Beginning of THE END of MNCs or at least the MNC Mind-set?

Why and How MNCs succeeded in the past century in general and under the shadow of globalisation in particular?

Why the very proponents of globalisation turning their back and discussing about going back to their shell in the name of nationalistic protectionist measures ?

What is wrong with them now?

How MNCs from most developed nations, American as well as European, think about the emerging market ?

How growth strategies of MNCs are formulated?

What kind of elements go in those Business Plans – global or local flavour?

How Business opportunities are identified and attacked?

 As they search for the global growth engines, multinational corporations will have little choice but to compete with locals or among themselves in the ever burgeoning emerging markets of India, China, Brazil or Indonesia. While it is still common to question how such corporations will change life in those markets, Developed Market Executives would be smart enough to turn the question around and ask how multinationals themselves will be transformed by operating in these markets. To be successful in these markets, MNCs will have to rethink about every element of their business models.

History would remember the decade of 1980s as the gateway for the first wave of market entry of MNCs in the emerging market. Multinationals operated with what might be termed as imperialist mind-set, assuming that the emerging markets would merely be new markets for their old products. But this mind-set limited their success- What is truly big and emerging in countries like India and China is a new consumer base comprising hundreds of millions of people – what was to be added by even bigger number of bottom of the pyramid in the coming decades. To tap into this attractive opportunity, MNCs need to ask themselves some basic questions :

·        Who is in the emerging middle class in these countries ?

·        How do the distribution networks operate?

·        What mix of local and global leadership do you need to foster business opportunities?

·        Should you adopt a consistent strategy for all your business units within one country or diverse strategies for diverse mix of cultures within a country like India ?

·        Should you take on local partners?

 Surgical Strike is the need of the hour. The transformation that multinational corporations must undergo is not cosmetic. Simply developing greater sensitivity to local culture will not do the tricks. To compete in the big emerging markets, multinationals must recognise their true strengths and weaknesses, must reconfigure their resources, rethink their cost structures, redesign their product development processes, and challenge their assumptions about who their top-level managers should be !