LEGAL ENVIRONMENT OF BUSINESS Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

LEGAL ENVIRONMENT OF BUSINESS - Essay Example True indeed as the article asserts, Russia has proved to be a developing growth market whose legal environment has constantly changed in the recent past. The country has in the recent past experienced an increase in activities involving corporate transactions of different types including not only public listings, but also mergers, acquisitions and joint ventures, consolidation and also restructuring. The result of these development have been far reaching especially from the legal front telling from the rising number of high profile disputes involving mostly Russian parties who numerous studies have indicated to be favoring either the English courts or other arbitration venues outside Russia for resolution of the disputes. This article despite not being very comprehensive in nature, the opinions provided has been presented in quite a general way making it worth for reference by any interested persons. While discussing the changing legal environment, the current state of affairs in Rus sia has been clearly brought out. Among the issues analyzed include the various changes to the Russian legislation and the impacts which they may have. One notable effect discussed on the article is the non appreciation of Russia to what the country regards as interference by foreign courts which is a clear indicator of the importance of the companies that wish to enter into transactions relating to business in Russia having a clear understanding of the local practical, legal and procedural issues (White & Case, 2012). The article has also been very effective in identifying the various trends that are associated with joint venture and the other transactions in Russia. Truly as asserted by Andrei Dontsov in the article that most offshore JVs are usually governed by an English law shareholder agreement, this is indeed a true reflection of what is on the ground as widely documented by different research findings on the topic. The issue of upcoming changes in Russian law has been well a nalyzed in the article. The article has been successful in outlining the various amendments to the Russian Civil Code that are under consideration by the Russian parliament whose main aim is to introduce new legal concepts familiar to lawyers from other jurisdictions (White & Case, 2012). While analyzing the issues to do with enforcing one’s rights as regards to Russia-related transactions, the article has been very successful in reiterating the importance of the investors doing business in Russia to keenly following the various developments with high likelihood of impacting the investor’s rights in instances where there may arise disagreements between the parties. This has been clearly brought out in the article especially to the extent where there is no appreciation of interferences and the implementation of various measures that are mainly aimed at addressing the interferences. The article has also been very successful in addressing the issues regarding the enforcem ent against assets within Russia. Among the issues that have clearly come out include whether arbitration can be relied upon to resolve disputes and key issue of concern being there can be enforcement of arbitration award obtained outside Russia (White & Case, 2012). Another issue of concern that the article clearly brought out was mostly related to one-sided optional dispute resolution clauses that is mostly common in finance transactions while at the same time operating to give the different parties

Study of Peak Oil and Gas Essay Example for Free

Study of Peak Oil and Gas Essay In 2004, the world production of oil was estimated at just over 29. 7 Bbl. The corresponding world consumption for oil during the same period was estimated at 29. 6 Bbl of oil, leaving a surplus of just under 0. 1 Bbl at the end of the year. In the United States, one of largest consumer markets for oil and oil products, from the first week in September 2004 to the first week in September 2005, gasoline prices increased by a staggering $1. 22 per gallon to $3. 12 before dropping to $2. 25 on November 21, 2005. These figures are quite staggering considering that contracts for crude changed hands at 10 USD/barrel in 1999. With the emergence of China in the global market and its increasing demand for oil, it is projected that unless oil companies are able to increase the world production by investing investment in oil and natural-gas production oil prices could increase exponentially over the next ten (10) years. The obvious factor in determining the supply of oil in the world is the amount of oil that can actually be extracted and processed. Oil is essentially a non-renewable energy source and cannot be replenished once it has been extracted from the ground. The role of oil companies and countries is not in the actual production of oil but in it rationing. A network of scientists called the Association for the Study of Peak Oil and Gas (ASPO) which is affiliated with a wide array of global institutions and universities studies the depletion rate of oil. ASPO studies concern themselves in determining the date and impact of the peak and decline of the world’s production of oil and gas, due to resource constraints. The ASPO uses the â€Å"Peak Oil Theory† or the â€Å"Hubbert Peak Theory† which is a method of modeling known oil reserves and production rates and routinely used by oil companies to predict future yields of existing oil fields (Legget, 2005). Using this model, it has been projected that the world oil production growth trends, in the short term, have been decreasing over the last 18 months. Average yearly gains in world oil production from 1987 to 2005 were 1. 2 million barrels per day (mbbl/d) (1. 7%). Global production averaged 84. 4 mbbl/d in 2005, up only 0. 2 mbbl/d (0. 2%), from 84. 2 mbbl/d (13. 4 million m? /d) in Q4 2004 (Legget, 2005). ASPO predicts that conventional plus unconventional oil production will peak around 2007 What this data basically means is that the current supplies of oil all over the world are being depleted and newer sources have not yet been discovered. To bring the supply of oil up again, oil companies must invest more in locating more oil fields and also develop new technologies to improve the current refining processes to allow for a more efficient production of oil. This first factor in the supply of oil is basically dependent on the actual amount of oil that can be produced and processed and also considers the capacity of oil companies to refine oil more efficiently and to tap other sources of oil (Deffeyes, 2005). This factor however also heavily depends on the capital investments that oil companies make in the oil industry. One of the main factors which affect the demand for oil is the price of oil. But given the fact that oil is a necessary resource and that it is a non-renewable energy sources, the supply can basically only remain at a certain â€Å"Peak† level depending on the amount which can actually be processed and the demand also remains at a certain level even if oil prices continue to rise (Case, 1999). Ordinarily, if the resources were renewable, there would be perfect elasticity between the supply and the demand in proportion to the increase or change in the price. Therefore, if the price of oil were to increase, it would theoretically result in the demand for oil to decrease (Case, 1999). This assumption however cannot be applied to the case of oil because, as mentioned earlier, oil is a non-renewable resources and remains as the primary source of energy in the world today. This shows the inelastic demand for oil. The reason for this is that since oil remains the main energy source in most countries, the demand for oil will remain constant despite the changes in the price of oil (Case, 1999). While theoretically it is expected that there will be a greater demand for oil if the price decreases, it is important to factor in the fact that more governments around the world are implementing energy saving policies as well as trying to reduce to dependence on oil as an energy source by developing alternative sources of energy (hybrid cars, solar power, hydroelectric power) (Simmons, 2005). The fact that oil is a non-renewable resource must also be considered. The next factor which affects demand for oil is the availability of alternative energy sources which are cheaper (Bilgen, 2004). The presence of substitutes in a market allows the demand for oil to decrease if the price continues to increase (Case, 1999). Before discussing this factor, it is important to remember that the development of alternative energy sources is not in proportion to the increasing rate of demand for oil. The presence of substitutes in a market affects demand because any increase in the price of the commodity means that the consumers have an alternative and can lower their demand for the commodity and purchase the substitute instead (Case, 1999). The same principle applies for oil except that it must be remembered that the development of these substitutes or alternative sources of energy takes a considerably longer amount of time than conventional substitutes. However, under the assumption that there are already alternative sources of energy available in the market, it can be expected that the demand will react accordingly to any increase in the price of oil. The dependence on oil as an energy source will decrease thus reducing the demand for oil in proportion to the price increases (Pimentel, 1998). The challenge remains however for countries and governments to find ways to find alternative energy sources to reduce the world dependence on oil as an energy source and ease the burden that the increasing prices have on the consumer. While the government may effectively regulate its use, the best solution is still in the development of energy substitutes for the market (Pimentel, 1998). Other factors which also have an effect on the demand for oil are things such as the government regulations on the use of fossil fuels, energy saving campaigns and environmental regulations. The government can implement these measures by increasing taxes or imposing fines. The effect that this has on demand is simple. The government regulations effectively reduce demand because the consumers are restricted from buying more oil. By encouraging the implementation of energy saving policies, oil consumption is also greatly decreased thus affecting the demand. The demand for oil therefore is affected by many factors such as price, availability of substitutes, and government intervention in the form of taxes, energy regulations and price controls. References: Bahree, B. (2006) Investment by Oil Industry Stalls November 8, 2006 Wall Street Journal November 2006 Bilgen, S. and Kaygusuz, K. (2004) Renewable Energy for a Clean and Sustainable Future, Energy Sources 26, 1119 Case, K. and Fair, R. (1999). Principles of Economics (5th ed. ). Prentice-Hall Deffeyes, K. (2005). Beyond Oil: The View from Hubberts Peak. Hill and Wang publishing House. Hill and Wang United States Leggett, J. (2005). The Empty Tank: Oil, Gas, Hot Air, and the Coming Financial Catastrophe. Random House. Pimentel, D. (1998). Energy and Dollar Costs of Ethanol Production with Corn Hubbert Center Newsletter, 98/2. M. King Hubbert Center for Petroleum Supply Studies, p. 8. Simmons, M. (2005). Twilight in the Desert: The Coming Saudi Oil Shock and the World Economy. Random House

