INSEAD announces new programme to support SMEs

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SME Times News Bureau | 24 Jul, 2014
INSEAD, the leading international business school, has announced the addition of a new offering to its Executive Education portfolio, informed a press release Tuesday.

The new Market Entry Strategy for India programme, available from March 2015 in New Delhi, will support business leaders and small and medium Enterprises (SMEs) looking to enter or expand into India, equipping them with the knowledge and skills required to effectively navigate the country's distinct business landscape.

Designed in response to the unfamiliar but common business, social and political issues international companies face in the Indian market, the programme will enable foreign businesses entering India to be operational and competitive from day one. Targeted at strategic decision makers in new and growing SME's, including businesses that have recently entered the market and are looking to expand their activities, the programme will provide insights into the unique challenges doing business in India presents.

"Foreign companies are dedicating significant resources to developing a presence in India but as well as being an exciting market, India is also one of the world's most complex," said Professor Amitava Chattopadhyay, Programme Director and the GlaxoSmithKline Chaired Professor in Corporate Innovation.

Chattopadhyay continued, "To ensure a successful entry or expansion strategy within this context, it is important for foreign organisations to understand what makes India different. India is geographically-fragmented with 70 per cent of its population spread across over half a million villages. It presents a low-income consumer audience, 22 official languages and other political, regulatory and cultural complexities. India cannot be ignored when formulating a global strategy, but it needs to be understood."

With India's new government under Prime Minster Narendra Modi taking charge in May, the country has re-emerged as one of the most attractive emerging market economies for overseas investors - highlighted by a significant jump in FDI in 2014 so far.

The government - which is the country's first administration in 30 years to have a clear parliamentary majority - unveiled its maiden budget this month, promising more opportunities for foreign investors and greater fiscal prudence to lower government debt. Underpinned by structural changes, the budget aims to achieve a fiscal deficit of 4.1 percent of GDP in 2014/15 and a return to annual growth rates in the range of 7-8 percent within three years. These announcements reinforce an increasingly business-friendly environment that is ripe for foreign investment, it said.

To fully leverage the opportunities for foreign businesses, INSEAD's integrated six-day course will address the problems that have traditionally hindered foreign firms. It will offer participants the opportunity to gain vital local knowledge and see their products and services from the perspective of the Indian consumer through a combination of field visits and traditional classroom sessions.

This will include seeing how manufacturing and logistics are handled on the ground by local companies, sessions with marketing and legal firms who have expertise in supporting foreign companies entering India and meetings with policy makers in the Government of India.