What is Global Competitiveness?

Unemployment is up, profits are down, costs are rising, and the future is uncertain. How can companies succeed in this economy? One option that companies have is to focus on becoming globally competitive.

Globally competitive companies use an extensive knowledge base, a global human network, and Internet technology to succeed against international competition (regionally, nationally, or internationally) -- without the use of significant capital investment, travel or even an international presence.

You may not have to spend much time organizing a knowledge base to make it be useful for you. In fact, you may have much of it already in place. Items in a knowledge base could be past sales data, customer survey results, information on public websites, and experts in your network. The key to using the knowledge base effectively is to ask the right questions of it.

Business owners interested in becoming globally competitive should focus on building relationships abroad with many people you come into contact with. Even if a contact cannot help you to distribute your product in their country or region, they may know someone who can help.

There is no denying that technology has spread across the globe. Because of this, technology has made the world a smaller place. With webinars, conference calling, and video conferencing, people no longer have to travel to build relationships. Additionally, once the relationships have been built and companies are working together, the businesses can easily collaborate. A business in the US can talk to a supplier in Brazil, and they can order products and resolve problems in hours instead of days. We will give real-life examples of some of these collaboration tools in the coming weeks.

It is important to remember that business owners do not need to travel or invest in physical locations to become globally competitive. As the use of Internet technology increases, a company's website is becoming its virtual storefront. Brick and mortar locations in various countries is no longer a requirement to doing business internationally.

At the same time, being globally competitive does not mean "Going global" and not focusing on your local market. Nor does it require much work to be outsourced. Instead, a globally competitive company can innovate, operate, and grow in a manner that strengthens a local business community, creates viable jobs, and brings confidence to business owners and regional leadership.