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At  CED's sold out Globalization conference in Cary, NC on February 14 ,speakers from Quintiles, Lenovo, and Kennedy Covington. shared their global experiences, advice on global success and recommended some of their favorite books to an audience of entrepreneurs.

Oren Cohen, Chief Medical and Scientific Officer for Quintiles Transnational Corp., advises that having on the ground experience in the foreign market you are looking to do business in is essential to global success. “Doing business in foreign markets requires not only a strong business plan and value proposition, but also an appreciation of the subtleties and nuances of the culture and business environment - in the biopharmaceutical services business, you need on the ground expertise to understand local regulations and your audience,” said Cohen. Oren Cohen’s Recommended Read: Get There Early - Sensing the Future to Compete in the Present by Bob Johansen, 2007

Deepak Advani, Chief Marketing Officer and Senior Vice President of Global ecommerce for Lenovo says that localized marketing is important to achieve global success. “You need to segment your marketing efforts, research your global audience and understand the culture,” advises Advani. To speed up your global impact, Advani suggests collaboration and partnerships, and leveraging the web and social networking. "In order to maximize your effectiveness, you need to understand the local culture, and adapt your marketing so it resonates with the target audience. Also important is understanding your route to market- where relationships with local resellers and retailers can be critical to success.” Deepak Advani’s Recommended Read: Wikinomics by Don Tapscott and Anthony Williams

Neil Bagchi, an associate with Kennedy Covington’s India Advisory, suggests that the keys to global success are partnership, people and relationships. "You need to spend a considerable amount of time finding the right people and cultivating the right relationships before jumping into cross border ventures," Bagchi recommends. "Globalization is not for every company, and global business is not something that happens overnight. You need to consider the costs and risks associated; ensure that it fits within your company’s business model; and be sure you are working with people you trust." Neil Bagchi's Recommended Read: Planet India by Mira Kamdar

Additional global resources and books recommend by other panelists and speakers at CED’s Globalization conference:

• http://www.startups247.com/forum/all
• http://export.gov/
• The World Is Flat: A Brief History of the Twenty-first Century by Thomas L. Friedman
• Good to Great: Why Some Companies Make the Leap... and Others Don't by Jim Collins
• Blue Ocean Strategy: How to Create Uncontested Market Space and Make Competition Irrelevant by W. Chan Kim and Renée Mauborgne
• The Fall of Advertising and the Rise of PR by Al Ries and Laura Ries
• The Ultimate Question: Driving Good Profits and True Growth by Fred Reichheld