Postive Effects of Globalization for Companies in India

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With globalization, countries can become integrated through foreign trade and investments.

India, for example, is a country that is growing consistently over the last several years -- proving that globalization has many positive and negative effects on culture, society or a country's economy.

Read more here.

A World of Opportunity

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The International Monetary Fund (IMF) reports that the world is in the grips of a deepening recession. I look at it that we are in the grips of a world of opportunity. We just have to work smart at finding it.

Read more here.

Separately, I was a part of a vibrant panel discussion on global business early yesterday morning for Crain's Chicago Business. I met so many interesting people and I just want to say, "thank you" to all who came up to me after the talk to say nice things. One attendee, a trained psychologist who specializes in family business said, "One of your statements really resonated with me." And I quickly asked, "Oh, you mean the one about 'begin with the end in mind?'" He said, "No, the one where you declared 'make it very hard for people on the Internet not to find you." To him and everyone else who attended, I say, "nice to meet you and thank you for listening!"

How To Close An Export Deal

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I am not sure if you are following my export series over at OPEN Forum by American Express. If you are, ignore this post. If you aren't, pay a visit to my latest two-part installment:

The Art of Closing the Export Deal

And as always, let me know what you think of it.

Pandemic....5/18

I certainly don't want to be a fear-monger, although some would place me in that category. The CDC has declared a national health emergency with the outbreak of swine-flu.

How does that impact us? Think of all the cases of flu, nausea, headaches, tiredness, and the like that filter through the ER. Think about the percentage of people that don't wash their hands, don't cover their mouth when they cough, and live in close quarters. Think of the high percentage of patients that have respiratory problems.

For our own little slice of heaven, the ER waiting areas, we might want to issue masks. Certainly to keep patients from contracting the flu from others, but also to keep the staff a little safer. I feel a run on barrier masks with face shields is in our future.

The one hundred-plus deaths attributed to the outbreak are mostly in poorer areas: Malnourishment, compromised immune systems, elderly, those with respiratory problems, and the very young would be thought to be susceptible. However, we are seeing a NY prep school closed, and cases in at least five states, with more to follow. The deaths in Mexico were comprised of patients that were atypically age-grouped (adolescents and adults).

During the avian flu scare not so long ago, it was anticipated that a pandemic of that nature would take less than six months to make its way through all but the most isolated regions of the world. I don't know how much was based on the vector including birds, but probably it was inconsequential. How many people end up with hystoplasmosis? (My little nagging voice is making an issue out of the report that the virus is a combination of human, avian, an pig viruses. It keeps focusing on the avian.)

It would seem that the third-world countries will be hardest hit, with African nations taking a high toll based on the HIV percentages. Likewise Thailand for the same reason. Any high-density, poor, populations. Israel has reported patients, can you imagine what this could do in Gaza?

So-o-o, handwashing, cover your mouth, and limit the handshakes, hugs, and kisses. They can wait until this is over.

How To Position Your Business Now For When Exports Recover

As exports declined, China's Alibaba.com came up with a strategy to make its service a lot more affordable.

A lesson for us all is in this story: How to position your business now for when exports recover.

Read more here.

Don't Be Taxed By International Taxes

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There is much to wonder about and learn from the Obama administration on a balanced approach to international taxation and global competitiveness.

Take a timeout to read, "Taxing Times For Global Business," which covers the administration's crackdown on tightening perceived loopholes.

Home Alone or Abroad

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Whether it's Dubai, Beijing or Cape Town, Americans abroad know how to make a home for themselves.

Read more here and take a tour of three homes for expatriates here.

Language Learning Firm Grows Global

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It goes to show you how important speaking more than one language is to our world (growth potential appears to be enormous). The Arlington, VA-based language instruction company, Rosetta Stone, saw its share prices soar last week in its debut on the New York Stock Exchange.

As reported in the WSJ on Friday, April 17:

"We have a real opportunity to grow globally," said Rosetta Chief Executive Tom Adams after the stock began trading.

Read more here.

