Carrefour China – Article Analysis Declaration: ‘I have done this test to the best of my ability, without using any unfair means ‘. Name:M.Siddharth Raman Roll No.– WPM14SID 1.a)Carrefour did some amount of preparation for the Chinese market, by attempting to learn from what they did in Taiwan. Explain, for each of these, what lessons they took. Illustrate with examples. (i)Business lesso ns (ii)Staffing and people (iii)Understanding local consumers and consumer taste (iv)Regional differenc es (b)Was Carrefour ‘right’ in using Taiwan as a market to ‘learn China’? Why do you say so? A1a) (i)Business Lessons •Ability to adapt to change was a key learning. While Carrefour had large format retail back home in France, their foray into Taiwan was in a relatively smaller format. This taught them that it was necessary to adapt to regional needs unlike their competitors who adopted a one size fits all format across geographies. •Another aspect was the Chinese way of business dealing where a negotiated contract had a very fair chance of being dishonored. The renegotiations had to be conducted with patience and this also led to developing skills in uncertainty managemen t. •Developmen t of local business partners as a way of doing business also e manated from their first store in Taiwan. (ii)Staffing and people •The greatest advantage Carrefour had when expanding to other markets within China was the availability of a talent pool. The business in mainland china was developed by a pool of 25 people from Taiwan who understood the Carrefour and Chinese way of working. This helped Carrefour establish the much needed local connect.
