Strategic tools for the practising manager
KIT
| India is home to 20 per cent of the world's population. It supports the world's youngest population, with a median age of 24 years where 50 per cent of its population is less than 25 years and 70 per cent is under 35. |
| By 2050, India is expected to have over 550 million people below 25 years and over 800 million people in the productive age group of 20 to 60 years. |
| Urban areas with 73 million households constitute 28 per cent of the country's population, with rural areas (150 million households) making up for the balance 72 per cent. |
| The top three categories vying for the urban Indian consumer's share of wallet are: food and grocery (62 per cent), durables (15 per cent) and apparel (9 per cent). |
| The rural Indian consumer's share of wallet is accounted for by food and grocery (73 per cent), pharmaceuticals (10 per cent) and apparel (7 per cent). |
| Emerging spends such as furniture, computers/ laptops/peripherals, mobile phones, Internet connections and so on, grew at 20 per cent in 2004-05, compared to regular spends (which grew at 4 per cent). |
| Children between 8 and 15 years influence spending on movies and eating out whereas teenagers (above 16 years) influence decisions involving big ticket items such as home appliances, electronics, vehicles and so on. |
| Selections from management journals NUGGETS |
| In this interview, Jean-Luc Chereau, the head of Carrefour China, discusses the French retailer's experience since opening its first Chinese store, in 1995. Before coming to mainland China, Chereau spent seven years in Taiwan. |
| He credits that experience with teaching him much about Chinese consumers and ways of doing business. The Carrefour executive also discusses the importance of adapting to local tastes and "" particularly as markets spread out from the biggest cities "" to local budgets. |
| Networks of Chinese partners and their knowledge of mainland consumers are crucial as well. Chereau says that when multinational companies explore the Chinese market, their failures often teach them more than their successes. |
| Read the interview at www.mckinseyquarterly.com |
| Lessons from a global retailer: An interview with the president of Carrefour China By Peter N Child The McKinsey Quarterly 2006 Special Edition: Serving the new Chinese consumer |
| The term "value chain" suggests an orderly progression of activities that allows managers to formulate profitable strategies and coordinate operations with suppliers and customers. |
| Using examples from the telecom, pharmaceutical, steel and auto industries, the authors argue for a more complex view of value "" one that is represented by a "value grid". |
| The grid approach allows firms to move beyond their industry lines to identify opportunities and threats. It pushes managers to understand the power balance between suppliers and manufacturers. |
| The new pathways to value can be vertical (as firms explore opportunities upstream or downstream from the adjacent tiers in their value chain); horizontal (as firms identify opportunities from spanning similar tiers in multiple value chains); and even diagonal (as firms look more integratively across value chains and tiers for prospects to enhance performance and mitigate risk). |
| Subscribe to the article at http://sloanreview.mit.edu |
| Evolving from value chain to value grid By Frits K Pil and Matthias Holweg MIT Sloan Management Review Summer 2006 Issue, Volume 47, Number 4 |
| WHO BOUGHT WHAT |
| Top online BUYS June 2006 |
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| Top Searches June 2006 |
| Source: ebay India (www.eBay.in) |