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At least three trends can be observed today in the scenario of global
trade (in this regard, see the January
2013 issue of this Newsletter; and of the month
of April 2013). Among other relevant trends, these will have an impact
on the training of specialists in international trade that may be demanded
by SMEs of Argentina -and also of other countries- which are steadily
trying to project to the world their ability to produce goods and provide
services that are competitive and of perceived quality in different countries.
(See previous approaches by the author on the training of specialists
in international trade for companies that are projected to the world:
Reflexiones
sobre el desarrollo del comercio exterior argentino y los requerimientos
de formación de recursos humanos competentes", Noviembre 2002;
"Una
visión estratégica sobre requerimientos que la integración
regional plantea en materia de educación superior y formación",
Revista Aportes de la Asociación de Administradores Gubernamentales,
Octubre 2004; "Formación
de los empresarios exportadores", Revista Brasileira de Comercio
Exterior (FUNCEX), Noviembre 2004; Disertación
en el III Simposio de Comercio Exterior e Integración, Noviembre
2004, and "El
apoyo a las empresas que se internacionalizan", "El Cronista",
16 de diciembre 2010).
Notwithstanding others, these trends are:
a) Greater physical connectivity between different markets, whether
in the field of regional or interregional spaces, whatever the distances
that exist between them, resulting from technological changes both in
production, transport and communications, and in the regulatory frameworks
affecting international trade;
b) fragmentation of the production of goods and provision of services
within the scope of multiple modalities of production chains, in which
tasks that are performed in different national spaces are articulated,
and
c) strong growth, especially in developing countries and in so-called
emerging economies, of urban population with middle-class income and
behaviors and who also have a growing awareness of the power that they
are gaining as consumers and as citizens.
The abovementioned, are trends that anticipate the need for significant
changes in the business strategies for sustained integration in international
markets, especially in the case of SMEs, and therefore in the kind of
international trade specialists that they will need to add to their team
of collaborators in the future.
Without prejudice to others, some of the changes in business strategies
and their development will be:
a) The fine-tuning of the offer of goods and services of a company with
the various requirements of the multiple and diverse economic, regulatory
and cultural spaces in which it aspires to compete and, thus, the need
to understand and appreciate the scope of their existing differences;
b) the adoption of a mental attitude of "hunter of moving prey"
in order to achieve a permanent adaptation of the respective commercial
strategy to the intense dynamics of change that will continue to affect
the competition for international markets, partly as a result of the amount
of competitors of multiple origins that will also try to succeed in them,
and
c) the continuous effort for technological innovation in the goods and
services that are offered, in order to maintain the positioning gained
in other markets, adapting them to the dynamics of change that will continue
to prevail in the future.
Three requirements would seem to be the most important for an SME seeking
to achieve and maintain a sustained presence in world markets, especially
in those that are physically and culturally more distant.
Such requirements are:
a) The ability to make and up-to-date diagnosis of the conditions needed
to operate successfully in those target markets considered in its strategy
for international insertion and, in particular, of the multiple factors
that may affect future shifts in its competitive advantages, including
those resulting from changes in consumer preferences, trade benefits
that may be granted to companies from other countries or the technological
changes that may occur;
b) the coordination of joint organizational and production efforts
with other companies, whether within the same country or in different
countries, especially to partner in the development of production chains
in which they can make contributions of higher added value, and
c) the ability to enhance, depending on its strategy, external support
(especially from government sources, financial and business institutions,
academic institutions, and from international organizations with special
programs for SMEs from developing countries) that may be available in
terms of competitive intelligence, technological innovation and funding
for investment and trade.
What qualities will an SME that goes international demand from the specialists
that collaborate in its business?
Among others, the main qualities that will be required in the future
are:
a) Sound knowledge (acquired by study and experience) of foreign trade
operations in the company's country and an ability to understand those
from the countries that are the target of the company's strategy;
b) a proven willingness to understand and enjoy cultural differences
and their deep roots, especially as a consequence of having lived and
travelled abroad (for example, as students, workers, travelers or backpackers)
and, in particular, those of other regional spaces and those with marked
cultural differences with our country, especially in terms of values,
preferences and priorities of the consumers and the factors that influence
how they do business. Fluency in English and other languages (especially
those of large countries such as China) will be indispensable, and
c) a capacity for teamwork and to play multiple roles, sometimes simultaneously,
to adapt to the continuous changes in international realities and, at
the same time, to know and understand in depth the company to which
they provide services.
As stated in other opportunities (see
the August 2013 Newsletter), the function of the international trade
specialist in a SME that seeks to achieve a sustained presence in other
markets will be, then, to guide the company on its way towards the sought
objective, be it the aisles of supermarkets, or other type of sales outlet,
or any form of production or commercial transnational value chain. Therefore,
this role will be very similar to the figure of the "Sherpa"
for those seeking to successfully climb the Himalayan peaks.
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