International Business in Emerging Markets Essay Example for Free

International Business in Emerging Markets Essay The global exchange of capital, goods and services also referred to as national trade is the pre-dominant part of all economies. Advancement in time of transportation, transnational corporations, globalization and outsourcing practices have led to the growth and importance of international trade (Anderson et al, 1993). This importance accrues from the amount of revenue this trade generates. The importance of this trade is apparent in the amount of money, time, human and other resources that go into the planning of global trade affairs (Bhagwati, 1992). Entire ministries and budgets are dedicated to prepare transnational trade efforts. Memberships to regional trade bodies such as the European Union receive higher priority than political alliances while negotiation of trade treaties takes more of the leadership’s time (Dixit et al, 1980). In addition to political envoys, governments have trade consuls in other nations (Mattli, 1999). It is thus alarming for a country to realize that her international trade position is not attaining the targets that would indicate prosperity. The UK is one of such whereby her deficit in goods and services has risen from 2. 2 to 3. 5 billion pounds between august and September 2009. The deficit with European Union countries widened in the same period. while that with non European countries replicated the downward trend. It is also reported that except for Oil and erratic commodities, the volume of exports in September was 0. 2 percent lower than the previous months with imports being higher by 4. 1 percent (ONS, 2009). This indicates an alarming trend which the concerned departments need to look into. Perhaps the downturn is due to external factors that might be within reach or not. However trade policy needs to be reviewed to check this spiral. This is especially to deal with identification of new global markets that can be used to add to the export tally thereby reducing the deficit. A look at theories of trade can assist in identifying new markets and potential angles that can be exploited to correct the adverse situation. International Trade Theories There are two broad themes in theories of international trade. The qualitative theories explain a countrys trade patterns, that is which products are traded and why. Instances are absolute advantage and comparative advantage. There are also quantitative theories that explain the terms of trade for instance relative prices of exports and imports in the trading activities. Changes in data such as factor supplies, technology, trade policy and global trends also come in as quantitative themes. More importantly in these quantitative analyses, there is consistent use of the general equilibrium (Dixit et al, 1980). The Mercantilist Theory. This is a qualitative theme in international trade. It postulates that while exporting is good for a country, importing is to be avoided. This rationale is based on the assumption of fact that revenue from exports is in gold standard currency. Thus accumulation of sufficient gold reserves can only be achieved through high rates of export. Mercantilism argued for close government regulation for two reasons: to maintain a favourable balance of trade thereby advancing aggressive export with restrictive import policies; and to promote the processing of raw materials at home instead of importing manufactured goods, which would distort production and employment at home. This is a classical theory that ignores not only the benefits of importing but also the reality that no country is self sufficient thus a need to import is inherent. An example of application is the Canadian Department of Foreign Affairs where Canadian traders have been informed that the Embassys mandate is to help exporters and non-disclosure of import relevant information. Absolute Advantage. Smith’s Theory of Absolute Advantage stated that countries should concentrate on producing what they are best at; that is products that they have absolute advantage in, Incentive to trade among countries is therefore created since each specializes in one product. Also as a classical theory, it is applicability is scant. In summary Smiths theory stated that unilateral trade liberalisation would be an advantageous policy for a country to follow, irrespective of the trade policies pursued by other countries. A drawback in Smiths postulation is if a nation has no absolute advantage over any of her potential trading partners with respect to any goods or services, then it means international trade is of no relevance to her (Dixit et al, 1980). Comparative Advantage Comparative advantage as developed by David Ricardo in his book, ‘The Principles of Political Economy’, is an improvement of the Absolute advantage theory. It declares that countries can trade without absolute advantage. They need comparative advantage where the relative cost of producing and exporting a product varies between trade partners. There are still benefits even if one trading partner is absolutely better in production. Comparative advantage has been the prevailing applied concept. It indicates that if two countries engage in trade, each will have the incentive to increase production, and decrease consumption, of goods in which it has the lower relative marginal cost prior to trade than the others. For instance if Britain has competitive equilibrium prices of 300 pounds per TV set and 4 pounds per bottle of whisky, while Japan has corresponding prices of 100000 and 2000 yen respectively, then ceteris peribus, if Britain produces one TV less then she would be able to utilise the freed resources to produce another 75 bottles of whisky. Japan on the other hand is able to produce one more TV set by freeing redeploying resources used to produce 50 bottles of whisky. It is to their mutual interest to do so since the pre-trade, relative price of a TV set is 50 bottles of whisky in Japan and 75 similar bottles in Britain. This is an inducement to Japan to expand TV production for export to Britain and import whisky from her. Presumably the relative price after commencement of trade will settle at between 50 and 75. The Ricardian Model assumes technology variations between nations. The assumptions in summary are: labor is the sole primary factor of production; Labor has constant returns; there is limited labor in respective economies; Mobility of labor across industries rather than countries; perfect competition situation. This theory has in modern times been reviewed to include intermediate goods, that is, capital goods for instance machinery thereby adjusting the labor only notion. These intermediate goods are tradable across countries in the current global situation (Dixit et al, 1980). Factors Endowment. Ricardos Comparative advantage theory was modified by Heckscher-Ohlin Theorem, also the Factor Proportions Hypothesis. Here a country should export products that are produced using factors that it is relatively well bestowed with. This is a separate theory but it also gives an explanation on the underlying factors as to comparative advantage. In each country, the factor that is relatively abundant is relatively cheaper. Also the good that is relatively intensive in using this factor this is relatively cheaper. Thus a country is expected to have comparative advantage in products that are intensive in the use of factors that are relatively abundant in supply. The H-O model assumed: inter sector factor mobility; distinction between labour and capital intensive; Factor variation between countries; free trade; and trans-country technology homogeneity. It however does not incorporate trade in intermediate goods. It was later challenged by the work of Wasilly Leontief who discovered that The US exported less capital intensive than it imported labour intensive products, also the Leontief’s paradox (Trebilcock et al, 2005). Contemporary Theories These include: the specific factors theory where in the short run mobility between industries in labor is possible and not possible in capital. It resembles a short run H-O model. If there is an increase in the price of a product then the owners of the factor specific to that product will profit in real terms; the new trade theory seeks to cater for the fact deficiencies of the two main approaches. That a lot of trade occurs between countries with identical factor of production endowment and the high level of multinational production, or foreign investment; the Gravity model that proffers an empirical analysis of international trade trends rather than the theoretical approaches detailed. It projects trade patterns on the basis of the distance between the nations and their economic size interaction. It imitates the law of gravity that factors distance and size. It considers factors such as levels of income, diplomatic ties and respective trade policy (Trebilcock et al, 2005). Emerging markets are nations described to be undergoing rapid growth and industrialisation in social and business activity. The concerned nations are usually said to be in a transition to fully developed status. Data on these countries has been compiled and a list of the top economics proffered. Examples of the dominant emerging economies are Brazil, Russia, India and China. They have been given the acronym, BRIC. Included are: Latin American countries such as Argentina; Asian countries such as South Korea; Russia in Eastern Europe; some in the Middle East; and parts of Africa for Instance South Africa. Lately though there have been shifts for instance Mexico has edged into the top four in terms of investment and development pushing ahead of Brazil. However China and India still dominate the list as the emerging markets with the best opportunities. As a factor of their GDP, population size, growth potential and level of imports (World Bank, 2000). These markets are characterised by robust economic growth, resulting in a rise in GDP and disposable income. Political and social stability is also an important indicator and condition for this categorisation. This implies that the population is able to purchase previously un-affordable goods and services . However quite a part of these countries population remain poor. International companies are presented with a large untapped market, providing them with an opportunity for market and financial growth. Luxury products such as high-end automobiles, designer clothing, and other Veblen goods benefit from such; but it is every day luxuries such as cell phones and brand name food products that reap the most from these markets.

