The entire case talks about how 3 entrepreneurial clans in Asia managed to grow their business through
addition, subtraction, multiplication and division process within their family conglomerates. I like how
the facts of the case were presented in details in terms of how these 3 clans achieved growth within
their line of businesses and penetrated the market of Thailand, Malaysia & Indonesia.
During the addition process, we can tell that entrepreneurs use different approaches in determining the
necessity to expand their business. For instance, if your existing business can be supported by another
product, then it makes sense for you to pursue this product. This is what S&P Ice Cream Corner did.
They started out as an ice cream parlor which offers limited ice cream menus, then slowly transitioned
to manufacturing bakery products then eventually forwarded to distribution and franchising. On the
other hand, some entrepreneurs add new businesses as opportunities come. The new business or
product offering may have nothing to do with the existing one, but since an opportunity comes to take
on a new endeavour, they end up grabbing it. This is what exactly Melewar group did in their business
expansions. Some companies tend to expand their businesses by finding a common denominator with
their business offerings. For instance, if a company caters to clothing lines, then they can expand to
underwear, kids wear etc. In the Philippines setting, i think the perfect example would be Bench, which
started out in offering clothes for males. Then they eventually added up HerBench for women, Bench
Body for underwear, and Bench Kids for infant and children. With relevance to the case, Blue Bird take
on business expansions to anything that has wheels, like cabs, buses, truck s and trailers to cater both
the passenger and non-passenger needs of transportation in Indonesia.
In terms of the multiplication process, this comes to play if your business venture was so successful,
you can end up multiplying in terms of your number of branches and increase in supply chain. In the
Philippines setting, perfect example would be SM and Jollibee where in they have tremendously grown
in number in terms of the nationwide branches. I think wherever you go in Metro Manila, there is a
Jollibee store around the corner, there are even stores located just few kilometres away from the same
street. In terms of SM, all key major cities in Metro Manila has it, like Makati, Manila, Las Pinas, Bicutan,
etc. The growth in number is supported by the level of success in penetrating the target market. In
terms of the case, S&P and Blue Bird both of them have grown in number in terms of supply chain and
number of units (cabs for instance) to gain a full competitive advantage in the market.
When business owners encounter failure in their new ventures, it is important to consider the option
to let go of this business, rather than let it stay longer for so long which might eventually impact your
other businesses or worse, pull down the entire company. This is what Melawar did when they stopped
operating their technology ventures and I think they did a great job in determining this soon. The lesson
learned in this aspect, is to ensure that before you start up a new line of business, you will be able to
address all challenges n the future, and the key is to determine your current strengths and assets and
measure the feasibility to succeed.
In terms of the division of the company, I must say that all clans were successful in dividing the
ownership and accountability of each family member with their line of businesses. They have considered
factors such as function, interests, location and proximity to handle the business and stay successful in
the future. Not only that they focus on the current state, but they also prepare their young children to
take on the responsibility moving forward.
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