The Mauritian Economy Defied Predictions Of James Meade

The Mauritian Economy Defied Predictions Of James Meade Few Sub-Saharan African countries have managed to achieve high standards of living over the past two decades. Mauritius has been a notable exception. With no natural resources, a small domestic market and vulnerability to external shocks, Mauritius exhibited a series of characteristics very typical to the rest of Africa namely a mono-crop economy, exposure to terms of trade shocks, high population growth rate, ethnic tensions exacerbated by high income and wealth inequality. Defying the predictions of Nobel Prize recipient James Meade, who famously predicted poor development prospects for Mauritius back in 1961 due to its vulnerabilities to both weather and price shocks and lack of job opportunities outside the sugar sector, Mauritius has transformed itself from a poor sugar economy into a country with one of the highest per capita incomes among African countries. Today, the small island nation is one of Africas most prosperous and stable economies and is considered an economic success story. For arguments sake, between 1977 and 2009, real GDP in Mauritius grew on average by 5.1 percent annually, compared with 3.2 percent for sub-Saharan Africa. 3.1 The Mauritian Economy Mauritius is a small island developing state with limited resources and a remote geographical location considered unfavourable. Since its independence in 1968, Mauritius has developed from a low-income mono crop economy to a middle-income relatively diversified export-oriented economy. In the early 1960s, Mauritius embarked on a program of diversification and adopted import substitution policies with the initial emphasis on tax exemptions, long-term loans at favorable rates and protective import duties and quotas. The aim was mainly to combat unemployment, raise standard of living and alleviate poverty. However, import substitution did not bring the benefits expected owing to the small size of the domestic market, limited resource endowments and technical know-how. The enterprises were unable to benefit from economies of scale given the small size of the local market. Furthermore, import substitution policies failed to address unemployment, which reached 20% in the late 60s. In the early 1970s, Mauritius switched to an outward-looking export-oriented strategy. The establishment of the Export Processing Zone scheme, designed to encourage the setting up of labour intensive export oriented manufacturing enterprises, aimed at helping to dampen the growing problem of unemployment, as well as to open up further the economy and benefit from the preferential access to the European markets under the different Lomà © Conventions (and now the Cotonou Agreement). The authorities prudent management of the economy and their outward-oriented policies placed Mauritius on a sustained growth path. Launched with the start-up capital of the sugar sector, the EPZ sector has concentrated mostly on textile and textile-related products. Mauritius seeks to serve as a bridge from Asia to Africa, Europe and the United States: in the 1980s, companies from Taiwan, Hong Kong, and Singapore settled in the countrys economic processing zones (EPZs), and were joined in 2007 and 2008 by companies from mainland China. For the past three decades, the industry have attracted FDI from various countries, created new employment opportunities and strengthened the manufacturing base of the economy. The tourism sector also emerged as a serious economic pillar by contributing to foreign exchange earnings of the country and by being an important generator of employment. A range of investment incentives were provided to boost the development of the tourism sector in terms of fiscal incentives and financial support for hotel development and management services. The labour-intensive export-oriented growth strategy was therefore powered by three main economic sectors, namely sugar, textile products and tourism. The diversification strategy was further expanded in the 1990s with the consolidation of the financial services sector into commercial banking, insurance and global business. In recent years, information and communication technology (ICT), in particular business process outsourcing, and the seafood hub have emerged as important sectors of the economy. From 1991 to 2010, the economy enjoyed an average annual real growth of 4.9%. To further diversify the economic base of the island, the government is actively encouraging development in the following sectors: à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ the land-based oceanic industry; à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ hospitality and property development; à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ the healthcare and biomedical industry; à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ agro-processing and biotechnology; à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ the knowledge industry; à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ renewable energy. Figure 1: Sectorial Breakdown of the Mauritian economy, 2009 Mauritius is a fairly well diversified export oriented economy with agriculture, textile, tourism and financial services as leading sectors. However, a gradual shift from agriculture to the service sectors has been observed. Today, the services sector makes the largest contribution towards GDP and towards total employment. The share of the agricultural, hunting, forestry and fishing sector in GDP which was 6.1% in 1999 went down to 4.3% in 2009. The manufacturing sector also experienced a fall, from 23.9% in 1999 to 19.5% in 2009. On the other hand, Hotels and restaurants, a major component of the Tourism sector, witnessed a rise from 6.9% to 7.3% during the same period. Albeit the successful growth records, there is growing concerns as regards competitiveness and sustainability of growth. The traditional Mauritian labor-intensive exports is being challenged by new competitors. Productivity is not increasing fast enough to keep pace with wages that have been rising as a result of near full employment, thus eroding competitiveness. Government policies are aiming at diversifying towards more capital-intensive production and higher value added goods. The acceleration of the growth rate in the 1980s is the result of the macroeconomic reforms in response to protracted balance of payments and fiscal troubles. Following the reforms, Mauritius experienced steady growth, low inflation, and increased employment. GDP per capita, meanwhile, increased approximately seven-fold between 1976 and 2008, from less than $1,000 to nearly $7,000 (figure 2). At the same time, consumer price inflation in Mauritius has remained in the low single digits through the 1990s and 2000s (figure 3). The steady growth path of the early years of the period under review was due to the sugar boom of the early 1970s and the newly established EPZ attracting foreign investment. During that period, GDP grew at an average of 9% per year. However, the boom was short lived with sugar prices falling by 50% and the first oil shock of 1973-74 starting to impact on isolated Mauritian exporters and the small but promising tourism industry. Year 1979 saw the devaluation of the exchange rate by 30%, a rise in interest rate, reduction in food subsidies and wage increases held below inflation. Between 1979 and March 1980, the island was hit by cyclones, sugar production tumbled and GDP fell by 9%. The only encouraging factor during that period was a fall in inflation. The highest rate of inflation Mauritius witnessed since its independence was in October 1980 at 42%. This was due to the deteriorating economic situation following increasing oil prices in the late 1970s coupled with adverse weather conditions damaging food crops. In the same period, the island adopted its first Structural Adjustment Programme and the rupee was devalued by 22.9 % in October 1979. The direct impact of the devaluation was seen on import prices which sky rocketed. Macroeconomic policies have contributed to containing inflation. On a calendar-year basis, inflation (measured by changes in consumer prices) was maintained at under 6.5% per year till 2006, when it rose to 8.9%. The main contributors to this increase include higher oil prices (resulting from increase in world prices and the introduction of the Automatic Pricing Mechanism, higher prices of alcoholic beverages and cigarettes (resulting from the increase in excise duties) and of some other products (resulting from the reduction of subsidies for rice, flour, and bread), increase in freight costs and depreciation of the Mauritian rupee. During 2007, inflation increased further to reach 10.7% in June (on a yearly basis), the highest in over a decade. According to the BOM, this was due to the second-round effects of high oil and commodity prices, the depreciation of the Rupee, and the increase in excise duties. 3.2 Trade Performance Trade remains an important feature of the Mauritian economy in light of the fact that it has a small domestic market and limited natural resources namely land. The island is known to have been running merchandise trade deficit which has been offset at times by surpluses on the services account. The bulk of Mauritian merchandise exports (namely 70% of the total value) is accountable to manufacturing products. Though decreasing in share, clothing remains the main manufactured export (from 57% in 2001 to 36% in recent years). Sugar has remained the main agricultural export, contributing around 16% to total merchandise trade. Imports as well continued to be dominated by manufactured goods. Leading imports include machinery and transport equipment, radio/television transmission apparatus, textile and chemicals. The share of textiles has decreased from 20% in 2001 to 7% in recent years. Nevertheless, textiles remain an important import item. The European Union is the major destination for most of the Mauritian export. The bulk of Mauritian sugar and a large share of its textiles and clothing are destined to the EU. The UK remains the major single destination followed by France and the US. On import grounds, the EU supplies around one third of the total value of Mauritius merchandise imports. Other major suppliers include China, South Africa, France, India and Germany. The share of Middle East countries (Bahrain, Saudi Arabia, and United Arab Emirates) has considerably increased, reflecting mainly the increase of oil prices. 3.3 Trade Openness Mauritius is an active participant of the multilateral trading system and member of various economic groupings and trade agreements. Participation in regional agreements is crucial for a small island country like Mauritius for the following reasons: Allows the exploitation of its comparative advantages and economies of scale. Improves the islands competitive edge. Allows the diversification of its range of exports. Facilitates its integration into the world economy. However, challenges remains for Mauritius has to ensure consistency between the national reform agenda and participation in a multitude of trade agreements, with different geographical coverage, liberalization agenda, provisions and goals. To Sachs and Warner, the key determinants to a countrys long-run growth is its trade policies. In effect, in the 1970s and 1980s, Mauritius had a fairly protected economy; the average rate of protection being high and dispersed. This is depicted by the rather poor openness ration of the early years of the period under review. When the country started to open to the world, a net amelioration of the ratio was noted. 3.4 Exposure to external shocks and policy responses An integral part of economic policies in Mauritius, trade policies are aimed at improving the living standards of the population and seeking to achieve full employment. This objective is projected to be achieved through the implementation of sound macroeconomic policies, investment in public infrastructures, easing the doing business environment and further opening up the economy. Trade policies have, for over two decades, shaped the countrys industrial development and contributed towards sustained growth. Mauritius was able to join in the ranks of the newly industrialised economies. 