The New Global Economy

As I was having lunch with a close friend today, one of the topics that came up for discussion was on the viability of different business models. This good friend of mine has a fiery entrepreneurial spirit, and at a very young age (he’s only 22!), he has managed to build a good reputable marketing consultancy company. As a friend that I respect tremendously for his energy, enthusiasm and flair, the conversations that we have are generally extremely enjoyable. For both of us, we love the idea of being in business, having the freedom to choose our working hours, and the enjoyment of being immersed in our work.

At the end of the day, we realized that it is not so much the technology, financial resources, or even the business model that is the critical success factor, we felt that it was the people behind the company that would determine the success or failure of an enterprise. And if people are the most important resources a company can have, are the future generation of our nation equipped to deal with the challenges of the global village?

Having in the past few months having been invited to share my experiences in business with students in some of the tertiary institutes and universities in Singapore, and having observed some of the behavioral traits, I do wonder whether we are doing enough to educate students with the realities of the working world. In an era where the competitive wages in China, India and some other countries creates irresistible cost savings to enterprises, our competitive edge would no longer be in lower-costs and better infrastructure. And even in terms of talents and value-added knowledge capital, the sheer amount of talents in populous countries like China, India and even Indonesia would mean that there is no lack of talents in these countries.

What edge, then could Singaporeans hold over some of the counter-parts in other countries? Since we are neither smarter, nor more hardworking, nor more charming, probably one strategy that we could adopt is to master the art of working with people.

Liu Chuanzhi, past Chairman of Lenovo, once said that some people are like pearls, and that they are able to shine on their own. For others, they are not pearls, and on their own, they are unable to shine. But, they are like the string that holds many pearls together, and the string of pearls would shine more brightly than a single pearl. A great asset that Singaporeans have overseas is that we have a trustworthy reputation. With relationships being formed on the basis of trust and integrity, this is an intangible asset that we should strongly leverage to create strong relationships and partnerships with overseas partners.

Overseas expansion might be the only way for us to thrive and prosper in the new global economy.



Ignious Yong
Managing Director
Empire Communications Technology Pte Ltd