I recently visited Japan and China for the first time. What an adventure!
I find travel always provides an opportunity for me to broaden my horizons, learn from new contexts and provide for more extensive reflection:
- At the International Women’s Forum Conference in Hong Kong, I met and learned from women from every corner of the globe. The theme was “Beyond Borders” and the message was “Borders no longer define us” in this “post globalization era.” The H1N1 (“Swine”) flu that impacted our travel to Hong Kong is a very concrete example of this phenomenon. Many flights from North America were quarantined to try to prevent the flu from infiltrating. Germs know no borders.
- The programs brought home the significant shift in economic power that is occurring in the world. “Challenging economies” such as China and India are sending tsunami waves across our shores. Hyper-competition from these emerging economies with large numbers of consumers and entrepreneurs is having a tremendous impact on us all.
- China and India together, two “challenging economies” make up 37% of the world population. Their low cost of services and production and access to communication via cellular technology and internet make them formidable competitors. And they are becoming more and more entrepreneurial and are hungry to succeed. As one of my clients wisely said “Fat cats don’t hunt.” We in the “developed” economies have become fat and complacent and are at risk.
- We must be prepared to incorporate these new challenges and opportunities into our business models. New consumer bases are developing in those countries as literally billions of people are now buying products. For example, Volkswagon was the only auto company that took the risk to open up manufacturing plants in China. They are selling more VWs in China in a few months than they have in the US in an entire year!
- We were reminded of a great quote by Mahatma Ghandi about sustainability:”The world can produce enough for everyone’s needs, but not everyone’s greed. “
- The combination of greed, complacency and insular thinking puts us at risk. For me, spending time in Asia was an enormous wake up call regarding the dynamics of the expanded field in which we are “playing” now. It’s one thing to read the statistics. It is another to meet people, see the growth, and sense the energy.
