globalEDGE Blog - By Tag: globaledge

Welcome back to the globalEDGE blog! We’re excited to announce that our regular Monday through Thursday posting schedule will resume on September 9th. Due to the Labor Day holiday, we will be posting from Tuesday through Thursday the week of September 2.

As we bid farewell to the Fall 2023 semester at Michigan State University, our dedicated team of student blog writers is set to embark on a well-deserved winter break. They'll be away from the university campus, taking the opportunity to travel and savor the joyous holiday season with friends and family.

Welcome back to the globalEDGE blog! The globalEDGE team of talented student writers is thrilled to resume our regular Monday through Thursday blog schedule.

This week marks the end of the Michigan State University Spring 2023 semester, which also closes another school year in the books for the globalEDGE blog team. globalEDGE Blogs will take a break from its regular schedule throughout the summer months, anticipating returning in September 2023.

The 2022 Market Potential Index (MPI) has been released on globalEDGE! This study ranks the market potential of the largest economies, focusing on the United States, by compiling statistics from several sources and analyzing the results based on eight dimensions. This study can help businesses determine which international markets best fit for them to enter.

Welcome back to the globalEDGE Blog! Our student authors have returned from their Michigan State University winter breaks and are excited to begin the Spring 2023 season of the globalEDGE blog.

We will be posting blogs every Monday through Thursday. Keep checking in to find new stories regarding international topics, including specific market overviews, analysis of growing industries, current events in business, and more!

This week marks the end of the Michigan State University Fall 2022 semester. Our student blog writers will be leaving the university campus for our winter break, and will be returning at the beginning of January. Over break, our team members will be traveling and spending time celebrating the holidays.

We would like to acknowledge a graduating student and our globalEDGE blog editor, Chloe Jaessing. Chloe is graduating this December with a Major in Finance from the Broad College of Business. She has been tirelessly working to keep the globalEDGE blogs up-to-date for all of our readers. To read some of Chloe’s blogs throughout the years, click here.

The globalEDGE blog will return January 16th, 2023. In the meantime, we hope our readers continue to enjoy all the other areas of the globalEDGE website!

Halfway through MSU's academic semester, in this blog, we will highlight key changes and updates our team has made over the last few months.

Welcome back to the globalEDGE blog! The globalEDGE team is returning to our regular Monday through Thursday blog schedule.

Our student authors have returned to the Michigan State University Campus from their summer breaks and are ready to bring you more stories about the latest international business news. Keep checking in to find new stories regarding international topics, including specific market overviews, current events in business, breaking news, and more!

This week marks the end of the Michigan State University Spring 2022 semester, which means that this also closes another year in the books for the globalEDGE team. globalEDGE Blogs will be taking a break from its regular schedule throughout the summer months. This summer, our team members will be traveling, studying, and completing internships or full-time positions, all in the earnest pursuit of furthering our understanding of international business, which will be put to good use this Fall when globalEDGE Blogs returns.

Welcome back to the globalEDGE blog! The globalEDGE team is returning to our regular Monday through Thursday blog schedule.

As the semester comes to a close, the students of the globalEDGE team will be taking finals next week and enjoying winter break in the following weeks. The team has had a great semester being back in the office for the first time since the spring of 2020, and we look forward to providing more website updates and blog posts when we return for the spring semester in 2022. Thank you again to our readers for browsing the site and reading the blogs we post each week! We will return to the office on Monday, January 10, 2022.

The International Business Center has published its 2021 Market Potential Index (MPI). The MPI aims to assess market attractiveness for the largest 97 economies by comparing eight dimensions: market size, market intensity, market growth rate, market consumption capacity, commercial infrastructure, market receptivity, economic freedom, and country risk. This year's top market is China, which has held the leading spot on the Market Potential Index since 2014.  India, Singapore, Hong Kong, and Canada make up places two through five on the list, respectively. The top five markets on the MPI are the same countries as the 2020 MPI report, with Hong Kong and India swapping places on this year's report.

After a summer full of work, internships, and professional development, the globalEDGE team is excited to return to campus for the fall semester.  Our team is eager to begin writing blog posts and updating the globalEDGE website with the most current information on international business. Keep an eye out for blog posts about current events, various international business topics, and website updates! We will be returning to our regular Monday through Thursday blog posting schedule this week, the week of Monday, September 13.

This marks the last week of our academic year at Michigan State, and the globalEDGE team will be taking the summer off while team members will be graduating, starting full-time jobs, completing internships, traveling, and furthering their education in an effort to continue to contribute innovative and real-time news to the globalEDGE website when we return in the fall.  During a year of virtual school and virtual work, we hope that our viewers were able to use our information to their benefit as we all take on these difficult times, and we appreciate your viewership and interaction with the site.  Thank you for all of your support and we will be anticipating our return to the blog come fall.

Are you a student or recent graduate looking for international travel and a chance to gain work experience while abroad? Check the recently updated International Internship Directory on globalEDGE. Disciplines include everything from marketing to engineering to public health.  Paid and unpaid positions are listed, as well as programs for college credit.  To access the page simply click here, or click the “Academy” dropdown menu from the homepage. 

The globalEDGE team is excited to return to our regular Monday through Thursday blog schedule.  Members of our team took the time over our winter break to recharge, reflect, and explore and we are ready to hit the ground running to provide you, our readers, with new content during the spring semester.  Continue to expect timely, intriguing, and well-prepared posts that will help you learn and expand your international business knowledge.  We look forward to a great semester and, as always, we appreciate your support.

As another semester comes to a close, the globalEDGE team will be heading home for winter break.  In our first fully remote work experience, our team has been resilient and worked hard to provide our users with the most up-to-date and interesting information possible.  As a team, we appreciate your support in reading our blogs and in browsing our website and we hope that our efforts positively contributed to your learning and research goals.  So, thank you for another great semester, and we will see you soon on January 11, 2021.

After a summer of internships, learning, and exploring, the globalEDGE team is returning for the 2020-2021 academic year.  We are eager to take on the challenges that a remote-learning environment poses and we look forward to providing our viewers with highly valuable and interesting information.  Look for the globalEDGE blog to return to its regular Monday through Thursday schedule starting next Monday, September 7th.

Another semester is coming to a close, and this marks the end of the academic year for the globalEDGE team.  This semester has brought with it significant and unique challenges that have forced our team, and people around the world, to adapt to a new lifestyle and embrace change as we never have before.  Through it all, we hope you were able to benefit from our perseverance and continue to glean useful knowledge from our blog posts and website resources.

With that, the globalEDGE blog will be taking a break from its regular schedule throughout the summer.  Until we return with exciting ideas and information in September, we hope our readers stay safe and we thank you for your interaction and viewership throughout the year. 

After a brief hiatus for our winter break, the globalEDGE team is back on campus and will return to our regular blog schedule.  This semester, you can again expect to read insightful and informative posts Monday through Thursday of each week.  We look forward to reconnecting with our audience and are excited for the next 16 weeks.

