...Stem Research Paper Science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) is impacting our nation’s potential in national defense, economic strength, and other societal needs, according to John F. Sargent Jr., a specialist in Science and Technology Policy(1). In 2005, three prominent reports, entitled Innovate America, Tapping America’s Potential, and Rising Above the Gathering Storm: Energizing and Employing America for a Brighter Economic Future, were released which discussed the controversy whether United States of America is falling behind other countries in STEM. The three reports consider wide perspectives of issues concerning STEM from competitiveness to the workforce in the United States. According to Innovate America, all issues...
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...21510 Business Futures Autumn 2014 Osaka’s Journey into Globalization. What kind of economic trajectory has the manufacturing industry taken? University of Technology, Sydney Hai John Pham 10576991 Table of Contents Cover Page 1 Table of Content 2 Executive Summary 3 Overview of Osaka’s Manufacturing Industry and its contribution 3 to the world Osaka’s journey into globalization 4 i. Government and Business Policy 4 ii. Osaka’s rivalry with Tokyo as a World City 5 iii. The Ageing Population and its impact on the labour Market 6 iv. Natural disasters and the threat to business continuity 6 and expansion v. Technology and the trends towards international 7 orientation Conclusion 8 Appendices 9 References 17 Executive Summary Changes in the global business environment can create many opportunities for firms operating in any industry however, they can also create significant threats. Therefore, it is imperative that businesses understand the factors that will affect its survival and capacity to compete in an increasingly global market place. The aim of this paper is to apply the PESTLE and Porter’s Five Forces framework to the City of Osaka, Japan and to understand the ‘big picture’ forces that have shaped and continue the landscape of the manufacturing industry from 2000 to date. The analysis reveals that downturns in the economic environment, attracting...
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...PRIVATIZATION OF WAR SIKANDER ZAFAR SZABIST Abstract: It is believed that the fate of United States of America had been on the hands of mercenaries now what we call the modern-day private military companies. Since the start till the American Revolution in 1776, the American lands had been owned and controlled by mercenaries and private contractors. Christopher Columbus, the man who got backing from Spain's Queen Isabella and king Ferdinand to launch the voyage and discover the new world relater effectively became a private military contractor or a PMC. This shows that the history of contracting private military -previously by the royal offices and now by the democratically elected governments- have been practiced; Historians claims that mercenaries existed in ancient Egypt to safeguard the Egyptian sovereignty by the rebels of that time. Indeed, mercenaries have transformed into private military contractors after the downfall of Soviet Union in 1991 and the characteristics of a PMC and ancient mercenaries are rather similar. However, under The Hague Convention no. 5 mercenaries are illegal organizations but the role and responsibility of private military organizations is unknown in the international law which gives them free reins to operate in a way which fulfills their greed to make abnormal profits. The operations of private military companies is controversial, their contracts with the governments and other non-state actors is discreet in nature which confines the mass...
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...Professor Dr. Mohammed Arif September 30, 2013 TABLE OF CONTENTS Abstract 3 History of Supply Chain Management 4 Why is Supply Chain Management Important to Business 5 Innovation 7 How to Maintain a Competitive Advantage 8 Skill Set Requirements 11 Future of Supply Chain Management 13 Conclusion 16 References 17 TABLE OF FIGURES Figure 1.1 Creating Additional Value by Thinking Differently About Categories 14 Abstract This research paper addresses the effects that supply chain management has on businesses. Supply chain management is the active management of supply chain activities to maximize customer value and achieve a sustainable competitive advantage. Supply chain activities include everything from product development, sourcing, production, information systems, as well as logistics. An effective supply chain management works with cross-functional teams (e.g. requirements form marketing or engineering) to achieve organizational goals through effective planning and management. This paper will take a look at the history of supply chain management, discuss why it is important to business, explore the latest innovations, discuss how to maintain a competitive advantage in a changing environment, address the required supply chain management skill set requirements, and analyze where supply chain management is heading in the future. HOW SUPPLY CHAIN MANAGEMENT HAS CHANGED THEY WAY WE DO BUSINESS History of Supply Chain Management Supply chain...
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...Lesotho Case Study “Market and Mountain Kingdom” Bob Terry 10/8/2012 Wk 7Assignment Globalization & Regionalization Globalization is international integration of cultures, people, products, beliefs, and much more. Globalization makes goods and services available to locations that originally wouldn’t have them. Some of my favorite restaurants are Brazilian Steakhouses like Texas de Brazil and Fogo de Ciao. These restaurants would not be offered in Denver Colorado without globalization. Globalization has increased greatly over the past century due to advancements in technology, particularly in transportation and knowledge sharing (internet). These technologies have ingrained globalization in the modern era. Regionalization is the economic integration of countries. Some good examples of these are the North Atlantic Free Trade Organization (NAFTA) and the European Union (EU). Both of these agreements take countries that are in similar regions and in certain economic ways. All countries in the EU have the same currency which creates certain benefits but has also created economic disaster for many countries involved. The goal of regionalization is to benefit all countries involved and become stronger globally as a whole. These two forces have had tremendous impact on the small African nation of Lesotho. Foreign influences have shaped Lesotho throughout history and currently determine their economic factors today. Most recently trade agreements have made Lesotho...
