Avalon Global Research; a brief introduction

1. An Introduction
Avalon: A success story in
The Avalon Group
Mumbai, New Delhi
consulting and research
&Chennai
Head Office: 309, B-
Wing, MP Bldg., SB
Road, Dadar West,
Mumbai-400028,
Maharashtra, India
Phone: +91-22-66132600
Fax: +91-22-24301655

2. AVALON GLOBAL RESEARCH
About AGR
Avalon Global Research (AGR) is a 20 year old research and consulting organisation in India. Our
promoters have an IIT and IIM pedigree (few of the world’s best engineering and management
institutes) with a combined experience of over 90 years.
Our domain experts, each with over 15 years of experience provide the subject knowledge to the
team in order to address specific industry issues. We have a team of 70 skilled research analysts
drawn from top engineering and business schools.
Market Knowledge
We have covered more than 2000 products for over 250 clients. More than 2/3rds of our revenues
come from repeat clients proving our quality and value addition. We have conducted studies in
almost a dozen verticals and covering the entire Indian and MENA (Middle East and Northern
Africa) region.
We track many of the key sectors in India and MENA, keeping ourselves and our clients abreast of
the new developments and likely future outcomes.
Sectoral Expertise
We cover over 10 industry segments and have studied dozens of products in each industry
segment. The industries we cover extensively are:
-Chemicals -Petrochemicals
-Oil and Gas -Food
-Healthcare -Engineering
-Transport -Financial Services
-Construction -Agribusiness
-Textile -Metals
-Consumer Goods
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3. AVALON GLOBAL RESEARCH
The types of study we have executed in each of the sectors are as follows:
Research Consulting
Competition profiling Channel Effectiveness Enhancement
Company tracking Sales & Marketing Effectiveness
Industry landscaping Customer Management Initiatives
Market mapping Competitiveness Audit
Trade and Traffic Strategic Cost Management
Target identification Supplier Management Initiatives
Match making Entry Strategy
Primary searches Corporate Growth Strategy
Data analysis Organizational Transformation
Financial Modelling Internet Strategy
New product research Financial Restructuring
Technology Scan Business Due Diligence and Valuation
Network
Avalon has offices in 3 of the 4 major metro cities of India viz. Mumbai, Chennai and Delhi. We
leverage our offices to develop and maintain contacts across India. We have a network of people
developed over many years that we depend on authentic industry information. We have developed
these over 20 years and by virtue of actively participating in industry forum.
Our associations include CII, IMC, Indian Chemical Council, and FICCI which are large and
respected industry associations in India. We are on the working committee of various business
sections of the associations and support some of them w.r.t. research, match making and
preparing white papers.
We have worked with over 250 clients covering both medium and large scale companies across
various sectors and geographies. Our long relationship with key executives, we have easy access
to them to get inputs on their companies as well as the industry.
Our Directors sit on multiple boards and committees offering us contacts with a larger pool of
senior personnel whom we can tap for research or match making. We have a combined rolodex of
over 20000 cards which have been entered in our in-house database. The database is leveraged
by our resources to initiate a call/discussion with them.
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4. AVALON GLOBAL RESEARCH
We also depend on our interviewing skills to create a network of respondents, partners, agents, etc.
We can engage them in meaningful discussions and proposing a win-win propositions them.
We have a huge repository of books, market and sector reports (over 4000) in our in-house library.
We subscribe to most key databases and have access to listed and unlisted company information.
We have a huge databank from our twenty years of desk as well as field research. AGR also
maintains a panel of experts in addition to our own resources who provide insights in some
projects. We have access to library of UDCT and IIT for advanced magazine referencing – for
technical research.
Quality Assurance System
AGR has developed a process framework for service delivery that conforms to the standards
stipulated under ISO 9001:2000 certification. The company is planning to apply for certification
once the preparatory audit is undertaken. The generic framework, which is divided into sub
components, follows a standard documentation and communication approach and serves as a
guideline for our service delivery and not as a deterministic set of rules. The reason being most of
our deliverables are customized in nature and requires exercise of skill and judgment. In order to
ensure that the skill and judgment are exercised properly, the framework depends a lot on the
Knowledge Management, which has been integrated into the process framework.
The process lays emphasis on Research Planning, Execution of Research methodology and
Customer Feedback to ensure that the deliverable meets client expectations. Since the quality of
the deliverable depends a lot on skill set, the process puts stress on identifying, training and
deploying the right kind of resources for the assignment while the quality check of the deliverable
is addressed through checklist, templates and multi stage review, which is inherent part of the
execution stage of the process. The review of project post delivery is conducted to ensure that the
measure of performance meets the expectations of both the customer as well as of the company.
In short, the process framework follows the broad guidelines and stages prescribed for ISO 9001:
2000 standards but customized to meet the specific requirements of the business as well as the
customer.
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5. AVALON GLOBAL RESEARCH
Experience in supporting international companies to conduct trade with India
Example 1
Avalon Global Research has been involved with WTI for over 5 years. Avalon Global Research
(AGR) supports WTI to generate trade between Welsh and Indian companies. AGR has advised
over 50 Welsh companies on the attractiveness of doing business in India and encouraging them
to evaluate the Indian markets. The key activities involve Market size estimations, key players
profiling, key association contacts, market opportunities for both manufacturing and services
industry. We also provide regular updates on sectors strategically important to companies in Wales.
