Ranjan Kapur

Ranjan Kapur

Building Brands

Ranjan Kapur, the Indian country manager of the WPP advertising agency, advises business leaders to focus on developing the characters and values of their brand names in their home markets before globalizing.

Jorge Gerdau

Jorge Gerdau

Corporate Culture

Jorge Gerdau, Chair of Brazil-based Grupo Gerdau, which is one of the largest steel producers in Latin America, explains the importance of open communication among the different branches of his firm and the value of having respect for workers regardless of their position.

Adi Godrej

Adi Godrej

Diversification

Adi Godrej, Chair of the India-based Godrej Group, discusses the decision to deploy the cash generated by the group’s businesses to acquire consumer products companies in Africa, Asia and Latin America.

Hamdi Akın

Hamdi Akın

Global Expansion

Hamdi Akın, founder of Akfen Holding, an infrastructure investment firm in Turkey, relates the creation of the airport management company, TAV, and its growth from a local concern to a global one.

Gülsüm Azeri

Gülsüm Azeri

Global Expansion

Gülsüm Azeri, head of Şişecam, an industrial group in Turkey that produces glass and chemicals, discusses the strategy of the glassware producer, Paşabahçe, to enter the Russian market.

Mohammed Al Barwani

Mohammed Al Barwani

Global Expansion

Mohammed Al Barwani, founder of the Oman-based diversified group MB Holding Company, discusses the origins of his group's growth beyond Oman.

Binod Chaudhary

Binod Chaudhary

Global Expansion

Binod Chaudhary, head of Nepal-based diversified business group Chaudhary Group, describes his company's work to mediate business transactions between China and India, and speculates about the possibility for Nepal to act as a bridge for commerce between India and China.

Adi Godrej

Adi Godrej

Global Expansion

Adi Godrej, head of the India-based diversified business group Godrej Group, describes the company's strategy for moving into markets by acquiring businesses with strong local brand recognition. He gives the case of a South African hair-coloring product as an example.

Adi Godrej

Adi Godrej

Global Expansion

Adi Godrej, head of the India-based consumer products Godrej Group, describes the way his company has been competitive by following a philosophy of "3 x 3"--being competitive in three major countries with three lines of products: insecticides, soap, and hair color. He details the way that his company adapted hair color products by creating a powder rather than liquid formulation.

Anil Jain

Anil Jain

Global Expansion

Anil Jain, head of the India-based agribusiness Jain Irrigation Systems, explains how, in expanding globally, his company was able to both tap into new international markets and also to serve a largely neglected market segment, the 400 million small farmers worldwide.

Rahmi M. Koç

Rahmi M. Koç

Global Expansion

Rahmi Koç, former Chair of Koç Holding, a large diversified business group in Turkey, describes his cautious approach to international expansion, using the U.S. appliance market as his example.

Ritu Kumar

Ritu Kumar

Global Expansion

Ritu Kumar, the pioneer of boutique fashion culture in India and head of Ritika Private Limited, describes how, operating from India, she first broke into the Paris and New York fashion houses and department stores in the 1970s.