Market entry involves a host of considerations, some obvious, others less so, especially when the target market is a foreign country. MNI Partners’ broad knowledge of business and markets in Asia, Europe, and the United States includes first-hand experience with arranging market surveys, local partnerships, key executive hiring, approvals, licenses, site selection, and so on. We have also trained companies on local mind-sets and work cultures and local approaches to problem solving.
Intelligent market entry is especially important as relates to burgeoning Asia. Many companies have a single Asia strategy that treats India and China together, countries similar in population and economic growth, but vastly dissimilar in terms of political structures and government and local operating and legal environments. MNI Partners has deep experience with both these giant nations. This was gained, in part, from a study comparing the Chinese and Indian business environment for the textile industry, conducted jointly with a major Indian investment bank. It analyzed the effects of each country’s growth and liberalization programs, regulatory environment and contemporaneous culture on the growth of their respective industries.
Case study: Addressing India with the global steel cord leader
A global steel cord leader, itself no stranger to the Indian market, nevertheless engaged MNI Partners to help it navigate the complex process of establishing a foreign business on Indian soil. Heading the list of considerations to be addressed in the proposal for the siting of the planned plant were power and pollution. Steel cord plants are exceedingly power-intensive and smooth, uninterrupted power is essential to product quality. To assure reliability in the supply of power, continuous process industry status had to be secured, which involved lengthy discussions with the State Electricity Board. Additionally, because drawn wire is coated by means of electroplating, emission of polluted effluents and disposal of hazardous wastes had to be accommodated. Environmental clearance involved procuring consent first from the state government Pollution Control Board and then from the central government.
A global steel cord leader, itself no stranger to the Indian market, nevertheless engaged MNI Partners to help it navigate the complex process of establishing a foreign business on Indian soil. Heading the list of considerations to be addressed in the proposal for the siting of the planned plant were power and pollution. Steel cord plants are exceedingly power-intensive and smooth, uninterrupted power is essential to product quality. To assure reliability in the supply of power, continuous process industry status had to be secured, which involved lengthy discussions with the State Electricity Board. Additionally, because drawn wire is coated by means of electroplating, emission of polluted effluents and disposal of hazardous wastes had to be accommodated. Environmental clearance involved procuring consent first from the state government Pollution Control Board and then from the central government.
MNI Partners analyzes market entry on a variety of levels. It examines culture, bureaucracy, and business environment as well as industry, product, and implicated technologies. A client company is first introduced, through informal exchanges, to the culture of a target country and a preliminary assessment made of market requirements in order to arrive at a potential portfolio of products and marketing strategy. When a product portfolio has been defined, rapport is cultivated with prospective customers through formal presentations and workshops. MNI Partners can assist with the full range of activities involved at this stage including finalizing focused market offerings, devising specific marketing strategies, and customizing marketing materials to suit local tastes and requirements. We also have extensive experience taking businesses through the next phase of crystallizing, and establishing structures for leveraging, business opportunities. This phase involves consideration of supply chain management and the potential to engage with local partners in collaboration, joint ventures, and other relationships.
With the global financial crisis exerting pressure on the demand side of industries’ supply chain systems, MNI Partners has inaugurated a research project aimed at understanding and mapping these systems, many of these which have multiple branches, the financial impact of which can be highly variable. The project is expected to yield a methodology for applying this knowledge to the evaluation of possibilities posed by emerging technologies, substitute products, and new markets. MNI Partners will add this capability to the resources it makes available to client companies for which managing the demand side of the supply chain at a much deeper level has now become imperative.