Page 178 - Accelerating out of the Great Recession
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A NEW MANAGERIAL MIND-SET
Learning these lessons and adopting these practices will
stand executives in good stead as they adjust to the new realities
of corporate life and try to come to terms with the greatest set
of challenges to their understanding of how business should be
conducted—from the nature of globalization and the impor-
tance of politicians to the power of the shareholder and the
ethics of management.
■ RETHINKING WHAT GLOBALIZATION MAY MEAN ■
Globalization has been at the top of the agenda for many exec-
utives all over the world for the past 20 years. Indisputably, the
liberalization of many economies and the incredible speed of
development of others—most notably China and India—con-
tributed significantly to the buoyant global growth of the boom
years. The features of globalization—rising demand and global-
ized production, combined with downward pressure on labor
costs in the developed markets—allowed companies to reach
record-high levels of profitability.
Although the new era will be marked by increased protection-
ism, we do not claim that the trend toward more global integration
will be reversed. But it might slow down, and it will certainly
change. Already, countries previously seen only as sources of cheap
labor are themselves emerging as markets—with plenty of con-
sumers. Such markets will be among the rare growth hotspots in
the new era. This trend will be even more pronounced if the
G-20 group of advanced economies manages to reach an agree-
ment to rebalance global trade by increasing domestic consumption
in the surplus economies. Companies will have to assess their pro-
duction and go-to-market strategies in light of this development.
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