Global Managers: Is There Such a Thing Anymore?

Photo credit: Laurel Delaney

Death of a salesman.  The Death of the Global Manager?  Not so fast and not so sure here.  I don't believe defining managers as "global" is a dead concept.

Meanwhile, Julia Hanna makes her case with:  The Death of the Global Manager for HBS Working Knowledge.  As always, the comments are more telling than anything.  Add yours if you like.

But let's not forget one of my favorite Harvard Business articles that I pulled (dusted off) from my library shelf:  The Globalization of Markets (pictured) by Theodore Levitt. Oh if Theodore were alive today ... what would he say?

And there's Customizing Global Marketing (1986)

How to Launch the Foreign Edition to the Huffington Post

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Is the Huffington Post content exportable?  We will soon find out.  The Huffington Post (now in the hands of big company AOL) intends to take on the UK, France, and then Brazil.

Learn more of their plans here.

Russia Gets Serious About E-Readers

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Russia-based Plastic Logic is on a mission:

To lead a revolution in the way people acquire, organize and consume information. We are using our proprietary technology leadership in plastic electronics to create a range of products enabling immediate information access, organization and consumption. We are a dynamic, fast-growing entrepreneurial company.

They have been funded by top-tier venture funding sources in Asia, Europe and the U.S. to complete product development in the U.K. and the USA.  In addition, they desire to a run specialized, scalable production facility in Germany, construct a second, volume production facility in Moscow, Russia and build strong go-to-market teams.

Learn more about Plastic Logic and read:

Apple, Microsoft, Plastic Logic Go Global For the Billion-Dollar Educational Table Market by Fast Company

Related posts:

Who Has the Edge On Wireless Reading Devices? (10/30/09)


Opening a New Global Frontier:  The iPad (4/3/10)

Here's How to Price Your Product For Import or Export Markets

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It's always a challenge determining the best import or export pricing for your product.  Is it based on your cost?  The market?  The product itself - unique or a commodity?  Perhaps this article might help.

How to Price Your Product Competitively For Import and Export Markets

Thanks To You and Other Fans, We Made the Top 100 Small Business Influencer 2011 Champion List!

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I am thrilled (honored might be a better choice of words) to make the "Top 100 Small Business Influencer 2011 Champion List!"  Thank you so much.  And I am delighted to be in such good company with the other 99 very cool influencers.

We extend our heartfelt appreciation to the Premiere Sponsor, Category Sponsors, Media Partners, nominators and judges for making this event possible -- especially Small Business Trends and smallbiztechnology.

Learn more about the program 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.

Approve or Disapprove Free Trade Agreements?

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There are several free trade agreements (FTAs) pending:  South Korea, Panama and Colombia.  But are they really necessary?  A lot of folks think they are.  In the United States, many states have a stake in the FTA's passage.  Take a good look below.

Read:

Approval of trade agreements will benefit farmers, state - Canton, OH

Huelskamp:  Trade agreements necessary

Houston's Stake In Pending Congressional Free Trade Votes

How to Load a Container for International Shipping

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When you ship internationally, you want your cargo to be safe and arrive timely to its destination point  - not to mention transportation rates that are affordable for your customer!

Below, Capt. James J. McNamara, President of the National Cargo Bureau Inc., details how to load, stow and secure a freight container.  He can be contacted here.

10 Steps to Load, Stow and Secure a Freight Container

Posted by:  The Global Small Business Blog

What Is Indirect Export Selling?

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My latest contribution as the Import & Export Guide over at About.com (part of the New York Times):

Indirect Exporting:  Advantages and Disadvantages to Indirect Exporting

What method of export selling are you using?

Opinion of the World

©Laurel Delaney 2011, "Bridget and Matthew Get Married August 6, 2011," near Madonna della Strada, Loyola University Chicago

"In the opinion of the world, marriage ends all, as it does in a comedy. The truth is precisely the opposite: it begins all." ~ Anne Sophie Swetchine

What It Takes to Run the World

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Not that there is any similarity, but many years ago I read, "Women Who Run With the Wolves," a book about wolves and women who share a psychic bond in their fierceness, grace and devotion to mate and community. This comparison referenced in the book defines the archetype of the Wild Woman, a female in touch with her primitive side and her ability to rely on gut feelings to make choices.

Now, to the point of this post. Parag Khanna, a leading geo-strategist and world traveler, has authored "How to Run the World: Charting a Course to the Next Renaissance. I have not read it yet. Khanna addresses a lot of complex issues. One being:  Will 21st century diplomacy be complex?

Find out here.  Book available at Amazon.  Question posted there:

Q: What can America do to manage such a complex new global order?

A: America’s footprint in the world is much greater than that of its government alone. American companies spread financing, technology and management know-how around the globe, American universities have set up campuses across the Middle East and Asia to educate the next generation of leaders, and American citizens and charities are the most generous in the world. So America needs to stay open and engaged in the ways that have made it the most respected leader in decades past. Where America builds relations among citizens and not just governments, such as with Europe, Japan and India, alliances are much more long-lasting and stable.

So you can decide:  Run with the wolves or run the world?

Humanizing Our Connected World

Last year in September Eric Whitacre invited his online fans to participate in an ambitious attempt to create the world's largest virtual choir.

Featuring 2052 performances from singers in 58 countries, the Virtual Choir 2.0 - singing Whitacre's "Sleep" - is the largest assembled online in history, and far surpasses Whitacre's original goal of 900 voices.

You have to witness and listen - to believe it.  

Work On the Global Business, Not In It

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British Airways has an On Business program.  What is it?

On Business is our global loyalty programm designed to help small and medium-sized businesses maximize travel budgets.

Learn more here.  How it works.

