Benefits to Globalization

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In his weblog for May 7, 2007, Dani Rodrik takes us to task for exaggerating the benefits of globalization in raising US household income and GDP. Professor Rodrik long ago established his reputation as a globalization skeptic; today he is the favorite Harvard economist among the backlash crowd. Eight years ago, Francisco Rodriguez and Rodrik (1999) notched their academic guns against Jeffrey Sachs and Andrew Warner (1995), expressing a skeptical view of the benefits of liberal trade policy to developing countries. As targets of Rodrik's latest outburst of skepticism, we share good company.

To debunk globalization proponents, Rodrik uses ...

read more here.

P.S. Dani has a great sense of humor. The picture of him on his blog states, "This is what the WSJ thinks I look like." When you visit his blog, you'll see the real Dani.

Podcast: Solutions For Your Small Business

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Listen (or read all about) a new -- thanks to UPS -- customs clearance and international returns solutions for small businesses.

Here's a clip from the beginning of it:

Gardner: Let’s start with Laurel. Help us understand some of the issues facing small businesses, those seeking to expand their addressable markets and how they can start doing more business overseas.

Delaney: Actually, there are two forces at work right now for small businesses. One has to do with the issue of globalization. I think we all know the buzz that’s going on about going global that has been driven largely by Thomas Friedman with his book, "The World is Flat." He’s caused mainstream America and all small businesses to step up to the plate and consider the world as your market. The second force is technology, and technology is making it easier now to go global.

Visit here if you want to listen to the podcast or read the transcript. Go here if you want to simplify international trade.

Separately but related, we are about to unveil our redesign on GlobeTrade.com. Watch for it shortly! We hope you like it.

Five Practical Strategies for Building a Chinese Workforce

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Wanted: Talented people in China.

There is a severe shortage of senior managers in China.

Read more here.

Why Global Brands Work

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Harvard Business School professor John Quelch writes a blog on marketing issues, called Marketing KnowHow, for Harvard Business Online. Join in on the debate on whether Ford will make a comeback on their global brand. The post is reprinted on HBS Working Knowledge here.

(Global) Marketing Moves to a Digitally Focused Business System

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Marketers and their agencies must change as the convergence of media and technology, combined with the fragmentation and personalization of media, changes the connection between marketers and end users.

As the media environment becomes increasingly complex and rooted in the digital space, the existing marketing agenda and capabilities need to be re-tooled and marketing organizations, agencies and media companies are having to change at an unprecedented pace. A new cross industry study details how marketers and their agencies must change as the convergence of media and technology, combined with the fragmentation and personalization of media, changes the connection between marketers and end users.

Download the 15-page study produced by ANA (Association of National Advertisers), IAB (Interactive Advertising Bureau), AAAA (American Association of Advertising Agencies), and management consulting firm Booz Allen Hamilton here.

And we first wrote about this new media revolution here with a story about Mel.

Then McKinsey & Company conducted serious analysis of the phenomena here.

It's about using social networking and social media to build a global presence or what the more traditional folks call global marketing.

Detroit at the 2007 Regional Chamber Small Business Conference Report

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The 2007 Detroit Regional Chamber Small Business Conference was a huge success. What impressed me the most was the number of small business owners in attendance and how driven, enthusiastic and passionate they are about using Web 2.0 media to build a global presence. More information on the Detroit conference, including many of the speaker's PowerPoint slides, can be viewed here.

After my talk, I had folks from UPS, Google and Crain's Detroit Business come up to me to discuss additional opportunities. Eager to keep moving in this new global media direction. Everyone should.

Are You Missing Out On Global Trade?

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Most of America's small- and mid-sized businesses have failed to explore the significant growth opportunities offered by an increasingly global economy. Indeed, a new survey conducted for UPS shows 67 percent of the nation's small-to-mid-sized enterprises (SMEs) are still chaining themselves to the U.S. economy.

Is that you? If it is, I encourage you to read this press release and get ready to dive into the UPS Business Monitor United States 2007 Report when it is released November 1st. I will post more about it then.

World Bank's Doing Business 2008

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The World Bank's annual "Doing Business 2008" has just been released. It provides objective measures of business regulations and their enforcement across 178 countries. The team works closely with thousands of professionals around the world.

