Emerging Market Strategy
“Focused” Strategies May be Wrong in Emerging Markets: In their groundbreaking 1997 article in Harvard Business Review, Professor Krishna Palepu and his co-author, Tarun Khanna, argue that focused strategies emphasizing “core competencies,” may not be appropriate for businesses in emerging markets because of the absence of product, capital and labor market institutions (“institutional voids”) that companies in developed markets take for granted.
Companies operating in emerging markets must tailor their strategies to the institutional context in each market in which they are operate. On the basis of more than a decade of research, Krishna Palepu and Tarun Khanna published “Winning In Emerging Markets” in 2010 that presents a simple framework to map the unique institutional context of any emerging market, and help practitioners tailor their strategy for each market.
Governance
In the area of corporate governance, Professor Krishna Palepu’s work focuses on making corporate boards more effective, and improving corporate disclosure. Professor Krishna Palepu has published numerous articles and case studies on these issues. He recently authored a chapter for the forthcoming book The Future of Boards, entitled “Strategic Engagement by the Board,” which outlines methods for involving board members more actively in setting strategy and monitoring its implementation.
Valuation
Prior to embarking on his current research on emerging markets, Professor Krishna Palepu worked on a variety of issues in corporate finance and disclosure. Krishna Palepu and co-author Paul Healy developed a framework that ties analysis of a company’s business model and strategy with valuation, culminating in the textbook, Business Analysis and Valuation: Text and Cases. The book, just released in its 5th edition in 2012, won the American Accounting Association’s Wildman Award for its impact on management practice, as well as the Notable Contribution to the Accounting Literature Award for its impact on academic research. This book, translated into Chinese, Japanese, and Spanish, is widely used in leading MBA programs all over the world. It is accompanied a business analysis and valuation software model.
