Hope for the World

©2023 Laurel J. Delaney.  All rights reserved.

"[Christmas] means not just hope for the world, despite all its unending problems, but hope for you and me, despite all our unending failings.” ― Tim Keller

Christmas Playlist To Put You In the Mood for the Holidays

Moving From the 'Take-Make-Use-Waste' Model to an Efficient Circular Economy

©iStock/Chavapong Prateep Na Thalang

The circular economy is pivotal for achieving climate and sustainable development goals and must be included in the COP28 outcomes. 

With this paper, International Chamber of Commerce (ICC), on behalf of the global business community, underscores the importance to move from the 'take-make-use-waste' model to a sustainable, resource-efficient circular economy.

A Recalculation of Globalization

©iStock/Gerard1610

The current interconnected global economic system just isn't working, some economists say. They are calling for a recalculation of globalization, and what it means to be wealthy, independent, and secure.

Globalization has had a rough time lately. Worldwide, just-in-time supply chains suffered under stiff tariffs. COVID-19 shutdowns and travel restrictions caused further distress. Now, the war in Ukraine and sanctions on Russian companies are making matters even worse. Inflation and price increases have made energy and food more expensive. Ordinary customers, especially the poor, are suffering.

Does Germany in particular have to rethink globalization?

Gnara: Innovative Solutions to Apparel Problems For Active Women (wegginar® 12/6)

©2023 Women Entrepreneurs Grow Global®.  All rights reserved.

Pee zipper?  What's that?  Find out 12/6 at 11 AM CT at the next wegginar®, "Building and Scaling a Global IP-Protected Brand," with co-founders of Gnara, Georgia Grace Edwards and Charlotte Massey.

Let's discuss the cool factor about each of the co-founders.

Georgia Grace (GG) Edwards is the CEO and Co-Founder of Gnara, a venture capital-backed, Colorado-based startup whose mission is to help everyone answer nature’s call – quite literally. GG got the idea for the GoFly – Gnara’s internationally patented zipper technology – while working as a glacier guide in Alaska. Prototyped from her college dorm room, the GoFly can now be found in Gnara apparel on the floors of the largest retailers in North America, including Moosejaw Mountaineering, Title Nine, and REI. GG grew up in the Appalachian Mountains and brings experience as a Fulbright Fellow, Wild Gift Fellow, Futurist Project Fellow, economic consultant, and TEDxTalk speaker. 

Charlotte Massey is the Co-Founder and COO of Gnara Inc, an award-winning apparel and zipper technology brand making the outdoors more accessible through internationally patented pee zipper designs. Gnara won the 2022 and 2023 Outdoor Retailer Innovation Awards, $100,000 MassChallenge Diamond Award, and Women’s Health Fitness Awards. Charlotte is a Tory Burch Fellow and Thomas J Watson Fellow with a professional background in digital marketing and community organizing. Charlotte grew up mountaineering in Washington and has been part of expeditions to high peaks around the world, including Argentina’s Acongaua. She was named 2023 Forbes 30 Under 30 Local Seattle.

Beyond learning what a pee zipper is, here's what else you will discover during the wegginar:

• How to decide if IP is right for you
• Navigation of global trademarks and patents through the IP process
• How to go from granted to garnering licensing interest

Join the wegg® team and GG and Charlotte on Wednesday, December 6th at 11 AM to stay in the know about Gnara and what it takes to build and scale a global IP-protected brand.  Free of charge I might add!  Yes! 

To learn more and to register, visit here.

Today in Global Small Business: Navigating Global Divergencies

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What's affecting me, my clients, my colleagues and other global small business owners:

• Navigating global divergencies.
• Global growth to slow in 2024.
• Banks predict slower growth for global economy in 2024.
• Quote of the week:  "Only those who will risk going too far can find out how far one can go." – T.S. Eliot
  
• Prepare for stalling or divergent global growth in 2024.
• Finding pockets of growth in fashion as uncertainty reigns.

Weather in Ireland

©2023 Laurel J. Delaney.  All rights reserved.

