globalEDGE Blog Archive June 2013

Are you a recent college graduate with no job prospects or hope for repaying your student loans? If this doesn’t describe yourself, you probably know someone in a similar situation. Maybe packing your bags and heading to China to work with the People’s Liberation Army is the answer to the distressed college graduate’s problems.

There have been recent increasing efforts to recruit highly educated individuals to work for the PLA. Employees not only earn financial compensation, but also the highly coveted hukou, which is a permanent Beijing residence card, after serving their duty with the Army.  The new recruiting strategies aim to upgrade the PLA to a higher caliber. However, can China prove that it is all that it’s cracked up to be for aspiring young graduates?

When an economic downturn lingers over a market, generating profits becomes extremely difficult for a business. However, there are a few ways to reduce this cyclical business risk. One of the ways happens to be with the use of international business tactics. Perhaps surprisingly, a casino located in Las Vegas, Nevada serves as a great example of this risk reduction strategy.

According to a report by the World Bank, Sub-Saharan Africa is on pace to achieve larger economic growth than the global average over the next three years. The report stated that higher commodities, increased investment opportunities, and a steady recovery in the global economy should sustain the region’s GDP growth above 5%, while the global average remains merely 2.4% as of this year. Excluding South Africa, the region’s strongest economy, African economies are currently growing at 5.8 percent, higher than the developing country average of 4.9 percent.Coupled with an anticipated increase in global foreign direct investment, which is expected to reach $54 billion USD by 2015, the economic growth in Sub-Saharan Africa provides an immense opportunity not only to elevate the standing of African nations in the global economy, but also the chance to fight back against the region’s staggering poverty levels.

The international trade of consumer products is a regular occurrence and nearly everyone in the world is aware of its role in the global economy. However, how many people are cognizant of the fact that cities use imported garbage from neighboring countries and turn this waste into energy? I am guessing that not many people have heard of this phenomenon. This is exactly what is happening in the city of Oslo, located in southern Norway.

As the world migrates ever more so to the internet it seems like a logical step that a currency would develop for those online. Known as alternative, or more specifically, digital currencies, these relatively new creations have become more popular as internet connectivity has expanded and is also seen as a safe haven for some when more traditional currency markets take a hit.

The International Monetary Fund releases a yearly forecast for countries that will predict the growth of the country. For France and China, the IMF has recently lowered their growth forecast due to a number of different reasons. For France, Paris has lacked a competitive economy and been slow to reform in recent times. For China, credit has been rising too fast along with the debt, and also slow growth economically will coincide with a slower growth in China. These two countries will have to find new ways to generate expansion along with minimizing losses during this slow economic period globally.

From the hustling cities of Asia to the scorching desert cities of the Middle East, business travel is booming in emerging countries. Last year business traffic in the emerging markets of Asia, Latin America, and the Middle East grew substantially and major infrastructure projects are underway to accommodate the rapid growth in these markets. Most emerging cities are experiencing an expansion of airports, hotels, and highway. This trend is further testament to the dynamism and growth prospects of emerging markets.

It is almost undeniable that cloud computing is the future. And when it comes to technology the future is now. Cloud computing is the ability to store, manage and process data in a remote server that is hosted on the internet. Essentially, it is your hard drive but out on the internet so you are able to access it anywhere from any device that is outfitted with internet. The possibilities of this technology are seemingly endless and multinational businesses want in.

As May crawls to a close, the team here at the International Business Center at Michigan State University is gearing up for a highly anticipated event for faculty. Held at our renowned Kellogg Center every other year, the International Business Institute for Community College Faculty is an incredible learning environment for faculty nationwide to expand their institutions on the international spectrum.