AFTERCARE AND MANAGEMENT OF EXPANSION PROJECTS

Transcription

1 AFTERCARE AND MANAGEMENT OF EXPANSION PROJECTS As shown on the next page: Discussion highlights the benefits, rationale, and methodology of implementing an aftercare system. It looks at the different steps to follow in the implementation of an aftercare program: database, strategy, survey benchmark, maintenance and expansion. Source: Multilateral Investment Guarantee Agency Copyright 2003 Multilateral Investment Guarantee Agency. All rights reserved. No part of this work may be reproduced in any form without written permission from the copyright holder. Requests for permission to reproduce should be sent to the Director, Department, the Multilateral Investment Guarantee Agency (MIGA), World Bank Group at

2 Aftercare and Management of Expansion Projects Aftercare is a general term covering the management of relationships with existing investors. In essence it is the investment promotion equivalent of customer care. As such it adheres to the old sales adage that it is almost nine times less costly to sell to an existing customer as it is to attract and successfully develop a new one. This section will highlight the benefits, rationale, and methodology of implementing an aftercare system. As one of the most overlooked yet beneficial functions that can be integrated into the agency s operations, aftercare deserves serious managerial attention. The rationale for and benefits of aftercare are closely linked. Moreover, these are obvious realities that are as much at home in the world of international business as they are in the investment promotion systems in your country. The most obvious objective of aftercare is to generate investment through expansion, reinvestment or diversification. In some countries, like Ireland and Scotland, a substantial part (oftentimes above 50%) of their FDI is generated from existing investors through aftercare. By maintaining a close relationship with all of the major investors in the country the agency will be aware of their businesses, how well or how poorly they are performing, the investors relationships with local suppliers or other companies, and the attitudes of their management towards a number of important local issues. Armed with this knowledge trained staff can anticipate the needs of investors and work to make sure those needs are met. At a minimum, this will improve retention and generally encourage positive perceptions of the country. In some instances meeting investor needs can work to encourage expansions and reinvestments. If the agency has built strong relationships with local managers of the investments and assisted their business to flourish, the rewards will be forthcoming. A successful or content local manager will be more likely to support expansion programs and encourage headquarter management to invest more in their operations. If the agency is not in contact with the investors then it cannot act to facilitate further investment. In some cases, the investment that could easily be developed may be lost to other countries or may not happen due to unfavorable conditions that could have been corrected. The benefits of aftercare also impact proactive investment efforts. Because installed investors are the first point-of-call for potential investors, keeping them satisfied should be a national priority. In most cases their opinions are the most important evaluation criteria for new investors. In fact, most site selection decisions are made as a result of the interviews held with local foreign direct investors. And, the closer the existing investor s operations are to that of the potential or new investor the more valuable the opinions. Interestingly, companies that are intense competitors in their home markets may often share considerable amounts of information on a foreign country. In some instances they cooperate and even assist in the installation of the competitor. The reason for this is straightforward. Investors know that having others like them in the country helps create a lobby for important changes that will enhance their operations, create synergies for staff training, and may work to lower the costs of public services. The link to proactive promotion can be taken one step further. Improved international public relations and marketing can also be generated through existing investors. Most investors are interested and willing to promote a country if their experience is positive. In fact, because multinational corporations are concerned with their profile among peers and consumers, it is to their advantage to encourage good perceptions of the places in which they operate. This can be developed through testimonials, participation in missions, featured pages on the agency s website, joint media campaigns and other initiatives. 1

