During the final weeks of 2011, Frontier Strategy Group spent a great deal of time speaking with emerging markets executives to understand their top priorities for 2012. The chief concern for nearly every executive we spoke with largely boils down to, “How can I maintain growth in the face of market deceleration?” Corporate expectations are roughly in line with the performance achieved in 2011, despite increasing external headwinds, uncertainty, and volatility.
As we began to unpackage and dig a bit deeper into these concerns, we identified four very common issue sets that we will address in our quarterly global business analysis and executive forums in 2012:
Responding to Local Competitors
- What are the most successful Western MNCs doing to counter the threat of local and emerging markets-based rivals?
- What are the most successful tactics for responding to price competition while preserving margins?
- How can multinationals best leverage their strengths and mitigate their weaknesses to beat local companies in the war for talent?
Streamlining the Strategic Planning Process
- How can I accelerate processes and ensure that time spent on strategic planning yields strong returns?
- What are the best mechanisms for collecting local market insight from my team?
- How can I more effectively make my case to the corporate center?
Walking the Channel Management Tightrope: Direct vs. Indirect
- What is the right balance between direct and indirect sales?
- How have leading companies managed the transition from indirect to direct, or vice versa?
- When is the right time to terminate a distributor relationship, and how can I minimize disruption through the transition?
Managing the M&A Lifecycle
- When is inorganic growth preferable to organic growth?
- What are the best (and worst) practices for identifying and screening potential targets?
- How can I more seamlessly integrate the new team and infuse my “corporate DNA?”
What do you think will be the most important challenge facing emerging markets executives in 2012? Give us your feedback by clicking on this link.
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