When it comes to risky business, you won’t find many Canadian companies with heads above battlefield foxholes.
That’s the conventional wisdom. But that convention appears headed for a 21st century makeover.
Canada and its brand are rising stars on the world stage, especially for the 20- to 30-year-olds who make up the generation that pundits have dubbed the “millennials.” That newfound star status brings with it a global profile Canadian business might not be comfortable with.
But Joe Andrew sees that discomfort as a necessary step in Canada’s entrepreneurial evolution.
Andrew is the global chairman of Dentons, a top 10 multi-national law firm. The past chairman of the Democratic National Committee also specializes in globalization and other rapidly evolving aspects of the world’s economy. He chatted with Public Offerings recently from Montreal, where he was attending the Conférence de Montréal and chairing a plenary session on the new global economy. Andrew is nothing if not bullish on Canada, even though low risk tolerance continues to define the country’s business persona.
But Canada’s CEOs, he said, are awakening to the realization that one of the biggest risks they now face is the risk of doing nothing in world markets.
His discussion with a group of CEOs at the Montreal conference typifies that realization. While the CEOs conceded that they were just as conservative and risk-averse as they’ve always been, their evaluation of that risk has changed.
“[They’re now] focused on the risk of not engaging globally; the risk of not doing things; they’ve become better at evaluating [risk]. … It’s about how you measure risk, not whether you become more risk averse.”
Another major risk for Canada now is failing to leverage its brand, the value of which is rapidly appreciating when compared with other countries and in light of the world’s increasingly mobile workforce.
Rising to the top of that talent pool is that millennial generation, which Andrew said prizes such Canadian characteristics and values as the country’s natural beauty and its reputation for social tolerance and diversity.
Clearly, Canada is a millennial destination of choice.
Also high atop Andrew’s list of risks for docile Canada: failing to educate the rest of the world about the growing significance within the country of business sectors beyond energy, natural resources and banking. They include what Andrew called Canada’s crown jewels: media/entertainment, gaming and telecommunications, whose prominence is rising, especially in urban centres like Vancouver. The decision by Japan’s Namco Bandai to open its first North American digital game development studio in the city is further evidence of that. But again that requires Canadian companies to aggressively set economic targets and growth aspirations outside of North America.
As Andrew points out, Canada is geographically blessed by being next to the world’s biggest economy. It has a richer resource base than key competitor nations like Australia and a healthier banking sector than countries like Germany. It also has an education system that’s still highly regarded internationally. But there remains an internal debate in Canada about global engagement and trade. In countries like Germany, there is no debate. Germany just takes it for granted that it will be a goods-and-services player in the global marketplace.
However, Canada’s outward vision appears to be expanding.
Andrew points out that in a recent Sharplegal Canada survey compiled for economists and analysts seeking predictive intelligence, 71% of Canadian companies said that they would need international legal advice in the next year. That compares with around 40% for survey respondent companies in the United States.
So corporate Canada’s risky business ambitions on the global stage appear to be rising.
That bodes well for the country and attracting talent to build Canada and support its lifestyle.
As Andrew pointed out, we will either sink or swim with the millennials.
Canada’s talent pool needs all the swimmers it can get. •