3 Aftercare is also linked to the policy advocacy role. Executives and management located in your country are a valuable source of information on the investment environment and usually have extensive international experience with which to evaluate the country. This provides them with a solid basis for comparative analysis. While they may be more likely to point out the shortcomings of the country rather than its strengths these are nonetheless important opinions. Holding regular meetings to discuss investment climate issues and solicit opinions is a simple and cost-effective way to evaluate the country s potential. If the Government is truly serious about attracting FDI then acting on these opinions and perceptions is crucial. The agency and its aftercare program is the conduit for investor s opinions to reach the Government. By improving the business environment the Government is demonstrating its commitment to FDI and investors in particular a strategy that is likely to generate dividends over time. Implementation: Considering the arguments laid out above the relationships with existing investors must be improved. It is important to be aware of some crucial guidelines. First, aftercare will not be a once-off contact. The agency is building a relationship and therefore must examine ways to initiate and then maintain contact with the investors. Second, a service or multiple services are being offered. Although the first meeting will be mostly information gathering the long term objective is to offer services to these investors. Third, investors will be reluctant to participate unless the benefits of their participation are clear and almost guaranteed. This final point is important and overlooked by many agencies launching aftercare programs for the first time. Unless the agency has a proven track record of excellent service it will take time to win over investors to this new venture. Moreover, if the Government has established a pattern of not meeting all its promises this task will be even more difficult. The investors must fully understand the added value your agency brings to the table. The program must start strong to encourage participation and maintain momentum over time to build confidence. A. Database: The first step is to create a database of existing investors. The key to creating a more effective relationship is a clear picture of the operations and central individuals in the investing companies. This database not only stores names, addresses, and contact numbers but tracks interactions, sets out government and investor actions plans on projects, and monitors the progress of the relationship generally. The crucial element to the success of the database lies in the individuals that manage it the same individuals that will be leading the relationships with the investors. Their dedication to maintaining timely information on the investors and actions plans within the database is vital. Management should include database maintenance as a part of the job description of team members dealing with investors. To avoid multiple and sometimes contradictory requests for information or assistance from investors the agency must maintain a detailed record of the progress of the relationship. Experience in other countries that have drawn large dividends from existing investors points to the importance of an investor database, or contact management program. B. Strategy: Once the database is in place the agency must develop a strategy for the program. Because of the resource requirements and importance of follow-through the launch must be carefully planned. An strategy/implementation plan for at least the first year of the program should be developed by the staff and approved by the board. The key elements of this strategy include: 1. Setting the dimensions, or objectives of the program: It may not be feasible for the agency to incorporate every foreign investor in the country into the program. In most cases the program will have to be rolled out in phases. Either way, the types of investors to be included in each phase or in general must be set out in advance. Agencies should begin with the largest investors, preferably exportoriented, and/or those within their priority sectors. For instance, if there are a relatively small number of 2

4 investors in electronics and services and they are priority sectors then it makes sense to cover these groups first. Conversely, if there are an extremely large number of investors in apparel assembly and these investors are arriving without any assistance or promotion by your agency, then this group may be excluded from the initial rollout of the aftercare program or included by way of a small sample group. Be aware of one important caveat to this rule, however. If the agency believes that there is a high probability of expansions within these sectors and investments could be accelerated by the agency s intervention then these investors are a clear priority and should be included. Since the ultimate objective of aftercare is expansions the agency should begin with easy wins or obvious expansion candidates. Ultimately, staff will have to make judgment calls on the size of the program and the companies to be included. These decisions will have to be reviewed by the Board or management. 2. Assigning human and financial resources: Aftercare does not necessarily require a large amount of funding but does require significant staff time. Planning the absorption of person-hours is vital and will prevent the agency from falling into the most common pitfall of aftercare: initiating contact and providing no follow-up with the investor or follow-through on action items. Once the dimensions of the program have been established then management, along with the aftercare team, should examine how much time the initial meetings, follow-up and follow-through will take. It is wise to assume that someone from the agency should meet with each company at least once every six months. Twelve person-hours is about the average time dedicated to each investor every six months. This includes travel and meeting time, processing survey results, data input, follow-up correspondence, follow-through on action items, adding data to the policy advocacy system, writing and publishing an aftercare newsletter etc. When this number is multiplied by the number of investors within the program time becomes a very scarce and valuable commodity. Some investors will require no follow-through on issues and others will need significant attention. 3. Logistics: The time for each investor will also vary based on how far the aftercare official has to travel and the number of meetings that can be realistically organized on a given day. Planning the initial set of meetings can be a logistical nightmare. The agency will have to be flexible and timing will depend on the availability of the investor not the needs of the aftercare staff. Means of transportation, per diems, and accommodation may have to be arranged for traveling staff. Will the staff have the ability to invite investors to lunch or dinner if no other time to meet can be arranged? Follow-through on actions items may also require travel. How will this be paid for? In other words, a logistics framework and budget for travel, hospitality and follow-though on action items will have to be approved. 4. Aftercare Services: Before the agency embarks on the program and raises any investor expectations the level of services to be offered must be established. How far is the agency willing or able to go to resolve investor complaints and or action items? In other words, staff should be aware of the agency s limits before committing to resolve an issue for an investor. On the macro level, this relates directly to the powers and influence of the agency and is a task for management to decide. On the micro level, over time staff will gain experience and be able to make informed decisions on these matters. However, there are a number of issues that may be within the power of the agency to resolve that nonetheless should not be entertained. For instance, entering into negotiations with local unions, investigating civil or criminal charges, completing paperwork or undertaking services that should be undertaken by qualified professionals (ie. lawyers, accountants, tax specialists) etc. Considerations for avoiding these issues include excessive amount of time they would take to resolve, the political nature of the dispute or issue, conflict of interest, and/or the fact that another (more capable) institution has already developed an action plan. As an alternative, the agency may wish to monitor progress without wanting to commit to a resolution. Beyond these issues, it is always better to err on the side of assisting the investor. 5. Goals and Outputs: With the high degree of planning that goes into launching the program it is easy to lose sight of the ultimate objectives. At a minimum the agency is trying to create a more content community of existing investors. Ideally and more importantly staff will be seeking to develop expansion investments. To make the investment in this type of program worthwhile goals should be 3

