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Win-at-all-cost mentality doesn't work in flat world
By Michael R. Czinkota and Eva Y. Tang |
September 4, 2012, Tuesday
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Print Edition
Print Edition
THE recent Olympics presented some interesting perspectives on competition: How do we find out who is actually winning? Is performance to be measured by wealth (medals), by leadership (Gold only) or by industry competitiveness (e.g. gymnastics)? Should the progress over time play a major role, or the number of winners as a proportion of population?
In business terms, the expression "ompetitiveness" is viewed differently by different parties.
For example, for a firm, competitiveness means expansion, growth and profits. Whether any of these originate in or outside of a "home" country plays a secondary role.
When governments assess the competitiveness issue, the search is for employment growth, wide income distribution and tax revenue, and location is important for all of them.
Individuals, in turn, think mainly about whether or not they will keep their jobs and have their standard of living increase. For them, location is not just one thing, it is the only thing.
Sport contests reflect capability, enjoyment and the creation of goodwill, but there are other facets as well.
Performance on the sports field can affect and even transform the national spirit. It is hard to forget the national triumphant feeling in the United States in 1980 when the US ice hockey team beat the (former) Soviet Union. The Americans were massive underdogs in the game and the victory became known as the "Miracle on Ice."
International sports performance can also be a political gesture and a test of national virtue. For example, about four decades ago when US President Richard Nixon and the US ping pong team visited China, the US-Sino relationship was officially established.
At that time, China was considered an emerging economy and Chinese excellence in a rather narrow sport was not seen as significant.
Now, although the US is still the largest economy in the world, China is catching up and China's teams receive global attention. Its economy is the second largest in the world and its market is the US' third largest export destination, after Canada and Mexico.
The composition of trade between the two countries, just like the composition of the winning teams at the Olympics, has changed and demonstrated that the two economies have become more integrated than expected.
Most important market
In fact, China is the only nation which imports US products at the level US President Obama envisioned in 2009 when he postulated that US exports should double in five years.
US top exports to China are some agricultural crops, but also electronic and mechanical appliances, chemicals, and transportation equipment such as automobiles and airplanes. China is General Motors's most important market. When China imports those manufactured goods, it assembles them and then ships them to other markets around the world, including to the US market.
If China's exports drop, the demand for US goods will drop, leading to a slower growth of US exports (like the participation of fewer athletes in the Olympics makes for less interesting games).
It seems that policy decisions were more easily made when China was still a third-world country and the US' leading position was not challenged.
With China moving up the scale economically and politically, there is the temptation to view China as a potential threat and adversary.
However, just like the Olympic rivalry for medals, the issue to argue over should not be who has the largest overall GDP, or who exports more to whom.
The world economy is becoming increasingly integrated, and we should not look for development and leadership in all fields, but rather in fields of specific capabilities and advantages. Just as with the Olympic Games, it doesn't matter who wins the largest number of medals; what matters is that preparation and training, competitive encounters, and excellence can lead to a more inspired and better world.
Professor Michael Czinkota teaches international marketing and business at Georgetown University in Washington DC. Eva Yangzi Tang is a graduate student and research assistant at the university. Shanghai Daily condensed the article.
In business terms, the expression "ompetitiveness" is viewed differently by different parties.
For example, for a firm, competitiveness means expansion, growth and profits. Whether any of these originate in or outside of a "home" country plays a secondary role.
When governments assess the competitiveness issue, the search is for employment growth, wide income distribution and tax revenue, and location is important for all of them.
Individuals, in turn, think mainly about whether or not they will keep their jobs and have their standard of living increase. For them, location is not just one thing, it is the only thing.
Sport contests reflect capability, enjoyment and the creation of goodwill, but there are other facets as well.
Performance on the sports field can affect and even transform the national spirit. It is hard to forget the national triumphant feeling in the United States in 1980 when the US ice hockey team beat the (former) Soviet Union. The Americans were massive underdogs in the game and the victory became known as the "Miracle on Ice."
International sports performance can also be a political gesture and a test of national virtue. For example, about four decades ago when US President Richard Nixon and the US ping pong team visited China, the US-Sino relationship was officially established.
At that time, China was considered an emerging economy and Chinese excellence in a rather narrow sport was not seen as significant.
Now, although the US is still the largest economy in the world, China is catching up and China's teams receive global attention. Its economy is the second largest in the world and its market is the US' third largest export destination, after Canada and Mexico.
The composition of trade between the two countries, just like the composition of the winning teams at the Olympics, has changed and demonstrated that the two economies have become more integrated than expected.
Most important market
In fact, China is the only nation which imports US products at the level US President Obama envisioned in 2009 when he postulated that US exports should double in five years.
US top exports to China are some agricultural crops, but also electronic and mechanical appliances, chemicals, and transportation equipment such as automobiles and airplanes. China is General Motors's most important market. When China imports those manufactured goods, it assembles them and then ships them to other markets around the world, including to the US market.
If China's exports drop, the demand for US goods will drop, leading to a slower growth of US exports (like the participation of fewer athletes in the Olympics makes for less interesting games).
It seems that policy decisions were more easily made when China was still a third-world country and the US' leading position was not challenged.
With China moving up the scale economically and politically, there is the temptation to view China as a potential threat and adversary.
However, just like the Olympic rivalry for medals, the issue to argue over should not be who has the largest overall GDP, or who exports more to whom.
The world economy is becoming increasingly integrated, and we should not look for development and leadership in all fields, but rather in fields of specific capabilities and advantages. Just as with the Olympic Games, it doesn't matter who wins the largest number of medals; what matters is that preparation and training, competitive encounters, and excellence can lead to a more inspired and better world.
Professor Michael Czinkota teaches international marketing and business at Georgetown University in Washington DC. Eva Yangzi Tang is a graduate student and research assistant at the university. Shanghai Daily condensed the article.
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