New Open World of Science Goes Global

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The Institute For the Future research affiliate -- founder of spacehack.org and open science strategist Ariel Waldman -- announced at her morning keynote at OSCON (the O’Reilly Open Source Convention in Portland) that Science Hack Day is going global.

About Ariel Waldman:

Ariel is an open science strategist, interaction designer and the founder of Spacehack.org, a directory of ways to participate in space exploration. She currently works at Institute For The Future, a non-profit founded by early internet pioneers and ARPANET researchers. Recently, she founded Science Hack Day SF, an event that brings together scientists, technologists, designers and people with good ideas to see what they can create in a weekend.

Additionally, she sits on the advisory board for the SETI Institute's science radio show Are We Alone?, is a contributor to the book State of the eUnion: Government 2.0 and Onwards, and is the founder of CupcakeCamp. In 2008, she was named one of the top 50 most influential individuals in Silicon Valley. Previously, she was a CoLab Program Coordinator at NASA, a Digital Anthropologist at VML (a WPP agency), and a sci-fi movie gadget columnist for Engadget.

Learn more: Science Hack Day Goes Global

Posted by:  The Global Small Business Blog

How to Translate Social Media Activities Into International Expansion

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Liz Elting, co-founder and Co-CEO of TransPerfect, provides common pitfalls when translating social media activities into international expansion.

Four Social Media Pitfalls to Avoid As Your Business Goes Global

Here are the four:

1. Let social media efforts carry the international marketing campaign.
2. Isolate social media efforts from the rest of the international marketing strategy.
3. Adopt social media marketing abroad no matter what.
4. Put resources into social media at the beginning of a campaign, then taper off those efforts.

World: Celebrate Something!

©Laurel Delaney 2011, Cupcake Heaven

Go out and have yourself some fun.  Celebrate something.  Enjoy the weekend!

Will There Be a Change in the Global Economy?

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Standard & Poor's recent decision to downgrade the U.S. on its triple-A credit rating has people wondering whether this move will affect the entire global economy.

Find out here and be sure to read the reader's comments.  Always enlightening.

What Does It Mean to Be Truly Global?

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Having just given a presentation for the Women Presidents' Organization last week at McDonald's Hamburger University in Oakbrook, Illinois on "What It Means To Be Global," I was quite pleased to discover this newly published work featured below by one of my favorite authors:  C.K. Prahalad (may he rest in peace).

Background:

August 8 was C.K. Prahalad’s 70th birthday. To commemorate Prahalad’s work, strategy+business is pleased to publish an article that was in progress at the time of his death in April 2010. In it, he and his coauthor, Hrishi Bhattacharyya, explain why multinational business models are no longer relevant, and how skillful companies can integrate three strategies — customization, competencies, and arbitrage — into a better form of organization.

How to Be a Truly Global Company
by C. K. Prahalad and Hrishi Bhattacharyya

Snippet:

The problem is not globalization, but the way our current institutions are set up to respond to this new demand. The prevailing corporate operating model does not work well with the structural changes that have taken place in the global economy.

Definitely worth a read - several times over.

Past blog posts on CK:

• Revolutionizing How You Do Business in Developing Countries (9/1/09)
• The Magnificent Seven: Global Business Books in 2008 Worth a Read (1/7/09)
• Business As An Agent of World Benefit (9/15/06)
• The Innovation Sandbox (9/7/06)

Posted by:  The Global Small Business Blog

Five Countries To Look at For Expanding Internationally

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I can't say the five countries (Mexico is one) mentioned in the article below are the easiest nor friendliest places to do business but they do offer market potential if you are able to gain access.

Read:

Expanding Internationally?  Consider these business-friendly countries

America: Land of the Free, Home of the Brave

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Is the United States headed for a double-dip recession? Read what experts say here. And it's always provocative to obtain perspectives from country experts other than the United States.

Related:

America's economy:  Time for a double dip?

What's your opinion?

Australian Suits That Sizzle

How To Cultivate International Skills

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Go to a school that offers a global education. 

As national borders become less meaningful, business schools are pushing to increase the number of international students they attract as well as the amount of international work experience their domestic students get.

 Read:

Top MBA Programs Going Global

Google Gone Global Once Again

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Google Talk (VoIP service) is expanding its phone call service beyond the United States to more than 150 locations around the world in 38 languages.  No kidding.  No connection fees.  Pay only for talk time.

Many small businesses are turning to Skype to cut telephony costs, but with Google offering a lower-cost alternative, businesses and consumers may soon reap the benefits of increased competition.  

Learn more here.

How to Create An Export Action Plan

©Laurel Delaney 2011, Chicago Aon Center and Blue Cross Blue Shield Building

The process of developing a realistic export business plan and relevant activities that support your export vision is discussed in this column for Crain's Chicago Business.

How to Create -- and Act On -- An Export Business Plan

The New Normal: Going Global

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Takes a while to get to the point but the title and last sentence is so true.

Going Global Has Become the Norm

Related to going global:  50 Ways to Go Global

How to Test Cultural Adaptation Skills and Grit

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According to Fortune, corporations are taking a new approach to the overseas assignment and have begun to send employees abroad to work on short-term projects as a means to test how they work, and adapt, outside their comfort zones.

Could the days of traveling overseas to glamorous places on the company's nickel for global experience be over?

Read:

Overseas Job Assignments Get a Haircut

How To Sell Your Products Internationally Without Ever Leaving Home

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For most business owners there comes a point when you look critically at every aspect of your business to determine how to squeeze out more growth. 

Big "aha's" can come by looking at transitioning from local to global.

Read:

Less Local, More Global
9 Ways to Sell Your Products Internationally Without Ever Leaving Home

Posted by:  The Global Small Business Blog