The latest industry statistics, which are from 2005, show the total number of franchise brands at 1,146 (up 5.3% or 58 brands from the year earlier) with the number of outlets exceeding 234,000. The aggregate size of the franchise market in 2005 was 19,389 billion yen ($176.1 billion), as compared to 18,722.3 billion yen ($173.1 billion) in 2004.  Approximately 38.4 percent of total sales at franchise outlets are from convenience stores (CVs), and about 20.9 percent from food service chains.

Although still costly, establishing a presence and an office in Japan has become less expensive given recent decreases in the costs of labor, office rent, and other expenses.

Establishing a direct presence in Japan is the best way to penetrate the Japanese market, but this can be an extremely expensive strategy.  The use of agents/distributors is a more realistic marketing strategy for a small or medium-sized U.S. firm, but this approach requires great care in the selection of the representative.

　In 2007 China International Software & Information Services Forum, Mayor Xia Deren clearly demonstrated the goal of building Dalian into a new leading city of global software and service outsourcing. This important idea pointed out the direction for the development of our city’s information industry.

The greatest benefits of offshore outsourcing to India are the significant savings and rapid results. In India multi-lingual project managers and programmers, saves you from language and culture difficulties, not to mention global time differences unlike China. By outsourcing projects you can save up to 30 to 40 % in the project cost. You can also have access to proven and standard quality of web and software solution.By outsourcing the project to offshore outsourcing center, you don't need to spend your resources and can concentrate on the core development of the business.By outsourcing projects you reduce investment for resources and their maintenance cost. There will be significant reduction in operating cost and project overheads. The advent of internet, globalization, free marketing, and liberalization has turned the world into a small global village consequently destroying all trade barriers. The awareness that outsourcing can boost productivity sans forfeit of class has impelled MNC's, in all segments, to endorse this loom.

Volvo cars are making a big splash in China's car market. Newest Volvo Car Designers in Taiwan ,The Volvo Car Corporation of Sweden sent out some major designers like Steve Harper to Taiwan to enlist some of the country's local car-designers. The Ford Group decided to recruit some Taiwanese car designers for the Great China Car Market.

  Assignments To China & IndiaAs businesses continue to invest in the rapidly developing markets of China and India, they are becoming more aware of the challenges involved in finding the right talent to manage their investments. Their investment needs to be managed by a high-caliber team with expertise far beyond traditional business skills. As Human Resource professionals need to recruit local managers to fill these positions, they need to know how to approach their recruitment search and where to find suitable candidates.

"The administration of President [Gloria] Macapagal-Arroyo has seen its share of political instability over the last five years. The most significant of these was the Oakwood Mutiny of July 2003. Like most social movements manifesting unrest towards government policy, the Oakwood Mutiny was originally perceived to have long-term drastic effects in the economy. This was eventually proven to be untrue for the local and offshore IT industry in this country as the resilience of Philippine society prevailed in succeeding years.

Information Technology Outsourcing and call centers in India continue to grow as well. IBM has more than doubled its staff in India to 53,000 and has spent $2 billion since 2004 reported by Business Week in April. It still plans to spend another $6 billion. Often neglected is India’s slowing pace of outsourcing growth and its rising costs brought on by a multitude of factors that collectively could undermine a large portion of India’s GNP.

There is no doubt that India in last few decades has invested on its skilled man power pool and has become a hub of IT. From 1990, India is a center for the BPO as a next IT step. Today, India is the hub for process outsourcing, having the clients from countries like US and UK. China, is also rapidly gaining popularity on other hand India has very minute edge over China India has more people speaking the English language than the US and UK combined and there it makes a difference because English is the language which covers and being spoken in most of the countries.

One disadvantage of Hong Kong companies is that annual financial statements must be prepared, audited and presented to the Government to prove that the company did no business in Hong Kong and therefore owes no taxes. Such statements must be presented within 18 months of the date of incorporation. This is our opinion is grounds for finding a friendlier jurisdiction.

From time immemorial, the fashion jewellery crafted in India has won the connoisseurs' hearts and held a coveted place in the world market. Exquisite designs, attractive materials and skilful craftsmanship have also ushered in a new line of fashion jewellery from a high-quality supplier base. The exciting and wide-ranging collection of fashion jewellery and accessories are in great demand today and those keen to have a first-hand look-and-feel, almost always throng India Expo Centre & Mart - the largest sourcing hub of Asia.

Outsourcing cannot be considered a new phenomenon even though the rising attention toward this subject has brought lots of important issues into the daylight. Lots of service and even manufacturing companies started creating jobs overseas to gain wider access to foreign markets. They act as consultants auditors and perform other functions where their customers are. Putting it in other words, they have found customers and came to serve them. Another reason for a big number of emerging foreign companies oversees is saturation of the domestic markets. Approximately 60% of the profits of American information technology companies are estimated to come from overseas. This practice is not unique in number of industries ranging from banking to consumer products to. The leading firms in foreign markets state that their overseas revenues exceed their domestic sales.

The Indian auto industry is booming and global automakers are taking advantage of the situation. Aside from being a growing market for automobiles, the country is fast becoming the favorite of car manufacturers in terms of sourcing auto components. Toyota and Nissan have already expressed their plans to purchase auto parts made in India. And recently, another carmaking company announced that they will be looking to buy more auto components in India.

Today, there are many challenges facing global businesses as they continue to adapt to changes in the business environment and satisfy market demands at the same time. This challenge is compounded by the fact there the different barriers to entry that exists between countries in the past are now becoming non-existent. It is no wonder then that a lot of businesses are now just struggling to survive. But you can also look into these challenges as opportunities instead of threats.

Sooner or later, your home retail business will likely reach a point where you'll need to buy product directly from the manufacturer in order to get the best price. To go all the way up the supply chain may mean buying directly from Chinese manufacturers.

The Nissan Motor Co., the third largest automaker in Japan, will raise global auto parts purchases from low-cost countries such as China and India to as much as 24 percent of the total, from 14 percent after profits fell for the first time in seven years last year, said Carlos Ghosn - Nissan's CEO. "Frankly, we have no choice... If you don't transfer part of your supply to extremely competitive countries, then there is no way you are going to be competitive in the market," Ghosn said last Sunday. Recently the company had reported a decrease in profits, for the first time since its record loss in 2000.

I will not be the first one to say that Indian automotive suppliers have a promising future; analysts from consultancies, big and small, have already stated that in many of their glitzy presentations to present and propsective clients. What I am observing is a trend that is getting stronger and stronger.

OEM purchase managers across the world no longer look at India and move on, the idea is now to have a deeper look at whats happening here. But more than OEMs, it is the Tier I and some Tier II suppliers that are taking a very deep interest in India. These are the companies hardest hit by rising costs and a slump in the North American industry. For them Indian companies are 'White Knights', as put by one of the leading pink papers recently.

Surely, a dependable Indian supplier catering to a part of any program will mean significant cost reduction. Good for business is that Indians speak English and realise very quickly which side of the toast is buttered. Fortunately, they can also be trusted with things like drawings and blueprints, unlike the Ming and Han dienasties. The general feeling amongst global automotive executives is one of making India a sourcing hub. In a recent Roland Berger -

SupplierBusiness survey of global automotive supplier executives, a high percentage of them listed India as the most promising destination for outsourcing. China matters too but the enthusiasm there is about the market, for India it is all about getting things done here.

For more details on Indian automotive visit www.theautodiary.com

About the Author

Deepesh Rathore
Research Editor
deepesh.rathore@supplierbusiness.com