Manufacturers in Business Ecosystems: Who Drank My Milkshake?
In the 2007 movie There Will Be Blood, a character explains how directional drilling can drain the oil reservoir under someone else’s land. “I drink your milkshake!” he proclaims, to the dismay of the character whose oil profits have vanished. With similar dismay,...
Don’t Be a Sitting Duck!
The industry in which you compete may not emerge from this pandemic the way it entered. Some industries may undergo structural change (e.g., healthcare: telemedicine and long term care, travel, tourism, etc.) while in others the required adaptations will be less...
Hitting RESTART After the Pandemic
While companies around the globe are thinking about how to restart normal operations, the initial focus will undoubtedly be tactical. Forward-looking leadership teams will realize that now is the time to re-think their company’s business strategy to maximize...
Manufacturing Strategy in Today’s Volatile Trade Environment
Brexit, TPP, NAFTA’s evolution, China’s Belt & Road initiative (and others) are disrupting traditional WTO-based trading and offer opportunities. Both manufacturers and companies that rely on them (e.g. Apple) need to adjust to an emerging environment of volatile...
Regional blocs, or proprietary trading blocs?
The EU appears to be trying to build a “proprietary trading bloc” to advantage members and disadvantage outsiders. In such a trading arrangement, the bloc is dominated by a leading member, and can be used in mercantilist contests against other major economies. Read more on
Is the global open trade regime collapsing into regional blocs?
Richard Baldwin, President of the Centre for Economic Policy Research, has argued that “regional trade liberalisation [is sweeping] the globe like wildfire”. Preferential trade agreements (PTAs) have increased from 20 in 1990 to close to 300 today. This has become a...