Trends & Forecasts

President Enrique Peña Nieto has managed to enlist the backing of both the conservative PAN and the left-leaning PRD for the reform agenda of his PRI administration. The unprecedented tripartite alliance, dubbed the “Pact for Mexico,” has agreed to steer a total of 95 reform initiatives through the 500-member Chamber of Deputies, and has already […]

Although the number of deals increased, the value of mergers and acquisitions (M&As) in China in 2012 decreased in line with global trends. Chinese M&A volume remained small at approximately 5 percent of total global activity, while more than two thirds of the transactions were domestic. There were large differences across sectors, with important activity […]

July 8th marked the official commencement of the much anticipated Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership negotiations in Washington, DC. An eventual agreement could eliminate tariffs and curb superfluous rules and regulations that impede commerce and raise costs for businesses and consumers in the world’s largest economies. Those prospects make the effort worthy of our attention...

President Park Geun-hye has suffered a number of political setbacks since taking office in February. This includes the forced withdrawal of four prospective Cabinet nominees from consideration owing to various transgressions or questionable affiliations, allegations that agents of the National Intelligence Service engaged in illegal political activity on behalf of Park’s presidential campaign, and accusations […]

Just one year since his triumph in the 2012 election, French President Francois Hollande is struggling to reverse the collapse of popular support. His abandonment of key planks of the Socialist platform has contributed to a sense of betrayal among his left-leaning base, while the government’s lack of action on key structural reforms has fostered […]

The Bangladesh coalition government led by Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina Wazed’s AL remains broadly stable. It also maintains a narrow lead over the opposition BNP in opinion polls despite weeks of labor unrest and political violence that have begun to take a toll on the economy. AL’s attempts to enhance its electoral advantage by rallying […]

The power struggle at the top of the Communist Party of Vietnam (CPV) appears to have been resolved sufficiently to reduce the risk of an open rift in the regime. Nevertheless, Prime Minister Nguyen Van Dung has been weakened in the process. In addition, he still faces serious challenges in the form of a stalling […]

In a series of lawsuits spanning 10 countries over three plus years, technology giants Apple Inc. and Samsung Group have been fighting a high stakes international patent war. The heart of this and other patent wars revolves primarily around the infringement of technology patents used in both smart phones and tablet devices.

On February 13, 2013, the White House announced that the United States and the European Union would begin negotiations on a free trade agreement (FTA) with the hope of reaching a deal by late 2014. The declared goal is to achieve duty-free trade on industrial and agricultural products, with certain exceptions.

If you’re like many manufacturing and distribution executives, you recognize that exporting can play a compelling role in an organization’s business strategy. There’s a broad consensus among CEOs that exporting is a good idea and there’s a fair amount of evidence that a successful export program enhances an organization’s economic growth and sustainability.

Voters went to the polls in February, and the electorate’s rejection of the austerity program carried out by a technocratic regime backed by both of the main political parties resulted in a hung parliament. The anti-euro Five Star Movement, headed by irreverent comedian Beppe Grillo, made a stunning third-place finish.

A special election was held in mid-April to fill the presidential vacancy created by the death of Hugo Chávez in early March. Chávez’s hand-picked successor, Nicolas Maduro, was heavily favored to defeat the joint opposition candidate, Henrique Capriles. However, Maduro won by less than two percentage points, compared to Chávez’s nearly 11-point margin of victory […]

Despite a series of potentially damaging scandals, President Barack Obama continues to enjoy a positive net approval rating for his overall job performance and is viewed more favorably than the leaders of the opposition Republican Party on his handling of most issues of greatest concern to voters. Approval of Obama’s management of the economy, although […]

Three factors hold great potential for American firms wishing to profit from the flow of hundreds of millions of Chinese investment dollars entering the American private sector annually through the Employment Based Fifth Preference (EB-5) Visa Program, also known as the Immigrant Investor Program. These factors include expertise in investment risk analysis, ROI calculation, and […]

<p>After thirty years in the leadership business, first as an executive and then as a leadership consultant, I am frequently asked ‘What makes a leader great?’ I’ve had years to observe and correlate competencies and behaviors to leadership effectiveness. While many competencies are essential, one that comes before all others is self-awareness.</p>

The landmark victory of the DPJ in 2009 promised a fresh start after five decades of the LDP political dominance. But the party failed to live up to expectations, and went down to defeat at an early election that was held in December 2012 against a backdrop of growing economic pessimism. The LDP’s victory capped [&hellip;]

Iran is preparing for a presidential election. It is assumed that the clerical establishment headed by Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei will use the substantial power at its disposal to guard against a repeat of the domestic upheaval that erupted in the aftermath of the 2009 contest. Nevertheless, the next president’s power will be limited.

One of the hottest topics among people interested in either international trade or manufacturing is the apparent trend in backshoring: moving manufacturing back to the United States from abroad. This is exactly the opposite of the offshoring trend that took hold more than 20 years ago and resulted in the movement of production of many [&hellip;]

If Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke steps down next year, his successor may be Janet Yellen. In a recent statement, she indicated that unemployment should become the priority for the Fed. It seems reasonable to want to aim all our policy guns at this plague. But many things that seem reasonable on the surface sometimes [&hellip;]

In our hyper-competitive world of international business, building, managing and sustaining a global supply chain is necessary. It also can be challenging and costly. Issues regularly affecting a supply chain must be addressed in innovative ways. The bottom line: companies can optimize their supply chains by properly controlling costs, updating infrastructure, pursuing cross-functional alignment, implementing...