by 
United States President and World War II General Dwight D. Eisenhower once said: “In preparing for battle, I have always found that plans are useless, but planning is indispensable.”
He could be talking to today's business world about emerging markets. In the past two decades, we've heard a lot about emerging markets and the challenges and opportunities associated with them.
Last week, research house Gartner Inc. stepped forward with a relevant report on emerging markets, which it forecasts as a $30 trillion opportunity and names as the primary business growth area in this century. According to Gartner, it's supply chain leaders who will be responsible for the success or failure of business growth in these markets based on the capabilities they put in place.
Rightly so, Gartner believes that organizations with strong demand planning capabilities and segmented supply strategies are better positioned to capitalize on market opportunities, as well as to mitigate risks.
It's no secret that emerging markets offer tremendous opportunities that mature markets no longer can. But opportunity never comes without obstacle, and with these emerging markets come unique characteristics and challenges — characteristics and challenges that will only become more complicated as they flex and twist overtime and as business expands in each region.
“The ability to plan demand better is a tremendous advantage, as accurate demand plans help supply chain leaders align end-to-end supply chains correctly, and forecast predictable outcomes and profitable responses to demand,” said Mike Burkett, research vice president at Gartner, in a statement on the report.
Burkett goes on to state that businesses are positioning to take advantage of the most explosive growth opportunity since the industrial revolution and that, “as business executives look to emerging markets for opportunity, the supply chain organization will be tasked with serving that growth.”
For its report, Gartner surveyed more than 390 CEOs and senior business executives. The survey showed that CEOs recognize the supply chain is vital to opportunity in emerging markets, but that they are split on their view of its readiness.
About half of those surveyed see globalized supply chains as more complex and fragile now, while the other half said supply chains are more resilient than at any time in history. Depending on the specific emerging market and strength of one's supply chain management, both statements could be true.
Whether you “like Ike” or not, his decades-old quote has relevance as businesses' reach becomes ever more global. It is the planning and planning's need for constant re-evaluation — not the plan, itself — that will allow business to prosper through its supply chains, particularly in such as high-flex industry as the electronics industry.
It is having well-tuned electronics supply chains and professionals in place that flex and twist to emerging markets, always planning for the immediate and anticipating what will immediately follow, that will allow successful supply chains to expand business in emerging markets.
Gartner noted that dealing with the risk of uncertainty was commonly seen as daunting by its survey respondents, with the most-cited supply chain challenge in emerging markets being dealing with changing rules. And it's no wonder.
Right now, from where we sit in the summer of 2013, demand in emerging markets can be described as fragmented at its best, requiring infrastructure support for both physical product and information flows. With lower quality transportation, limited technology, and inconsistent local supply capabilities, these markets are unnerving to enter, let alone prosper in.
Toss in cultural and political differences, and taking advantage of the $30 trillion opportunity is a risky task, even with the best supply chain management at your defense.
But there's also another quote I'm fond of by Mike Tyson: “Everybody has a plan until they get punched in the face.” The trick to emerging markets, as in boxing, is to keep moving. Always be revising based on market changes that will surely occur, undoubtedly at faster rates than we expect; always be planning and never set a plan in stone.
Continual planning as these emerging markets evolve through supply chain tactics is the best defense and best way to success.
What are your thoughts on planning for supply chain management in emerging markets? Tell us below.
If 30 trillion mentioned in title, it would attract many more readers. Anycase the 30 trillion opportunity is really the value of the market in emerging countries. But who will eat the bigger pie of this will only be known in the next 5 to 7 years. The companies have to evaluate their plan every three months basically to continuosly evaluate as per dynamic conditions of these countries.
Good eye, elctrnx_lyf. We've fixed the headline. And good thoughts. Re-evaluation every three months may even prove to be too little. At the quickening rates these countries and the global business environment are changing and evolving, evaluations may be needed every six weeks.
Well, what president Eisenhower said can't be any more true. It reminds me of a time when I worked for the private sector. The telecom company was being baught by another and they were planning to change technology. We spent days and days planning… but didn't stop until we had a plan. By that time, it was too late. We should had planned parts of it and start working.
It will be interesting to know, currently how much does emerging market spends per year? What will be growth after five and ten years from now?
And how many years will it need to spend $30 trillion?
Opportunities abound in emerging markets. With developed regions increasingly maturing, emerging markets such as China, India, Africa and Brazil brings hope to LED products, mobile devices. It seems that start from now, manufacturers have begun to pay more attention to emerging markets.