As the academic semester comes to an end for the globalEDGE team, we would like to thank our users for your continued support.  From technology to international relations, we hope that our blogs were able to provide readers with exciting perspectives on current international business topics.  The globalEDGE team will be taking a break from posting on our blog section over the coming winter break but will be back in action at the start of the next semester on January 6th.  We hope everyone has a happy holiday season and we cannot wait to return in the new year.

The International Business Knowledge Quiz, located in the Tools and Data tab on the globalEDGE website, has been recently updated. Questions more accurately reflect the most up to date information and statistics, in addition to some minor grammatical fixes. The quiz is a great way to learn about numerous countries and global business partnerships. With a test bank of around 100 different questions, the quiz can be taken multiple times while still offering new information. 

After a busy summer of international travel, work-related, and academic pursuits, the globalEDGE team is returning to Michigan State University for the 2019-2020 academic year.  With six new members, the team anticipates sharing exciting, fresh ideas and information on the globalEDGE blog—again featuring a Monday through Thursday schedule.  Our team will also be working diligently to update website content and provide users with comprehensive and useful business knowledge to accommodate their goals.  We look forward to a great year!

As the academic year comes to a close, the globalEDGE team would like to thank all of our readers for another great year. We have enjoyed posting blogs and interacting with our readers throughout the year.

The globalEDGE blog will be taking a break from regularly posting blogs over the summer. We may be checking in occasionally with new posts; however, the normal schedule will not resume until September.

Under globalEDGE Insights by Country, a variety of indices can be found for each country.  GlobalEDGE has recently updated its indices including the Big Mac Index. The Big Mac Index includes the price of a Big Mac in different countries around the world. This index has become a global standard based on the theory of purchasing power parity, and that over time, exchange rates should move so that an identical basket of goods would have equal prices across countries.  There is a GDP-adjusted index that addresses the changes in prices between countries with higher or lower labor costs.

Have you visited the globalEDGE Business Beat recently? In last week's segments, Dr. Tomas Hult discusses topics related to global efficiency, the internationalization of community colleges, and an overview of MSU’s International Business Center. This overview contains information on the MSU International Business Center Team and serves companies and educators around the world.

The globalEDGE team recently updated all of the country risk assessments, which can be found on our Country Insights pages. Using data provided by Coface, the country risk assessment pages display an index rating for each countries overall risk and business environment. In addition to these indices, strengths, weaknesses, and current trends that impact risk profile are presented for every country. Check out these updated pages today to see how every country's risk profile has changed over the past year.

With the holiday season approaching and the academic semester coming to a close the globalEDGE team would like to wish our readers happy holidays. We have enjoyed posting blogs and interacting with all of you on social media throughout the year.

The globalEDGE team recently updated the Forbes Global 2000 Largest Public Companies data to reflect the most current year. This dataset includes the value of sales, profits, assets, and market value for each of the listed corporations. Collectively, these 2000 publicly traded companies account for $39.1 trillion in sales, $3.2 trillion in profit, $189 trillion in assets, and $56.1 trillion in market value. The strong global economic expansion of the past year has seen all of these metrics grow by double digits as compared to last years data.

Have you visited the globalEDGE Business Beat recently? In last week's segments, Dr. Tomas Hult delves into the topic of entrepreneurship in sustainable development around the world. These segments include interviews with the Secretary General of UNCTAD; the Minister of National Development Planning of Indonesia; the  Minister of Economy, Economic Development and Tourism of Chile; the Minister of Trade, Industry and Co-Operative in Uganda; and the Minister of Finance in Zimbabwe. The final segment from last week contains an overview of the World Investment Forum that took place in Geneva, Switzerland from October 22-26.

As part of the celebration of the globalEDGE blog’s ten-year anniversary, we are looking back at the most popular blog posts of the past decade. Today’s featured post from October 2015, by contributor Zheng Nie, looks at how refugees impact the economy of their host countries. This blog post is the most popular post from the globalEDGE blog in the past ten years.

In celebration of the globalEDGE blog’s ten-year anniversary, we are looking back at some of the most popular posts of the past decade. Today’s featured post, originally posted I April 2012, comes from one of our most read globalEDGE contributors, Evan Pennisi.

To celebrate the ten-year anniversary of the globalEDGE blog we are looking back at some of the most popular blog posts of the past decades. Today’s featured post is from October 2014, when globalEDGE contributor Jacob Simon examined the impact of time zones on international business.

Started in September 2008, this year marks the 10th anniversary of the globalEDGE blog!  The globalEDGE blog was started as a way to better interact with our users by sparking discussion on current and developing topics in international business. Over the past ten years, the globalEDGE team has written thousands of blogs spanning a wide array of international business topics. The blog has also provided our diverse team of authors a platform to share their unique perspectives and outlook on the business world.

The globalEDGE Newsletter is Back! This month's newsletter discusses recent updates to the globalEDGE website and features a blog post by Dr. Tomas Hult exploring whether the United States should be a part of more regional trade agreements. Be sure to subscribe via the link below to receive the newsletter directly to your inbox every month.

Have you visited the globalEDGE Business Beat recently? In last week's segments, Dr. Tomas Hult discussed a variety of topics, including the winners and losers of trade agreements, the impact of tariffs on US farmers, and the role of sustainability in business. The Business Beat is hosted by Dr. Tomas Hult of the Broad College of Business at Michigan State University and consists of brief audio segments that dive into current topics impacting the international business world. Past segments can be viewed by date or by speaker on our page featuring the Business Beats.

Visit the globalEDGE Business Beat page today to hear from experts in the realm of global business and to expand your international business knowledge!

Earlier Today, Michigan State University announced a historic $30 million gift from alumnus and real estate developer Edward J. Minskoff. The gift is the largest single gift received from an individual in MSU's 163-year history and will be used toward completion of the Business Pavilion at the Eli Broad College of Business. In recognition of the gift, the 100,000 square foot pavilion, designed with state-of-the-art collaborative and immersive learning environments, will be named the Edward J. Minskoff Business Pavilion.

In making the gift Mr. Minskoff said "Michigan State is an important university and important to my past. It gave me a strong foundation, so I am privileged to be making a contribution that will help Michigan State continue to attract and prepare future business leaders".

More information about this historic gift and the Business Pavilion can be found on the Eli Broad College of Business website.

With the start of a new academic year, the entire globalEDGE team has returned to Michigan State University after spending the summer working, studying, and traveling across the world. We are excited to share these new perspectives with our readers through the globalEDGE blog, which will return to a regular schedule with new posts Monday through Thursday. The team will also be updating multiple sections of the website and working to develop brand new content for our users.

As the academic year comes to a close we would like to thank all of our readers for a great year. We have enjoyed posting blogs and interacting with all of you throughout the year.

The globalEDGE blog will be taking a break from regularly posting blogs over the summer. We may be checking in occasionally with new posts; however, the normal schedule will resume in September.

