CIOs say global companies must devote distinct resources to emerging markets
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE - October 12, 2006
CONTACT: Colin Van Ostern - 603-646-0597
HANOVER, N.H.—At a roundtable hosted by the Tuck School of Business's Center for Digital Strategies in Prague on September 26, chief information officers (CIOs) and other executives from large global corporations discussed the unique opportunities and challenges of doing business in emerging markets, concluding in part that global companies must devote specific, distinct resources to areas like Eastern Europe in order to find success.
"One key lesson we heard during the day was the notion that in order to be successful in an emerging market like Eastern Europe, you have to organizationally split yourself and have part of the organization really focused on Eastern Europe," explained Professor Eric Johnson, director of the Center for Digital Strategies.
"If you try to run Eastern Europe out of Paris or Frankfurt, the big markets take over and the attention all goes there. Success happens when you take an emerging set of economies and you create an organization around them that will really live and die by those areas—then they really get in there and support that growth."
The roundtable is part of a series hosted by the Tuck School around the globe, through which executives from companies like Cargill, Ceská Sporitelna, Cisco, DHL, Erste Bank, GM, Hasbro, Henkel, IBM, Škoda Auto, AT Kearney, and Egon Zehnder International come together to discuss strategic areas affected by information technology issues.
"What is interesting and innovative about these roundtables is that we bring these executives together—information executives, business owners, and others—and we have an unusual dialog that you might not hear elsewhere," added Johnson. "It fits with our overall mission at the center, which is to focus on how information technology enables strategy in large organizations."
The moderated discussions among executives and academics prompt a focused, participative collegial working group. Participating CIOs are encouraged to bring executive colleagues so that they may further their thinking on the topic together, while also benchmarking with peers from other industries. The aim of each roundtable is to share best practices, discuss problems, and examine possible leading-edge solutions.
The roundtable series is run by the Center for Digital Strategies with the guidance of an executive committee of CIOs from Bechtel, Cargill, Cisco Systems, and Hasbro. The roundtable generally meets three times each year. The next meeting will take place on February 28 and will cover creating resiliency in a corporation.
The Center for Digital Strategies promotes the development and practice of digital strategies—the use of technology-enabled processes to harness an organization's unique competencies, support its business strategy, and drive competitive advantage. Through its programs and research, the center examines the impact of technology on all aspects of management and strategy, including supply chain, marketing, and product development. The center also addresses issues throughout the extended enterprise, including globalization, organizational change, and information security.
To read more about this roundtable, visit the Thought Leadership Roundtable website. To receive a copy of the roundtable summary when it is prepared, please contact the Center for Digital Strategies at 603-646-0899.
Founded in 1900, Tuck is the first graduate school of management and consistently ranks among the top business schools worldwide.
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