Slow and Bumpy Ride On the Road to Global Economic Recovery

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According to BBC News, the global economy recovery will be slow and bumpy.

(April 28, 2013):  Last week, data showed that the US economy, the world's biggest, expanded by 2.5% in the first quarter of the year. That's lower than the 3% growth many analysts had forecast.

Learn more here (includes an automatic video so set your volume to low).

To Go Global, Start Making Baby Formula

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Major retailers in Germany this year began rationing sales of leading brands of baby formula. Parents in Britain, the Netherlands and Hong Kong have faced similar restrictions.  So much for globalization.

Part of the reason for the scarcity?

Parents thousands of miles away in China have been using the Internet or tapping friends and relatives in Europe to buy up stocks of high quality European-produced formula — often paying much higher prices than they would here.  Chinese demand for foreign brands soared after drought in Australia and New Zealand cut supplies from China’s major sources of imported baby formula. 

Read more here.

Meanwhile, start making premium baby formula for export.

Horses Know

Photo courtesy:  ©2013 Laurel Delaney.  "Wood Horse Sculpture in Chicago"

He knows when you're happy
He knows when you're comfortable
He knows when you're confident
And he always knows when you have carrots.
~Author Unknown

Launch Your Global Career Before May 5th

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Hult International Business School offers scholarship opportunities for chosen MBA candidates. Students are selected based on their abilities to perform in a dynamic classroom environment and for their business leadership potential and are considered upon submission of the online application.

The standard essay length is 500-750 words and in each category (as noted below), you must address 3-4 critical questions.  Creativity is encouraged.

1. Academic Excellence Scholarship
2. Global Innovation Scholarship
3. Global Leadership Scholarship
4. Global Project Management Scholarship
5. International Finance Scholarship
6. Social Entrepreneur Scholarship
7. Women in Business Scholarship
8. Your Talent Professinal

As Hult says, "Get plugged in to the world."  More about Hult here. 

Deadline on scholarship opportunities is May 5, 2013.  Go here to apply.  Good luck! 

Related article:  "How to Get An Education Fit For a Life in Global Trade"

Rhythm of Africa: Exotic and Bashfully Sexy Tiffany Amber

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Iconic African fashion brand, Tiffany Amber has embarked upon it’s global expansion plans with three new retail outlets launching in the second quarter of this year.  The collection will be sold at Italy’s leading department store – la Rinascente.

La Rinascente was the first department store to open in Rome in 1887 and now owns a chain of 11 department stores located in several Italian major cities.  La Rinascente carries the world’s most luxurious brands and has a flagship store in the fashion capital of the world – Milan. 

Learn more here.

Who Are the Mobile Consumers in Our World?

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Do you have questions about the mobile consumer in our world?  Our Mobile Planet has answers. Learn about smartphone adoption and usage across 40 countries. Develop your mobile strategy now.

Our Mobile Planet

Small Business Owners Are Driving Smartphone Domination Globally

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A new Cisco Visual Networking Index Global Mobile Data Traffic Forecast Update projects that by the end of this year, there will be more mobile-connected devices than there are people on earth, and by 2017 there will be nearly 1.4 mobile devices per capita.

Who is driving this device domination?  Small business owners.  

According to the survey conducted by eVoice, more than one in three small business owners (36 percent) use three or more mobile devices to run their business. 

Read the entire article here.  Are you ready for a mobile world?

Developing and Pricing a New Product for the Global Marketplace

Photo courtesy:  ©2013 Laurel Delaney.  All rights reserved.

Your first step when developing and pricing a new product for overseas should be to check if there is a similar product already on the market and what it is priced at. If there is a similar product, see how your idea can be differentiated and use the competing product’s price point as a starting point for yours.

Here’s what it takes to bring a product to market and how to price it fairly and competitively for the global marketplace.

How to Develop and Price a New Product for the Global Marketplace

A River Runs Through It: Chicago

Photo courtesy:  ©2013 Laurel Delaney.  All rights reserved.  "Chicago River"

The river that bears the name of a great city, Chicago.

Have a good weekend everyone!

A Leader In Small Business Export Lending: BBCN Bank

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SBA has named Los Angeles-based BBCN Bank the SBA Export Lender of the Year for 2013.  Congratulations to BBCN Bank!  BBCN facilitates international trade financing for small businesses, including nearly $13 million in export working capital financed by BBCN in 2012.  They serve a diverse mix of customers that mirror their respective communities, including the largest Korean population concentration outside Korea.

