رشد سودآور: اجتناب از طلسم رشد در بازارهای نوظهور

Growth management is a challenging but critical corporate strategy facing the fast economic growth in emerging markets. An overemphasis on growth would lead to the growth fetish, where growth is unqualified and seen as an end in itself. By examining the performance of 105,260 firms in key sectors of Brazil, Russia, India, and China (BRIC) from 2002 to 2011, this study presents quantitative evidence that supports a profit-oriented strategy as a more effective path to sustained profitable growth in emerging markets. To further support this argument, this study also provides qualitative evidence of a group of 70 sustained high-performing firms that are superior to their peers (the top 500 private companies in each of the BRIC countries) in terms of profit, growth, market share, and efficiency over a 10-year period. The study shows that sustained profitable growth requires qualified sales growth (i.e., organic growth), competence-based and competence-enhancing growth, and continuous product diversification.

Aiduo was a Chinese manufacturer of VCDs (video compact discs) in the 1990s, when the VCD market in China was growing rapidly. Aiduo enjoyed its initial success by heavily investing in marketing. In 1996, it paid 4.5 million RMB, approximately 1 year of the firm's profit, to hire famous movie stars to represent its products. These marketing efforts paid off and sales increased from 0.2 billion RMB to 1.6 billion RMB in 1997 (Wu, 2000). In 1998, the firm paid 0.21 billion RMB for a 5-second slot of advertising on China Central Television. To further acquire market share from competitors, Aiduo initiated price wars by aggressively reducing its products’ prices. Aiduo's only strategy at that time was to grow bigger and bigger. Although it achieved tremendous growth in a few years, profitability declined when market growth started to slow. Moreover, since the core technology of VCDs was controlled by foreign firms, domestic Chinese firms such as Aiduo were not in a position to raise prices. In 1999, Aiduo encountered a debt crisis; it was unable to repay the heavy debts it accumulated during periods of rapid growth and during its ill-timed price war. In December 1999, the firm declared bankruptcy. It only took 4 years, a relatively short time period, for Aiduo to rise as a star and then disappear from public view. Growth is clearly desirable, if not mandated, but what type of growth? An overemphasis on firm growth can lead to a ‘growth fetish,’ where growth is unqualified and is seen as an end in itself, as illustrated by the failure of Aiduo. This type of growth can easily lead to overextension and is particularly acute in emerging markets because manufacturing facilities, managerial talents, and physical infrastructure—all requisites that support growth—are limited by underdeveloped market institutions ( Khanna & Palepu, 2010). In this article, we advance the case for ‘profitable growth’—that is, integrated high sales growth and profitability—examine the correlates of firms that have successfully pursued this particular growth trajectory, and present recommendations for firms in emerging markets.