Navigating the VUCA world

All such new features are reflected not only in a series of US policy shifts, such as the more vigorous enforcement practices and contemplated expansions of scope and power of its Committee on Foreign Investment in the US (CFIUS), its renegotiations with Canada and Mexico regarding the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), the tariff sticks Washington frequently wields against its trade partners, but also in the EU’s ongoing about-face policy adjustments towards foreign investments in its region of responsibility, more strict antitrust enforcements against tech giants like Google, Amazon and Facebook, among others, aiming to keep the EU at a distance from the sweeping powers of US tech unicorns, as well as the profound regulatory changes with respect to data protection, tax schemes, labour laws across China, South Korea, Japan, Australia and other major economies throughout the world.

To keep things in perspective, we can compare the regulatory changes that have occurred with how the global economy, especially the multi-national companies (MNCs), has been developing in the past. It is ironic to see that, though regulatory changes are featured with populism and deglobalization, MNCs have continuously and firmly been rolling out globalization schemes, such as the mushrooming share-service centres across the borders, the proactive M&A practices in emerging markets, the windfall of restructuring projects across the regions and countries. It is worth noting that all such globalization efforts have been significantly enhanced in some cases in a disruptive manner, with the digitalization edges, such as artificial intelligence (AI) and big data. All these aspects not only imply that the deglobalization attempts of various politicians may probably fail, despite their origins, but they also indicate a new Globalization 2.0 (assuming the post-World-War-II era with its US-led international order constituted Globalization 1.0), with distinct features, scale and depth, may loom on the surface.