Every year multinationals fail to plan for major external events that impact their performance. Why would 2014 be any different?
While executives in emerging markets can’t predict the future, they can plan for events that create business risks and opportunities. What if all companies had built contingency plans in the event of a housing bust and financial crisis in 2007? What if strategic planning departments had used frameworks that suggested the emerging-markets financial crisis of 1997 was imminent— in 1996? 2014 could be a year to remember for similar reasons, in that the business environment we have documented in our strategic planning assumptions is not the one we will likely be living in by year’s end. Emerging markets continue to underperform, exposing political volatility in countries such as Brazil and Turkey, and financial vulnerability in countries such as China. Most mature economies are muddling through at best. Too many regional and country leaders at multinational companies are hoping to do the same, enshrining optimistic expectations about their markets’ growth and stability into their 2014 plans.
The key events that will impact multinationals in 2014
In this white paper, Frontier Strategy Group analysts have selected the ten most important potential events that could significantly disrupt business performance in the coming year.
These events are not built into the 2014 planning assumptions of the vast majority of our more than 200 clients. If they occur, companies will withstand the impact only if they have made preparations in advance, or are very lucky. The best prepared could achieve a moment of breakout overperformance while competitors flounder. Click the button below to download FSG’s 10 Emerging Market Events to Watch in 2014 white paper.
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