cool global BIZ

BOOKS: Fusion Entrepreneurs: Cross-Cultural Execs & Companies Revolutionizing the Global Economy by Edward Iwata

 

Updated Sept. 2012:  Fusion Entrepreneurs: Cross-Cultural Execs & Companies Revolutionizing the Global Economy, a new e-book by award-winning American journalist Edward Iwata, can be found at Amazon's Kindle Store, Apple's iTunes and iBookstore, Barnes & Noble, Diesel eBookStore, Kobo, Mark Coker's Smashwords, the Sony Reader Store, and other e-book retail and library channels.*  Fusion Entrepreneurs is distributed by Smashwords, an independent e-book distributor in Silicon Valley.  Thank you for reading and supporting all digital and traditional authors, bookstores, and publishers.  Readers keep our craft alive.  

 

(Cover art by Edel Rodriguez, an acclaimed Cuban American artist/illustrator whose work can be found in the Smithsonian Institution, private galleries, the New Yorker, Time magazine and the New York Times.)

 

* Note:  If you're new to e-books, ideally you'll need an e-reader device or tablet (an Amazon Kindle, a Barnes & Noble Nook, an Apple iPad, etc.) from your favorite e-book retailer. Or you can download free reading "apps" (small software applications) from the stores right into most laptops, desktop computers, and mobile devices.  This will let you read e-books bought from those stores.  Like anything else, this is only confusing the first time for non-techies.  After you get hooked, it's smooth as butter.

 

Corporate Patriotism: Are U.S.-based Multinationals Loyal to America?

 

"Wall Street" by Stuck in Customs (Trey Ratcliff), under a Creative Commons license on flickr. Lot of super-talented photogs on flickr, including this dude, Trey Ratcliff, based in Austin, Texas, U.S.A.

ANOTHER HYDRA-HEADED ISSUE with no right or wrong answer, no easy resolution. Are U.S.-based multinationals obligated to keep as many jobs, facilities, vendors, and financial resources in America as they possibly can? Even mega-minds such as Laura Tyson are juggling the tough topic, trying to find a common middle ground. (See links below.) 

A New Era of Global Culture, Spirituality & Compassionate Business

 

CoolGlobalBiz is an independent, non-partisan blog that explores the cross-border fusion of culture, spirituality and compassionate business. Every few generations, we're rocked by economic and cultural upheaval, from the Industrial Age to the Information Age. Now we're at the cusp of another major epoch, an era of quickening change, innovation and cultural diversity. The seasons are turning, turning. For better and worse, the new world is here.

This blog was founded in 2009 by Edward Iwata, a California-based journalist, former USA Today business writer and author of the e-book novella The Billionaire's Gift: A Spiritual Business Parable and the business e-book Fusion Entrepreneurs: Cross-Cultural Execs & Companies Revolutionizing the Global Economy. Thanks very much for reading.

Email: Info "at symbol" CoolGlobalBiz.com.

Twitter: "at symbol" EdwardIwata.

"Tower of Babel" by Peter Brueghel the Elder, from Wikimedia Commons under a Creative Commons license.

 

Listen Up, Execs and Shareholders: Corporate Philanthropy is Good for Business

 

EXCELLENT POST ON the business case for corporate philanthropy, penned by Matteo Tonello, director of corporate governance at The Conference Board. This is no puffy, feel-good analysis.  In "Making the Business Case for Corporate Philanthropy" on the Harvard Law School Forum blog, Tonello breaks it down and cites how corporations, shareholders and executives can gain from charitable giving. Tonello writes that his post is partly based on earlier Conference Board research and an academic paper, "Is Doing Good Good for You? How Corporate Charitable Contributions Enhance Revenue Growth," by Baruch Lev of New York University's Stern School of Business, Christine Petrovitz of George Washington University and Suresh Radhakrishnan of the University of Texas' School of Management.

Photo above: "Charity" by ContemplativeChristian (no real name given), under a Creative Commons license on flickr.

 

CoolGlobalBiz, August 25, 2011

 

Of Market Manias, Financial Crises and Charles Kindleberger, or Why Can't We Get the Shit Right?

 

WHEN I FIRST started writing about business scandals and related topics, for a quick grounding I studied several first-rate business books, including  Den of Thieves by James Stewart, Barbarians at the Gate by Bryan Burrough and John Helyar, The Money Machine by Sarah Bartlett, and others. For a run-and-gun lesson on market meltdowns and bubbles, the 1978 classic Manias, Panics, and Crashes: A History of Financial Crises by Charles Kindleberger was invaluable to a young journalist. Kindleberger, a late MIT economics professor and an architect of the post-World War II Marshall Plan, looked at financial disasters throughout history, from coin devaluation during the ancient Roman Empire to reckless lending by banks to Third World countries in the 1970s.

(Photo, above) The late MIT economist Charles P. Kindleberger. Photo courtesy of the Harry S. Truman Library & Museum and the National Archives and Research Administration.

Of Market Manias, Financial Crises and Charles Kindleberger, or Why Can't We Get the Shit Right?

 

CoolGlobalBiz, April 27, 2011

WHEN I FIRST started writing about business scandals and related topics, for a quick grounding I studied several first-rate business books, including  Den of Thieves by James Stewart, Barbarians at the Gate by Bryan Burrough and John Helyar, The Money Machine by Sarah Bartlett, and others. For a run-and-gun lesson on market meltdowns and bubbles, the 1978 classic Manias, Panics, and Crashes: A History of Financial Crises by Charles Kindleberger was invaluable to a young journalist. Kindleberger, a late MIT economics professor and an architect of the post-World War II Marshall Plan, looked at financial disasters throughout history, from coin devaluation during the ancient Roman Empire to reckless lending by banks to Third World countries in the 1970s.

