Unit 3: Great article on tips on expanding overseas....

PA Consulting’s head of emerging markets Dean White has contributed a recent article to The Times Business Section on how to expand into emerging markets. The article gives a ten point guide on how to overcome the risks that come with trying to expand overseas…


Lots of practical advice in the brief article - very relevant for students preparing for BUS 3 (Jan 2011).

Click on this link!

The ten tips in summary are:
- Research

- Have an exit plan

- Choose the right place

- Everything will be different

- Take a test run

- Don’t think like a colonialist

- Know the rules

- Relationships are critical

- Learn from others’ mistakes

- Employ the right people

Unit 3: 'Yum' and Chindia!!!!

An excellent feature article in the Independent this week provides a rich source of information to help explain the international business strategy of a US-based fast food multinational.

You may not have heard of Yum! But you will almost certainly have come across its key fast food brands, including KFC, Taco Bell and Pizza Hut.

This article describes how a rapid and significant expansion into emerging markets such as China, Russia and India has enabled Yum! to overtake McDonalds to become the world’s largest restaurant chain (as measured by number of outlets).
Lots of great business studies material in the article, including:
- Yum! invested in China earlier than competitors (first-mover advantage?)
- The rise of the middle-class consumer in emerging markets is driving demand for the products and services of global brands
- Product - traditional KFC & Pizza Hut menus have been adapted to suit local tastes
- Yum! increasingly looking to franchising for profitable expansion rather than operating owned-outlets

A2: Business Strategies

I like this two-minute video which highlights the competitive challenges facing Microsoft as the consumers and businesses increasingly opt for non-PC computing products and services. A good lesson introduction for students who want to research the impact of changing technology on established markets.

Sundays Lesson in Buso

Remember ladies, we are looking at pros and cons of multi national companies setting up in forwign countries.

Ah, the Sony Walkman, what a piece of kit that was. But Sony have just announced that they have stopped production of these icons, after what I can only imagine has been a relatively long decline stage.

I was actually surprised that they were still being produced, but as the article says, there is still some demand in Japan (and other places) from the elderly. Thirty plus years is a pretty decent run for a product (introduced in July 1979) and lifetime sales were 220 million units although this can be compared to ipod sales with 270 million units in the past nine years. And it is worth noting that the cassette player is not completely dead, while production in Japan has stopped, there will still be some production in China for those consumers around the world that still think that music through a cassette is worth listening to, although somehow I don’t think it will ever match the nostalgia of vinyl!


It may also be worth a discussion in terms of extension strategies of a brand vs a product - the walkman brand lives on in sony’s range of mp3 players and is using Kareoke to gain a unique selling point.

Business Objectives: It's not always about money!!!!

A friend of mine has just returned from a showing of the very excellent “The Social Network” – the story of Facebook. 

He was very impressed by its founder, Mark Zuckerberg. After our discussion, I was left wondering about the business objectives facebook. The film repeatedly suggests that Zuckerberg was not motivated by money, for example describing how an early application that he developed was uploaded to Microsoft for free. In a recent interview discussing criticisms of Facebook he suggested:
“It bums me out that people immediately go to “You must be doing this to make money.” Because that’s just so different from the ethos of the company. It is so different from how we actually think about stuff, that you feel so misunderstood.”
This interview with Wired then continues to discuss how the site could provide a greater proportion of the page to advertising than it currently does.

This is an excellent example for all DBS Business Studies students, of a firm looking for increased market share rather than profit maximization.

The book version of the Facebook story is entitled “The Accidental Billionaires” but is this an accurate portrayal? Perhaps Mark Zuckerberg is more of a shrewd businessman than he lets on. Did he play the long game, recognising the importance of reputation and market share before reaping the profits?

With recent estimates of the value of Facebook at over $30 billion and profits of tens of millions it seems it is unlikely that investors are anything less than profit satisficed to date!

Lets solve the problem of football......

Being a Business teacher and a massive fan of Leeds United (my hometown clunbtw!!!), I would like to solve the problem that is football....


Football, as we all know, is losing its soul, lets face it. If we care about this, how as Economists/Business Studies students can we provide the correct incentive mechanisms to fix it?

You have heard me talk about this in class. Here are some possible ideas:

- The exorbitant salaries at the top end of the game act as a disincentive to care about performances at the national level. Too many of our pampered professionals don’t seem to care, despite professing a love for the national shirt. Let’s test their levels of motivation by asking them to pay a refundable deposit every two years, based on a % of their salaries. If they perform, they get the money back. If they don’t, the money is kept and distributed to the grass roots of the game. If they don’t want to pay this deposit, fine. Give the so-called ‘lesser’ players a chance to show what they can do.

- The American draft system is an excellent idea – bring it into the top levels of football – level the playing field (did you see what I did there?);

- Please hurry up and bring in a system whereby clubs cannot live beyond their means: institute an enforceable system whereby any breaches of a salary/revenue percentage maximum are dealt with harshly, via points deduction and enforced relegation if necessary;

- Re-brand the Champions’ League, for obvious reasons. Back in the day, it was only champions who could win it. 1967 and 1982 are excellent examples. I understand the need for revenue generation in the modern game, but call the competition something else, like the ‘Snouts in the Trough Challenge’;

- Good people of the Home Counties, Manchester United is not for you! There are only two acceptable reasons for supporting a football team: either you have a geographic connection, or a familial one. Any other reason, such as liking the team because they win things, is unacceptable. Fans that are discovered to be breaking these rules should be forced to watch only rugby for the rest of their lives as a punishment.

keep the comments clean please.......