http://www.managementparadise.com/forums/BHARTI-WAL-MART ALLIANCE & INDIA
Arvind Singhal, New Delhi
Business Standard
Notwithstanding the countless column centimetres and sound bytes that have been devoted by the national and international media to the alliance of Wal-Mart and Bharti Enterprises since the story broke out about 10 days ago, I still wish to write on the subject. My reason for doing so is my belief that this development is likely to have a far-reaching impact on India in the years to come—that is beyond the obvious. Yes, we will see acceleration of growth of modern retailing in India and, yes, we should be confident of seeing the Indian consumer benefiting substantially on account of an overall better shopping experience covering all aspects including improved availability, better quality, superior service, and, of course, lower prices per se and thereby better price-performance ratios for almost all categories of consumer goods and many services.
Yes, I also believe that the Indian retail market is big enough to have many large players and hence apprehensions about any immediate negative impact on any of the current retail players are misplaced. And yes, the entry of Wal-Mart should actually encourage many other major international retailers to look at India with greater interest and some of the fence sitters should find it easier to take a decision to enter India. Hence, the retail landscape in India is poised to change beyond recognition in the next few years.
My reason for feeling more excited stems from a belief—partly based on reason and partly on an imagination that may be running wild—that the combination of Bharti and Wal-Mart will make a bigger impact than any other combination of Bharti and an international retailer, or Wal-Mart and another Indian partner (or Wal-Mart on its own) would have made. In my view, this particular combination is incredibly potent and has the capability of providing a very strong challenge to the other extraordinary (new) incumbent: Reliance Retail. Reliance, as only a few if any would choose to disagree, is one of the most successful and probably the most-determined-too-succeed business enterprise in India. The extraordinary vision and entrepreneurship of its promoters and the leadership team are superbly matched with an exceptional capability to implement the most audacious of plans in an unparalleled time and cost-effective manner.
However, Wal-Mart remains the most successful retail business in the world. At $300 billion plus in revenue, it dwarfs not only other retail businesses anywhere in the world but also almost all other industrial enterprises too. It is no wonder that collectively, the Walton family is the richest family in the world, well ahead of Bill Gates and others. Envious competitors and armchair critics may take some comfort in its much-publicised retreats from select markets outside the US but it cannot take anything away from its very well-honed retail business operation/management skills that have allowed it to remain in pole position in the most competitive of all major retail markets in the world—the US—for over two decades. Likewise, Sunil Mittal and his family have demonstrated that they are entrepreneurs par excellence and brilliant managers of new-age businesses. Further, Sunil Mittal's success has to be seen in the background that he and his family have already built a multi-billion dollar business from scratch while facing almost all the challenges that India has to offer any start-up.
Arvind Singhal, New Delhi
Business Standard
Notwithstanding the countless column centimetres and sound bytes that have been devoted by the national and international media to the alliance of Wal-Mart and Bharti Enterprises since the story broke out about 10 days ago, I still wish to write on the subject. My reason for doing so is my belief that this development is likely to have a far-reaching impact on India in the years to come—that is beyond the obvious. Yes, we will see acceleration of growth of modern retailing in India and, yes, we should be confident of seeing the Indian consumer benefiting substantially on account of an overall better shopping experience covering all aspects including improved availability, better quality, superior service, and, of course, lower prices per se and thereby better price-performance ratios for almost all categories of consumer goods and many services.
Yes, I also believe that the Indian retail market is big enough to have many large players and hence apprehensions about any immediate negative impact on any of the current retail players are misplaced. And yes, the entry of Wal-Mart should actually encourage many other major international retailers to look at India with greater interest and some of the fence sitters should find it easier to take a decision to enter India. Hence, the retail landscape in India is poised to change beyond recognition in the next few years.
My reason for feeling more excited stems from a belief—partly based on reason and partly on an imagination that may be running wild—that the combination of Bharti and Wal-Mart will make a bigger impact than any other combination of Bharti and an international retailer, or Wal-Mart and another Indian partner (or Wal-Mart on its own) would have made. In my view, this particular combination is incredibly potent and has the capability of providing a very strong challenge to the other extraordinary (new) incumbent: Reliance Retail. Reliance, as only a few if any would choose to disagree, is one of the most successful and probably the most-determined-too-succeed business enterprise in India. The extraordinary vision and entrepreneurship of its promoters and the leadership team are superbly matched with an exceptional capability to implement the most audacious of plans in an unparalleled time and cost-effective manner.
However, Wal-Mart remains the most successful retail business in the world. At $300 billion plus in revenue, it dwarfs not only other retail businesses anywhere in the world but also almost all other industrial enterprises too. It is no wonder that collectively, the Walton family is the richest family in the world, well ahead of Bill Gates and others. Envious competitors and armchair critics may take some comfort in its much-publicised retreats from select markets outside the US but it cannot take anything away from its very well-honed retail business operation/management skills that have allowed it to remain in pole position in the most competitive of all major retail markets in the world—the US—for over two decades. Likewise, Sunil Mittal and his family have demonstrated that they are entrepreneurs par excellence and brilliant managers of new-age businesses. Further, Sunil Mittal's success has to be seen in the background that he and his family have already built a multi-billion dollar business from scratch while facing almost all the challenges that India has to offer any start-up.