Age really is just a number! In a wide-ranging interview, the Wharton School's Vice Dean argues that there is nothing naturally preordained about what we should be doing at different ages. The sequential model of life (school, work, retirement) is nothing but a social and political construction, he says. The confluence of rising life expectancy, enhanced physical and mental fitness and technology-driven knowledge and interaction fundamentally alter dynamics over the entire life course, redefining what we can do at different ages. As a result, a 'post-generational' society is emerging comprising 'Perennials' - people who are not characterized by the decade in which they were born. The result: more opportunities for people of all ages to change course, take gap years and reinvent themselves. Those who understand the potential of the Perennial mindset, says Guillen, will enter a new era of unrestricted living, learning, working and consuming.

Dozens of multinational companies from emerging markets are roaring out of obscurity to compete head-to-head with the world's great corporations--without paying much attention to the kind of strategy making that is typically taught in business schools. Unencumbered by complicated or calcified rules about which markets to focus on and how to grow, these firms are achieving success by executing first and analyzing later, pursuing headlong expansion, and embracing turbulent markets. Mauro F. Guillen of the Wharton School and Esteban Garcia-Canal of the University of Oviedo in Spain say that these companies' tendency to make strategy on the fly may be the reason they don't garner the kind of respect in the developed world that is showered on the likes of GE, IBM, and P&G. In this article, the authors take a close look at three firms--Mexico's Bimbo, the number one bread baker in the world; India's Ocimum Biosolutions, a contract R&D and research firm; and Egypt's Orascom, a conglomerate operating in many of the world's most chaotic regions--to understand how their mind-set feeds their success. In today's world, all companies need to be able to function in unpredictable business environments. Emerging multinationals already know how to do that--it's what they're used to. Lessons from their success are applicable to global firms wherever they're from and wherever they do business.

Many firms sit on the sidelines of global competition, believing they need to develop innovative products or leading brands before venturing abroad. The international success of Spanish companies like Telefonica, Freixenet, Banco Santander, and ALSA proves such thinking dead wrong. They all became global players in their industries-by excelling at old-fashioned capabilities. The Spanish firms skipped the risky, expensive strategy of opening their own facilities overseas. Instead, they extended their reach through acquisitions and alliances, focusing first on Latin America and Europe. Political and networking savvy helped them break into highly regulated or complex markets. Speed has also been a factor in their success: Rapid project execution allowed them to pull ahead of other multinationals, and with their expertise in vertical integration, they've been able to get products quickly and cost-effectively to far-flung customers. Though all these skills may be humdrum, Spanish firms have made the most of them and have become industry giants as a result.

The net is a powerful medium for reaching and servicing customers around the world. However, companies are learning that cross-national differences in infrastructure, regulation, language, buyer demographics and behavior, payment methods, and currencies pose formidable challenges to the simple global model of international operations. The author examines not only the opportunities for global integration but also the needs for local responsiveness, showing how firms operating across borders can use the net effectively as a marketing tool. Books, music, wines, industrial components, information, and financial services serve to illustrate the potential and pitfalls of net-based selling across borders.