Winning the Global Game

Book excerpt: In the 21st century global economy, emerging nations will provide almost half of the potential customers for western goods and services, concludes international business expert Jeffrey A. Rosensweig. Drawing on extensive research, Rosensweig contends that firms with truly global strategies will profit from the untapped resources of emerging markets and at the same time improve the living standards of the world?s poor. Dismissing the doomsday scenario that so-called Third World nations will continue to be mired in poverty, he argues persuasively that western executives must break out of the mindset that profitable ventures can only be found within the ?Triad? of the United States, Europe, and Japan. Rosensweig reminds us that American exports to emerging nations have tripled since 1986. He projects that, by the year 2010, the world will contain six great regional economies -- four of them in Asia -- and that three of every eight middle-class consumers will reside in the developing world. In clear, nontechnical language, he explains how executives can identify trends of globalization and apply them to business strategy, particularly to what he calls a ?time-phased? global strategy for synchronizing a firm?s investments with the progress of emerging middle classes. Winning the Global Game demonstrates that adopting a global perspective now is a win-win strategy that links people and profits. It will be important reading for all multinational executives and managers in firms which are going global. The chapter on 21st century personal career strategy will appeal particularly to the aspiring global executive.