Financial Services

Financial Services

In the 21st century’s increasingly hypercompetitive borderless world, mergers and acquisitions remain the preferred growth strategy for domestic companies and the preferred investment route for emerging market multinationals undertaking FDI in developed markets. Foreign listings of a company enable rapid equity-funded expansion at home and abroad, facilitate acquisitions with publicly traded stock rather than with cash, improves the balance sheet and financial health of a company, among others. Collectively, these benefits along with hikes in sales, profit, earnings and cash flow help maximize shareholder and firm values.

Global Trade

What We Do

Export Market Opportunities/Risks Analysis

We provide companies customized market analysis and research that meets their concrete global markets expansion needs including but not limited to a) identifying/selecting the most attractive international markets for their products, b) looking for opportunities to diversify their existing product(s) range, c) market analysis tools that help exporters, stay up to date with the supply and demand trends of their products, improve their selection of export markets and trading partners, d) information on customs tariffs applied by around 187 countries, e) non-tariff market access regulations applied by countries to imported products,  f) country risk analysis for entry, operation, etc., g) access to the necessary contract forms to protect themselves, bridge many legal and cultural traditions by harmonizing recurring legal provisions common to most international contracts, h) access international strategic alliance contract forms, etc. Export Intermediation   We focus on creating long-term value for companies by prioritizing their interests. Through strategic alliances with our global partners, we help trade happen by moving an exporter’s physical goods from the local market to the international markets where they are needed. B2B Ecommerce   B2B  eCommerce offers exporters unprecedented opportunities to sell their products online.  Leveraging our strategic alliances with some of the top-ranked global e-commerce platform operators, we help companies sell their products to other international businesses through these high-profile online sales portals. Contact with us today to learn how we can help your company hike its international sales and profits.

Self- disruption and/or self- cannibalization as potential source(s) of sustainable competitive advantage

Should your well-established, entrenched, incumbent, experienced and profitable organization self-disrupt and/or cannibalize some of its own most profitable products/services as a pathway to ensure its long-run profitability and going concern status? Is this a rhetorical question?  Honestly, if you were the CEO of a relatively large global multinational corporation that was confronted with dwindling sales and shrinking margins resulting from rapid changes in consumer requirements/preferences, shorter product life cycles, regionalism and/or globalization and severe competitive pressures, and this self- disruption/cannibalization idea/thought was proposed to you for consideration,  how would you react? This is not a rhetorical question because this is a real-world/ practical situation that confronts many developed market multinational entities [DMMEs] especially DMMEs in North America and Europe. Depending on the organization’s sense of urgency and the nature of the response, i.e. proactive, reactive or passive you may self-disrupt and/or self-cannibalize and thus successfully thwart potential disruptors/agile competitors and retain/gain market share and margins or you could fall prey to disruption and thus lose market share along with eroding profitability. If I may quote Steve Jobs to reinforce a useful point here, “If you don’t cannibalize yourself, someone else will”(Jobs, n.d). Under the leadership of Steve Jobs Apple disrupted entire industries and had a track record of cannibalizing its own products all while avoiding being disrupted. This attribute along with its own innovative culture has been key sources of Apple’s competitive advantage and drivers of enterprise growth and profitability. But as a business/competitive strategy in the 21st century undergoes “radical” transformation Apple’s lone differentiation generic strategy may not save it from losing market share to global rivals employing integrative generic strategies unless Apple reembraces self-cannibalization which had been ignored/lost under current management. (more…)

How you can use disruptive innovation to crush your most powerful competitors

If your business operates in the steel or auto sectors then you probably know or have heard about disruptive innovation because your industry has already been disrupted by disruptors such Nucor Corp  or Toyota, Hyundai, Kia, etc.   Does it mean that every traditional incumbent is at risk of being disrupted by some small, obscure, under resource company or a traditional incumbent? Not if you, the traditional incumbent is the disruptor like Dow Corning whose forward thinking, proactive, agile, and adaptive approach enabled it to escape disruption by becoming the disruptor and was thus was able to overcome the challenges posed by its relatively small low cost rivals and/or large supplier rivals in the standard silicones business. Dow Corning was known for its innovative high quality products supported by strong service offerings for which customers paid premium prices. However, in the late 1990s commoditization of the standard silicon business presented existential threats to the company’s core business which had slowed dramatically.  Confronted with declining performance resulting from customer defections to smaller local suppliers, economies derived from improved efficiency of global and local rivals to undercut their standard silicon products business, Dow Corning embraced and applied the theory of disruptive innovation along with technological leadership to develop high quality standard silicon products which were competitively priced and successfully  engineered a turnaround in the company’s fortune. (more…)

