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Showing posts with the label global business

Will The U.S. Soon Be a Hot Manufacturing Nation?

Will American make its way back into leading manufacturing status? A report by the Boston Consulting Group indicates that the U.S. will see increases in manufacturing over the next couple of years as parity is achieved due to lower natural gas prices, stagnated wages in the U.S. and higher costs overseas. With a decline of energy costs from oil shale dropping to 50% and increases in the cost of manufacturing in countries like China there is much to cheer in the U.S. The good times can roar again. American workers are becoming more productive, Chinese workers are more expensive, and the associated costs of manufacturing overseas have risen. A report by the Congressional Research Service found that the U.S. share of global manufacturing declined 30% in 2002 and that number dwindled  to 17.4% in 2012 ( 1 ). The new report by the Boston Consulting Group indicates that the costs of manufacturing in the U.S. versus many other places like China will be about the same giving the U.S.

Successful Internet Businesses Match Strategy and Transaction Efficiencies

Small and incumbent businesses seek to make their way online and into the global marketplace. Like new sprouts they try and break ground into a profitable entity. According to research by Howard Rasheed those businesses that embrace online product distribution create significantly higher international sales growth (2009). They studied 240 small businesses who engage in Internet based consumer marketing to find which types of businesses are likely to succeed.  In the contemporary market, some owners may decide to create truly Internet based businesses that capitalize on the movement of information. Existing businesses may attempt to strengthen their approaches by developing their brick-n-mortar models into brick-n-click businesses that develop a hybrid approach to marketing. In today’s world, few truly brick-n-mortar companies exist in the international market.  E-commerce businesses often fail due to lacking strong market knowledge, sound business ideas, balanced approac

Economies Fly High with the Kite Model

International competitiveness doesn’t exist in a vacuum. There are many components such as the internal clusters, national methodology, and the cultural grouping of countries to consider. A paper by Yu-Jen and Hsiao-Fong helps to develop higher levels of understanding of how these factors work together to raise the development properties of a nation (2012). Their work focuses on combining the Flying Geese Theory and The Diamond Model to develop a more holistic framework. Flying Geese Theory:   The theory was developed by Japanese economist Akamatsu Kaname to categorize countries into leading nations, middle countries, and follower countries (1962). Less advanced countries will attempt to move up in the V pattern but may fall backwards based upon their abilities. The pattern is not set. Countries that adapt new technologies, higher skilled labor, better structures, and greater education will lead the flock. The Diamond Model:   The Diamond model was developed by Michael

Reaching New Customer Service Peaks in Manufacturing

Art Work: Dr. Murad Abel The world of manufacturing is changing and new methods of competing are important to ensure that companies are staying competitive. Companies can incorporate additional concepts related to service and service metrics into their manufacturing operations to help encourage higher levels performance that are more reflective of market needs. Research by Visnjic, et. al. (2013) helps decision makers find new ways of adopting higher service oriented operations. Just like Americans went through a shift in their manufacturing management toward Japanese models in the past they are now moving toward new customer service oriented values. They are seeking to tie their products more closely to the needs of the customer and this requires a new way of thinking. As the system changes, so will the measurements of success and the accounting of financial revenues. Metrics are important markers that help guide strategic decisions. The previous product-based performance

Exploding Your Small Business into the International Marketplace

From the fire into the frying pan is one way to describe entrepreneurs that start out engaging in international marketing. According to Zhou et. al. (2012) such entrepreneurs often excel quickly past their competitors as the organization maintains pliability and learning to match market needs. Despite the overall risks of marking internationally from the beginning, organizations are more likely to grow quickly and obtain greater cash flow.  Organizations must learn to be competitive. Starts up businesses have a significant learning curve at first but begins to wane over time as they gain skills. When they are connected quickly to the international markets there is more opportunity to find resources that requires greater learning activity. Doing so before the small company becomes structured helps to ensure its pliability in finding new revenue streams and maintains its entrepreneurial activities. To be successful such firms will need to exploit both foreign market knowled