BCG Perspectives

Retailers: What's Your Strategy for a Digital Transformation of Your Business?

July 25, 2013

Pinterest boards, QR code walls, showrooming, mobile couponing, pop-up shops, mobile apps, Tweet Mirror, Facebook walls, digital circulars, augmented reality, flash sales"”it's a digital jungle out there for retailers today. As consumers embrace new technologies and services, companies find it difficult to stay current"”and harder still to determine where and how to invest their budgets. It's all too tempting simply to jump on the next new thing (and the next and the next), just in hopes of keeping pace.

While China's Economic Growth Has Slowed Some, Its Consumers Remain Optimistic

July 3, 2013

BCG Perspectives

Just as China leads the world in economic growth, consumer optimism in China is stronger than in the rest of the world.

Going Lean with Key Suppliers Can Reduce Your Production Costs

June 28, 2013

BCG Perspectives

Many manufacturers that have applied lean concepts to their operations find that although they do achieve significant savings, their production costs remain high. This is, in most cases, attributable to material costs, which, depending on industry can range from 60 to 80 percent of total production costs.

Benefits Abound in Lean-Based Relationships with Suppliers

June 11, 2013

BCG Perspectives

Many manufacturers that have applied lean concepts to their operations find that although they do achieve significant savings, their production costs remain high. This is, in most cases, attributable to material costs, which, depending on industry can range from 60 to 80 percent of total production costs. The challenge for these manufacturers is to discover how to extend lean concepts and practices beyond the walls of their own factories.

Brazil Has So Much More Potential to Reveal to Investors, Developers

April 26, 2013

BCG Perspectives

Few observers doubt the immense potential of Brazil, one of the world's most significant emerging economies. Indeed, Brazil has great advantages. Compared with its colleagues in the BRIC quartet of emerging giants, it is richer than India and China and larger and more democratically stable than Russia. It is the largest nation in Latin America, with one-third of the region's population generating 44 percent of its GDP. Already the sixth-largest economy in the world, it could become the fifth by 2020, according to forecasts by the Economist Intelligence Unit. But growth, and the investment decisions that underpin it, doesn't happen by magic. Substantial growth takes enlightened government and well-informed decisions by potential investors.

Emerging Markets Find Sustainability Pays Off, And Isn't Monopoly of More Developed Countries

April 23, 2013

BCG Perspectives

Organic products were a luxury with little market to speak of when Ibrahim Abouleish founded Sekem, Egypt's first organic farm, in Cairo in 1977. The years Sekem spent honing sustainable cultivation practices paid off, though, in 1990, when it moved into growing organic cotton. Organic produce was entering mainstream Western stores then, and worldwide demand for all things organic began to surge.

Same-Day Delivery Is Back. Will It Succeed This Time?

April 5, 2013

BCG Perspectives

Same-day delivery, a concept that bombed during the dot-com era of the late 1990s, is back on the loading dock. Major retailers such as Wal-Mart, Nordstrom, eBay, and Amazon.com are all offering same-day delivery in a limited number of locations. FedEx, UPS, and the U.S. Postal Service are partners in these pilots.

How Ambidextrous Is Your Company, Especially in Dynamic, Emerging Environments?

February 26, 2013

BCG Perspectives

Managers today face an apparent contradiction. On one hand, austerity in the developed world and intense competition push them to cut costs and drive efficiencies. On the other, the increasing pace of change means they need to emphasize innovation. Resolving this contradiction requires ambidexterity"” the ability to both explore new avenues and exploit existing ones.

Confronting the Productivity Challenge in Brazil

February 1, 2013

BCG Perspectives

The past decade was extraordinary for Brazil. The country surpassed the $10,000 GDP per capita mark and became the world's sixth-largest economy. The most liquid Brazilian publicly traded companies created substantial value, yielding average annual total shareholder return"”stock price appreciation plus dividends"”of 19 percent from 2004 through 2011. These returns were largely the result of rapid revenue growth in most sectors of the Brazilian economy.

Marketing to the Emerging Consuming Class of Africa

January 30, 2013

BCG Perspectives

Africa is not easily pigeonholed, and making generalizations about its consumers is a risky proposition. The continent has 1 billion inhabitants"”speaking more than 2,100 languages and spanning 54 countries that cover an area larger than China, the U.S., India, and Europe combined. Despite this diversity, one thing is clear, however: a new consumer class is emerging across Africa"”one with increasing purchasing power and a hunger for products and services that once seemed unattainable.