Just to give the glimpse of how fast the emerging markets are embracing the latest in technology – a recent survey in India shows that the Tablet market grew by a whopping 400% last year (from 0.36 million to 1.9 million) and the smart phone market grew by over 60% ( 9.5 million to more than 15 million) while the PC sales grew by only 1%
@Lily, this hope is dependent on the growth that these emerging markets will have in coming years. The growth in BRICS nation has severly affected due to downturn in USA and Europe. For BRICS nation to be self-sustained, it will still take sometime.
@Suzaane, this $30 Trillion opportunity must have a timebound. Is it a 5 yr or 10 yr or more opportunity. So, companies will have to make a long term plan to get as much bigger piece of this opportunity as possible. And given today's market condition and competition i think that any management will not have a easy time.
@Himanshagupta: Yes it's a long term plan for sure. They have a good opportunity if so to make in roads for the future and plan big for the future itself.
There are plenty of opportunities for the hopeful and the hardworking. Thus said, there will be risk factors and drastic measures will be taken, but the prizes will console. In order to minimize risk factors one needs to, as the article tells us, “move forward”. With new technology sprouting, it won't be hard to bridge the gap between the production and the sale.
@tirlapur: Yes there is but do you think the market is ready for that kind of number to be catered in the job arena ? I have my doubts still.
Yes there is but do you think the market is ready for that kind of number to be catered in the job arena ?
@nimantha.d, market may not be ready but then things are certainly looking brighter.
“It will be interesting to know, currently how much does emerging market spends per year? What will be growth after five and ten years from now? And how many years will it need to spend $30 trillion?”
Hm, tomany questions. As long as consumerization trend is there, it will grow but through different phases like new trends, technologies etc.
@tiralpur: Yes we have to create the need for the market. If we are not ready to make the market change, then you are out of the league.
Very nice blog spot and very specific subject but it is not clear the reason behind the move of changing EDI provider. Why should I want to change the EDI provider ?
@Nemos – Reasons could include change of internal ERP system, new trading partner with different requirements, replacing aging internal systems, or just a bid to save money.
THanks Scott. Do you think that there are ways to save a relationship with an EDI provider before moving? Or are things kind of set in stone and moving is the best way to go?
For centuries, the percentage of people in the world with discretionary income (consumers) was intensely smaller than the percentage of people who had just about sufficient for necessities or less. But since the industrial uprising, the percentage of consumers has been rising. And some of the major growth will happen between now and 2025 thanks to the emerging markets
@Hailey: I don't think there is anything wrong if you want to change your EDI supplier. Its our choice and mainly it happens due to low level of service or the price factor. So the supplier should understand that its because of their fault the customers are moving.
Nemos,
You shouldn't, if you are happy with your EDI provider.
-Susan
Nemos,
Never,ever neglect the Power and force of Money.
If there is Money to be made here,I am 100% sure there will companies willing and able enough to take the risk to move to a new EDI System.
If you change the EDI provider too often then you might not be evaluating the full potential or not giving enough time for your provider to attend your queries. Going to new provider also means extra effort to understand the culture, working philosophy, TOT of problems, employee training etc. But if you have stuck to a provider for enough long period then you can develop some personal relations and squeez more out due to that relationship.
Hailey,
I believe its always best to Negotiate with your Existing Provider first before taking the Drastic Step to move elsewhere.
Does'nt seem right to ditch a Relationship which has worked so well for so long straightaway.
You never know,You maybe even able to match the Existing Offer(from a Competitor) if you negotiate well.
Regards
Ashish.
Susan,
This is just my personal observation(and I could very well be wrong here) but Life rarely is that simple and easy to Manage.
Am I right/wrong here?
Especially when Big Sums of Money are involved-Things become complicated very,very quickly.
Regards
Ashish.
HImanshu,
I tend to agree with your Point of View here.
But as I had pointed out to Susan earlier,This is easier said than done,Especially when large sums of Money are involved.
That's when things get very,very complicated.
I am sure you must have yourself seen and experienced many,many vendors influence Consumers through Cash and Kind Awards to get them to buy just from them.
Is that Ethical Behavior?
Not really,but that's how the real world usually operated.
“If you change the EDI provider too often then you might not be evaluating the full potential or not giving enough time for your provider to attend your queries. Going to new provider also means extra effort to understand the culture, working philosophy,”
Himanshu, it's not fully true. Within a certain time frame they are not able to cater our requirement, then its better to change it. But before we making the next step make sure that the new person is able to cater our requirement within a specified time frame.
“THanks Scott. Do you think that there are ways to save a relationship with an EDI provider before moving? Or are things kind of set in stone and moving is the best way to go?”