Oedipus: A Tragic Hero Essay -- Oedipus Rex, Sophocles

Oedipus: A Tragic Hero Oedipus Rex, or Oedipus the King is Sophocles’s first play of â€Å"The Theban Cycle.† It tells the story of a king that tries to escape his fate, but by doing so he only brings about his downfall. Oedipus is a classic example of the Aristotelian definition of a tragic hero. Aristotle defines a tragic hero as a basically good and noble person who causes his own downfall due to a flaw in his character. Oedipus is a man of noble blood; his parents, who raised him as a child, were King Polybus and Queen Merope of Corinth. Oedipus also becomes a king himself when he solves the Sphinx’s riddle, thus saving Thebes and taking over the throne of the late King Laius. Oedipus then marries Jocasta, Laius’s widow, and they have children together. Though he is a very fair and understanding husband, Oedipus’s main concern is always the city of Thebes. When a plague strikes the city, Oedipus refused sleep until he finds the cause, and he, â€Å"†¦sent Creon,†¦To Delphi, Apollo’s place of revelation, To learn there, if he can, What act or pledge of mine may save the city† (Sophocles 1257). Oedipus then vows to find who killed King Laius after Creon reveals that Laius’s death must be avenged so that the plague will be dispersed. Oedipus, a great and noble king was flawed by his hubris, or spiritual pride. Oedipus believes that he could avoid what the oracle told him long ago: he would kill his father and then marry his mother. Instead of returning to his...

