by

David T. Kinnear

My daughter’s goldfish died overnight. It wasn’t the first time something like this has happened – but we had had time to ‘fix’ the situation before. This time we didn’t have time to ‘replace’ the fish before breakfast. The tank sits on the breakfast counter in full view. Unavoidable visibility and conspicuous absence. You get the scene.

As a parent, I anguished about the implications of this and how to explain ‘fish heaven’ to a 3 year old. Perhaps I need have worried less. Shortly after observing the fish in the trash can and establishing that he was happy, my daughter asked if we should get a replacement. My daughter is the most caring person in the world – but she immediately cut to the practicalities of sourcing a replacement fish.

There’s a lesson lurking in here about Global Sourcing – and the “new normal” for business and employment practices around the world.

Global Sourcing is a practical recognition that every product and service has a price and that the world is open for business. The flatter the world, the greater the opportunity for competition. The less the focus on the service and the service provider – and the greater the focus on outcome. The more options there are, the greater the emphasis on cost and truly differentiating qualities.

The world is increasingly intra-visible and there are increasingly few barriers to trade in business services. The advances of technology have knocked down countless walls and opened up new swathes of opportunity. This is exciting. This is social history in the making. But this also means we must, repeat must, understand what global sourcing means in terms of our competitive readiness and willingness.

To compete globally, one must embrace global with all that means – including the potential for enormous downward pressure on domestic pricing, labor opportunities and income expectations. This is the hardest part. Global sourcing means global competition. You win. You lose. There are no guarantees. The only way is forward, boldly.

This is where it becomes so essential to find new economic and labor opportunities in home markets that feed renewed growth and fresh prosperity. Sectors such as alternative energy and technology research come to mind as priorities.  The role of education is critical. If we spend too much time mulling over what was or trying to hold onto what is already gone – instead of figuring out what is and what is to come – we will be left behind. The forces of change and capitalism itself will pass us by. 

As a dear friend once told me: “Life is. Period”. There is no qualifier. The world is. It moves on regardless. And so must we. Global Sourcing is here. The world is open for business and this has significant implications. We ignore this at our peril.

 

David Kinnear

New York