Global Business: March 2012

International Trade Has Benefits for the Consumer, Worker and for Businesses

When a consumer in the UK buys mangoes or bananas, coffee or a bottle of wine, they are experiencing the effects of international trade not only in the products that are on offer but often also in the price of those products.

But it doesn't only apply to the products on the supermarket shelves. Increasingly the flat pack furniture a consumer buys at a competitive price, the clothes and shoes they wear, or the toys they buy for the children all have their origins in another country.

The chances are that the furniture originated in South East Asia, the clothes were made in India, the shoes in Brazil and the toys in China.

The same is true for businesses, who manage their overheads by "offshoring" using call centres in India or the Philippines to manage their communications with customers or potential customers, or having their websites hosted and managed, or their R & D carried out in India.

Part of the reason for this is that international trade with countries where production costs are cheaper because wage rates are lower and raw materials widely available means that there is greater competition and this means that the end price to the consumer is lower than it might be for the same goods to be manufactured at home.

It also makes possible a wider choice for consumers about the products that are available to them.

These examples illustrate the importance to the modern global economy of international trade not only to the consumer but also for businesses seeking to develop and grow.

Equally in an inter-connected global economy international trade can be a source of more jobs and therefore income in other countries that have developed expertise in particular areas as India has done with IT support services and China with manufacturing.

While it could be argued that this has increased levels of job insecurity as companies constantly look for locations where there is a plentiful and cheap source of labour and raw materials, it could also be argued that it also creates opportunities.

Rapidly growing economies such as the BRICs (Brazil, Russia, India and China) may have cheap labour and plentiful raw materials but as they seek to grow into fully mature economies they may experience skills shortages in certain areas of expertise.

They need time to develop that expertise and this provides opportunities for educational establishments such as universities to market their courses to overseas students. Equally it provides opportunities for consultants to offer their services overseas.

For example, there is a worldwide shortage of engineers in many fields and therefore there will be opportunities for qualified people in places where efforts are being made to improve the transport and energy infrastructures, such as Brazil.

There may not be the in-country facilities for manufacturing the heavy plant and machinery needed for such projects and this too provides opportunities for businesses in other countries.

Initial research into such possibilities can be carried out by using an online trading portal to advertise services, find the local contacts and organisations that can help and to understand the legalities that are in place in the target country.

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Air Freight Forwarders - How They Help Make Global Business Work

Our global economy depends on the import and export of goods to other countries. In fact, the cost of logistics in America accounts for 10% of national GDP. Logistics is undoubtedly one of the top industries driving our world economy. Much of logistics consists of managing a variety of air, land, and sea cargo carriers, as well as complex customs requirements. Enter the Air freight forwarder: how they help make global business work.

Many people underestimate the complexity of shipping goods or belongings overseas. Whenever you initiate a shipment, a network of carriers will relay the cargo from your door step, to the nearest air, land, or sea port, across oceans and mountains, to the receiving country, and finally to the shipment's ultimate destination.

At every step of this process your shipment requires a unique set of paperwork outlining what the shipment contains, who it is being shipped to, where it is coming from, and any parties claiming the shipment. Shipments must be claimed at every relay point in the supply chain, the customs process must be navigated, and any tariffs handled.

This is the role of the air freight forwarder. Officially, an air freight forwarder is a professional or organization that organizes and oversees shipments for individuals and companies alike. An air freight forwarder serves as a third-party to manage the relationship between shippers and the various freight carriers who physically transport the goods.

Shipments are bid on in a marketplace of freight carriers. It is possible for a company or individual to request bids for shipments themselves, but unless they have a very large volume of freight, they are often at the mercy of the carriers in terms of cost and terms. Air freight forwarders, on the other hand, can batch multiple shipments to gain bargaining leverage over the carriers, achieving the best terms at the lowest cost.

This process happens at every leg of the shipment. Some carriers can handle more than one leg of the journey, but a select few (often the most expensive) handle comprehensive door-to-door shipment. Freight forwarders negotiate on the client's behalf at every leg of the journey.

Air freight forwarders serve as transportation brokers, negotiating the best possible rates and shipment terms for their clients. Unlike brokers in other industries, once a shipment has been successfully brokered the air freight forwarder prepares all necessary documentation, and oversees the goods during transport, ensuring the fastest, most efficient shipment, delivery, and route of travel.

When companies and individuals are able to ship goods quickly, at minimal cost, they are better able to grow their business. By effectively outsourcing their logistics operations, they can focus their budget and attention on their core competencies. This leads to higher quality goods and services, at lower cost. It also often means more jobs.