"We may have bad weather in Ireland, but the sun shines in the hearts of the people and that keeps us all warm.” – Marianne Williamson

Innovation Capability Has a Positive Impact on International Expansion for Global SMEs

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According to the research paper, "Pace of innovation and speed of small and medium-sized enterprise international expansion, there is compelling evidence that innovation capability has a positive impact on the international expansion of SMEs.

Unsurprisingly, the relevant literature displays an increasing interest in SME innovation activities and how they influence a firm’s international activities. Hitherto, research has focused on the earliness of entry into a foreign market. For example, the literature on born globals argues that SMEs with innovative products internationalize soon after their inception to benefit from opportunities emerging before competitors enter the same markets.

The authors go on to say that SMEs with a greater propensity to innovate by introducing new products and processes tend to internationalize in a wider range of foreign markets. This extensive internationalization in turn, allows these firms to gain new insights from diverse foreign markets, in turn improving their technological learning and innovation capabilities.

Read the entire research paper:  "Pace of innovation and speed of small and medium-sized enterprise international expansion."

Don't Even Think About Abandoning Globalization (Podcast)

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Discover what the world risks if it abandons globalization.  A conversation with Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala over at Foreign Affairs.

Songs For the Holidays (Music Video)

Big Global Ambitions: TikTok, Temu and Shein

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China has been “the world’s factory” for decades, with made-in-China goods reaching global consumers through foreign brands, shops, or sites like Amazon. And the country has had a vibrant domestic e-commerce sector, with companies like Alibaba and JD.com growing into juggernauts.

Now see how Chinese e-commerce platforms like Shein, Temu, and TikTok Shop are causing a stir and going global with big ambitions. 

Today in Global Small Business: Betting on a Lifestyle Brand to Go Global

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What's affecting me, my clients, my colleagues and other global small business owners:

• The Italian Made in Italy apparel and accessory brand Vicario Cinque is ready to further expand globally through a series of strategies in-keeping with its own identity, expertise, love for the environment, quality, savoir-faire.  It's a bet on a lifestyle brand.
• A triple-shot reinvention strategy with multiple paths for long-term [global] growth.
• Full-blown gym Everlast plans for global expansion.
• Quote of the week:  "My guiding principle is that prosperity can be shared. We can create wealth together. The global economy is not a zero-sum game." – Julia Gillard
  
• Global economic growth will slow in 2024, say banks.
• A different perspective than from above says that the global economy will perform better than many expect in 2024.

Speak Your Mind

©2023 Laurel J. Delaney.  All rights reserved.

"Speak your mind even if your voice shakes." –  Ruth Bader Ginsburg

Lessons Learned About Gratitude

©iStock/Santy_silvi

This is the perfect time of year to practice gratitude.  Jessica Stallman, contributor for Inc.com, looks back at surveys, studies, and personal anecdotes she's dug through, and questions what she has learned about gratitude and how it impacts our brains, our emotions, and our teams. 

Are some forms of gratitude more effective than others, for instance?  What are the big, headline takeaways about gratitude she wishes everyone understood post Thanksgiving? 

Read on to discover Jessica's insights.

On a related note, thank you all for your readership.  Grateful.

From Our House to Yours, Happy Thanksgiving

©iStock/Silvia Kienesberger

Why Ireland Matters for Security Reasons

©iStock/Chessmanz

Against the background of the Russian invasion of Ukraine and changes in the global security environment, Ireland is undertaking a much-needed national debate on security policy.

Ireland has real maritime and cyber vulnerabilities that could have important impacts beyond the country. The EU, NATO, and other European states need to work with Ireland in addressing these threats.

Find out why Ireland matters for European security.

AI Translation Software and Tools

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Before diving into AI translation software and tools, it’s important to define machine translation. The automated conversion of one language to another, machine translation works by converting text from a source language and producing the equivalent in the target language.

Many translation services combine machine translations with human support to ensure the translation is specific to the target location. This also allows the content to use specific expressions, social references, and more. 

Here are some AI translation software and tools on the market.  

