globalEDGE Blog - Page 118

In 2012, the UK-based oil exploration company, Tullow Oil, discovered oil in Kenya's northwestern Turkana region. Over four years later, the country is now announcing its plans to go forward with the production of crude oil.

Afghanistan may not seem like the ideal location for business opportunities. The country faces frequent blackouts, bombings, equipment shortages, and a consumer market that is untested. Despite these challenges, three Army veterans and a civilian who served in Afghanistan have decided to take on these challenges through their company, Rumi Spice.

A study conducted by the University of Cambridge and Nesta, in partnership with KPMG, recently covered the development of the alternative finance industry in the United Kingdom. In the U.K., the industry expanded by 84% in 2015 £3.2 billion, and equity based crowdfunding was 15.6% of the total amount of seed and venture stage equity investment in the United Kingdom.

Austria's foreign minister, Sebastian Kurz, has threatened to oppose any attempts by Turkey to join the European Union. Kurz claimed he will use his position in the EU foreign ministers' council to vote against further negotiation chapters with Turkey. His announcement was made Sunday, following a recommendation by Chancellor Christian Kern to completely terminate said negotiations. Several other Austrian government members have echoed their sentiments, citing the recent coup, the respective purges, and Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdogan's powerful rule. While recent events have tensed Turkey's relationship with the EU, not all nations are ready to give up negotiations just yet.

Avocados are experiencing a sudden shortage in the market, as New Zealand bandits have been reportedly stealing the delicious creamy fruit. In the past five months, 40 large-scale thefts from New Zealand’s orchards have been reported, with 350 avocados being stolen at a time.

For anyone conducting their business internationally, being aware of and understanding cultural differences is often essential for success. Issues such as directness, cultural values, and punctuality vary across countries, and expressions can have very different meanings in foreign cultures. By researching a country’s culture and customs first, you can impress and gain the respect of your international colleagues, helping to build relationships which will be crucial to the growth of your business in the new market.

Australia's central bank recently cut interest rates from 1.75% to 1.5%, a direct consequence of the country's faltering job market and record-low inflation. The Reserve Bank of Australia hopes to boost the labor market as well as induce economic growth via this interest rate cut. After a decade-long mining boom, the Australian economy gradually shifted towards less commodity-dependant growth, helping the nation avoid a recession. Unfortunately, there are many indicators that Australia's gross domestic product (GDP) is losing momentum. Economic growth of 1.1% in the first quarter of 2016 has been largely attributed to the dominance of net exports. Analysts suspect such exports to contribute minutely to overall economic growth. Data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics reported the country’s trade deficit rose to $3.2 billion ($2.4 billion) in June, while exports declined 1%, and imports increased 2%.

[This blog post is based on a presentation I gave in a business-academic panel “jam session” at the American Marketing Association Summer Educators’ Conference, August 6, 2016. The slides with charts and data can be downloaded here].

The strategic importance placed on leveraging global supply chains has seen an exponential increase in the last decade. The world is now connected in a cogwheel fashion, where all 195 countries leverage inbound and outbound elements of global supply chains, and what happens in one part of the world – seemingly far away from where you are – oftentimes has an effect on what you do, perhaps even as a bullwhip effect; that is, small changes in some parts of the world has large cause-effect relationships with other parts.

Tremendous inbound and outbound growth in supply chain traffic has been seen in Asia, with lots more inbound in the last decade than ever before. But, the idea of “supply chain management” is still driven by the U.S. and to some degree Europe. These global supply chains are important given that customers expect the world to become more globalized than the companies expect to have to deliver in the next 20 years. This mismatch needs to be solved.

Whether it's a ride-share app, a search engine, or a social media platform, tech companies have struggled to expand their businesses overseas. Many successful U.S. tech companies expect to thrive in the world's second largest economy, but the results have been less than satisfactory.

The Bank of Japan announced a new stimulus plan last Friday. This new plan involves the annual purchasing of the equivalent of $58 billion USD worth of ETFs. This is an increase of approximately $26 billion from last year. The bank notably yields negative interest rates. However, those will not be affected in this new round of easing.