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.

Antonio Celia

Antonio Celia

Diversification

Antonio Celia, President of Colombia-based Promigas, describes the company’s diversification policy as they expanded beyond natural gas services. This included entering the fuel distribution business in the 1980s after purchasing Terpel from Ecopetrol and creating Colombia’s largest fiber optic cable network. Celia then reflects on his company’s successful expansion into Peru and discusses the importance of understanding and respecting the host country’s culture when internationalizing.

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.

José Alejandro Cortés

José Alejandro Cortés

Global Expansion

José Alejandro Cortés, President of the Colombia-based diversified business group Grupo Bolìvar, explains that he began the group’s international process by moving into countries that spoke the same language. He describes first venturing into Venezuela due to its financial stability at the time and its natural resources, then moving to Ecuador, and Central America.

Sylvia Escovar

Sylvia Escovar

Global Expansion

Sylvia Escovar, the President of the Colombia-based oil and gas distribution company Terpel, discusses how the firm responded to the major cultural differences between countries in Latin America

Beatriz Fernández

Beatriz Fernández

Global Expansion

Beatriz Fernández, Co-Founder and Manager of Crepes & Waffles S.A., explains the decision to grow her business internationally in the 1990s, going first to Ecuador and then across the Atlantic by focusing on her relationships with the local communities, local tastes, incorporating local farmers, and by making every store manager a leader.

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.