Management

focus on planning, leading, organizing, and controlling

Today’s Strategic Alliances

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handshakes-business

If you want to survive on the international scene, you had better develop a well connected supply chain.  Yet, businesses need to properly align with organizations that have the same ethical system and create value in the relationship.  This reality speaks to the nature of strategic alliances. 

With the sudden emergence of countries like China, Brazil, and India, there is a new emerging demand from consumers across the globe.  These newer countries are strategically positioning themselves to change Western civilization and America’s Super Power status.  

Antoine van Agtmael, author of The Emerging Markets Century, argues that these emerging countries are not a fad but a wave of things to come in the near future:   “Instead of being peripheral, as they have been since the first Industrial Revolution, key economies of the former Third World will soon re-emerge as the dominant economies of the future.”  

In fact, he notes that these emerging countries’ economies are growing at a rate nearly twice as fast as developed countries such as the United States and its Western allies. 

Gareth Jones and Jennifer George, authors of Contemporary Management, explain about the positives and negatives of entering global markets:  “As we have discussed, a more competitive global environment has proved to be both an opportunity and a threat for organizations and managers.” 

Businesses must build relationships that minimize their risks in global markets.   According to some estimates, these emerging markets will be nearly twice as large as the current developed economies.  Antoine van Agtmael suggests a different business shift:  “A new breed of companies will play a critical role in producing this shift; a select number of which truly deserve to be regarded as world class.” 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HgfwzPRyVvw 

Strategic alliance is defined ‘as an agreement in which managers pool or share their organization’s resources and know-how with a foreign company, and how organizations share the rewards and risks of starting a new venue.’  However, these relationships must make sense over the long-term in order to sustain any meaningful value. High performing organizations cannot afford to misfire with the wrong strategic alliances.  Consequently, good organizations need to be deliberate in forging the right relationships in a global market.

 Discuss the concepts of strategic alliances in a global market.

 © 2013 by Daryl D. Green

Guest Blogger – Jalene Nemec

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customer-service-bookcover

Have you ever had an unpleasant experience related to customer service, perhaps at a home improvement store or with your local cable company? How did that experience affect your overall impression of the company? Were you encouraged to take your business elsewhere?

As a consumer during hard economic times, you want to spend your money where you feel valued. You want to interact with associates who are friendly, knowledgeable about their business and who want to help you. Unfortunately, many companies today have allowed their customer service to become nearly extinct. Furthermore, they have failed to provide recognition to their employees for a job well done. Businesses once understood that by valuing all employees that company’s success would continue.

Employees felt responsibility for their actions because they felt respect, value, and self-worth. The businesses strived for continuous improvement. Employees were loyal to these companies and retired with them. In recent times, employees feel less and less appreciated.

They don’t feel important to their employers. As a result, they have made a conscious decision to stop caring about elements such as customer service. Workers have lost faith that they will be able to climb the professional ladder, leaving almost zero incentive to stay with the same company.

Instead, employees move up in their career by increasingly changing jobs and switching companies. Everyone is negatively affected by this cycle. In lieu of progressing, businesses resemble a wheel spinning in mud. Companies receive mediocre staff support, employees give poor customer service, clients purchase less, businesses see reduced profits, and employees get hit with layoffs, pay cuts, and poor benefits.

The customer service aspect of these companies has seen the most drastic decline. It has been carelessly devalued. Contrary to popular belief, customer service is not just about solving problems. It is about being the “face of the company.”

Managers have further endangered the myth of customer service by outsourcing client support to low-cost countries. They have eliminated receptionists and replaced them with recordings. They have almost entirely erased the need for training.

Finally, to show efforts that they still care about their customer service performance, the same businesses continue to send out surveys. Many clients not only consider the surveys annoying, but the company fails to make them worthwhile by ignoring complaints. All of this is done in an effort to save money.

