Competitive strategy for global markets - comparative analysis of Indian and Chines industries

Abstract

In less than 40 years the four BRIC economies are expected to become larger than the G6 economies as per projections of Goldman Sachs. Of these economies China already has a proven track of consistent economic growth with over 20 Chinese companies figuring in the Fortune 500. On the other hand in comparison to China, India is still a nascent economy and has only 6 Fortune 500 companies to its credit. It has been observed that on number of occasions Chinese giants like China Petroleum Corporation have beaten their Indian counterparts like ONGC hands down to win lucrative international contracts in the Oil and Gas sector. Similar phenomenon can be observed in other sectors such as engineering goods, textiles, auto-ancillaries, etc. However it is startling to note that in spite of this broad trend India does manage to perform better than China in a few sectors like pharmaceuticals with Indian companies like Ranbaxy gaining a strong position in generics space. Therefore, it is quite clear that a number of factors acting at government, industry, and firm level contribute to a firm’s competitive position vis-à-vis another international firm. At each of the levels factors like public policy, technology, ability to attract FDI, environment regulations, labor laws, IPR regimes lend either a competitive advantage or act as constraining forces. Indian firms in the foreseeable future would have to necessarily contend with Chinese competition in almost every new global opportunity. It is therefore imperative that we analyze the competition positioning of Indian firms vis-à-vis Chinese firms in key sectors of the economy.