3.4.1 Agricultural sector Today, agriculture remains an important sector given its share in exports and revolves mainly around sugar. However, the ever decreasing sugar prices have seen the implementation of actions to restructure the sector and ensure its long-term viability. Those actions seek to promote alternative goods relating to cane production. In fact, much of the sugar cane production in Mauritius has been exported to the EU under the preferential terms of the ACP-EU Sugar Protocol. ACP sugar-producing countries were granted preferred access to the EU market, with annual quotas and guaranteed prices. As part of the transition to the new regime defined by the Economic Partnership Agreements (EPAs), ACP countries experienced a decline in their guaranteed minimum price for sugar to the EU. Over four years to 2009, the price fell by 36 per cent. Mauritius is the most affected by the falling price paid by the EU for sugar. At 507 000 tonnes, Mauritius enjoyed the largest quota under the Sugar Protocol. Sugar exports to the EU alone contributed 17 per cent of the countrys foreign exchange earnings and up to 4.5 per cent of gross domestic product. The losses associated with the new regime are expected to have a significant impact on Mauritius, particularly given that the revenue that had been procured from the Sugar Protocol was important for stimulating economic development, promoting diversification and supporting services throughout the country. It is likely that the economy will go through structural change as the agricultural sector moves away from its almost exclusive dependence on sugar and becomes more diversified. The Multi-Annual Adaptation Strategy (2006-2015) is the Government of Mauritiuss response to the changes in the Sugar Protocol, to aid in the adaptation process and take advantage of the package of accompanying measures offered by the EU to ease the transition to the new trading regime. It seeks to protect the long-term viability and sustainability of the sugar industry and ensure that it can continue to make an important economic and social contribution to Mauritius. There are several elements associated with the MAAS designed to help the industry and its workers adapt to the new trading reality and safeguard a future for the sector. Key among these are a focus on ways to (i) reduce costs of production (through factory closures, centralization, and restructuring of the workforce), (ii) generate additional revenue (such as through increasing value added), (iii) efficiently use by-products (such as for producing renewable energy) and (iv) contribute to poverty alleviation (by establishing voluntary retirement and re-training programmes). By pursuing these policies, the Government hopes to transform the sugar industry into an industry that moves away from producing raw sugar towards producing several types of sugar (raw, special, industrial and white), and also produces electricity from bagasse and ethanol from molasses. Once implemented, the policy should result in higher-value products, sufficient production to meet all of Mauritiuss trade commitments, and reduced dependence on imported fossil fuels by increasing the contribution from sugar cane to national electricity production and increasing the production of ethanol. 3.4.2 Manufacturing sector The development of textile and clothing, the main industry, was favoured in the past by preferences under the Multifibre Arrangement (MFA), and preferential access to key markets such as the EC and the United States. Mauritius textiles and clothing industry has been facing many challenges, such as multilateral liberalization, which has resulted in erosion of trade preferences; rising production costs in Mauritius; and the emergence of low-cost producing countries. In anticipation of the multilateral liberalization of the industry in January 2005, most of the major Hong-Kong-owned enterprises (which dominated the industry in Mauritius) ceased operation: between 2001-06, employment in the industry was reduced by 27,000 jobs. This explains the poor performance of both exports and growth of the EPZ subsector. Several steps have been taken to sustain development of the textile and clothing including restructuring of enterprises; promotion of vertical integration to increase value added, as well as high value products; upgrading skills; improving access to finance; and facilitating business operations. With the phase out of the Multi Fibre Arrangement, Mauritius has to compete with major textiles producers like China. The new LDC scheme proposed by the US to extend the AGOA type benefits to all LDCs pose a major threat to Mauritian exports to the US, particularly for garments. With the application of a coefficient of 8 in a Swiss formula to reduce tariffs in the context of the Doha Development Agenda, the preference margin for garments will fall from an average of 12% on the EU and US markets to below 5%. For canned tuna, which Mauritius exports, the preference margin will drop to around 6% from a high of 24%. 3.4.3 Tourism The Tourism Industry has contribution extensively towards foreign exchange earnings, GDP growth and employment creation. With the impact of the turmoil experienced in the international financial markets in 2008, the sector recorded an increase of only 2.6% in tourist arrival as opposed to a 15.1% growth in arrival in 2007, followed by a negative growth of 6.4% in 2009. As at 2009, the tourism sector contributed to 8.9% of GDP; created 26,922 direct jobs and generated Rs. 35,693 million ($1190 million USD) as tourism receipts. Mauritius has performed well in developing a distinctive form of relatively high-end tourism. Growth in tourist arrivals has outpaced that of many of our competitors. Currently, the aim is to continue that growth with a visitorsà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã… ¸ target of two million tourists a year by 2015. To achieve the set target, the number of hotels and room capacity has evolved considerably over the years to cater for the ever-increasing tourist arrivals. Mauritius has been taking measures since early May 2008 to cushion the economy from the risks of deterioration in the world economy. The main policy measures taken since May 2008 are as summarised in the table below. Date POLICY MEASURES ADOPTED AND IMPLEMENTED May 2008 Allocation of Rs. 6 billion [$200 M] for investment in airport expansion creation of 6 funds to realize the Maurice Ile Durable vision, build food security, boost education and knowledge, eradicate poverty and widen the circle of opportunities, improve local infrastructure, carry social housing commitment and sharpen the competitiveness of domestic oriented industries and SMEs. June 2008 The 2008/2009 Budget voted an amount of Rs. 1.8 billion [$430 M] for contingencies to cater for any additional injection required to support public spending and demand. July 2008 Full implementation of the recommendations of the Pay Research Bureau on review of salaries and conditions of employment in the civil service thus injecting an additional amount of Rs 1.5 billion [$50 M] in the economy. October 2008 Reduction in Repo Rate by 50 basis points from 8.25 to 7.75 Reduction in Cash Reserve Ratio (CRR) from 5% to 4.5 % Reduction in the minimum CRR on any particular day from 4% to 3% Introduction of a Special Foreign Currency Line of Credit by the Bank of Mauritius aggregating $125 M so as to assist banks encountering difficulties due to non-availability or inadequacy of foreign exchange facilities from usual sources. Review of the Automatic Price Mechanism (APM) to enable monthly, instead of quarterly, review of petroleum prices so that local retail price aligned with international prices of petroleum products. December 2008 Presentation of Additional Stimulus Package (ASP) amounting to Rs 10.4 billion [$350 M] to be spent through 2009 and 2010, basically on major capital projects with focus on fast-tracking and frontloading of existing public infrastructure projects, new investments in public infrastructure, accelerating private sector investment, improving business climate, building human resource capacity, and supporting vulnerable sectors such as the SMEs, export oriented manufacturing and tourism. Setting up of Special Committees to fast track implementation of the Additional Stimulus Package and to unlock private investment. Reduction of the Repo Rate by 100 basis points from 7.75 to 6.75 March 2009 Reduction in the Repo Rate by 100 basis points from 6.75 to 5.75 May 2009 Presentation of new budget built on the Additional Stimulus Package to ride out the global crisis. Some measures to enhance competitiveness and focusing on saving jobs, protecting people, and preparing for recovery are as follows: Injecting an additional Rs 2 billion in the Saving Jobs and Recovery Fund (SJR FUND), to provide for a new micro-enterprise financing scheme for women to be operated by the National Empowerment Foundation in collaboration with the Ministry of Women and the Mauritius Post and Cooperative Bank. Rescheduling of loans by the Development Bank of Mauritius for SMEs which were servicing their loans prior to the crisis in September 2008 but then faced cash flow problems. Setting up an Emergency Export Credit Insurance scheme for SMEs as well as large enterprises in all sectors until December 2010. Operating a scheme to assist small hotels and restaurants to improve, and enhance productivity and competitiveness under the SJR Fund. Setting up of the Mauritius Business Growth Scheme (MBGS) to promote business growth in SMEs. Eligible firms will receive financing to support their business growth on a cost-sharing basis Introducing a mentoring service by National Empowerment Foundation to ensure sustainability of small businesses initiated mostly by women Under the Food Security Fund, introduction of a Food Crop Insurance Scheme for small food crop planters, a Seed Potato Purchase Scheme to encourage the production of potatoes by small planters and an Onion Seed Purchase Scheme. Reduction of Ministers salary by Rs 10, 000 per month (July 2009 to Dec 2010) Earmarking Rs 100 million from the MID Fund to co-finance a Rs 280 million programme with the CEB, CWA and WMA (utility agencies) to clean up the social housing estates and rehabilitate the water, electricity and waste-water infrastructure Increase old age, non-contributory pensions and social aid benefits by 5.1 % Payment of compensation of 5.1% for the lowest income band while at the time broadening the band. September 2009 The key Repo Rate was maintained at 5.75 per cent per annum November 2009 The Budget 2010 presented on 18 November 2010 provides for policies for shaping recover, consolidating social progress and sustaining green Mauritius. The measures, inter-alia, include, intensifying efforts to consolidate the traditional and emerging economic pillars, so as to open business opportunities and further stimulate job creation, in particular for women, continue improving the doing business environment to increase investment; investing in human resource development, science, technology and innovation to build the competitive competence that Mauritius needs to be among the fast globalisers; accelerating plan to build the infrastructure of tomorrow. On the social front, the 2010 budget provides for additional effort towards eradication of absolute poverty, provision for every family with a decent dwelling, delivering more and better health care, giving more social protection to our children and women, preparing for the challenges of an ageing population and ramping up support for our seniors and consolidating the progress made in giving greater access to education, from pre-primary to tertiary levels. In regard to the Additional Stimulus Package (ASP), Government policies have been instrumental in dealing with the crisis in terms of saving jobs, preventing closures of firms and protecting people. However, given the current international economic context, the exit strategy needs to be carefully managed. Accordingly government has decided to maintain the Additional Stimulus Measures until December 2010 including the funds committed for a stimulus package for Rodrigues. December 2009 The key Repo Rate was maintained at 5.75 per cent per annum Source: Mauritius Strategy for Implementation National Assessment Report 2010 3.5 Conclusion Trade liberalization has proven to be beneficial to the economy through consistent amelioration of the growth rate over the years. However, increased openness has undermined the economic vulnerability of the island.