Businesses today must change this mindset if they want to grow their business successfully. In my book titled “Great Customer Service: The Definitive Handbook for Today’s Successful Businesses” and co-authored by Dr. Green, I focus on five key characteristics that together lead to good customer service. Those characteristics are attitude, awareness, accountability, action and affability (friendliness).

For a company to improve their customer service they must accept change. Change begins with the right attitude. Before a company can change their customer service, they must establish a mission to provide quality service. Furthermore, the company should be aware of the current state of the service they provide.

Change cannot be made without understanding the situation at hand. A business may question, has there been a noticeable decline in sales? If so, could it be a result of the customer service?

The best way to kick-start change is to hold employees and managers accountable. Without effectively maintaining accountability for everyone involved, people will not see a reason to change their behavior and the business will suffer. Holding personnel accountable is the first part of taking action. Unless a company makes a conscious decision to actively improve, change will be temporary or non-existent.

Finally, the last characteristic is affability. It seems like a minor detail, but consider some of your past consumer experiences? There were probably a few instances where an employee helped you in an “I have to” way, and there were times where you were helped in an “I want to” way. The latter is much better.

Throughout the book, I also focus on how to build a more profitable business, how to increase good sustainable customer service, how to inspire workers toward greater organizational performance, and how to inspire today’s demanding customers. 

While I could continue on about how these five characteristics impact the other topics covered in my book, I would rather hear from you. As consumers, professionals and MBA students, use what you have experienced and learned to explain how you believe these characteristics impact profitability, sustainability, performance and inspiration. There are no perfect answers. Good customer service is not necessarily cut and dry, it is all in the eye of the beholder!

Please share your thoughts on this topic. 

About the Guest Blogger

Jalene Nemec, author and industry expert

Jalene Nemec, MBA, is the author of the upcoming book, Great Customer Service. She is also one of the brightest business thinkers in the world, having both extensive customer service and leadership experience.  She is a former Lincoln Memorial University MBA graduate.

Leveraging Talent Advantages During Disrupted Change

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talent-management-photo

In his book 32 Ways to Be a Champion in Business, Earvin “Magic” Johnson notes how he developed his entrepreneurial spirit, took advantage of business opportunities, and used his economic power as a force for social change.

As a megastar with the Los Angele Lakers in the 80’s, Magic soon established himself as one of the best to ever play in the NBA.  Unlike other super-athletes who failed to make the transition from superdom after their prime, Magic used his athletic platform to give him access to some of the most successful business leaders in the world.

Loaded with the internal business drive he inherited from his father, Magic began to use his athletic instincts to his advantage in the business world.  Magic found power in building on his core strengths, not being consumed with his weaknesses:  “Rarely can you turn a weakness into a strength. Greatness is achieved by building on strengths and managing your weaknesses so they do not matter.”

Sadly, many professionals are also succumbed by their weaknesses too.  Rev. Joe Tolbert, a dynamic motivational speaker, warns about how culture influences our personal perceptions:  “The world teaches us to focus on weaknesses rather than strengths.” Given the tremendous financial turbulence in the world, today’s leaders need to focus on their talent management if they are to survive.  In this blog, I will examine the concept of talent management.

Talent management is a critical asset for high-performing organizations in a global economy. In fact, finding the best talent and retaining the best people in a business will eventually overtake many other advantages such as technology and capital.  Talent power will rule the future economy.

Talent management is defined as the process through which employers anticipate and meet their needs of human capital.  Yet, employees cannot dismiss talent management as only an employer’s duty.

Since the post-World War II era, workers have enjoyed a lifetime employment model where workers were assured of financial stability.  That is not the case today where younger workers can expect to change jobs frequently.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gRjNHIGlykk

Peter Cappelli, author of Talent on Demand, outlines the dangers of poor talent management. In the past, with a good economy, American businesses could afford to mismanage their talent pool.  Today’s businesses often are short-sided and do not want to develop internal talent; instead, they are depending on others for their talent.