Globalization

Globalization is a rapidly growing and irreversible phenomenon involving a shift towards a more integrated, borderless and interdependent world economy. It is driven by declining trade barriers, changes in and advancements in communication, information, and transportation technology among other forces. Globalization has transformed how businesses operate, compelling companies to reassess and/or change their organizations and open minds as well as boundaries. During the second half of the 20th century, the developed markets of the U.S., E.U. and Japan (collectively termed “triad”) accounted for the bulk of total World GDP and GDP growth. However, during the first decade of the 21st century, despite the tepid economic growth recorded throughout many regions of the world, the rapidly developing economies [RDEs], notably the BRIC (Brazil, Russia, India, and China) economies outperformed their triad rivals. It is projected that together the BRIC economies could be larger than the G6 by 2033 and account for more than 50% of incremental world GDP growth during the second through the third decades of the 21st century. With stellar economic growth forecasted through the first half of the 21st century, the BRIC and other smaller RDEs should rank very high on the global expansion destinations for organizations which seek incremental sales and profit growth opportunities to ensure their long term survival. Globalization has transformed how businesses operate, compelling companies to reassess and/or change their organizations and open minds as well as boundaries. The overarching question facing large numbers of organizations today is no longer whether to globalize but how to effectively compete in an interdependent, complex, and hypercompetitive business environment. To accurately address this overarching question, an organizational must first answer several fundamental questions concerning how to globalize operations to effectively meet an organization’s strategic growth and globalization objectives. These questions include but are not limited to:

1. Which opportunistic market(s) should we pursue in the most efficient targeted way, what is the optimal mode of entry given existing firm based resources and market risk profile?
2. Do we know how to build/improve capabilities to compete effectively to gain/retain market leadership positions globally, in particular overcoming the cost advantages, market knowledge and unique institutional void competencies developed by emerging market multinationals to operate successfully in domestic and international markets?
3. Can we change and transform to become a globally advantaged organization that records “profitable” growth in rapidly developing economies while retaining/growing market share in the triads?
4. Is our global strategy flexible to effectively pursue and win growth opportunities in an increasingly hypercompetitive global business environment?
5. Have we engaged an enduring and capable network of stakeholders to actively and successfully coordinate activities globally to achieve a higher level of profitable growth?
6. Can we uncover the hidden growth opportunities in overlooked regions and/or future markets, are our business models economically viable, and do we possess the capabilities to exploit these opportunities?
7. Do we have the management talent to champion our strategy, support and promote our global aspiration?
8. Is our projected financial performance realistic and achievable?

  At TMCG, our singular focus is to assist organizations build and enhance critical capabilities to transform operations and leverage their core competencies to gain and/or retain market share in global markets. Our efforts are influenced by the dynamic and rapidly changing nature of the twenty first century’s increasingly complex and hypercompetitive global business environment. Globalization is in the DNA of every successful forward thinking organization regardless of its age, size, industry /sector or home country. We work collaboratively with clients to formulate unique global strategies and serve as a key resource for implementing these strategies. Irrespective of an organization’s internationalization experiences either as a first time exporter or has made substantial commitments through foreign direct investment in host countries, the internationalization process must be preceded by comprehensive country and business risk analyses. These analytic and decision support systems aid organizations in; 1) uncovering the optimal entry mode(s), 2) evaluating data for determining business opportunities and risks to recommend business development initiatives, 3) evaluating data for determining business opportunities and risks to recommend investment initiatives, and 4) evaluating data for determining business opportunities and risks to recommend operations initiatives. Our thorough knowledge of local markets enables us to facilitate our clients’ successful market entry, business development, investments and operations initiatives in host countries. These market expansion efforts, in particular those that venture into inherently risky RDEs which are plagued by institutional voids. However, these RDEs are the most opportunistic markets in the first half of the 21st century because of the growing middle class population, relatively younger demographics, relatively large but low wage educated labor force. The RDEs have increased in importance not only as a destination for low wage/cost labor, coordinating global logistics, and raw materials sourcing, but also as significant sources of revenue and profit for global multinationals. The recent accelerated expansion of RDE multinationals into the triads has been driven by the need to escape institutional voids in home markets, acquire capabilities to improve international competitiveness, acquire/build managerial expertise, recruit capable global employees, search for growth opportunities presented by network effects which moderates the economies of scale advantages of incumbents in the triads, just to mention four. TMCG is also key resource which facilitates the strategic growth and globalization efforts of young, emerging and incumbent companies in developed and emerging markets. In the 21st century, forward thinking organizations may have to merge, acquire, form alliances, divest and restructure business activities to grow, create, and leverage competitive advantage(s). Whether growth is generated organically through internal resource based capabilities and/or externally through mergers and acquisitions is largely dependent on an organization’s strategic plans or influenced by the dynamic operating economic and industry environments. We advise and work with clients’ management to formulate and implement the most effective and cost efficient market entry option(s), including but not limited to strategic alliances, mergers and acquisitions, and greenfield investments.

Alternative Grand Strategies: Market penetration vs Market development dilemma for U.S-EU SMEs

Based on anecdotal evidence from observations of the business environments in the developed markets of North America and the EU in the 21st century, this blog aims to argue the case for the moderation in the reliance of market penetration strategy as the optimal grand strategy for achieving developed markets operating entities, but in particular developed markets SMEs’ long term objectives.   Since grand/master/corporate level strategies are the strategies for achieving a diversified/multi-business firm’s long term objectives the prudent selection of the optimal mix of the more than dozen available strategies demands careful strategic analysis and strategic choice by forward thinking organizations. Master strategies can be classified in a variety of ways, but the four common ones are: 1. Growth Strategies a) Concentration strategies; b) Integration strategies; and c) Diversification strategies The rationale for pursuing growth strategies is apparent because absent sustainable/profitable growth the going concern status of any entity would be negatively impacted regardless of the firm’s age, size, industry, country of origin, etc 2. Stability/Neutral Strategies These strategies dictate that that the company keeps doing what it has been doing to maintain its competitive position.  Firms most likely to pursue stability strategies are? (more…)

Selecting among alternative generic strategies for gaining competitive advantage: Past, Present, and Future.