Highlights from Doing Business 2008: As countries reform their business regulation, more businesses are starting up. Eastern Europe has witnessed a boom in new business entry that rivals the rapid growth in East Asia in the past. Large emerging markets such as India, China, Egypt, Turkey, and Indonesia, are reforming fast and investors are taking notice. This year Egypt is the top reforming country worldwide, while Singapore is #1 on the ease of doing business for the second consecutive year.

Download report here.

P.S. Separately, just returned moments ago from the 2007 Detroit Regional Chamber Small Business Conference (where at the VIP breakfast, I sat next to Joe Dumars, famed Detroit Pistons player, businessman and current president of the Detroit Pistons' Basketball Operations (I did not even know this!) and will report on all of it soon! Amazing conference.

Greetings from Asha in India

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Dear Laurel,

We at Kashmir Handicrafts (websites www.Kashand.com and www.Kashand.org) wish to thank you for your nice and informative Blog which we regularly visit and read. We are India based manufacturers and exporters of handicrafts and intricate Pietra dura tabletops, medallions and Taj Mahal replicas are our specialty. The issues confronting exporters are, in many cases, identical whether one is based in the US or in India. Many things on your Blog are noteworthy and make us learn a lot.

All of us thank you for your initiative and look forward to your continued writings. If at any time you or your friends require any items that we make, we would be glad to offer you our best attention and prices.

Thanks and regards,
Asha

Who Moved My Client Base?

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I wrote this story, "Who Moved My Client Base?" special for Small Business Trends.

It's about a business owner named Mel who is faced with a slowing small business. He uses social media to turn things around and grow his business by tapping into a global client base.

Hope you like it and if you do, please comment and then pass the story along to someone you know who might benefit.

Cultural Collaboration At Its Best

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Recently, 40-plus IBMers from 11 different nationalities got together. Official assignment: To identify the key attributes that make IBM global delivery special. Unwritten agenda: To meet each other and create a “cultural connect.”

Guess where it all took place? Second Life.

Read more about it here.

Innovators Using Technology To Make The World a Better Place

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Read all about the tech award laureates here.

2007 Laureates

Intel Environment Award Laureates

* Emulsified Zero-Valent Iron (EZVI) Team FL, Kennedy Space Center, Florida
* Fundacion Terram Chile, Santiago, Chile
* Joe David Jones, Skyonic Corporation TX, Austin, Texas USA
* Marc Andre Ledoux, Consortium SudEco Industrie Montreal, Canada
* Solar Sailor Chatswood, Australia

Accenture Economic Development Award Laureates

* Anil Chitrakar, Babu Raja Shrestha, and Prachet Kumar Shrestha, Environmental Camps for Conservation Awareness Kathmandu, Nepal
* Association la Voute Nubienne Ganges, France
* blueEnergy San Francisco, California, United States
* Kamal Quadir, CellBazaar Dhaka, Bangladesh
* Kiva.org San Francisco, California, United States

Microsoft Education Award Laureates

* Canal Futura Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
* Elluminate, Inc., Fire and Ice / Elluminate Live! Ft. Lauderdale, Florida, United States
* Institute for the Study of Knowledge Management in Education, OER Commons Half Moon Bay, California, United States
* Robert Shelton, Terry Hodgson, and Stephanie Smith, Math Description Engine Software Development Toolkit and MathTrax application (MDE-SDK MathTrax) Texas, United States
* TakingITGlobal Ontario, Toronto, Canada

Katherine M. Swanson Equality Award Laureates

* Counterpart International Washington, DC, USA
* Devendra Raj Mehta, Bhagwan Mahaveer Viklang Sahayata Samiti Jaipur, India
* Grameen Shakti, Empowerment Through Renewable Energy Technologies Dhaka, Bangladesh
* Innocence Project New York, U.S
* Tropical Forest Trust, Indigenous Peoples Voices Programme Craissier, Switzerland

Health Award Laureates

* Diagnostics Development Unit, University of Cambridge & Diagnostics for the Real World Ltd. Cambridge, U.K.
* Donald O'Neal, HELPS International Farmersville, TX U.S.
* P&G's Children's Safe Drinking Water Program Cincinnati, Ohio, USA
* PATH, Vaccine Vial Monitor Seattle, WA U.S.
* Vaxin Inc., Rapid-Response Bird Flu Vaccine Birmingham, Alabama, U.S.

