Global competition is fierce, and intensifies every day. New market leaders are springing up around the world, including champions from emerging markets. Companies must be prepared for competition from firms with world-class products, cutting-edge technologies, and drastic cost efficiencies.

Trade barriers are falling continually, although national borders remain “sticky.” Each small decline in barriers to trade opens new opportunities for international transactions, and falling trade barriers are changing business methods in a growing number of industries. Local businesses are finding it to be increasingly difficult to maintain a protected niche in a local market. To be successful, more and more companies discover that they must have a global competitive strategy.

The continued expansion of world trade affects all aspects of our daily lives, at work and at home. Residents of developed economies have long benefited from low-cost imports. Now they are being joined by residents of many emerging economies, with consumption of housing, cars, and electronics, spreading across the world. The number of nations that embraces world trade forms a growing consensus.

Billions of new consumers have entered the global market place, as developing countries participate in world trade. An expanding middle class in emerging markets is driving increased consumption and an expansion of global business. In many countries, driven by gains from trade and the forces of economic specialization, workers are shifting to more productive sectors of their economies.