Pm 586 Huntsville Project Analysis

The project schedule for the Huntsville plant project has been already done and completed. The resources and duration are properly assigned to the specific tasks/ activities. This section of the report will discuss the outcome of the project schedule and allocation of the resources used in the project. The Gantt chat in the Microsoft project shows each activity and estimated duration as when it will be completed.The Gantt chat also reveals that the estimated completion time for the entire project will be July 6, 2012 which is one week after the projected date set by the board of directors which is June 30, 2012. This is clearly indicates that the project would not be completed on time as it was projected. In my opinion I think July 6, 2012 is not too far from the expected project completion date, therefore I would suggest the project manager to revise the schedule and reschedule. Our text book mentioned some of the critical success factors when scheduling.Some of these factors are wh en attempting to reduce the duration of a path activities that has a negative slack, focus on activities that are near term and activities that have long estimated duration, the person who will be responsible for performing the activity should approximate duration for that activity, the key to effective schedule control is address any paths with negative or deteriorating slack values aggressively as soon as they are identified, and activity estimated duration should be yet realistic (Gido & Clements, 5th Ed, pg 180).Based on the factors above, the schedule should be revised to find activities with negative slack and timing interval. For example, recruiting & training, create building design estimated duration time could be adjusted to shorter period. This will cause the earliest start and earliest finish time of other activities around these tasks to be adjusted and hence it might create some positive slack time.The Gantt chat also reveals that during the planning phase there are so me of the activities such select architect have been scheduled over the weekend which is non-working days, I suggest to schedule these activities during weekdays to accelerate their estimated duration time. The analysis also revealed that almost all the resources are over allocated. When we change the view to the view resource usage we can see FS, PM, CP, PS, RC, ME, GC, PD, AC, MS, AD, and PA are over allocated.In order to address this problem I suggest looking at the activities with the shortest duration schedule that may have limited resources available. Using the resources constraints concept, in the planning phase we can find out that building, production, and selection can be considered for adjustments. Also we can use the resource leveling to distribute the resources to each phase more evenly and avoid unnecessary over allocation in some of the resources.The adjustments of these activities must be done carefully so as not to affect some other activities which have the greater contribution to the over allocation. In conclusion, the analysis shows that it is clearly that the main objective which to complete the project and its deliverables by June 30, 2012 will not be achieved due to the scheduling and over allocation of resources problems.In order to meet the completion date a clear schedule adjustments and leveling of the resources in needed. This will help the project to finish on its projected time and if we very lucky we might have finished it under time and have few extra days to review few activities thoroughly. Reference Successful Project Management, 5th Ed, Gido & Clements: Retrieved March 27, 2013 from https://devry. vitalsource. com/signin? return=/books/9781133614487/pages/49723591

Elizabeth Lamont s More Than She Deserves - 1496 Words

Women’s suffrage is the idea that women should have the right to vote. Women have struggled for the right to vote for a long time because of the mindset society has. They believed women did not have the ability to comprehend what men were capable of doing. Women protested and bellowed their opinions to the world, a world that created a category to place them in and say they do not deserve suffrage. In Victoria Lamont’s article, â€Å"More Than She Deserves† her thesis is that in Wyoming, the women who were full time activist of women’s suffrage were not remembered and memorialized like the women who did not fully participate in the women’s suffrage movement. Lamont’s article gives an insight to the struggle women endured by using a woman that played a minor role in women’s suffrage, and yet the individuals who were active suffragists were not memorialized. To argue her point, Lamont uses Esther Morris to generalize that the entire area of Wyoming remembers women based on their slight participation in the women’s suffrage movement. On the other hand, Shannon M. Risk’s article, â€Å"Against Women’s Suffrage†, gives an insight on the arguments Maine and New Brunswick had and stated the actions each borderland took. The arguments that Maine and New Brunswick have are similar but are expressed differently with different results. Although, Lamont’s argument is more effective and useful because she uses one example to prove her point while Risk proves her point, but results with a weak