Like many of their larger competitors, today's mid-market companies are beginning to focus on expanding their footprint. The economy is strengthening in a number of areas and based on recent indicators, confidence is increasing as well. One of the challenges, however, is that while the basic fundamentals of responsible business growth haven't changed, the landscape for technology and supply chain solutions has shifted remarkably since the manufacturing sector downturn in 2008-2009.
Reshoring is delivering wide-ranging benefits for an increasing number of U.S. manufacturers, who see it as a way to maintain (or regain) global competitiveness. According to the Reshoring Initiative, in 2003 about 140,000 jobs were lost to offshoring. In 2014, for the first time in two decades, the U.S. realized a net gain of 10,000 reshored jobs.
To build advantage, organizations must do more than just change. They must transform. As technology's role in business becomes ever more important, transformations will increasingly be underpinned by significant technology programs. In such technology-enabled transformations, IT leaders need two different strategies to ensure success.
As the pace of business accelerates and competition intensifies, companies in virtually all industries are confronting greater uncertainty and complexity. In the face of such challenges, HR has the potential to be a significant strategic asset by ensuring that companies have the human capital they need to compete and the ability to react fast to changing environments.
For manufacturers, Mexico is heating up. According to a recent survey from AlixPartners, 41 percent of manufacturing and distribution executives globally believe that bringing production back from overseas – a strategy known as nearshoring – is an opportunity for their organizations, and 86 percent of that group report that they have nearshored or expect to within the next few years.
Over the past few decades, the rise of emerging markets - initially as sources of cheap labor and then as rapidly growing consumer markets and centers of capital investment and innovation - has caused most companies of size and stature to enlarge their global ambitions. But despite this concerted push to globalize, few companies are ready to build and run truly global organizations and operations.
Foreign direct investment has never been more important in catalyzing growth, whether in the developed or developing world. Although equity markets around the world have largely recovered since the financial crisis, global capital flows have contracted sharply. The Milken Institute's Global Opportunity Index provides policy makers and investors vital information on policies that can best attract foreign direct investment, expand economies and accelerate job creation. The index is also a guide for countries seeking to improve their business environments and attract investors who commit long-term capital, rather than move it around as a fleeting portfolio tactic.
A robust improvement in consumption demand, generous government support, and rise in public sector infrastructure spending are expected to result in steady growth in the Middle East and Africa in 2015, according to a report from Frost & Sullivan.
Don't get left behind by more companies with more innovative and agile supply chains. Supply chain digitization is happening now. New networked technology platforms are co-evolving with new networked business models, together enabling companies to rapidly find, assess and integrate with trading partners in order to swiftly create and deliver unique and valuable products and services.
Despite a concerted push to expand their overseas presence in recent decades, few companies are ready to build and run truly global organizations and operations, according to a survey of executives conducted jointly by The Boston Consulting Group and IMD business school.