Every year globalEDGE publishes its Market Potential Index (MPI) in order to assess a market’s attractiveness for international business. The Market Potential Index ranks the market potential of the 97 largest economies (not including the U.S.). With the MPI, determining which international market to enter is no longer an overwhelming task. The world’s largest economies are ranked based on several dimensions, allowing appropriate marketing strategies to be developed for each particular country. The MPI for 2018 had a few countries make surprising leaps in the rankings. Over the course of this blog, we will discuss some of the noticeable trends in these markets.

This Spring globalEDGE held our first ever blog competition at Michigan State University, where we asked students studying international business to submit blog posts to potentially be featured on the globalEDGE blog. Over the past few weeks, the globalEDGE team has been reviewing the many student submission and we are proud to announce that Lauren Kuiper, Xiyou Xu, and Pujitha Kasipuram are the three winners to have their blogs featured on the site this week.

Our team would like to congratulate the three winners and thank the many other students who took the time to submit entries.

New exporting modules were recently published in the globalEDGE Online Course Modules.  These modules were created in cooperation with the US Commercial Service, based on content published by the Commercial Service.  Topics covered in these modules range from a general overview on beginning to export to rules of origin on specific free trade agreements.  These modules will be of interest, especially to small business owners. 

Modules of specific interest might be our Developing a Marketing Plan module, Methods and Channels for Exporting, Preparing Your Product for Export, and the Selling Overseas and Aftersales Service module.  Each of these modules offers its own range of information that will benefit any business professional who takes the time to listen to them. 

To access the exporting modules you can use this link.

The globalEDGE team is back in the office today!  With our arrival, we wanted to just take a blog post to highlight some of our incredible resources.  If you’re writing a paper or need to prepare a report our website has valuable statistics and general trade information for you.

The entire globalEDGE team will be returning tomorrow for another school year. We will resume our regular updates of the site. Also our blog schedule has now shifted to five days a week.  We are all excited to provide you with new content. 

globalEDGE has added a Best Countries Index to our Country Indices pages. The index, compiled using data from the U.S. News and World Report, assigns a ranking and score to 80 separate countries, based on how global perceptions on a variety of attributes could potentially increase trade, travel, and investment in each country. The information also takes into account how these perceptions could potentially affect the national economy of each country. The factors considered are qualitative instead of quantitative, giving varying amounts of weight to these subrankings: adventure, citizenship, cultural influence, entrepreneurship, heritage, movers, open for business, power, and quality of life. Check out our new indices today.

The globalEDGE team is pleased to announce new updates to our industry insight pages. In the introduction sections, we have added detailed visual breakdowns for each industry and have revised Primary Demand Drivers and Profitability Drivers with the most current information available. The related blog posts displayed at the bottom of the page now include include pictures for more visually-appealing previews. The corporations sections now more prominently display our special pie chart which shows which countries are the dominant players in each industry. Check out our updated industry pages today!

Are you interested in learning more about market classification? globalEDGE’s Global Insights by Classification feature explores Emerging Markets, Frontier Markets, and Mature Markets. Each classification has its own page that includes a description of the market’s main characteristics, an interactive map of the countries in the market, and a table that provides insight to the market’s economic averages compared to least developed and most developed countries. The market pages also contain Statistics, a Risk Comparator, and Resources. Visit the Statistics section to compare the market's countries to each other using an interactive graph of data. The graph contains data about the economy, education, finance, the government, infrastructure, labor, people, and trade and investment.

globalEDGE is currently at the Global Internship Conference in Santiago, Chile! This year, all of the conference’s plenaries, sessions, and workshops are being presented in both English and Spanish. Some of the sessions being hosted at the conference include:

• Using Multimedia in Internship Courses
• Creating and Sustaining a Global Internship Partnership
• Refining the Internship for Academic Credit in Study Abroad
• Creating and Managing Effective Collaborations
• Developing Global Leaders: Experiential Training for Student Interns
• Exploring Mentorship as a Means of Supporting Student Interns

Our own Assistant Director, Sarah Singer, will be representing MSU-CIBER by giving a presentation on globalEDGE today. To learn more about the Global Internship Conference and its variety of session offerings, click here.

Forbes released the 2017 rankings for the World’s Biggest Public Companies, or the Global 2000, on Wednesday, May 24. Company rankings are composite scores determined by weighing sales, profits, assets, and market value. The United States contributes the most companies to the list with 565 members. China and Hong Kong supply the second largest with 263 companies. According to Forbes, “the world’s biggest companies have gotten bigger, more profitable and more valuable in the past year. 58 countries were represented, down from last year's 62 with Cyprus, Kazakhstan, Romania and Malta no longer boasting companies on the list.”

The globalEDGE team is excited to share the new Business Hindi Resource Guide. The project, funded by a grant from the MSU International Business Center (MSU-CIBER), was developed by the MSU Center for Language Teaching Advancement (CeLTA) to provide students applying for jobs and internships in India with necessary cultural and linguistic tools. The guide contains seven modules, covering topics such as socio-cultural etiquette, conversations in socio-business situations, business culture etiquette, and reading and interpreting job announcements. The resource guide also includes sample resume formats, sample cover letters, and a glossary of Hindi business terms. Click here to read the guide.

This Friday, April 18th, the International Business Center at Michigan State will be holding a workshop in Madison, Wisconsin, as part of the International Business Institutes on the Road educational effort. The On the Road workshops are an extension of the flagship International Business Institute for Community College Faculty (IBI) which was offered in East Lansing, Michigan, from 1995 to 2015. The IBI’s goals are to provide participants with the knowledge, experience and resources they need to internationalize general business courses and/or develop specialized international business courses at the two-year college level.

Export.gov is a great resource for your international business needs. The website contains a wide variety of tools and information to help you and your business succeed with international trade. Recently, Export.gov released a series of new videos to help educate small and medium-sized companies on exporting, and to encourage these businesses to start exporting or expand their exporting operations.

This week, the National Business Education Association (NBEA) is holding its annual convention in Chicago, Illinois. NBEA is celebrating its 125th anniversary this year, and the convention will include over 70 educational sessions which will cover a variety of topics related to business education. Today is the first day of the convention, which will run throughout the week, ending on Friday the 15th. Check out the NBEA 2017 Convention page to learn more about conference details and the topics to be covered.

globalEDGE is proud to be a sponsor of Coface's annual Country Risk Conference. The conference will be held on April 20th in New York City, and will focus on business to business trade around the world. Topics covered will include Brexit, how the United States' new trade policies will impact international trade, low oil prices, and the emerging markets in Central and Eastern Europe. Business professionals, consultants, and researchers are welcome to attend the event, and registration is available on Coface's site. To learn more about the conference, click here, and to learn more about country risk, visit our recently updated country risk pages.

