Tuesday, August 31, 2010

What Is Fueling China's Interest in Africa?

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Part of it:
With a growing population, increasing unemployment, a vibrant manufacturing sector and fast improving life-styles, China’s demand for natural resources, markets for its products and job opportunities is growing at astronomical rates. This has made it seek new sources of resources, markets and employment for its people and Africa fits the bill.
Learn more here.

Related article here.

Monday, August 30, 2010

If You Were to Bet on Growth, Where Will It Come From?


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According to Abbott Laboratories Chief Executive Miles D. White:
... he has assembled a business in fast-growing countries that the company will count on for a big part of its growth.
"Where do you think the growth in the world is going to come from?" Mr. White asked during an interview at his suburban Chicago office, a few miles from Lake Michigan. "Would you bet on the U.S.? Would you bet on Western Europe? It's going to come from emerging markets."
The article goes on further to say:
Now, the fast-growing emerging-market economies are much more attractive. Expanding middle classes in such countries as Brazil, South Korea and Turkey are not only spending more on health care, but their rising affluence has contributed to increasing rates of diabetes, heart disease and other conditions that once had been limited to developed markets. Some governments, notably China's, are beginning to provide insurance to pay for health care.
Read the entire article here.

Saturday, August 28, 2010

Measure the Depth of Your Own Nature

Photo credit: Laurel Delaney, The Global Small Business Blog, Chicago lakefront
"A lake is the landscape's most beautiful and expressive feature.
It is earth's eye; looking into which the beholder measures
the depth of his own nature."
~ Henry David Thoreau

Have a sunny and enjoyable weekend everyone!

Friday, August 27, 2010

Export Boom in New Jersey


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Tens of billions of dollars worth of export-related revenue is being generated by New Jersey, New York and Philadelphia (considered a metro area).

Find out why here.

Within this same article, they mention a report, "Export Nation," published by the Metropolitan Policy Program at Brookings, which describes the nation's export landscape in detail. Worth a thorough look.

Download it immediately here (PDF):

Export Nation


Posted by: The Global Small Business Blog

Thursday, August 26, 2010

And the Growth Through Global Trade Award Goes To ...

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Get ready, get set and go after the Growth Through Global Trade Award! Now's your chance to celebrate your global trade successes and be recognized for your export effort.

UPS, in collaboration with World Trade 100 Magazine, opened nominations for its Growth through Global Trade Award, a national award aimed to recognize a U.S. small- or medium-sized business that is effectively exporting to global markets. Is that your business?

Criteria

The award is designed for U.S. small- and medium-sized businesses with fewer than 500 employees that are already exporting to international markets. Anyone can nominate a deserving business for the Growth through Global Trade Award.

Nominees must have a principal place of business in the United States and must currently export to at least one international market. Interested parties can submit a concise online nomination form featuring a series of six questions and a 200-word essay. Nominations can be submitted online here: http://international.ups.com/globaltradeaward/nominate/index.html.

Nominations will be accepted now through November 12, 2010. The winner will be announced in January 2011.

The entries will be judged by a multi-member panel of small business and global trade experts from within and outside UPS (full disclosure: I will be one of the judges). The judges will evaluate all entries against a pre-determined set of criteria, including how exporting has helped the company better compete in today’s global business environment, grow international sales and business operations, and connect with new customers.

Don't stop short here. If you can't think of anyone to nominate yet you pre-qualify -- go for it. This is not a time to be shy. This is a time to toot your global small business horn big time.

I look forward to reviewing your applications.

And the Growth Through Global Trade Award goes to ...

Posted by: The Global Small Business Blog

Wednesday, August 25, 2010

Are You Export Ready?

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The Minority Business Development Agency (MBDA) kicked off the 28th annual National Minority Enterprise Development (MED) Week Conference at the Omni-Shoreham Hotel in Washington, D.C. The conference focuses on “Strategies for Growth and Competitiveness in the Global Economy.”
The MED Week Conference helps minority-owned firms grow domestically and globally through a series of educational, training and business-to-business networking events. Throughout MED Week, nearly 1,500 minority business owners, government officials and corporate representatives will hear about President Obama’s National Export Initiative and develop the skills to become export ready. Minority businesses already export twice as much as the average business, as they often have existing cultural, family or business ties to foreign countries.
Are you export ready? Get with the program -- read more here.

Tuesday, August 24, 2010

The Age of Global Urban Expansion

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China and India rising.
Half of Asia will become urbanized, and nearly a billion people will shift from countryside to cityscape. Trillions of dollars will need to be spent on roads, trains, power plants, water systems, and social services. And it's going to happen in less than half the time that it took the West. China and India will account for two-fifths of the world's urban growth, but they are pursuing wildly different strategies for managing this shift.
Read more about this here.

How are you positioning your business to catch a portion of the opportunities mentioned in this powerful feature?

Posted by: The Global Small Business Blog

Saturday, August 21, 2010

City of Big Shoulders: Chicago

Photo credit: Laurel Delaney, Chicago, Illinois, U.S.A., Oak Street and Michigan Avenue, John Hancock Building
"Hog butcher for the world,
Tool maker, stacker of wheat,
Player with railroads and the nation's freight handler;
Stormy, husky, brawling,
City of big shoulders."

~ Carl Sandburg, 'Chicago,' 1916

Have a great weekend everyone!

Posted by: The Global Small Business Blog (GlobeTrade.com)

Thursday, August 19, 2010

How to Survive a Shaky Global Economy

Hemera/Thinkstock
UPS CEO Scott Davis has some experience on surviving a shaky global economy.

