Founded in 1932, Danish toymaker Lego has managed to expand its business to more than 130 countries worldwide. Among those, China seems to be a particularly fertile ground for the company. Although China only represented 1% of global sales until recently, Lego is penetrating the market rapidly, believing that the future there will be bright. […]
Despite my obsession of learning from failures in international business, every once in a while, I must acknowledge companies that did an exceptionally good job at entering a foreign market. And today, it is IKEA’s turn to step in front of the curtain. More than a decade ago, the Swedish furniture and retail giant has […]
Some may remember that in 2014, Red Bull, the Austria-based manufacturer of the world’s leading energy drink, had settled a more or less frivolous lawsuit in the US that alleged that the company had cheated its consumers with its slogan that the drink would “give them wings” (or, in other words, improve their athletic or […]
The German company Wacker Neuson develops, manufactures and distributes concrete technology, compaction equipment, worksite technology and compact construction equipment on a global scale. In 2015 the company launched a new excavator line with 6 to 9 metric tons operatingweight. The new line was revolutionary in that it drastically reduced weight, made design changes, and for […]
Launches of pharmaceuticals are tricky. Companies often have to face the fact that after a decade or more of expensive development, an initially promising new drug falls short of expectations in terms of sales. Bain & company estimated that about 50% of all pharmaceutical launches underperform and that more than 25% of all launches do […]
Almost unnoticed to the global media, Swedish furniture giant IKEA opened its first store in India this month. With the 400,000 sq ft store, the global multinational is hoping to open the path to expansion in a market of 1.3 billion consumers that includes a growing and affluent middle class. More stores are planned for […]
Meet Nayar. Nayar (name changed) is the proud owner of a retail store. His store has no loyalty cards and no shopping carts, no cash registers and no employees. Nayar has a lot of customers, though. His store is located under a stairwell in a house at a busy intersection in Calcutta, India. Nothing special […]
One summer night in 1996, Howard Schultz, founder and now Executive Chairman of Starbucks, the Seattle-based coffeeshop giant, had dinner with the company’s newly acquired Japanese partner. It was the night before the opening of the first ever Starbucks in Tokyo. In fact, it was the first Starbucks opening outside of North America altogether! The […]
Yes, granted, this is not the freshest and a lot may have happened since, but as I am constantly on the lookout for content that fits my interests, here it is: a segment on “Oreos in China” from CNBC’s “Made in China: The People’s Republic of Profit,” a one-hour original special reported by CNBC’s Melissa Lee […]
Whad’ya know? Wal-Mart is not only the company that had failed internationally before – readers of this blog know about the retail giant’s epic blunders in Germany or South Korea – it is also a company that seems to be able to learn from experience after all. Wal-Mart had long eyed the Indian market as […]