International Law

Is Now the Time to Begin Exporting?

Posted on January 22, 2009
Exports are down and economies everywhere are contracting as our global interconnectedness is proving both blessing and challenge. Amid the downturn companies are cutting marketing budgets, travel expenses, and, most importantly, people. One might reasonably ask whether this is the...

Discussing Politics While Building Relationships Abroad

Posted on October 27, 2008
With the U.S. in the throes of a widely watched election, it is not surprising that American business travelers abroad are often asked to engage in a conversation about American politics and the election. And I suspect that this will...

Trade Policy in an Age of Protectionism -- How Governments Can Promote Free Trade through a Domestic Agenda

Posted on October 09, 2008
I had the opportunity to attend a meeting this morning with Dr. Laura Tyson, professor at UC Berkeley's Haas School of Business, a former chair of the Council of Economic Advisers under Clinton and one of Obama's chief economic advisers....

A New Paradigm for a Dynamic International Market for Sustainable Energy -- The Conclusion

Posted on September 23, 2008
This is the post that concludes the themes raised in the immediately preceding two. Part I posed the dilemma of creating a rational energy policy in a net oil consuming nation given the lack of free competition in current international...

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Inefficiencies in International Energy Markets and the Search for a New Paradigm for the Value of Renewable Resources -- Part II

Posted on August 07, 2008
This is Part II of what I anticipate will be a 3 part post. In Part I, I tried to set up the intractable dilemma that has prevented the net oil consuming nations such as the U.S. from formulating a...

Inefficiencies in International Energy Markets and the Search for a New Paradigm for the Value of Renewable Resources -- Part I

Posted on August 06, 2008
Regular readers will have noticed the lack of recent posts -- I've been too busy with business lately to blog. I always keep a running list of potential blog topics, but unfortunately many of the short pithy ones are related...

The United Nations Speaks Out for Free Trade -- At Least When It Comes to the Global Food Supply

Posted on June 05, 2008
Among the many positive attributes of the United Nations, and I think there are many, I wouldn't normally include a penchant for free trade. Sure it's an international body and by its very nature is on the leading edge of...

Responding to the Earthquake in China -- Global Companies, Global Customers and Global Responsibilities

Posted on May 16, 2008
One of the things that great companies have in common, or at least companies that are great at product development, marketing and customer service, is that they have a genuine empathy for their customers. This inherent customer centric view allows...

Can Today's Mis-educated High Schooler Become Tomorrow's Global Leader?

Posted on May 13, 2008
Among the concerns with secondary education today is that in teaching to the lowest common denominator dictated by standardized tests, the average American high school student is woefully undereducated in subjects critical to the world of the future (and today...

What It Took for an American Icon to Become #1 in China -- Another Lesson in Global Marketing

Posted on May 05, 2008
Regular readers of this blog know that from time to time we've examined whether global companies have the power to impose standardization upon foreign markets (ala Ted Levitt's original conception of globalized business), or whether the most successful global competitors...

Three Simple Rules for Success in Going Global

Posted on April 23, 2008
I have some catching up to do -- blogwise. The first order of business is to get back to a post on China Law Blog from last month entitled "The China Ready Company -- The Basics". In the post Dan...

Presidential Primary Edition -- The Candidates, the Parties and Their Positions on Global Trade

Posted on February 29, 2008
This will be my only post for February, but the truth is it has taken all of February to research and write and it's been a moving target. I started before Super Tuesday when each party had at least 3...

Global Interdependence and the Challenge of Risk Diversification Across Markets

Posted on January 25, 2008
The stock markets are in turmoil. I've been too busy searching for the great Oz in an effort to find out how to best invest in such a volatile environment -- too busy to blog in fact. The answer has...

Our Space, Their Space and MySpace -- A Paradigm for the Challenges of Going Global

Posted on December 20, 2007
Moving from one's home market into the realm of selling abroad presents a number of unique challenges, even for a company with the backing of a well capitalized conglomerate like News Corp and a dominant position in its domestic market....

What English Shop Stewards Understand About Global Business that Ford Motor Company May Not

Posted on November 23, 2007
It's hardly news that Ford Motor Company has been struggling along with the other US car makers. Actually, "struggling" is putting it mildly, having reported a net loss of $12.6 billion in 2006. As part of it's strategy to turn...

Do You Have a Long Tail Business?

Posted on November 20, 2007
I think the concept of the "long tail" is one of the most powerful business model descriptors to come along in some time. It's why Chris Anderson's book "The Long Tail: Why the Future of Business is Selling Less of...

If Wal-Mart Can't Impose a Global Standard, Can You?

Posted on October 10, 2007
Even as it faces new challenges to its business model, Wal-Mart remains an entity with considerable market power and global reach. As chronicled elsewhere in this blog, at $315 billion in sales (or gross company product if you will), if...

Micro-brews and Micro-markets -- Developing a Global Brand Portfolio

Posted on October 02, 2007
Sorry I'm late with a new post. Any baseball fans will appreciate the fact that I've been busy reveling in the monumental feat the Colorado Rockies have pulled off over the past 2 weeks, coming from nowhere to climb over...

Eirinn Go Brach -- Bridge to the EU

Posted on September 20, 2007
If you are a company whose products or services appeal to the wants and needs of businesses or consumers in a fully developed economy, then Europe has to be on your short list of new markets to explore. Although the...

Globalization, Change and Education -- What It Takes to Prosper in the 21st Century

Posted on September 12, 2007
In the US and most developed western countries we think of education in terms of math, science, history and literature. These are the tools necessary to understand and succeed in the secular world. It's easy to forget that not all...

LIBOR and National Funds Rates -- How the Globalization of Markets Displaces Politics and Governments

Posted on September 07, 2007
Between hedge funds and mutual funds and international M&A activity, markets for credit and debt instruments have gone global. As a result, what started as the sub-prime mortgage implosion in the U.S. has caused tightened credit across international financial markets...

Trade as an Agent of Positive Change - Viva La Revolution!

Posted on August 28, 2007
One of my favorite recurring themes on this blog has been the argument that robust and free international trade can do more to bring about positive political, social and economic change where such change is needed than all the diplomatic...

Opening a New Office -- Stay Focused and Breathe Deeply

Posted on August 21, 2007
Regular readers are wondering where I've been. The answer -- opening a new office along with all that entails including locating space, negotiating lease terms, hiring management staff, training new people and making sure they understand our company's culture, making...

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