James A. Senn
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EMBA 8800 Executive
Leadership ·
EMBA 8820:
Leading the Enterprise ·
MIT
8200 Information System Strategy Executive
Programs & Workshops
Business Cases: Business Connections
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LEADERSHIP &
COMMERCIAL DIPLOMACY When a company’s economic engines are churning at high speed,
there is often a strong push within the enterprise to open new markets,
expand foreign trade, and build international sales. All are understandably
high priorities for the firm’s executives. Yet, the lessons of global
business reveal that these engines of commerce actually run at dramatically
different speeds from country to country. The companies of some nations are highly tuned and operating at
maximum output. Often these nations are also the ones that welcome foreign
investment and are eager to participate in global trade. Yet some countries
want only their national firms to
trade successfully throughout the world and so they erect barriers thwarting
reciprocal trade. Still other countries are just beginning to gain momentum
for commerce, even though the economic potential of enterprises in the region
is very high. Add to each of these situations the vast array of local
customs, cultures, policies, and regulations in effect in the countries and
it is quickly evident that in reality business practices vary dramatically
from market to market. At the heart of efforts to build business in these global
settings is commercial diplomacy—the
creation and enhancement of commercial relations between companies, or their
representatives, and the governments, policy making bodies, regulators, and
political agencies in established or developing global markets. Achieving
global success today depends on the skillful interaction of leaders who seek
to forge effective and beneficial bilateral commerce relationships. Unfortunately, even seasoned business leaders come face-to-face
with pivotal diplomatic issues in commerce for which they do not have
adequate insights or experience. Knowingly or not, these leaders are often
responsible for their company missing out on enormously valuable
opportunities. Executives pursuing strategies that have proven to be
successful in their familiar domestic markets may find that those same
strategies spell disaster when applied in unfamiliar global markets or in the
markets of emerging nations. World trade, coupled with the ever-greater search for ways to
open new markets, is here to stay. So is the need for commercial diplomacy.
For even though business is increasingly global, there is no doubt that
commerce truly is…local.
—James A. Senn |
Jim Senn Managing Director Center
for Global Business Leadership BIO
Specializations
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