These days, there is a new context for globalization. Over the past decade, global economic flows have increased at more than six percent per year. But the economic forces and competitive context that underpin this single indicator have changed dramatically.

We are witness to what is rapidly becoming a “multipolar” world—an environment characterized by a new and more complex phase of increased economic interdependence across multiple centers of economic power and activities. In this world, countries such as China, India, and Brazil represent not just sources of cheap labor and raw materials but also robust markets for goods, services, and qualified labor. Competitors from emerging economies are increasingly investing in mature markets around the globe. One day soon, the traditional centers of economic power—the United States, Japan, and Europe —might no longer call all the shots.

Just a few facts make the point. Outward foreign direct investment from emerging economies already accounts for 17 percent of the world total. There are now 33 million university-educated young professionals in the developing world compared to 14 million in the developed world. And two years from now, China and India will have 123 million middle-class households—more than the total number of households in the United States. For companies from mature economies, the mounting pressure to globalize to reduce cost is matched by the need to follow demand that is growing globally faster than at home. They also must plan to mitigate the risks of being displaced by emerging competitors entering their own backyard.

As a result, global operations are becoming much more nuanced and complex. They require a shift from the scenario in which multinational corporations buy and sell in multiple countries—the transaction-oriented world of imports and exports—to the effective integration of design, sourcing, manufacturing, distributing, selling, marketing, and supporting of products and services globally. Global operations also extend into tax optimization and geopolitical risk mitigation as well as global talent management.