There’s much talk these days about productivity and production. I’ve blogged previously on this topic. US productivity peaked with the “Dot.Com Bubble” and has been very weak since 2010.[i] A possible resurgence, according to many, lies in artificial intelligence and robotics. On the other hand, these very innovations that could increase productivity and competitiveness may displace more…

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Posted in: International Business

In a recent blog, I talked about the impact of increased automation and robotics on jobs in the logistics industry.  While jobs numbers attract the most attention both within the industry and in the popular press, the more significant and complicated issue relates to the impact on the structure of the logistics industry itself.  A…

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Posted in: International Business

OPINION | ELMORE ALEXANDER Donald Trump shouldn’t scrap NAFTA AP/GLOBE STAFF By Elmore Alexander   DECEMBER 13, 2016 The presidential election exposed deep fissures in the country over whether NAFTA and other free trade agreements benefit the United States or have accelerated job losses. With the election of Donald Trump, we now face the possibility…

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Posted in: International Business

strategic-planning

The latest data from the National Student Clearinghouse Research Center on student enrollments in higher education was featured prominently in the business and education headlines this week.  Higher education enrollment declined 1.4% this fall to 19 million students considerably off the high water mark of 20.6 million reached in 2011.  There are many interesting elements…

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Posted in: Higher Education

By Elmore Alexander | 11/14/2016 | Originally published in http://blogs.dcvelocity.com/management/ I just returned from a week-long trip to Germany where I was working with a German university on a partnership in global logistics—one that would link Bridgewater State University with universities in Germany, England, Malaysia, and Vietnam.   Seeing the culmination of the US presidential election from…

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Posted in: International Business

executive-coaching

By Elmore Alexander | 10/21/2016 | 6:43 AM | (See full blog at http://blogs.dcvelocity.com/management/)   Interestingly, the NAFTA debate of the current election cycle has focused primarily on US–Mexico trade generally ignoring the US–Canadian relationship.  Sometimes we forget how significant this latter relationship is[i]: The largest bilateral trading relationship in the world—approaching three-quarters of a trillion…

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Posted in: International Business

 | 09/19/2016 | 1:05 PM | see complete blog at blog.dcvelocity.com If you followed my recommendation to check out Parag Khanna’s new book Connetography, and were frustrated to find it to be a dense, academic read, you will be pleased with my latest recommendation, Door to Door.  The author, Edward Humes, is definitely more geared to popular writing…

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Posted in: International Business

logistics

  By Elmore Alexander | 08/28/2016 | 8:29 AM (see full blog on blogs.dcvelocity.com) Any visit to China is striking. The size of everything is overwhelming. The contrast of old and new is striking.  If you’re revisiting, the obvious growth is a shock.  If, as was the case for me, the time span between visits…

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Posted in: International Business

higher-education

A decade ago, we were visiting colleges with our son searching for what he felt would be the perfect “fit.”  Our visits took us on the tour of the New England liberal arts colleges.  It began at Wesleyan and ended at Williams.   One college caught the attention of each of us—Bates College.  It was neither…

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Posted in: Higher Education

higher-education

Nothing can bring forward more coordinated moans from faculty members and administrators alike than the mention of a new strategic planning process.  It portends endless meetings, maybe more endless arguments, and imminent frustration that the final product does not reflect “my university.”   I will acknowledge that we have reached a point where state funding (or…

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Posted in: Higher Education