Throught of the Month

I received the following thought from a friend and enjoyed it once again.

This for us to remember just before we about to forget.........

As my friend was passing the elephants, he suddenly stopped, confused by the fact that these huge creatures were being held by only a small rope tied to their front leg. No chains, no cages. It was obvious that the elephants could, at anytime, break away from the ropes. My friend saw a trainer nearby and asked why these beautiful, magnificent animals just stood there and made no attempt to get away.

"Well," he said, "when they are very young and much smaller we use the same size rope to tie them and, at that age, it's enough to hold them. As they grow up, they are conditioned to believe they cannot break away. So they never try to break free." My friend was amazed. These animals could at any time break free from their bonds but because they believed they couldn't, they were stuck right where they were.

Like the elephants, how many of us go through life hanging onto a belief that somethings are impossible, simply just because we failed at it once before? So make an attempt to grow further.... Why shouldn't we try it again?

"YOUR ATTEMPT MAY FAIL, BUT NEVER FAIL TO MAKE AN ATTEMPT."

Warren Buffett

Word of Optimism from Warren Buffet

Warren Buffet on Feb 28, 2009 said America has faced bigger economic challenges in the past, including two World Wars and the Great Depression.

"Though the path has not been smooth, our economic system has worked extraordinarily well over time," Buffett wrote. "It has unleashed human potential as no other system has, and it will continue to do so. America's best days lie ahead."

IBMgmt Transcript for Week 6 - HGU

GLOBAL MARKET OPPURTUNITIES: 

To stay in the competition globally, every company need to serve the international market, and must be localized from translating languages to adapting all contents to meet cultural standards. When the domestic market shows improvement, expanding to an overseas market can be a right step toward seeking continued growth. The initial decision to globalize requires a great deal of planning. A firm that wants to take advantage of expansion must first have a dynamic strategy that is appropriate for its organization and is consistent with its resources and objectives.

 In India products sales is quite good and GDP is increasing. Networking is the main criteria.

QUALITY CONTROL:

In engineering and manufacturing, quality control and quality engineering are used in developing systems to ensure products or services designed and produced to meet or exceed customer requirements. These systems are often developed in conjunction with other business and engineering disciplines using a cross-functional approach. The thorough Research is required.

  

EVALUATING OPPURTUNITIES: 

Evaluating Global Market Opportunities involves a series of processes: 

1.     The Screening Process:

2.     The Selection Process

3.     The Grouping process

 

1.The Screening Process:

Level 1: There is a Macro level Research which identifies preliminary opportunities, such as; Macro General Research Variables: Data to be collected on each country.

  a.     Economic statistical data.

  b.   Political environment and stability.

  c.   Socio-cultural structure & features.

  d.Geographic and climate.

Level 2: Macro Specific 

a. What is the market size and development?

  b.   What is the growth history for like products?

  c.      Availability of market data?

  

Level 3: Micro level Research

a. What are the competition, existing and potential?

  b.    What are the conditions of market entry?

  c.     What is the projected level of sales?

  d.   What is the probable acceptance level of product?

  e.   What is the reliability of information available and gathered?

  f.     What is the cost of entry?

  g.    What is the potential timeline for profit?

  

Level 4: Corporate Factors

a. Once potential targets identified

b. What corporate factors must be considered?

c. For successful implementation.

 

2. The Selection Process:

To develop selection criteria at both macro and micro level.    Requirement is:                 

Market  Indexes: Economist  Intelligence  Unit  - EIU.com, publishes three useful indexes apart from economic data,

  a.         Market Size

  b.         Market  Growth

  c.         Market  Intensity

  

Necessity for on-going screening:

  a.     Once target markets are selected there is a natural tendency to focus on them and ignore others.

  b.     Since the world market is constantly changing, the global marketer should continually screen previously rejected targets.

 

3. The Grouping Process:

a. Many ways to group countries together.

b. Often important to do so to consider as a single market.

    - Major activities affected by grouping: Market Research, Product development & modification, Distribution channels, Promotion and Personal selling.

c. Main reasons for grouping: Economies of scale and Critical mass.

Verbal Non-Verbal Communication

Non-verbal communication

Introduction to non-verbal communication

in communication with others only 30 % of the communication is verbal, 70 % is non-verbal

non-verbal communication involves gestures, facial expressions, eye contact …

our non-verbal behaviour is mostly subconscious

Comparing verbal and non-verbal communication

both are symbolic, communicate meaning and are patterned

all societies have different non-verbal languages

the non-verbal communication is more than just body language; the use of time and personal space, our voice etc.

non-verbal communication is learnt through relations with others

non-verbal behaviours can reinforce, substitute for or contradict verbal behaviour

we often trust our non-verbal behaviour to reveal our true feelings

The universal use of non-verbal communication

there is some universality in non-verbal communication, especially in facial expressions

six basic emotions are communicated by facial expressions in much the same way in most societies:

happiness, sadness, disgust, fear, anger and surprise

but what causes the non-verbal behaviours can vary

Non-verbal codes

SILENCE

the use of silence in conversations

HAPTICS

the use of touching

high-touch cultures and low-touch cultures

VOCAL CUES

rate, pitch, loudness, articulation, tone, accent, pronunciation etc.

