Administrator The most important lessons from international trade are rarely found in textbooks; they are learned through relationships, mistakes and experience. What I found was that relationships and trust matter more than contracts, a contract based on personal friendship and respect is much easier to manage than one based solely on the contract terms. Cultural understanding … Read more
British engineering exports once carried the products, standards and expertise of UK industry to major projects throughout the world. Britain’s industrial export strength in the 1960s–1980s, was in heavy engineering, infrastructure, manufacturing, at that time UK companies supplied products and expertise to major projects globally, but over time there was a gradual shift toward finance … Read more
Doing business in Asia requires more than a competitive product and a persuasive presentation; it requires patience, trust and cultural understanding. Western companies expect quick decisions, but in the Far East In many Asian cultures trust must be built first. Meals, conversation and social interaction are part of business, not distractions and repeated visits build … Read more
Categories Theme: How international business travel used to work. International business travel before email required careful preparation, personal judgement and the ability to work independently for weeks at a time. For most of my working life, international business was conducted face to face. A typical trip might last a month and cover several countries. Flights … Read more
International trade before digital communication depended on telegrams, telex messages, concise reports and decisions made far from the office. Having spent the last sixty years in global sales and marketing, I became accustomed to communicating with people at every level — from the shoe-shine boy outside a hotel to government ministers. My work took me … Read more