Protect Our Planet

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Make a difference. Do your part to protect our planet everyday. Reduce. Reuse. Recycle.

Learn more here and here.

Over the Global Trade Rainbow

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Interesting post over at Crisis Talk, The World Bank Group, on searching for bright spots in trade.

According to Caroline Freund, the global trade rainbow comprises of:

Necessities:

• Medical equipment trade is thriving (such as catheters and pacemakers in the U.S. and MRI equipment and artificial body parts in Japan).
• Various foods items are up (bananas and meat in both nations, grains and rice in Japan).
• Tobacco is up over 100 percent in the U.S. and 30 percent in Japan. Vodka imports are up 37 percent in the U.S.

Innovations:

• Cell phone imports are up 24 percent in the U.S. and 12 percent in Japan. Proof that improved technology still sells—the new generation of smartphones are really cool.
• A number of chemicals are ahead in both countries. For example, heterocyclic compounds (a big category, $600m in February in the US) are up 48 percent in the US and 67 percent in Japan—these are used for a wide variety of things, such as drugs, pesticides, dyes and plastics.
• Wind-powered electric generating sets are up 18 percent in the United States.

Read more here.

Linking Globally

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Check out a new global business network for small businesses called GlobalLinker and then let "us" know how the following companies are affiliated:

British Airways
USA Today
hotels.com
Cisco WebEx
Adobe
priceline.com
skype
Quicken

Impressive roster. What's in it for them? More important, what's in it for us (how is it different from LinkedIn, Facebook (check this out), MySpace, Twitter, etc.)?

And don't confuse it with Global Link DEC or GlobalLink Network!

Spirit of Global Cooperation

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If there is one thing that came out of the 34-nation Summit of the Americas, it's the spirit of global cooperation to America's hemispheric neighbors.

Read more here and here.

How to Track Your Competitor's Suppliers

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Tap into the right resources and the world can become your oyster. We wrote about one way to track your competitor's suppliers a while back here (excerpt):

Another excellent way to tap new geographical markets, to minimize your expenditure of time, money, and energy, and to help focus your overseas sales and marketing efforts is to use the Port Import/Export Reporting Service (PIERS). PIERS (www.piers.com) is the only information service that provides names of U.S. consignees or shippers as well as overseas suppliers, along with detailed descriptions of import or export shipments for the commodity of your choice. This information is taken from ships' manifests by a nationwide corps of reporters and is loaded weekly into a computer database.
I once used PIERS on behalf of an American window blind manufacturer to find customers who were importing window shades into Capetown, South Africa. My client wanted to effectively compete with an industry giant already exporting to Capetown. After securing a list from PIERS that showed who was buying the competitor's goods there, we created a direct mail package specifically for those customers. Using the PIERS list gave us the competitive advantage we needed to show the South African prospects the superiority of my client's product and win them over as customers.

This week we stumbled upon a new resource that appears to be similar to PIERS: Import Genius -- a search engine for U.S. customs data. We have no experience with it so we leave it up to you to explore.

Another resource is The Journal of Commerce which has been around forever. They have lots of useful global transportation (commerce) information too.

We suggest you check out all of the above, compare capabilities and let us know what you think.

And if you know of other best-kept secrets, please share (comment). Or maybe you prefer to keep the secret to yourself?

Global News You Can Use

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We are delighted to have been selected to be highlighted (RSS feed) in the Commerce page of globalpost! According to John Wilpers, Global Blog Coordinator, they had a hard time finding really good global business blogs, especially about global small business, and ours really stood out.

globalpost is a new international news organization that launched on Jan. 12. They have been featured in the New York Times, the Wall Street Journal, National Public Radio, MSNBC, MediaShift on PBS, the Columbia Journalism Review, the Online Journalism Review, and many more. Here's what else they told us:

By appearing on Global Post’s exciting new international news website, your words, viewpoints, and pictures would gain worldwide exposure. In barely two months, we have had 250,000 unique visitors and 1.1 million page views. Our readers have come from every country in the world except North Korea, Chad, and Eritrea!