Totally agree with his closing paragraph in the featured piece:
The current shaky economic environment is a challenge for all leaders, Davis acknowledged. He detailed three types of corporate responses to the economic downturn. "Some companies won't make it. Some will be crippled; it may take five, six or seven years for them to get back to the level they were at before the collapse." The third type of company, however, will keep its long-term goals in sight. It will pursue strategic growth in line with its core values. These companies will effectively balance conventional and digital business, strive for efficiency and think globally. Consequently, Davis said, these companies will learn, adjust and evolve as the global economy recovers. "Some companies will come out of the recovery stronger than ever. Times of great uncertainty are also times of great opportunity."
Read: "Solving a 'Wicked Problem'"

Posted by: The Global Small Business Blog

Tuesday, August 17, 2010

Entrepreneurial Export Enabler

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Meet Paul Yap, age 37, born in Selangor and currently living in San Pablo, California as an Entrepreneur. Or, as we call him: Entrepreneurial Export Enabler

Read about what he's up to: Crutch for small businesses

Monday, August 16, 2010

Track the Rate of Global Growth

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To prepare your business for what's ahead economically, you should be monitoring closely the rate of global growth for companies big and small. Many countries are worried about the future of the U.S. economy which increases uncertainty worldwide.
“A slowdown in the global economy is now obvious and that is cooling investor sentiment,” said Tomomi Yamashita, a fund manager in Tokyo at Shinkin Asset Management Co., which oversees about $5.8 billion. “There are no attractive positions to take right now in markets. We’re waiting for better economic data.”
Read more here.

Friday, August 13, 2010

Where's the Bright Light?

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There's an expectation of a slowdown in export growth ...
Asian companies have been on a tear, but this may be as good as it gets. Despite a stellar round of earnings for the last quarter, the outlook for many of the region’s companies — household names around the world — is dimming.
And a snippet from Alibaba.com:
“We continue to take a cautious view on the global economy and small-business development,” said David Wei, Alibaba’s chief executive, “and expect a slowdown in export growth for the following quarters.”
Read more here:
Pessimism in Asia Despite a Solid Earnings Season

Posted by: The Global Small Business Blog

Thursday, August 12, 2010

Globalization is Apparent

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But I am not so sure according to this blog entry. Very confusing ...
Many companies tend to categorize sales by regions or markets, while others segregate government sales. Additionally, intra-company sales, and hence profits, are sometimes structured to take advantage of trade, tax and regulatory polices. The resulting reported data available for shareholders is therefore significantly less than the desired level for analysis.
Read more here: Foreign Sales - Love'em or Leave'em (Bloomberg Businessweek)

Note: I could not get the referenced PDF file report to open.

Wednesday, August 11, 2010

A Worldly Conversational Process

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The World Café is a growing global community of people, groups, organizations and networks in pursuit of common aims: Conversations about questions that matter.

These conversations link and build on each other as people move between groups, cross-pollinate ideas, and discover new insights into the questions or issues that are most important in their life, work, or community.

Learn more about TWC here.

Monday, August 09, 2010

Global Strategy: For the Time Being Avoid the U.S.A.

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China's biggest search engine company, Baidu Inc., is more dominant than ever now due to Google's pullback (moved its search to Hong Kong due to censorship demands that were placed on Google by China government).

Baidu's 41-year-old founder and CEO Robin Li has to figure out how to grow the business amid investor concerns on just where the growth will come from since there will be an intentional avoidance of the U.S.A. market for now.

More than two-thirds of China's population is still not on the Internet so there is room for Baidu to squeeze out additional local growth over the next 5-10 years.

But other revenue streams will be critical for Baidu to maintain and sustain its position in the local and global marketplace.

Read the interesting Bosstalk interview conducted by Owen Fletcher (WSJ) with Robin Li (at Baidu's Beijing headquarter office) -- here.

Posted by: Laurel Delaney, The Global Small Business Blog

Saturday, August 07, 2010

Driving Force

Photo credit: Laurel Delaney, GlobeTrade.com -- taken at The Hyatt Lodge at McDonald's Campus in Oakbrook, Illinois, 8/5/10
"Water is the driving force of all nature." ~ Leonardo da Vinci

Enjoy your weekend.

Friday, August 06, 2010

Global Bank Makes Move for SMEs

Digital Vision/Thinkstock
Global lender HSBC with its HSBC Business, is targeting export-oriented businesses with turnover up to $10 million.

Interesting fact (quote):
Australia has about one million SMEs, about 90,000 of which do international business.
Read more here.


Thursday, August 05, 2010

The Hero Group

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As managing director of Hero Motors and Hero Cycles (Hero Group), Pankaj Munjal oversees the company's two-wheeler production as well as its global auto components business.

In an interview with India Knowledge@Wharton at the 2010 Wharton India Economic Forum, the auto aficionado spoke about why his firm is focused on the small-car market, what he looks for in new hires, and what toys he likes to take for a drive.

Note: The Hero Group comprises of 20 companies, 300 ancillary suppliers, deep market penetration with over 5,000 outlets, 23,000 + employees and has a turnover of US$ 3.20 billion (FY 2006).

Read the interview here.

Posted by: The Global Small Business Blog

Tuesday, August 03, 2010

Meet the New Breed of South African Entrepreneurs

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South Africa (pictured) has long been looked upon as an unstable business environment. Not for long. Meet the new breed of South African entrepreneurs who are optimistic that they can change perceptions and climb the industrial ladder.

Read all about it here.

This related resource may be of interest to you as well:

South Africa: Overview

Monday, August 02, 2010

Play Globally

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The American brand of humor in movies is attempting to play globally. The rising clout of international audiences is a sea change for Hollywood. Studio executives look more than ever toward foreign box office appeal when making a movie.

Why? Because foreign ticket sales represent nearly 68% of the roughly $32 billion global film market, up from roughly 58% a decade ago, according to Screen Digest Cinema Intelligence Service (global media intelligence).

Read more here.

World-wide ticket sales, by country.