Wake Up Time Again

Several months back I wrote about business in Western Canada needing to change their future global thinking from the mindset that trade goes across the Atlantic ocean and south to the USA. I mentioned that we need to think of Asia Pacific as the "near west" not the "far east" as generations before us did. The growth of many Western Canadian businesses comes from developing markets in Asia not from past models of the 20th century. To act as a rallying cry for the next generation of businesses, three days ago Michael Geoghegan, chief executive of HSBC, delivered a speech at the American Chamber of Congress in Hong Kong that I believe any business leaders must read.

Mr. Geoghegan recently moved his office from London to Hong Kong to visibly send a signal that the western-centric mindset of global business needs to change. The following is the close of his speech and I attach a link to the entire speech at the end of this blog.  This is a sober look at the business world going forward from someone who has a front row seat. Do yourself and your partners a favour - read it.


"To recap, we have already entered a new phase for the global economy. We will see a new set of dynamic economies: the CIVETS joining the BRICs. We will see the rise of a new middle class and the emerging-market millionaire. We will see trade routes continue to shift in direction. We will see emerging markets' financial centers come of age. All this spells the continuing decline of the Western-centric mindset. All this marks a new beginning for the way the world does business. After three months back here, I am more convinced than ever that this is the decade for Asia's economy."


http://www.forbes.com/2010/04/29/hsbc-ceo-asia-china-india-markets-economy-michael-geoghegan.html

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The Pause That Refreshes

Many of us may know the famous Coca-Cola line a few decades back ..."the pause that refreshes". While this is still very much rich strategic territory for Coke today, the term I believe applies to how all businesses should be looking at the downturn in the past few years.

I have said in past blogs that this slowdown will be viewed by smart business leaders as a time to retool and strengthen not only product portfolios but corporate and brand positions as well. For those readers who enjoy a life line to the oil patch, you may find the attached video clip from McKinsey and Schlumberger's CEO Andrew Gold worth the three minutes it takes to view it. (The entire 6 clips take about 30 minutes if you are interested.)

Mr Gold's line of "This pause gives you an opportunity to get places where you think you've lost it or you don't have distinguished products and services.", proves that even the traditional oil field service industry need to look at business and reposition itself for the environment of the day.

Enjoy the clip.


http://www.mckinseyquarterly.com/McKinsey_conversations_with_global_leaders_Andrew_Gould_of_Schlumberger_2572?pagenum=1#interactive