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In the 2000s, telecommunications

(telecom) company Bharti Airtel


Limited (BAL) was the market leader
in the Indian telecom market. It had
established itself as the leader in the
market by differentiating itself with its
focus on building a strong brand
through innovation in sales, marketing,
and customer service, and an
innovative cost effective business
model. Analysts also credited BAL
with negotiating the regulatory hurdles
in this emerging market and
competition very effectively. This
enabled it to become profitable despite
the Indian telecom market having the
lowest tariffs in the world.

Some analysts opined that BAL's unique business model had


become the benchmark for emerging markets. Mobile
telephony in India was experiencing the fastest growth in the
world and India was already one of the leading markets in
terms of mobile subscriber base. Despite Average Revenue
per User (ARPU) figures in the country being quite low
compared to many other markets, it was viewed as an
attractive market as mobile penetration of the market,
particularly in the huge rural areas in India, was still low.
With the developing market in the West reaching high levels
of saturation (70% in US and 100% in some European
markets), many global telecom operators were looking at
emerging markets for their growth and this made India a
prime target market for these firms. The market in India was
also expected to witness many changes with the introduction
of new technologies and mobile number portability.

Since 2007, BAL had been facing serious threats to its


leadership position. On the one hand, there was the
onslaught from global players such as Vodafone and Virgin
Mobile, and on the other, the threat from established Indian
companies such as Reliance Communications Ltd., Tata
Teleservices Ltd., and the state-owned Bharat Sanchar
Nigam Ltd (BSNL). Moreover, the market was expected to
witness the entry of some more Indian and foreign
companies. BAL had responded to investing heavily in
expanding its network, technology, and marketing. It was
trying to cover all segments of the population -from the tech-
savvy youth population who coveted the latest value-added
services (VAS) to the Bottom of the Pyramid (BoP) segment
who would be satisfied with a low-cost offering.

In early 2008, BAL, which still dominated the Indian telecom


market and was the world's tenth largest telecom company,
was also readying itself to replicate its success story in some
other emerging markets.

Issues:

» Understand how Bharti Airtel Ltd. tapped the opportunities


in the Indian telecom sector and established itself as the
market leader.

» Analyze the booming telecom sector in India that was


experiencing high growth rates, with special emphasis on
the competitive landscape in the sector.

» Understand the opportunities that emerging markets such


as India offer to global business enterprises.

» Understand the issues and challenges faced by


organizations operating in emerging markets
One of India’s leading private sector providers of telecommunications
services
The company was the first private operator to provide mobile services
in all the
23 circles in India
The number of telephone subscribers in India increased to 494.07
Million
at the end of August-09 from 479.07 Million in July-2009, thereby
registering a growth rate of 3.13%. With this, the overall Tele-
density in
India reaches 42.2
Total subscriber for airtel till aug. 2009 are107996533
The company complements its mobile, broadband & telephone
services with
national and international long distance services. The company also
has a
submarine cable landing station at Chennai, which connects the
submarine
cable connecting Chennai and Singapore
Case Study on WalMart in Mexico - Walmex
Wal-Mart has a winner in its Wal-Mart de Mexico operations, as sales growth in that country
has outshined that of U.S. operations for quite a while now.

Walmart set to open banks in Mexico


WalMart Stores, Inc. (WalMart), the world's largest retailer's Mexican arm WalMart de Mexico
SAB de CV (Walmex), laid out plans to open its first in-store bank branch in Mexico by June
2007. Walmart's branches of the venture will be known as Banco Wal-Mart de Mexico
Adelante. Walmart is the second retailer to gain entry to Mexico's banking sector after Mexican
retail and financial services group Elekra (Banco Azteca, in 2002).

In 1991, WalMart began its operations in Mexico by forming a joint venture with Mexico's retail
chain Grupo Cifra SA de CV (Cifra). Cifra, a major player in Mexican organized retail was the
family-owned retail business of Mexican businessman, Jeronimo Arango. In 1994, Mexico
suffered due to economic setbacks. During this period, retailers like Sears Roebuck & Co. and
Kmart sold out their stakes and quit the country. However,Wal-Mart stayed on.

Walmex got government approval easily to set up in-store bank branches in Mexico. This was
because of its reputation as a successful retailer that met the daily needs of the Mexican
people. Walmex entry aimed at making financial products more cheaper to millions of
Mexicans, even those who did not have bank accounts. And by having banking operations within
its stores Walmex would improve the customers to its stores and also increase sales.
WalMart Background
In 1962, Sam Walton founded Wal-Mart. Sam Walton had earlier worked at JC Penney
Corporation, Inc. and also ran Ben Franklin franchises. Sam's vision that constantly changing
consumer behavior would lead to discount stores led to Wal-Mart's success.

In 145 cities across Mexico, Wal-Mex has more than 900 stores and restaurants in Mexico
including Bodega food and general merchandise discount stores and Superama supermarkets,
Suburbia apparel stores and Vips and El Portón restaurants. Wal-Mex also runs about 195 Wal-
Mart Supercenters and SAM'S CLUB warehouses, which generate about 55% of the company's
sales. More Soon...

Case Study Keywords: Mexico, Wal-Mart, Walmex, WMT, Organized Retail Industry, Business
Strategy, International Operations, Consumer behaviour

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