Abstract

During the 1990s, Cemex of Mexico went from being a purely domestic producer to the third largest firm in the global cement industry. It did this through a combination of internal growth and global acquisitions. Cemex has maintained a higher level of profitability than other, longer-established majors. The case examines the rationale and logic behind internationalisation in a commodity business and the selection of markets to enter. The case demonstrates how a company can use information technology pro-actively to add value and achieve differentiation in a commodity business. Another point of emphasis in the case is the crucial role played by knowledge sharing in a global corporation with operations all over the world.

Learning Objectives

The case is structured to achieve the following Learning Objectives:

• 0

Keywords

Cemex, Strategy and leadership at Cemex, Operations management, Cement business, Ready-mix, Acquisition integration, Managing culture at Cemex, Environmental focus, Globalisation, Mexico industry, International business environment, Southdown cement, Rizal cement, Holcim, Lorenzo Zambrano