Americans must work smarter to stay ahead of competition
“Whether we like it or not, we’re in international business,” and to stay globally competitive, Americans must work harder and smarter than international competitors, said Lew Cramer, president and CEO of World Trade Center Utah.
Featured as the final Dean’s Convocation speaker of the semester for the Jon M. Huntsman School of Business, Cramer spoke Wednesday afternoon to an auditorium of mostly business students about his extensive career in international business and of the many opportunities available in international business.
More than a trend, Cramer said international business is the future and now is the time to get involved.
“This golden time is here,” Cramer said. “We are in a global economy. We may not all become global business execs. You may not all be going global, but you all need to be globally competitive. This is a world where globalization is like a tsunami sweeping across the landscape.”
And Cramer would know.
Cramer spent nearly his entire career in international business, a career that would take him around the world, allow him to live in Asia, work with top government officials and serve as assistant secretary of commerce for international trade, deputy assistant secretary of commerce for science and electronics and as a White House Fellow with the U.S. Trade Representative for the Ronald Reagan and George H. Bush administrations.
When he graduated from Brigham Young University with his law degree, Cramer said he fully planned on spending his career as a West Coast litigation attorney. But early on in his career, on a Friday afternoon – which he says is when great opportunities always seemed to strike – Cramer got involved with a deal to market windsurfing boards internationally.
From there on out, his status as an international businessman was sealed and he soon found himself on the East Coast, where he spent the majority of his career.
Cramer said he feels blessed for all the opportunities he has had and said opportunities always come for those who work hard and prepare.
“Do your best and good things will happen,” Cramer said.
Even though economic times are rough, Cramer said everybody will face tough times in their career, and graduates will get that out of the way early on in their careers.
Far from being pessimistic about the future, Cramer said he was excited about the international opportunities being made available in Utah. He said Utah Gov. Jon Huntsman Jr. is a major factor in international business gaining a solid foothold in Utah.
“Our governor is the most international governor in this country except for Arnold Schwarzenegger,” Cramer said.
Having spent two years on an LDS mission to Taiwan, Huntsman spent three more in that country working as a business executive for the Huntsman Chemical Corporation, Cramer said. Huntsman also served as an ambassador to Singapore, speaks superlative Mandarin Chinese and has adopted daughters from India and China, he said.
When traveling globally with Huntsman, Cramer said it was common for foreign government officials to comment on the intelligence and work ethic of Huntsman. Cramer said those same qualities are what are helping Huntsman bring attention to international business in Utah.
“Gov. Huntsman said we’re going to change the dynamics of this state. We’re going to let people know that Utah is open for business, particularly for international business,” Cramer said.
Besides working with the World Trade Center Utah to connect Utah businesses to the rest of the world, Cramer said Huntsman is trying to bring international business to the younger generation.
Starting this year, 73 high schools and middle schools in Utah will teach Mandarin Chinese, a skill Cramer said Huntsman believes is necessary in the 21st century. Some 7,000 students will learn Mandarin, more than any other state in the nation, Cramer said. Huntsman is also pushing for expanded Russian and Arabic language training.
“There is a real drive out there that education is how we’re going to succeed,” Cramer said. “Continual learning is required if you’re going to be competitive in this kind of world.”
This training will be necessary in the global marketplace, where Cramer said people are willing to work “27 hours a day” to compete with the United States. And with the age of digitization, Cramer said outsourcing is making the need to be globally competitive more important than ever.
This is where his work with World Trade Center Utah becomes important, Cramer said. According to the WTCU Web site, nearly 600 Utah businesses were helped by the WTCU to become more globally prepared.
Cramer said a Davis County business worked with the WTCU to ship $2 million of crane equipment to the Middle East. He said a goat cheese factory in Delta ships 80,000 pounds of goat cheese a month to Korea, where they use it for pizza.
Perhaps his best success story is Martin Doors, a garage door company in West Salt Lake. Cramer said Martin Doors ships the large devices to 84 countries worldwide, everywhere from Norway to Chile and everywhere in between.
Cramer said the key to being successful in international business comes down to the 10-percent rule, meaning “if you work 10 percent harder, longer or smarter, you have a huge advantage. You need to put that extra 10 percent in.”
–seth.h@aggiemail.usu.edu