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Building Business in Emerging Markets

Building Business in Emerging Markets
Building Business in Emerging Markets

India is on the minds of business leaders everywhere. Within a few decades, India will be the world’s most populous nation and one of its largest economies. it is also a complex and a challenging market.

Many global companies are cautious when it comes to investing in India. But India is not a market that can be ignored. A $2 trillion economy growing at 5-6% annually, it is an important market, the Indian Institute of Management based in Bangalore said Friday.

The institute says a CXO program is to be held on November 3-7, 2014 titled: Building Business in Emerging Markets. This program will examine what it takes to lead and manage multinational firms in India and other emerging markets that have many similar characteristics.

Even more importantly, chaotic India is an archetype for most emerging markets, many of which present similar challenges but not the same potential. Succeeding in India therefore becomes a litmus test for your ability to succeed in other emerging markets. If you can win in India, you can win everywhere.

Emerging markets like India are very tough places but for most multinational firms, the bigger challenge to succeeding in them may well be the internal culture and mind-set at headquarters. The unwillingness to make a long-term commitment to the new market or to adequately trust local leadership, combined with the propensity to rigidly replicate the products, business models, and operating systems that have worked at home drives many companies to a “midway trap” that results in these markets remaining an irrelevantly small contributor to global growth and profits.

 Challenging Region

India as like a representative of many emerging markets and looks at what it takes to win in this complex and challenging region. How do you deal with the chaos — and even prosper from it? How do you deal with corruption? With bureaucratic logjams and policy uncertainty? What kind of leadership do you need both on the ground and, even more importantly, at headquarters? Should you consider a joint venture or acquisitions? How do you develop a winning strategy? How do you decide what elements of your global model to replicate and which elements need to be localized? What kind of an organization structure will facilitate agility in dynamic markets? How do you drive innovation locally?

The program will also look at the challenges faced by Indian firms as they become more global. Emerging market MNCs going into Africa or the US, face challenges not dissimilar to Microsoft, P&G or Apple entering India.  The program will end with a look at globalization. How is globalization different from internationalization? What kind of leadership will it take to succeed and how do you develop such leaders? What is the role of Boards in globalization?

Financialtribune.com