Globalization Readiness Index

Using a combination of quantitative and qualitative factors about the company and market, the GRI looks forward to anticipate how well a company is likely to perform in emerging markets in the future. The index measures each company’s potential through a best-practice analysis of 13 critical dimensions of globalization:

• Leadership

• Vision/strategy

• Governance/organization

• Product offering/value proposition

• Branding/marketing

• Consumer insight

• Sales/distribution/channel

• Talent in emerging markets

• Risk/regulations

• M&A/partnerships

• Global R&D and innovation

• Best-cost-country sourcing

• Best-cost-country manufacturing

Working with BCG, companies can develop a full understanding of their strengths and weaknesses within a few weeks, and then start to adjust their business model in order to win in emerging markets.

The index is especially helpful in preventing companies from being lulled into a false sense of security by early success in emerging markets. For example, it can highlight weaknesses in the product portfolio and distribution capability that may not be apparent when a company is focused on the high end.

The GRI can also be used in several different scenarios:

• Assessments at a company level identify relative opportunities compared to best practices.

• Assessments within the company enable the comparison of performance across different regions and business units or product groupings.

• Assessments with a select set of peers identify strengths and weaknesses compared to the competition.

David Michael
Global Leader—Global Advantage Practice
San Francisco

David is a senior partner based in the San Francisco office, and he is the global leader of BCG’s Global Advantage practice area. In this capacity, he has global responsibility for BCG's client solutions related to the world's rapidly developing economies.

David has advised a wide range of global clients on strategic and organizational issues related to winning in emerging markets. He has also advised Chinese companies on their global expansion programs. Additionally, David is a member of the World Economic Forum's Global Agenda Council on Emerging Multinationals, which includes CEOs from emerging markets companies.

He is a coauthor of our groundbreaking Global Challengers report series and also a coauthor of the BCG book The $10 Trillion Prize, which details how companies can win over new consumers in the burgeoning consumer markets of China and India. David joined BCG's Shanghai office in 1992 and was previously the managing director of the firm's Greater China practice.  

Contact David 

Bernd Waltermann
Senior Partner and Managing Director
Singapore

Bernd is a senior partner in the Singapore office and a member of BCG's Asia-Pacific leadership team.

In 2007, he established BCG's Global Advantage Initiative, a firm-wide effort designed to help multinational companies grow their footprint and improve performance in emerging market environments. A significant part of that work relates to helping clients in designing their go-to-market approach in rapidly developing economies.

Since joining BCG in 1990, Bernd has been responsible for numerous assignments for clients in the European and Asia-Pacific regions across all major industry sectors, including consumer electronics, automotive, telecommunications, pharmaceuticals, financial services, fast moving consumer goods, consumer durables, media, energy, mining, and industrial goods.

Contact Bernd 

The GRI is the cornerstone of BCG's Emerging Markets Acceleration Program (EMAP), a three-phase approach  to ensuring success in emerging markets. EMAP builds upon more than a decade of BCG's experience in emerging markets across many different topics, including leadership, strategy, product portfolio, go-to-market capabilities, people and organization functions, R&D, and manufacturing excellence.

To learn more about the Globalization Readiness Index or EMAP, please contact one of our experts by sending an e-mail to globalization@bcg.com