Wipro will continue to dominate the scene, analysts predict that middle-tier IT firms that build specific expertise in select vertical markets and even within specific business processes will also stay competitive.

India Knowledge@Wharton spoke with IT firm managers and other experts to gauge the opportunities and threats confronting mid-tier IT companies as they plan the next phase of their growth.

Mid-tier Indian IT firms map their success by remaining in the middle
Knowledge@Wharton , August 09, 2007
Read this article at http://knowledge.wharton.upenn.edu/india/