Author: Antoine van Agtmael
Price: £20
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Pages: 374
ISBN: 1847370306
The key theme of this book is that, while we have now become familiar with the growth and importance of emerging markets, there is still a tendency to underestimate the quality of the new multinationals emerging and the impact they have on the global economy.
Van Agtmael, an active investor in emerging markets with 35 years of experience observing and visiting companies, including technology giants Samsung and Infosys, advises us to take notice as these companies will be our future competitors, suppliers, employers and partners.
Many of these companies initially benefited from a cost or resource advantage or from domestic market protection. More importantly, however, most have endured major currency devaluation, economic collapse or major strategic setbacks that forced them to confront major challenges, adapt and become successful beyond their home markets.
Today, these companies have qualities that make up great companies everywhere – focus on the customer, word-class quality and innovative products and services – and their success stories are showcased in this book.
These forward-thinking companies enjoy some significant advantages. They have often jumped to the latest technology and management techniques without the legacy of an ageing workforce and social costs. Most importantly, they are based in and adapted to the largest growth markets of the future.
Competing with these new multinationals will need creativity and hard work, but we can learn from them as we learned from the Japanese. Pay attention to these companies.
Useful? Four out of five stars
Well written? Three out of five stars
Practical? Three out of five stars
Inspirational? Four out of five stars
Value for money? Four out of five stars
Overall? Four out of five stars
Reviewed by Kevan Hall, chief executive, Global Integration
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