5 developed and revised on a yearly basis. Two general sets of goals should be set out: activity-based goals and results-oriented goals. The former should include the number of investors to be visited, the number and types of reports to be developed, the level of follow-up to be offered, and the information parameters to be maintained in the aftercare database. The later, results-oriented goals, can be agreed upon after the program has been underway for a few months. These outputs include new investment generated and jobs created through expansions. The program should be evaluated on a yearly basis. Monitoring should take place quarterly to track progress on goals. C. Survey/Benchmark: With a strategy in place the obvious starting place is to undertake a survey of existing investors. This will create a solid foundation of information on which to begin the relationship. Moreover, it gathers perceptions from investors and highlights areas that may need immediate or more long term attention, a clear link to policy advocacy. In other words, it is a classic customer survey. And it sets a baseline from which the agency can measure progress of the relationship and progress on investment environment related issues. The survey does not have to be long or detailed but in two or three pages can poll opinions, gather further information on the investors operations, and act as a promotional tool for the agency and country. The importance of this final point should not be overlooked. If investors feel the agency is taking an active role in addressing their needs and building a relationship they will be more inclined to promote the country to other investors and make the case for expansions. Once the survey is completed information gathered should be stored in the database. This should be input by the staff member assigned to the investor as soon as possible after the meeting. Periodic revisions of data should be undertaken to check quality and consistency of information. The database will be the key to all future services. Some of the survey meetings will result in requests by investors. These should be input into the contact management system to assign and track progress. Action items should be assigned to staff based on their roles. For instance, if the survey uncovered an important issue to be undertaken by the policy advocacy team then the aftercare team should create an action item for them and note its progress. At the same time, management should monitor all action items. D. Maintenance: After the initial contact the aftercare relationship will have to be built up and maintained over time. What follows is a discussion of methods to achieve better contact with investors: 1. General correspondence: Aftercare officials should be in contact, via , fax, or regular mail, with their clients. A thank you letter should be sent immediately after the first meeting. Christmas and other feasts are an occasion to send a letter and continue contact. At some point a follow up survey, shorter than the original, should be sent to monitor opinions. Regular correspondence keeps clients thinking about the agency and the services it offers. It also serves to build trust over time. 2. Newsletter: Another tool for managing the relationship is an aftercare newsletter. This can take the place of some correspondence but should not replace it. Any aftercare newsletter should be directed exclusively at existing investors and include information relevant to them. The publication schedule will depend on the staff time that can be dedicated to its preparation however it should be produced at least four times a year. Topics should include: new investments, progress on reforms, changes at the agency, upcoming missions, investor council meetings, services offered by the agency, government contacts, trade and competitiveness issues affecting investment, etc. The newsletter will be one additional means to maintain contact with this very important constituency within your country. If executed properly it can produce significant goodwill. 4