Today in Global Small Business: China, the New Globalization and Its Ongoing Transition

 

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What's affecting me, my clients, my colleagues and other global small business owners:

• China, the new globalization and its ongoing transition.
• Is the U.S. trying try to shape a “new economic world order” around protecting workers?
• What is the Global South?
• Quote of the week:  “Globalisation has made us more vulnerable. It creates a world without borders, and makes us painfully aware of the limitations of our present instruments, and of politics, to meet its challenges." – Anna Lindh
• What comes after globalization?
• A look at re-globalization for a secure, inclusive and sustainable future.

A Chance to Chill

©2023 Laurel Delaney.  All rights reserved.

"A holiday is an opportunity to journey within. It is also a chance to chill, to relax. It is when I switch on my rest mode." –  Prabhas 

Small Global Companies Are Hidden Champions

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Smaller technology companies are Europe’s “hidden champions” that need to be connected to develop alternative solutions to the big tech companies, Secretary General of the European DIGITAL SME Alliance Sebastiano Toffaletti told Euractiv.

For Toffaletti, there is a misconception that everything is owned and invented by Google, Amazon, Microsoft, and other Big Tech companies. But “the reality is that, if not all but many of the innovations do not come from those companies.  

Read on to learn how Europe has thousands of hidden champions, smaller companies, which are at the top of innovation in their small niches.  Something you can achieve too whether you are located in Europe, USA or Latin America. for example.

Build a Reputation Beyond Your Local Market

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Labels that get their start outside of major fashion hubs are leveraging their local identities and a strategic approach to wholesale to gain international followings.

Key insights:

• Brands outside of cities like Paris and New York often struggle to build a reputation beyond their local markets.
• Post-pandemic digitalisation, including the proliferation of Zoom and online shopping, has made it easier for designers to reach buyers, VIP clients and other tastemakers.
• Other effective strategies include targeting influential wholesale accounts and building a strong social media presence.

Learn how regional brands go global (full article requires payment).

Own the Change

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Business leaders know that it’s one thing to have an idea that works and can produce results, and quite another matter to get that idea adopted at a scale so that it can create impact. 

By empowering people to achieve their own goals, leaders can overcome great skepticism—and achieve great results. What worked for cookstoves in Guatemala can work for corporate cloud adoption.

Want people to embrace transformation?  Allow them to own the change.

Globalization Puts The World On Your Plate

©iStock/urfinguss

Want an example of how globalization puts the world on your plate?

When people hear the word “globalization” they probably think of giant container ships, wonky economic terms like “offshoring” and “trade deficit,” or geopolitical tensions and agreements. And, to be sure, Cato’s Defending Globalization project covers all of that stuff and more. Yet, as we explain in a new essay for the project, there may be no better symbol of real globalization—and its many benefits—than the restaurant down the street.

Access the essay here.

Today in Global Small Business: Changing How We See The World

©iStock/Chris_Tefme

What's affecting me, my clients, my colleagues and other global small business owners:

• Changing how we see the world in all its beauty and bizarreness.
• Kylie Jenner:  from successful global beauty empire to soon to be fashion empire.
• Globalization is a funny thing, and McDonald’s today is a many-tentacled entity that morphs to fit the politics of the moment and the regions that franchises operate in.
• Quote of the week:  “Give me a lever long enough and a fulcrum on which to place it, and I shall move the world." – Archimedes
• Birkenstock has gotta get the growth after its IPO so China it is.
• Tory Burch has redefined American preppy with a global point of view, so it makes sense that her eponymous brand is now focused on expanding its global footprint.

The Bird Is Powered By Its Own Life

©2023 Laurel J. Delaney.  All rights reserved.

"The bird is powered by its own life and by its motivation." –  A. P. J. Abdul Kalam

SMBs Level Up with AI

©iStock/Peach_iStock

November 2022 marked a mainstream shift in the release and adoption of various generative artificial intelligence (GenAI) tools and products. ChatGPT became the buzzword in the world’s boardrooms, on social media and at dinner parties, ushering in an AI divide, where a segment of the population fully embraced this technology, another was wary, and everyone else unsure.

As Sasan Goodarzi, president and CEO of Intuit, puts it, “AI presents the next tectonic shift in technology and will be the greatest driver of innovation since electricity and the internet—and generative AI is transforming the way humans interact with computers.” 

