Friday, January 02, 2009

Re-embrace Globalization

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In case you missed it, The Economist has a special edition out called The World in 2009. Pick up a copy. It's worth a read, especially the Time to Re-embrace Globalization commentary by Jeff Immelt, chairman and chief executive of General Electric.

He urges business and political leaders to embrace competition, not protectionism, as the way through economic turmoil and his last Point No. 6 is spot-on:

6. Each of us must contribute. Developed and developing countries, governments and industry, shareholders and employees -- we all share a responsibility to make meaningful contributions to protect and strengthen the international trading system.

Thomas Edison, GE's founder, used to say that people don't recognize opportunity because it "usually goes around wearing overalls looking like hard work." To succeed in our swarming global economy, leaders must not resist the challenge but relish the opportunity, especially in these harder economic times. True leaders must re-embrace globalization.

8 comments:

Chris White said...

Thanks for the referral to Jeff Immelt's article, Laura - a good read. World Bank Robert Zoellick made some similar points in Newsweek recently too. Also - I am new to your blog, but it looks great! Thanks for writing :)

Anonymous said...

This is the same GE that owned the media that took the U.S. to war right? Or the same GE that gave the U.S. "W" as a president right? Just checking.

Robert Rogers said...

Thanks for the link to the article. One thing that a recessionary economy does is that it drive people to innovate and collaborate more. Now, more than ever, that needs to be done across borders where businesses can take advantage of unique circumstances and diversify the product stream accordingly. The allows companies to drive overhead down and overcome potential difficulties. It really is time to embrace globalization in order to weather the storm of this economic downturn.

Anonymous said...

Donald, my guess is as good as yours. I suggest you consult with an expert (http://tinyurl.com/9doqmz; http://tinyurl.com/9q7y8t; http://tinyurl.com/8ydhx9; http://tinyurl.com/79e7lm or http://tinyurl.com/7fy3d9). Let us know what you find out and what you end up doing. Thank you.

Chris, thank you! Please send us the link to Robert's article published in Newsweek.

Anonymous, what's your point?

Robert, totally agree, thanks. Watch for our trend piece coming up soon that talks about "disruptive innovation" because we'll see lots of it in 2009.

Best,
Laurel

Chris White said...

Hi Laurel,

Here's the link to the Zoellick article: http://www.newsweek.com/id/177428?from=rss.

I also linked to your site at my blog - www.goodgoldglobal.com. Keep up the great work!

Chris

Anonymous said...

Hi, Chris ~ Thank you so much! Totally missed this and it's excellent. I might do an entire separate entry on this in the next couple of days to make sure everyone catches it and will attribute the great find to you.

I see you are doing a gig in India for six months. Will you keep me posted on what takes place? Sounds fascinating. What you provide, I'll feed to readers here at The Global Small Business Blog.

Best wishes to you for a peaceful, productive and prosperous New Year!

Laurel

Chris White said...

Will do - it'll be a fascinating ride personally and professionally.

In the meantime... keep on globalizing!

Chris

Anonymous said...

Donald ... (1/8/09) ... fyi:

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