globalEDGE Blog Archive October 2012

When the financial crisis hit the world in the fall of 2008 most sectors of the economy came crashing down with it. International trade was no different, and by some measures the decline was more pronounced. When world GDP began to contract and hit its bottom in 2009, exports dropped nearly 30%. One would expect a certain amount of withdrawal when a crisis of this magnitude hit but with such a huge drop off the question arises what other factors could have played in? The answer is not as simple as it may seem.

Falling interest rates worldwide and a more stable Africa have together created a perfect storm for debt investment in Africa.  Globally, central banks are driving down interest rates and because of this; investors seeking higher yields are investing their money elsewhere.  Countries like Zambia, Nigeria, Ivory Coast, Senegal, and Namibia have begun issuing global bonds and investors around the world are quickly buying up these debt securities.  Many African countries are finally reaching the point of political and economic stability that is necessary to attract foreign investment.

As many of you news readers may know, China and Japan have been involved in a territorial dispute over a small chain of islands in the East China Sea. They can’t agree on a name—Japan calls them the Senkaku Islands and China calls them the Dioyu Islands, but both countries view those islands as part of their territory. They are technically controlled by Japan now due to war treaties, but China has had claims on them in the past so both countries have a case to make for ownership. However, as the islands do not really have much of significance on them, they are viewed as an important symbol of dominance in the often tumultuous relationship between China and Japan. While war or other extreme actions have not been taken yet, the dispute has impacted businesses in the area which could easily impact the world’s economy.

Economic turmoil in Europe has many concerned for the future of the Eurozone and the stability of its individual members. In need of some reform, European Union leaders congregated to enact a single banking supervisor for the union. The leaders agreed that the European Central Bank will be considered supervisor-in-chief, and this bank has intervention power over all 6,000 Eurozone banks. The plan is to have the banking union functional by the first of January so the Eurozone’s rescue fund, the European Stability Mechanism, can begin with a bang at the start of the New Year. The Stability Mechanism is essentially a firewall system for the EU, and it focuses on dealing solely with bailout applications, leaving transfer and monitoring to other European stabilizing facilities. The initial concerns of the banking union and the European Central Bank will be to rescue failing Spanish banks, and then deal with the pending Greek debt crisis. But of course, European leaders are facing opposition in regard to the new banking union decision.

Without government involvement, Indonesia is experiencing good times with one of the highest economic growth rates in the world. Needless to say, things could have been even better if the government provided assistance to help the economy and take Southeast Asia’s largest economy to a whole new level. It has been estimated that if Indonesia made certain changes to its economy, each citizen would be more than forty percent wealthier by 2030. Also by this time, if it has the right reforms and remains on this path, it would be the world’s sixth largest economy. The main areas of renovation would be the outdated infrastructure along with the increase in bureaucrats.

Deemed export compliance can sometimes be a confusing subject matter. However to help you better understand exporting, Amber Road has a free webinar discussing export compliance from a university perspective. The webinar will address many topics including how to use technology to automate the export compliance process and will feature guest presentations. This free webinar takes place on Tuesday, October 23, 2012 from 2:00 PM to 3:00 PM EDT. To find out more information and to register for this online webinar event, please click here!

As globalization affects international business in almost every way possible, it also affects education to great extents. International education is on the rise as the demands of a globalized world bring the need for students to understand broader issues around the world. Students, the future business leaders of tomorrow, have become more mobile than ever in search for global experiences and job opportunities overseas. In past years, many students moved abroad to study in developed economies such as the United States and United Kingdom. However, that trend is starting to shift as many people believe the booming economies in the East offer more job opportunities than the West.

As most of Europe still feels the fiscal repercussion’s from the debt crisis, some companies are leveraging this to target the fiscally conservative consumer. Consumer spending power has declined which means companies are pressed to find ways to squeeze every penny out of the consumer. Many companies are changing the packaging of products to accomplish this.

Back in 1965, Fred Smith wrote a paper for his Yale undergraduate economics class that proposed an overnight package delivery service in which one carrier would be responsible for a piece of cargo from pick-up to delivery. This idea was unorthodox in the delivery of packaged materials at the time, as cargo shipment in the supply chain was handled by a multitude of companies. Smith received a grade of “C” on the assignment, because the professor told him that the idea was “not feasible”. Fast forward nearly 50 years, and Fred Smith is the founder/CEO of FedEx, a $28 billion company that transformed the way packages are delivered. His idea would revolutionize the package transportation industry, but this was not an overnight success story; at one point the company was kept alive by Smith turning the company’s last $5,000 into $27,000 with a gambling trip to Las Vegas. The packaging industry as a whole has changed a lot in the past few decades, thanks in part to massive innovation brought on by people like Fred Smith.

We were always taught not to judge a book by its cover, but packaging experts know that building a positive connotation and allure around a good is crucial to its marketability.  Companies take many factors into consideration when packaging their product: environmentally responsible, flawless presentation, exceptional quality/quantity, and cultural sensitivities.  Balancing the variables of material, size, imagery, color, and design is the challenge facing most firms.  And they only amplify as companies expand to the global marketplace.

In 2010, countries around the world engaged in a race to the bottom to devalue their currencies in hopes to boost exports and thus foster economic growth. Now in 2012, fears of another currency war have arisen again after the Federal Reserve announced the third round of quantitative easing which has caused many to believe that the U.S. dollar will weaken. It’s still unknown if central banks in other countries will respond by keeping the value of their currency low relative to the dollar. The main goal of weakening a currency’s value is to increase exports by making goods cheaper in relation to other countries. So what exactly does this mean for international business?

