Two Sides Of The Same Coin?
The Smart Manager|March/April 2017

Reacting to the Brexit vote, the former Chancellor of the Exchequer George Osborne recently said, “Let’s make sure that we go on doing trade with our biggest export market, otherwise withdrawing from the single market would be the biggest single act of protectionism in the history of United Kingdom and no amount of trade deals with New Zealand are going to replace the amount of trade we do with our European neighbours”.*

True, our economies are too intertwined to stay aloof for long. Globalization and protectionism come in cyclic patterns—it is within you to leverage the opportunities.

Morgen Witzel
Two Sides Of The Same Coin?

In 2001, the late Professor Alan Rugman predicted that the long groundswell towards greater global integration of world economies would come to an end. His book, The End of Globalization, made the point that the pressures for and against global integration were cyclical. Over the course of history, there have been times when economic entities cooperated with each other and lowered trade barriers, and times when they put up fences.

Professor Rugman was not the only one making this point. A few years later, Paul Laudicina, then chairman of consultancy firm A.T. Kearney, speculated in his book World Out of Balance that globalization could go one of several ways. The trend towards greater integration, exemplified by the GATT negotiations and establishment of the World Trade Organization, might continue, leading to ever lower tariffs and open borders; but Laudicina thought it equally possible that this trend could reverse. His most likely scenario, however, was a rather muddy mixture of the two, with some countries banding together to create regional free trade zones, while others put up protectionist walls.

Building on Rugman’s work, too, management scholar Karl Moore and historian David Lewis noted how throughout history there have been ‘waves of globalization’; in other words, some periods of time when popular sentiment and government policy favored free trade, and others when protectionism was the rule. The Roman Empire was highly protectionist, encouraging trade within its borders but establishing high tariffs and restrictions on imports. The Chinese Empire had very similar policies. The Mongolian and early Islamic polities, on the other hand, favored free trade.

هذه القصة مأخوذة من طبعة March/April 2017 من The Smart Manager.

ابدأ النسخة التجريبية المجانية من Magzter GOLD لمدة 7 أيام للوصول إلى آلاف القصص المتميزة المنسقة وأكثر من 9,000 مجلة وصحيفة.

هذه القصة مأخوذة من طبعة March/April 2017 من The Smart Manager.

ابدأ النسخة التجريبية المجانية من Magzter GOLD لمدة 7 أيام للوصول إلى آلاف القصص المتميزة المنسقة وأكثر من 9,000 مجلة وصحيفة.

المزيد من القصص من THE SMART MANAGER مشاهدة الكل
Building A Quality Culture
The Smart Manager

Building A Quality Culture

A strong company culture defined by its values, beliefs, and behaviors, has a profound impact on its products and services. More so in today’s VUCA world, where to stay relevant and maintain a competitive edge, it is critical for organizations to build a culture that focuses on quality. Suresh Lulla, author of Quality Fables, elucidates through significant examples how creating a culture of quality is imperative to driving success and productivity.

time-read
5 mins  |
July-August 2016
Customers For Life
The Smart Manager

Customers For Life

The history of General Motors in India can be traced back to the 1920s, when it became the first automotive company to set up an assembly plant in the country. The relationship since then has not been as fruitful as GM would have hoped. GM’s flagship brand, Chevrolet, was introduced in India to build upon the success of the popular Opel marque. However, success has been fleeting at best—an issue that GM India is determined to rectify. It aims to do so by adopting a two-pronged approach: using customer feedback to influence product development, and delivering a superior sales-to-service experience.

time-read
4 mins  |
July-August 2016
The Digital Shift
The Smart Manager

The Digital Shift

… technology will radically disrupt HR in the near future. Indeed, it is already changing the way HR works and the role it plays and opening the door to a new type of “digital HR” function.1 The rise of digital and social media is changing the dynamics of HR and creating new ways of hiring, engaging, and retaining employees.

time-read
4 mins  |
July-August 2017
The Story Of Telling
The Smart Manager

The Story Of Telling

“The best brands are built on great stories,”* this remark by Ian Rowden best captures the strategy of diligent brand building. Much more than attractive logos or the products themselves, what builds a brand is how successfully a story is woven around it. Brand marketers have to be good storytellers indeed.

time-read
8 mins  |
July-August 2017
Complexity Is Simpler Than You Think
The Smart Manager

Complexity Is Simpler Than You Think

Kay Kendall and Glenn Bodinson, authors of Leading the Malcolm  Baldrige Way, shatter myths about excellence models such as Baldrige and EFQM.

time-read
6 mins  |
March/April 2017
Proponents of Isolation Never Become Victors
The Smart Manager

Proponents of Isolation Never Become Victors

Multilateralism in the political and economic space has always led to frameworks that favor the mighty. WTO was no exception. With agriculture kept out of its purview, it could never become a truly fair and free trading system. China was the only large emerging economy that exploited relative openness in low-cost manufactured goods to take full advantage of the system. Other emerging economies could at best garner minor gains.

time-read
1 min  |
March/April 2017
A History Lesson (From Year One) for Trump and the Brexit Crowd: Isolationism Has Never Worked!
The Smart Manager

A History Lesson (From Year One) for Trump and the Brexit Crowd: Isolationism Has Never Worked!

Professor Stephane Garelli on growing isolationism.

time-read
3 mins  |
March/April 2017
A Win-Win Game
The Smart Manager

A Win-Win Game

Business is not a sport where some stakeholder has to lose or fare badly for others to do well. Building an atmosphere of trust and transparency between all stakeholders will help companies retain them even during adverse times.

time-read
7 mins  |
March/April 2017
A Sustainable Model
The Smart Manager

A Sustainable Model

With a total market value of $4.3 trillion and an employment base of at least 1.3 million direct employees and millions of others indirectly employed, platforms have become an important economic force.*Companies today are constantly looking for ways to build platforms—Infosys Ltd announced its plans of monetizing its platforms to make them a $2 billion business by March 2021. But are all platform businesses successful?

time-read
9 mins  |
March/April 2017
Custom Made
The Smart Manager

Custom Made

…three in four consumers said they receive too many emails from brands, and one-fifth said they could not handle the current volume…69 per cent have ‘unfollowed’ brands on social media, closed their accounts or cancelled subscriptions.*In these times, when the market is flooded with products and services, the most efficent way to engage customers is to offer them customized content. To achieve this, brands need to focus on observing the nuances of individual preferences.

time-read
5 mins  |
March/April 2017