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Category Archives: Emerging Markets
;Beyond BRIC: Opportunities in Global Markets for Premium Beauty & Personal Care
For global beauty and cosmetics companies, emerging markets present an attractive target as consumers yearn for luxury products and premium brands. Developing global markets have been the buzz in the industry for some time – especially the usual suspects, i.e. … Read More…
The Outlook for the Brazilian Real
Recent oil discoveries, the hosting of the 2014 World Cup and the 2016 Olympics, as well as improved sovereign ratings from credit agencies, have firmly placed Brazil as a ‘must-have’ investment in every emerging market focused portfolio. However, investor interest … Read More…
Africa – A Closer Look
Africa is a continent that evokes a wide range of perspectives, from the cultural to the political to the economic. In all of these different, yet interrelated ways, it is clearly a force to be reckoned with. Consider a few … Read More…
Precious Metals – The Outlook for Silver and Gold
“The ultimate asset bubble.” This is how George Soros described gold last year, even as his fund took sizable long positions in the precious metal. Why not take advantage of rising values (so long as the bubble doesn’t burst), particularly … Read More…
The Cloud and Corporate Computing Capacity
A lot has been written about ‘cloud computing’ as the next megatrend that is set to change the IT landscape. Cloud computing is defined as a system where scalable and elastic IT capabilities (both hardware and software) are provided as … Read More…
Nuclear Energy in Germany
Nuclear energy has been heralded by many as one of the most important solutions to the growing energy demands of the world, particularly given concerns regarding increasing greenhouse gas emissions and the rising price of oil. The popularity of nuclear … Read More…
China and its Influence on the Global Rare Earth Metals Market
“The Middle East has its oil, China has rare earth metals.” —Deng Xiaoping, Chinese President (1992) Take an even a cursory look at any major business media today and China’s influence in the minerals and metals commodity markets is inescapable. … Read More…
Four key challenges for supply chains in 2011 and beyond
These four challenges are highlighted in this article, along with a high level look into the types of informational tools and techniques that can be leveraged to help manage them effectively. If there is a truism in supply chains, it … Read More…
6 Key Actions – Aligning supply chains with corporate strategy.
The supply chain and procurement executive(s) has a ‘seat at the executive table’. To illustrate its potential impact from a pure economic perspective, where else in an organization does one executive have the ability to influence and manage the cost … Read More…
Copper – Primer & Outlook
Copper is regarded as the most valuable of primary base metals, barring nickel, even though it is not the largest base metal market in the world. Indeed, it is considered a barometer for the state of the economy, given its … Read More…
Iceland’s Volcanic Ash Cloud and its Impact on Global Trade: A Primer
The volcanic eruption in Iceland has led to a crisis not only for the European air transportation industry, in particular, – disrupting air travel and air cargo operations across northern Europe – but also global commerce overall. The eruption of … Read More…
“Is it Safe?” The Outlook for Investment in Emerging Markets
There’s a classic scene in the 1976 hit movie, The Marathon Man, in which Laurence Olivier, playing a skilled dentist who is also a Nazi war criminal, is torturing a young Dustin Hoffman. Using his medical know-how and some frightening … Read More…
Are We Not Taking Enough Risk…?
…At least when it comes to Innovation and the Venture Capital community? In times of trouble, organizations tend to do two things – 1) Conserve cash and 2) Focus on what you know. This makes perfect sense for most corporates … Read More…
Making Sense of Supply Chain Risk
The last 12 months has undoubtedly been one of the most turbulent periods in economic history, with industries (and their constituent companies) across the globe experiencing levels of uncertainty that were unfathomable a mere 24 months earlier. In many respects, … Read More…
Rethinking China Outsourcing?
It’s amazing what a few short years will do to a country’s rock star status. Not so long ago, China was the outsourcing destination du jour with companies scrambling for the first available business class seat to establish their Asian … Read More…
The Credit Crunch and Outsourcing
The recent tumult in the markets – and its reverberations from Wall Street to Main Street – have made the business news channels compulsive viewing for executives across the globe. One group of professionals that have been keeping a close … Read More…
Offshoring – Taking its place within the Management Toolkit
One of the most intriguing findings from our recent Financial Services survey related to the impact of offshoring (and outsourcing*) on the financial job market – both in recent years as well as today. All in all, 70% of recruiters … Read More…
Is Corporate America Outsourcing Itself Out of Opportunities to Cultivate Future Leaders?
These days, companies aren’t questioning whether to outsource as much as they are pondering how best to go about it. Although still the proverbial hot potato fraught with workforce insecurities, political quagmires, and public relations sensitivities, outsourcing moved from “emerging … Read More…
The Asia vs. the West Business Debate: A Study in Strategy Contrasts
“We don’t try to grab market share quickly by competing on price. That’s not a long term, sustainable growth strategy.” Can you guess the technology CEO who recently said that? If you guessed anyone inhabiting the corner office of a … Read More…
Survey: Global Manufacturers Staying Put in China
(click here to view the press release) In the aftermath of the recent recalls of tainted and toxic China-made products, more than a few have speculated that manufacturers who have outsourced production operations there are no doubt rethinking their sourcing … Read More…