Who's afraid of companies from emerging countries ?

International business classifications are full of the names of new companies which will be making a name for themselves in the near future. The flow of investments from the southern hemisphere to the northern hemisphere is growing exponentially, and sometimes includes huge acquisitions (such as that of IBM by Lenovo, Corus by Tata Steel, and Inco by CVRD), with more spectacular ones yet to come. Who are these exceptional Chinese, Indian and Russian companies ? What makes them tick ? How do they grow ? What are their particular assets on which they depend for their growth ? What difficulties do they have to overcome in order to grow ? There are many crucial questions which need to be answered in order to understand tomorrow's economic world. Where do we in the West stand in all of this ? The emergence of these new 'champions' is inevitable in the medium term, and today we are experiencing a transitional period which requires OECD (Organisation of Economic Cooperation and Development) companies to reconsider the current situation. They have to learn to use these new ideas as assets. This would be possible if one moves quickly. One must also take a fresh look at what is happening in the public sector. What is the role of the public sector ? Should it protect our companies ? And if so, how ?