Author: Buying locally isn’t always possible
Shaking the Globe by Blythe J. McGarvie
c.2009, Wiley
$21.95/$23.95 Canada
230 pages, includes index and notes

The car in your garage came from America – Detroit, all the way. However, the television on which you checked the weather this morning came mostly from Japan. Part of your lunch was raised on a farm in Mexico.

Several of your household appliances were manufactured in China. Your favorite sweater came from England.

So often, we’re urged to buy locally or nationally, but that isn’t always possible. It’s also probably not good for business, says author Blythe J. McGarvie, and in her new book Shaking the Globe, she discusses the future of work in a world economy.

The news is filled with daily reports of factory closings and job layoffs. Manufacturing is moving overseas, yet more than two-thirds of Americans want tighter restrictions on free trade. Are we heading for a global economy?

“For the past 50 years, Americans … have been accustomed to setting the standards of business for the rest of the world,” said McGarvie in the beginning of her book. But “… change is not only inevitable – it is already in rapid motion.”

Major corporations, of course, have been doing business abroad for some time. But you’re just a small operation. Can you still go global?

You must, said McGarvie. According to Goldman Sachs, businesses that can meet future challenges know, among other things, that globalization is critical. Start with courageous leadership.

Establish a presence in the emerging markets by looking for new opportunity, new capital and new talent. Understand that ignoring “Gen Y” workers is doing a disservice to your business. Likewise, know that you’ll have to adapt your business practices not only to reflect new cultures, but for the real possibility that you may have four generations of workers to meld into a team.

Recognize that women are a huge untapped labor source in other countries. Be on the lookout for entrepreneurs. Learn the proper way to communicate with overseas shareholders, and be willing to learn the expectations and cultures of the countries in which you’re expanding.

At first blush, Shaking the Globe is going to make a few people shake their fists. Not buying American is often blasphemous, but author Blythe J. McGarvie has some valid, well-considered points.
“If Americans want to buy products at cheap prices, they must endure having these products manufactured by cheap labor,” she said. She also points out that we need to remain open to a multicultural pool of diverse talent.

McGarvie also has some blood-curdling statistics: Chinese schools hand diplomas to about twice as many engineers as do American schools.

Within two generations, 97 percent of the global labor force will come from developing economies, yet our country limits the number of H-1B visas (meant for foreign professionals).

According to the World Economic Forum, the U.S. ranks 75th worldwide when it comes to macroeconomic stability.

Although occasionally dry, if you own a business or aim to own one someday and you want to know your future, Shaking the Globe is a good place to start. In today’s economy, why in the world read anything else?

Terri Schlichenmeyer has been reading since she was three years old and never goes anywhere without a book. She lives on a hill in Wisconsin with two dogs and 11,000 books. Readers with questions or comments may write to her in care of this publication.