Established in 1988 as the National Association of Small Business International Trade Educators (NASBITE), NASBITE International is a nonprofit organization who aims at advancing global business practice, education, and training. NASBITE has been a leading organization that promotes an exchange of information and resources among global business education and assistance professionals. Among many others, NASBITE’s specialties include international trade, global marketing, small business administration, supply chain management, and professional development.

On Saturday, March 25, 2017, MSU will host its 10th World Languages Day sponsored by CIBER. World Languages Day is a free, all-day conference for high school students, teachers, and parents. Each year, this event brings over 500 participants, presenters, and volunteers to campus to learn about language, culture, globalization, and general information about MSU. Participants choose from 75-85 sessions taught by MSU faculty, graduate students, and community members on a variety of topics such as:

• A taste of Thailand: Spices, sayings, and script
• Skål! Learn to celebrate like a true Viking
• The power of yoga
• Around the French-speaking world in 50 minutes
• And many more!

Learn more about World Languages Day and its variety of session offerings here.

Are you interested in seeing how countries compare based on corruption, global connectedness, ease of doing business, and other key indicators?  Our newly updated country indices pages will allow you to do just that. Each country’s page lists a number of indices that display its score for a given index and its ranking relative to other countries. By clicking "View Heat Map", you can also see how countries compare on a visual heat map and table of scores. Check out Australia's page to see the updates made to the design and indices data!

Dr. Tomas Hult, professor of marketing and Byington Endowed Chair at Michigan State University’s Broad College of Business, as well as Director of MSU’s International Business Center, was recently recognized for his outstanding research. Dr. Hult co-authored four articles for the Journal of Marketing last year, the biggest single-year contribution by any expert in the journal’s history. Read more by clicking the link below.

http://broad.msu.edu/2017/02/10/faculty-spotlight-international-innovator/

The globalEDGE team is proud to announce that we have revamped our website with a completely new design. We hope the new website will be easier for our users to maneuver while also better highlighting the sections of the site we feel are most useful. The new panel on the home page is part of this effort, and each week we will use this area to direct users to different areas of the site.

Sarah Singer, assistant director at the International Business Center at Michigan State University and manager of globalEDGE, was recently interviewed by Open to Export to discuss how globalEDGE can assist in market research for exporters. Highlighted in the discussion were especially useful resources for exporters on globalEDGE, such as our risk comparator tool, country trade statistics, and country indices. Sarah also offered advice for exporters who want to research potential new markets, and how globalEDGE can be an important tool for this research.

A link to the interview is available here: http://opentoexport.com/article/market-research-focus-globaledge/

Have you visited the globalEDGE Business Beat recently? In last week's segments, Tomas Hult discussed a wide range of topics, including the refugee crisis and its impact on Turkey, Israel's relationship with the United States, and the current dynamics between the United States and Cuba. The Business Beat is hosted by Dr. Tomas Hult of the Broad College of Business at Michigan State University, and consists of brief audio segments that drive into current topics impacting the international business world. You can view past segments by date or by specific speaker on our page featuring the Business Beats.

The Business Language Syllabi section of globalEDGE provides a number of language course syllabi focused on the business vocabulary for a given language. Syllabi are provided by a variety of community colleges and universities, and include languages such as Arabic, Chinese, English, French, German, Russian, and Spanish. Take a look at this section if you are looking to further develop your business language course! Other International Business syllabi can be found on globalEDGE in the Course Syllabi and Community College Course Syllabi sections. 

Second Shift: The Inside Story of the Keep GM Movement, looks at how Lansing, Michigan was able to save one of its auto plants from closing. Tomas Hult, professor and director of the International Business Center at Michigan State, co-authored the book along with David Hollister, Ray Tadgerson, and David Closs. The four authors recently gave a talk at Google, highlighting their research and perspectives on the efforts to save the General Motors plant from closing.

Check out the “Talks at Google” video here!

globalEDGE provides a wealth of information on international business and a variety of interactive educational tools for use in the classroom or in executive training. One section that has been extensively used in a classroom setting is the Online Course Modules. The modules offer a structured way of viewing information pertaining international business through narrated slides. The modules cover several aspects of international business such as how to do business in several regions, importance of culture and ethics in conducting international business, the legal framework of international business, and a module series on exporting that has been produced in cooperation with the U.S. Commercial Service. The modules also include quizzes, case studies, and references for further study.

The globalEDGE Business Beat features brief audio segments covering a wide range of international business topics. Hosted by Dr. Tomas Hult of Michigan State University, the Business Beat helps keep listeners up to date with global business news. In last week’s segments, Tomas discussed the U.S. Department of Education’s CIBER program, entrepreneurship, the customer service aspect of marketing, and Michigan State’s marketing and management programs. You can also check out the Business Beat archives, where you can view past segments by date or specific speaker.

Have you had the chance to visit the globalEDGE Business Beat recently? These brief audio segments feature conversations between globalEDGE Director Tomas Hult and prominent members of the international business community, covering a wide variety of interesting topics. In the most recent segments, Tomas talks with both of Michigan’s US senators, Gary Peters and Debbie Stabenow, on the auto industry and education.

Visit the globalEDGE Business Beat page today to hear from experts in the realm of global business and to expand your international business knowledge!

The latest segments from the globalEDGE Business Beat take a look at a new business trade book, Second Shift: The Inside Story of the Keep GM Movement. Tomas Hult, along with David Hollister, Ray Tadgerson, and David Closs, wrote the book detailing how Lansing, Michigan was able to save its auto plant from closing. The six new segments from the Business Beat feature Tomas Hult discussing the book and accompanying film with each of the co-authors, examining how the Second Shift Model was successful and pointing out key takeaways for others in the business world.

Want to see how much your know about international business? The globalEDGE Test Your Knowledge section offers two quizzes to test how well you know the world around you. The International Business Knowledge Quiz contains questions on a wide range of topics including demographics, trade agreements, business statistics, and geography. Our second quiz will test you on the capital cities of countries around the world. Click this link to check out our Test Your Knowledge section!

Want a quick way to compare data across multiple countries? The globalEDGE Comparator Tool offers an easy way to find labor, health, economic, and trade data for various countries, using data from the World Bank. Data fields include population, total tax rate, adult literacy, foreign direct investment, and more. The tools allows users to compare up to five data fields and twenty countries at once, in an easy to read format. Check out the Comparator Tool, a great way to gain more international business insights!

Have you visited the globalEDGE Business Beat recently? The Business Beat, hosted by Tomas Hult, is a great way learn about current topics related to international business and covers a wide variety of interesting topics. The latest topics include globalization in the Greater Lansing area, infrastructure development, Vector Marketing, and entrepreneurship. Check out the globalEDGE Business Beat page today!

One of the main sections of globalEDGE is the Tools and Data section. The tools provided include a diagnostic tool, a comparator tool, and interactive rankings. The diagnostic tools are used to evaluate important international business decisions such as international partners and distributors. The comparator tool is used to compare countries across a variety of economic indicators including GDP, inflation, and exports. The final tool is the interactive rankings, a tool designed to rank countries or states based on key economic indicators.