GenAI has democratized access to this information, and by using this technology, small businesses now have a resource that provides them with precise information collected from vast amounts of data that they can use to propel their business forward.

Global small business is the lifeblood of most economies, and as technology evolves, SMB’s need to become more competitive in order to drive growth in a digitally enabled landscape.  AI might just take them there.

Magical Morning To You (Jazz Music)

Collaboration Across Borders (Online Course)

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Gain the tools to set your global virtual teams up for success as you work through the weekly modules of this free online program offered by Yale School of Management (SOM) Executive Education. 

Guided by Program Convener Amy Wrzesniewski, an expert in how people experience work and make meaning of their work in challenging contexts, you’ll focus on the opportunities and challenges that global, virtual teams present. 

Here's the curriculum:

1. Orientation
2. Welcome to your Online Campus 
3. Designing teams and processes for virtual work 
4. Decision-making in virtual contexts 
5. Collaboration across borders
6. Power dynamics in global virtual teams
7. Creating connection and working sustainably
8. Working as a global virtual team

To register and learn more, visit here.

To Achieve Positive Export and Import Growth, We Must Remain Vigilant

©iStock/frikota

Economic impacts on global trade date back a few years, suggests Anthony Landry, a Wharton adjunct full professor of finance and deputy vice dean of the Wharton MBA program. “Until COVID, I would say that global trade was an efficient way in which companies, especially multinationals, were expanding,” says Landry, who specializes in macroeconomics and has worked as a senior economist and economic policy advisor. 

While the current trade slowdown may threaten the living standards of people around the world, a rebound is expected. Said WTO chief economist Ralph Ossa: “Positive export and import volume growth should resume in 2024, but we must remain vigilant.” 

Read more here.

Today in Global Small Business: Is Globalization In Decline?

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What's affecting me, my clients, my colleagues and other global small business owners:

• Is globalization in decline?
• Are you an American solipsist, blaming U.S. leaders for everything bad that happens in the world, denying foreigners any agency?
• Israeli-hostage families fear abandonment.
• Quote of the week:  “It is true that we have won all our wars, but we have paid for them.” – Golda Meir
• Why Israel must fight on (requires subscription).
• Bernie Sanders rejects calls to cease fire in Gaza.

Polish Independence Day Race in Chicago 10/29/23

The U.S. Economy's Vulnerabilities

©iStock/MarianVejcik

America’s smallest companies tell us a lot about the economy’s vulnerabilities. So far, they have been resilient in the face of rising borrowing costs.

Recession watchers should be careful about jumping to conclusions over the rise in small-business bankruptcy activity. 

Smaller firms' exposure to variable-rate debt may well make them a leading indicator for the American economy, but so far they're mostly sending a message of resilience. And that may well mean that the US economy can continue to stay afloat as well.

Read the entire article here.

The Beatles – Now and Then – The Last Beatles Song (Short Film)

IP Assets Are the Heart of a Tech Company's Competitive Advantage

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It goes without saying that intellectual property assets are the heart of a tech company's competitive advantage. So, you have to value them accurately to make informed decisions during global expansion.

Before scaling, you need to conduct a thorough IP audit first. By assessing the strength, uniqueness, and market potential of your IP assets, you can determine your value in a global marketplace. This should include, for example, new product designs, manufacturing equipment, and process recipes for making your new products.

The bottom line in any such analysis is to determine the financial benefits that your IP assets are expected to deliver to a new venture that you may license or otherwise partner with. 

As young tech companies set their sights on global expansion, the wisdom and guidance of an experienced IP investor can make all the difference.

Some Like It Hot and So Does wegg® at Its Next wegginar® 11/1/23

©2023 Women Entrepreneurs Grow Global®.  All rights reserved.

We 🧡 Stacy Moritz, the owner of the Secret Aardvark Trading Company because she has a great sense of humor and knows a ton about exporting.  And her products are hot, too (they kick you in the mouth as her company claims)!  

We can't wait to hear her wegginar presentation on Wednesday, November 1, 2023 at 11 AM CT on: "Exporting: Is It Just a Way to Get Free Travel?" – https://bit.ly/45cTavP.

