For all practical purposes, today’s economy is completely globalized. Any company that wishes to insert itself successfully in the world should see cultural diversity as an asset, not as a liability. To understand different national cultures and to adequately process the differences generates competitive advantages. In this matter, many Peruvian businessmen have not developed their corporate global citizenship enough.

Currently, competitive pressures demand products and services whose minimum acceptable standards are total quality and the least possible cost. To differentiate themselves, companies develop intangible assets, which represent more than two thirds of the market value of the companies in Europe and the United States. One of these intangibles is anthropological sensitivity, which is the ability to connect economically, culturally and emotionally with different segments of the world’s population. It is precisely in the intersection of cultural differences where the opportunity to create new products and services, exists.

For example, the economic empire created by Deepak Chopra is the product of the synergistic mixture of Hindu spiritualism with a western business model. This has generated a whole industry of “spas”, workshops and books that have filled the metaphysical emptiness that the modern lifestyle has left in many people. In 2006, Chopra established a partnership with Richard Branson, the famous British entrepreneur, to launch comic books about South East Asian culture. It would be interesting to see a Peruvian globalize Andean spiritualism as a means of being in harmony with nature and with ourselves becoming Chopra’s competitor.

Ideas for innovative products and services will be increasingly generated from the synergic interaction with other cultures. Therefore, companies will need to create products in a different way. That is, with strategic vision and intercultural intelligence. If a company such as Wong or Bembos (Strong Peruvian brands) wishes to expand to China or India, it must develop intercultural abilities which will allow it to understand and comprehend how people belonging to those cultures think, perceive and feel, and how should the company should adapt or recreate its services or products for those markets. Anthropological sensitivity will not only help us understand, connect and create new products for the Anglo-Saxon, Asian, Scandinavian or Arab markets. It will also allow us to interact more harmonically and efficiently within multicultural societies such as the Peruvian one and to take advantage of the inexhaustible source of innovation of its diversity. For example, our gastronomy has generated a whole industry that is becoming global thanks to the vision of Peruvian chef and entrepreneur Gaston Acurio.

Globalizing sparks such as the one produced in gastronomy can be generated in the textile industry, in tourism, in sports such as “Peruvian Fronton” or in the movie business. Imagine an Andean epic of the Incan Hero Cahuide, similar to Mel Gibson’s “Brave Heart” or a novel by Vargas Llosa in Hollywood. That would certainly boost Peru´s presence in the world cultural and economic scene. That is why, more than ever, our ethnic and cultural diversity is an asset, not a liability. We just have to identify the opportunities and fully develop our global citizenship, enriching and internationalizing our Peruvian culture. This will demand a more innovative, efficient, well read and global business elite.