The Emerging Markets Century: How a New Breed of World-Class Companies Is Overtaking the World (Hardcover)

by Antoine van Agtmael (Author)
Key Phrases: cheap brainpower, outsourcing model upside down, emerging multinationals, United States, Hon Hai, Yue Yuen (more...)

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly
Over the past 15 years, emerging market economies have grown rapidly, despite volatility and frequent crises. Companies from Brazil, Russia, India, Mexico and China, as well as some smaller countries, have become global leaders in a variety of industries. This book gives capsule summaries of 25 such companies—including Samsung, Concha y Toro, Televisa and Hyundai—to dispel the belief that developed market economy "companies continue to lead in global presence, in technology and design, and above all, in brand recognition and marketing prowess." As an experienced investor at the World Bank Group, the author has long acquaintance with these companies and shrewd insight into their strengths and weaknesses. His compelling summaries illustrate creative management solutions absent from most business textbooks and case studies. The best of these companies have turned challenges that are uncommon in developed economies into unconventional opportunities. But readers should also be wary: van Agtmael does not warn investors that good companies are not always good investments, because profits do not always accrue to shareholders or the stock may be overpriced. (Jan. 9)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

From Booklist
"Just looking at things a bit differently can make all the difference because even--and sometimes especially--experts don't always know best." So states van Agtmael, founder of an investment advisory firm, who coined the phrase emerging markets to replace the negative connotation of Third World. He sets out in this book to profile 25 world-class emerging multinationals, which include Haier (Chinese brand in household appliances), Embraer (Brazilian producer of jet aircraft for regional markets), High Tech Computer Corp. (Taiwanese designers of sophisticated, converged hand-held devices), and Hyundai Heavy Industries (Korean shipbuilder, the world's largest). The author quotes Goldman Sachs' projections that the largest emerging markets, China, Brazil, India, and Russia, will overtake the U.S., Japan, Germany, France, the UK, Italy, and Canada by 2040. Understanding these companies and their strategies provides important insight into the future of globalization and the competitive challenges of this century. This is an excellent book, with valuable information not only for investors but also for corporate management, which faces emerging market competition. Mary Whaley
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 384 pages
• Publisher: Free Press (January 9, 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0743294572
• ISBN-13: 978-0743294577
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 6.1 x 1.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 14.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #137,446 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

12 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The update on opportune investments from emerging economies, September 4, 2007

By	Rolf Dobelli "getAbstract.com" (Switzerland) - See all my reviews (TOP 50 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

In 1981, fund manager Antoine van Agtmael created the term "emerging markets," as opposed to "Third World," to describe developing countries, from Brazil to China. A pioneer in emerging-market investments, he describes the economic revolution being provoked by corporate activities in emerging markets. Van Agtmael enumerates the forces driving this transformation in the economic relationship between developed nations and their emerging-market counterparts. In the second half of the book, he shares his detailed research into the factors that make emerging-market companies notable and successful. He catalogues market details about 25 specific companies he has analyzed for investment purposes, and presents the lessons they can teach Western managers. We recommend this book to serious investors who want to know about promising non-U.S. companies, and to managers who want to read about their corporations' upcoming competitors - and potential future owners.

21 of 28 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Refreshing, easy to read, very informative, empowering book, March 16, 2007

By	FOR REAL - See all my reviews

This book is poorly branded in my opinion, just like what is said about the authors original idea on Emerging markets vs. 3rd world.

This book is totally under rated, and under subscribed., do yourself a favour and open it up and read a few random pages, you will soon realize how clearly the book is written, and how compelling and refreshing the ideas are that are presented.

This should/could be a best seller in weeks, but has not been promoted effectively in my opinion.

Antoine, whats with the poor branding again ? You need a new cover design, and maybe new title. Go onto CNBC TV also. Your book is incredible but people won't pick it up based on its visual appearance.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Good, but spread out over too many pages, September 13, 2008

By	Gerard Van Stijn (Haarlem, Netherlands) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

The author did a very good job in showing us how some companies from emerging markets have become powerful in their own right and sometimes leaders in their market.
He describes different strategies and gives us examples of companies that followed those strategies.

However, his book lacks depth for the amount of pages it has. In all fairness, a book with only a hundred pages could have had the same message and the same effect.