Truth is revealed in rest of the story
Published in The Tennessean , Wednesday, 09/26/07 Truth is revealed in rest of the story By RICHARD J. GRANT Those of us who have lived and worked many years overseas are well aware that “cheap labor” can be very expensive. The extra costs lie hidden to the newcomer who might, at first, believe he is getting something for nothing. Learning the rest of the story is what we call “experience.” If you want to make it work, you have to adapt your procedures and your attitude – often to your own discomfort. With the end of the Cold War, a new world of opportunity opened up for business. With governments loosening the shackles on their economies, the potential for trade and investment greatly expanded. To Western business leaders, the attraction of the newly available labor and resources is a bit like a gold rush: some will score huge profit gains. These particular opportunities, on this scale, are a historical one-off. By all means, let’s profit while it lasts. But not everyone will come out...