Russ Feingold :: essays research papers

On March 2, 1953, in Janesville Wisconsin, a United States Senator was born. He was named Russell Dana Feingold, and he grew up shaping, and discussing his political views around the dinner table with his father, Leon, a founding member of Wisconsin’s Progressive Movement. 51 years later, Feingold is a third term U.S. Senator known for work both on Campaign Finance Reform, and on other issues critical to the people of Wisconsin.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Feingold first ran for office at the age of 29, and immediately began to get recognition as a rising star in Wisconsin politics. After defeating a longtime incumbent State Senator by the thin margin of 31 votes out of 47,000, Feingold sat down and began the real work of politics. After 4 years as a State Senator from southern Wisconsin, Feingold began to gain respect and admiration from his colleagues on both sides of the aisle.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Feingold was re-elected to the State Senate in twice before joining a three way primary for U.S. Senator in 1992. Feingold was the least known candidate in the race, but through hard work, and popular TV ads, Feingold received 70% of the vote, and became the Democratic Nominee. Defeating an incumbent Senator is never easy, but Feingold managed to do it, by receiving 52% of the vote, and defeating 2-time incumbent Robert Kasten.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  As Senator from Wisconsin, Feingold is known for his independence and free thinking. Feingold once said. â€Å"I find it to be the most satisfying moment in politics when people of differing ideologies come together in support of an issue.† He is widely regarded as a man who has the best interests of the people of Wisconsin at heart, what earned him this reputation was his pledge during his first Senate campaign in 1992, to hold one listening session in each of Wisconsin’s 72 counties each year. This way, any Wisconsinite could discuss issues directly with Senator Feingold, without an appointment. One issue that was continually coming up in those early listening sessions was Campaign Finance Reform.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  With the help of his friend John McCain, Republican Senator from Arizona, Feingold worked for almost 7 years on his flagship piece of legislation, what would later become known as the McCain-Feingold Campaign Finance Reform Act. The bill, when it was eventually passed in 2001 succeeded in banning unlimited soft money contributions given by corporations to political parties in exchange for favors, or access to politicians.

How does Medea Essay

Usually Greek Playwrights were primarily concerned with religious issues rather than the smaller issues of social or political. However, within the Greek myths there were a series of topics that were primarily presented to challenge the audience socially and politically. In the case of Medea by Euripides it is the strong female character Medea who takes the main lead role in the play. It is possible to study the role of women in culture yet especially with a text like Medea it is evident that there is more than one culture involved. They are the culture of the actual subject, in this case Medea and the culture of the author. Euripides constructed a play by using a series of stories that had been handed down generations gone before him from the time of Medea and of course his own particular observations of women in that society around him. What Medea does by the end of the play is a very powerful statement on the role of women in Ancient Greece. From researching into the political status of women it is suggested that it was seen as acceptable that they were treated as an object of possession. The Greek legal system worked accurately if the husbands were honest and responsible. The wife herself only had legal protection if her husband was either dead or sick. Also, the non citizen wives were worse off as they had to have a citizen friend besides their own husband. In this play Medea creates a very strong and stern warning to society to not take advantage of this possibility. Many modern day critics of the play believe that this Greek view of the role of women in society was to blame for Medea’s excesses and the overall extreme she went to. If there was a good well balanced legal system then there would be no need for vengeance. Thus making Medea take the law into her own hands. A point worth mentioning is the fact that Medea is not described to the audience on her appearance instead she is greatly described on what she can do. Unlike Greek women in her society at that time, Medea does not rely it seems on such Gods and Goddesses such as Aphrodite and her charms, but instead she relies on her own potions and her incantations. Medea in her society was the priestess of Hecate who gave her lots of power both physically and socially. With having this power she had the powerful social status in which she was respected and also greatly feared. If Medea was alive today she would be considered a witch, yet this Ancient Greek woman does not fit our stereotypical idea of a witch. Instead of this view the Ancient Greek Witches were young and beautiful, during their Sabbath on looking men would be in awe and incapacitated by their beauty. During her era a Greek lady would not have to worry about the devil as such. Women who acted like witches were considered to be powerful and interesting. They would either be good or bad which was, to be expected greatly dependant on what they did with their powers. In Ancient Greek times it was much harder to live outside of your family than it is now. Back in that era as a woman you would be very dependant on your family for welfare, social security, food and your social life. Other important aspects included your legal protection and citizenship. In Medea she was the Princess in Colchis so she had all the important elements that a family provided for their child. However, she fell in love and decided to leave Colchis with Jason and took the biggest step of all, killing her own brother. This was considered and still would be considered a very powerful act against your family, which is an act in which few Ancient Greek people could identify with. This made Medea be caste out of her Greek society. The stereotypical man of Ancient Greek times wanted to fall in love with a woman who they considered to be easy to handle. Men saw women as easy to handle when they appear weak and are just strongly agreeable to the men. Yet, when they are powerful they are regarded as nightmares. Thus giving the indication that Jason would consider Medea as a nightmare as she challenges in the extreme. This stereotypical view of the perfect Ancient Greek wife who could fit easily into the men’s fantasies was a view in which Medea certainly does not fit into. There is a vast extremity in Medea, one which no man could successfully control. An American critic of the play Fredrick John Kluth quotes that â€Å"Medea does for men what they cannot do for themselves†. Thus creating a very interesting character who adds a great deal to the interests of the play. Therefore, in a sense Medea is outside of the time and does not really show a role of women in any time period. Looking closely at Ancient Greek women they usually possessed the characteristics of a nurturing and [passionate individual. Medea strove against men and stood up to them as a strong woman. This would not have been considered in the era of the Greeks, instead this rationality would have been left to the men whilst the women stood back. Medea stands as a great symbol of the intelligent woman who has no place in the social life of the Greek community. By this I mean other members of the Greek community would not wish to be caught up and eventually damaged by this woman’s great power. She provides Euripides’ complain for the actual social status that a woman has in Greek society which is likely to be more relevant to Euripides era rather than Medea’s. Therefore Medea the play acts as a social statement by the playwright himself. Euripides also attempted to explain the spiritual nature of mankind and their attitudes towards other people of their own, slightly different society.

