09Jun
Category: Corey Towe
Posted by: Corey Towe at
3:28 pm No Comments
I’ve intentionally waited a couple of weeks to write my last blog in order to give me time to process and think through all the things we heard and felt during our trip to South Africa. I wanted to let my emotions stabilize so I can sit down and think about the implications of the trip, how I can respond and how my perspective is different as a result of this experience.
My view/paradigm of international business has shifted significantly because of this South Africa experience. Having been to South Africa twice before, I had an expectation of the culture, the weather and the social challenges we were walking into, but I didn’t have this experience in the context of the South African business environment. Needless to say, my paradigm about business in South Africa and my paradigm about international business was challenged and shattered as we visited business after business.
I realize now I knew very little about doing business in another country and very little about the right questions to ask when thinking about international business. I still don’t have all the answers, but because of this experience I know some questions to ask and I know all aspects of society and culture need to be investigated in order to somewhat understand the dynamics in a country.
South Africa truly has a bright future. I can’t wait to watch the country re-position itself during the two major soccer tournaments this June and next summer. These are tremendous opportunities for South Africa to re-brand itself as a country and start to turn around the current perception the rest of the world has about that country and the rest of Africa. I wait in anticipation for South Africa to continue to emerge from the shadows of Apartheid into the forefront of countries leading the new world economy.
Thank you to all who made this trip special.
22May
Category: Corey Towe
Posted by: Corey Towe at
2:06 am No Comments
After spending the past two weeks being exposed to business, society and culture in South Africa one thing is clear, I have more questions than answers at this point. Doing business in a foreign country is complex and it takes more than two weeks to understand all the “ins & outs” of doing business in an international context. The more I’ve been exposed companies, ideologies, society and culture, the more I see how you cannot separate all these components when evaluating entering a new country to do business.
My company is looking to internationalize within the next year. After this experience my perspective has changed. I see how we weren’t asking the right questions or attempting to understand the big and complete picture. Our viewpoint was narrow and it could have caused significant challenges in attempting to replicate our business model in another country. Now, after being exposed to what we have on this trip, I see the need to do further and more comprehensive research and look at all angles of society to help position us for success. Before this trip I wouldn’t have known what questions to ask or what aspects of society to investigate further. After being here I still don’t have all the answers, but I know there are a lot of questions to ask.
22May
Category: Corey Towe
Posted by: Corey Towe at
2:02 am No Comments
A few months ago I was introduced to the man who started an organization called “Tom’s Shoes”. His story is a fascinating one and I’ve thought about it the past couple of days in response to what we’ve exposed to at a business and social level.
Blake Mycoskie travelled to Argentina in 2006 to spend extended time there. He spent a lot of time with men who played polo as a hobby. During this time he built great relationships and was exposed to their lifestyle and their shoes. After visiting a poverty-stricken section of the city he lived in, he noticed the children did not have any shoes. At that point, he developed the vision to provide shoes for children across the world with no access. He created a company that manufactures shoes similar to the ones worn by polo players in Argentina and the inspiring thing is he gives away a pair of shoes each time a pair is purchased. He has found the way to connect business to society resulting in a significant impact to address vast problem.
What could we do to create business in South Africa that helps create solutions to significant social problems? Visiting the temporary township outside Soweto and talking to the young children brought this question to my mind. They are happy, but they are also in desperate need. What about the unskilled and uneducated that desperately need training in order to become a valuable resource to South African companies? What about the young black entrepreneurs who need help finding funding to start their business? What about the generations to come and their opportunity to pursue their dreams as empowered and equipped citizens?
Tom saw a need for children to have shoes and used the resources he had to help contribute to the solution to this problem. With the needs we’ve seen the past few days, what can we do to contribute to solving business and social problems in this country?
16May
Category: Corey Towe
Posted by: Corey Towe at
5:33 pm 1 Comment
As I travel throughout South Africa and visit businesses, I learn more about the connection between society and economy. It’s inspiring to see so many organizations and companies providing their skills and resources in attempt to make an impact on this nation. Although it might seem like only a small stone in a vast ocean, they are creating ripples that will ultimately turn into waves of impact. If you add all these stones together they can create a momentum of change that will ultimately change the direction and destination of this nation.
This is something I want to wrestle with the next few days. How can I contribute? How can I provide my own small stone that creates a small ripple that ultimately could create waves of impact within South Africa? There needs to be a response.
16May
Category: Corey Towe
Posted by: Corey Towe at
5:32 pm No Comments
Today was a lesson in South African extremes. In this country you can quickly go from one economic extreme to the other and back again very quickly. For example, we are staying in Sandton, one of the wealthiest sections of Johannesburg, but the township of Alexandria is in sight, which is one of the poorest sections. This is pretty common and we were able to experience firsthand today.
We first visited the Royal Balfokeng to learn about the efforts going on in this area related to education, skill-development and fight against HIV/AIDS. It was an amazing story to hear and even more amazing to see the progress they are making in fighting against the education challenges that are rampant in this country. After listening to their vision and strategy, I think this will have a viral impact on education in this country and continue to spread. The challenge will be funding. The Royal Balfokeng family financially supports this initiative currently, but this might be a challenge for other sections of South Africa. The encouraging and inspiring thing is they are making real progress.
After that visit, we visited an HIV/AIDS hospice. I was amazed by the innovation and advanced technology used to build and sustain the hospice. The HIV/AIDS situation is heartbreaking and hard to understand or explain, but people are actively contributing to helping those with the virus and educating the existing and future generations on how to live in such a way to prevent the spread of this horrific disease.
We then swung to the other extreme. We visited Sun City(http://www.suninternational.com/Destinations/Resorts/SunCity/Pages/default.aspx) , which is a mix between Vegas and Disney World. It is the place celebrities frequently visit with rooms ranging from $500-$5000 per night. It was a great experience, but very different than the other sites we visited earlier in the day.
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