There are a lot of factors driving our global economy, but it cannot be denied that the movement of goods is a critical one. Air freight forwarders serve as an agent to lower the cost and difficulty of shipping. This allows companies to ship more goods, bringing entrepreneurs and employees alike greater wealth and greater opportunity.

The Scariest Components of Business for Young, Hopeful Global Managers

In a world that, thanks to technology and outsourcing, only continues to get smaller how are young professionals today going to tackle the task of staying in touch with their employees in global organizations? As a young MBA student myself, I see myself as ambitious and ready to take on the world, however, only recently did I realize that this might mean actually taking on the world. How can you manage people globally when they speak another language and have completely different beliefs and customs that only add to the information challenges? Suddenly the way you assess your local employees is not going to be good enough, this is a whole new dimension to management and it's going to be one that most ambitious young managers will get to experience firsthand. I get overwhelmed just thinking about the issues that could come up with employees in global organizations so I decided to attack the issues that scare me the most and evaluate them.

First off, having global language barriers with your employees could seem like enough to make you give up before you get started, but the way the world is today, and the way it will undoubtedly be in the future, leaves no question that language barriers are something that are going to have to be continuously managed in a successful global organization. Good communications skills have never been more critical. Highlighting the issues with language barriers, a recent article in The Rio Times states, "A report by the Economist Intelligence Unit says that Brazil is among the worst at coping with the language barrier of the English-speaking world of business, and that deals are being hindered because of it. Experts are warning that, with increased international interest in businesses based in Brazil, the need to break down the barrier has never been more acute." (Tavener, 2012). So what are some solutions to language barriers (other than Rosetta Stone)? Offhand, I would think that trustworthy interpreters are going to take a lot of the stress out of language barriers, but other aids I've considered would be visual aids, technology (electronic interpreters), and body language (if present or skyping with the person you're communicating with). Language barriers are always going to be out there, it's finding the ways to overcome them that leads to success. "Industry experts say that despite the possible setbacks caused by inefficient language communications, a multinational approach can yield the biggest gains, as long as initial cultural misunderstandings can be overcome." (Tavener, 2012).

The second thing that scares me to death about global management is differences in ethics, beliefs, and customs. While I think that cultural differences among people are beautiful, the thought of offending or not comprehending the ethics of those I'm managing simply terrifies me. There's no playbook for this. "Many of the ethical issues in international business are rooted in the fact that political systems, law, economic development, and culture vary significantly from nation to nation." (Hill, 2010, p.136) As a manager, you're going to have to make yourself particularly sensitive to and aware of these differences. The way you navigate differences in customs and beliefs is going to vary based on what part of the world you're dealing with and defining ethical business conduct will more than likely be dependent upon that as well. As a young, unworldly MBA student this topic perplexes me, but I would have to think that there is a global ethical standard to be defined when it comes to business. Without one, we would restrict our ability to do business effectively in a world where borders have become less and less meaningful. As an effective global manager I would think my first step would be to define this shared set of global ethical values and capitalize on it.

After overcoming language barriers and ethical differences, how do you evaluate the employees at hand? However unfamiliar global business practices may seem at first, mangers with global responsibilities must be able to make a fair and accurate assessment of employees from other countries. What's most scary about this for me is the issue of trust. Who can you trust do assess employee performance for you from overseas? You're going to have to find dependable people to get things done, ones who can give you valuable insight into organizational issues. Personally, one of my biggest fears and biggest challenges in this scenario would be my dependence on the people immediately surrounding me to form judgments regarding employees' performances. This, for me, would be the biggest obstacle of all in global management, and it's probably the issue that is dealt with more often. I would imagine that communication barriers between overseas management and home base management are some of the largest factors hindering the success of global business.

As I've pondered the most concerning issues for myself in becoming a global manager, I've learned that one thing is clear; success in global management begins with an attitude of acceptance, a willingness to learn, and an eye for problem solving. I'm hoping that I, along with other up-and-coming managers alike can dominate these key issues and the infinite possibilities that come with the world's current globalization and the management opportunities it affords us.

References:

Hill, C. W. (2011). International Business: Competing in the global marketplace (9th ed.). New York, NY: McGraw-Hill/Irwin.