Cappelli explains, “Relying on outside hiring seems to fly in the face of the imperative that organizations should be engaged in knowledge management practices that capture and organize what they know about their operations to improve performance.”  However, these failures in managing this talent pool are often negative.  For example, having too many employees leads to layoffs and restructuring, while having to too few talented people leads to talent shortages.

John Wiedmer, Robert Wiedemer, and Cindy Spitzer, authors of America’s Bubble Economy, wisely forecasted the bursting of America’s bubble in 2008 while other economists were predicting economic fortune for all.  In fact, the authors now predict that an even bigger financial cliff is ahead for the world.  However, they advocate the importance of talent management: “The fall of America’s Bubble Economy will shake up many industries, drive businesses into bankruptcy, derail countless careers, and force dramatic numbers of workers into temporary unemployment.  It will also create thousands of successful companies that don’t currently exist, lead all sorts of people to rethink their life’s work, and make many entrepreneurs and investors fabulously wealthy.”

Most firms would prefer to invest in technology and automation to reduce their labor cost or outsource their labor needs abroad to obtain cheaper resources.  In the case of talent management, these short-term gains can be fatal.  Cappelli further argues for strengthening talent management in organizations: “Growing competition in product markets further weakens the traditional talent management model by sharply increasing the uncertainty associated with planning.”  Therefore, talent management becomes a vital component of corporate strategies for businesses that desire sustainable growth.

Discuss the concepts of talent management for today’s businesses.

© 2013 by Daryl D. Green

Globalization’s Unintended Consequences for Americans

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global-sourcing-man-strategy

Even in fun, you should see the obvious.  Last fall, my wife and I went on a cruise to the Caribbean.  During this seven day adventure, we visited several countries that catered to our whims as Americans. 

Yet, the impacts of globalization were obvious on the cruise ship.  Both the passengers and the cruise staff appeared to operate within their own cultural preferences when not having to succumb to the dominant culture.  

There were several occasions where there was multiple languages being spoken in the same area which provided a different backdrop to me as an American.  We were all interconnected but yet apart. 

Global forces continue to change business operations and society as a whole.  The results of globalization mean that countries, businesses, and people become interdependent.  Organizations typically pass through four stages to international commerce: The domestic stage, the international stage, the multi-national stage, and the global stage. In search of more profitability, companies send many of their business functions abroad in an attempt to obtain cheaper resources (i.e. labor) for products or services.  

Should globalization change our thinking as Americans too? In the 1960s, the United States was a megastar internationally, accounting for 66.3% of worldwide foreign direct investments. As globalization began to open barriers to the free flow of commerce, non-U.S. firms sought to increase production activities to establish a presence in major foreign markets.  

Given these changes, things started happening.  In 2009, non-U.S. firms accounted for 14.1% of the stock foreign investments with the majority of these firms based in Hong Kong, South Korea, Singapore, Taiwan, India, and China.  Charles Hill, author of International Business, notes:  “The world may be moving toward a more global economic system, but globalization is not inevitable. Countries may pull back from their recent commitment to liberal economic ideology if their experiences do not match their expectations.”

 

Of course, globalization is not all good. America was once the center of all important business transactions internationally.  However, now there is an emergence of other key global partners.  Brazil, Russia, India, and China are becoming dominate providers of products and services abroad. 

With the threat of outsourcings, many Americans are worried about job opportunities.   Richard Daft, author of Management, further argued about the impacts of globalization: “For today’s managers, the whole world is a source of business threats and opportunities.” Should U.S. parents worry about their children’s future given the declining role of the United States in the global environment? 

Today’s American students are not doing better than their parents as it relates to education.  According to the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), the U.S. ranks fourth worst among 29 developed countries for children obtaining a higher level of education than their parents.  

Only 21.6% of those 25 to 34 years old achieved a higher level of education than their parents in the United States. That compares to an OECD average of 36.8%.  Consequently, current and future U.S. workers will be vulnerable to the consequences of globalization.  Unfortunately, many politicians, executives, and media pundits do not have a long-term perspective about the opportunities and threats related to globalization.  They should! 

