Competitive Alternatives
Selecting the best site for a business operation requires comprehensive consideration of many financial and non-financial
factors, examined from both a business and personal perspective. The relative importance of these factors will vary significantly;
not only for different industries, but also for individual firms within a particular industry.
From its inception in 1996 to its final edition in 2016, KPMG's
Competitive Alternatives study provided independent analysis of the major
costs and other factors that impact the site location decision. The MMK Consulting team was instrumental in the development of this
major international study and managed most aspects of the
Competitive Alternatives series on behalf
of KPMG, through to the completion of final obligations to all study sponsors in 2018.
Released in March 2016, the final edition of
Competitive Alternatives offered detailed analysis of business location factors
in Australia, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Mexico, the Netherlands, the United Kingdom, and the United States.
In various previous editions of
Competitive Alternatives, MMK Consulting professionals were involved in analyzing business
competitiveness in all of the following countries:
- Australia
- Austria
- Brazil
- Canada
- China
- France
- Germany
- Iceland
- India
- Italy
- Japan
- Luxembourg
- Mexico
- Netherlands
- Singapore
- Sweden
- Russia
- United Kingdom
- United States
Copies of all
Competitive Alternatives publications, from 2002 through to 2016, are available here in the
Study Archive.
Competitive Alternatives Special Report: Focus on Tax
As part of the
Competitive Alternatives studies from 2008 through 2016, on behalf of KPMG, MMK Consulting developed a
special report focusing on comparing tax burdens in major cities in leading countries.
These studies calculate and compare the Total Tax Index and Total Effective Tax Rate, including corporate income taxes,
other corporate taxes, and statutory labor costs for each country and city.
Click here to view the final edition of this report.
CompetitiveAlternatives.com Cost Model
As part of the
Competitive Alternatives project, on behalf of KPMG, MMK Consulting developed and maintained this sophisticated
web-based application which allowed users to perform customized analysis of the costs of operating different types of businesses
in more than 130 cities around the world. The model was licensed to economic development agencies, to assist them in performing
powerful "what if" analysis based on the business plans of their clients. While this model is no longer licensed to clients, MMK
Consulting continues to have access to the proprietary model for undertaking customized analyses.
Tax Costs in Ontario
Between the 2008 and 2010 editions of
Competitive Alternatives Special Report: Focus on Tax, on behalf of KPMG, MMK Consulting
developed an update of this study, to assist the Ontario Ministry of Finance assess the impact of various tax changes being
implemented in Ontario in 2010.
A copy of this special report is available on the Ontario Ministry of Finance
website.
Adelaide's Business Cost Competitiveness
MMK Consulting, in conjunction with KPMG, completed a project for the Government of South Australia that benchmarked business costs
for Australia, including four Australian cities, against the 2006
Competitive Alternatives results.
Building upon this analysis, a further study, for the Australian federal Department of Transport and Regional Services benchmarked
business costs in a total of 28 Australian cities.
Business Costs in Iceland, A Comparative Study of 87 cities
Using our experience from the
Competitive Alternatives project, MMK Consulting assisted KPMG Iceland in undertaking a detailed
comparison of business costs in Iceland, as compared to the cities included in the
Competitive Alternatives study. The results
of the study found Iceland to be favorably positioned in terms of business operating costs for many types of high-technology
businesses and for service operations in general.
Click here to view this report.
Location Sensitive Cost Analysis for Data Centres
On behalf of the Atlantic Canada Opportunities Agency (ACOA), MMK Consulting completed an analysis of data centre operations using
the
Competitive Alternatives methodology of location sensitive business costs comparison.
The study assessed both physical characteristics and infrastructure requirements of typical data centre operations, and the detailed
business costs for operating a prototype facility in a total of 71 international cities.