As the world becomes increasingly global and more businesses look to expand internationally, an evaluation of risk can be crucial when making business decisions. Since 2012, ONDD (Office national du Ducroire) has evaluated seven specific types of risk in over 180 countries, releasing the rankings to the public. The rankings cover areas such as commercial risk, short term credit risk, war risk, and risk of expropriation and government action. The rankings for 2016 were released this month and are now available to view in our Database of International Business Statistics (DIBS), where you can filter the data by year, country, and specific risk area. Being aware of risk is important for international businesses and the ONDD data set is a useful tool to begin your research.

The online course modules section on globalEDGE, which can be located in the reference desk, provides a wealth of interactive educational tools pertinent both for the classroom and executive training. Modules contain updated case studies and anecdotes that are relevant in the ever changing international business environment. Some of the most popular categories of online course modules are the Culture, Exporting, and Doing Business In modules. The recently updated Exporting modules, which were produced in cooperation with the U.S. Commercial Service, were developed from the 2015 edition of A Basic Guide to Exporting, with each module representing one of the book’s seventeen chapters. Users of all ages and international business experience level will find these modules insightful and can benefit from the multitude of resources and tools provided.

Have you visited the Tools and Data section of globalEDGE lately? The Tools and Data section provides a wealth of information that is useful for students and business professionals alike. This sections features an MPI Index that helps users evaluate emerging markets around the world, a database of international business statistics, quizzes that test your global business knowledge, a country comparator tool, and much more. Explore this section of globalEDGE today and expand your international business knowledge!

Have you had a chance to check out the latest segments from the globalEDGE Business Beat? February’s podcasts feature MSU’s International Business Center, international business education at community colleges nationwide, and a closer look at the Academy of International Business (AIB). The segment on MSU’s International Business Center provides a summary of accomplishments made in 2015 and a preview of what is to come for 2016. Click here to navigate to the globalEDGE Business Beat page and listen to the latest podcasts!

If you are looking to learn more about the ASEAN Economic Community, look no further than globalEDGE. On our website's ASEAN page, you can find information about member countries, financial and trade statistics, and the history of the trade bloc. In addition, we also have a plethora of resources on ASEAN, including pages about the ASEAN Economic Community. Check out our ASEAN and AEC resources here!

Two new U.S. International Trade Administration (ITA) resources are now available on globalEDGE and they can be found in the U.S. Trade Resources tab of the country pages within the Global Insights section of globalEDGE.

ITA Trade Leads provide contract opportunities for U.S. businesses selling their products and services overseas. This new resource is particularly important for U.S. businesses because it’s often difficult for them to learn about overseas opportunities, especially those within complex industries where partnerships and sub-contracts are the norms. Currently, these leads come from six different sources and are updated daily. Users can browse through all of the available trade leads for a certain country or search the leads using keywords.

ITA Consolidated Screening List (CSL) is a list of parties for which the United States Government maintains restrictions on certain exports, re-exports, or transfers of items. This resource conducts electronic screens of potential parties to regulated transactions. In the event that a company, entity, or person on the list appears to match a party potentially involved in your export transaction, additional due diligence should be conducted before proceeding. CSL is a collection of eleven export screening lists of the Departments of Commerce, State and the Treasury, and it is updated daily. Lists of screened companies, entities, and individuals can be browsed by country or can be searched by keywords.

Over 68% of countries have serious issues with corruption, including half of the G20. More than 5.5 billion people live in a country with major levels of corruption. These are the findings of by Transparency International, in the Corruption Perceptions Index (CPI) for 2015, which was released this week. The data on globalEDGE has been updated to reflect the recent release, and is available to view in the country pages, along with our Database of International Business Statistics (DIBS). This year’s release featured 168 countries, highlighting countries which have the least and most corruption. The index specifically measures the perceived levels of public corruption, by utilizing and combining various data points into one score.

Have you had the chance to check out the latest segments from the globalEDGE Business Beat? These brief audio segments feature conversations between globalEDGE Director Tomas Hult and prominent members of the international business community. The most recent segments feature the following topics: the appeal of Brazil as a market, the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development put forth by the United Nations Foundation Advocacy, the business climate in Greece, the viability of franchising, the driving forces behind entrepreneurship, and the importance of measuring customer satisfaction.

The globalEDGE team is excited to announce that we have successfully added new trade blocs, as well as redesigned the layout for many of the sections related to trade blocs. If you look at the Global Insights by Trade Bloc page, you will notice that there are 10 new trade blocs: ANCOM, APTA, the Arab League, CEFTA, EAC, EAEU, ECCAS, EFTA, OECS, and SAARC. By clicking on each individual bloc, you will also notice that we have redesigned the Introduction, History, Membership, Related Agreements, and Statistics pages. Users will now be able to gain an in-depth perspective of how much aggregated trade occurs because of these blocs, as well as how much each member country contributes to the bloc as a whole. Make sure to check out this new section today!

The globalEDGE team is excited to introduce a new resource that has been added to the site. The International Property Rights Index 2014 is an economic index study on the correlation between economic success and property rights. The study includes physical and intellectual property rights data for 94 countries. There has been ever increasing evidence of the strong correlation between economic freedom and the protection of property rights, and The 2014 International Property Rights Index demonstrates this correlation. Developing countries tend to struggle with individual property rights, while developed countries lead the way with intellectual and physical property rights. Individually, country rankings can be found in the indices section of the country pages. The complete list of data can be found by gaining access to The Database of International Business Statistics (DIBS).

globalEDGE is a fantastic resource for discovering new information about the changing Caribbean business climate. Our CARICOM trade bloc section provides more details about the Caribbean Community. Upon visiting this section, you will find a brief history of the trade bloc as well as statistics and related agreements. Also, globalEDGE has compiled a list of external resources for those interested in exploring the Caribbean business area in greater depth. Some examples are listed below.

In today’s blog post, we look at globalEDGE’s site traffic numbers, to give our users some interesting information about our site and its visitors. The traffic analysis, prepared by several of our team members with help from Google Analytics, looked at data from September 2013 to September 2014. The report found that globalEDGE was visited 1,531,166 times during this period, with over 73% of these visits from unique users. The average visitor viewed approximately 2.7 pages per visit, spending an average of 1 minute and 46 seconds per page.

This week’s blog series on the global e-commerce industry displayed the many benefits and trends within this rapidly growing industry. However, implementing a global e-commerce strategy can be a difficult and challenging task. These challenges can be overcome with resources right here on globalEDGE. To assist in the implementation of e-commerce on both a country-specific and global level, globalEDGE has a variety of useful tools and resources. Today we will a look at many of these resources.

