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Old Dog Learns New Tricks
A decade or so ago, Customer Satisfaction and Conjoint Analysis studies were all the rage. Virtually every company was carrying out these surveys on an annual or bi-annual basis. The fire was stoked by the necessity to conduct these surveys in order to obtain and maintain ISO certification. Chemical companies who had previously never performed these exercises found themselves using consumer industry type techniques to learn more about customers’ satisfaction levels. The questions were often general in nature and rather unspecific in direction. To make filling out forms easier, suppliers found ways of making them “fun” – scores were collected by moving smiles on a cartoon face or sliding a petrol pump gauge over from empty to full. Sometimes companies commissioned the studies because they thought they had to, but often the results were put in a drawer and forgotten.
Climbing the Ladder: The 5 “Rungs” of a Killer Growth Strategy
It seems rather obvious that most companies want to grow, in one way or another, and grow profitably at that. Whether it is to increase revenue, profits, or market share or physically expand with new facilities and more employees, striving for growth is a critical part of nearly every business strategy.
However, what that growth goal really looks like—and how to get there—are often not quite as obvious. For many companies, growth is an abstract goal. They have no clear and compelling agenda for exactly what they want or need to achieve. Articulating this vision is absolutely crucial, as this forms the solid foundation upon which any successful growth strategy must be firmly based. In order to get there, you have to first establish where “there” is. Otherwise, how will you know if/when you’ve arrived? Or if you’ve veered off course?
Lubricants in BRIC Countries
According to a September 2013 International Monetary Fund (IMF) report, the global economy is experiencing transition on an “epic” scale, with turbulence within emerging markets potentially negatively impacting global growth by 0.5% to 1.0%. The report further claimed that all emerging markets – in particular Brazil, India, and Indonesia – have suffered due to the threat of slowing asset purchases by the U.S. Federal Reserve, which has effectively tightened their respective money supplies. By contrast, both the United States and European Union have returned to – albeit sluggish – growth.
Shaking Things Up: How Smart Companies Overcome Industry Stagnation through M&A
Every industry goes through a similar lifecycle, from emerging to evolving, then reaching maturity and finally, decline. Early on, new players enter the market, taking advantage of the broad opportunities that exist during the emerging and evolving phases and often driving stellar growth in the process.
On the road to maturity, consolidation inevitably shifts the balance of market share into the hands of a few key players, just as we’ve seen over the last few decades in the chemicals industry and more recently in consumer products, such as the U.S. toothpastes market, in which three companies control about 80% of the market share. This consolidation typically occurs through M&A, which can breathe new life into stalled portfolios and re-ignite revenue growth. But how do you know when it’s time to pursue this strategy? And what kind of specific challenges can M&A help solve?
The Twilight of Group I: How changes in lubricant formulations are driving fundamental shifts in base oil supply and pricing
The move toward lower viscosity, higher VI, lower volatility automotive engine oils demanded by modern vehicles per U.S. ILSAC GF-5 (and, prospectively, GF-6) and European ACEA standards has caused blenders to move to higher-performance Group II+ and Group III, and away from Group I, base oil stocks as they reformulate their recipes. While the initial impacts of these reformulation trends are being felt in the OECD countries, global advancements in engine oil formulations are inexorable.
Taming the Serpent: How to Stake a Smart Claim in the Ever-changing Chinese Market
In this, the Year of the Snake, many well-established companies are finding the dramatic changes in China to be a serpent that is hard to grasp. Myriad rapid social, economic, and governmental evolutions in this turbulent economy have left many executives scratching their heads and, in some cases, feeling bitten. Multiple economic and industrial factors
Mastering the M&A Dance: How to Turn “No” Today into “Yes” Tomorrow
With companies accruing hordes of cash in the wake of the market crash, private equity continuing to raise more money, and companies scratching at every opportunity to gain a competitive advantage, most companies approach M&A candidates with an immediate need to strike a deal while the iron is hot.
Under intense pressure to meet aggressive growth objectives and lock up deals with the hottest prospects before their competitors do, most companies aim to expand their portfolio with new business that will accrete value now, or at least in the very near term within two to three years. If their offer is declined or rebuffed by a potential candidate, most quickly move on to find another target with high-growth potential. They simply do not have the time to continue the courtship, and most fail to revisit those prospects after some time has passed.
Integrated Pricing Strategy: Achieving a Sustainable Advantage
Achieving a sustainable pricing advantage is becoming progressively difficult, yet increasingly more important as global economic pressures, depleting resources and raw materials, energy price volatility, and regional anomalies cause major shifts in the value chain economics across all industries.
The problem is that mastering a sustainable pricing strategy to achieve competitive differentiation requires any organization to adopt a dynamic and integrated approach. However, the complexities of this concept force some two-thirds of all manufacturers to cling to a cost-plus strategy, despite its well-known shortcomings as a reactive posture that leaves money on the table and ignores market and customer dynamics.
A Swiss Army Knife in a Tube – Multifunctional Professional Beauty Products
Multifunctionality has its beauty. The consumer has demanded versatility, and beauty product marketers are responding. Borne out of both an economic impetus with consumers seeking to reduce their expenditure and the simple pragmatism of retailers optimizing finite shelf-space by rationalizing their inventory, the market’s embracing of mass non-professional branded multifunctional beauty products is attracting a growing number of professional brands keen to remain competitive.
