An offshoring expert, Kevin D. Stringer, argues that companies could compete and profit best by outsourcing to small, more developed countries.

... But more important, costs aren’t the only criteria to consider. Increasingly, offshoring is used to transfer overseas such brainy jobs as financial research, analytics, chip design, legal services, clinical trials management, and even magazine or book editing. Given that activity is trending from low-level to high-order functions, countries such as India and China known best for cheap labor and large populations become less and less attractive. Their overall subpar literacy and productivity levels, the endemic weaknesses in their educational systems, and their minimal environmental regulations make these nations ill-suited for high-end tasks, which companies must increasingly rely on as a potential competitive distinction and a way to differentiate themselves in the knowledge-based economy.

strategy+business
India and China May Not Be the Answer

A ranking of Swiss brands conducted by Interbrand unveiled that the top five brands were, in order of brand value, Nescafé, UBS, Nestlé, Credit Suisse and Zurich. Other globally recognized brands in the top 20 included Rolex, Omega, Lindt, Swatch and Longines.

How did a tiny country -- with less than 16,000 square miles of land mass and less than 8 million people -- largely known for keeping to itself become such a branding powerhouse? It starts with Switzerland’s view of its own brand.

The inherent value of “Swiss made” brands is so high that the country’s government is currently considering new laws to protect it: “The government wants to replace vague laws with concrete rules to crack down on abuses of ‘made in Switzerland’ and Swiss cross labels” (“Protecting ‘Swiss made’ brand divides opinion,” swissinfo.ch, April 6, 2008). The movement is known in Switzerland as “the legislation project Swissness.”

Discover why Swiss brands have global clout here; start to think about how your brand is perceived by the world; and, take a shot at stimulating your brand here.

Image can be found here.

Additional resource:

The Trouble With Brands

In case you are not a subscriber to our world famous Borderbuster e-newsletter (www.globetrade.com/borderbuster.htm), we want to share point No. 8 of today's edition.

8. EVERYBODY LOVES A FREEBIE: BEYOND THE CRISIS: THE FUTURE OF THE GLOBAL ECONOMY
*Subscriber Exclusive*

On October 23, 2008, at a conference developed by Big Think and sponsored by strategy+business, financier George Soros, former U.S. Treasury Secretary Lawrence Summers, and Nobel Prize–winning economist Robert Merton discussed and debated the current global financial crisis in New York City. Tom Stewart, the chief marketing and knowledge officer of Booz & Company, moderated the event, which took place at City University of New York.

Tune-in to the videocast here.

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