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Category Archives: Emerging Markets
Examining the Growth Potential of Coffee in India and China
By Mayank Tripathi, Strategic Services China and India, the two most populous countries in the world, have traditionally been tea drinkers. In 2011, their per capita annual coffee consumption was a mere 25 and 80 grams, compared to 12.3 kg … Read More…
Japan, Methane Gas, and Energy Independence
By Sanchita Arora, Strategic Services Overview In Q1 2013, the world’s energy landscape witnessed a potential game-changing development. Japan extracted methane gas from deep-sea deposits of methane hydrate in the Nankai Trough, 50 miles south of Atsumi Peninsula. The discovery … Read More…
The Digital Evolution Among the BRIC Countries
With surging broadband penetration and rising consumer demand for smartphones and tablets, the music industry stands at a critical crossroad—deal with declining physical format sales and different forms of online piracy. The digital music industry includes Internet music downloads, online … Read More…
Rising Prevalence of Diabetes in Emerging Countries: Implications for Pharmaceutical Companies
The increasing prevalence of lifestyle diseases, such as diabetes and cardiovascular disease (CVD), has been a cause of concern for emerging countries on account of a combination of genetic, social and economic factors. Diabetic patients have been consistently growing despite … Read More…
Is the Manufacturing Sourcing Model Changing?
Emerging markets in Southeast Asia, South America, and Eastern Europe have become attractive manufacturing locations for many industries, primarily because of their cheap labor and FDI- friendly environment. Additionally, governments in these fast-growing markets have encouraged the emergence and growth … Read More…
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…