(Photo, above) The late MIT economist Charles P. Kindleberger. Photo courtesy of the Harry S. Truman Library & Museum and the National Archives and Research Administration.

  

A Golden Age or Gloomy Era of Globalization? -- World Economic Forum's Global Risk Report

 

 

"Global Warming" by db (Dave Burnham), under a Creative Commons license on flickr.

 

CoolGlobalBiz, Jan. 14, 2011

WE'RE AT A global turning point, with forces that are converging and diverging at a frightening pace. Or, as the World Economic Forum and risk-management companies have found in a new "Global Risks 2011" report, we face "a 21st century paradox: as the world grows together, it is also growing apart  . . . Globalization has generated sustained economic growth for a generation. It has shrunk and reshaped the world, making it far more interconnected and interdependent. But the benefits of globalization seem unevenly spread – a minority is seen to have harvested a disproportionate amount of the fruits." Not your pleasant bed-time reading. Among the greatest threats to global growth and stability:

  

• Economic disparity and the worsening gap between rich and poor countries and peoples.
  
  
• Complex and difficult global governance on all issues, from trade to climate change.
  
  
• The $1.3 trillion "illegal economy," including corruption, organized crime and other black market activities.
  
  
• "Macroeconomic imbalances," or economic risks such as trade and savings imbalances, currency volatility and fiscal crises.
  
  
• Shortages of water, food and energy that could lead to social and political conflict and irreversible environmental damage.
  
  

Source: World Economic Forum, "Global Risks 2011" co-edited by Kristel Van der Elst and Nicholas Davis.

 

CoolGlobalBiz: SEC Commissioner Luis Aguilar Calls for More Diverse Corporate Boards

 

SECURITIES ENFORCERS usually file civil suits and bust heads on Wall Street. But here's a recent talk by Luis Aguilar, a commissioner at the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, on the dire need for more culturally diverse corporate boards in the United States.  ("Diversity in the Boardroom is Important and, Unfortunately, Still Rare.")  The global diversity genie long ago escaped the lamp, and our economy will never turn back to the earlier smokestack era, when the world was ruled by old-school executives and Big Auto, Big Steel and Big Oil in America.  This has nothing to do with political correctness (the term sounds so archaic now), and everything to do with the relentless march of demographics, commerce and culture. To stay vibrant and relevant, our businesses and politics must reflect the world. Why, even Ann Coulter is calling for gay Republicans to come out, come out, wherever they are.

Luis Aguilar, commissioner at the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.  Photo courtesy of the SEC.

 

• Stanford Law School, "Diversity on Corporate Boards: How Much Difference Does Difference Make?" by Deborah Rhode and Amanda K. Packel.


• Alliance for Board Diversity, "Women and Minorities on Fortune 100 Boards."


• U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commmission, "Diversity in the Finance Industry."

 

May 7

• Harvard Law School blogs, "An Update on Diversity and Financial Literacy" by Luis Aguilar.


 

Modest Global Progress for Women on Boards, Says Governance Metrics International

IT'S PROGRESS, I guess.  Recent data from GMI, a corporate-governance research firm in New York City, shows "a modest overall increase" in women on 4,200 corporate boards globally, rising to 9.4% this year from 9.2% in 2009.   (Governance Metrics International, "Women on Boards: A Statistical Review by Country, Supersector and Sector.")  The industries with the highest percentage of companies with at least one woman director?  Utilities (74%), retail (71 %) and media (71%). The worst industries?  Basic resources (40%), autos and parts (40%) and construction and materials (45%).

(Photo, above) "On The Leash" by thorinside, under a Creative Commons license on flickr.com.

Most corporate boards are slow to change, according to Howard Sherman, executive director of GMI.  But Sherman says it's inevitable that board composition will evolve "to better reflect the diverse makeup of corporate customers, suppliers, employees and investors."  Given rapid change and the increasingly complex business climate, company boards cannot sit still.  "To be most effective, today’s board of directors should include a variety of perspectives," Sherman says. "In this light we see board diversity as a real company asset."

Women can run ultramarathons, fly in Space Shuttles, rule on the highest courts -- but they can't sit in boardrooms to play watchdog over a few companies?  Not even the lousy businesses that cry out for more oversight?  Phew, still a long way to go.  What wise companies will tap into that vast talent pool out there?  It's like a pro sports league ignoring half of the athletes on the market.

"Lady of Justice" by Damon Duncan, under a Creative Commons license on flickr.com.

• Directorship.com, "Finally, Global Data on Women Directors" by Elizabeth Ghaffari, founder of consulting firm Technology Place and Champion Boards.
• Time.com, "Boardroom Revolution" by Bruce Crumley.
• Mutual Fund Directors Forum, "Women on Boards."

Bribery in Rich and Poor Countries Still Costs the Global Economy A Sweet $1 Trillion

THE GLOBAL ECONOMY still gets greased by $1 trillion a year in bribes, according to World Bank figures cited by U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder in a speech Monday in Paris, France.  (U.S. Justice Department, "Attorney General Holder Delivers Remarks at the Organisation for Economic Co-Operation and Development.")  Holder said that corruption hurts democracy, financial markets, rule of law -- and especially foreign investment, which in effect gets walloped by a 20% "tax" from the costs of corruption.  The OECD hopes to persuade more countries to sign on to its anti-bribery standards.  But there's a long way to go, as many nations still accept bribery as common business practice and have yet to prosecute white-collar criminals for bribery.