On Thursday I gave another invited keynote address: Walsh, John, “International Business and the Sustainable Development Goals,” keynote address given at the 1st CBA International Business Conference at Adamson University, Philippines (May 8th-9th, 2024).
Five of our DBA students also gave presentations of their work and I will highlight these in a separate post.
Even though I am now ‘Former Senior Program Manager,’ I am still getting published in Vietnam. This story was published yesterday at The World and Vietnam here.
Announcing: Walsh, John, “International Business in the New Normal,” in Harivansh Chaturvedi and Ajoy Kumar Dey, eds., The New Normal: Challenges of Managing Business, Social and Ecological Systems in the Post-COVID-19 Era (New Delhi: Bloomsbury India, 2021), pp.246-58.
Abstract
In addition to the terrible loss of human lives in the coronavirus pandemic, there is also an unfolding global recession that features synchronous changes and downturns, severe demand deficits in most industrial sectors and the destruction of human capital, especially in emerging markets where remote working is less practical. Governments around the world are borrowing at unprecedented levels to maintain employment as far as they can and keep businesses alive that might otherwise die. The strains that these changes are causing exacerbate trends that were already emerging as a form of deglobalisation—the turn towards localised production and the consumption for reasons of environmental sustainability and political reasons as some states turn inwards. Similarly, the extensive and sometimes labyrinthine nature of international value and supply chains poses a number of problems for the reflective consumer, from ideological as well as environmental concerns. The nature of work during the pandemic has also entered into a new phase. It is inconceivable that companies will return to the situation before in which large office complexes house hundreds of employees who have demonstrated that they can be just as productive at home if they can rely on connectivity technology. Instead, company headquarters will shrink to executive suites and some training departments. As a result, those businesses which relied upon servicing commuters will also need to rethink its nature and scope, although it is likely that markets will find new ways to sell products to those who are now home-workers and used to be commuters. These changes will lead to significant and mostly unpredictable changes in working practices, the location and recreation of markets (especially for consumer goods), and the physical nature of practical business. These changes will be particularly marked in the case of international business, since there is inevitably a geographical and psychic distance between producers and consumers and an increasingly important environmental context to its practice. This chapter explores the nature of the new normal likely to settle after the virus comes under control in one way or another and considers what impacts it will have on international business and the people who practice it.
<KW>Keywords: coronavirus, connectivity technology, international business, sustainability, value chains
More detail is available here.
I was asked to provide a presentation for the Earthday event taking place here in Vietnam and it will be streamed on the third day of the event (today is the first day). The website is here. The Facebook site from which streaming takes place is here.
The presentation is in English with subtitles in Vietnamese.
When selling the same product in more than one country, there are two basic strategies when it comes to price: charge the same price everywhere or charge different prices based on supply and demand issues. Choosing which of these is appropriate relies on a wide range of factors.
Read the full article here.
Managers generally dislike uncertainty because it reduces the value of planning and can lead to surprises – and surprises in business are rarely welcomed. It is over that bad news will not be welcomed but good news is also problematic, since a manager who announces anything unexpected appears not to be on top of her job. Reduction of uncertainty is, on the whole therefore, considered to be a good thing.
Read the full article here.
All other things being equal, people will buy the product which is cheaper. Of course, things are never equal and it is almost impossible to find two different types of products which are really identical or at least equivalent but let us assume that the principle applies, then when the two products come from different countries, then the prices involved will depend on the relative levels of exchange rates
Read the full article here.
Given that trade barriers are necessary, as explained in other articles, it is important to determine the nature and extent of what those barriers might be. In addition to tariffs, there is a wide range of other measures that can be used and these are collectively known, not very imaginatively but perfectly accurately, as non-tariff barriers (NTBs).
Read the full article here.
Free trade can be beneficial but only to countries which have strong and sustainable competitive advantages. No country has ever achieved economic development without careful, sustained and targeted protection of their home economies from stronger overseas competition – there is no argument about this, the facts speak very clearly for themselves.
Read the full article here.
One of the most common issues in international business concerns the nature of relationships to be established in the supply chain. Finding a partner overseas and then making an agreement with them tends to be a bit of a lottery or, perhaps, a lucky dip.
Read the full article here.
Ladprao 64 