Why the Dollar Is a 98-lb. Weakling

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Spend some time in the hotels, restaurants and even newsstands of Western Europe these days, and as an American you understand pretty quickly that you're poorer than you once were. To be precise, you're 40% poorer--to go by the dollar-euro exchange rate--than you were six years ago.

Read more here.

Importing Food to U.S. Retail Outlets

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Q: We are interested in importing food to U.S. retail outlets. We have been trying to find specific sources to tell us what requirements are needed in order to do so. Can you point us in the right direction? ~ M.Y., Memphis, Tenn.

Read the answer offered by Kelly Spors of The Wall Street Journal here.

Make Your Global Supply Chain Lean and Mean

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Put it on autopilot.

What Do Twitter, Second Life and Webinars All Have In Common?

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Find out at this upcoming event! If you are in Chicago, feel free to sign up for this gig I am doing on October 2nd in Oakbrook, Illinois on how to leverage technology to innovate and go global!

I will be covering ways to use Web 2.0 (new media beyond YouTube, MySpace and Facebook) to grow your global presence.

More info and to register (if there is still room) here. Hope to see you there!

Photo credit: Veryweb.it via Mathew Ingram.

Global Economy Is No Longer U.S.-Centric

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Is the U.S. housing blowout going to hurt the rest of the world? Certainly, a major slowdown in the planet's biggest economy would cause some countries pain.

But much of the globe will likely shrug off the worst effects of any American slump. "The global economy is no longer U.S.-centric," says Ed Yardeni, an economist who heads Yardeni Research in New York. "We may find that the global economic boom continues, notwithstanding the slowdown in the U.S."

The old theory is that when America sneezes the rest of the world gets sick (hence, the photo of an American girl sneezing) but it may not apply these days.

More here.

Helping the Global Economy Stay in Shape

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It's about focusing on what's critical and allowing stakeholders to monitor progress. Complex stuff but worth a read.

The Queen of Good and Global Is Gone

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Long before going green was an international pastime, when the only corporate responsibility was to the bottom line, a small store opened in Brighton, England, selling homemade moisturizers and hair-care products packaged in plastic urine-sample jars. The cosmetics were all-natural, the containers were reusable and the ethos — creating products that were as good for the earth as they were for your skin — was still considered radical, the kind of thing only hippies cared about. But when Anita Roddick opened The Body Shop in 1976 ...

Anita Roddick died September 10th at age 64. She was an inspiration to us all and will be missed.

U.S. Exports Grew At Fastest Pace in Three Years

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The value of U.S. exports of goods and services to the rest of the world increased 2.7% in July, the fastest seasonally adjusted growth in more than three years, the Commerce Department reported Tuesday.

What are you waiting for? Have you gone global yet?

Read more here and refer to our former post here.

While You Globetrot, Stay Connected

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Travel Web site TravelPost.com offers Wi-Fi information for about 219 U.S. and 80 international airports, including what kind of service is offered and how much it costs. Look under the "Travel Resources" section of the home page or visit here.

Ways To Find Hidden Markets

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Here are thirteen (13) ways to find hidden markets.

Some U.S. Exports Are Facilitated by Fraudulent Credit Card Transactions

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I am working on a project and just stumbled upon this information. Good advice and it doesn't just apply to Singapore. It could be any place on the planet.

Bottom line: If you receive a credit card order from anywhere in the world, check its legitimacy before you ship.

Abridged Borderbuster: 9/5/07

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CONTENTS

If you are not a subscriber to Borderbuster, here's a glimpse of what you missed this month:

1. Welcome From The Publisher
2. Update to our Readers
3. U.S. Companies Seek Greener Pastures In … *
4. Business and Cultural Tips: Have Some Fun!*
5. The Wealth of Nations*
6. How I Went Global: Ongoing Series // Bo Burlingham*
7. A Reader Asks: Q&A
8. Everybody Loves a Freebie -- repeat: FREE OFFER*
9. Sun Hits the BRICs*
10. The Big Problem With Big Fish*
11. Fast Talk: UPS’s Setup Man*
12. Blog World: Background Checks Go Global*
13. Laurel’s e-Book: “GODZILLA Global Marketing!”
14. Take A Walk On The Wild Side (TAWOTWS)
15. Wind Behind Your Sail*
16. Miscellany*

|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||

*Indicates exclusive to Borderbuster subscribers only.

