Being Competitive in a Global Market
Being competitive in a global market is more important than ever. How else can you ensure that your company has the best and brightest employees? Whose innovations will create the next game-changing technology? What if China wins that race, with all our knowledge and know-how?
The truth is, it doesn't matter who we are trying to beat, we are going to need to think of ourselves as a global citizen first. We're going to need an international mindset. We must not think only of our company's bottom line, but also how we can help our customers and the world.
It is easy to see why this is important. After all, it's been more than a decade since the U.S. companies have been dominating the global market. Since then, China and other Asian countries have risen in prominence and invested heavily in local technology companies. Just look at Jack Ma, who left his job as English teacher to start Alibaba in 1999: He began with just $60 million and decided to invest 90% of his wealth back into his company to gain international success, as he once said, "Without my money I wouldn't be able to achieve this. So if I don't have my money, I can do anything."
By 2014, Alibaba was valued at $200 billion – bigger than Amazon and eBay combined. That same year, Tencent Holdings took over the world's largest mobile messaging company, China Mobile Ltd., for $80 billion. And then there is Baidu. In 1999, this company was worth about $150 million; today its market cap is $70 billion.
Small wonder that many Chinese with access to capital are willing to bet on their home companies – like the 51% of investors in China who now favor domestic shares and only 24% who favor foreign shares.
This is why it's crucial that we do whatever it takes to keep our companies competitive outside the US. This is why the US government must decide who will be allowed to own our technology: the US, Canada, or China?
Should a Chinese company be allowed to control an American company with information like Google's patents? Of course not. But what if they're willing to pay for them, and help create new technology that helps Americans as well. Should this company, whose earnings are in China but whose headquarters are in America, be permitted to take ownership of our technology and brand? What about when this cannot happen because of trade agreements like SoftBank's acquisition of Sprint Nextel Corp. in July 2013?
Let's not forget that trade agreements can also hurt our ability to stay competitive. The pending Trans-Pacific Partnership would, if it goes through, give a company the right to sue another company in the agreement if that company has a "competitive advantage" – which is defined as lowering production costs. Given how many companies outsource work to different countries all over the world, we could see US companies being sued for using skilled workers from India and China.
An international mindset is important not only because of who we are competing with in other countries, but also because it makes us more productive and innovative. We are going to have to think about how technology can help the world – and we're going to have to think about problems differently.
For example, remember the United Nations' Millennium Development Goals? These eight international development goals were set in September 2000 with the aim of improving basic aspects of life for the world's poorest by 2015. The United Nations is revising these goals, and has narrowed it down to 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) from these eight proposed goals. These will include things like "End hunger," "Ensure energy for all" and "Promote sustainable ICTs. "
While Silicon Valley has focused on these 17 SDGs as a new way to try and move the world forward, there is another way of looking at them. Remember that China is set to overtake the U.S. in population in about two decades. Shouldn't we be thinking about what technology can do for human life, not just for some people but for everyone?
Let's get back to our original message again: "Being competitive in a global market is more important than ever." Without an international mindset we are going to find ourselves with serious competition from other countries. And it will only get worse. By 2060, almost 80% of the world's population will live outside the U.S.
As we've detailed many times in this publication, after years of growth and success, it's time for Silicon Valley to look to the world for growth. More people are connected than ever before and our technology has the potential to change millions of lives – if only we're thinking on a larger scale.
Let's get back to basics and focus on our customers, while also remembering that there's a lot of room for improvement. Let's make sure any company we start is not just sustainable but adaptable – that it can grow with us, wherever we go. And then let's make sure our business can thrive not just in Silicon Valley or Beijing, but everywhere around the world.
Editor's note: This post was updated on February 1, 2016. It originally published on October 13, 2015.
Photo Credit: Africa Studio/Shutterstock
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Conclusion: I think Google's approach to protecting Android as an open source operating system is commendable. From everything I've seen, the company is taking all reasonable steps to ensure that Android remains open and that device makers have access to the full source code for their devices. I always recommend that people use encryption on non-sensitive data, not just on sensitive data, but it's important to note that because of the way Android is designed, there's still no way to guarantee privacy when your phone is in "sleep" mode (i.e., not in use).