Discuss the opportunities and threats associated with globalizations and how emerging leaders can compete.

© 2013 by Daryl D. Green

New Value Creation Model

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value-smart-shopping

I received an email from Dr. Marcus Blakemore about a very fascinating website called Fiverr.com. At first, I was very skeptical because freelancers like technical writers and web designers were offering their services for $5. In fact, these services were listed well below market prices.

Yet, the site also offers bizarre services like someone writing something on his or her lips to a person dressed in a clown suit willing to send greetings to anyone. Loaded with my conventional wisdom of ‘you get what you pay for,’ I gave the website a chance. Through this effort, I found some vendors were outstanding while others were mediocre.

Amazingly, the owners of Fiverr.com had created a niche for themselves with freelance websites, such as Elance.com or Guru.com. However, a new value proposition was also developed.

For experienced sellers, Fiverr.com provides a promotional venue where they can sell more expensive services down the product line, newbie sellers can turn their hobbies into financial gains, and value-seeking buyers can secure some quality services well below market value.

With the pressures of globalization all around, organizations are finding that creating value becomes a necessity. This article examines the concepts of value creation in today’s competitive environment. 

Twenty-first-century organizations can no longer implement value creation in a vacuum. Ken Favaro, author of Put Value Creation First, further suggests that placing a priority on value creation gives businesses two advantages over their competition: The first is capital and the second is talent. Favaro argues that successful value creators never suffer from capital shortage.  

Value focuses on the relationship between the customer’s expectations of a product or service and the amount paid for it. C.K. Prahalad and Vemkatram Ramaswamy, authors of The Future of Competition, further reasoned that twenty-first-century corporations must adapt their value creation system to fit the global scale.

They noted the new system is an individual-centered, co-creation of worth between consumers and organizations.  Few executives take the time to explain their values, but this will be increasingly important if companies hope to expand success in their global market. 

For many people, the concept of value creation is vague. An exact definition of value depends on the individual, but it could be defined as the net bundle of benefits the customer derives from a product or service.

According to Businessdictionary.com, value creation denotes ‘the performance of actions that increase the worth of goods, service or even a business.’  Consequently, value creation for customers encompasses developing products and services that customers find consistently useful.  

Mark Johnston and Greg Marshall, authors of Relationship Selling, argue that an individual must understand the customer to establish value.  Furthermore, Paul Peter and James Donnelly, authors of Marketing Management, argue that the starting point in the buying process is the consumer’s recognition of an unsatisfied need. The customer must remain the focus for any sustainable business success. 

Value creation must also be a strategic and deliberate concept for professionals. Mark Johnston and Greg Marshall maintain that perceived value is in the eyes of the customer. Therefore, perceived value will vary. A professional’s biggest challenge is in selling this value with consistency. Being strategic about these business relationships is not simple. Organizations must clearly understand the external motivation within their market in order to create lasting customer value. The external environment is considered anything outside of the organization’s control. External environment factors include economic stability, legal-political shifts, technological growth, social-cultural norms, and natural changes.

With businesses losing market sharing to companies abroad, organizations must establish clear value propositions to their customers. Paul O’ Malley, the principal of Paul O’Malley Associates (Newton, MA), argues the crucial need of value creation for companies: “The most successful organizations understand that the purpose of any business is to create value for customers, employees, and investors, and that the interests of these three groups are inextricably linked. Therefore, sustainable value cannot be created for one group unless it is created for all of them.”

Furthermore, today’s professionals always need to provide value for their employers and customers. In tough times, organizations want to keep their best people. In order to sustain lasting success, value creation must be an important ingredient of corporate business strategies during economic turbulence.

Describe an opportunity or problem in an industry where a new product or service would be benefical to customers because it would provide new value for them.

© 2013 by Daryl D. Green

Ethical Leadership in 2013

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 handcuffs-scandals-2013

If you can’t trust people with your mother, we are in trouble!  My 74-year-old mother was in the market to buy another car.  She finally bought it at a used car dealership (mom n pop).  They convinced her that this used car (PT Cruiser) was great!

