In The News

Government Approval Not Enough, Businesses Need Social License

John Morrison October 21, 2014
Globalization drives business deals around the globe along with keen new awareness about social, environmental and other consequences of development. Best business practice now demands consent of the local people, suggests John Morrison, author of The Social License: How to Keep Your Organization Legitimate. The need for such pacts began with oil and mining projects to prevent costly delays and...

China's Tech Factories Turn to Student Labor

Eva Dou September 30, 2014
Chinese factories that assemble electronics for high-tech firms or their suppliers rely heavily on student interns from vocational schools for labor, reports Eva Dou for the Wall Street Journal. Some students claim they must work 12-hour shifts, six days a week, for three months to a year as a condition of graduation. "China has traditionally relied on migrant workers to man factories in...

Internet Power Balance Tilts Toward Asia

Eva Duo, Juro Osawa and Wayne Ma September 22, 2014
The initial public offering from Alibaba Group Holding, Ltd., China’s largest e-commerce company, demonstrates a shift of technological and market dominance towards Asia, suggests an article in the Wall Street Journal. With Alibaba hitting the market, four of the top 10 most highly valued web companies in the world are based in Asia, the others being Baidu, JD.com and Tencent Holdings. Nearly...

Match Speech With Action

Nayan Chanda September 8, 2014
Political leaders understand what their countries must do to compete in global markets and create sustainable economies over the long term. Education systems must prepare students with a skill set – reading for understanding complicated directions and to conduct research; math, critical thinking and analysis for problem solving of all types; confidence to sell goods or speak out on challenges to...

Beijing Puts Hong Kong Business on Alert

Chris Dodd September 1, 2014
Hong Kong will have elections in 2017, but voters must select from candidates approved by China. Protesters plan to target the financial district. “Beijing’s intransigence and protesters’ plans to bring traffic in Hong Kong’s streets to a standstill are a threat to the city’s reputation as a stable financial centre,” writes Chris Dodd for AsiaFinance. Credit agencies and banks have issued...

Tiny Sellers Can Now Reach Across the Globe

Marcus Wohlsen August 29, 2014
Online distributors like Amazon allow tiny businesses to market their products across the globe – and deliver within a few days. “In 2006, Amazon launched a service that allowed US sellers to use its network of warehouses to ship their goods,” reports Marcus Wohlsen for Wired. Now the company has started a program called Fulfillment. “Merchants in the US who want to expand globally can list their...

Companies Fear Radical Turn in Argentina

Benedict Mander August 25, 2014
Argentina has defaulted on its bonds twice since 2001. The country had settled with most bondholders, but the terms of some loans required disputes settled in US courts. A US judge sided with the minority, ruling that Argentina could not avoid the holdouts. A defiant Argentina swiftly responded with a swap plan to continue paying most creditors, but not the holdouts. Foreign firms doing business...