In an era where globalization perpetually extends the frontiers of international business, a company's ability to have their products reach markets in developing, or even remote, locations has become an increasingly important factor for success in global markets. Statistics support this claim, seeing as the share of gross domestic product as a percentage of the international market in 2012 has clearly shifted from developed countries to nations just emerging in the global economy. This trend has resulted from the growing middle classes of third-world economies having the ability to purchase goods for a higher quality of life, such as safe food, clean water, and secure pharmaceuticals. The astounding international demand for consumer goods has elevated the packaging industry to deliver these goods in frontier markets, while simultaneously trying to reduce their environmental impact during this time of expansion.

Packaging is seldom thought about throughout the course of the day, yet we come into contact with some form of packaging constantly. For as long as there has been goods that needed transportation there has been packaging – beginning with woven baskets and ceramic vases. Throughout the centuries since then packaging has continued to evolve, and continues till this day.

A few days ago the International Monetary Fund (IMF) released their World Economic Outlook. That report release and much of the data itself wasn’t surprising. What was surprising, however, was the fact that the IMF provided data showing that they were wrong about forcing austerity measures on countries.

In the midst of the European Debt Crisis that has has toppled governments and pushed a number of countries into a second recession, Ireland has drafted a new plan to save their housing market and keep families in their homes. With house prices on the emerald isle being 50 percent below their peak value, more than half of Irish mortgages worth less than the outstanding debt, and about 39% of homes in default, the Irish government has been forced to take steps that many economists would deem as far too risky to enact. The government is expected to sign a law that would encourage banks to substantially lower the amount that borrowers owe on their mortgages, which could prevent mass-scale foreclosures, and also a blueprint for other nations seeking to resolve their housing dilemmas.

Way back in 2001, Jim O’Neil coined the term “the BRIC countries.” These countries were to be the building blocks of the “post-American world.” Businessmen and investors flocked to these locations to see what the future held.

Fast forward to 11 years later and the story is a very different one. Uncertainty now resonates throughout the BRIC (BRICS if you want to include South Africa) countries due to an increasingly slow growth rate, coupled with widespread corruption, political failure and currency woes. This paints a familiar picture to some who witnessed the former “American Killers” such as Europe (1960), Japan (1970) and the Asian Tigers (1990) unable to sustain steady growth during those times.

Brazil has been a steady pillar of South America and the BRIC for the past few years, but things seem to be taking a turn for the worse.  Not only has the economic powerhouse been losing steam when it comes to industry domination, but also labor costs are being set ridiculously high.  KPMP’s 2012 Competitive Alternatives Report, which compares the structure of costs for companies in various countries while taking into account, taxes, labor, rent, and cost of capital, studied 19 industry sectors in the BRIC and nine other industrialized countries.  The commentary revealed that Brazil is the most expensive developing nation for doing business, only about 7% cheaper than the United States.

Over the past five years, Singapore has revamped its central business district.  Marina Bay, located in Southern Singapore, is now home to a unique blend of entertainment and business.  As regional headquarter buildings for companies like Google and Citigroup were being built, so too was a $5 billion Sands casino-resort that seemed a bit out of the ordinary for the typically conservative country. Nonetheless, the casino and revamped business district are attracting both domestic and foreign investment and so far “Singapore’s new skyline” has experienced huge success.

With the global economy in a slump, there are many industries that are suffering. You do not have to look very far to find news about spending cuts, job loss, and shrinking sales within many sectors. One industry that has managed to escape the blunt of these issues is the automotive industry. A recent report found that auto sales in the United States were the highest in four years, many other countries around the world are experiencing success. Many experts are beginning to ask: is this the beginning of the next big boom for the global auto industry?

One of the most public dramas that has played out in the downturn of the economy has been the manufacturing sector's struggles. Data released earlier this week shows reason for cautious optimism in the United States. For nearly the first time in four months, manufacturing grew within the United States. While the U.S. welcomes even the smallest improvement, other regions did not fare as well. Both China and the Eurozone continue to see the manufacturing sector of their economy contract.

Scientific advancements regarding genetic modifications have enhanced agricultural economies all throughout the globe.  Most recently, researchers have implemented a gene in soy that resists drought. Formerly used in sunflowers, the gene has been transferred and is being applied to soy in Brazil. Agriculture plays a prominent role in Brazil’s economy, accounting for 36% of exports; $7.9 billion alone was in agricultural exports to China. This reconstructed soy will not only allow for drought resistance, but also the ability to grow in salty soil, thus allowing soy development in previously uncultivated areas in Latin America. Of course, this expansion may lead to issues, both environmentally and economically.

European stocks have been struggling as Spain does not seem close to requesting a bailout soon. Spain’s debt and interest carrying costs are increasing at a rate much faster than the GDP, and it seems as though this trend will not slow down. Greece is in the same situation. Greece has incurred a lot of debt and is struggling to pay it back. Due to this, the country is in the process of securing a bailout. Both countries’ unemployment rates have risen above twenty percent, and the Eurozone in general has a combined unemployment rate of 11.4%. Talks that France is going to be next have many people worried and these worries can only lead to more problems.

Economic growth is a desire held by many nations around the world. But before a country achieves this goal, it must have the proper infrastructure in place to foster economic growth. The country of Bangladesh is a great example of this thought. Can you imagine having to wait three or more hours to cross a river? This is exactly what people in Bangladesh must do each day in order to enter the under-developed southern region of the country. The river separating the country is called the Ganges, known locally as the river Padma. Having a bridge over the Padma river has been a dream of Bangladeshis for decades and that dream may finally become reality.