In a few days, the car had problems. She took it back to the used dealership; the owner told my mother she had purchased bad gas. Eventually, my mother took it to an independent car repair shop. The computer was dead! To date, the used car dealership has not returned any of my mother’s calls. 

Situations like this undermine the public trust in human beings.  We have become cynical of our leaders, public or private.  With the number of high profile scandals with government officials and business executives, many people would describe ‘ethical leadership’ as an oxymoron.   Can you have ethics and leadership side by side?  

Denis Collins, author of Business Ethics, further explains, “Subordinates are constantly evaluating the ethics of a manager’s decisions and behaviors. Actions speak louder than words.”  Therefore, any meaningful ethic program must start with senior management behavior.

Trust is the foundation of any meaningful corporate structure.  Gareth Jones and Jennifer George, management experts maintain that when leaders are ineffective chances are good that workers will not perform to their capabilities. 

Mark Johnston and Greg Marshall, authors of Relationship Selling, further suggest senior management style (do their actions match their words), the established culture of the organization and external forces can create a climate where unethical or even illegal behavior is tolerated. Therefore, senior managers should lead the way by example. 

Furthermore, organizations must evaluate their current corporate culture. There are both written and unwritten rules and behaviors that come into play. For example, Enron senior management demonstrated a lack of moral and ethical judgment that played a critical role in its decision-making (i.e. breaking laws).                                     

 

Enron in the boom days of the late 90’s

In addition to analyzing an individual’s personal behavior, individuals need to analyze the organization’s leadership and culture climate to see the big picture.  Therefore, ethical leadership becomes an essential ingredient for making a highly effective organization.    

State your professional experience with ethical leadership or lack of.

 

 © 2013 by Daryl D. Green

 

Guest Blogger – Jalene Nemec

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We face unprecedented economic times in a globalized marketplace where purchasing from places as far away as China are just a click away. As a direct result companies have had to review, refocus and revamp their business scope to compete and sustain their livelihood.

Some have opted to accomplish this by changing their product line, cutting costs, slashing prices, removing excess overhead and reducing pay. All these options can prove successful and have. But there is a better solution. Improve your customer service and earn loyal customers!

Customer service by definition is to provide assistance with courtesy those who patronize a business. [1] A company that provides great customer service over their competitors creates loyal customers who will patronize their business year over year.  

The direct result of this is increased profits. Customers become loyal when they know they can trust your company to take care of their needs, even their most frivolous complaints and to do it with kindnesses.

To illustrate this, John Goodman used a simple calculation for getting customers to complain and then satisfying them. The assumption in this example is that a customer is worth at least $30 in profit over a year’s time.

The cost of handling a complaint is about $5 and at least 75% of callers are satisfied. To quantify the payoff of soliciting and handling complaints, it’s critical to know the prevalence rate of non-complainants and their loyalty, as well as the loyalty of those who complain and are not satisfied. The calculation for moving a customer with a problem from non-complainant to satisfied complainant is provided.

Payoff due to improved loyalty – Typically, moving a customer with a problem from non-complainant to complainant to a satisfied caller raises loyalty by about 30%, meaning loyalty) x (.75 satisfied) x $30 value). After covering the $5 cost of handling the complaint, one is left with $1.75 in profit and/ or an ROI of 35% ($1.75/$5 cost to handle complaint).

Over time, marketing executives have awakened to the fact that between 20% and 70% of all new customers are won by personal referrals, positive word-of-mouth. Research has also consistently shown that personal service interactions have 20 times the positive impact as advertising in fostering word-of-mouth referrals.

Payoffs due to enhanced word-of-mouth referrals: if, conservatively, one out of ten satisfied customers produce a word-of-mouth referral and one new customer worth $30 is won for every 40 who hear good things, then satisfying 10 customers adds $30 in word-of-mouth benefits, or $3 for each customer satisfied. That adds an additional $3 payoff for each satisfied customer, raising the ROI to 95%. [2]

The concept of these figures is intriguing. However they cannot come to fruition by doing nothing. Companies must be actively engaged in the task of improving and providing superior customer service.

