Regardless of party affiliations or personal political feelings about the outcome, Americans should be proud of the conversations and strong citizen participation experienced in the country's recent intellectually and emotionally engaging presidential campaign. It demonstrates that Americans can be awakened to take action.
To some extent, this move from political lethargy was driven by the "ache" in our wallets: the upending of mortgages, disappearance of jobs, the continuing shadow of terrorists taking our sons and daughters to war, and the recent ride on the Wall Street roller coaster.
What do we do with all this angst now that the election is over? The authors of Surfing the Edge of Chaos provide interesting idea. In this book, "the edge of chaos" is defined as "a realm of uncertainty and discomfort" that "maximizes the generativity of living things" (Pascale, Millemann, & Gioja). In other words, this is a time of great opportunity where we can turn our angst into the energy needed to secure our financial futures.
Our energy is a catalyst for forward movement in the economic life of our city, Lexington. The display of interconnectedness of world financial markets in recent days only accentuates the need for Lexington to continue to work to capture and maintain a position as a savvy "player" in the global arena. Players need game books, and game books are based on knowledge and experience.
Recently, the Lexington business community was given an exceptional opportunity to learn more about two emerging power houses in the world economy - China and India. This program was sponsored by the Kentucky Chamber of Commerce, the Kentucky World Trade Center, the India Business Studies Program at the UK Gatton College of Business and Economics, and Commerce Lexington, Inc.
Dr. Jagdish (Jag) N. Sheth, the Charles H. Kellstadt Professor of Marketing in the Goizueta Business School at Emory University, was the featured speaker. An afternoon panel discussion moderated by Tom Martin, editor of Business Lexington, included Sheth; Ronaldo Foresti, Lexmark vice president for Asia Pacific/ Latin America; and Ken Robinson, Kentucky Cabinet for Economic Development.
In addition to his scholarly work and professorship at Emory, Dr. Sheth has worked with numerous clients including AT&T, Bell South, Cox Communications, Delta, Ernst and Young, Ford, GE, Lucent Technologies, Motorola, Nortel, Pillsbury, Sprint, Square D, 3M, and Whirlpool. A prolific writer, Sheth used his recent publication, Chindia Rising: How China and India will Benefit from Your Business, as the focus of the presentation.
"Chindia" reflects the fusion of two emerging economic superpowers, China and India. Currently, India is the 12th largest economy in the world, according to the CIA Factbook. After China, it is the second-fastest major emerging economy. From Sheth's text, "By 2025, India's share of the world GDP will have risen from 6 to 13 percent, making it the third largest economy in the world. China by that time will have become the largest economy, and together China and India will account for a 39 percent share of the global output - about equal to the present share of the United States and Europe combined Ö Both nations, with more than a billion people each, will have enormous need for industrial, agricultural and other natural resources and raw materials Ö " The depth of detail about the historic trends of companies and progression of emerging markets provided by Sheth served as a fascinating and, in a sense, empowering proverbial "wake up call."
It is vital that the Lexington "investment portfolio" possess an appealing cultural vitality that encompasses the arts, education, religion, foods and celebrations. It must also reflect ease of access, or a unified system of navigating the Lexington landscape of utilities, schools, transportation, shopping, judicial systems, neighborhoods, and language services. This unified effort serves as a welcoming conduit for ex-pats into our community.
Marketing Lexington is at the forefront of our economic progress. As Dr. Sheth noted, Kentucky is branded around the world by Kentucky Fried Chicken and the Kentucky Derby. Perhaps, like Austin's "Keep it Weird" campaign, highlighting the spirit of entrepreneurship, and Toyota's "Why Not?" campaign, Lexington needs a slogan - - perhaps something along the lines of "Lexington Rising."
Dr. Sudharshan, dean of the Gatton School of Business, continued the conversation about being competitive in welcoming foreign companies and individual business entrepreneurs to Lexington with the ultimate questions: "How do we differentiate ourselves from other cities? How do we inform the world about Lexington?"
With the presidential election behind us, these are now the essential issues that we all should take the time to discuss, debate and ponder.