ARTEFACTS

things, objects, decorations etc.

Misunderstandings can be avoided if we are aware of and understand our cultural differences

The more we know of other cultures, the greater the possibility is of a successful communication!

Believe and Vision: "SLumdog Millionaire"

I have seen scientific research done by a graduate student but put aside by the mentor believing that was not worth publishing. But, after a decade later that dusty file - brings home Nobel Prize.

Tonight we saw - Movie version of Nobel-prize at Oscar. A low budget movie -that about to put aside -catches the center attention -

and here is the news:

".....

Shot in India on a modest budget of $14 million, "Slumdog Millionaire" traces the life of a Mumbai orphan who overcomes poverty, betrayal, police torture and other hardships on his way to a reunion with his childhood love and success on India's version of "Who Wants to Be a Millionaire."

The film nearly got lost in the shuffle as Warner Bros. folded its art-house banner, Warner Independent, which had been slated to distribute "Slumdog Millionaire." It was rescued from the direct-to-video scrap heap when Fox Searchlight stepped in to release the film....."

Take home message is - Believe and vision.

IBMgmt Transcript for Week 5 - HGU

Gross Domestic Product: 

To explain in simple words, the statistic used to measure the economy of a country is GDP – Gross Domestic Product. For Example:  The U.S. economy, as measured by GDP, is everything produced by all the people and all the companies in the U.S. It represents the total dollar value of all goods and services produced over a specific time period.

Usually, GDP is expressed as a comparison to the previous quarter or year. For example, if the year-to-year GDP is up 3%, this is thought to mean that the economy has grown by 3% over the last year.

THE ECONOMIC ENVIRONMENT: CHAPTER 4 

The Economic Environment can be defined as a ‘totality of economic factors, such as employment,income, inflation,interest rates, productivity, and wealth, that influence the buying behavior of consumers and firms’.

There are few countries who are major exporters of almost all kinds of goods. Likewise, India, China, Taiwan, Vietnam, Thailand, Indonesia, is the main Exporting countries in the world.

However, France, Germany, Italy, Great Britain, Japan, United States, Canada, Russia are considered to be Major Industrialized countries of the world. Such countries are expected to have highly developed economies and be democracies.

ECONOMIC INTEGRATION:

Economic Integration is a term used to describe how different aspects between economies are integrated. As economic integration increases, the barriers of trade between markets diminish. The most integrated economy today, between independent nations, is the European Union and its Euro Zone.

The European Union (EU) is an economic and political union of 27 member states, located primarily in Europe.

Euro Zone consists of 16 European Union (EU) states which have adopted the euro as their sole legal tender. It currently consists of Austria, Belgium, Cyprus, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, Malta, the Netherlands, Portugal, Slovakia, Slovenia and Spain.                                

FREE TRADE AREA OF THE AMERICAS:

The Free Trade Area of the Americas (FTAA) was a proposed agreement to eliminate or reduce the trade barriers among all countries in the Americas but Cuba. The proposed agreement was an extension of the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) between Canada, Mexico and the United States. Against the market are positioned Cuba, Venezuela and later Bolivia, Ecuador, Dominica, Nicaragua and Honduras, which entered the Bolivarian Alternative for the Americas in response, and not strongly opposing but not supporting Argentina, Chile and Brazil.

The Free Trade Area of the Americas (FTAA), which was being negotiated by 34 countries of the Americas, was intended to be the most far-reaching trade agreement in history. Although it was based on the model of the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), it went far beyond NAFTA in its scope and power.

The FTAA would have introduced into the Western Hemisphere all the disciplines of the proposed services agreement of the World Trade Organization (WTO) - the General Agreement on Trade in Services (GATS) - with the powers of the failed Multilateral Agreement on Investment (MAI), to create a new trade powerhouse with sweeping new authority over the Americas.

NORTH AMERICAN INTEGRATION:

In 1994, the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) joined the economic futures of Canada, Mexico, and the United States, with systematic rules governing trade and investment, dispute resolution, and economic relations. However, economic integration among the three countries extends considerably beyond trade and investment. The NAFTA agreement takes a very narrow view of integration, barely addressing such vital issues as immigration policy and labor markets, the energy sector, environmental protection, and law enforcement. NAFTA created the world’s largest Free Market - $ 390 million US, Canada and Mexican consumers and a total output of $ 10 trillion.

INTEGRATION IN ASIA:

Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN).

