By Steven Weber, Partner
What does it mean in 2022 to be a global firm, and what will it mean as we approach the middle of the decade? In this essay, Steve Weber takes a look back at his most recent book Bloc by Bloc: How to Build a Global Enterprise for the New Regional Order, to assess where we are in the process of economic and technology regionalization, and why the trajectory he laid out as a contrarian argument in 2019 seems to be emerging even more quickly and clearly than the book foresaw. Regions – now defined by technology rules and standards rather than physical geography constraints like mountains and oceans – are becoming the most prominent feature of the global business environment. The essay explains how and why this new landscape has come into being, and what it means for some of the most important strategic choices of firms that want to reach the world – from government relations and communications to data localization and technology investment.