Sample section:

9. SUN HITS THE BRICS
*Subscriber Exclusive*

If you have any doubt about the growing importance of BRIC -- the common acronym for the emerging markets of Brazil, Russia, India and China -- consider this: Sun Microsystems CEO Jonathan Schwartz admitted today that it was Brazil that forced Sun to open source Java.

You never know where your next big idea comes from.

Read more here at InternetNews.com.

###

To subscribe to Borderbuster, visit:
Sign Up For Borderbuster!

Are You Growing a Green Global Business?

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Whatever you are building, I hope you are making a conscious choice to implement green initiatives. Even your international travel should include an environmentally friendly outreach effort.

Think it's hard? Don't fool yourself. It's not. Read more here.

Borderbuster

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If you are a subscriber to our monthly e-zine Borderbuster, you already know about the following tips based on an article that was written in the 8/6/07 edition, "No. 6: Outsourcing: Small Businesses, Big Gains," by guest author Manoj Vohra, who heads up the research services practice of Businessworld Intelligence -- the research and research-led corporate initiatives arm of Businessworld, India's most widely read and circulated business weekly.

If you are interested in reading the full article, we encourage you to subscribe to Borderbuster and we will be happy to send it to you. That's one of the many perks to being a subscriber: receiving cutting edge info on global small business before anyone else on the planet.

In the meantime, here are four (out of a bunch) best-kept outsourcing programming secrets for small businesses that are mentioned in Manoj's article:

1. Elance
2. RentACoder
3. ScriptLance
4. GetAFreelancer

Interestingly enough, when I gave a presentation on how to use Web 2.0 to go global a couple of weeks ago in North Carolina at the 2nd Annual Small Business Conference in North Carolina, one of the attendees, a native of India running a business in North America, later sent me the following email:

I really enjoyed your presentation today. Though, I am actively working on web 2.0 technology, I learned about a few additional good sites from your presentation. In fact, ScriptLance (Laurel here ... I had known about ScriptLance prior to Manoj's submission) is going to be a very good site for me to expand my business. I wanted to thank you for sharing the information. If you are in town, I would love to meet with you.

Looks like we are on to something. Better check it out. Don't forget about the rest of the article -- sign up is here.

A.T. Kearney's Index of the 50 Most Attractive Offshoring Locations, 2007

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Let's talk about the obvious results first. India emerges on top by a wide margin with China and Malaysia (yes, you read that right) holding second and third place positions but take a look at some of the other locations that made the grade or reinforced their positions. United States came in 21st and Ireland came in last. The index is measured against financial attractiveness, people and skills availability and business environment. Before you move on to the report, here's a little more:

Findings in the 2007 A.T. Kearney Global Services Location IndexTM reveal that the relative cost advantage of the leading offshore destinations has declined almost universally. Nearly every country in the Index, even those that fell in the rankings, improved their absolute scores, thus confirming that competition among low-cost countries is intensifying. Increasingly, simply maintaining current performance levels is no longer sufficient for countries that want to attract (and retain) the fast-growing remote services business. In addition, this year’s findings suggest that while the wage advantage of offshore locations will continue for 20 or more years, this advantage will diminish as demand for skilled workers increases in offshore locations around the globe.

Now in its fourth year, the Global Services Location Index, or GSLI, analyzes and ranks the top 50 locations worldwide that provide the most common remote functions, including IT services and support, contact centers and back-office support.

Download the 20-page complimentary report, "Offshoring For Long-Term Advantage," here.

China Business Success Stories

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A colleague of mine at Global Sources, a company that connects global buyers with global suppliers, alerted me to this China resource many months ago and I am just now getting a chance to review and share: China Business Success Stories. Not bad. And if you want to share your story, just email info@chinasuccessstories.com

Beauty, Prestige and Worry Lines

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The WSJ featured a story with the above title on Monday, August 20th, and it was on Estee Lauder CEO facing trying times at the family company. The article is only available to online subscribers so I'm going to type out the parts (excerpts) that I thought were extremely relevant to our interests here on going global. See if you capture, as I did, the little glimmers of great advice. Here goes.

WSJ: What retail alternatives are particularly attractive for your brands right now?

Mr. Lauder: We look for consumers who spend at the higher end of the product range.

