Accessing Vital Business Intelligence Without Hitting A Bric Wall

For the third time in as many years, Oakland Innovation was invited to put forward one of its industry experts to address business leaders at a conference hosted by the Institute for Manufacturing in Cambridge.

This year it was the turn of Dr Eileen Buttimer who chose as her topic ‘Technology Intelligence in Brazil, Russia, India and China – Opportunities and Challenges’

“Each of these BRIC countries represents a huge opportunity for partnering and joint venture activities. Each of them is determined to play a leading global role in the development of new markets and the technologies associated with them. Their expanding economies mean that their governments are backing the growth of the R&D and education sectors with massive investment,” says Eileen adding:

“The number of PhD students in Brazil is growing by 12% each year. Russia is ploughing $2.8 billion into its R&D sector. India produces 2.5 million science and engineering graduates each year, while China sees 1.5 million science and engineering graduates each year.

“These BRIC countries are no longer content to play the role of ‘nut and bolt assembly lines’ for the West. They are determined to own and drive change.”

However, as Eileen points out, huge opportunities carry significant challenges, not the least of which is the near impossibility of accessing leading edge thinking in the BRIC countries for many Western organisations.

“Language and cultural barriers are major impediments for companies wanting to access the emerging markets and the technologies associated with them in BRIC countries,” says Eileen.

As part of her presentation, Eileen pointed out that Oakland Innovation is ideally placed to address these issues on behalf of its clients.

“We have over fifty highly qualified, multilingual employees, including scientists and engineers with both technical and commercial expertise.

“Not only are they fluent in languages, but because they are from overseas, they completely empathise with the cultural influences that come into play when interviewing key contacts in order to garner the necessary business intelligence. This market intelligence is crucial for our clients as it gives them an invaluable competitive advantage.

“It isn’t an exaggeration to say that we have gone out of our way to create a company with a global personality, which means that we can, quite literally, talk to the world.”

October 27th - 2011 Oakland

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Amit Nair has been promoted from a Consultant Analyst to a Consultant

Oakland Innovation is delighted to announce that Amit Nair has been promoted from a Consultant Analyst to a Consultant.

Amit Nair, relishing his new role as a Consultant

 As a Consultant Analyst, Amit, who joined Oakland Innovation two and a half years ago, has been responsible for delivering in-depth research for Oakland Innovation’s international client base.

  “Amit has been recognised for his dedication and high quality output, and he will now take on responsibility for the management of projects and teams, while continuing to build relationships with clients” explains Jenny Brown, Director.

 Originally from India, Amit speaks fluent Hindi and Marathi. He obtained a Research Fellowship at the Tata Institute of Fundamental Research in Mumbai and then completed his PhD in Developmental Neurobiology at Cambridge University.

Amit is relishing the opportunity to expand his career at Oakland Innovation, which specialises in delivering research, understanding and insight to the FMCG (fast moving consumer goods),and industrial sectors, using insights obtained from leading experts and commentators to build on public domain data. 

 “The large variety and types of projects at Oakland has kept me abreast of cutting edge research in a variety of scientific areas. This is what drives my interest and keeps me wanting more,” says Amit.

October 26th - 2011 Oakland

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Prestige Award for Oakland Innovation

Oakland Innovation has been formally recognised by Proctor and Gamble (P&G) for its contribution to P&G’s global business development achievements.

 (Left to right) Jeff Weedman, P&G Senior VP of Global Business Development, Kate Bendall and Nigel Bailey, Senior Consultants from Oakland Innovation, Michael Zeitlyn, Managing Director of Oakland Innovation, Bruce Brown, P&G’s CTO and Bob McDonald, P&G’s  CEO.

Each year, P&G presents companies, which have made a significant contribution to its business success, with an award at a glittering ceremony held near P&G’s headquarters in Cincinnati, USA.

 At the ceremony, which was hosted by P&G’s Senior VP of Global Business Development Jeff Weedman, Oakland Innovation’s managing director Michael Zeitlyn received the P&G External Enabling Partner of the Year award from P&G’s CEO Bob McDonald and CTO Bruce Brown. The award recognises the company’s work with P&G in the areas of business and product development.

 Commenting, Michael said: “This award ceremony is an opportunity for P&G to bring together key business partners and formally recognise and reward those companies which have made a significant contribution to the development of P&G and I am delighted that Oakland Innovation was among this year’s winners of this prestigious award.”

 Oakland Innovation is a specialist research company and works with global corporations particularly in the fields of consumer products, personal care, food and beverage, and healthcare, providing solid market and technology  intelligence to assist with product and business innovation.

 P&G looks to build long-term relationships with its external partners and Oakland Innovation has been working closely with the company since 1992.

October 25th - 2011 Oakland

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