In the final installment of the Globalization: The Leadership Challenge Ahead blog series we will focus on the action steps to help you improve your business performance, and prepare you for greater success in the rapidly changing global economy.
Whether your future plans call for global expansion or not, here are some of the things to consider to help you improve your competitive position in the ‘New World’ economy.
1. “Find the Light Switch”. Figure out what you need to do to improve business performance and more effectively manage complexity and change. What’s missing today, and what is needed to fortify your business against increasing global competition?
2. Turn fear and complacency into action. Find a way to remove the barriers to growth that have prevented you from taking action to advance your business profile in the past, and then convert those new action plans into results.
3. Do your research and planning upfront. Know your real business (brand identity vs. how you make money) and your true competition. Fine tune your strategy, marketing, products and services portfolio, pricing, etc. to meet diverse customer needs, market by market.
4. Focus your future business on value creation. Value creation doesn’t necessarily mean inventing something new, but rather it requires you to find creative and expansive ways to consistently deliver value to customers.
If you are seriously considering taking your business global in the next 12-18 months here are some resources that should help with your preparation and planning …
Competitive Alternatives 2010: KPMG’s latest study on international business taxes. http://www.competitivealternatives.com/
Doing Business 2010: Ranks the ease of doing business in 183 economies around the world. http://www.doingbusiness.org/
Global Entrepreneurship Monitor: A study of entrepreneurial activity around the globe. http://www.gemconsortium.org/
Transparency International: Resources on international regions subject to corruption. http://www.transparency.org/
U.S. Commercial Service: Global business information for exporters and importers. http://www.buyusa.gov/home/
U.S. Department of State: Information for U.S. firms doing business abroad. http://www.state.gov/e/eeb/cba/
Finally, I have included links to two articles below that will provide you with some additional ideas to enhance your international expansion plans, and help you to more effectively manage the complexity associated with increased globalization.
1. Getting International Business http://bit.ly/eMcAKL
2. Need to Cut Through Complexity and Just Get Things Done? http://bit.ly/fiqRvP
These combined resources will give you a better overall understanding of the complexity and challenges associated with globalizing your business, and where to target your efforts.
“There are two primary choices in life: to accept conditions as they exist, or accept responsibility for changing them.” – Denis Waitley
Denis Waitley’s quote is a very appropriate for closing the Globalization: The Leadership Challenge Ahead blog series. As business leaders, the leadership responsibility for change rests with each of us. Overcoming the obstacles to growth that are ahead in the ‘New World’ economy and restoring the U.S. to greatest on the global stage is a leadership challenge we must not only embrace but conquer.
Let’s do it together, one business at a time!
COPYRIGHT © 2011 John Carroll