CASE 4: Big Filter: Russian Filters in the International Market

Abstract

On the frosty winter morning of January 15, 2011, Boris Beylin, the founder of the Big Filter Company — a Russian producer of car filters — was driving to his Saint Petersburg office thinking about a problem that had started to weigh heavily on his mind: Should the company more aggressively go after the international original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) market or stay focused on their primary customers in the spare parts aftermarket? Boris would soon discuss this question with his management team in the first of many sessions to form the five-year strategic vision.

Russia. This case covers a family-run car filter business and the questions its founder/CEO faced about the company’s growth strategy. Should they stay in a less competitive market, in which they served nearly all continents? Or should they move into much more competitive and attractive segments, directly supplying OEMs, and therefore competing with lead players such as Bosch, among others?