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In this article, the authors discuss why the West still doesn't "get" China. They begin by discussing how multinational companies tend to manage China from the outside (Hong Kong and Singapore are close but not close enough). They also point out that the Chinese locals are becoming increasingly capable players and, therefore, more competitive.

Less visible reasons why companies languish in China are equally important. Most of these center on cultural differences. When conducting business in China, for example, foreigners want to believe that yes means yes, that the promised warehouse or factory is a pristine technological marvel, and that the resources and capabilities are more than implied-they are up and running. Although the truth is usually far from the reality, it is not because of any trickery; it is because we have not figured out how to read between the lines in China.

In exploring the nuances of cultural differences that continue to stump western companies, the authors offer ways to overcome miscommunications and create solid, successful relationships in China. The key lesson? With a new mindset, the East and West can get along.

"Unsatisfactory" is the word that best describes the contemporary debate over globalization. There seems to be a consensus that globalization - whether economic, political, cultural, or environmental - is defined by increasing levels of interdependence over vast distances. But few people have undertaken the task of actually trying to measure those levels of interdependence. For instance, how do we determine the extent to which a country has become embedded within the global economy? How do we demonstrate that globalization is racing ahead, rather than just limping along? And how do we know just how worldwide the World Wide Web has become?

With this challenge in mind, we present the A.T. Kearney/FOREIGN POLICY Magazine Globalization Index TM, which offers a comprehensive guide to globalization in 50 developed countries and key emerging markets worldwide. The Globalization Index "reverse-engineers" globalization and breaks it down into its most important component parts. On a country-by-country basis, it quantifies the level of personal contact across national borders by combining data on international travel, international phone calls, and cross-border remittances and other transfers. It charts the World Wide Web by assessing not only its growing number of users, but also the number of Internet hosts and secure servers through which they communicate, find information, and conduct business transactions.

The Globalization Index also measures economic integration. It tracks the movements of goods and services by examining the changing share of international trade in each country's economy, and it measures the permeability of national borders through the convergence of domestic and international prices. The index also tracks the movements of money by tabulating inward- and outward-directed foreign investment and portfolio capital flows, as well as income payments and receipts.

While many IT organizations claim to focus on the customer, few actually do. To provide guidance, A.T. Kearney developed an innovative framework called the "IT Front Office Model" that applies world-class sales, marketing and product development processes to the IT organization. In this model, the IT organization delivers valued services and products to its customers at a lower cost by building better relationships and focusing its efforts on a core portfolio of offerings.

The easy days of the pure SBU are gone as the world continues to turn into a modular one of cross-unit synergies, outsourcing and strategic alliances. This rotation means more companies must perform a balancing act-breaking apart value chains while still making sure the new interfaces fit with the corporate strategy.

The Globalization Ledger™ offers a comprehensive analysis of global economic integration in 34 countries that comprise more than three-quarters of the world's gross domestic product (GDP). Using a unique statistical gauge, the study ranks countries based upon the scope and pace of their integration with the world economy, then analyzes how they have fared against a range of social and economic indicators, including political freedom, air and water pollution, and rates of economic growth. By quantifying these abstract ideas, the study helps to illuminate important policy questions related to globalization in as empirical and non-ideological way as possible.

Edtior's Note: this is an excellent report...

see also A.T. Kearney's "Measuring Globalization" at
http://www.mbadepot.com/redir.php?ID=866&file=links

and the EBF article by Jean-Jacques Lambin, "The benefits of globalisation" at
http://www.ebfonline.com/main_feat/trends/trends.asp?id=231

Sustaining a start-up in the digital economy is a delicate balancing act that requires taking into account the perspectives of a variety of stakeholders, including customers, suppliers, shareholders, investors, competitors, government and other entities. The goal of a start-up executive should be to create a business model that attains a stable state between all of these dimensions and adapts to changing times. Pricing strategy requires a similar balance between three primary elements: the business objectives of the start-up, how much a customer is willing to pay for the value delivered, and how much a supplier is willing to pay. Pricing that has been added as a feature to a start-up business plan after the fact, without taking into account what the customers are willing to pay for, may lead to a failed business. But a pricing strategy that is acceptable to customers and also meets business plan expectations is the cornerstone to a start-up's success in the digital economy.

A number of factors, ranging from outside forces such as excessive competition to internal issues including the way the company adapts its business processes to take advantage of "e," will determine whether a company's investment in a net market pays off. But there's good news here. Our client work shows that internal, controllable factors play a huge role in the end result. And of all the internal variables, one of the most important is also one of the most manageable: the fit between the net market's offerings and the participating company's strategic objectives. Companies that are already part of a net market can help enhance this fit by playing an active role in choosing the net market's products and services; companies that are still evaluating their options can use fit as a key criterion.