Elven Minutes Essay Example

Elven Minutes Essay Example Elven Minutes Essay Elven Minutes Essay  ­Ã‚   Paulo Coelho is a?  Brazilian?  lyricist and novelist. Paulo Coelho was born in?  Rio de Janeiro,?  Brazil.?  He attended a?  Jesuit?  school. As a teenager, Coelho wanted to become a writer. Upon telling his mother this, she responded with My dear, your father is an engineer. Hes a logical, reasonable man with a very clear vision of the world. Do you actually know what it means to be a writer?  After researching, Coelho concluded that a writer always wears glasses and never combs his hair and has a duty and an obligation never to be understood by his own generation, amongst other things.?  At 16, Coelhos introversion and opposition to following a traditional path led to his parents committing him to a?  mental institution?  from which he escaped three times before being released at the age of 20. Coelho later remarked that It wasnt that they wanted to hurt me, but they didnt know what to do They did not do that to destroy me, they did that to save me. At his pa rents wishes, Coelho enrolled in law school and abandoned his dream of becoming a writer. One year later, he dropped out and lived life as ahippie, traveling through South America, North Africa, Mexico, and Europe and becoming immersed in the?  drug culture?  of the 1960s. In 1974, Coelho was arrested for subversive activities by the ruling military government, who had taken power ten years earlier and viewed his lyrics as left-wing and dangerous.?  Coelho also worked as an actor, journalist, and theatre director before pursuing his writing career. In 1982 Coelho published his first book,?  Hell Archives, which failed to make any kind of impact.?  In 1986 he contributed to the?  Practical Manual of Vampirism, although he later tried to take it off the shelves since he considered it of bad quality.?  After making the pilgrimage to?  Santiago de Compostela?  in 1986, Coelho wrote?  The Pilgrimage. The following year, Coelho wrote?  The Alchemist?  and published it through a small Brazilian publishing house who made an initial print run of 900 copies and decided not to reprint.?  He subsequently found a bigger publishing house, and with the publication of his next book?  Brida,?  The Alchemist?  became a Brazilian bestseller. Eleven Minutes?  (Onze minutos) Eleven Minutes?  (Onze minutos) is a 2003 novel by?  Paulo Coelho?  based on the experiences of a young Brazilian prostitute called Maria. Maria, a young girl from a remote village of?  Brazil goes to seek her fortune in?  Switzerland. After working in a nightclub as a samba dancer for a brief period, she realizes that this is not what she wants. After a heated discussion with her manager one night, she storms out and begins to look for a career in modeling. After a long unsuccessful search for a position in that field, and as she starts running out of money, she engages herself for 1000 francs for one night with an Arab man. Delighted with the easy money and after compromising with her soul she lands in a brothel on?  Rue de Berne, the heart of?  Genevas?  red-light district. There she befriends Nyah who gives her advice on her new profession and after learning the tricks of the trade from Milan, the brothel owner, she enters the job with her body and mind shutting a ll doors for love and keeps her heart open only for her diary. Quickly she becomes quite successful and famous and her colleagues begin to envy her. Months pass and Maria grows into a professionally groomed?  prostitute?  who not only relaxes her clients mind, but also calms their soul by talking to them about their problems. Her world turns upside down when she meets Ralf, a young Swiss painter, who sees her inner light. Maria falls in love with him immediately and begins to experience what true love is (according to the author, it is a sense of being for someone without actually possessing him). Maria is now torn between her sexual fantasies and true love for Ralf. Eventually she decides that it is time for her to leave Geneva with her memory of Ralf, because she realizes that they are worlds apart. But before leaving, she decides to give up of her soul for the loved one, because it is the only way out for saving this true love. To ? ±ave in ? ±Ã‚  ? «Ã‚  Ã‚ ±;  ±Ã‚  , ? ±? ¤?  Ã‚  Ã‚ ± be at outs with smb.  » ? ±? ±? ®? °, ? ­ ? «?  ? ¤ ? ±  ¬-? «.,  » ? ­?  Ã‚ ­Ã‚ »? µ,  «? ®? µÃ‚ µ ? ®Ã‚ ­? ®Ã‚ ­Ã‚ µ ? ±  ¬-? «. keen on doing something  ±Ã‚ »Ã‚ »Ã‚   ? ¦Ã‚ «?  ? ­ ? ·Ã‚ ®-? «Ã‚ ® ? ¤Ã‚ «?   quite something  ®  ®   ( ) ( itâ„ ¢s quite something to ¦.) sit on the safety valve ? ­ ? ¤?  Ã‚    »? µ? ®? ¤?   (? ·Ã‚ ±Ã‚  ? ¬, ? ±Ã‚ °?  ? ±Ã‚ ¬ . .) safe and sound ? ¶Ã‚ « ? ­Ã‚ °Ã‚ ¤Ã‚ ¬, ? ¦-? §? ¤? ®? °? ® write off ? ±? ·Ã‚   ( ? §? ­?  ? ·Ã‚ ­  ¤Ã‚ ®)

Free Essays on Battle of Verdun

During the First World War Verdun was a fortified French garrison town on the River Meuse 200km east of Paris. In December 1915, General Erich von Falkenhayn, Chief of Staff of the German Army, decided to attack Verdun. Although he admitted he would be unable to break through at these point on the Western Front, he argued that in defending Verdun, the Germans would "bleed the French army white". The German attack on Verdun started on 21st February 1916. A million troops, led by Crown Prince Wilhelm, faced only about 200,000 French defenders. The following day the French was forced to retreat to their second line of trenches. By 24th February the French had moved back to the third line and were only 8km from Verdun. On 24th February, General Henri-Philippe Petain was appointed commander of the Verdun sector. He gave orders that no more withdrawals would take place. He arranged for every spare French soldier to this part of the Western Front. Of the 330 infantry regiments of the French Army, 259 eventually fought at Verdun. The German advance was brought to a halt at the end of February. On the 6th March, the German Fifth Army launched a new attack at Verdun. The Germans advanced 3km before they were stopped in front of the area around Mort Homme Hill. The French held this strategic point until it was finally secured by the Germans on 29th May, and Fort Vaux fell on 7th June, after a long siege. Further attacks continued throughout the summer and early autumn. However, the scale of the German attacks were reduced by the need to transfer troops to defend their front-line at the Somme. The French now counter-attacked and General Charles Mangin became a national hero when the forts at Douaumont and Vaux were recaptured by 2nd November, 1916. Over the next six weeks the French infantry gained another 2km at Verdun. Verdun, the longest battle of the First World War, ended on the 18th December. The French Army lost about 550,000 men a... Free Essays on Battle of Verdun Free Essays on Battle of Verdun During the First World War Verdun was a fortified French garrison town on the River Meuse 200km east of Paris. In December 1915, General Erich von Falkenhayn, Chief of Staff of the German Army, decided to attack Verdun. Although he admitted he would be unable to break through at these point on the Western Front, he argued that in defending Verdun, the Germans would "bleed the French army white". The German attack on Verdun started on 21st February 1916. A million troops, led by Crown Prince Wilhelm, faced only about 200,000 French defenders. The following day the French was forced to retreat to their second line of trenches. By 24th February the French had moved back to the third line and were only 8km from Verdun. On 24th February, General Henri-Philippe Petain was appointed commander of the Verdun sector. He gave orders that no more withdrawals would take place. He arranged for every spare French soldier to this part of the Western Front. Of the 330 infantry regiments of the French Army, 259 eventually fought at Verdun. The German advance was brought to a halt at the end of February. On the 6th March, the German Fifth Army launched a new attack at Verdun. The Germans advanced 3km before they were stopped in front of the area around Mort Homme Hill. The French held this strategic point until it was finally secured by the Germans on 29th May, and Fort Vaux fell on 7th June, after a long siege. Further attacks continued throughout the summer and early autumn. However, the scale of the German attacks were reduced by the need to transfer troops to defend their front-line at the Somme. The French now counter-attacked and General Charles Mangin became a national hero when the forts at Douaumont and Vaux were recaptured by 2nd November, 1916. Over the next six weeks the French infantry gained another 2km at Verdun. Verdun, the longest battle of the First World War, ended on the 18th December. The French Army lost about 550,000 men a...

Free Essays on Waking Life

Richard Linklater accomplished a vision that he had almost scrapped until the immergence of a new technique in rotoscoped animation. Waking Life is a film infused with the power of animation that takes us through a journey of dreams and makes one question their own reality. The method of animation used was the step to making this powerful piece of cinema a reality and would not have happened without it. Rotoscoping was inventing in 1915 by animation pioneer Max Fleischer. It is a method that takes live action footage and traces over the images to produce very realistic movement. It is because of this tracing method that some feel rotoscoping is a sort of a cheat or easy way out. However, rotoscoping and other forms like it are a way to explore animation and its creativity even further; it allows animators more artistic freedom by saving labor: â€Å"To not use these labor saving methods and tools would take us back to the days when acetate cells weren’t invented and you had not only to animate every frame but had to redraw the background every time as well.† It was this type of freedom that allowed everyone involved with the piece to create a film that is just as visually stunning as it is narrativly. Director Richard Linklater wanted to bring artist, like painters, who did not necessarily know anything about producing animation and involve them in the process as animators. To accomplish this Linklater enlisted animator Bob Sabiston as art director. Sabiston brought with him his own developed software nicknamed RotoShop. This software was the tool that allowed artists of all animation levels to create their visions. It is a system that allows artists to trace over the video (Quicktime) with Wacom pens and tablets with results that are very close to brush strokes on a canvas. This method is accelerated due to the software’s interpolation system, which automatically connects lines within so many frames. Sabiston co... Free Essays on Waking Life Free Essays on Waking Life Richard Linklater accomplished a vision that he had almost scrapped until the immergence of a new technique in rotoscoped animation. Waking Life is a film infused with the power of animation that takes us through a journey of dreams and makes one question their own reality. The method of animation used was the step to making this powerful piece of cinema a reality and would not have happened without it. Rotoscoping was inventing in 1915 by animation pioneer Max Fleischer. It is a method that takes live action footage and traces over the images to produce very realistic movement. It is because of this tracing method that some feel rotoscoping is a sort of a cheat or easy way out. However, rotoscoping and other forms like it are a way to explore animation and its creativity even further; it allows animators more artistic freedom by saving labor: â€Å"To not use these labor saving methods and tools would take us back to the days when acetate cells weren’t invented and you had not only to animate every frame but had to redraw the background every time as well.† It was this type of freedom that allowed everyone involved with the piece to create a film that is just as visually stunning as it is narrativly. Director Richard Linklater wanted to bring artist, like painters, who did not necessarily know anything about producing animation and involve them in the process as animators. To accomplish this Linklater enlisted animator Bob Sabiston as art director. Sabiston brought with him his own developed software nicknamed RotoShop. This software was the tool that allowed artists of all animation levels to create their visions. It is a system that allows artists to trace over the video (Quicktime) with Wacom pens and tablets with results that are very close to brush strokes on a canvas. This method is accelerated due to the software’s interpolation system, which automatically connects lines within so many frames. Sabiston co...