There's a generic frustration that I have when I talk to the financial community. The vast majority of analysts we talk to are American, the vast majority of them don't travel much outside of the U.S., and if they do, I imagine that most of that travel isn't to figure out how our brands and other brands are sold and market in Europe or Asia. They seem singularly obsessed with North America and the success of the Clinique and Estee Lauder brands there. They miss the extraordinary growth and expansion that we're seeing from our brands outside of this market. More than half of our sales and a significant portion of our total growth will come from outside of North America.

WSJ: How do you translate your brands in foreign markets?

There are many things we have to do to make our message for each brand more relevant locally. For example, the Asian consumer is very heavily oriented to the skin-treatment business -- she trusts brands that are really solid in those areas. And she doesn't like fragrance. It's a very small portion of the total business. In Europe, in the parfumerie channel, it's predominantly a fragrance-driven business, more than 50% of the business, and the remainder is skin care and color. In the U.S., it's a little more balanced between fragrance, treatment and makeup. So our message in each of these markets has to be different and relevant.

WSJ: What about emerging markets?

Mr. Lauder: We see emerging markets as a tremendous opportunity. Beauty is one of the first entry points for that emerging middle-class consumer in these markets, and she's buying. The Estee Lauder brand in China is exploding right now because it represents aspirational luxury but at a price that's much more affordable than Louis Vuitton. We see the same thing going on in Russia. India is a little behind because there's a certain lack of established retail there. Also doing well for us is the Middle East, Latin America, Brazil, Mexico and South Africa.

5 Tips from William Lauder on Seeking New Territory for your Business

1. While expanding globally, adapt to local tastes.
2. Make sure new markets still serve your core consumer and brand identity.
3. Stay open to new and emerging channels.
4. Sometimes the biggest retailers don't represent the biggest opportunities.
5. Don't think like a U.S. business with international operations, take the mindset of a truly global company.

Your Last Chance in 2007 to Be The World's Best Small Business!

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Just a few days left (10 to be exact) to enter the UPS Best "Out-of-the-Box" Small Business Contest. What's in it for you? How about U.S. $25,000!

The international contest will honor the most innovative small businesses and is designed for companies with annual 2006 revenues of at least $250,000 but not more than $10 million. Eligible businesses in the United States, Canada, Mexico, China, the Philippines and Singapore are asked to submit a 500-word essay explaining why they’re original and how they’ve been successful.

For more information and to enter the contest, visit here. Or, go back to our original post on May 8th.

Hope to see you there!

Doing Business With The World

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While you build your global business, you mine as well stay at the world's best hotels. Here are a few below. Take a virtual tour. It's like tip-toeing through the pages of National Geographic.

1. Oberoi Udaivilas, Udaipur, India
2. Singita Sabi Sand/Kruger National Park, South Africa
3. The Oriental, Bangkok
4. Four Seasons Hotel Istanbul at Sultanahmet
5. The Milestone, London
6. Relais II Falconiere, Cortona, Italy (English portal available)
7. Sabi Sabi Private Game Reserve, Sabi Sands, South Africa
8. Mandarin Oriental, Munich
9. Four Seasons Resort Hualalai, Hawaii
10. Oberoi Rajvilas, Jaipur, India (pictured)

Source: Travel + Leisure's 2007 readers' poll.

Redefining Global Strategy

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Award-winning author, Pankaj Ghemawat, writes a book about businesses competing globally and how companies must reckon with cross-border differences. It's due out September 27th. Read up about it here.

All Fun Things India

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Relax, take a tour. You might discover something you didn't already know about New Delhi, India.

Grow Global

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You may think that export business is dominated by larger companies. But consider these statistics from the U.S. Department of Commerce: Small and medium-size enterprises (fewer than 500 workers) accounted for 97% of all U.S. exporters, and very small companies (defined as fewer than 20 employees) made up 70% of America’s exporters in 2002 (the last year for which figures are available). Small and medium-size businesses had $158 billion in export revenues that year, up from $103 billion 10 years before.

Selling internationally presents fantastic growth opportunities — if you can find and recognize them. This article I wrote highlights seven strategies to develop or find new or hidden markets in the world marketplace. Use these ideas to find new customers and new uses for your products and to fuel greater sales growth and profitability for your business. Hope you like it.

Grow global.

