| Author | Kurundwadkar, Abhijit S. |
| Note | A project submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Business Administration (Executive) |
| Publisher | Asian Institute of Technology |
| Abstract | The Abrasives industry is a special branch of the modern industry very aptly defined as the "tooth of the manufacturing industry". With a mix of global & regional/ local players Abrasives "Thin Wheel" is a very challenging market greatly influenced by surrounding factors including machines, workers and materials. As such attaining leadership position in this competitive industry is extremely difficult and challenging.
Company A has been able to attain the leadership position in almost all parts of the world, expect the Asia-Pac region. Despite having sales operations in all countries in ASEAN well supported by a local manufacturing unit, Company A does not feature amongst the top 4 players in the ASEAN region. The document explores the reasons for this market position and goes further to propose a ROAD MAP to realize the Company A vision of market leadership in ASEAN.
The paper starts from identifying and formulating the known facts such as differences in products, production processes (Western vs Asian), raw materials and product usage techniques. It then goes further into verifying and establishing these facts in both the market (field tests) and laboratory (internal) tests in order to co-relate the observations in the market with clear tangible technical parameters. Once the product differences (deficiencies/ superiorities) are establish, the document explores ways to overcome/ build upon these problems/ strengths.
The document thus goes further into the industrial (R&D/ green field/ M&A/ sourcing) considerations and well as the commercial aspects like brand value, distribution needs, product strengths and SWOT/ TOWS analysis to draw up the final ROAD MAP. The document proposes a "Sourcing Alliance" for Company A with Company B in order to leverage the advantages of both the technologies (Western & Asian), whilst building upon the strength of the parent company itself. The varies economic benefits like economies of scale/ scope, serving underserved customers and insulating from competitors are explained from such an Alliance. |
| Year | 2011 |
| Type | Project |
| School | School of Management (SOM) |
| Department | Other Field of Studies (No Department) |
| Academic Program/FoS | Master of Business Administration (Executive)-(EMBA) (Publication code = ESM) |
| Chairperson(s) | Winai Wongsurawat; |
| Examination Committee(s) | Badir, Yuosre ;Juthathip Jongwanich ; |