The title of the blog may seem a misnomer since unlike grand strategies of which there are at least a dozen alternatives/options organizations may choose from and implement to achieve their long-run objectives. The alternative generic strategies available to organizations for gaining a competitive advantage, on the other hand, are a bit narrower. Porter’s competitive strategy typology is the most popular, internally consistent, and academically well-accepted framework, however, there are also a number of less popular frameworks. Given that the external environment exerts measurable influences on Porter’s five forces that shape strategy, businesses may have to craft appropriate responses by altering their existing business-level strategy to gain/retain/enhance competitive advantage.  Overall cost leadership, differentiation, and focus positions are the three generic-business level strategies often mentioned in the strategy literature and implemented in practice by U.S. and other companies worldwide and across a broad spectrum of industries. Professor Porter argued that strategic advantage can be gained by concentrating on either the superior cost strategy or the differentiation strategy. In other words, companies perform best by choosing one strategy to concentrate on, i.e. Porter’s generic strategies are mutually exclusive.  The conclusion from a number of competitive strategy studies lends support to Porter’s mutually exclusive generic strategies perspective by suggesting that the singular focus on either the superior cost or differentiation strategy leads to larger market share which then ultimately leads to higher profitability. The common characteristics shared by the leading companies pursuing the superior cost position or the differentiation strategy do not vary across industries. It is noteworthy to understand some researchers contend that a combination of these strategies (i.e. integrated/mixed/ambidextrous strategy) may offer a company the best chance to achieve a competitive advantage. In fact, Porter also did suggest that cost leadership and differentiation can be simultaneously pursued under certain rare conditions but it is unclear how this integrated strategy could be successfully implemented. Apple is an example of an entity that implements the highly differentiated strategy whereas Walmart pursues the superior cost leadership strategy. The mutual exclusivity of the generic strategy framework (i.e. singular generic strategy)   was posited/ advanced more than three decades ago when developed markets and developed markets multinationals (DMMEs) dominated both the global economy and the global competitive landscape.  Fast forward to the 21^st century’s hyper competitive VUCA environment and the question every operating entity but especially the forward thinking entities which seek to formulate and implement competitive strategies for sustainable profitable growth,  capture/enhance/retain market share  must ask is why, when and how do we implement the integrated strategy for sustainable competitive advantage? Now, if you are a business owner, CEO, or a business executive, what should make you sleep like a baby, i.e. wake up every two hours crying? Well, first, the accelerated innovation and accelerated internationalization of emerging market multinationals (EMMEs). Second, the rising phenomenon termed globality and the fact that in long run globalization is irreversible.  Finally, the successful implementation of the integrated/mixed/ambidextrous generic strategy by EMMEs especially select entities from China. To contextualize the argument, let’s take the case of Apple in China and how it lost relatively significant market share to local competitors pursuing the integrated strategy and in particular the market share gains by the relatively new competitors Oppo and Vivo and before Oppo/Vivo, Xiaomi.  Apple is and will continue to be a formidable juggernaut so we give credit where it is due.  In fact, Apple’s market share in China and globally seem to be stabilizing and since Apple has not altered its differentiation business strategy,  then one could argue that the lone singular generic strategy or mutually exclusive generic strategy perspective is just as useful today as it was four decades ago. However, from the author’s humble perspective the utility of the lone/singular generic strategy in the 21^st century is open to debate for a number of reasons but especially because; 1) consumers in the rapidly developing economies of Asia, Africa, LATAM and MENAT which are also perhaps largest market for smartphones and basic consumer products seem to have embraced the “good enough” value propositions delivered at relatively affordable prices so that consumers who are seeking to buy relatively “high quality products” with similar functionalities as the premium priced highly differentiated offerings of DMMEs can afford to buy them and this is a game changer in the long run framework. Consequently, it is proposed that the integrated strategy rather than the popular lone/singular generic strategy of the 20^th century should be the optimal competitive strategy implemented by profit seeking entities worldwide in the 21^st century.

Our Key Services

Globalization

Globalization is a rapidly growing and irreversible phenomenon involving a shift towards a more integrated, borderless and interdependent world economy. It is driven by declining trade barriers, changes in and advancements in communication, information, and transportation technology among other forces. Globalization has transformed how businesses operate, compelling companies to reassess and/or change their organizations and open minds as well as boundaries

Innovation

Innovation is such a necessity in the twenty first century’s hypercompetitive world that businesses that fail to undertake strategic investments in R&D to introduce innovative products, services, processes or business models run the risk of being eclipsed by innovative competitors, lose key staff, or see deteriorating operating performance.