Tavener, B. (2012, May 15). Language Barriers in Brazil Business. The Rio Times. Retrieved July 21, 2012, from http://riotimesonline.com/brazil-news/rio-business/language-barriers-in-brazil-business/#

The Usability Of International Teleconferencing In Business Growth And Prosperity

The evolving communication technology has led to globalization of the world. It has not only resulted in international teleconferencing solutions but also enabled people in the corporate world and domestic front to interact with others in far distant countries with greater ease and at lower cost. People can now easily attend to the business meetings, academic tutorials, medical conferences, analyst calls, and many other important events without going out of station. All this is possible due to cost-efficient, easy to use and personalized international audio conferencing and video conferencing services with real time user experience. In fact, international teleconferencing system have become a much reliable medium for people to get connected with others from all over the world and reduced distance and time constraints.

International conferencing has always benefited the corporate world in its every form no matter whether audio conferencing or videoconferencing is put into use. International videoconferencing is preferred by many as it involves the process of making an interactive conference call by using either a toll free or local access number. Here, two or more number of users can see and speak to each other beyond the geographical barriers. The usability of video conferencing is not just to lower the international call charges but also to give people a feel of virtual interaction. It also assures to save people time by allowing them to meet participants over phone lines and avoid travelling to another country or continent.

International teleconferencing is emerging as the best alternative for business owners to raise their profit level and survive the corporate world. It allows them to curtail the business communication cost, expand the business activity and ensure significant return on your investment. When a business operates globally, the most effective way to save it money is by investing in international teleconferencing service. Apart from catering to communication requirements, international teleconferencing assures to contribute to the growth and prosperity of international businesses. Below are given how bigger effects of teleconferencing are realized.

Great Time Saving Tool

International teleconferencing is recognized as a great tool for saving time which will be required to make individual contact with conference call participants. By giving call access to multiple users at a time, business owners are able to communicate in a desirable manner and avoid wastage of time in real time.

Comfort And Convenience

When there is urgency for a business meeting involving offices from all over the world, business associates have to spend a lot for traveling to distant countries. Again, all the participants have to ensure timely arrival. With the use of international teleconferencing services, the business houses can ensure the participation of all its employees on time and avoid the business tour expenses. It takes only a couple of hours to set up and initiate a business meeting from a comfortable office environment. So, the main objective is to facilitate business connectivity and cut down expenses.

Cost-effective Business Interaction

International teleconferencing services have led to successful communication over long distance at low cost. Instead of mounting the monthly international call bill, the business houses are charged per user, per minute in the teleconferencing. It brings a significant reduction in the business interaction cost. If the conference calls are not made for a month or more, they won't have to make a minimum payment for using the international teleconferencing service.

It is always a smart decision to invest in international audio conferencing so that growth of businesses can be ensured in a smooth and convenient manner. Those seeking help of web video conferencing companies have been able to become real players in the global front.

Hope Dever is dealing in international teleconferencing for several years and getting good returns for his call investment. He gives equal priority to international audio and video conferencing for increasing his business connectivity across the world.

International Conference Call Service - What Are Its Contribution To Business World?

Why International Conference Call Service Is So Much Popular These Days?

Today, businesses are going global with an objective to find more exposure and opportunities at the same time. The highly evolved communication technology like international conference call is enabling the business owners to reach to their customers across the world in a comfortable, cost-efficient and quick possible manner. If you are seeking to spread your business operations throughout the world and earn more business than usually possible, you need to take advantage of economical global call packages and programs. Some of the international telecom carriers are providing international conferencing services at lower communication cost or price. Just check out their offers and you will definitely be able to find a suitable call service that would help spread your business connectivity and increase your productivity much faster.

How Does International Conference Call Service Contribute To Business Expansion?

Global call programs are designed to ensure multiple benefits to all type and size of business organizations, particularly Multi-National Companies (MNCs).

Business Productivity Enhancements - You are allowed to give instructions, advice and promptly resolve the queries in a global conferencing call, even through you are not present physically. It is more likely to pass on your business message to your employees very fast, bring a boost in the overall performance of your staff and the organization as well.

Time Savings On Overseas Tours And Travels - Business tour and travel has become a common phenomenon for multi-national companies which consume a great deal of time. Not only will you have to invest a significant amount of time in traveling, but also in making arrangements for it. A business meeting in real sense can be easily replaced by an international conference call, resulting in considerable reduction of time.

Reduction In Long Distance communication cost - There is a large number of affordable global call programs available. You can take advantage of these programs to enjoy long distance calls at reduced price. Since a number of people can get connected to an international conference call simultaneously and you don't have to call them individually, it can save you a considerable amount of money as well.

Personalized Interaction With Clients And Associates - Just like web video conferencing, international conferencing call service is fully effective in catering to customer's communication needs across the world. It helps people to go beyond geographical boundary and interact with greater ease. It also helps in building long term customer relationships by having more frequent and personalized interaction at convenient schedule.