In her wegginar, you will learn whether exporting is just a way to get free travel 😉 and ...

• How to do your research for global exporting
• The importance of running and embracing the numbers – metrics matter!
• How to be agile in an ever-changing market 

Please join us! To learn more, connect with others, and grow your business to the next level via global expansion, register here:  https://bit.ly/45cTavP

See you there!

Powered by: Associated Bank, FedEx, Bluedog Design, 1706 Advisors, and Union Pacific 

Today in Global Small Business: The History of Halloween 2023

©2023 Laurel J. Delaney.  All rights reserved.

What's affecting me, my clients, my colleagues and other global small business owners:

• The history of Halloween.
• Spooky Halloween traditions around the world.
• Halloween is gathering popularity around the world.
• Quote of the week:  "It's Halloween; everyone's entitled to one good scare." – Brackett, Halloween
• There's so much to talk about regarding Halloween.
• Halloween 2023:  unique traditions from around the world.

Really Takes Center Stage

©2023 Laurel J. Delaney.  All rights reserved.

"One element of Madonna's career that really takes center stage is how many times she's reinvented herself. It's easier to stay in one look, one comfort zone, one musical style. It's inspiring to see someone whose only predictable quality is being unpredictable." – Taylor Swift

Defending Globalization

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The Cato Institute has published three new essays for Cato’s Defending Globalization project:

1. Globalization and Growing Global Equality
2. The Reality of American “Deindustrialization”
3. Globalization Has Propelled India to Prosperity

To access them all, visit here.

The Breakout Year for Generative AI

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On the current state of AI, the latest annual McKinsey Global Survey confirms the explosive growth of generative AI (gen AI) tools. Less than a year after many of these tools debuted, one-third of their survey respondents say their organizations are using gen AI regularly in at least one business function. 

The expected business disruption from gen AI is significant, and respondents predict meaningful changes to their workforces.

The Rise of Global Business Services (GBS)

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Why is Global Business Services (GBS) becoming more popular?  While Shared Services has proven its worth in simplifying back-office support functions and maintaining them in-house, GBS takes the concept further and enhances it in several critical ways: 

• Global reach
• Integrated capabilities
• Cost efficiency
• Focus on customer-centricity
• Flexibility and scalability

If you want to achieve greater growth and excellence, GBS is the way forward.

Transformational: 8th Annual Global Small Business Forum 10/20/23

©2023 Laurel J. Delaney.  All rights reserved.

If you missed the 8th Annual Global Small Business Forum 10/20/23, all you can do at this point is check this out, LinkedIn post, and then sign up for next year's:  10/18/24 – scroll down and look for Subscribe for Updates.  The forum is all about learning how to take your business to the next level, global.

Today in Global Small Business: Setting Up Your Ecommerce Strategy

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What's affecting me, my clients, my colleagues and other global small business owners:

• Setting up your ecommerce strategy.
• Uniting a divided workforce.
• How does AI think?  We are only starting to understand that.
• Quote of the week:  "People tend to think of the web as a way to get information or perhaps as a place to carry out e-commerce. But really, the web is about accessing applications." – Marc Andreessen
• Best money transfer apps.
• US economy is largely unchanged; but other markets are experiencing turmoil.  

Picture Heaven As a Vast Library

©2023 Laurel J. Delaney.  All rights reserved.

“I picture heaven as a vast library, with unlimited volumes to read. And paintings and statues to examine" – Anne Rice, The Mummy, or Ramses the Damned

Think Global to Drive Success: Here's How to Scale

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How can companies find the best talent, regardless of where they are located, to meet their business needs while navigating the fundamental economic changes impacting global workforces in the world today?

The digital economy, along with the transition to more remote/hybrid work, has provided opportunities to find the best talent globally. However, companies need expert guidance and technology to enable strategies.

Here's how to prepare for the global shift to global growth.  It starts with thinking global to drive success.

Geoeconomic Fragmentation

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Advanced economies are expected to slow from 2.6 percent in 2022 to 1.5 percent in 2023 and 1.4 percent in 2024 as policy tightening starts to bite. 

