Over the next several years, virtually any global company's success will depend on its willingness to reorient its view of the world map. This attitudinal--and longitudinal--shift will have enormous ramifications for business leaders, employees, and customers alike. Here's one perspective on ways to prepare and put yourself in the best position to succeed in this new environment.
For some five decades, multinationals have been living in an era that might be called "Global 1.0." From this predominantly Western vantage point, many emerging markets are perceived as sitting at the map's outer edges. They're seen primarily as sources of cheap labor to mass-produce inexpensive consumer goods and, secondarily, as fertile markets for expansion and growth.
Through such a lens, the design of goods and services is guided by a minority of the world's citizens: those in the West. Business ideas and innovations come solely from the developed world and flow in one direction toward the developing world. This built-in bias thwarts companies from discovering creativity, culture, content, and ideas from the developing world that can create value--and command market premiums.
Source: CIO Today, http://www.cio-today.com