Magic On This Planet

Photo courtesy:  ©Laurel Delaney 2012, "Kayakers in Rogers Park"

"If there is magic on this planet, it is contained in water." ~ Loren Eiseley

Photo credit:  ©Laurel Delaney 2012, "Kayakers in Rogers Park"

Betting on a Bright Spot For Growth: The United States of America

That's according to Clorox CEO Don Knauss.  In the WSJ article, "To Clorox CEO, U.S. Is Bright Spot for Growth," Knauss indicates he is staying out of China and developing markets in Latin America and the Middle East.  He's also betting on a bright spot for growth:  United States.

WSJ: Why is Clorox targeting growth in Latin America and the Middle East, instead of countries like China or Brazil?

Mr. Knauss: We think it is much less risky. The competitive intensity [in the BRIC countries] has ratcheted up many times what it was five to 10 years ago. When competitive intensity goes up, margins go down.We looked at our current countries in Argentina, Chile, Colombia and Peru, where sales of bleach and other cleaners are growing 5% to 7% ...

Learn more here.

Illustration credit:  Clorox®

Globalization and Globaloney

Pankaj Ghemawat is the author of Global 3.0: Global Prosperity and How to Achieve It, and he takes the stage to ask an important question: Just how global are we really?

Watch and listen here.

Related posts, five (5) over six years.

Cultivating Global Leaders

In our vastly interconnected world, we need to become effective global leaders to stay competitive.  Do you have what it takes to lead across cultures?  If not, McKinsey's got your back.  There's just one catch.  To read the full article, you must register:

Developing Global Leaders

If that's not enough, try these on for size:

Developing Global Leaders Is America's Competitive Advantage

What It Means to be a Global Leader in the 21st Century

Love E-Commerce

How do I love e-commerce?  Let me count the ways but in this instance, here are six reasons for loving your e-commerce site after it’s set up.

Here's the first one:

1. Customers can buy anytime and anywhere. After you are fast asleep and thinking that no more business can be generated, guess again. At their convenience, consumers can browse your site, discover new things and buy them. You wake up the next day, go to work and learn that ten percent of your total revenues were generated over night via e-commerce!

Read the entire article:  6 Reasons to Love E-Commerce

The Wrap Dress Lady Is Global

Diane von Furstenberg (pictured) is selling the wrap dress to women worldwide.  Her approach to China's rising middle class is different - more personalized.

Read the entire article:

A Designer Brings 'Best Friends' to China

Bird Lifeguarding

©Laurel Delaney 2012

"I realized that if I had to choose, I would rather have birds than airplanes." ~ Charles Lindbergh

Photo credit: ©Laurel Delaney 2012, "Bird Lifeguarding"

Redefining the Way Business Is Done: Global Mobile Commerce

Power up people.  The best global sales opportunity is yet to come.  Are you prepared for global m-commerce?

The article below examines what’s driving the explosive growth of global mobile commerce, how it is going to redefine the way business is done all over the world and how to leverage it to sell more stuff.

Read:  How to Make the Most of Global Mobile Commerce

International Business Travel: Don't Overpack

Before you head out for your first overseas business trip, here are some essentials for a one-week business trip, including wardrobe, accessories and documents.

Needed items will naturally vary according to the type of trip you are making and the activities to which you've committed yourself.

International Business Travel: Packing Smart For An International Business Trip

Why Export?

Top Ten Countries for The Global Small Business Blog Readership

Here's where majority of our readers come from - Top 10 Countries:

1. United States
2. United Kingdom
3. India
4. Canada
5. Germany
6. Australia
7. Indonesia
8. Malaysia
9. Spain
10. Brazil

Many thanks for your readership - to all!

Redefining Global

Dean Edward A. Snyder is redefining what it means to be global at Yale.  In addition:

The school is also introducing a leadership development program—to be run by a retired West Point brigadier general—which Mr. Snyder says will focus on giving and receiving feedback and keeping a leader's ego in check.

Learn more here.

Illustration credit:  Yale University

Lost in Sizing Translation

European imports like Moschino, Zara, Mango and H&M are wildly popular. I know. I buy those brands quite often.

But try translating the sizes to American. For example, when I try on an H&M jacket (as shown) in my regular size, it feels two sizes too small.

What's a person to do when they shop online?

Read: Shopping Locally, But Sizing Globally

Errors That Smart People Make

From the Christian Science Monitor:

Blaming globalization

The world has had economic downturns before, but what makes this one different goes beyond mere numbers on a balance sheet. Its roots are found in the growing doubts that people are having about our increasingly globalized world ...

Good Reads: Globalization and the Glass Half Full

Can America Lead the Global Economy?

 By Edward Conard (author of "Unintended Consequences" as shown above):

What I learned at Bain Capital working with Mitt Romney: outsourcing is good and America's future isn't manufacturing, it's ideas. 

Read the full article: How America Can Lead the Global Economy