What is employment relationship Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3000 words

What is employment relationship - Essay Example A good stable working environment, encouraged by good employment relationship, is critical as it has noteworthy implications on the health and well-being of employees. It is an imperative characteristic in any success of any business or organization within the service economy. Service economy is the term used to refer to the comparative importance of service when presenting products. Whilst many people look on the jobs created by the information economy as "high tech", in actuality and in many respects it is merely new levels of de-skilling and pay differentials. Some parts of the new information economy, such as telesales or call centres, and some information processing jobs such as web content production, have been likened to the sweatshops of traditional manufacturing industries. These jobs even have a high job insecurity ratio. As Belt, Richardson and Webster (2000) put it "Call centre operations do not constitute an 'industry' in the commonly accepted sense, but it is considered sensible to refer to call centres as an industry." So for all required purposes call centres are an excellent example of how employment relationships function within the service economy. Call centre agents are supposed to be friendly cheerful and helpful as we as customers tend to expect this kind of behavior from interactive service workers. This was perceived as "emotional labour" by Hochschild (1983) because a certain degree of emotional investment was required to produce the desired effect. It seems to be a new way to exploit the workers. Van Maanen and Kunda (1989) have said that "organizational culture management, only seem to want to mask managerial attempts to control not only what employees say and do but feel as well." Emotional management seems to have been organized even more efficiently and pushed to the next level. Emotional labour increases stress and decreases job satisfaction immensely. This is proved in the study of five call centres conducted by Deery, Iverson and Walsh in 2000, where "excessive demands on emotional labour lead to a higher propensity of stress, anxiety and emotional exhaustion amongst call centre agents". In her book: Human Resource Management and Occupational Health and Safety, Carol Boyd (2003) has said, "the role of call centre agents is dictated by the immediacy of the production process and a dependency on employees' personal characteristics to deliver high-quality service" and "this is where various techniques aimed at maintaining their sweetness will be deployed". Now thanks to the leap of technology managerial control can even delve and investigate every tiny detail of the call centre agents' work, offering scrupulous and immediate particulars on each agent's activities. The monitoring of the communications and activities of employees in the workplace in the UK mus t, however, be balanced with requirements under the Human Rights Act 1998 and Article 8 of the European Convention on Human Rights; organizations must have regard to the private lives of individuals. Tight call-handling times and monitoring combine with performance targets to accelerate the pace of work, without gaining much job satisfaction. This tendency to micro manage results in a sense of self, which is vital to be lost; when agents feel that they are no longer in control of their lives and their

Delve into the concept of the benefits in human development and Research Paper

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Environmental Factors Paper Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

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Direct & Digital Marketing Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3000 words

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Direct & Digital Marketing Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3000 words

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Arguments for and against the Legitimacy of 2003 Invasion of Iraq Literature review

Arguments for and against the Legitimacy of 2003 Invasion of Iraq - Literature review Example Right through its history, America has not hesitated to use force under the pretexts of principles, sovereignty, and justice.   American military intervention in world affairs has risen drastically since the end of the Second World War.   The period following the Second World War saw America assume the role of a superpower that headed the western coalition in what was a bipolar world.   Since the collapse of Soviet Union, America has had at its disposal the most potent military force.   Its economic structure complements military spending; leading to a military industrial complex. Noted political commentator Ivo Daalder raises some valid questions regarding the legitimacy of the invasion.   Daalder argues that the invasion was illegitimate on two counts: 1.there was no provocation from Iraq and 2.the United Nations Security Council did not approve of the war.   Military actions of countries such as Iran and North Korea were condemned by the U.N. and the United States alike.   If the same standards were to be applied to all participant countries then the United States deserves its condemnation. On the other hand, supporters of the Bush Administration argue that toppling Saddam Hussein was a just act that needs no further legitimacyÃ'ŽÂ   Liberating the country from an oppressive dictatorship is deemed a just act in and of itself.   Apart from the geopolitical significance of Bush Administration’s militarism, the image of the country is also at stake.   Popular opinion in the rest of the world is very unfavorable towards Americans – they don’t seem to make a distinction between the government and its populace.   According to Robert Kagan, â€Å"To forge a renewed political consensus on the use of force, we first need to recognize that international legitimacy does matter. It matters to Americans, who want to believe they are acting justly and are troubled if others accuse them of selfish, immoral or otherwise illegitimate behavior. It matters to our democratic friends and allies, whose support may attest to the justness of the cause and whose participation may often be necessary to turn a military victory into a lasting political success.†

Applied Integrated Business Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Applied Integrated Business - Essay Example This paper is an attempt to synthesize everything I had learned so far which can be applicable in a world of business that is further made complicated and difficult by various financial crises. In the next few pages, I will elaborate on these further by enumerating the three most important. Discussion I think Professor Michael Porter's Five-Forces Model of competition is the first thing that comes to my mind in terms of importance. His model is applicable to almost all industries anywhere in the world. It has universal applications and any aspiring manager should learn to apply the principles in this model. Doing so will make his job as manager much, much easier. It will allow him to analyze a given industry, formulate the appropriate strategies and then be able to implement this particular chosen strategy to achieve superior results, no matter what. It is a given that the Porter model is extremely useful for industry analysis in order to attain that sustainable superior performance over peer industry competitors. The model further simplifies the whole job of any manager; without it, it is quite difficult to arrive at a good decision due to sometimes too much data to analyze that one can easily get lost of the strategic objective. The second most important thing I learned during the course is the 7 Ps of marketing. ... This model will help to put things in a proper perspective so corrective measures can be undertaken to rescue new products and services from being failures in the market. This model is a step-by-step guide to successful marketing techniques because it analyzes each step to be taken when selling and it helps to remove guesswork by making the analysis much more professional and accurate. The third most important I learned so far in this course is the SWOT analysis model. It may seem simple but it at least has a systematic approach when analyzing the inherent kind of strengths and weaknesses of any business organization. The first two letters are S and W; it pertains to the internal structure of the business firm by looking inward at its core competence or the areas of operations in which it has advantages while at the same recognize weaknesses. This will allow the firm to take corrective measures to remedy these weaknesses. The second two letters which are O and T represent opportuniti es and threats from the environment which are considered as external to the firm. The usefulness of this SWOT model is it is applicable to individual persons as well, such as taking pre-emptive or preventive measures to avoid any possible harm or dangers. The SWOT model for analysis is also useful in other situations like disaster preparedness by government units and other non-profit organizations because it will try to recognize possible dangers and allow for sufficient advance planning to avoid failures. The SWOT model has internal and external components, very much like Porter's Five-forces model, which has three external components and two internal features in the said model. I fully intend to use all my accumulated knowledge from the course in my daily

Direct & Digital Marketing Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3000 words

Direct & Digital Marketing - Essay Example Gronroos (1994) has criticized the tenets of the Four Ps of marketing which according to him is a weak perspective altogether that has several negative implications on various critical aspects of marketing such as research and application, the limitations of traditional marketing approaches such as the Four Ps of marketing have also been recognized by Bitner (1991) who like Vargo & Lusch (2004) believes that conventional marketing concepts such as the Four Ps of marketing have contributed towards limiting the scope of marketing by asserting that decisions related to a product can be described in merely four dimensions. Owing to the limitations of traditional marketing concepts as identified by Gronroos (1994), Hutton (1996) presents a need to include public relations and politics in as relatively newer dimensions of the Four Ps. Several researches and literature conducted since the 1990s and even earlier, indicate that marketers must incorporate modern perspectives with traditional v iews to cater to the consumer of today. This view is greatly highlights the benefits of moving towards contemporary approaches and logics to marketing, the most important of which is the concept of relationship marketing (Gronroos, 1994; Vargo & Lusch, 2004). According to Berry (1995), relationship marketing aims to focus more on the approach of retaining existing customers rather than utilizing a majority of the organization’s resources in the pursuit of attracting new customers. The importance of customer retention is so vital to the progress of an organization that a study conducted by Reichbheld & Sasser (1990) concluded that even if an organization is able to increase its customer retention rates by 5 percent; such a move reflects enhanced customer loyalty which directly correlates to an increase in profits between 25 to 125 percent. Hennig-Thurau et al. (2002) noted that aspects such as customer satisfaction, customer loyalty and commitment are integral factors contribu ting successfully to the concept of relationship marketing. Gronross (1990) supports this view by suggesting that as a discipline marketing concerns itself with the management of relationships, a tenet which is needed more importantly in the service sector, and the commentator postulates that in a context where tangibility of products and goods is non-existent, traditional concepts of marketing cannot effectively deal with the issues related to service-related businesses. An intriguing view of modern marketing has been presented by Edgett & Parkinson (1993) who claim that traditionalist marketing approaches maybe equally effective in service sector marketing, where customer-orientation and customer relationship management is the primary focus. Krueger et al. (2003) on the contrary argue that technological advancements and the wide-spread popularity of the Internet across the globe, has contributed towards changing business dynamics an example of which is the availability of legal on line music. It is argued that with regards to the marketing of goods, an

