HBS Working Knowledge recently carried a story on the latest Business Competitiveness Index report titled, “U.S. Tops Business Competitiveness Index 2006″. The annual survey is carried out by Michael Porter’s Institute for Strategy and Competitiveness at HBS.
Not Surprising bits:
1. United States topped the list
2. India improved and China fell in their respective rankings (vs. last year)
3. China’s “decline was driven especially by higher levels of corruption, weaker assessment of buyer sophistication, and concerns about labor relations”
4. India’s move up was “aided by improvements in its business environment and increasing levels of company sophistication”
Surprising (to me) bits:
1. Germany was second on the list (impressive)…due to from its orientation on exports, the unique competitive positions of its companies, and the quality of its legal and regulatory framework.
2. The gap between India (at 27th) and China (at 64th)
I believe India scored on intensity of local competition, financial market sophistication, and intellectual property protection + sophistication of company operations (which the report says, can account for “80 percent of the variation in GDP per capita across countries“)
There is also a video interview with Porter here.
October 17th, 2006
Posted by
Shantanu |
China, Emerging Markets, Global Competition, India |
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Ed Sim recently wrote a nice post on Globalization (after a long time – his last entry in this category is dated Jan’06). Ed is one of the few VCs who are explicitly thinking about globalization and what it means for the world in general.
I read with interest his views on outsourcing and how it has panned out across his portfolio of investments. I am watching this space closely and trying to get more of our companies to think about leveraging the cost/skills base present not just in India but also in Eastern Europe.
For many European companies, Eastern Europe is a more natural (and less daunting) opportunity than India (although it doesn’t seem to make a difference to some companies).
Having said that, quite a few Indian companies are now setting up shop (or already have offices) in Eastern Europe (see this TIME magazine article from June ’06: “Bangalore Goes Global”). In this sense at least, globalization is truly happening
Ed reproduced a graph from the Economist on his blog to make the point that it is not just low-level work that is now moving offshore. To quote:
“The last graph is quite interesting as it relates to us technology folks. We have always thought of India and China as places to offshore low-level development work. Yes, a lot of that has already been done but what is alarming is what may happen in the future as the comparative advantage that India and China have over us in terms of college graduates in science and math is overwhelming.
Keep Reading…
September 28th, 2006
Posted by
Shantanu |
China, Emerging Markets, Globalization, India |
2 comments
Close on the heels of worries about an over-heating VC market in India, I read this news report about venture capital investments in China doubling over the three month period of Apr – Jun ’06 compared to a year earlier.
Jamie Paton, 3i’s Partner in Hong Kong is quoted in the excerpt as saying that “the report underlines how China’s venture-capital market has continued to mature…”.
That may be so but it has got to a stage where I find even the most ardent cheerleaders of investment in China sounding words of caution.
Then I came across this link to China Venture Capital Semi Annual Forum. There is now a China Venture Capital Annual Forum, a China Venture Capital Semi Annual Forum and a China Venture Capital Silicon Valley Forum – Signs of an over-heated market or just plain brilliant marketing by Gavin Ni*?!
* I first met Gavin last year through David Zhang at W I Harper. David simply told me that I must meet this guy who is the most networked person in the Chinese VC scene. He was so right – Gavin is not just very good at what he does, he also exemplifies the new generation of entrepreneurs coming out of China – most of them starting with just an idea and a dream…
September 16th, 2006
Posted by
Shantanu |
China, Emerging Markets, Venture Capital in Asia |
no comments
I came across Jan Chipchase’s extraordinary site, called “Future Perfect” last Saturday morning and stayed for almost an hour.
Jan works in the “User Research” group at Nokia Research Center in Japan developing new apps and products based on user preferences and trends.
Fascinating work and a fascinating blog. This was one of the most interesting posts I found on his site: “Cultures of Repair, Innovation”
He talks about the ecosystem that supports the “grey”, informal repair industry in emerging markets. There are even “wholesalers’ (who) offer all the tools required to set up and run a repair business from individual components and circuit board schematics to screwdrivers and software installers.”!
Jan concludes by asking: “What can we learn from informal repair cultures?… are there elements of the repair ecosystem that can be exported to other cultures? Can the same skills be applied to other parts of the value chain? …and what would it take to turn cultures of repair into cultures of innovation?”
All excellent questions – and ones that I am myself trying to find answers to.
September 12th, 2006
Posted by
Shantanu |
Emerging Markets, Entrepreneurship |
no comments
Hong Kong, 30th Aug ‘06
Safa Rashtchy started the conference this morning by sharing his insights on Asian markets and how to be successful in this region. I found the presentation to be more oriented towards China than the rest of Asia. I made the point later on that it would be unwise to ignore India when it comes to consumer uptake of digital content.
I mentioned that half the Indian population is less than 25 years old, consumer spending makes up 67% of GDP (second only to US in the world) and discretionary spending on digital content is already visible in e.g. the $2-$3 that mobile subscribers spend on ring-tones. Keep Reading…
August 30th, 2006
Posted by
Shantanu |
Emerging Markets, Venture Capital in Asia |
one comment