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...Background The question of path dependency arises very frequently in socio-scientific discourses especially on institutional evolution.This concept of path dependency establishes a dynamic relationship between power,actors and institutions which compels any research to study institutions and their corresponding developments from critical theory perspective to understand mechanics behind such institutional metamorphosis and its impact on human environment and subsequent responses to such changes.Such theories also make bold attempts to explain institutional stagnancy; why actors may intentionally or unintentionally fail to respond to changes in the environment even when such responses would yield better results directly countering those economic...
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...The DIGITAL ECONOMY I. Introduction ( Pearlson & Saunders, 2013, Introduction; Tapscott, 2014, Ch. 1) @mtpadam Week 1 1 COMMONWEALTH OF AUSTRALIA Copyright Regulations 1969 WARNING This material has been copied and communicated to you by or on behalf of the University of Newcastle pursuant to Part VB of the Copyright Act 1968 (the Act) The material in this communication may be subject to copyright under the Act. Any further copying or communication of this material by you may be the subject of copyright protection under the Act. Do not remove this notice. 1 Educational Objectives for Today • Foundations of the economy • Similarities and differences between analog and digital goods • Understand the basic concepts of the digital economy • A brief overview of the history of IT • Creative destruction and digital disruption | EBUS3050 | The Digital Economy| I. Introduction “These Google guys, they want to be billionaires and rock stars and go to conferences and all that. Let us see if they still want to run the business intwo to three years.” (Bill Gates, Microsoft, 2003) “$100 million is way to much to pay for Microsoft.” (IBM, 1982) Week 1 3 “Information technology and business are becoming inextricably interwoven. I don’t think anybody can talk meaningfully about one without the talking about the others.” (Bill Gates, Microsoft) “By 2005 or so, it will become clear that the Internet’s impact on the economy...
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...surface * Ethnocentrism: the attitude that a persona’s own race and culture are superior to those of others * Imperialism: the extension of the power of a nation through direct/indirect control of the economic and political life of other territories * Masculinism: the assumption that the world is and should be shaped mainly by men for men * environmental determinism: a doctrine holding that human activities are controlled by the environment * globalization: the increasing interconnectedness of different parts of the world through common processes of economic, environmental political and cultural change * ecumene: the total habitable area of a country. Sine it depends on the prevailing technology, the available ecumene varies over time. Canada’s ecumene is so much less than its total area. * Geodemographic research: investigation using census data and commercial data (i.e. sales data and property records) about populations of small districts to create profiles of those populations for market research * Geographic information systems (GIS): an organized collection of computer hardware, software and geographical data that is designed to capture, store, update, manipulate and display spatially referenced information * Regional geography: the study of ways in which unique combinations of environmental and human factors produce territories with distinctive landscapes and cultural...
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...International Security Lecture 1 March 30th, 2015 The politics of security knowledge What is international security? We could start thinking about the security council of the UN But also about the invasion of Afghanistan (chapter 7 UN in order to secure the international security) We can also think about security in terms of the invasion of Iraq in 2003. This was a unilateral act of war, but sure it can also mean other things We can think of the national security agency, the agency in charge of spying all the signals and communications to a certain extent. What’s interesting about the NSA, it is seen as a threat to the security of the privacy. Lately, with the reports of the UN development programme, we start talking about HUMAN security (not military security, but rather the security of individuals, having a livelihood that’s acceptable). Whether security is international or not, it can be a rather confusing word The protection of values we hold dear. We search for it, we pursue it, we achieve it, we deny it to others. * what is to be secured? Is it the security of states? Or individuals? * What is the actual threat that we’re facing? Primarily to be dealing with military threats, or are there other types of threats we are facing. Essentially contested concept A concept that ‘inevitably’ involves endless disputes about their proper uses on the part of their users – Walter Gallie There can be ambiguity (one persons freedom-fighter is the other’s...
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...Market Entry by Service Firms Name Institution Table of Contents Abstract 4 Chapter One: Introduction 5 Research Question 9 CHAPTER 2 – Literature review 10 Literature review 10 Definition of Terms 11 Motives for Foreign Market Entry 11 External Forces 11 Internal Forces 13 Entry Modes 16 CHAPTER 3 – Methodology 17 The Research approach and hypothesis 18 Sampling 19 Procedure 21 Focus groups 21 Interviews 22 Analysis plan 22 Validity and reliability 24 Assumptions 25 Scope and Limitations 27 Chapter 5: Conclusion and Recommendations 32 References 36 Summary This research aims to study and clearly express why firms joins foreign markets. In addition, the paper also shows the whole process of entry. This is whereby firms have to make strategies before they join these foreign markets. The paper shows how firms can survive after they finally make this decision. To expound on this, it is of great importance that firms regularly explore and join foreign markets. This helps them with significant number of benefits, among them coping with stiff competition. In addition, firms gain more knowledge based on these strategies on the survival means in the new markets. This makes it important for firms to speculate on how to make entries to foreign markets. In addition, the paper expounds further on this whole procedure. Abstract This research paper aims to find out more about the operations of a service firm. This mostly happens in often cases where the service...