Through my research, I determined that there were five key characteristics that lead to great customer service and ultimately increased profits. Those characteristics include: Attitude, Awareness, Accountability, Action, and Affability. Together they are my “5A-Wheel.”

Change begins with the right attitude. Before a company can change their customer service, they must establish a mission to provide quality service. Furthermore, the company should be aware of the current state of the service they provide. Change cannot be made without understanding the situation at hand. A business may question, has there been a noticeable decline in sales? If so, could it be a result of the customer service? 

The best way to kick-start change is to hold employees and managers accountable. Without effectively maintaining accountability for everyone involved, people will not see a reason to change their behavior and the business will suffer.

Holding personnel accountable is the first part of taking action. Unless a company makes a conscious decision to actively improve, change will be temporary or non-existent.

The final characteristic is affability. It seems like a minor detail, but consider some of your past consumer experiences. There were probably a few instances where an employee helped you in an “I have to” way, and there were times where you were helped in an “I want to” way.

This is the difference between attitude and affability. An employee has the right attitude if he or she understands a need to help the customer, but wanting to help the customer provides the best possible experience for everyone. 

Using these five characteristics as a guideline will help companies succeed in their customer service department. As you begin your career or start up your own business, be better than your competition and provide the customer service of yesteryear that people value, a customer service that people are loyal to.

Please share your thoughts with this guest blogger.

ABOUT THE BLOGGER

 

Jalene Nemec, MBA,  is the author of the upcoming book, Great Customer Service. She is also one of the brightest business thinkers in the world, having both extensive customer service and leadership experience.  She is a former Lincoln Memorial University MBA graduate.

REFERENCES

Entrepreneur. http://www.entrepreneur.com/encyclopedia/printthis/82148.html. 2011. (accessed   16 March 2011).

Goodman, John. “Manage Complaints to Enhance Loyalty.” Quality Progress, (2006).

[1] Entrepreneur.com

[2] Manage Complaints to Enhance Loyalty by John Goodman

Ethical Compromises in Organizations

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Organizations have their own set of ethical issues. On July 12th, former FBI Director Louis Freeh requested a blistering report about the cover up associated with the Jerry Sandusky case. Freeh’s report found coach Jerry Paterno (now deceased), former president Graham Spanier, athletic director Tim Curley, and vice president Gary Schultz had ‘repeatedly concealed critical facts about Sandusky’s child abuses.” 

The reviewers found handwritten notes and emails in a decision to hide information from child welfare and police authorities. Sandusky is awaiting sentencing after being convicted on 45 criminal counts of abusing 10 boys. 

Freeh noted, “The most saddening findings by the Special Investigative Counsel is the total and consistent disregard by the most senior leaders at Penn State for the safety and welfare of Sandusky’s child victims. The most powerful men at Penn State failed to take any steps for 14 years to protect the children who Sandusky victimized.” 

Reports showed Paterno and administrators knew about Sandusky’s child abuse activities as far back as 1998.  However, they attempted to conceal this information for the school’s reputation and perhaps—Coach Paterno’s legacy as a dynamic coach. The blanket cover up went beyond the school. 

 

The local district attorney when provided with evidence of Sandusky’s child abuse did not prosecute.  Many people in the community were in denial because Coach Paterno was a national icon and local legend.  

For many organizations, it is the proverbial “doing as I say and not as I do” for some managers.  Most managers can get away with this philosophy. As businesses continue to falter and competition begins to bear down on the economy, workers are looking for leadership.  

However, it is virtually impossible to lead an organization if you’re unethical. Why is this true? Well, followers will not respect leaders without integrity. A leader can’t trick them with promotions or bribe them with money. In the long run, character does count in an effective organization.  We will discuss the dangers of empowering unethical leaders.  