Hailey, the answer is very much. First make sure about what's their new requirement and is it possible to address it. Secondly, can we offer a superior service than my competitor.
“You shouldn't, if you are happy with your EDI provider”
Susan, if competitor is providing a better service then we may tempt for that
“Most suppliers have no reason to change their Electronic Data Interchange (EDI) provider. In fact, for most companies, changing their EDI service is a task left till the provider is about to go out of business or has failed to deliver contracted services”
Scott aaprt from that I had seen in some other instances also they had changed their EDI. But we cannot say that's due to failure of service, but may be for better service.
I've found that changing EDI providers is similar to buying a new refrig. There are only certain (major) events that set a change in place – change of business, new relationship, broken unit, or significantly different technology.
Jacob,
Yes, but what I mean is that if you are happy with your EDI provider, if you are getting good service, and good customer service, too, you could well stay as you are instead of changing.
You change provider only if you are not happy, or there is something better, and more competitive. However, even then, there are many things that could consider at the time of making the decision.
-Susan
@Ashish, I agree that it is less expensive and much more beneficial to maintain and improve an existing relationship. However, the organization needs to be ready to consider that their needs may have grown beyond or in a different direction than the capabilities of the provider. It's a delicate balance. It's always worth exploring, but you also have to be willing to look for a better fit if that's what is best for the business.
@Scott, that makes sense to me. Usually it's a pain point in most situations that allows for change. I think that looking around to see what the newest options are is a useful excercise once in a while, even if you end up staying with an existing provider. At least then you know that it is still a good fit.
I have found it very difficult to determine who the best EDI providers are. The thought of change is also daunting as you never know what will come out of the woodwork after the change.
I agree. It's difficult to know what company can do the best for you. But that's not unlike any other purchase decision. Unfortunately you may not understand the true answer until after you've made the decision.
One factor that can help is to use one of the SaaS providers rather than software. That way you don't end up with a big investment in software and hardware and can terminate the month to month arrangement if necessary.
Still not an ideal situation because there's plenty of work that goes into these transitions, but at least it removes the investment/loss part of the equation.
“You change provider only if you are not happy, or there is something better, and more competitive. However, even then, there are many things that could consider at the time of making the decision. “
Susan, logically speaking you are right. But would you think that, in industry things are happening s in similar way, NO. in most of the times, it's all governed by personal emotions.
“I've found that changing EDI providers is similar to buying a new refrig. There are only certain (major) events that set a change in place – change of business, new relationship, broken unit, or significantly different technology.”
Skoegler, only interacting persons are changing, rest is same. Same business but with different peoples.
Jacob,
It's quite scary what you say. If a company is entirely governed by personal emotionals there can be a high risk of ineficiency in all what they do, and the results being chaotic.
Maybe those companies governed by emotions should try to learn about emotional intelligence, and working with emotional intelligence. There are good books on the topic written by Daniel Goleman.
Personal emotions, and business are not compatible for a successful business deal of any kind. You need logic, critical thinking, and common sense to be able to make good decisions in business. Otherwise, it's a fail.
-Susan
“Personal emotions, and business are not compatible for a successful business deal of any kind. You need logic, critical thinking, and common sense to be able to make good decisions in business. Otherwise, it's a fail. “
You are absolutely right Susan, but personal relations and emotions are always there in doing business. How many people are giving 100% weightage to business goals and merits of the customer, while making the decession?
Jacob,
You certainly can't leave your emotions run freely if you are managing a company. Working with emotional intelligence means managing those emotions, and feelings so they can express properly, and effectively.
That would make to a better decision making, and better work interactions. It's all about managing skills, and learning to work with emotional intelligence is one of them.
-Susan
I think “Planning” is the right word for the emerging markets. These will be different from the current developed ones, with unique needs and demands. We have to carefully plan and time things right.
I think one needs to look beyond the BRICS to know how markets have been growing. Have you read about ” Smart Rwanda”? This is actually a way of smarting up an entire country. The government of Rwanda has made an ICT framework for all its ministries – called 10 pillars of Smart Rwanda. This is one in many other African nations that's aggressively adopting ICT and, Smart Rwanda project only would be in region of several $billions.
http://www.worldbank.org/en/news/feature/2013/07/17/imagining-a-smart-country-Rwanda
“You certainly can't leave your emotions run freely if you are managing a company. Working with emotional intelligence means managing those emotions, and feelings so they can express properly, and effectively.”
You are right Susan, but once in a while, most of the peoples get biased to it.