Connecting Globally

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Is global connectedness good for our world?  In "Strategies for Global Connectedness," Messrs Pankaj Ghemawat and Steven A. Altman say:

The real world is roughly only 10 to 25 percent globalized. Most activities that could take place either across or within national borders are still domestic. Moreover, the trend is toward further localization. The same policymakers and business leaders who once sought universal openness are focusing their investment, attention, and effort within their own home countries. 

According to World Internet Users Statistics Usage and World Population Stats, 34.3 percent of the world's population uses the Internet.

What comprises of the real world?

Read the entire article here.

Emerging Markets Build Their Own Networks For World Trade

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Emerging markets -- China, the Middle East, Latin America, and Africa -- are building networks among themselves not just for expanded trade in goods, but for:

short-term and long-term investment and the transfer of technological and managerial innovation in all directions. 

See how and why this is happening here.

India and China May Not Be the Only Answer

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An offshoring expert, Kevin D. Stringer, argues that companies could compete and profit best by outsourcing to small, more developed countries.

... But more important, costs aren’t the only criteria to consider. Increasingly, offshoring is used to transfer overseas such brainy jobs as financial research, analytics, chip design, legal services, clinical trials management, and even magazine or book editing. Given that activity is trending from low-level to high-order functions, countries such as India and China known best for cheap labor and large populations become less and less attractive. Their overall subpar literacy and productivity levels, the endemic weaknesses in their educational systems, and their minimal environmental regulations make these nations ill-suited for high-end tasks, which companies must increasingly rely on as a potential competitive distinction and a way to differentiate themselves in the knowledge-based economy.

strategy+business
India and China May Not Be the Answer

Is Your Brand a Global Powerhouse?

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A ranking of Swiss brands conducted by Interbrand unveiled that the top five brands were, in order of brand value, Nescafé, UBS, Nestlé, Credit Suisse and Zurich. Other globally recognized brands in the top 20 included Rolex, Omega, Lindt, Swatch and Longines.

How did a tiny country -- with less than 16,000 square miles of land mass and less than 8 million people -- largely known for keeping to itself become such a branding powerhouse? It starts with Switzerland’s view of its own brand.

The inherent value of “Swiss made” brands is so high that the country’s government is currently considering new laws to protect it: “The government wants to replace vague laws with concrete rules to crack down on abuses of ‘made in Switzerland’ and Swiss cross labels” (“Protecting ‘Swiss made’ brand divides opinion,” swissinfo.ch, April 6, 2008). The movement is known in Switzerland as “the legislation project Swissness.”

Discover why Swiss brands have global clout here; start to think about how your brand is perceived by the world; and, take a shot at stimulating your brand here.

Additional resource:

The Trouble With Brands

Borderbuster 2009

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In case you are not a subscriber to our world famous Borderbuster e-newsletter (www.globetrade.com/borderbuster.htm), we want to share point No. 8 of today's edition.

8. EVERYBODY LOVES A FREEBIE: BEYOND THE CRISIS: THE FUTURE OF THE GLOBAL ECONOMY*Subscriber Exclusive*
On October 23, 2008, at a conference developed by Big Think and sponsored by strategy+business, financier George Soros, former U.S. Treasury Secretary Lawrence Summers, and Nobel Prize–winning economist Robert Merton discussed and debated the current global financial crisis in New York City. Tom Stewart, the chief marketing and knowledge officer of Booz & Company, moderated the event, which took place at City University of New York.

Tune-in to the videocast here.

=> Don't miss another edition of Borderbuster in 2009. Sign up here.

The Innovation Sandbox

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I have been a huge fan of CK's ever since he co-authored "Competing For the Future" with Gary Hamel. He has this unique ability (giftedness) to predict what's around the corner well before the rest of us arrive.

This article tells me he hasn't changed much -- which is a good thing. Care to see what's ahead on cutting-edge "global" innovation? Or, how about learning what it takes to change the world with your next big idea?

Read more >> here.

P.S. Rest assure, when I visit India, I will be staying at the indiOne hotel.