Approximately 66 million Chinese are expected to travel overseas this year (2011), an increase of 15% over last year. This number is expected to grow to 100 million per year by 2020. Historically, Chinese tourists have not traveled outside their country for a variety of reasons. These include Chinese government restrictions, U.S. visa availability, high [...]

Maybe the U.S. Postal Service can learn something from a German public company. The U.S. postal Service is fighting a record deficit of U.S.$49 billion in 2011. It has raised postage rates, curbed some benefits, tried to appease the Postal Union and has to obtain any change in policy approved by the U.S. Congress. It [...]

Medical tourism is defined as obtaining a medical procedure outside the country of residence. This may sound far-fetched but business is booming globally. More countries are trying to attract patients to travel for medical reasons, and spend money in their market. Some locations even offer medical tourism facilitators to help with all medical arrangements, including [...]

Years ago most major North American multinational companies were outsourcing manufacturing. Most outsourcing went to Asia, usually China, while some went to Mexico to benefit from NAFTA.  Outsourcing for services (e.g., IT, call centers, etc) often went to India where English was more common and wages were also low. The attraction was to significantly lower [...]

I used to own a Lancia Beta Coupe when living the singles life in Marina Del Rey, California. The car was sleek, beautifully appointed, and with the most colorful lit up dashboard (at night). It was a 5 speed stick shift. It also hummed when starting out in first and second gears. The problem was [...]