In the midst of an autumn season consisting of changing leaves, dropping temperatures, and new webpage releases from globalEDGE, the brand new country government pages have now officially been published! The intention of redesigning the former government pages was not only to provide key information and data in a user-friendly format, but to highlight the aspects of foreign governments that are the most important with regards to international business as well. With this in mind, the new pages include "Government Control of Economy" and "Political Risk" indicators, general tax information, and also information on foreign policy trends, regional trade bloc memberships, and security treaties that have been shown to affect a country's global commerce policies. Furthermore, the pages also include information on the main powers of foreign governments, election processes and cycles of a country's political branches, and information on a country's heads of state and government, constitution, and government type.

A new collection of resources has come to globalEDGE: the Global Best Buying Practices Video Library. This is a collection of videos, set in several different countries, that showcases case studies in the world of international retail and global buying practices. The videos are divided into four different categories: assortment planning, pricing, product promotion, and sourcing. Check out the library today!

At globalEDGE we are dedicated to providing important international business information to our users all around the world. For this reason, we have developed enhanced trade statistics for each country on our site. The country trade statistics pages on globalEDGE have just been updated to provide a visually appealing interface with easy-to-use features. On these new pages, you can view a country’s rank in terms of exports, imports, or trade balance. Additionally, top ten trade partners and export/import commodities for each country are provided in both a chart and table format for easy comparison.

The economy pages for each country on globalEDGE have been redesigned to provide additional economic information covering the entire spectrum of a country’s economy. The new pages have an interactive interface, where you can find the major economic indicators of a country alongside time series graphs of these selected indicators. The page showcases reliable economic information from various globally known organizations. There are six different sections on the new page including economic facts, GDP figures, economic indicators, labor & employment figures, and trade values. A radar graph is available in the last section, where the economic snapshots of countries are represented using a percentile rank system on six different dimensions. The radar graph may be utilized as a useful tool to compare the economies of countries.

A new update has come to globalEDGE's country insights pages! The team has worked to change the History pages, originally long paragraphs about the country's histories, into accessible timelines. These timelines detail  significant economic, political, and social events that happened to each country throughout their histories and arranges them chronologically. Each country's history page has been updated accordingly and in a manner that is accessible to all readers. Check out the new history pages today!

Have you visited the Business Review section of globalEDGE recently? If not, this would be a great time to start, as the second article in the 2014 Volume 8 edition has recently been released. What is the business review and what is its target audience you may ask? The globalEDGE Business Review is a collection of monthly comprehensive articles that focuses on major international business matters. The review examines a topic question and pieces together international research that includes a breakdown of background information, introduction of the topic issues, analysis of different characteristics in business operations, and offering strategic solutions in an abridged fashion. The review also includes helpful aids such as graphs and data tables that help visualize and support key points. Based on professional and highly acclaimed international research, feature topics target business executives with the purpose of identifying key areas of development, whether marginal or major, that can have a positive effect on business operations.

Today we are featuring our group on LinkedIn. For posts and discussion on current international business issues join the group! Anyone with a LinkedIn account is able to join and once a member you are able to post and facilitate discussions within the group yourself. 

Please check out our globalEDGE LinkedIn group here!

As time goes by, we often forget about the fast paced and dynamic environment that we live in. Over the past five years, the international business world has changed dramatically. Believe it or not, in just five years, rapidly growing countries have emerged onto the global economic scene, various industries have been drastically altered by technology, and start-up businesses have grown into international powerhouses. Today, in honor of the 5th year anniversary of the globalEDGE blog, we will look at global business facts and trends in 2008 and compare them to that of 2013.

This week we are celebrating the birthday of the globalEDGE blog! With its inception on September 12, 2008, the blog is now turning five years old and we are starting our celebration with a blog post about what has transpired in emerging markets over the past five years.

Every year globalEDGE publishes its Market Potential Index (MPI) in order to assess a market’s attractiveness for international business. The Market Potential Index provides a detailed ranking of 26 emerging countries. With the MPI, determining which international market to enter is no longer an overwhelming task. Emerging markets are ranked based on several dimensions, allowing appropriate marketing strategies to be developed for each particular country. This year the MPI highlights several significant trends among emerging markets. We will now take a closer look at some of these trends in order to obtain a better idea of the importance of emerging markets in international business.

Understanding the short-term and long-term economic fluctuations is important for businesses all around the world. The global economy influences all businesses regardless of their location. To better understand these trends within the global economy, there are numerous ways to expand your knowledge base. One of these ways is the 2013 Coface Country Risk Meeting taking place on Thursday, May 2nd in New York City. This conference includes a panel of economists and business leaders that will discuss the short-term economic outlook for 2013. During the conference, there was also be an in-depth analysis on today’s rapidly growing regions and the world’s economic power bases. To register for this year’s event or to obtain more details, please visit the 2013 Coface Country Risk Meeting registration site!

After reading the globalEDGE blog series on Latin America, you should now have a good understanding of the various trends in Latin America that are affecting the international business world. We looked at many topics this week including Latin America’s growing middle class and the regulatory environment of the region. To help further your knowledge of Latin America, globalEDGE offers several resources specifically regarding the growing market of Latin America. We will now take a look at some of these useful Latin American resources!

Since its inception in 1994, globalEDGE has been dedicated to utilizing its vast amount of resources to connect international business professionals worldwide to a wealth of information, insights, and learning resources on global business activities. As a key function of this goal, the online course modules in globalEDGE’s reference desk have existed since 2007 to provide interactive educational tools for use in the classroom or in executive training. These modules focus on issues relevant to international business and include a case study or anecdotes, a glossary of terms, quiz questions, and a list of references for further knowledge current topics. Partially funded by a U.S. Department of Education Title VI B grant, the modules cover several subjects that relate to international business, such as “Doing Business In” specific regions and tutorials on exporting.

Today we are profiling the globalEDGE LinkedIn group. The group is open to anyone who has a LinkedIn profile and acts as a medium where the latest business news is presented and debated. To spur conversation, every week we post an article pertaining to a recent business development. We then hope to engage some of our group members in dialogue to better understand what the implications of this development mean and to hear different perspectives from others.

We hope you will take some time when you are visiting LinkedIn to stop by the globalEDGE Network and post or comment in the ongoing conversation. Our LinkedIn group can be found here!

The year of 2012 has been a great and exciting year for globalEDGE! To wrap up the year, the gE blog team will highlight some of the many exciting international business features globalEDGE has to offer. Throughout, this week there will be a blog post each day regarding globalEDGE. By keeping up with our blog series this week, you will learn about our new Regulatory Agencies section, the globalEDGE LinkedIn network, and our updated online course modules. We will begin this week by talking about the recently released Country Comparator Tool!

Our globalEDGE Country Comparator is now up! The Country Comparator allows our users to compare up to twenty countries across a variety of economic indicators (up to five at once) including GDP, inflation, and exports. It can be accessed by pulling up any country’s page and clicking on the Country Comparator, or by following this link: http://globaledge.msu.edu/Comparator. Please check out this new interactive tool and let us know what you think by leaving a comment below!