Applied Integrated Business Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Applied Integrated Business - Essay Example This paper is an attempt to synthesize everything I had learned so far which can be applicable in a world of business that is further made complicated and difficult by various financial crises. In the next few pages, I will elaborate on these further by enumerating the three most important. Discussion I think Professor Michael Porter's Five-Forces Model of competition is the first thing that comes to my mind in terms of importance. His model is applicable to almost all industries anywhere in the world. It has universal applications and any aspiring manager should learn to apply the principles in this model. Doing so will make his job as manager much, much easier. It will allow him to analyze a given industry, formulate the appropriate strategies and then be able to implement this particular chosen strategy to achieve superior results, no matter what. It is a given that the Porter model is extremely useful for industry analysis in order to attain that sustainable superior performance over peer industry competitors. The model further simplifies the whole job of any manager; without it, it is quite difficult to arrive at a good decision due to sometimes too much data to analyze that one can easily get lost of the strategic objective. The second most important thing I learned during the course is the 7 Ps of marketing. ... This model will help to put things in a proper perspective so corrective measures can be undertaken to rescue new products and services from being failures in the market. This model is a step-by-step guide to successful marketing techniques because it analyzes each step to be taken when selling and it helps to remove guesswork by making the analysis much more professional and accurate. The third most important I learned so far in this course is the SWOT analysis model. It may seem simple but it at least has a systematic approach when analyzing the inherent kind of strengths and weaknesses of any business organization. The first two letters are S and W; it pertains to the internal structure of the business firm by looking inward at its core competence or the areas of operations in which it has advantages while at the same recognize weaknesses. This will allow the firm to take corrective measures to remedy these weaknesses. The second two letters which are O and T represent opportuniti es and threats from the environment which are considered as external to the firm. The usefulness of this SWOT model is it is applicable to individual persons as well, such as taking pre-emptive or preventive measures to avoid any possible harm or dangers. The SWOT model for analysis is also useful in other situations like disaster preparedness by government units and other non-profit organizations because it will try to recognize possible dangers and allow for sufficient advance planning to avoid failures. The SWOT model has internal and external components, very much like Porter's Five-forces model, which has three external components and two internal features in the said model. I fully intend to use all my accumulated knowledge from the course in my daily

Employment Story Essay Example for Free

Employment Story Essay I first joined the army in 1996 and have been part of what most soldiers probably considers as the most important unit of any command, the Food Supply Unit. My battlefield is the kitchen where I rose from the ranks where my army soldier rank promotions became commensurate to my rise in the kitchen ranks. When I became Private First Class in 98, I also earned the title of First Cook. 2001 saw me become a Staff Sergeant on the field and a Senior First Cook in the Mess Kitchen. Currently, I am now Sergeant First Class and serving as the Dining Facility Manager as well. Being a Dining Facility Manager is not an easy job. I have to know how to manage twenty-five people and multi task between meal planning, cooking, and food distribution at base camp and on the field. Sometimes, it can turn into a real headache, especially when I have to accomplish the job in a war zone situation. I have done everything from planning meal drops to soldiers on the field, preparing the commanding officers meals, and when unavoidable, I can plan wedding receptions for my comrades who get married on base camp as well. I believe that I have served both my country and my fellow soldiers well. Together with my unit, I have done duty on two peace keeping missions as well as served in the war. I know that a soldier cannot fight on an empty stomach that is why my priority on the battle field is to make sure that all the units are well fed regardless of the combat situation. When somebody offers me a new job, I always tell that person the story about how I got to combine my two passions in the world into one very important job. Ive always been a patriot and a cook at heart. Working in the army has allowed me to live my dream job. That is to serve and protect my country and the free world while cooking up a storm and learning new recipes while serving on the field.

