Volume 20, Number 1 Article by R Umamaheswari & K Momaya March, 2008
Role of Creative Marketing in 10X Journey: Case of IT Firms from India :
While the Indian information and communication technology (ICT) industry has performed impressively so far, the changing competitive dynamics are making it imperative for leading firms of Indian origin (FIOs) to move swiftly to the next level of competitiveness. This exploratory study is an effort to identify the Critical Success Factors (CSFs) needed for FIOs to scale up rapidly or make the 10X journey to global leadership. The study also determines if a lacuna in creative marketing could be one of the causes of their slow progress.
Following the case study approach, four FIOs and select global leaders of the ICT industry were studied. The performance of FIOs was evaluated using their productivity, market share, and other financial parameters, and plotted alongside the global majors along the value curve. (The value curve concept was extended in this research to include productivity and revenue of the firms instead of gross margins.) The inflection points that occurred during the journeys of the global majors were noted and propositions developed to explore systematically the role of marketing for 10X.
It was inferred that there is a significant gap between FIOs and global majors in terms of revenue and productivity. While the Indian software industry has performed impressively using cost arbitrage and the offshore model, whether FIOs can sustain themselves and aspire to become global leaders with the current model is open to question. FIOs have not exploited adequately the changes in technology and business, and the discontinuities or strategic inflection points in their journeys to forge ahead swiftly. Most FIOs operate in the lower segment of the value curve while successful industry leaders operate at higher levels. In dynamic environments, creative marketing, customer intimacy, keeping abreast of customer needs and unique strategic positioning play an important role in the 10X journey.
Reprint No 08107d