With 196 countries across the globe and over 7 billion people in the world, differences in culture can be seen almost anywhere. In an increasingly interconnected world, people with different cultures can be found in a country nearby or even in your hometown. As a business person, student, or global citizen what does this mean for you? It simply means that understanding different cultures is becoming incredibly important in our daily lives and for business success on a global and even local level. Understanding cultural differences provides a unique competitive advantage and allows teamwork to thrive in almost any situation regardless of where you might be in the world or who you are working with. This is critical for proper communication and is especially crucial for international business.

It seems as if every recent news article and business discussion has some tie to social media. From stories going instantaneously viral due to the power of social media, to businesses using it as a marketing tool, to talks of social media companies going public; social media can be seen everywhere. What’s all the buzz about? That is what we are going to be investigating in this week’s Social Media Blog Series! The globalEDGE blog team will be exploring the impact that social media has on international business. Today’s post will provide an introduction into the world of social media and how we here at globalEDGE use social media in our new interactive site.

When globalEDGE released its Market Potential Index (MPI) for 2011, it’s no surprise that Asian countries dominated the top of the rankings. For several years now, countries in Asia have been considered the leading emerging markets in today’s economic climate. This year, Singapore found itself as the highest rated emerging market in the MPI rankings. Looking at Singapore, there are several factors that contributed to its success in this year’s rankings.

Coface, a world leader in domestic and international trade receivable management, is hosting their annual Country Risk Meeting at the Sentry Center in New York City on Thursday, May 10, 2012.  Featured speakers include business leaders, economists, and forecasting analysts discussing the short-term economic situation on a region by region basis in North America for the rest of the 2012 calendar year.  They will focus on hot spots, booming regions, and the global economic power bases.  It is a wonderful event that spotlights major international trade and investment opportunities in today’s business arena.

Here at Michigan State University, agricultural business has played a very important role in the history and development of the university. In 1855, Michigan’s governor signed a bill establishing the nation’s first agriculture college, the Agricultural College of the State of Michigan. The nation’s pioneer land-grant university later became known as Michigan State University. Created by the International Business Center at Michigan State University, globalEDGE has noted the importance of agriculture in our university’s foundation and the significant role agriculture plays in the international business world. For these reasons, globalEDGE provides many resources pertaining to agribusiness which can help you recognize the major international business trends in the agriculture industry.

Last week globalEDGE experienced some technical issues causing a few blog posts to be deleted from the site. To correct this problem, we will be re-posting three deleted blog posts today from last week. We are sorry for any inconveniences this may have caused and we look forward to getting the blog going again. We are also open to hear some ideas from you, our readers, on international business topics you would like us to cover. Feel free to leave a comment on the blog suggesting future blog topics or you can also comment on various blog posts throughout the week that you find interesting.

In 2011, the globalEDGE team embarked on a full site redesign to increase the interactivity and usability of the entire website. We wanted to add to the user-friendliness that our users have come to count on. In addition to the statistics, resources, and trade information in our sections, the new globalEDGE now includes additional maps, interactive rankings, and easier-to-use resource pages. The purpose of today’s blog is to highlight these new features of the next generation of globalEDGE.

“We are also excited to bring a greater focus on social media and connectivity to the latest version of globalEDGE with numerous RSS feeds, opportunities to connect with globalEDGE via LinkedIn and Facebook, and to follow us on Twitter and by reading our blog.” – The globalEDGE Team

globalEDGE has certainly transformed into a more interactive and social site. Our new Get Connected portal is the best place to find all of the ways to stay up to date with globalEDGE. From here you will be able to access the Blog, the globalEDGE Business Review, the Newsletter, and quick links to all of our social media pages. With our Facebook and Twitter feeds streaming on the side of the page, it is easier than ever to stay on top of all that globalEDGE has to offer!

On behalf of the globalEDGE team, I again welcome you to the new website!  As stated in the previous blog post, the posts this week will focus on introducing and explaining some of the recently added features found on the new site.   Today’s focus will be on the new Export Tutorials section.  This section answers your questions about exporting and provides great insight and knowledge into the realm of international trade. 

The year of 2011 has been a busy yet very exciting year for globalEDGE. Over the past year, the globalEDGE team has embarked on a mission to redesign the entire globalEDGE site in order to increase its usefulness and interactivity as a leading international business resource. We are thrilled and happy to announce that the new globalEDGE site has been released and this week the blog team will help you get familiar with the various updates and new sections of globalEDGE. Blog posts will cover many features of the new site including our new export tutorial section, the greater focus on social media, and the enhanced interactivity of globalEDGE. Today, we will look at the brand new section devoted to providing information about the world’s major trade blocs and trade agreements.

Welcome to the new globalEDGE!

The globalEDGE team has been hard at work redesigning globalEDGE. The new design also includes a bevy of new features: Exporting Tutorials, an interactive country rankings feature, increased maps and social media, and a section devoted to trade blocs. We hope you will enjoy exploring the site and trying out these new sections and features and can be a little patient while we work out any remaining last few bugs!

Coface is a world leader in trade-credit information and protection. On Thursday, May 12, Coface will be hosting their annual Country Risk Meeting at the Sentry Center in New York, New York. A panel of economists and business leaders will tackle the short-term economic outlook for the second half of 2011, with a special focus on hot spots, booming regions and the world’s economic power bases. It should be a great and informative event with all of the current happenings in today’s business world. Coface has provided some great services for us and our viewers here at globalEDGE, and globalEDGE is helping co-sponsor this event for Coface.

Coface has played a key role in providing risk information in the country profiles and industry profiles here at globalEDGE. From an overall country rating to the business climate rating, Coface provides our viewers with an in-depth analysis of the current risk assessments and the strength and weaknesses of an economy. Not sure about expanding in your industry? The Coface risk ratings on industries in different regions of the world are sure to let you know what you’re getting into. Be sure to look into these informative sections and check out that event if you can!

Collecting, compiling, and organizing international business data is difficult and costly. Many scholars and firms do not have the resources necessary to conduct rigorous international business research. Finding comparable time series data is also a labor intensive task. These complexities often mean that international business studies include a smaller sample of countries and firms, often without the desirable power and quality. Have you ever been assigned a research project and don't know where to start? Are you looking for key statistics about a country when deciding whether or not to expand your business there? Look no further than globalEDGE's Database of International Business Statistics!

The Database of International Business Statistics (DIBS) will allieviate much of the stress you will feel when trying to compile all of this data. All of this data is in an easily accesible database, and the best part is, it's free! All you need to do is register. Here's a little sampling of the data (look at all that you can learn using DIBS!):

Time for another blog series! I'm pleased to announce we'll be having a culture week here on our blog. This week we'll be discussing many exciting topics covering culture ranging from social media on the internet, to common mistakes in business settings, to the future of global culture.