Abridged Borderbuster: 8/6/07

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CONTENTS

If you are not a subscriber to Borderbuster, here's a glimpse of what you missed this month:

1. Welcome From The Publisher
2. Update to our Readers
3. Thought Leader: Connected Markets*
4. Business and Cultural Tips: Have Some Fun!*
5. Hire and Fire: Regional Labor Laws*
6. How I Went Global: Ongoing Series // Manoj Vohra, India*
7. A Reader Asks: Q&A
8. Everybody Loves a Freebie -- repeat: FREE OFFER*
9. Toeing the Line*
10. Expat Entrepreneurs Indulge a Wanderlust*
11. Go global, Chidambaram tells India Inc.*
12. Blog World: Singapore Entrepreneurs*
13. Laurel’s e-Book: “GODZILLA Global Marketing!”
14. Take A Walk On The Wild Side (TAWOTWS)
15. Wind Behind Your Sail*
16. Miscellany*
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||

*Indicates exclusive to Borderbuster subscribers only.

Sample section:

8. TOEING THE LINE
*Subscriber Exclusive*

What's the difference between a bribe and a gift? There's no clear standard, but prosecutors often take local culture into account. Here is a guide to culturally appropriate gifts, and how to present them, in five emerging markets, according to Vital Wave, a global consulting firm based in Palo Alto, California.

Read more here at Inc.

###

To subscribe to Borderbuster, visit:
Sign Up For Borderbuster!

SME Toolkit: International Business Section

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The SME Toolkit is a project of the International Finance Corporation. Since its inception in 2002, the SME Toolkit program has deployed more than 25 regional and sector-specific Web sites in collaboration with strategic partners in Africa, Asia, Latin America, and Eastern Europe. SME Toolkit content has been translated into 12 languages. The program has seen dramatic growth in recent months and SME Toolkit sites now collectively receive more than 2.4 million visits per year from users around the world. The Toolkit aims to address the three main impediments that SMEs face in utilizing technology for their business: access, lack of awareness/skills, and lack of locally applicable business applications/information.

IBM has dedicated more than $1.6 million to transform the Toolkit and rebuild it on an innovative open source platform using top talent in IBM research. The Toolkit now includes new Web 2.0 features such as live chat, online forums, business directories and survey capabilities to create a community where small and medium sized business can collaborate - anywhere around the world. For example, a group of small businesses could gather in an online forum to devise a strategy to bid on a large supply contract rather than as separate bids. The community tools also create an opportunity for peer learning.

The SME Toolkit is a free program. It's an amazing resource.

I was honored to be a part of this project by partnering with the Women Presidents' Organization (where I serve as a facilitator for WPO in the Chicago market) and providing global small business content. Check out the International Business Overview here. You can also jump to it on the home page under Go Global: Begin Exporting Now.

Press Release Headline: IBM and International Finance Corporation (IFC), the private sector arm of the World Bank, launch a small business toolkit to create jobs and fuel growth in the underserved and emerging markets.

Exporting Made Easy

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The 2007 National Export Strategy examines how the combination of declining trade barriers and advancing technologies has made exporting easier than ever. American businesses should look at the global economy as a major sales opportunity as well as a source of competition.

The goals of this report are to raise awareness in the American business community about the advantages of exporting, to convince businesses that are not exporting to consider exporting, and to get those businesses that are exporting to enter more overseas markets.
All the good stuff (resources) starts on Page 175.

China Pulse e-Newsletter

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China Pulse is Commercial Service China’s official e-newsletter, highlighting latest business news, exciting export opportunities, and inside strategies to help you maximize your success in the China market.

Current issue and to submit an article for possible publication: China Pulse June 2007

Go Global Without Waiting to Grow Up

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Fellow blogger Anita Campbell (not pictured) who writes all about Small Business Trends has an interesting post on micro-multinational businesses going global right from the start. I refer to it as born global. Check it out here. What's your take on it?

Please Choose Your Country

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Think this company wants to do business with the world?

Citizens of the World

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Citizens of the World Charter Schools create a national network of high-achieving, community-based public schools that reflect the abundant socioeconomic, racial and cultural diversity of their surroundings.
Citizens of the World Charter Schools

Second Life: Make An Impact on the World

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65-year-old Leonard Liu is a rare breed of entrepreneur.