My favorite stat in the article:

Small businesses now constitute 34 percent of total export dollars, and comprise approximately 97.8 percent of all exporters.  

Read the entire announcement here.

The Global CEO

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Is there such a thing as a global CEO?  That is the question addressed in the following article:

Is There Really Such a Thing as a 'Global CEO'?

The idea of the "global CEO" -- usually understood as chief executives who either come from a country other than where their company is headquartered, or have spent a considerable amount of their careers working "overseas" -- makes sense. Companies require a level of expertise outside their home territories that goes beyond what they have needed in the past.

On behalf of all entrepreneurs and small business owners who conduct business across borders, my answer is:  Yes!  We are global CEOs and do it all:  run a business, take our product or service international and communicate effectively and directly with people from all over the world.

Vision and Direction Equals Global Leadership

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I always knew of Margaret Thatcher as the "Iron Lady" but I never realized that her real legacy is globalization.

1925-2013: Former British prime minister Margaret Thatcher, the grocer’s daughter whose overpowering personality, bruising political style and free-market views transformed Britain and transfixed America through the 1980s, died April 8 after a stroke, her spokesman said in a statement. She was 87.

Read the entire article about how Margaret Thatcher reshaped the modern British state in ways that reverberate globally even today.

May she RIP.

Thatcher's Real Legacy:  Globalization

World: Join Us With Prayers for Boston Explosion Victims

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Our thoughts and prayers are with all the people, including their families and friends, who have been impacted by the tragic event that took place during the Boston Marathon.

Blasts Rock Boston Marathon

Nurturing New and Young Global Startups

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The Global Entrepreneurship Congress (GEC) is nurturing new and young firms on a global basis -- a much needed support mechanism for the world at large.

This year’s GEC wrapped up a week ago in Rio de Janeiro following an intense week with more than 2,000 people from 130 countries. In the first editions of the annual Congress, participants focused on simply discovering like-minded advocates for new, young firms with growth-potential. Four years later, the GEC has become an established platform for entrepreneurship leaders focused on further refinement of data, ideas and methodologies around the needs of growth entrepreneurs.

Read more about the power of GEC and entrepreneurs here.  Related post:  Launching Your Startup Globally.

View Of a Ferris Wheel

Photo courtesy:  ©2013 Laurel Delaney.  All rights reserved.  "Navy Pier Chicago Ferris Wheel"

“I see nothing in space as promising as the view from a Ferris wheel.” ~ E.B. White, The Points Of My Compass 

Global Mindset In the Hiring Process

Related article, "Leading With a Global Mindset."

Does Releasing Something Broadly Mean Globally?

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Zynga recently rolled out Battlestone, a new mobile arcade action game, in select markets and they claim it won't be long before it's available more broadly.

Does releasing something broadly mean globally?

In Zynga's case:

We’ll have more coming soon as we ready Battlestone for worldwide release. 

Read the entire blog post here.

Jordan Goes Local

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While competing against foreign rivals, Jordan is constantly challenged and at the same time concerned over status quo.  In this case, if you can't beat your competitors -- wherever they might be located -- create a new campaign for consumers to buy more locally produced commodities.  And that is exactly what Jordan is doing.

While the government is either unable or unwilling to provide sufficient support and protection to local industries, a citizen solution is now being pushed as an alternative. The Go Local, Support Local campaign, spearheaded by entrepreneur and BeAmman.com co-founder Luma Qaddoumi, aims to influence consumer behavior such that supporting local products becomes a culture.

Read:  The Case for Shopping Local

Are You Involved in Gray Market Activities Internationally?

Photo courtesy ©2013 Laurel Delaney.  All rights reserved.  "Who Nu cookies"  -- one of my favorites!

What is a gray market activity? It's simple: It's an unofficial but legal import/export activity involving genuine products by intermediaries other than the authorized distributor or agent. From the importer's side, it's known as parallel importing.

Read:  What Is Parallel Importing?

Is Globalization or the Internet Causing Obesity?

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According to IESE Insight, obesity is now killing three times the number of people who die from malnutrition, and is the fifth main cause of death in developed economies. 

In the United States, nearly two-thirds of Americans are overweight, and childhood obesity has tripled in a generation. Europeans are getting fatter as well. For the first time in history, there are more overweight than underweight people in the world.  

Companies apparently are churning out too many products high in fat and sugar.  And here I thought it might be the Internet that is causing obesity.  Too many hours spent sitting in front of a computer, smart phone or tablet!  Guess not.

Read:  IESE Insight Globesity:  Is Globalization Causing Obesity?