I recently stumbled upon a television commercial showing a great website. There are multiple great social networking sites online and many opportunities to meet other business people in the world, but this is a great opportunity. OPEN Forum is a community of small business owners, and gives the tools to connect and collaborate. It gives the chance for small business owners to help small business owners. There are multiple tools available to users, which can do anything from help generate new leads by intelligently matching businesses with similar needs and interests to having a digital trading post of ideas and insights from industry experts and owners. This is a great website for businesses to get informed and inspired.
 
I’ll give you a reminder that we too have a network system. You can sign up for a members only globalEDGE Network™ which allows other globalEDGE Network members to contact you. You can search people by industry or country to possibly find prospective collaboration partners and industry experts. Whether you are trying to expand your company into a new location or just need expert feedback, the globalEDGE Network allows all of our users to find the right person in the right place. The globalEDGE Network is free, and members will have exclusive usage of the members directory (searchable by industry or country) and email service via globalEDGE. If you are already a member of globalEDGE, please login above and update your profile, clicking the check box next to the globalEDGE Network™. Once your profile is updated, you will be a part of this new network. If you are not already a member of globalEDGE, join the network of opportunity!

Over the last year or so, we’ve been working on a few different projects that we hope will make globalEDGE more useful to more people. A couple adjustments were implemented only recently, and I’m sure you’ve already noticed a few changes in your day-to-day browsing experience (the new formatting and sorting options in Resource Desk are my personal favorites thus far).

We have a new compilation of resources here on globalEDGE! Produced by the member law firms of Lexwork International, this Compendium provides trade law summaries for over 30 jurisdictions prepared by law firms located there. These include the most significant U.S. trading partners. This is an excellent resource for companies intending to do business in foreign countries and some U.S. states, and I recommend checking it out.

We here at globalEDGE try to stay on top of the latest social networking trends, so we've decided to make a twitter page for the blog. You can check it out at www.twitter.com/globaledgeblog.

The globalEDGE website (home of this blog) is a part of the Michigan State University's CIBER (Center for International Business Education and Research) and is affiliated with MSU's Eli Broad College of Business. In recent years, Michigan State University has made global awareness and engagement of its students, faculty, staff, and other constituencies an institutional priority. MSU also has world renowned faculty involved in international research, teaching, and service in more than 170 countries.

The globalEDGE team is constantly striving to improve our site and develop valuable new content for our users. To that end, we created the first online edition of the International Internships Directory. The Directory is a reference guide for students, faculty, staff, and administrators to help match students with international internship opportunities offered by two- and four-year colleges and universities, governmental agencies, non-profit groups, private organizations, and corporations.

We hope you enjoy this new feature, and please let us know if you have any suggestions on how we can improve globalEDGE.

This is the final installment of globalEDGE's series on global entreprenuership, in celebration of the Global Entrepreneurship Week.

The Impact of Globalization

With the rise of transportation and communications technology, globalization has come and dramatically shifted previously stagnant notions of comparative advantage. In the past, local producers could count on being the most efficient option, because the costs of storing and transporting goods made any long distance selling unfeasible. Now, markets are restructuring because of technological advances, and nations have put in place various restrictions and regulations - for better or worse. Regardless of your opinion on government regulation of markets, legal barriers to trade are a reality facing today's business leaders, and knowing how to successfully navigate the complex web of legal issues related to trade is essential to any successful business endeavor.

Welcome to the fourth installment of our special globalEDGE Series on Global Entrepreneurship. Today we'll focus on probably the most important aspect of international entrepreneurship, or even business in general: people. The human element of entrepreneurship, as we have discussed previously, is what drives innovation and creation. In this post, we'll specifically discuss how the people you meet and work with are key to expanding your business internationally, how to find those people, and how to keep them interested in working with you.

This is the 3rd post in a 5 part series on global entreprenuership, in celebration of the Global Entrepreneurship Week.

Now that you've decided to expand your small business internationally, you have to make some big decisions about what you are going to do next. You'll have to make judgments regarding many important questions, such as: Where is the best place to sell your product? What markets are particularly receptive? What is the best way to market your product in different regions? Is there a good supplier, or partner near your international target market? These questions are all fundamentally about strategy.

Welcome to the second installment of our special series on global entrepreneurship in celebration of Global Entrepreneurship Week! Yesterday, we discussed the emerging role of small businesses in a globalized market and the different factors that are important to consider when deciding to begin exporting. Today, we'll focus on one of the factors that have made it much easier for small business to conduct business abroad: the growing accessibility of technology.

Today marks the first day of the first annual Global Entrepreneurship Week! As we mentioned last Friday, our celebration of the general themes of entrepreneurship will take place within the specific context of the global marketplace. This is the first article of a 5 part series on global entrepreneurship which will focus on the importance and accessibility of becoming an entrepreneur on an international scale. As always, we intend the blog to be a part of a conversation - not a lecture - so feel free to comment.

Beginning Monday, November 17th, the globalEDGE International Business Blog will feature a special series in recognition of Global Entrepreneurship Week, an annual event dedicated to inspiring the next generation of great minds to focus their passions and pursue them through entrepreneurship. You can check out more information about the week itself at unleashingideas.org/theweek. In our celebration of the week's general themes of innovation and creativity, we will focus on the international aspects of entrepreneurship, both the obstacles and the rewards, by collecting useful resources on key topics.

Specifically, the topics are:

• how international entrepreneurship is important and within reach
• the importance of technology as an enabling force for international expansion
• the role of knowledge and research in the international decisionmaking process
• the process of networking, making deals, and forming partnerships across borders
• the logistics and legal issues involved in trading internationally

Join us next week in what we hope to be an exciting and informative event!

The week of November 17-23, 2008 will be the first ever Global Entrepreneurship Week. The week will be a coordinated effort of dozens of countries across the globe coordinating activities aimed at young people. Why? To think big. To turn their ideas into reality. To make their mark. Additional details such as participation in the various activities and/or sponsorship opportunities can be found on the following website: unleashingideas.org. Also check out their blog: unleashingideas.org/blog/.

Over the past few weeks, the globalEDGE team has been revising the Country Insights pages to provide you with the most current information available. We’re happy to announce that the Country Insights section is 100% up to date! This includes all statistical data provided by the CIA World Factbook and the background notes from the State Department.

The MSU-CIBER (Michigan State University's Center for International Business Education and Research) team that edits the globalEDGE website is pleased to announce the launch of this blog. In this 'International Business Blog' we hope to discuss several topics related to international business and global trade on a regular basis. These topics may include news and general discussion on global economies, cultures, education, regulations, travel, and so on. In addition, we hope to familiarize you even further with the wealth of resources and data available on the globalEDGE website itself.

To make this blog informative and exciting for everyone, we encourage you to engage with us in the ongoing discussions. Feel free to leave comments to the various blog posts or contact us at any time with your ideas or suggestions. Hope you enjoy reading this blog and we at globalEDGE look forward to learning from you along the way. Once again, welcome!