OCTOBER 24, 2004
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The iPod Effect
Now you see it, now you don't. All sub-visible phenomena have this mysterious quality to them. Sub-visible not just because Apple's hot new sensation, the handy little iPod, makes its physical presence felt so discreetly. But also because it's an audio wonder more than anything else. Expect more and more handheld gizmos to turn musical.


Panasonic
What route other than musical would Panasonic take, even for a phone handset, into consumer mindspace?

More Net Specials

Business Today,  October 10, 2004
 
 
Perceptive Leadership
 

Over the past decade, the world has become a big global marketplace. A marked trend has emerged towards integration despite cultural diversities and geographical distances. There is little doubt that the exchange of technology and processes is much easier today than it was a few years ago. However, despite all this, many large businesses with transnational ambitions are faced with a new challenge-the need to customise products and sales strategies for individual markets, and yet lend a globalised feel to their businesses.

There are instances of companies having widely-acclaimed brands and globally-acknowledged best business practices failing to repeat their success seamlessly across the globe. Often, it is an issue of misreading or ignoring the cultural nuances of the local markets. Therefore, cultural integration of the company's management with the host market is a critical determinant of success for a globalised business.

A critical responsibility of a good leader, therefore, is to deploy superior technological and knowledge resources for servicing local markets in a way that the products and services offered are compatible with the local cultural ethos, tastes and preferences. Catering to local needs is very important since customers tend to avoid marketers who do not make an effort to improvise their products and services to fit the market's unspoken expectations.

A company can only succeed in a global marketplace if it uses enterprise leadership to build the business in a way that the managers truly live by the local maxim while drawing upon their global resources. This ability of global leaders to feel the pulse of their customers is what we can define, in today's world, as true leadership.

 

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