Atlas Electrica: International Strategy

Michael E. Porter; Arturo  Condo

Case | HBS Case Collection | November 2003 (Revised May 2008)

Atlas Electrica: International Strategy

Abstract

Atlas must decide whether to acquire La Indeca, increasing its Central American presence, or to focus on larger Latin American markets where higher growth is possible. In the year 2000, Jorge Rodriguez was in charge of Atlas Electrica, the largest home appliance firm in Central America. Although it had almost doubled its sales in the 1990s, by the end of the decade Atlas was experiencing a declining market share in its home region and facing increasing competition from outside the region, especially from Mexican and Korean multinationals. At the time, Atlas' main competitor in Central America, El Salvador-based Indeca, was up for sale. Atlas Electrica, based in Costa Rica, served more than a dozen Latin American countries. Since its establishment in 1961, it had served Central American markets with different types of home appliances, later focusing on white-goods for middle-income segments of Central American consumers. In the mid-1990s, through a strategic alliance with Sweden's AG Electrolux, Atlas had expanded to Latin American markets beyond Central America.

Keywords: Acquisition; Growth and Development Strategy; Markets; Partners and Partnerships; Competition; Expansion; Latin America; Central America;

Language: English

Format: Print

17 pages

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Citation:

Porter, Michael E., and Arturo Condo. "Atlas Electrica: International Strategy." Harvard Business School Case 704-435, November 2003. (Revised May 2008.)

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