CEMEX operates in the ‘not so export friendly’ globally concentrated cement industry, so, global expansion was an obvious choice for cement industry seeking geographic diversification. Globalization offered CEMEX and other Cement manufactures to enjoy various benefits such as i) empire building and growth via stabilized revenues, also benefiting from the arbitrage prices and economies of scale ii) export tariffs reduction and complete reduction in import tariffs in case of localized facilities iii)localization of cement production and distribution facilities closer to point of use changed the ‘global cement industry game’ with lower shipping costs, also …show more content…
Mr. Zambrano’s visionary leadership served as the basis CEMEX’s winning global strategy, which was centered around ‘aggregation’ and was efficiently managing the tensions between ‘arbitrage’ and ‘adaptation’ strategies. Unlike, Holderbank and other major players, CEMEX CEO’s early investments in IT and telecommunications industry provided CEMEX the first-mover benefit. CEMEX clearly had the competitive advantage, which was evident with their industry leading 37% EBITDA margin and highest average sales of $321 million per country they represented as detailed in Exhibit 2. Also, their average cost per ton was lower than the Holderbank. With technology edge, CEMEX was able to accomplish economies of scale in export friendly intangible business functions such as ‘knowledge management’ and ‘centralized decision …show more content…
It is a robust affirmation of aptness of company’s legendary “ADDING value” CEMEX philosophy as detailed in Exhibit4. The CEMEX’s global expansion success was standing on the distinctive strategic pillars in the form of i) it’s first mover advantage in IT and telecommunications industry, ii) the free-flow ‘learning organization’ approach for knowledge management iii) responsive and adaptable PMI process standards and iv) central business management best practices allowing quick and sound decision making. I would recommend CEMEX to continue with their globalization journey with their existing globalization