Leading industrial and manufacturing companies around the world are today confronted with a range of new and increasingly complex challenges. As the rules of doing business within a fiercely competitive industrial and manufacturing environment continue to evolve, so too do the requirements for world-class management leadership within these markets.

Regional Perspectives on the Market Shift

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So just how are leading industrial and manufacturing companies addressing the mounting pressures on their bottom-lines? Are there any strategic courses they might take to avoid a commodity-driven race to the bottom of the pricing wars?

Gary Williams, a regional consultant in the Transearch Shanghai office, says an increasing number of companies across the Asia-Pacific Rim are moving their operations to low-cost countries such as China, India and Vietnam. “Many companies, including Schindler and Tyco,” Williams points out, “are focusing on solution selling as opposed to commodity selling to avoid the commodity-driven race.”

Reflecting on market conditions in the United States, Jason Meschke, Managing Partner in the Transearch office in Kansas City, says that despite softness in some bellwether markets such as the supply chain, logistics, transportation and consumer goods sectors, most economic indicators still look positive for North America’s industrial and manufacturing companies.

Where to Invest?

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Beyond the immediate economic environment, many industrial and manufacturing companies are wrestling with questions about how and where they should leverage attractive workforce dynamics and manufacturing advantages. Should they deploy more resources to the emerging markets of Asia? And if so, what are the tradeoffs, and is it important for big industrial and manufacturing companies to retain a base of operations and talent in the West even if they are investing more in the East?

If the recent engagement experience of Transearch Global Industry Practice is reflective of broader market trends, a major challenge for industrial and manufacturing companies is to strike a balance between developing new business in mature markets versus emerging markets in the developing world.

“Companies will go where there is a need for their products. It’s about supply and demand,” says Gary Williams in Shanghai. “If they don’t adopt and embrace the ever changing environment they will not be very competitive.”

The New Leadership Challenge

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As the rules of doing business within a fiercely competitive industrial and manufacturing environment continue to evolve, so too, do the requirements for world-class management leadership within these markets. In fact, the demands of corporate leadership have never been higher in the industrial and manufacturing markets.

The specialist executive search consultants who comprise the global Industrial search practice of Transearch International – and one of the global ‘Top 10′ executive recruitment firms – are on the frontlines and fault-lines of the competitive shift.

This article is a summary of the White Paper entitled ‘The way forward for industrial and manufacturing leaders – Perspectives from Transearch International’. Get your copy of the full White Paper via the Transearch International website at http://www.Transearch.com/press_room/display.asp?nID=201. It may alter your view of the market and competitive forces at work and how to evolve with them.

About the Author

Executive search firm Transearch International has representation in most of the major economic centres of the world with over 50 offices in more than 30 countries and is currently rated as the 9th largest global executive search firm by Executive Recruiter News (ERN). Transearch executive search firm.