The Leader - May/June 2008 - (Page 58)

s pec ia l Fe at ur e Globalization 2.0 Site Selection Consultants Scouring the Globe to Meet Clients’ Demands BY BaileY WeBB BY noW, You’re all too FaMiliar WitH tHis WHole GloBal econoMY concept to tHe point WHere tHe WorD “GloBal” Makes You nauseous anD Your accrueD FreQuent Flier Miles coulD earn You a trip to tHe Moon anD Back aFter circlinG tHe planet several tiMes to secure tHe Best location For Your clients. site selection noW involves scourinG tHe GloBe For tHe riGHt coMBination oF laBor, inFrastructure, incentives anD MitiGateD risk. it’s no lonGer a Matter oF citY vs. suBurBs, Des Moines vs. oMaHa, atlanta or Dallas, But a Matter oF WHat citY or reGion in WHat part oF tHe WorlD Best Fits. A fter a decade of explosive growth in parts of India, China and Ireland, what are the next hot spots seeking to attract international companies and their site selection consultants? By the time a city or region is deemed a “hot spot,” do you even want to be there? How will economies in Western Europe, the United States and Canada continue to evolve? What roles will Eastern Europe and Turkey, the Philippines and Southeast Asia play? These and other questions aren’t making the lives of site-selection pros any easier. “The No. 1 major trend is that it’s definitely a world economy,” said John Sisson, president of Greenville, S.C.-based InSite Consulting Group. “Companies are looking to position their manufacturing capacity to service a world economy. That has changed site selection from a local or regional business to a business that requires us to look around the world.” oFFsHorinG 2.0 Most of us drank the China and India Kool-Aid, and, with a few exceptions, it was tasty and quite profitable. China and India continue to draw a massive influx of manufacturing and business process outsourcing (BPO), but low cost isn’t the only reason multinational companies continue to flock to these two Asian giants, which are now experiencing spiraling wage and real-estate inflation, especially in major metropolitan areas. In 2006, foreign investment created more than 300,000 new jobs in India, while foreign investment created approximately 200,000 new jobs in China, according to a report compiled by IBM Business Services. China’s neighbor, Vietnam, had the fourth most tH e le aDe r 58 MaY / j u n e 2008

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of The Leader - May/June 2008

The Leader - May/June 2008 Leadership Contents Message from the CEO Real Estate in the News Green Real Estate Work Without Boundries Building Flexibility Into the Business Strategy Multi-Generational Work-Force Design Work Force Longevity Analysis Wells Fargo's David Nelson Pennsylvania's Michael Rossman Globalization 2.0 Site Selection Consultant Directory The New York Report: A Core of Traditional and State-of-the-Art Opportunities Discovery Forum Findings Industry Tracker Young Leader Career Development Effective Leadership Economic Development in the News A Look Ahead In Our Next Issue Calendar of Seminars Index of Advertisers Executive Development Spotlight

The Leader - May/June 2008

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