Engineering management in developing economies: The EMIDE strategies to meet the new challenges

Abstract

Globalization is here to stay, as United Nations predicts that by 2020 four of the five largest national economies will be located in Asia. Some developing countries in South America and Eastern Europe are also expected to advance their economies rapidly in the near future. It was forecast by Goldman Sachs that the GDP of BRIC nations (Brazil, Russia, India and China) will surpass that of G6 (United States, Japan, Germany, United Kingdom and Italy) in year 2038. During this rapid advancement period, engineering managers in the West will play different roles than those in the East. Managers in the West will surely try to explore the high growth mid-tier market opportunities offered in the East. This paper offers a comparison between the economies of the West and East, discusses the different business models the West and East apply, and highlights the new challenges ahead. A set of new "EMIDE" strategies are then suggested for engineering managers in developing economies to meet the new challenges ahead. These strategies include: (1) Excel in internalizing conditions and acquiring unique insights related to local culture, custom and business practices (e.g., value of employees, nature of collectivist, power distance, practices of uncertainty avoidance, and femininity styles), (2) Manage local resources (e.g., assemble product with low cost labor, improve products by reverse engineering) and practice engineering management functions effectively, (3) Innovate differentiable capabilities by practicing creative thinking strategies, pursuing open innovation paradigm, assembling new knowledge bases, and applying expertise residing in regional supply chains, (4) Develop marketable product/service offerings well-suited to targeted market segments, considering the needs and affordability of local customers, and (5) Effectuate a fast response to marketplace challenges by taking advantage of acquired global market knowledge (e.g., internal globalization orientation and external globalization drivers) to achieve long- term profitability. Companies in the West will pursue the new growth markets in the East. The suggested EMIDE strategic model of "acting locally and thinking globally" assists engineering managers in the developing economies to successfully capture these new growth opportunities and expand beyond.