Sept 2008 | Fortune China
Get Ready for the Green Tide / by Torsten Stocker, Warren Xiao

Chinese consumers pay more attention on environmental protection and eco-issues nowadays for concerns of their health and younger generation. There are several general principles that companies can follow to benefit from the trend: understanding how 'green' a company's different target segments are and develop marketing strategy accordingly; In the same context, providing direct benefits to consumers by satisfying their specific 'green' needs such as organic foods; Avoiding performance or other sacrifices, i.e. 'green' products must meet consumers' expectations in comparison to 'non-green' products as the majority of consumers will not substitute 'green' for good performance' or 'reliable quality'; Making the green aspects of the product or company publicly recognizable, such as meet qualification of "Green Food" or "Energy Efficiency Standard".
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Aug 2008 | Finance Series Caijing
SWFs Push Forward Despite Risks / by William Miracky, Davis Dyer, Drosten Fisher

The recent, rapid rise of sovereign wealth funds (SWFs) has ignited controversy in many parts of the world. In OECD countries, many observers worry that SWFs could be instruments of state policy posing as investment vehicles. On the other side, representatives of nations with SWFs protest that their motives are purely financial and that they wish to participate responsibly in the global financial system.

Although SWFs have been the subject of much public attention and recent research reports, most commentary and analysis considers the funds at an aggregated level and reaches similar observations and conclusions: that SWFs are targeting investments in OECD countries; that they wish to invest in politically sensitive sectors; that they prefer to acquire minority stakes; and that they are moving from conservative to higher-risk investments.

The full report of Assessing the Risks: The Behaviors of Sovereign Wealth Funds in the Global Economy is available at www.monitor.com/sovereignwealth .

To view the article on Middle East SWFs, please click here
To view the article on Asian SWFs, please click here

July 2008 | Global Entrepreneur
"Green Money": How Leading Companies Use Environmental Strategies to Grow and Profit / by Dr. Thierry Delmarcelle, Guanghai Li

While many companies are still considering ways to reduce environmental protection costs, few leading companies have already seen the enormous business benefits. With the increasing pressure of global ecology deterioration, green business strategies not only help companies to the understand challenges they are faced with by identifying its eco-foot prints, but also to develop measures to create more business value. This article summarizes the experiences and achievements by leading green companies at home and abroad and also provides approaches and suggestions drawing from Monitor's rich experience and expertise.
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May 2008 | Fortune China
Developing Business Resilience - Insights from Global Consumer Goods Companies / by Torsten Stocker, Warren Xiao

Consumer goods companies in North America and Europe are faced with increasingly pressure in recent years and, given the saturating market, cost increase and consolidation of retailers. The following are some of the key strategies that these companies have adopted, that have made their businesses inherently resilient to changes in their macro-economic environment: Carefully manage price points and margins so as to pass on some or all of rising input costs to consumers. With a strong pipeline of innovative and differentiated premium products to create superior margins and protect against commoditization. Manage costs strategically so as to continuously improve bottom-line. Continuously invest in brand equity so as to retain consumer loyalty and created. Driving industry consolidation.
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