Advance Schedule And Planning - You can not only plan your business meeting details well in advance but also schedule an international conference call consequently. Some conference calling programs even offer reservation conferencing, which makes you use the service anywhere and anytime without even reserving time slots.

Boosts Decision Making Power - Through international conference call, you can easily receive feedback and suggestions from large number of people. It will automatically lead you to make quick and informed decisions.

In this growingly competitive business world, business owners need to reach out to more and more customers at reduced communication cost. By choosing for a professional and experienced international call service provider, they can surely save significant amount of money. In fact, international conferencing has more powerful features than web video conferencing service that is helping people to make long distance communication calls at greatly reduced cost.

Hope Dever is working as a consultant in a web video conferencing company for nearly about 10 years. His company has recently started a venture in international calling and ensuring users every option to make the long distance calls cheaper and faster for them.

Tips for a Small Business to Enter Into International Trade

President Barack Obama's National Export Initiative (NEI), instituted in 2010 and designed to double U.S. exports within the next five years, has created quite a stir among American small businesses. Only4% of today's businesses, small and large, engage in international trade, and the 96% of those business not engaged in international trade feel that barrier to entry is high, especially since more risk would be involved with their already shrinking revenues. The idea behind the NEI is to give a shot in the economic arm of the U.S., and create a more export-focused economy.
The Small Business Administration (SBA) has created a campaign to educate small business owners on how to engage in exporting and create a growth strategy for their business. SBA has many U.S. Export Assistance Centers around the country which are ready to assist in providing the tools that the small business needs. However, before diving too deep in the international trade waters, there are some areas which small business owners should carefully consider.

Parlez-vous? Speaking their language, and their culture, helps. Before entering any market, whatever the geography, you have to know the customer you are targeting. Knowing the customers' needs and wants for the product or service that is being sold is key to any revenue. Since the geography for your customer is global, it would be helpful to speak their language. No one HAS to be fluent in the official language of the target country. If someone wants to market to China, for example, having a basic understanding of some conversational Chinese would help create rapport between you and your potential client. Also,an understanding of the customs and being sensitive to the values of a country is helpful when meeting your potential client. For instance, when meeting with a Saudi Arabian business man, it is best not to offer him an alcoholic drink, since there is a high probability that he is Muslim and Islamic law prohibits consumption of alcohol.
Learn about your potential markets, especially their politics. Knowing your customer is one thing, but knowing the political environment in your potential customer's country is equally important. Tariffs, quotas, and other trade policies would be something to investigate when looking into another market, so that you have a full picture of the pricing and logistics of products into that country. Political unrest, in some cases, could mean opportunity. The recent unrest in the Middle East has actually created an opportunity for the aluminum industry, by the Gulf State countries looking to build its railway infrastructure. http://www.aluminiumtoday.com/news/view/middle-east-opportunities-in-crisis/
Understand any regulations (U.S. or otherwise) that could hinder opportunity. Along with the barrier to trade, a knowledge of the legality of your product or service in your target market is key, and knowledge of those regulations could save you a great deal of "paperwork headaches" here in the U.S. Export controls of products is a way for the U.S. to create a system of national security and enhance foreign policy interests that would protect domestic interests. Industrial sectors, such as IT, would have to adhere to such policies, and even the sending of information via email could be covered by export controls.
Terms, terms and more terms... documents, documents and more documents. Terms and documents are the unofficial language of the international business. Incoterms, the official terms that were adopted by the International Chamber of Commerce (ICC), are the standards of knowing who is responsible for what in the immediate details of a transaction. New Incoterms were enacted in January 2011, introducing new terms including Delivery at Terminal (DAT), where the seller pays for the delivery of the goods to the point of the destination terminal and the importer pays the rest including customs, inland transport, etc.; and Delivery at Place (DAP), where the seller pays for the delivery of the goods at an address, or place, and other costs such as customs and unloading are billed to the importer. Documents, including the commercial invoice, would need to spell out these terms and show exactly how each cost is broken down. Valuation is so important when creating the invoice. Also, additional documentation may be required, including a Certificate of Origin, Packing List and other inspection certificates. These would all depend on what the customer needs and what that particular country needs when clearing the goods through their customs.
Get a respected broker or representative who knows their stuff. Having someone working with you who has experience in clearing goods through customs and exporting products into other markets would be key so that there is not many missteps when it comes to getting the job done right. There are many respected customs brokers and freight forwarders in the business who would help you in some of these steps of creating documents, setting up the logistics and arranging the clearances of your product. You can check out the National Customs Broker and Freight Forwarders Association website and find a registered broker/forwarder in your geographic area.

