如今，“新兴市场”与“增长”之间的联系如此普遍，以至于人们觉得这成了自然规律的一部分，特别是当你听取美国大公司的季度业绩之时。但“利润丰厚的增长”情况如何呢？这却是另外一回事。
会计师事务所安永(Ernst & Young)在一份新报告中指出了两者的区别，给围绕新兴市场的热情泼了一些冷水。它提醒我们，销售额增长不一定总能转化成利润增长，并指出，当企业试图打入新的市场时，情况尤其如此。
安永对全球1400多名高管做了调查，根据回馈得出的结论出人意料：如果你想实现利润丰厚的增长，匆忙进入新兴市场并非实现这一目标的最佳途径。
相反，高管们正专注于自己现有的市场，即使这些市场恰巧是在旧世界“正在衰落”的经济体中。正如报告作者之一——安永的安德鲁•谢勒(Andrew Shaylor)所言：
尽管对中印的兴趣上升是事实，但大多数公司确实仍在致力于巩固现有的客户基础,并完善对他们的服务。
高管们已经意识到，这么做，他们投入的时间与资金获得回报的时间更短、或回报率更高。这或许也暴露出他们在当前不确定的经济环境下，对风险的厌恶。
这似乎并未减弱政府率领的贸易代表团的热情，比如，巴拉克•奥巴马(Barack Obama)在印度的代表团、以及英国首相大卫•卡梅伦(David Cameron)本周带到中国的代表团。
但上述调查突显出，重塑世界格局的围绕新兴市场的兴奋情绪，如今正逐渐转变成另外一种东西：即对在新兴市场出售产品与服务所面临的微观挑战更为冷静的认识。
谢勒表示：
企业越来越认识到，新兴市场情况复杂、服务成本高、且竞争越来越激烈。如果你盯住的是未来几年，你将很难在那里赚到钱。
这并不是说那里的长期机遇不大。而且这也不完全适用于全球最大的一些跨国公司。这些公司在最大的新兴市场已经营了很长时间，那些发展时期的痛苦早已成为遥远的记忆。
尽管如此，这并未阻止通用电气(GE)老板——杰夫•伊梅尔特(Jeff Immelt)上周末发出下述抱怨：印度恶劣的基础设施一直束缚该国的经济增长。
在京，外国公司在中国也对一系列困难发出抱怨，其中包括知识产权被窃取。中国官员则回击称，经营环境变得艰难，仅仅是中国本土公司实力日渐增强的反映。
对那些仍在考量去哪里发展的高管，谢勒给出了下述建议：
我们并不是说这是个“非此即彼”的问题，但你在订前往上海的票之前，要确保自己已把现有客户基础服务得很好。你也必须清楚，你为何需要去中国，以及去那里打算做什么。
译者/何黎
http://www.ftchinese.com/story/001035523
The association between “emerging markets” and “growth” these days is so commonplace it feels like part of the natural order, especially if you listen to the quarterly results of big US companies. But what about “profitable growth”? That’s a different matter.
Ernst & Young makes the distinction in a new report that pours some cold water on the buzz over emerging markets. It reminds us that higher sales do not always translate into higher profits - and reveals that this is especially true when you try to break into new markets.
The accountancy firm has surveyed more than 1,400 senior executives around the world and reported back with an unexpected conclusion: if you want to secure profitable growth, rushing into emerging markets is not the best way to do it.
Instead, executives are focusing on their existing markets, even if they happen to be in the “declining” economies of the Old World. As Andrew Shaylor of Ernst & Young, one of the report’s authors, told beyondbrics:
Whilst it’s true that interest in India and China is up, it’s still the case that most companies are focused on their current client base and improving services to them.
Executives have realised that by doing so they can often get a better return - or a more immediate one - on their investments of time and money. It may also signal their aversion to risk taking in these uncertain economic times.
That does not seem to have dampened the ardour of government-led trade delegations such as Barack Obama’s in India and that of David Cameron, the British prime minister, in China this week.
But the survey underlines how the macro excitement over emerging markets reshaping the world is now morphing into something else: a more sober understanding of the micro challenges of selling products and services there.
Shaylor again:
There’s a growing realisation that emerging markets are complex, costly to serve, and increasingly competitive. If you’re focused on the next couple of years, it’s very difficult to make money there.
That’s not to say that the longer-term opportunities are not huge. And some of this does not apply to the world’s largest multinationals, which have been in the biggest emerging markets for so long that those growing pains are a distant memory.
Still, that didn’t stop Jeff Immelt, the boss of GE, from complaining at the weekend about how one persistent frustration - India’s shoddy infrastructure - is shackling the country’s growth.
In China foreign businesses this year have complained about a range of difficulties, including the theft of their intellectual property. Chinese officials have hit back by saying the tougher operating environment simply reflects the growing strength of domestic companies.
To those executives still weighing up where to channel their efforts, Shaylor says:
We’re not saying it’s a case of either/or, but before you book your ticket to Shanghai, make sure you’ve served your existing client base. Be sure you know why you need to be in China and what you’re going to do there.
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