This paper offers a framework to help executives involved in a net market's operations shape and prioritize both e-market offerings and the individual products and services to be integrated into them. It also provides a means of evaluating competing e-markets by assessing the fit between the e-market's potential value and the individual company's needs. By balancing the operational consid-erations discussed in this paper against strategic considerations, executives can extract maximum benefit from their company's participation in net markets.

This paper presents A.T. Kearney's perspective on the importance of asset productivity. It begins with an in-depth discussion on how good asset performance can increase shareholder value, drive profitable growth, help smooth an M&A and impel cost leadership. We then outline a three-dimensional approach to improving asset productivity. Rather than a typical patchwork-quilt solution, the approach is all-inclusive-looking at all aspects of the global firm; across sales, operations planning, operational efficiency and asset structures. Finally, within the approach is a discussion of best practices to enable companies to get higher productivity from existing assets and rationalize excess capacity - thereby helping to improve overall costs and aligning industry capacity with demand.

"Why is there such an intense focus on customer relationship management, or CRM? The simple (yet highly compelling) reason: profits. Study after study reveals a proven link between how effectively a company interacts with its customers and its financial performance. As a result, spending on CRM initiatives has soared. Yet more money spent does not connote more or better results.

In this paper, we lay out the facts about customer relationship management-what CRM is, what it is not, and what its future could hold for most businesses. We begin with a proposed change in thinking, asking executives to take a lifecycle view of a CRM implementation, much like a product lifecycle, that is fluid and able to change as customers' needs and desires change."

As markets become more global, organizations face the daunting task of coordinating goals, actions and resources in order to function as one company. The mantra, "think global, act local," challenges organizations to be more centralized-to leverage size and scale-while simultaneously being more decentralized and able to react to local demands and markets. The need to operate globally but act locally has spawned a flurry of organizational restructurings. The structure of choice among CEOs is the matrix.

The matrix is a grid-like organizational structure that allows a company to address multiple business dimensions using various command structures. The matrix is a far superior organizational structure, particularly when compared to a simple hierarchical structure. However, the matrix is also plagued by weaknesses. It is complex and unpredictable. It violates all of the principles of authority and thereby tends to breed ambiguity and conflict. The matrix also requires more managerial and administrative support at a time when companies are cutting back on these skills. Rarely, in fact, is a solution so flawed. How is it, then, that organizational structures are preferred over more simple organizational structures? Because, when the matrix is properly implemented it is a powerful tool that helps reduce complexity. The secret to success is to build on its strengths while managing its weaknesses.

A new computing paradigm known as web services is quickly gathering momentum in enterprise IT. Web services represent an emerging model for developing and deploying enterprise software applications that promises to fundamentally change not only the way companies build and deploy software, but also how they communicate with their partners and customers.

This increased flexibility emerges because web services will likely change the fundamental cost structure of enterprise application integration (EAI).

Still, notwithstanding the enthusiasm and the major investments in product development made by software vendors, the deployment of web services is very much in its infancy, and many questions remain: What are the practical implications for early adopters? What problems can web services help solve today? What are the first steps?

Is it time to add wireless access to your employees' desktops? Such a loaded question is inevitably answered with some head shaking and hand wringing from business-technology managers. For some, wireless has been a priority since the early 1990s. But even for companies without a strategic need--without a single application around which to rally a wireless strategy--wireless technologies can still offer modest productivity gains that are worthwhile.

Editor's Note: for more on wi-fi wireless technology and its impact, see the A.T. Kearney article, "How Wireless Changes the Way We Work: Tracking Disruption"
http://www.atkearney.com/main.taf?p=5,3,1,76

"Sports organizations are in a race to identify new, nontraditional revenue streams that are both profitable and sustainable over the long term. This race is complicated by a constantly shifting finish line and a barrage of new challenges and questions: How do I attract the global fan? Is there a way to draw high-value fans to the stadium without losing my traditional fans? Is the Internet simply a tool for dispensing information or could it be another channel for generating revenue? How can I give sponsors a more accurate picture of their investment? Is there real money in women's sports?

In this paper, the first in a series about the sports industry, we tackle these questions and more. Based on both our work with global sports organizations and industry research, it offers the A.T. Kearney perspective on the changing sports industry."

NASA's mission control room serves as the inspiration for A.T. Kearney's organizational approach to managing multiple business-unit companies: the Visible Process Organization (VPO) Framework.

The VPO builds on a company's existing organizational structure and creates a new unit similar to the mission control room. The framework is designed to bring together key players in key businesses for decision-making and, at the same time, allow each business to remain independent. This means the VPO Framework can be applied to all existing management and organizational approaches. There is no need to change the entire organizational structure.

As this paper describes, the VPO Framework enables continuous incorporation of the latest information, manages complex systems, and ensures easy access to expertise and required resources. Additionally, it fosters communication, promotes trust and team building, and deepens the understanding of cross-functional challenges.