6 3. Investors on the Board of Directors: After a period of time implementing the program the agency may want to consider more innovative approaches. One such enhancement is the inclusion of existing investors on their Board of Directors. As aftercare activities progress the team will encounter investors that would like to do more to promote the country. Sufficiently qualified managers make excellent Board members and could be an asset to the agency. 4. Council of Investors: A more ambitious program is the creation of a council of existing investors. After the survey the agency may want to consider establishing a council of investors in order to continue the dialogue on the issues highlighted in the survey. The council can seek representatives from each company or a rotating subset of representatives. The council could meet every six months to discuss investor issues, identify bottlenecks and investment environment constraints, and suggestions for attracting additional investment. The keys to success of the council will be openness and agency/government support. The agency should select representatives from relevant ministries to attend. At the same time the meetings should be informal with a minimum of protocol. Here is a summary of the Council makeup and operations: Structure: Agency team to manage the meetings One high level representative (preferably the local General Manager) from certain foreign companies Three to four key representatives from the local private sector Ministerial or Vice-Ministerial level representative from Government divisions related to the investment environment or investment promotion Schedule and protocol: Biannual meetings lasting about 1-2 hours opened/hosted by the President or other high level official Agenda sent to participants for comment one week before each meeting Action plan developed at the conclusion of each meeting and circulated to all attendees Informal meeting environment notwithstanding the presence of high level officials there should be no Government or official protocol Agenda and topics to be discussed: Progress of reform process Results of investor surveys Specific investment environment issues raised by investors Competitive position vis-à-vis other countries in the region Joint Private/Public initiatives to improve the profile of country in the international business community Action plan for investment environment improvements The event should be as much a social gathering as a business forum. The goals of the agency in hosting such an event are numerous. Create a sense of community among investors. Open a direct channel of communication between the Government and this community. Use the event to boost the profile of the agency and its public relations clout. As such it could be arranged as a dinner or cocktail arrangement. It bears remembering that the investors are probably members of several chambers and industrial associations. The investor s council should not try to duplicate these bodies. The differentiating factors include: a broader range of members (not confined to industry groups or nationality), informal setting, ability to meet and discuss issues in an informal setting with members of government, and the chance to voice concerns about the investment environment. 5

7 E. Expansions: Finally, because aftercare is primarily aimed at coordinating and promoting expansion projects, the agency must develop a promotion methodology to encourage these investments. In some ways it is similar to the proactive investment promotion methods that bring in greenfield investments. There are some differentiating points, however. Because the agency will have a closer relationship to aftercare clients than it will ever have to new investors, staff will have more information on the needs of the existing investors. Over time aftercare officials will get a feel for those clients that are closer to expansions and can therefore work to facilitate the process. Through indirect methods and direct questioning staff should have the answers to the following set of questions: 1. What are the expansion plans of this company for the next three years? 2. What specific steps can the agency/government take to facilitate or promote these plans (incentives, training, ministerial visits to headquarters)? 3. How can the agency strengthen the position of the local manager to fight for an expansion? 4. What impact will these plans have on the local economy (employment, investment, etc.)? Once an expansion possibility is identified it should be pursued vigorously and given the full attention of the team. The agency should become an important ally of the local manager as she or he works to justify the expansion to headquarters. Just as in the proactive phase of investment promotion the agency should seek out as much information as the local manager might need to make his or her case. The agency can also offer to manage itineraries for visiting teams involved in the expansion, seek out procedures on permits, and arrange meetings with Government officials. A more advanced step includes lobbying for additional incentives. Since additional jobs and/or funds will be involved the Government may be interested in developing incentives and schemes to foster expansions. These can be managed on a case by case basis or sought generally by the agency. The power of the council of investors might also prove useful here. At a meeting of investors a poll could be taken on methods by which the government could foster more expansions. In the end, the most important route to expansions is though effective aftercare. If the program is not being executed effectively the agency will lose many opportunities to increase investment. Just as with the overall task of investment promotion it may be better not to undertake aftercare at all rather than implement a lackluster program that only creates expectations but does not meet them. 6