The concept of the hybrid manager

The concept of the hybrid manager 1. Introduction In this paper, I carefully examine the concept of the hybrid manager by looking at various sources from reliable academic literature mainly books and partly journal article. The purpose of this paper is two-fold. First I examine the concept of the hybrid manager as it was conceived and then evolved. Further, I see to what extent this concept is still relevant for the present business activities and how far in the future it can be taken. I conclude the paper by synthesising all the sources used and by evaluating the topic with my own analysis. 2. Literature Review The concept of hybrid manager seems to have evolved in the business management literature of the UK (Harrison, 1996). The concept caught the attention of the business academics and scholars in the late 1980s. There are a number of websites and links that talk about various directions of this concept today. However, when it comes to academic sources, the literature is quite extensive but does not equate with what is found in terms of websites and web links. Going through Skyrme (2001) is one best account given on the evolution of the hybrid profession. Skyrme devotes considerable portion of his book on taking the matter of hybrid manager at length. As such, the writer defines that the hybrid manager is a person who has the skills to manage the matters of information technology as well as the knowledge of managerial matters. The writer also provides the names of the two persons who, to his analysis, are responsible for the creation of this concept. These are, as noted by Skyrme (2001), Keen and Earl. Whereas Keen gave this term in 1988, Earl is the one who developed this concept to a great extent by highlighting important responsibilities and functions of the hybrid manager in the organisational structure of the times to come. Skyrme (2001) also notes that it was in the wake of the last decade of the 20th century that the need for the hybrid manager was felt by the business world. Therefore, to Earl (as noted by Skyrme), the hybrid manager is a find amalgamation of technical know-how of information technology matters and carries a sound knowledge of managerial matters. In what follows, Skyrme notes that there is generally a lack of complete understanding of this concept in the business organisation and so the relevant stakeholders (academics, teachers, business executives, and so on) should first realize what the term hybrid manager stands for, that is, what it actually entails. Only then should they move ahead in trying to see the possibilities of making use of such a person in business (pp. 430-451). Moving ahead to explore deeper meaning of our topic, we find some other useful sources that broaden this concept and critique it at length. For instance, the literature informs that it was in the 1990s the true need of a professional like the hybrid manager was felt in the business world. The key motives are reported to be intense global competition which was mainly fuelled by technological changes in the entire world. This caused a number of new technologies to play a decisive role for the market growth and the survival of a company anywhere in the world. A number of companies cut their human resource so as to save business cost. The cut in the job required new human resource who could do more in the previously laid out jobs. Another reason which is seen as the catalyst of hybrid managers concept is that the competition was triggered fast by a number of big business giant emerging from the Asian market (China and India, etc.) and they took the entire world by storm. Some other limit ations in the structure of the business organisation were also notably making demands for new careers and jobs. Therefore, all these needs, demands, and challenges paved the way for the corporate world to ask for professional who could provide sound assistance in matters of information technology while at the same time could deal with managerial issues. If one single person could do both the jobs, a number of companies saw it beneficial for them in the areas mentioned just above. Thus, the hybrid manager became the word of the day and it was this time around that this concept obtained more and more attention by business personnel, academics, and other stakeholders alike (Currie Glover, 1999, 420-432). Reviewing more literature is even more productive to understand the intricacies of the hybrid manager. Now when the background of the term and the business conditions of the world are now put across giving us a clear picture of the concept of the hybrid manager, it seems important to look at other sources that view this concept differently, that is, differently from the basic concept and relating it more to the present day context. It can be clearly seen that this set of literature falls under the heading of criticism of the original concept of the hybrid manager. Thus, in this regard, Tansey (2002) provides a very thorough critique of the earlier models of the hybrid manager. The author expands it into three broad areas that require there essential characteristics in the hybrid manager as it is needed today. These are one area of their competences, which is divided into four further branches: (i) hybrid managers business know-how; (ii) their knowledge specific to an organisation the yre working in; (iii) their knowledge of IT, and (iv) their managerial skills. The other concretises the competences, that is, the outcomes that would come from the required competences in the hybrid manager. For example, with sound business knowledge, the hybrid manager will know basics of business, and would function according to them by understanding the requirement of a specific firm. The last area is the critical ability of the hybrid manager, that is, when with a specific competence, what critical insight that hybrid manager has to have. This combination of the further developed concept has been illustrated in the table below (borrowed from Tansey, 2002). It is this model that now seems to occupy more of the business management literature. There are quite a few authors who have expanded even this model according to their own critical insight. There is also now a more realistic picture of the hybrid manager being realised in connection with the present world. For instance, Grembergen is one author that claims that as the 21st century grows old, the hybrid manager will become more of a need of the business world. The major reason to this author for this growth in the demand of the hybrid manager is the tendency to decentralise information systems of the business world; this decentralisation would certainly require a professional who can propel two oars together: one of the management and the other of the information technology. In the future, this will be a very critical expertise of the hybrid manager because management and IT would be walking hand in hand. Hence, it will be very difficult to align these areas if they are run separatel y by two departmental heads: i.e. one manager and the other is IT coordinator. The author emphasizes this observation by highlighting the fact that coming days are the ones in which the world will be more sophisticated knowledge management base. This base can be effectively handled by the people with more expertise and new skills. The key player in the knowledge management will be the further sophistication of technology and systems brought chiefly by the developments in the information technology sector. Hence, newer professions will certainly be required. And in our case the hybrid manager serves for this purpose (pp. 253-260). 2.1. Critical Evaluation of the Literature At this point, it is important to critically view the above literature to reach a plausible evaluation of the fact that if the hybrid manager is needed in the future or not. The above literature clearly relates that the hybrid manager is a concept that came into existence mainly because of the development in IT sector and its growing link with matters of management. This is clear evidence that in the future, the role and need of the hybrid manager will be more in demand than it is at present basically because of the fact that it is the 21st century that is seen a remarkable time for the growth of the IT sector and technological advances related to it. Moreover, the sources, almost all from the recent years, continue to show that there is more and more emphasis in the development of the concept of the hybrid manager. The recent sources attempt to criticise, evaluate, and expand the concept of the hybrid manager. This is further evidence that the concept is well into the process of dev elopment and that this process is more likely to mature as the present century enters its second decade. Hence, at this point in the paper, there is strong evidence that the hybrid manager is the need of the 21st century and so this concept will develop into more sophistication. In the following sections, I look at this concept in more detail by exploring other related area to find out if there is similar evidence available. 3. Hybrid Manager in the Knowledge Management It is important to note that the concept of the hybrid manager has been addressed differently by writers who belong to different disciplines of academia and research tradition. For instance, although the concept of the hybrid manager does exists in relation to the knowledge management, the concept is looked at differently by Grossman (2007). This author sees the hybrid profession being so attached to the concept of the Knowledge management that it is not possible to separate the two. The reason for this observation is presented by the author in that today knowledge management has not only survived but has also told us that it is going to stay here for quite a good deal of time. The author states that knowledge management is not about managing information systems and business issues related to it. Indeed it is a fluid that needs to be taken into consideration as a whole which incorporates factors like intense global competition, evolution of the market into knowledge economy, and cons equently, competitive advantage coming out of these factors to those who will be abreast with these challenges. Henceforth, to operate in the world of future, in the presence of the knowledge economy variables, it is important to produce workforce which is able to handle such challenges. The hybrid manager is one individual who is going to fill a major gap in the demands of the future. The authors notes that they hybrid manager to perform in the knowledge management and knowledge economy will have to have (i) skills to network and team up with people, (ii) higher analytical skills, (iii) managerial knowledge, (iv) organisational skills, (v) skills to process fast flowing information, (vi) skills to deal with information technology needs. This profession, according to the author can be regarded as the KM professional (p. 32). But the author further notes that this is a development of the previously held concept of the hybrid manager. The author notes that as the need to understand th e challenges of globalisation and other related forces has increased, the need to develop more and more such professionals as can deal with these matters has also increased. 4. Hybrid Manager in New Business Climate There are sources in the management literature which shed light on the challenges that we might confront in the changing climate of the global business environment. Barta at el (1999) expand the concept of the hybrid manager in this very context by relating it to major areas of business organisation. The writers note that although the CEOs of companies do have a key role to play in the functioning of their organisations, they cannot perform all the major actions. Hence, they need functional personnel who could take the business side by side with the CEOs. These functional managers are also in a better situation to work as hybrid manager because their position allows them to have hold of quality information; they can synthesise this information with their area-specific knowledge of management, for example in accountancy, production, and so on, and can make the most use of this synthesis by their developed skills in the information technology sector. They further inform us that tomorro ws time will require the hybrid managers to work in a number of areas where they will be mainly performing the functions of understanding the challenges and opportunities of information technology within that contexts; at the same time they will be required to analyse these challenges and opportunities in favour of their organisation; they will also be required to take initiatives to address the risks involved in the decisions they make. Henceforth, this is something that needs to be expanded by the time so that future challenges can be appropriately addressed (pp. 80-83). Barta at el (1999) also point out to the fact that if the role of the hybrid manager is seen in this scenario, the situation will be more benefiting for the organisations because this approach will have to ensure that the hybrid manager has sound information technology knowledge which they could employ with their managerial knowledge. These two factors will enable them to have better interpersonal skills; they will also be possibly able to better understand and deal with the strategic demands of the business company they are working for. Moreover, all these characteristics combined in one individual, they will ensure to carry with them a broad vision to ensure effective use is made of the information resource available from both internal sources and external business partners (p. 83). The hybrid manager of the future business world will also be someone who will have strong command over the conceptualization of IT related needs of the company; the individual will also be mapping out t hese needs and how these can be sufficiently realised to increase the profitability of the company along with other areas of development. Another important arena in which the hybrid manager is expected to play their role in the future business market is their ability to develop ways in which their organisations can move forward to learn new patterns of knowledge still based on the information technology factors. This professional will acquire this goal by closely monitoring the scene of developing technologies, how these relate to organisational and managerial matters, and how these can be learned in the best time for the best results (pp. 80-83). Eventually, looking at the role of the hybrid manager through the analytic lens provided by Barta at el. (1999), it is plausible to arrive at the consensus that the hybrid manager is someone to stay long in the days to come. The professional will not only have a major role to play in the business functions of the future economy; this perso n will also have their role expanded into various areas of business world. 5. The Current Perspective on the Hybrid Manager According to the very current sources, there is evidence that the concept of the hybrid manager is still in the process of development. It has been also interpreted different in different countries. The major essence of the concept is more or less similar. According to Chew and Gottschalk (2009), today it is important not only to understand what the hybrid manager does and also what this individual does not do, that is, it is important to clearly define the roles of the hybrid manager so that the professional productivity of this individual can be attained to the maximum. Elaborating further on this area of concern, Chew and Gottschalk note that at present the term hybrid is being with a number of management- and IT-based applications, functions, and concepts which may be confusing the student of management. They define this case by giving example of the hybrid manager as different from hybrid users. They state that this distinction is very important to understand otherwise the real essence of the hybrid manager can be even lost to great damage to the organisation. Therefore, whereas, according to the authors, hybrid users are the people who work in an environment which is fundamentally user-control computing; these people readily join together their technical skills and knowledge with the business literacy required to fulfil their primary role. One the other hand, the hybrid manager is someone who does need to have technical knowledge and skills, adequate business literacy, as well as a third important characteristic: that is, organisational astuteness that allows a manager to make business-appropriate IS use. This third dimensional feature of the hybrid manager also enables the individual to carve out new grounds on which the future of their company depends. Another very important distinction drawn by the writers is their analysis of the present day organisational patterns. They state that today it is easily noticeable that organisations can develop the hybri d users through a properly set criterion. However, they find it very difficult to point out any such criterion for the hybrid managers training and development. This in part also informs us that the hybrid manager is someone not found commonly and who is still needed in todays challenging business environment (pp. 330-337). 6. Conclusion and Discussion In this paper I have conducted an in-depth examination of the relevant scholarly sources to understand the concept of the hybrid manager. It was also demonstrated that the concept has evolved over time and the factors that have been present in the evolutionary process of the concept were also closely examined. It is revealed that though the concept of the hybrid manager was realized in the late 1980s and was considerably developed in the 1990s, the concept is still very much useful in the twenty-first century. The first part of the paper is thus linked to the second part of the paper which informs us how and through which stages the concept of the hybrid manager is still so effective in the 21st century. It is mainly because of the persistent growth in the IT-based development in the world, and the growing challenges of the international business climate that the need for the hybrid manager is still increasing. The very recent sources examined also demonstrate that there are still is sues present in educational, training, and practical domains for the hybrid manager. However, there is strong evidence that the concept does exist in the very present time and that it is very likely to continue to prosper in the longer run as long as the information technology is growing, and globalization remains forceful for the business world over. In conclusion, it can be stated that the future for the hybrid manager requires in-depth understanding of the roles of this professional, its core and functional capabilities, the issues for training and education, and how to benefit more from this post in the middle of newly felt changes in the world. Having said that, it is also important to understand that the concept of the hybrid manager is now not confined merely to the UK, US, and Europe or other technologically advanced countries like Japan; in fact, the developing world is also putting efforts to produce the home-grown hybrid manager (Spremic and Strugar, 2002). Additionally, it is important to note that major challenges for the development are also quite many, but more fall in the category of training and education of the hybrid manager of the future (Morrell, 2004). References Barta, B. Z., Tantall, A., Juliff, P. Place of information ethnology in management and business education. Padstow, Cornwall: Great Britain, 1999, pp. 75-84. Chew, E. K., Gottschalk, P. Information technology strategy and management: Best practices. New York: Information Science Reference, Ltd. 2009, pp. 335-350. Currie, W. L., Glover, I. A. Hybrid managers as an example of tunnel vision and regression in management research. In W. Currie and B. Galliers, eds. Rethinking management information systems: An interdisciplinary perspective. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1999, 410-450. Grembergen, W. V. Strategies for information technology governance. New York: Idea Group Publishing, 2004, pp. 245-265. Grossman, M. 2007. The emerging academic discipline of knowledge management. Journal of Information Systems Education, 18 (1), pp. 31-38. Harrison, C. Academic support services. In D. Warner and D. Palfreyman, eds, Higher education management: The key elements. Philadelphia: Open University Press, 1996, pp. 192-202. Morrell, K. Analysing professional work in the public sector: The case of NHS nurses. Research Series Paper, 1, 2004, 3-29. Skyrme, D.J., The hybrid manager. In M. J. Earl, ed. Informational management: The organizational dimension, Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2001, pp. 430-460. Spremic, M., Strugar, I. Strategic IS planning practise in Croatia: Organizational and managerial challenges. International Journal of Accounting Information, 3, 2003, 183-200. Tansey, S. D. Business, information technology and society. New York: Routledge, 2002, pp. 170-185.