Diversity MBA Magazine - April 2008 - (Page 64) Multinationals: Change Is Essential To Survive By Keith L. Alexander For 76 years, Detroit’s General Motors Corp. (GM) was the world’s leading seller of automobiles. Then last year, in a photo finish, Japanese rival Toyota Motor Corp. emerged as a close number-two, nearly clipping GM’s title. GM sold 9.36 million cars and trucks worldwide last year, only about 3,000 more than Toyota. What happened to GM isn’t unique. Other industries traditionally dominated by the United States have watched their market share steadily erode to foreign competitors. Consider Eastman Kodak Co. (Rochester, NY) For much of the 1980s and ‘90s, Kodak was the world’s number-one maker of cameras. But today, Japanese camera makers such as Canon Inc., Sony Corp. and Olympus Corp. have eclipsed Kodak thanks to the growth of digital cameras and Kodak’s slow transformation from film to digital imaging. In the past decade, Kodak lost almost 80% of its market value. In recent years, Kodak has laid off about 28,000 employees and spent nearly $3.4 billion in restructuring. Earlier this year, Kodak executives said they expected to increase sales of digital products, including cameras and printers, to between 10% and 12% annually through 2011, or between 64 $9.8 billion and $10.5 billion. The competition among personalcomputer makers is even tighter. International Business Machines Corp. (IBM), Dell Inc. and Hewlett-Packard Co. (HP) are in a three-way race, not so much against each other but against Asian rivals Acer Inc. and Lenovo Group Ltd. for the top position in the world’s personal-computer market. Both Asian firms are expanding rapidly. Last year, Acer purchased Netherlands-based Packard Bell BV to increase its presence in Europe and Irving, CA-based Gateway Inc. to expand within the U.S. Meanwhile, China-based Lenovo increased its sales in India and Eastern Europe and China, outpacing HP and Dell. To compete, last year, Dell began selling PCs through retailers including Wal-Mart Stores Inc. and Best Buy Co., abandoning a long-standing tradition of direct-only sales. Dell also began selling to retailers such as Carerefour SA in Europe and China’s GOME Electrical Appliances. Driven largely by its laptop sales in Asia-Pacific and Japan, Dell’s revenue in the Pacific Rim grew by 41% in its most recent fiscal quarter, the company announced last month. “Fifteen years ago, the U.S. was seen as the w w w. d ive r s it y mb a ma g a z in e. c o m http://www.diversitymbamagazine.com
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