Doing Business with Multinational Corporations

1. Doing Business with Multinational Corporations An Opportunities Roadmap for SME’s Dr. Chris Coughlan Hewlett-Packard Company Chairman, WESTBIC Ireland

2. Hewlett-Packard Company European Software Centre HP European Software Centre (ESC) is located in Galway. The centre focuses on three main areas; Corporate Software Research and Development, Software Publishing Services and Software Business Support in Europe Middle East and Africa.

3. Doing Business with Multinational Corporations A Suggested Approach Methodology Using a Corporations Value-Chain to Identify Opportunities

4. Doing Business with Multinational Corporations • The Value-Chain Opportunity • Marketplace Research • SME Opportunities along the Value-Chain • Case Study • IT Tralee Small Business Group • Conclusion • Your Challenge Towards Future Opportunity

5. Vertical Opportunities Supply Side Demand Side SME Opportunities Purchasing & Manufacturing Sales & Support R & D Marketing Horizontal Opportunities Market Research The Value-Chain Opportunity

6. Marketplace Research • Industry Clusters • Networking • Corporate Portal Web Sites • Local Corporate Contacts

7. Marketplace Research Industry Clusters Doing Business with more than one Multinational • Research the Industry Clusters in your Region • Understand Individual Corporate Requirements • Analyse Common Cross-Cluster Requirements • Establish a Match with your Products and Services • Adapt your Products and Services • Identify New Product and Service Opportunities • Develop Niche Expertise

8. Marketplace Research Networking Contact, Contact, Contact • Local Community Organisations • Representative Bodies • ICT or Other Industry Forums • Local Suppliers (information points and alliance)

9. Marketplace Research Corporate Portal Web Sites Never Approach Multinational Corporations “Cold” • Corporate Business Overview • Corporate Structure • Corporate Culture • Corporate Policies • Corporate Programs • Corporate Strategy • Corporate “Modus Operandi”

10. Marketplace Research Local Corporate Contacts Identifying Specific People and Areas of Opportunity • Local Manager’s are Members of your Community • Local Manager’s are Friends • Local Manager’s are “Friends of Friends” • Local Manager’s can: • help shorten the learning curve • help identify local, national and international opportunities • help establish relevant local, national and international contacts • help refer and promote at local, national and international levels from LOCAL to GLOBAL

11. SME Opportunities Along the Value-Chain • Research and Development • Purchasing and Manufacturing • Marketing • Sales and Support • Other Opportunities

12. SME Opportunities Along the Value-Chain • Research and Development • joint research (incl. educational institutions) • joint product and service development (incl. educational institutions) • technology transfer (can be two-way) • product trials and test sites available (corp. in-house or corp. customers) • developer’s corporate associate programs

13. SME Opportunities Along the Value-Chain • Research and Development (cont’d) • contract and sub-contract e.g. contract software application and sub-application programming also hardware sub-assemblies • product porting e.g. porting s/w applications to other computer operating systems and web • product testing e.g. s/w and web application, usability, functionality, cross-platform testing also hardware testing • localisation e.g. subcontracting web and software language and application translation also firmware

14. SME Opportunities Along the Value-Chain • Purchasing • understand corporate purchasing policies • local - national - international policies • recognised/preferred supplier • quality certification programs • Manufacturing • outsourcing • sub-contracting • niche expertise

15. SME Opportunities Along the Value-Chain • Marketing • partnering e.g. Corporate partner program, preferred ICT products in niche areas such as financial sector. On Corporation’s exhibition stands, literature, website etc. • joint ventures e.g. Corporate joint promotion such as cooperation and sector product announcements, joint marketing campaigns etc.

16. SME Opportunities Along the Value-Chain • Sales and Support • direct sales e.g. Corporate direct sales force or joint sales, cross and customer training, after sales support • indirect sales e.g. Corporate re-sellers sales or joint sales, cross and customer training, after sales support • referrals e.g. Corporate sales team third party product recommendation

17. SME Opportunities Along the Value-Chain • Other Opportunities • Seed Capital • direct venture capital funding • equity shareholding • Sponsorship • in-kind e.g. facilities, labs, equipment, network access • people • money • Mentoring • panel of experts available to SME’s • Education • develop new expertise within SME’s • Entreprenuership within the Corporation • develop internal Corporate entrepreneurs • Spin-Off Startups • warm or cold source

18. Case Study A dark cloud can have a silver lining - turning difficulty to opportunity… for SME’s • Digital Equipment Corporation • warm spin-off’s e.g. mainly software also hardware design and remarketing (refurbishment) • additional existing SME opportunities • incubation units and support • Galway Technology Centre (GTC) • BIC GTC admin. and management • Digital software remained and grew from 150 to over 500 employees (merged with Compaq and now HP)

19. IT Tralee Small Business Group • TSBG has been established to promote research and development in the area of eBusiness, focusing on Small-to-Medium Enterprises. • The group is concerned with identifying obstacles/inhibitors that SMEs encounter when attempting to implement eBusiness solutions. • BizTalk Server R&D for Hewlett-Packard. • CRM and financial solutions this summer.

20. Conclusion Doing Business and Working with Multinational Corporations is a Two-Way Process offering Mutual Opportunity • Local point of access anywhere along the value-chain can act as an introduction to a wider national and international marketplace • this can be within the corporation or even to the corporations customers and other corporations • working with corporations can be a differentiating competitive advantage over rivals • can shorten the education, experience, time-to-market and marketing curve SME’s can also offer Competitive Advantage to Corporations Current Marketplace Multinational Corporate Strategy Outsourcing….Sub-Contracting Niche Expertise….Warm Spin-Off’s

21. Your Challenge Towards Future Opportunity “In the twenty-first century, the winners will be those who stay ahead of the change curve, constantly redefining their industries, creating new markets, blazing new trails, reinventing the competitive rules, challenging the status quo” - Rowan Gibson “Future paradigm shifts can often be seen in new technology or opportunities, but the outcome of the shift is often dependent on the creative application of technology” - Morris and BrandonReengineering your Business “The best ideas are not formed in boardrooms, but in the minds of creative entrepreneurs who do not perceive the future in terms of preserving the status quo” - Denise Caruso, Seybold Report

22. Your Challenge Towards Future Opportunity “Electronic integration between tasks within an organisation and between organisations is one of the areas of high payoff” - Management in the 1990’s As organisations become increasingly networked with other organisations and their value-chains become increasingly integrated we will see the emergence of electronic business groups or communities with their preferred suppliers and customers, similar to the traditional Japanese Keiretsu … we will see the rise of … the electronic Keiretsu

23. Thank You and Every Success with Your Enterprise Dr. Chris Coughlan Hewlett-Packard Company Chairman, WESTBIC Ireland