After months of uncertainty and intensive negotiations, GM has announced this week that it will decide a 55 percent stake in it’s European Opel unit to a consortium of the Austrian-Canadian automotive supply conglomerate Magna and its Russian investment partner, Sberbank. 35 % of the shares will remain with GM, and another 10 % will […]
Pervasive corruption and an impenetrable maze of bureaucracies have caused IKEA to freeze new investment projects in Russia. One example of IKEA’s immense frustration with Russia is it’s 130,000 square meter shopping complex in Samara. It’s opening was originally planned for late 2007, but was then delayed by authorities eight times. According to 83 year […]
On June 5th Australian-British mining giant RioTinto canceled a deal struck in February with state-owned Chinese Aluminum Corporation, also known as Chinalco. The deal would have raised Chinalco’s stake in RioTinto to more than 18 %. Based on fears of growing Chinese influence in the region, the deal had drawn public and political opposition in […]
I admit, that this is old news, at least in Japan or among those in the inner circle of the mobile phone industry. However, this blog would not be complete without a mention of Nokia’s pullout from Japan. After trying hard, in late 2008 Nokia was looking at a market share of only 0.3 % […]
With the automotive industry in turmoil, it’s natural that the cards are being reshuffled. However, based on the mega-merger of the past decade between Daimler and Chrysler which ended in a mega-break up, what makes Fiat of Italy think that they would be able to integrate better with the American-based culture of Chrysler. They better […]
Back in 2007 when the world’s largest manufacturer of circuit breakers, Schneider Electric of France signed an MoU for a joint venture with Delixi corporation of China, then the second largest producer of low-voltage electric appliances, everything seemed to be peaches and cream. By that time, Schneider Electric had been steadily building up its China business through […]
As the International Herald Tribune reported recently, Sara Lee Corp is considering a sale of its European household and personal care units. It may be a case of simply focusing on what they are on their home turf – a food company; but might it be that it’s just another case of a US multinational […]
Despite the worldwide economic downturn, Coca-Cola announced in early March that it would invest approximately $2bn in China over the next three years – more than it has invested since its first entry in 1979. Interestingly enough, the news were spread right during the time when Coca-Cola is waiting for government approval for the $2.4bn takeover […]
Wal-Mart’s Lee Scott recently stepped down as CEO of Wal-Mart. He will be followed by Mike Duke. Duke, president of Wal-Mart International has been driving Wal-Mart’s global expansion over the past years. Choosing Duke over Castro-Wright, Wal-Mart’s head of US operations, seems to be a strong signal of increased commitment to international markets.
I am sure many of you know this website already. I had forgotten about it until I arrived in Beijing on December 8th. The humour of www.engrish.com can be a little borderline (who am I with my Germanic English to judge other people…?), but by and large it’s still funny. Check out the sections which […]
I strongly believe in the good of international trade. And yet there’s something which I have to get off my chest that could as well come from any of the anti-globalization fanatics out there: I ventured out of my hotel in Beijing today in order to find some good local Chinese food. Passing a BMW […]
Finally, I picked up a copy of Chan Kim’s and Mauborgne’s Blue Ocean Strategy. It is a well-written book worth reading which presents lots of good (because critical) ideas about competition and strategy. I am not done reading it yet, but I started wondering how their images of the red ocean (strategy focused on competition) […]