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In 1983, Professor Theodore "Ted" Levitt of Harvard's Business School announced that had arrived, and before long global companies would be selling products and services in similar ways all over the world. In spite of Levitt's prediction, only a limited amount of truly global brands exist in today's business world, although markets are undeniably in an age of economic globalization. The reason behind this stems from the immense amount of forces that , of which a select number of firms have overcome.

As businesses continue to expand internationally, it is becoming more important than ever for these companies to adapt their strategies to different in foreign markets.  Companies must extensively and determine whether or not their product or service can be successful in that market.  Often times, cultural differences require changes to be made to a company’s sales and marketing approach and sometimes even the product itself.

The covers an assortment of products and companies within.  It happens to include one of the largest commodity markets, coffee.  With its distinctive socio-cultural ties, coffee has been produced, branded, and marketed uniquely in every part of the world.  With any product, various factors must be taken into consideration when developing a brand: consumption patterns, cultural relevance, product expectation, and marketplace competition to name a few.  Branding essentially tries to with the consumer that transcends the products actual function.  Brands aspire to create an identity, a lifestyle to live by.

In 1983, made a bold prediction; Globalization was coming to fruition. Products and services were soon going to be sold everywhere on earth, not just domestically, creating a truly global brand. Since then, time has proven Ted correct.

In a more connected and , brand recognition across many markets and countries has become extremely important for international business. When a company’s goods or services are not only well-known but popular in many all around the world, you know that particular company is doing something right. Global branding is a major aspect of in today’s business environment and is constantly changing as the world moves forward. Not only is global branding evolving, it is changing the way businesses market their products across the globe. This week the will take a deeper look at global branding and its impact on international business operations.

In today’s world, energy is always in demand and this has led many companies in the to focus on new renewable forms of energy. Lately renewable energy, specifically solar, has experienced a multitude of issues that threaten many of the companies that specialize in solar power. From the high profile collapse of Solyndra to the free fall of prices around the world, many are left wondering what the future holds for this burgeoning industry.

The Expo kicked off this week with a rumored 90,000 attendees from there. Sponsored by , the purpose of this expo is to help businesses around the world realize the power of cloud computing. uses the internet to host data and provide information and services effortlessly to consumers.  While cloud computing is not a new idea, the big revelation from Dreamforce is how important social media is going forward.

The problem of copying and product imitation has pervaded businesses from practically the beginning of time. The age-old debate about the nature of innovation has significant importance in the world of business. Patents were originally designed to help companies protect their intellectual property from competitors to ensure that innovation was rewarded not stolen. However, many have argued that and all creativity comes from some other idea. Albert Einstein said it best himself with the famous quote, “The secret to creativity is knowing how to hide your sources.” So what does this patent and creativity debate mean for businesses, and perhaps more importantly for global competitiveness?

China is currently in an economic slowdown, the causes of which are a great debate in Asia’s largest economy. China, the world’s second largest economy behind the United States, expanded 7.6 % in the second quarter from a year earlier, the slowest pace since 2009. While a growth rate above 7% might seem thriving at first glance, you must first consider that China has had an average annual growth rate of nearly 15% since 2000. Many economists believe that their growth will slow further to a rate of around 7.0% for 2012. Is the economy of the most populous nation in the world in trouble?

The global economy came to a stall earlier this summer with slowing and the debt crisis worsening, many investors and business owners were expecting the worst.  The Federal Reserve has already promised to keep short-term interest rates at zero until 2014 and flattened the yield curve through . If that can’t spark any economic growth, then what is there left to do?