Your posts would not only appear instantly on globalpost.com but also possibly on the sites of our partners, including the Huffington Post (7.8 million U.S. and 9.7 million global monthly unique visitors) and other news and information websites.

We are thrilled to be a part of this exciting consortium of international news sources.

Take a peek when time permits.

Monetizing....5/4

If you're a blogger, that is one with a blog, you know that there is a certain amount of pressure to monetize your blog with ads. I've resisted, since this isn't about the money--but had a thought on the matter.

If I do it, it will be only at the side panel, not in the body. The proceeds are either going to legal defense if the lawsuit continues, or to a local charity, should it not. With the recession, they can use all the help they can get. In any case, the funds should be held in abeyance until the situation plays out.

I'm going to put up a survey, letting the readers contribute, and we'll see what shakes loose. So think about it.

It might not be possible to do it anonymously, but it's worth a try. If I can, I will, if I can't I won't.

The World Wide Warhol

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An exhibition coordinated by the Reunion des Musees Nationaux in collaboration with The Andy Warhol Museum and sponsored by LVMH / Moët Hennessy / Louis Vuitton (Paris).

Exports Rise

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United States exports rose in February for the first time in seven months. Is this a sign of better times ahead?

• Exports increased to $126.8 billion in February from $124.7 billion in January. Goods were $84.7 billion in February, up from $82.2 billion in January, and services were $42.1 billion in February, down from $42.5 billion in January. ~ Source: U.S. Census Bureau, Foreign Trade Statistics, April 9, 2009

Let's hope so. Read more here.

United States 2009 Small Business Exporter of the Year

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Exim Bank of the United States named water purification equipment supplier Aquatech International Corp. of Canonsburg, Pennsylvania, its 2009 Small Business Exporter of the Year.

"In today's challenging global economic environment, Ex-Im Bank support of our exports gives us opportunities that we otherwise would not have," said Aquatech President and Chief Executive Officer Venkee Sharma.

Congratulations to Aquatech! Read more here and here.

Photo: Aquatech's engineers in Hartland designed these towers for the Enel SpA energy utility in Brindisi in southern Italy. The plant uses desalination technology to recycle large volumes of water.

Bailout--Four Degrees of Separation....4/23

Were you aware that Essent is a bennificiary of the bailout? In kind of a round-about way. Remember the Six Degrees of Kevin Bacon? Well, GM is accepting a bailout, GMAC is 49% owned by GM, GMAC-RFC is totally owned by GMAC, and GMAC-RFC loaned Essent $75 Million to buy PRMC.

Since GMAC owns a bank, the degrees of separation might decrease, if it gets bailed out directly.

The Snooze: No News

I don't really know if precedent-setting fits, but enough people do...at the legal blogs that reviewed the initial filing and the appeal...that whatever decision is handed down will be studied, picked apart, and judged on its merits. It has almost the same feeling as the Scopes Monkey trial as portrayed in "Inherit The Wind": The judge was damned if he did and damned if he didn't.


The solution that was given in the play/movie however, won't play in this instance. The reality equivalent was that of the appeals court when it sent the case back. They emulated the (movie) judge (a non-decision decision) in bumping it to the previous court, thereby placing the hot potato back in Judge McDowell's lap. Hence, the spotlight on McDowell.

Lawsuit still on hold
By Bill Hankins
The Paris News
Published April 9, 2009

In what could be one of the most precedent-setting lawsuits involving bloggers, First Amendment rights and Paris Regional Medical Center, movement in the case seems to be on hold.

Attorneys for Essent, the parent company of Paris Regional Medical Center in its last request to 62nd District Court Judge Scott McDowell asked McDowell to order the release of information about the blogger or bloggers, whom they say have damaged the hospital’s reputation.

Attorney James Rodgers, defending one of the unknown bloggers, said today nothing has changed in the suit since the 6th Court of Appeals ruled the hospital must first meet the threshhold of proof the statements damaged the hospital before proceeding with the case.

