The distribution of the world’s natural resources is highly unequal. Norway is blessed with an abundance of oil, making it among the richest countries in the world, whereas its equally cold neighbor Finland has to live by its wits without such resources. Much of Algeria and Namibia is arid desert, whereas Brazil and Indonesia are lush and tropical. Chile is loaded with copper and Australia with iron ore and coal, while South Korea and Bangladesh are bereft of any natural resources.

The automobile industry has long captured America’s imagination. Not only are cars an iconic part of national culture, but they are also essential for moving around – unless you happen to live in New York City.

When you switch on your smartphone, you are probably not aware of all the minerals that have been dug up around the world to make the electronics work. An iPhone screen has been polished with lanthanum and cerium, a magnet inside is made with neodymium and praseodymium, the circuitry in semiconductors uses arsenic metals, rechargeable batteries depend on cadmium, and light bulbs and heating elements rely on tungsten. It turns out that these so-called “rare earth” minerals are essential for modern life and are used in products ranging from smartphones to MRI machines to advanced defense technology to hair dryers.

Pathways to Mindful Global Leadership identifies the mindset and competences required of global leaders and introduces the paradox thinking mindset. It illustrates why and how global leaders need to develop mindful application of this comprehensive skillset and a deep understanding of culture. It defines the concept of the global mindset and differentiates the four domains of the global mindset. The Pyramid Model of Global Leadership summarizes the key skills and knowledge required and illustrates how they build on each other. The three dimensions of Global Leadership Competences – perception management, relationship management, and self-management – are described. Students can analyze their own strengths and development needs. The global-local paradox in management dilemmas and the collaborative processes for resolving them are described.

Americans are big consumers of sugar, eating and drinking some 66 pounds each of it per year, on average. This is not just a dietary issue; it is also a big trade issue. The United States imports sugar from the tropical climes of the Caribbean, which has the natural conditions suited for growing sugar cane. But sugar imports are much less now than they once were – not because Americans have cut back on sugar consumption but because low-cost imports were hurting domestic cane producers in Florida and Louisiana. To help them out, the federal government began restricting imports decades ago. (Just ask any representative or senator from those states whether they believe free trade in sugar would be a good idea.)

Executing Strategy: Organizational Alignment for Performance conceptualizes organizations as sociotechnical systems and organizational alignment as a process involving the external context with the internal interplay between tasks, people, structure, and administrative systems (performance appraisal and rewards, responsibility centers, organizational culture). It describes how culture suffuses the process of organizational alignment. An organizational design framework and an analytic model are presented. The chapter describes different strategic orientations and business models. Porter’s competitive strategy framework and three generic strategies of cost leadership, differentiation, and focus are described. Galbraith’s Rise of the Customer Dimension compares product-centric and customer-centric companies. Hax and Wilde’s Delta Model expands Porter’s framework by more explicitly considering the ways in which companies compete in a dynamic, networked economy.

There is a parable about an entrepreneur who invents an amazing machine. Wheat, soybeans, lumber, and oil are fed into one end of the contraption. As if by magic, smartphones, coffee, and tea, and all manner of clothing and apparel come out the other end. The inventor is praised as a genius – until further investigation reveals that the wheat and the other inputs were being secretly shipped to other countries in exchange for the electronics and apparel that later emerged. When this news is made public, the inventor is denounced as an unpatriotic fraud who is destroying jobs.

In a 2008 interview on ‘Meet the Press’ on US television, then President-elect Barack Obama, while discussing his intention to implement a stimulus plan to get the economy moving, qualified that ‘things are going to get worse before they get better.’ Things did indeed get worse. By the last quarter of 2008, the US economy was shrinking at an annual rate of 8%, as it sank into its deepest and longest recession since the Great Depression. In Figure 4.1, the blue line shows the drastic decline in the growth rate. Household consumption was trending downward at a rate of nearly 5% per year, business investment in factories and equipment was falling at a rate of 21% per year, and new-home construction was plummeting by a disastrous annual rate of 33%. Clearly, if something could be done, it should be, and swiftly.

Organisations range from single owner-operators to huge global conglomerates. How an organisation is structured is influenced by how it is owned and what the organisation is aiming to achieve. Large global organisations with thousands of employees must work differently to a self-employed local electrician. Differences will be found in organisational design, such as how the organisation allocates tasks or meets goals. These differences help to identify an organisation’s structure and recognising this structure can help determine the communication channels most appropriate for that organisation. Organisational culture is also affected by organisational structure and design, and it can influence employee behaviour.

This chapter first defines an organisation by type and then describe the elements common to all organisations, including the level of formality, specialisation of tasks, chain of command, span of control and centralisation of decision-making. Every organisation is different; while the basic structural elements are similar, the combination of these elements results in unique organisations.

This chapter explores objectives for communication, emotional intelligence, and strategies to improve our communication in a professional context.

We communicate for a variety of reasons including to be social, to express ourselves, to share information, to persuade and to entertain. Communicating in a professional context largely relates to communication that occurs on behalf of an organisation or for a professional outcome. Effective professional communication helps you form connections and builds relationships with colleagues, stakeholders and customers, and can have a positive impact on productivity.

This chapter looks at aspects of professional communication, including emotional intelligence, and intra- and interpersonal communication, and describes how they influence communication competence in professional communication. We review a variety of communication styles and how they might affect influence and impression management. Finally, we discuss differentiating thought processes to enable professional communication aimed at achieving the best outcome in a given situation.

The internet is a global communication tool that is used to create and share vast amounts of information. The internet and all its associated technology are so ubiquitous that we cannot imagine a world without it. Such a force driving social change has not been seen since the invention of the printing press and the advent of global literacy.

Digital connectivity has become integral to our personal and professional lives. It has evolved into a fundamental necessity, shaping how we communicate, collaborate and engage in various aspects of our personal and work environments. It is continually evolving rapidly; our current machines, platforms, programs and applications will soon be superseded. As a business professional, you must keep learning new skills, adapt and constantly move forward to stay abreast of technological change.

This chapter explores online and digital spaces for organisational communication and outlines strategies business professional should consider when engaging with online audiences. It offers best-practice advice for creating and managing personal branding for a digital environment.