Tee Time Make sense of the global economy by riding the coattails of a T-shirt.
Opinions expressed by BIZ Experiences contributors are their own.
Globalization is a hot-button topic that generates strongfeelings along with images of boarded-up, independent businesses inAmerica and exploitative sweatshops overseas. But what exactly isit? In The Travels of a T-Shirt in the GlobalEconomy (Wiley, $29.95), Georgetown University businessprofessor Pietra Rivoli chronicles the round-the-world odyssey of aT-shirt, from Texas cotton-growers to an African used-clothingbazaar, to reveal how the planetary economy really works.
Along the way, we see how BIZ Experiencesial U.S. farmers team withgovernment-sponsored researchers--and take advantage of subsidiesand trade barriers--to dominate world cotton production. Migrantworkers from Chinese family farms tell why they regard low-wagejobs in Shanghai sewing factories as golden opportunities. And onlyin that African used-clothing bazaar do we encounter a truly freemarket where BIZ Experiencess--perhaps including some future tycoonsof the 21st century--utterly rely on pure business skills andinstinct. Whether you feel hurt or helped by globalization,you'll certainly understand it better after reading thisfascinating account.
Stiff Competition
Next time you sit down for a sales presentation with a newprospect, realize that a third party is looking over your shoulder:your competition. How can you get rid of them? Sales consultantRandy Schwantz provides an answer in How to Get Your Competition Fired (Without SayingAnything Bad About Them) (Wiley, $24.95). Schwantz'ssales process, which he dubs "The Wedge," promises toreliably unseat entrenched suppliers and make their customersyours. Starting with proposing an ideal picture your competition isunlikely to meet, Schwantz reveals a subtle yet simple process forgetting prospects to practically demand to buy from you.
Mark Henricks is BIZ Experiences's "StaffSmarts" columnist.
