The Knowledge to Decide

As a global manufacturing hub, China is now trying to break out into new, higher value-added product development. Is “Made in China” ready for a brand facelift? Spire Research and Consulting shared its insights, published on the US Consumer Electronics Association’s blog. China is emerging as the largest market for tablets and personal computers. Home-grown Chinese brands such as a Lenovo and Huawei have successfully gone global. Some of these Chinese brands are breaking the old ‘Made in China’ image and taking it to a whole new level. What factors bred this success? Several entrepreneurs have built distinct brand images to achieve global success based upon the founder’s vision of the future. Examples include Jack Ma of Alibaba Group, Robin Li of Baidu and Pony Ma of Tencent. Their zeal for excellence and innovation, as well as their colourful personalities, have helped them gain mindshare among consumers, both local and global. Many Chinese firms have proven to be experts

With the ASEAN Economic Community (AEC) coming into play, established lubricant suppliers expect a boost in the automotive sector. How will the AEC bloc impact the lubricant industry? Japnit Singh, Senior Director of Spire Research and Consulting, shared his insights on key trends in Lube Report Asia’s magazine. With the establishment of AEC due this year – it signifies a major step towards a free-trade zone. This 10-nation bloc will ensure free movement of goods and services, investment, flow of capital and skilled labor. At the same time, Singh remarked that slashes in high duties (up to 30-40 %) on automotive sector will result in increased demand for lubricant oil – forecasted to reach 3.5 billion liters by 2016. As a result, it is expected to lead to greater demand for Japanese automobiles that are assembled in Malaysia, Indonesia and Thailand. Furthermore, such developments could make ASEAN the world’s fifth-largest auto market as demand for automobiles continue to

Christmas is a time for celebration and delivering joy through gifts. How do Chief Executive Officers (CEOs) celebrate Christmas and how do the holidays affect e-retailers sales? Jeffrey Bahar, Deputy Chief Executive Officer of Spire Research and Consulting, shared his insights in Bloomberg Businessweek Indonesia. Whether it is a family affair, attending Christmas mass or indulging in feasting, Christmas is celebrated across the globe. For CEOs in Indonesia, Christmas always brings joy. As Bahar pointed out, the festive season is synonymous with family time. His family indulges in the age-old tradition of Secret Santa where each family member receives a secret gift. At the same time, Indonesian CEOs celebrate Christmas in many ways. These include attending Christmas mass, hosting dinner receptions for extended family members as well as employees, exchanging gifts and installing Christmas icons for décor at home. On the other hand, the festive season gives e-retailers a reas

In today’s world, many women wear two hats – as care-givers in the home and as breadwinners in the workplace. Many professional women aspire to develop their careers in the same way as men. Why then do so few women hold the position of CEO in large organizations? Spire Research and Consulting conducted a pro bono survey among women executives in China, Malaysia and India to understand the aspirations of professional women, the career impediments they face and what they feel should be done to overcome them. Our findings were published in the Japanese media: Yomiuri News, Yahoo News Japan, JChere News, Mynavi News, Shogakkan Biz Lady, Antenna, Livedoor, Excite and Ameba. https://www.spireresearch.com/newsroom/media/flexibility-the-pathway-to-female-advancement-in-the-workplace/ The world is witnessing a dramatic social change that is still incomplete. Today’s women are more likely to hold a paid job and enjoy more economic freedom than women in previous generations. But this change

Women executives aspire to climb the corporate ladder, but child-care responsibilities have created a speed-bump. Significant minorities report experiencing discrimination and exclusion from “old boys networks” in China and India. Women would like to have more flexible working hours as well as being able to take a few years break from work and re-enter smoothly. These are the findings from a pro-bono survey conducted by strategic market research consultancy Spire Research and Consulting in October 2014. Spire’s survey of 300 female respondents holding executive and managerial positions in companies in China, India and Malaysia (100 per country) concentrated on the corporate aspirations of women, impediments they felt they faced and solutions they favored. The survey used a hybrid online and telephonic interviewing methodology. 98% of the women surveyed in India aspired to grow into a corporate leadership position. The comparable figure for both China (85%) and Malaysia (90%) is