Amy Breeman-Rhodes is owner and consultant with BreemanRhodes Consulting LLC, offering Virtual International Trade Assistance to businesses for support in supply chain, business development and import and export compliance needs. She is a US Licensed Customs Broker and Export Compliance Professional (ECoP) with over 15 years working in the import/export industry. Visit her website at http://www.breemanrhodesconsultingllc.com and her professional blog at http://breemanrhodes.wordpress.com

Significance of Website Language Translation for Global Businesses

Websites are the means of generating revenues for the business. These websites inform targeted audiences about the business and its products and services. It not only informs, but also encourages people to buy its products and services. In today's world, people use the internet to find anything and everything over internet. With such growing enthusiasm for online shopping, most businesses are turning towards internet to represent themselves among the targeted audience. The internet is also useful for businesses desiring to go global. If you have a website, your business has certainly taken its first step towards globalisation. The internet allows you to get connected with the large number of people beyond the geographical borders. Thus, it increase avenues for your business.

It is not enough to have an online presence. It is important your online presence must be appealing to your targeted audience. If you want to reap all the benefits of your online presence, you need to hire website translation services of reputed localization organisations. Website language translation is a means of transforming your website into the language of your targeted clients. It is different from general translation of any text from one language to another and tends to bring all the elements of localization in your website.

Translation and localization of website allows your business to grow exponentially removing all language and cultural barriers. Even, if your website is translated into a particular language, your content has to be localized to eradicate cultural barriers. Lets understand this phenomena. English is a language of many cultures and also used with variability in different cultures. Different idioms and connotations of English words may mean differently to the people from different cultures. For example, gift in America means present but gift in Germany means poison, similarly, pommes in french is used for apple and in German for chips

Thus, it is essential that localization must be conducted by professionals who not only translate the message conveyed in your website but will also make your website adaptable to the culture of your targeted audience by using key phrases and words that appeal to the target market. Website language translation is conducted to let the business communicate in the language of customers. Most of the people around the globe prefer to buy in own language. If the website content is in the customer's language, they are able to easily grasp information as well as take interest in what business is offering. Thus, website translation is an effective means of bridging the gap between the business and its targeted global customers.

Author is a contribute writer and industries analyst. He writes many articles about different industries. Now he is associated with braahmam.net and writing about website translation services and website language translation. To know more about Website language translation please visit our website: http://www.braahmam.net

Applicant Management in a Brave New Business World

With all of the information and data involved in the recruiting and hiring processes, finding the right applicant tracking solution is essential for many businesses. Things are different today. There are so many more factors considered by employers today because there is so much more information about potential hires available. Many businesses, including small businesses, draw heavily on areas far beyond their local region for talent and labor. The global marketplace isn't just the realm of multinational corporations these days. Even small businesses are active participants in global economic activity. Targeted business technologies are designed to meet the human resource management needs of our modern business era in the changing circumstances of how business is conducted today.

Pre employment screening software has become an important part of systems designed for tracking applicants through the consideration and hiring processes. That is because of the amount of information that is typically reviewed these days. Civil and criminal background checks, credit reports, and similar types of information have become easier and more affordable to collect on potential hires, offering deeper insight into a person's potential to fit well within an organization. As valuable as this type of information is, it also makes more work for the human resource management team, because information that is collected must be organized and managed properly if it is to be effectively utilized.

Using software developed specifically to aid in management of this information is a vital part of conducting these operations in as efficient and cost effective manner as possible. Recruiting software and tracking systems for potential hires offer a broad range of practical features when it comes to information accessibility and management. Real time updating, ease of use, data readily available to key human resource management staff, and information organized in an intuitive and easy to utilize form are just a few of the advantages offered by this type of business software.

Outsourcing of labor used to be something that pretty much only large corporations did. That has changed with the technologies that we have available today. Even small businesses are able to take advantage of the advantages that outsourcing offers. Competing for talent and labor in the world market, however, requires a bit more than the traditional means and methods of recruiting and hiring staff. It requires the sort of information collection and management solutions offered by software and systems designed to aid in recruiting, screening, and tracking potential hires, since those functions are typically done at a distance when outsourcing labor and dipping into the global pool for talent.

Managing the vast amount of information collected during recruiting and hiring operations doesn't have to be overwhelming or costly, not with the smartly designed business software and targeted information management systems available today. These business technologies are able to increase the efficiency and effectiveness of every stage of the staffing process, whether you are seeking more traditional work on site staff or running a business in which personnel are geographically scattered throughout a region, a nation, or the world.

Applicant Tracking System