Thought for International Business Leaders – What Do Emerging Markets Mean For Your Business?

 

02F61134We’re reflecting more on the global mindset rather than culture this week. At the same time, it’s worthwhile to think if cultural differences or a lack of experience with emerging markets is holding you off from engaging with these dynamic and developing markets.

As we touched upon in a conversation with an internationally working executive this week, much success depends on the “business leader’s” ability to make sense of new trends, build the right networks and manage global/diverse teams towards great effectiveness and productivity.

Based on the findings of the 2015 Edelman Trust Barometer (only a few years ago), we used to point out in presentations how there was a less positive attitude towards businesses from emerging markets: the attitudes of respondents towards companies from emerging countries buying a company or investing in a company in their home country along with trust in companies headquartered in emerging markets used to trail behind those in developed markets (especially Germany). The 2018 Edelman Trust Barometer measured different indicators but it is important to note how trust in business and trust towards brands from a number of emerging economies have increased.

Emerging markets have advanced their reputation and integration into developed and global markets in recent years:

First-hand experience: Global business participants (large MNC participants) in our workshops used to perceive products and services from emerging countries as low quality or they would mention that they had never heard about any brands from emerging markets. In recent years, we started hearing more positive associations about businesses from emerging markets such as “innovative, agile, sufficient quality”. They also started acknowledging more competition from emerging markets – perhaps not at a global level but more and more often at local and regional levels.

Brands from emerging markets: BrandZ Top 100 Global Brands ranking reported 2 brands from emerging markets in 2006 Vs nearly twenty brands in 2017, thirteen being from China.

Leadership from emerging markets: In recent years, not only have we learned about emerging market business leaders like Ratan Tata and Jack Ma but also about different leadership styles such as the Co-CEO system at Samsung or the different change management styles employed by Tata of India and Ülker of Turkey following business acquisitions.

Integration into value chain management: The story of global value chain management has aged but it still continues to share the voice of ongoing value. Anything from our business suits and phones to the planes we fly and critical business activities such as website design, research and project management is the product of very diverse markets.

Globalization in innovation: The 2018 GE Innovation Barometer reports that large multinational firms started being perceived as innovation drivers due to their ability to connect innovative thinking across borders in critical networks. GE itself has opened 8 innovation centers in countries including Turkey, the UAE, China and South Africa wrote Ussal Sahbaz in “Why large companies became the new drivers of innovation and what to do about it.” Also, Turkey for instance, was one of the biggest gainers on the 2018 Bloomberg Innovation Index and moved up by four spots due to improvements in tertiary efficiency, productivity and other critical categories. South Korea ranked as the top innovative country along with Sweden.

How does your business leverage the interconnectedness of global markets and how does this new competitive trend help your business reach for higher standards and better business output?

New! Health Conscious Global Mind: Did you know that having high levels of energy was identified as a significant Global Mindset attribute in studies? Working across global complexities including much travel invites the global professional to being more health conscious. Experience exchanges to follow in future issues. Do you have tips for the global business community? We look forward to success stories that we can share in this newsletter. Please share via info@strategicstraitsinc.com and let us know if you would like your name mentioned when we share your story.

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