At least pricing can be changed on a country by country basis.  What if you’re a global brand and you have an issue that makes it impossible to leverage your existing brand in different regions of the world? That’s a hairy problem.

Researchers have known for 80 years about a symbolic connection between speech and size: back-of-the-mouth vowels like the “o” in “two” make people think of large sizes, whereas people associate front-of-the-mouth vowels like “ee” with diminutiveness.

via Drilling Down – Vowel Sounds Influence Consumers’ Perception of Prices – NYTimes.com.

HOW IS THE INTERNET CHANGING THE WAY YOU THINK?

The World Question Center 2010.

I’m just beginning to read this and I have two thoughts:

1. Knowledge will become a commodity.  Processing and communicating will become relatively more valuable.

2. This answers are inherently skewed.  If you ask a bunch of thinkers how the internet is changing the way they think, you have to keep in mind that 90% of the rest of the population don’t like to think.

I.P.O. Market Remained Dreary in 2009 – Bits Blog – NYTimes.com.

Walmart takes strategic sourcing to a global level.  This was inevitable as the company became more global.  One of it’s biggest strengths is its size and as it grows, so too will its advantages:

Mr Castro-Wright has estimated that shifting to direct purchasing could reduce costs by 5-15 per cent across the supply chain within five years – suggesting potential savings of $4bn-$12bn if the retailer were to meet its long-term goal of shifting to sourcing about 80 per cent of purchases directly.

via FT.com / Companies / Retail – Walmart aims to cut supply chain cost.

The mathematics behind Hadoop-based systems — thoughts from the red planet.

I admit I haven’t read this yet but I’m bookmarking it here for the future.

Despite their advantages, magnetic bearings have been slow to catch on widely in industry, said Eric Maslen, a professor of mechanical and aerospace engineering at the University of Virginia in Charlottesville. One reason, he said, has been the complications involved in installing the control system that runs the electromagnets. That system is typically housed in a bulky cabinet far from the rotating shaft.

via Novelties – Magnetic Bearings That House Their Own Controls – NYTimes.com.

Avon and Amway, two other American companies that use independent representatives, have even larger sales forces here. Avon says it recruits up to 50,000 women a month and now has one million agents.

via Direct Sales Flourish in China, but Not Without Criticism – NYTimes.com.

But that growth has not come without controversy. Many direct sellers in China have been accused of operating sophisticated pyramid schemes and other sales swindles. (In one widely publicized case a few years ago, people were conned into buying stakes in ant farms.)

This reverse flow of intangible assets helps explain why the export-driven development strategy is such a powerful one. And it also helps explain why China, in particular, has been so focused on holding down the value of the yuan, and so reluctant to switch to domestic-driven growth.

via Supply Chains and the Transfer of Intangible Assets « Mandel on Innovation and Growth.

There’s plenty of evidence that China understands the value of these intangible assets.  There are lots of stories that support that, such as this one:

“BOE got the technology they wanted. All we got was layoffs,” said Hwang Pil-sang, a Hydis worker.

via In Carmaker’s Collapse, a Microcosm of South Korea’s Woes – NYTimes.com.