The former IBM executive was born and raised in China and Taiwan, and educated at Princeton University. He's a cross-cultural businessman with decades of experience in the USA and Asia. And at an age when many CEOs retire to the golf links, Liu has launched a promising outsourcing start-up called Augmentum.

Liu, who came out of a brief retirement to start Augmentum in 2003, says: "Would you rather sit on the beach and watch the sun set, or build something that will have a lasting impact on the world?"

Read more about Leonard and the impact he is making on the world here.

Take Your Business Local?

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Interesting. Some companies just want to stay a certain size and become exceptional at what they do versus extend themselves too far -- say go global -- and not compete or sustain very well locally or globally for that matter. Here are two compelling snapshots taken from the article:

Although the latest US Census Bureau statistics for small businesses in Erie County don’t specify whether they are locally owned, the data shows that 94 percent of the more than 27,000 businesses in the Buffalo Niagara region have fewer than 50 employees and a little less than half of those businesses have between one and four workers.

And another:

Supporting small-scale local business does not necessarily mean shunning larger or non-local ones, he adds. The BALLE philosophy, for instance, acknowledges that it’s often very difficult to know how (and where) to shop locally, and certain goods, like tropical produce or auto parts, must be imported. Instead, BALLE supports a balance between large and small, global and local, but in a way that puts the local owners on a more even playing field. It goes back to the multiplier, says Shuman. “The more times a dollar circulates within a defined geographic area and the faster it circulates without leaving that area, the more income, wealth, and jobs it generates.”

See what you think -- article is here -- and I welcome your comments.

Also, of relevance, the co-founder of BALLE is Michael Shuman who wrote:
The Small-Mart Revolution: How Local Businesses Are Beating the Global Competition. I wonder if he would have co-founded this organization had he not written the book? I'm all for supporting local, independent businesses, especially ones who are global. The bottom line: This is all about competing effectively locally and globally.

Take Your Business Global

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Everybody is focusing on going global these days. Looks like we are on to something!

Read CNN's article here.

And most of the guidelines mentioned for expanding your business internationally have been featured in Entrepreneur magazine's Global Village column. We've covered the World Bank's website (see Easy Street, June, 2007), Export Assistance Center and U.S. Department of Commerce (Study Abroad, May, 2006) and the World Citizen's Guide (American Outcast, February, 2006) -- so we're on it!

SPECIAL Report from BusinessWeek on Going Global

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And all with a focus on small business -- what fun!

Getting Started Overseas

Online, a Global Strategy Starts at Home

UPS: From Local Startup to Global Titan
Twenty Countries to Consider

Avoiding Faux Pas When Exporting

Global Trade Toolkit

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Thinking of exporting or expanding into new markets? It's a great time to get started! Ninety-six percent of the world's consumers live outside of the United States and free trade agreements are opening new markets for U.S. businesses everyday.

Here's a GREAT way to get started in the trade export process.

And listen in on this interview about strategies small businesses can implement to go global.

Cultural Wisdom At Your Fingertips

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Tools for global managers. Tools for global team members. Tools for business travelers. Tools for international assignees. Did I leave anything out?

Get acquainted here.

Agility is Global

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Interesting post by Michael Hugos in Best Practices for CIO ...

My colleagues and I are leaving today to do a 30-Day Blitz in India. The blitz we launched in May with a global electronics and software company was a real success and they’ve decided to follow it up with a sequence of three more blitzes, one at their development center in Hyderabad and two more in the States.

I’ve got butterflies in my stomach. My mind is racing with questions and concerns about how things will work out. The last time I was in India I was seven years old; my father was there on business and my family and I spent a month in New Delhi. India made a strong impression on me then and ever since it has always been an iconic place, evoking images of history and mystery. Now my work is bringing me back.

Find out why Michael has butterflies in his stomach and what's in store for him in India, here.

Photo credit: Laurel Delaney, Chicago (7/5/07) ... magnificent cloud formation hovering over downtown Chicago.

Center for Global Development

Keeping an eye on practical ideas for global prosperity.

Photo credit: Laurel Delaney, Chicago, July 4, 2007.

7 Myths About Outsourcing

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In recent years, there's been a seemingly endless boom in offshore outsourcing. But companies that think handing off an operation to an overseas provider is easy can get a rude awakening by reading Seven Myths About Outsourcing.

View video on what it takes to outsource effectively.