“They have made another run at getting information, but we do not think they have complied with the appeal court ruling, and we expect the district court will agree,” Rodgers said. “As far as I am concerned, until the judge finds Essent has complied, no movement will happen in the case, and it does not appear the hospital is taking any steps to comply.”

Rodgers said no hearings are scheduled and no decisions expected.

“No news is good news.” Rodgers said.

The 6th Court of Appeals in Texarkana ruled the hospital first must prove the statements damaged the hospital before seeking the identity of the blogger or bloggers.

The lawsuit by Essent was filed June 19, 2007, when the hospital accused 1 to 10 unknown bloggers of wrongful conduct in publishing “false and misleading” information detrimental to the hospital and asking the bloggers be silenced.

After the appeals court ruling turning the burden of proof of damage back on the hospital, attorneys for the hospital issued a statement that said: “We appreciate how carefully the court is proceeding with this important issue. We understand the rules surrounding the Internet are new and evolving and that the court wants to proceed deliberately. That said, we are very confident in our ability to meet the standards articulated by the court. We intend to pursue all available legal options.”

No movement has been made in the case since.

Limeade For the Global Entrepreneur

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Just posted "Turning Limes to Limeade: Entrepreneurship Can Surface in Many Ways," over at the OPEN Forum by American Express OPEN.

See what you think.

Township Funk Has Global Appeal

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What is the biggest global dance hit (keep your volume down on your computer!) of the past year?

We won't keep you guessing. Go here. You never know when your local efforts will go global.

China Entrepreneur's Order Book Is Emptying

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See how one China entrepreneur rode China's expansion but is now struggling to adapt as exports slow.

Check out the World Bank's outlook on China here.

I wonder if learning how to adapt quickly is more important than innovation this year? Or, do you think we need both in order to thrive in this new economy?

The World Has Changed

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The G20 summit has invited more of the world into the global decision-making process and hence, the world has changed.

Find out why here.

Is The Heart on Life-Support?....4/22

New rumor from Dallas--the Paris Heart program may be having its own problems. Specifically volume. For a hospital that is 'dedicated' as a heart center, the patient load isn't there.

When the majority of the insured patients go to Dallas or Tyler for treatment, and the remainder are high mix of self-pay/no-pay and have poor health and diet, we can see why.

What's even more confounding is that the hospital gives privleges to physicians that are referring patients right out the door to other hospitals.

Obviously, the emergency patients generally don't have a choice, but Advanced funnels a significant number of insured away.

Goodbye Kitty?

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In a bid to raise its international profile, Tokyo has appointed three young women as cultural envoys because they represent Japan's long-running craze for all things cute.

Does that mean Hello Kitty (pictured above) is history? Let's hope not.

Read more here.

How to Ease the Global Crisis

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According to Simeon Djankov, Chief Economist at the World Bank Group's Crisis Talk blog, of all the possible things the G20 Summit leaders could have done, this one would ease the crisis the most: a commitment to triple the amount of money the IMF has for lending to $750 billion.

The G20 has also committed about $250 billion to boost global trade.

See why Djankov thinks the IMF lending notion (there are doubts about the global trade boost) is a good idea here.

Some Like It Cold

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Remember the movie A Christmas Story where Ralphie's friends Flick and Schwartz dispute over whether a person's tongue will stick to a frozen flagpole? They give a "triple dog dare" to find out. Well forget about that thought right now because otherwise you will need a "quadruple dog dare" to check out the Ice Hotel (including the Ice Bar) in Sweden.

Ivan Misner reports on his experience staying at the Icehotel in Sweden -- a worldwide franchise co-developed by an entrepreneur turned international entrepreneur with Absolut Vodka. The Ice Bar concept has spread to locations in Stockholm, London, Tokyo and Copenhagen. With more to come, I'm sure.

Read the blog entry here.

The Great Global Debate

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Check out the global hub for debate about the London Summit here.

Global Unity

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At the very least we will establish global unity amongst the world's 20 biggest economic powers at the G-20 Summit but let's also hope for and expect the creation of a very specific global economic recovery plan (e.g., actionable must-do-list).

Stay up to date on what takes place here and here.