Ethics plays a critical role in good leadership. Charles Hill, author of International Business, defined as ‘accepted principles of right or wrong that govern the conduct of a person, the members of a profession, or the actions of an organization.  It is one situation when an individual makes an unethical decision.  However, it is a very complex matter when an institution or a group of leaders representing an institution acts in an unethical manner.

Richard Daft, an organization management expert, explains that leaders at the highest management levels develop internal moral standards that can often allow them to break laws if necessary. However, managers should be personally connected with their organizations’ values. Sadly, some managers feel they are bigger than their organizations. 

In fact, ‘they are the organization!’ In this scenario, leaders become the problem, not the solution. They become trapped by the “Seven Deadly Sins,” which consist of pride, avarice (greed), envy, wrath, lust, gluttony, and slothfulness.

These attributes are not good leadership qualities. Evidently, these unethical leaders bring about their own demise, shaming their organizations. Penn State was no exception. Unfortunately, it only takes one bad leader to destroy the core values of an organization.  

How does Penn State recovery from this leadership void?

 © 2012 by Daryl D. Green                                    

 

Stopping the Global Crisis

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Last week, I received news that I was going global.  It was exciting news. Aren’t we interconnected anyway?  My primary publisher, Createspace, announced that my books would now be available directly through Amazon’s European websites, including Amazon.co.uk, Amazon.de, Amazon.fr, Amazon.es, and Amazon.it.

As the world’s largest online retailer, Amazon.com is the parent company of Createspace Publisher.  Globalization has connected our lives together.  If organizations are going to be successful in the future, they need to be strategic. Finding talent and solutions will be vital, regardless of the continent.  

Globalization prevents us from hiding out in our countries. With the issues of austerity in Europe and threats in Iran, organizations are struggling to stay ahead of all the significant changes.  Global turbulence continues to haunt financial institutions.

Most economic experts believe that Europe is in recession. According to Britain’s Office for National Statistics, the first quarter of this year Britain’s economy shrank .2%, after having contracted .3% in the fourth quarter of 2011. Europe struggles to maintain financial stability while country after country falters.  Greece, Spain, Portugal, and Italy lead the list of financially crippled countries in Europe.  

Around the world, countries continue to suffer from unprecedented changes. The year 2011 was a vintage time for massive protests, from the awakening of the Arab world to the defeat of evil tyrants. Japan suffered its biggest nuclear catastrophe. 

Egypt is now crippled by economic turmoil, inadequate health care, and continued unrest in the country.  In fact, the country is headed toward another milestone as Egyptians decide who will be their president and architect for leading them into the future.  

Voters may elect to move toward an established Islamic nation; this fact is driven by religious clerics and other influential parties who desire a more religious country. 

Shady Ghoneim, an Egyptian importer, worries about the country’s political fate internationally: “Foreign investors won’t come back unless they can trust a moderate president.”  Troubles in one country can have a negative impact to other nations due to these financial linkages. 

The United States and other members of the Group of Eight (G-8) industrial nations (Germany, France, Canada, United States, Britain, Italy, Russia, and Japan) are attempting to assist Europe’s financial crisis. 

President Barack Obama discussed the ramification during an upcoming meeting: “All of us are absolutely committed to making sure that the growth and stability and fiscal consolidation are part of the overall package.” However, many citizens from these European countries resist any financial solutions (i.e. austerity measures) that will take away their quality of life.

At the same time of dealing with the global financial crisis, each country seeks to increase exports of goods and spearheading job creation in their own countries. Therefore, foreign government officials are in a risky situation by supporting any international agreed solutions which are very unpopular with their own citizens. 

Since globalization has linked each country economically, Americans cannot escape either.  Regardless of the continent, people are looking for answers. Thus, countries must promote mutual financial interest internationally while keeping a pulse of their own self interest.   Therefore, countries with an isolationistic mindset will have a difficult time navigating in the future. 

Please share your opinion on this topic. 

 © 2012 by Daryl D. Green