Winning in Rural Emerging Markets: General Electric's Research Study on MNCs

Abstract

In 2010, General Electric launched an investigation into how multinational corporations (MNCs) were adapting to rural emerging markets. A team of 33 executives and three academics examined models ranging from Toyota's vehicle servicing program in East Africa to Nokia's localized mobile handset financing in India to Egis Pharmaceuticals' worker retention incentives in Eastern Europe. The project included 15 case studies from India, China, Africa, and Eastern Europe. This article presents common tactics that these MNCs have used to successfully adapt to rural markets in emerging regions across five key organizational functions: product development, distribution, service, financing, and human resources.