Global Direct Investment Solutions

Corporate Development for a Networked World

OnTheShortList.com     SurgeUSA.org

ShortListNews.com

How is the work for participants performed?

Bruce Donnelly   bruce@gdi-solutions.com    (Biography)

The simple answer to the question above is : personally.

We develop working relationships through services to all three groups of contacts (corporate executives, professional service providers, and area representatives.  This enables us to introduce them to each other.

Six graphics illustrate the entire process, as explained below.

Our focus is to get to know the people who plan major investment projects, as well as the people who know how to help them, and then quickly introduce them to each other as appropriate.  We don't provide all the services which investors may need.  We "make the connection" to identify and introduce potential solutions to investor needs quickly.

What does our logo diagram mean?  The linked graphic shows how we bring the three networks of contacts together through our relationship development services, as also explained in the main Introduction section.

It also illustrates how this process overcomes some of the problems with the inefficient way this niche market has operated until now.  In short, all three groups struggle to make the right connections at the right time.  Good solutions already exist for most investor needs, but "supply" and "demand" don't always know how to find each other in this niche.

We introduce Supply (service providers and area representatives) to Demand.  We're paid by the Supply side because they benefit by serving the Demand side better through this new process than the alternatives.  We are not "pushing" individual Supply services in the door, however.  We are developing relationships to "pull" in any of the relevant Supply services as appropriate.  That is analogous to a financial market, or a retailer, where buyers can choose efficiently from many alternatives.

The heart of our process is our SICR relationship development work among corporate executives, but the GUIDE work among professional service providers and area representatives provides the base of knowledge to deliver higher value to executives and the other participants in our services.  In short, the GUIDE work creates the "off the shelf" knowledge to be prepared to make relevant introductions quickly, so that we can respond to executives as a virtual "Hot Line" service.

As explained in the section on performance goals and metrics, we don't expect to know everything in advance, but we try to anticipate and know how to find what participating executives need very quickly.

What is GUIDE?  The linked graphic illustrates how it addresses two dimensions of major investment decisions - Data and Experience.

Our advance research and relationship development work with area representatives through services such as the GUIDE Network Survey, GUIDE Area Profile (see examples linked to the Participants list), and the GUIDE Area Reports contribute to a well-structured and consistent base of comparable information about locations around the world, with links to relevant maps or websites for additional details. 

This addresses the need for better "data" to compare investment alternatives at each stage of the process, as also shown in the "funnel" explained below.  Much of the knowledge can be published here, or through linked sites, but some of the knowledge obviously can't be published openly.  The relationship leaders need to have, or know where to find, such knowledge to support the executives who they serve.

The feedback from participants as well as the GUIDE Experience Report address the other dimension by providing independent insights into the investment experiences of other executives in the locations of potential interest on typical issues of importance to prospective investors.

Together, the "Data" and "Experience" dimensions combine to support faster and better investment decisions, with greater confidence in the value of the choices which are made.  Better investment decisions are in everyone's interest, which is the basic premise behind collaboration to develop "Globally Uniform Investment Data and Experience" as a more consistent and reliable base of market knowledge to support investors.

The linked diagram, with further links to the relevant explanatory sections from each part of the graphic, shows how our various services fit together to support top executives as our primary focus. 

There are also short explanations of the various components of this website, as can be seen in more detail in the Shortcuts section, which provides a convenient way  to find almost anything on this website with a single click. 

Note that the Maps section, and the related regional maps and tables of contacts, can also be used to find participating area representatives.

The graphic also illustrates how some services which are planned in the future, such as The GDI Forum™ and The GDI Alerts™, would fit into the other GUIDE and SICR services.  For those services to be launched, some of the other services need to be in place already, and the network of corporate participants needs to be developed so that these services can be designed even more precisely around their interests.

The key to the entire process, however, is the relationship leaders who provide the direct support to corporate executives.  As the maps show, we intend to divide the world into regions, have specialists grow the base of knowledge and contacts in each region, and support hundreds of leading companies through global relationship leaders in their areas.

The linked diagram illustrates the typical location selection process for a major investment project.  At the beginning, there are many potential alternatives.  These are narrowed down to a "long list" of places which seem to merit closer examination and screening for suitability.  That yields an initial "short list" of locations which seem suitable on the most critical factors, but still require more careful analysis.  The "short list" then becomes an even shorter list of final contenders, and ultimately a couple of choices which require even more detailed analysis and negotiations to determine the most advantageous selection. 

The same basic process can apply to alliances or M&A deals, as well as the evaluation of existing locations, as in consolidation or post-merger strategy decisions.  "If we acquire the company, should we leave their operations where they are?"  "Do we need to reconsider where we need to have operations in the future, and perhaps consolidate or relocate?"

The "funnel" shows how the various GUIDE services and the SICR relationship support each step of that process, from the high-level screening (GUIDE Network Survey, Area Profile) through the more detailed analysis (GUIDE Area Report, Experience Report), leading into field research involving the relevant support services as appropriate.

In effect, the more detailed GUIDE services (Area Report, Experience Report) empower an executive to "look ahead" down the funnel, perhaps considering the potential places which would otherwise be screened out to save time and effort, but which might prove to be superior solutions on closer inspection.  This should increase investor confidence in the final "short list" selections, and save a lot of time.  It makes field research more efficient and competing areas more comparable, because a lot of valuable knowledge is already "on the shelf", so that executives can focus on what is critical to their needs, rather than very basic research..

(NOT YET COMPLETE)

The linked graphic shows how everything we do builds from the foundation of value added for corporate executives and the service providers and area representatives who serve their investment interests.

At the top, the SICR and GUIDE services are delivered through the personal work of the relationship leaders, and all the related marketing activities of the firm to develop and maintain relationships among the executives responsible for major investment projects.

Below that, a variety of specific services support such work, built upon the foundation of investment (at the bottom) based upon the benefits delivered among the three groups of participants.  All three groups invest in the process - the companies through their projects, and the areas and service providers through their commitments to this process and all the other things they do to support direct investment projects.

If you add it up, there is a staggering amount of money invested all over the world to support direct investment flows, but because it is all highly fragmented in pursuit of local self-interests, the inefficiency of the total market is easily overlooked.   It's a classic example of "not seeing the forest for the trees".  From a macro perspective, there is potential for collaboration which is not always apparent at the micro level of direct competition for one specific project after another.