East Asia Economic Group.

Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC).

South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC).

 

INTEGRATION IN AFRICA & THE MIDDLE EAST:

Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS).

The African Union (AU).

The Arab Maghreb Union.

Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC).

THE POLITICAL AND LEGAL ENVIRONMENT: CHAPTER 5

Political Systems:

Individualism

Democratic

Collectivism

Totalitarian.

There are at least four major dimensions of a country's political environment of concern to the International Business:

      1.   The political system and ideology

      2.   The role of government in the economy

      3.   Political instability

      4.   The country's international political relationships.

Legal Systems: Rules or Laws that regulate behavior.

Property Rights

Private action

Public action. 

The legal environment for protecting information is developing slowly along with the adoption of IT.

EXPORT CONTROL – US EXPORT CONTROL SYSTEMS:

Export Administration Act.

Munitions Control Act.

Determinants for Export Controls: National Security, Foreign Policy, Nuclear non proliferation.

Dual use items:

a.     Goods used for both military and civilian.

b.    Controlled for other purposes.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Green-India

Today, I would like to see how all of you are doing and hope we all
are sound in health and spirit. With Politepreneur (R) president Obama we are seeing many good activities -Biotech-potential (with lifting of Stem-cell research ban), making F/M pay-equal, right to fight, mercury-treaty initiative and Green-energy push.

Speaking of Greentech - I just have come across a reporting by Thomas
Friedman from New Delhi (see below). I get to know him in late 90s
when he was with LATimes and did an article on our Hepatitis-C (a
BioZak/UCLA) project. Anyway, here is the article - Rgds/RYAN

February 15, 2009
Op-Ed Columnist
Yes, They Could. So They Did.
By THOMAS L. FRIEDMAN

New Delhi

So I am attending the Energy and Resources Institute climate
conference in New Delhi, and during the afternoon session two young
American women — along with one of their mothers — proposition me.

“Hey, Mr. Friedman,” they say, “would you like to take a little spin
around New Delhi in our car?”

Oh, I say, I’ve heard that line before. Ah, they say, but you haven’t
seen this car before. It’s a plug-in electric car that is also powered
by rooftop solar panels — and the two young women, recent Yale grads,
had just driven it all over India in a “climate caravan” to highlight
the solutions to global warming being developed by Indian companies,
communities, campuses and innovators, as well as to inspire others to
take action.

They ask me if I want to drive, but I have visions of being stopped by
the cops and ending up in a New Delhi jail. Not to worry, they tell
me. Indian cops have been stopping them all across India. First, they
ask to see driver’s licenses, then they inquire about how the green
car’s solar roof manages to provide 10 percent of its mileage — and
then they try to buy the car.

We head off down Panchsheel Marg, one of New Delhi’s main streets. The
ladies want to show me something. The U.S. Embassy and the Chinese
Embassy are both located on Panchsheel, directly across from each
other. They asked me to check out the rooftops of each embassy. What
do I notice? Let’s see ... The U.S. Embassy’s roof is loaded with
antennae and listening gear. The Chinese Embassy’s roof is loaded
with ... new Chinese-made solar hot-water heaters.

You couldn’t make this up.

But trying to do something about it was just one of many reasons my
hosts, Caroline Howe, 23, a mechanical engineer on leave from the Yale
School of Forestry and Environmental Studies, and Alexis Ringwald, a
Fulbright scholar in India and now a solar entrepreneur, joined with
Kartikeya Singh, who was starting the Indian Youth Climate Network, or
IYCN, to connect young climate leaders in India, a country coming
under increasing global pressure to manage its carbon footprint.

“India is full of climate innovators, so spread out across this huge
country that many people don’t get to see that these solutions are
working right now,” said Howe. “We wanted to find a way to bring
people together around existing solutions to inspire more action and
more innovation. There’s no time left to just talk about the problem.”

Howe and Ringwald thought the best way to do that might be a climate
solutions road tour, using modified electric cars from India’s Reva
Electric Car Company, whose C.E.O. Ringwald knew. They persuaded him
to donate three of his cars and to retrofit them with longer-life
batteries that could travel 90 miles on a single six-hour charge — and
to lay on a solar roof that would extend them farther.

Between Jan. 1 and Feb. 5, they drove the cars on a 2,100-mile trip
from Chennai to New Delhi, stopping in 15 cities and dozens of
villages, training Indian students to start their own climate action
programs and filming 20 videos of India’s top home-grown energy
innovations. They also brought along a solar-powered band, plus a
luggage truck that ran on plant oil extracted from jatropha and
pongamia, plants locally grown on wasteland. A Bollywood dance group
joined at different stops and a Czech who learned about their trip on
YouTube hopped on with his truck that ran on vegetable-oil waste.