India’s e-commerce industry has recorded massive growth during the last five years. The factors contributing to this growth include increasing number of internet users, growing acceptability of online payments, availability of a cash on delivery option and favourable demographics. Will India’s e-commerce industry continue its growth trajectory? Spire Research and Consulting conducted a research study on India’s e-tailing industry among 300 Indian retailors in the apparel, consumer electronics and food sectors. The findings of the study were further published on Asahi Shimbun’s Japanese website. According to research findings, 91% of Indian companies in the apparel, consumer electronics and food sectors offer online shopping solutions to customers. The overwhelming take-up can be attributed to the introduction of online payment systems and developments in logistics infrastructure. Over 54% of the online businesses reported a growth of more than 20% in sales revenue post increasi

The Phoenix Global Chamber aims to grow the number of people successfully engaged with cross-border trade and investment. With over 20,000 followers on its list, it strives to advance companies, careers as well as communities. Spire Research and Consulting is proud to announce its association with the Global Chamber of Phoenix as a sponsor. The Global Chamber of Phoenix, Arizona further engages leaders, companies and communities to facilitate global business growth and improve cross-border understanding. It aims to bring together like-minded people with the common mission of growing business across borders. As a sponsor, Spire will have the privilege of appearing in banner ads across the Chamber’s website, featured in regular e-newsletters and have access to speaker opportunities. Spire is proud of this new association and hopes to have the privilege of working with more Phoenix-based organizations to develop and execute their strategies in global emerging markets. This a

Japan’s telecom giant SoftBank is eyeing opportunities to expand in South Asia. With its recent investment of USD627 million into Snapdeal – an Indian e-commerce firm – Softbank becomes its largest shareholder. It is one of the largest investments ever made by a single investor in an Indian e-commerce company. Flipkart, another Indian e-commerce player, has also received foreign investment. Does this mark the start of an investment spree? Leon Perera, Chief Executive Officer of Spire Research and Consulting shared his insights on the implications of these investments in Japan’s Diamond Magazine. Softbank is a Japanese internet and telco behemoth. It is listed under 33 industries classification on the Tokyo Stock Exchange. Recent financial profits for Softbank’s Q2 2014 touched JPY560.7 billion in terms of net income. Softbank recently acquired the number three mobile service provider in the US – Sprint Corp – for USD21.6 billion. It has one third of shares in Chinese e-commerce g

A majority of businesses are very keen on adopting online platforms for increased revenue sales in India. Over 54% of businesses reported a growth of more than 20% since going online in revenue sales. These were the findings from a research study conducted by strategic market research consultancy Spire Research and Consulting spanning from August to October 2014. The full report is also available upon request. The research study aptly titled, ‘India’s E-Tailing Industry – Seller’s Perspective’ was released at a press conference held in New Delhi today. The study was conducted across 13 states in India spread over 300 retailers in 3 sectors consisting of apparel, consumer electronics and food. These insights concentrated on current online shopping trends and its effect on sellers. Furthermore, the data was gathered through one-on-one, online and telephonic modes of communication. More businesses are going online and using it as an extension of their brand As shown in Table 1

Spire Research and Consulting’s CEO Leon Perera was privileged to deliver the first Opening Plenary address at CloudAsia 2014 held in Singapore on 29-30 October. He shared key insights from Spire’s study on Cloud computing usage in Singapore’s financial services industry (FSI) and recommended approaches to increase Public Cloud usage in the FSI. At the Opening Plenary of CloudAsia 2014, Leon Perera, CEO of Spire Research and Consulting shared that some Financial Institutions operating in Singapore were already using the private Cloud for non-core applications. However the study found that Financial Institutions were hesitant to further explore Public Cloud adoption for core applications involving production data. The study recommended approaches to increasing Cloud usage for core applications through the creation of prescriptive codes of conduct for FI-vendor contracting as well as security. The study concluded that an opportunity currently exists for a multi-stake-holder