Reviewer: CharlesNewman, PhD

Mexico's Cemex survived a near default, but a return to double-digit growth could be years off. Lorenzo H. Zambrano is awfully cheerful. Over the past year, the CEO of Mexican cement giant Cemex has seen the company's stock collapse, its investment-grade rating get stripped away, its sales wither, and its creditors balk at refinancing $15 billion in debt, raising the spector of default. Why is he in such good spirits? Because things are so much better than six months ago.

Cemex's latest results hint that the worst may indeed be over. True, third-quarter earnings fell 40% as sales dropped 27%. But that's better than the previous quarter, when profits fell 58% and sales were off 34%. Still, it may be years before Cemex returns to the days when serial acquisitions delivered double-digit growth and bankers vied to finance Zambrano's dealmaking.

1. Discuss the structural characteristics of the cement industry from the point of view of the Five Competitive Forces (Porter) framework.
   
   
2. Discuss the challenges facing Cemex from the point of view of the PEST Analysis framework.
   
   
3. Discuss Cemex's strategic options from the perspective of the Competitive Advantage (Porter) framework.

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