Deepa Gupta, 21, a co-founder of IYCN, told The Hindustan Times that
the trip opened her eyes to just how many indigenous energy solutions
were budding in India — “like organic farming in Andhra Pradesh, or
using neem and garlic as pesticides, or the kind of recycling in
slums, such as Dharavi. We saw things already in place, like the
Gadhia solar plant in Valsad, Gujarat, where steam is used for cooking
and you can feed almost 50,000 people in one go.” (See:
www.indiaclimatesolutions.com.)

At Rajpipla, in Gujarat, when they stopped at a local prince’s palace
to recharge their cars, they discovered that his business was
cultivating worms and selling them as eco-friendly alternatives to
chemical fertilizers.

I met Howe and Ringwald after a tiring day, but I have to admit that
as soon as they started telling me their story it really made me
smile. After a year of watching adults engage in devastating
recklessness in the financial markets and depressing fecklessness in
the global climate talks, it’s refreshing to know that the world keeps
minting idealistic young people who are not waiting for governments to
act, but are starting their own projects and driving innovation.

“Why did this tour happen?” asked Ringwald. “Why this mad, insane plan
to travel across India in a caravan of solar electric cars and
jatropha trucks with solar music, art, dance and a potent message for
climate solutions? Well ... the world needs crazy ideas to change
things, because the conventional way of thinking is not working
anymore.”

What is Culture

Hello Class:

I was seeking for a descriptive definition of culture via google search and came to a site that has some interesting definitions -... information below ..

Source: The Center for Advanced Research on Language Acquisition
http://www.carla.umn.edu/culture/definitions.html

What is Culture?

---

CARLA’s Definition

---

For the purposes of the Intercultural Studies Project, culture is defined as the shared patterns of behaviors and interactions, cognitive constructs, and affective understanding that are learned through a process of socialization. These shared patterns identify the members of a culture group while also distinguishing those of another group.

---

Other Definitions of Culture

---

Banks, J.A., Banks, & McGee, C. A. (1989). Multicultural education. Needham Heights, MA: Allyn & Bacon.

"Most social scientists today view culture as consisting primarily of the symbolic, ideational, and intangible aspects of human societies. The essence of a culture is not its artifacts, tools, or other tangible cultural elements but how the members of the group interpret, use, and perceive them. It is the values, symbols, interpretations, and perspectives that distinguish one people from another in modernized societies; it is not material objects and other tangible aspects of human societies. People within a culture usually interpret the meaning of symbols, artifacts, and behaviors in the same or in similar ways."

Damen, L. (1987). Culture Learning: The Fifth Dimension on the Language Classroom. Reading, MA: Addison-Wesley.

"Culture: learned and shared human patterns or models for living; day- to-day living patterns. these patterns and models pervade all aspects of human social interaction. Culture is mankind's primary adaptive mechanism" (p. 367).

Hofstede, G. (1984). National cultures and corporate cultures. In L.A. Samovar & R.E. Porter (Eds.), Communication Between Cultures. Belmont, CA: Wadsworth.

"Culture is the collective programming of the mind which distinguishes the members of one category of people from another." (p. 51).

Kluckhohn, C., & Kelly, W.H. (1945). The concept of culture. In R. Linton (Ed.). The Science of Man in the World Culture. New York. (pp. 78-105).

"By culture we mean all those historically created designs for living, explicit and implicit, rational, irrational, and nonrational, which exist at any given time as potential guides for the behavior of men."

Kroeber, A.L., & Kluckhohn, C. (1952). Culture: A critical review of concepts and definitions. Harvard University Peabody Museum of American Archeology and Ethnology Papers 47.

" Culture consists of patterns, explicit and implicit, of and for behavior acquired and transmitted by symbols, constituting the distinctive achievements of human groups, including their embodiments in artifacts; the essential core of culture consists of traditional (i.e. historically derived and selected) ideas and especially their attached values; culture systems may, on the one hand, be considered as products of action, and on the other as conditioning elements of further action."

Lederach, J.P. (1995). Preparing for peace: Conflict transformation across cultures. Syracuse, NY: Syracuse University Press.

"Culture is the shared knowledge and schemes created by a set of people for perceiving, interpreting, expressing, and responding to the social realities around them" (p. 9).

Linton, R. (1945). The Cultural Background of Personality. New York.

"A culture is a configuration of learned behaviors and results of behavior whose component elements are shared and transmitted by the members of a particular society" (p. 32).

Parson, T. (1949). Essays in Sociological Theory. Glencoe, IL.

"Culture...consists in those patterns relative to behavior and the products of human action which may be inherited, that is, passed on from generation to generation independently of the biological genes" (p. 8).

Useem, J., & Useem, R. (1963). Human Organizations, 22(3).

"Culture has been defined in a number of ways, but most simply, as the learned and shared behavior of a community of interacting human beings" (p. 169).