Apr 8th 2010
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Loading ...Cosmopolitan capital
Sydney’s greatest comparative economic advantage is the cultural diversity of its population. The economy will prosper if business can take advantage of the opportunities this presents, says Professor Jock Collins.
Fifty-eight percent of Sydney’s population are first- or second-generation migrants, making it one of the world’s great cosmopolitan cities. In economic terms, it is at once a cosmopolitan market place, and a cosmopolitan business resource. In the global context, Sydney’s cosmopolitan makeup presents a key competitive advantage for Australian businesses looking to succeed in international markets.
A 1994 Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade report showed that of all the Australian businesses that tried to launch into the Asian market that year, not one employed someone from a relevant Asian background as part of the process. Astonishingly, in the attempt to engage in international business ventures, businesses ignored the potential of the available workforce with their language skills, cultural knowledge, and Asian business experience.
Without doubt, Australia has a tradition of economically successful migrants. Many of Australia’s billionaires arrived in the country as migrants with few economic resources. But despite this tradition, in too many cases the corporate gatekeepers responsible for recruitment and advancement within corporate Australia think ‘here’s a problem’, when faced with an accent or a different skin colour. Yet such diversity should signal ‘here’s potential’ and point to the possibility of language skills, rich tradition and knowledge. Corporate gatekeepers may be penalising a potential source of a business advantage.
However, what is certainly a missed opportunity for the corporate sector is proving a clear boon to Australia’s dynamic small business sector, where migrant Australians are clearly at the vanguard. Blocked mobility in the corporate sector has encouraged immigrants to focus on entrepreneurial activities or to work within family-based or community-based businesses. This is particularly the case for migrant women who face the double-glazed ceiling of gender and ethnicity working against them in Australia’s corporate environment.
It is also worth noting that immigrant Australians frequently bring to their small businesses the competitive advantage of global networks of families and friends, who provide trusted access to overseas supply chains, for example.
The University of Technology’s Cosmopolitan Civil Societies Research Centre (CCS) looks at a number of dimensions when considering the economic value of migrant business communities, and it is clear that the social and economic dimensions of a multicultural population reinforce one another, creating synergies, and engendering business dynamism. Cultural diversity is one of the key elements of Richard Florida’s study of creative cities for the excitement and energy it generates within a community. Sydney’s community and economy will prosper for decades to come if we learn how to take advantage of the opportunity that cultural diversity offers.
On the 7th April 2010, Professor Collins presented his ideas to an audience as part of the popular UTSpeaks series. Download the slides from the presentation, or follow this link for an audio recording of Professor Collins’ talk.
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