The baseline forecast is for global growth to slow from 3.5 percent in 2022 to 3.0 percent in 2023 and 2.9 percent in 2024, well below the historical (2000–19) average of 3.8 percent.

Given increasing concerns about geoeconomic fragmentation, part of the report assesses how disruptions to global trade in commodities can affect commodity prices, economic activity, and the green energy transition.  The report does not factor in the recent Israel-Hamas war – the latest Gaza conflict.

LAST CHANCE to Register: 8th Annual Global Small Business Forum (Hybrid) 10/20/23

©2023 Global TradeSource, Ltd.  All rights reserved.

LAST CHANCE to attend the 8th Annual Global Small Business Forum: Navigate Turbulence in the Global Marketplace (hybrid) on Friday, October 20, 2023.  To sign up, visit here. 

New York Enables Small Businesses to Expand Their Global Reach through STEP

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The U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) provided Empire State Development (ESD) nearly $1 million in funding in the latest round of the State Trade Expansion Program (STEP).

STEP connects businesses in New York state to exporting opportunities abroad through grants for qualifying small and medium-sized businesses.

Learn more about how STEP enables small businesses to expand their global reach and competitiveness.

For information on STEP and to apply for funding if you are a business based in New York, click here.

Today in Global Small Business: The Conflict Between Israel and Hamas Puts Pressure on the Global Economy

©iStock/Oleksandr Baranov

What's affecting me, my clients, my colleagues and other global small business owners:

• The conflict between Israel and Hamas risks embroiling other Middle East nations and has the potential of fueling another bout of inflationary pressures and even tipping the global economy into a recession.
• Global outlook during turbulent times.
• Some say troubles are coming to the world economy.
• Quote of the week: “The speed of light does not merely transform the world. It becomes the world. Globalization is the speed of light." – Paul Virilio
• China's economic headwinds.
• Confronting inflation and low growth – global economy. 

Jump On My Scooter

©2023 Laurel J. Delaney.  All rights reserved.

My perfect day is to get up at 5:30 A.M., jump on my scooter and go to the beach." – Goldie

Global Free Zones of 2023

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The iteration of fDi Intelligence’s flagship Global Free Zones of the 2023 awards recognize the best free zones across geographies and specializations among the 69 that participated in the awards this year. 

The 'Best zones for SMEs' category crowns the world's best zones, as well as the best ones in each single region for their strategy to attract small and medium enterprises (SMEs) tenant.

Find out more here. 

U.S. SBA Awards Washington State a $1 Million STEP Grant to Fuel Exports

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The Washington State Department of Commerce again tops the list of states awarded funding from the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) to help state small businesses grow through exporting. Washington’s $1 million State Trade Expansion Program (STEP) grant is the largest awarded from a total $20 million to 49 states in this 11th year of the program.

Read on to learn more.

Meet Divine Jazz Singer Melody Gardot

Three Common Obstacles to Scaling Innovations and Ways to Overcome Them

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According to authors for the HBR, innovations — including new products, new HR policies, and new production processes —developed in one part of a business stay there. Other groups that could benefit from them don’t know they exist. 

This leads to lost revenues and higher costs, since teams around the world often end up duplicating (or triplicating, or quadruplicating) investments in solving common problems. 

This article identifies three common obstacles to scaling innovations and describes a way to overcome them. 

Today in Global Small Business: Columbus Day or Indigenous Peoples’ Day?

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What's affecting me, my clients, my colleagues and other global small business owners:

• Depending on where in the United States you live and whom you work for, Columbus Day, 10/9/23, may be a day off with pay, another holiday entirely, or no different from any other Monday.
• McCarthy weighs in on Trump's involvement in House speaker race.
• More than 250 bodies found at site of Israeli Supernova festival - rescuers say.
• Quote of the week: “It is well that war is so terrible, otherwise we should grow too fond of it." – Robert E. Lee
• Israel is battling Hamas militants for a second day after a surprise attack.
• Americans may be among the dead and those taken hostage in Israel-Hamas war, Blinken says. 

Miller High Life Beer

©2023 Laurel J. Delaney.  All rights reserved.

"My first commercial was for Miller High Life beer." – Casey Kasem