If you’re new here, you may want to subscribe to my RSS feed. Thanks for visiting!Here are examples of the worst international business strategies we’ve seen.
• Follow the client — How many times do we talk to firms that decide to enter a market because their client is doing so? What happens if you [...]

Many firms are rushing to get their products and services overseas ‹ giving rise to charlatans who try to take advantage of the situation. Trading companies and consultants materialize that seem to be able to fix anything for you overseas.
Here are some telltale signs of fakes and frauds:
“I know everyone in China”
China has quite [...]

About the time the Soviet Union broke up (1992) every American of Russian heritage decided that they would trade with Russia. Of course, no one seemed to have any money to purchase products, so they offered a “barter deal” or a “consignment deal” The idea of consignment is that the US ships the goods [...]

The closing of American factories and the rising trade deficit with China isn’t enough. The latest spate of recalls from Chinese toy factories has led to a new era of “China Bashing.” You may remember that a similar term, “Japan Bashing,” was used in the 1980s. Someone needed to be blamed for the high trade [...]

The Colorado Rockies are in the World Series. It’s a time of joy for Rockies’ fans and all of Colorado.
While we all can and should enjoy the celebration of our local heroes, think about how other cultures and countries might perceive our enthusiasm. Such knowledge is useful to the international negotiator, as it will [...]

Many languages have a masculine and a feminine form. The feminine form is usually more indirect

When marketing a product or service internationally, a host of marketing issues come to mind. These issues are separate from staff, legal, technology, and product issues
Let’s look at the categories of marketing issues a firm may encounter when marketing and selling abroad.
Market Research: Understanding Buyers/Competitors/Market Forces
Is the market organized, can you find information? Where are [...]

With more and more international deals being conducted in English, the need for professional interpreters seems to be less relevant. Nothing could be further from the truth. We are seeing more inexperienced people being thrown into negotiations than ever before. And even if our foreign will speak English with us, having an interpreter present [...]