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Yankee expat in Chile with a thing for small business and empanadas.

Outsourcing and Sourcing News

Monday, February 2, 2009

Managing Change in an Emerging Market

 

Carlos Lewit, CEO of Ki Teknology, was nice enough to take the time answer some questions for me the other day on his perspective regarding some of the unique challenges a growing company in an emerging market faces in today’s economic environment. -Interview follows:

1)      What international markets does the company have experience in so far?

KI Teknology was created by the merger of two companies: InterMedia and KEPLER Technology. The founders of KEPLER Technology have been working throughout Latin America and the Caribbean since 1987. Today we are primarily selling in Chile but last year we did projects in USA and Mexico.

2)      What are some of the international companies you’ve been working with?

Some of the international companies we’ve been working with lately are Principal (Chile and Mexico), ING, Bankboston, Budget, LAN, and D&S which was just recently taken over by Walmart.

3)      How do you feel about the current economic fallout? Do you think the company is prepared to weather the storm?

At the start of this period of planning we are in the midst of a turbulent economic, political and social situation that we can define as the most important we have experienced in decades and in which it is not clear where it is or how deep this will go... 


Focusing on our situation, the merger of both companies and the adjustments we have made have been successful over the past year showing substantial progress, and the synergies are clear and concrete. The image of the new company has been consolidated and there have been several instances of new projects that we would have not won on an individual basis, activities that we could not face…. In short, today leaves little doubt that the combination of communication and technology has benefited both companies and has allowed us to neutralize the weaknesses of each and build on and enhance respective strengths…


Last year we said that having adequate financial resources following the merger would be essential to achieve our objectives. -Finish the year with a strong liquidity position and hope that it will help us through the economic crisis, coupled with a significant increase in maintenance contracts. This was probably the most important part of the year, because even though obviously we are not exempt from the problems of the crisis, we can enter it in a better position and even think about opportunities that may arise.

 

4)      In terms of working internationally, are you focused on providing services in one particular area? What’s your approach to this?

Primarily right now we are committed to serving the Boston market because we have a good network there after more than two years working with Babson consulting and incubator programs. Even today we have the support of Babson consultants to guide our business plan and consult on finances and strategy to help support our growth.

5)      Things have been changing pretty quickly around here over the past couple years, what has been the toughest challenge for you managing the growth?


The merger created an enormous challenge in terms of doubling our size, so outside support has been needed with professional management in certain areas as well as focus on a strong system of corporate governance.  The merger was intended to accelerate growth and better prepare us to expand geographically, and through 2008 we were still growing at 26%, so I think this shows that we have handled this particular challenge properly. Finishing 2008 with financial resources and a high liquidity situation was critical to achieve these goals and we did. 

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