As a first step, we provide general advice on the market and sector to the Welsh companies. The
market suitability for the Welsh companies is gauged on certain parameters like need and supply
based on desk based/ secondary market research and understanding of the specific sector in India.
Once the interest is ascertained, more details are collected on the market segment – such as
potential size, growth drivers, competition is studied through secondary as well as primary sources.
Primary sources included speaking to market influencers – companies, distributors, associations,
Govt bodies, etc.
If a need is established AGR conducts research in terms of taking the company’s offer to end
customers / potential distributors to gauge interest and solicit market data. Introduce Welsh
companies to a shortlist of companies/dealers identified from the research along with a profile and
comments.
AGR supports the Welsh companies visit to the market in terms of arranging a visit programme
and the logistics. We even accompany to many meetings to facilitate the meeting and for a
review/follow up. In general AGR provides support in terms of advice and chasing in-market
contacts for information, progress etc.
The Project Manager from AGR makes regular visits to Wales. The purpose of the visit is to
familiarise with target companies, offering advice and creating a base of companies to develop
further by generating interest in the Indian market.
We are tasked to identify and qualify opportunities in India that are pertinent to the economic
strengths of Wales. Opportunities leads came from sources such as the British Consulate, trade
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6. AVALON GLOBAL RESEARCH
bodies, private and public organisations which we would select based upon certain criteria, for
further investigation.
We also assist certain specified Welsh companies with mutually agreed tasks to enable them to
assess and enter the Indian market. These are identifying partners, conducting market research,
profile companies and distributors, etc. A few examples of activities we executed are as follows:
• Electrical beds manufacturer identifying an Indian agent/distributor
• Construction company with skills in restoration work wanting to expand market and set a
network of contractors
• Liquor company wanting to export whiskey and liqueur to India and import Indian wine
• Telecom Network Management company looking for expanding market in India
• Security system manufacturer wanting to assemble certain products in India
• Rail manufacturer looking at Indian casting and forging units
• Microscope manufacturer looking for agents in India
• Rotary dressers manufacturer looking at new agents to expand base
• Geotechnical instrumentation supplier looking at manufacturing in India
Example 2:
Avalon Global Research provides a comprehensive range of research and advisory services to
European clients in order to facilitate their Business Life Cycle with/in India. It facilitates European
clients in focusing on India as a source of raw materials, finished products and expertise/know or
as a market for European products or technologies.
• AGR serves as a focal point of contact and advice for the European clients guiding them in
every phase of their business strategy with respect to India. AGR has supported various
organizations in identifying business opportunities in India. Our team has worked on the
‘entry strategy’ for many of the companies.
• AGR guided client organizations in every step like research, matchmaking, company
profiling, impact of local laws, competitors, Government policies, researching
product/service needs in India, technology tie ups, available product range, etc. A typical
scope included the following:
• Market Size: This section talks about the total market statistics for the specific industry in
India. It also talks about the raw materials used and the end products manufactured in
India
• Market players: This section profiles a couple of large companies and a couple of smaller
companies in this business in India. Information on their capacity, number of employees,
experience, products etc is provided
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7. AVALON GLOBAL RESEARCH
• Market Characteristics: This section talks about the product range, manufacturing process
and technology used
• Market Opportunities: This section describes the need of the product/service, available
alternatives and opportunities which can be addressed.
• Policies and Regulations: Government policy, Industry organizations, legal issues,
company formation, partnerships, etc.
• The projects involved scanning the secondary sources viz. our paid databases,
association reports, in-house reports, etc. AGR has added value to desk research by
conducting interviews with the relevant respondents. Interviews depending on time
availability, costs, convenience are carried out over phone or email or face to face.
Example 3
Avalon Group have been engaged by the Italian Trade Commission (ICE) and Federchimica – the
Italian Chemical Industry Association, in order to promote industrial and commercial collaboration
agreements between Italian and Indian fine, speciality and consumer chemical companies. The
objective of this assignment is to enable some of the member companies of Federchimica to find
the right partners in India who match their specific requirements. The partners could be any of the
following
 Simple distributors
 Manufacturers willing to only distribute with the option of manufacturing at a later date
 Manufacturers to start immediate production in India
 Raw material sourcing partners
 Finished goods sourcing partners
 R&D Partners
Despite the commonness of the overall objective, the needs of each company are very specific
and in most cases do not overlap with the needs of another company. Hence the approach
followed to identify Indian partners is very specific for each Italian company.
The phases of the project
Phase I: Preliminary survey in Italy to identify the needs of each individual Italian company
participating in this assignment. The information captured the type of partnership required,
technological competence of the Indian firm, reputation, economic-financial and market solidity of
the Indian firm.
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8. AVALON GLOBAL RESEARCH
Phase II: On the basis of the information gathered in Italy, a list of potential Indian partners was
created and ran each partner through a framework developed (which captured the requirements of
each firm) to identify the most suitable Indian partner for each Italian company.
Phase III: After selection of prospective Indian partners, we will organise B2B meetings in Italy
between the Italian and Indian companies in order to develop hypothetical partnership proposals.
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