- May 17, 2012
- 10:56 am
- Cliff Shultz
- no comments
Emerging Markets
Welcome to my blog on emerging markets. I’ll be posting periodically on various events around the world, with some emphasis on the emerging economies in which I frequently work. I’ve had the good fortune to work in many of them for more than two decades, with the objective to gain understanding and to affect policies and practices that enhance the well-being of the people who reside in them, as well as external stakeholders of these markets, i.e., all of us (LUC.edu/gsb/cjs). Indeed, we all are connected to emerging markets and the billions of people carving-out new lives in an increasingly global economy. Many of the goods we consume are produced in emerging markets; services increasingly are outsourced to them. Even much of the life-sustaining oxygen we breathe comes from rainforests in countries we categorize as emerging markets.
But what, exactly, are emerging markets? As with so many things in life, the answer to that question is “It depends”. A good starting point is to consider from what they are emerging. Typically, they are distancing themselves from bad or ineffectual policies. Most of them are developing countries that are improving governance, human resources and infrastructure; their leaders and citizens moreover are keen to participate in the global economy. Think of Brazil, South Africa and Malaysia. Some of them also are transitioning from command economies to more market-oriented economies. China, Russia, India and Vietnam immediately come to mind. Political and structural changes have led to rapid economic growth. Foreign direct investment and trade are cornerstones of this growth, as are the development of human capital and natural resources. Their “emergence” has been awe-inspiring. From tourism and textiles to commodities cars and computers, everyone has experience with emerging markets. It should be noted, however, that despite how optimistic we may wish to be as investors, marketers and policy makers some countries are regressing rather than emerging. Somalia and Yemen remind us of the dangers of failing states, where much of the currency and export is misery and suffering. Afghanistan hangs in the balance and North Korea still monolithically isolates its people from global markets and marketing practices, much to the detriment of Koreans and the global community.
While the aforementioned aspects of emerging markets fascinate me as much as they do any investment banker, supply-chain manager, marketer or consumer, you will see that I take a systemic and holistic approach toward studying them. That is, I tend to examine interactions among various forces — natural resources, history, culture, policy, economics, business and marketing activities and consumer behavior – as they affect and are affected by emerging markets. More simply, I am most interested to examine how those forces affect people and how people affect those forces. I have frequently described this approach as “putting a human face” on the phenomenon of emerging markets.
From the ancient city of Angkor (Cambodia) to the Zulu tribes of South Africa, emerging markets –in addition to being financially promising–are always fascinating, occasionally dangerous, frequently humbling, and often inspirational. So join me on this journey, with hopes that we will better understand the people, policies and practices that constitute various emerging markets, and their relevance to you, me, and future generations.