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...International Business Exam Chapter 1 Notes Domestic vs International Business * Business: is the manufacturing of goods or services in order to make a profit * Term “trade” is used interchangeably with business * Transactions: exchange of things of value * Domestic Business: business that transacts mainly in the country it was base din * ie owned by Canadians, in Canada, selling to Canadians (Rare) * International Business: economic system of transactions conducted between businesses in different countries * Domestic Transaction: between 2 Canadian companies * International Transaction: between Canadian + non Canadian company * Domestic Market: the customers of a business who are in the same country as the business * Foreign Market: the customers of a business who are in a different country as the business * 5 Ways for businesses to must be international * MUST own retailers or distributors in another country * MUST own manufacturing plant in another country * MUST export to other countries * MUST import from others * MUST invest in other country businesses * Trading Partner: Canada businesses make relationship with businesses in another country, so they would be Canada’s trading partner. History of Canadian Trade * European Trade * 1700s – trades grew fast after permanent Canadian settlement * Demand for raw materials (beaver pelts, fish, lumber) ...
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...efficient Working Capital Management. Correctly allocating cash flows to where and when it is needed increases liquidity and simultaneously increasing profitability. The purpose of this study is to develop the research on the relationship between Working Capital Management and profitability by investigating how it is affected by different company characteristics. A quantitative method was applied with philosophical stances in objectivism and positivism and deductive theory was used to approach the subject. From the theoretical framework, five hypotheses were established and statistically tested in order to answer our research question. The first hypothesis was formulated to confirm previous research, while the remaining two aimed at providing both a theoretical and practical contribution to existing knowledge. The thesis centers on the Cash Conversion Cycle, a metric of how fast a company turns purchased products into profit, with Gross Profit Margin as the measure of profitability. The data analyzed is financial information from 2012, collected from a secondary source, Business Retriever database. In order to fulfill the purpose, hypotheses were tested. The first centered in previous research of the subject, while two were introduced based on research of company characteristics. This was tested in a cross-sectional study on the Swedish wholesale industry, covering a sample...
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...1|Page University of Santo Tomas College of Commerce and Business Administration Espana, Manila A Strategic Management Paper Presented to: Mr. Real C. So In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Course Strategic Management (Entre 7) Presented by: Miguel O. Rodil 4M7 February 2012 2|Page I. EXECUTIVE SUMMARY 3|Page II. TABLE OF CONTENTS 4|Page III. ACKNOWLEDGEMENT 5|Page IV. INTRODUCTION 6|Page V. EXTERNAL ENVIRONMENT ANALYSIS 1. Definition of Industry Table 5.1 Real Estate Industry Classification Industry Supersector Sector Subsector 8000 Financials 8600 Real Estate 8630 Real Estate Investment and Services 8633 Real Estate Holding and Development Industries are the circles in the supply chain diagram. Each industry is a set of firms that operate in the same space in a supply chain, competing to control some of the space and so capture value. Industries have structure, history/trajectories and competitive dynamics that set the context for new entrants. In the Real-Estate Industry organizations primarily engaged in renting or leasing real estate to others; managing real estate for others; selling, buying, or renting real estate for others; and providing other real estate related services, such as appraisal services. Companies that invest directly or indirectly in real estate through development, investment or ownership. Excludes real estate investment trusts and similar entities, which...
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...Collapse- book is about a history topic about how societies choose to fail or survive. The main characters are historical people and unknown kings of Mayan cities or Easter Island villages. Jared Diamond tells the story of the Viking explorer Erik the Red, who discovered Greeland and Vinland (Terranova, in Canada). Another character is captain Olafsson, a norse sailor who wrote the last news about Greenland in 1410. Another main character is Christopher Columbus, who arrived at Hispaniola in 1492, but now this island is two countries, the Dominican Republic and the Haiti. Diamond studied the politics of two presidents. the dominican Rafael Trujillo, who protected the enviroment and the dictator François, Papa Doc, Duvalier, who decided on politics of deforestatation of his country, Haiti. The author considered the bad politics of another main character, king George II, who was interested in sending merinosheeps from Spain to Australia, an idea which was succesful from 1820 to 1950 but then the farmers understood their lands lost fertility. Another main character is Tokuwaga Jeayasu, a shogun of Japan in 1600, who prohibited Christianity in 1600 and protected his country againt deforestation. The book takes us to a lot of places around the globe: Mayan cities, Rwanda, Viking colonies of Vinland or Greenland, Haiti and Dominican Republic, Easter Island and Polynesian colonies in Pacific, and the Chaco villages in New Mexico (United States). The time period was from 800 AC, when...
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...Future Perspectives Quickening the Pace What a Slow-Growth West Demands of Brands 1 Quickening the Pace Section 1: Facts ...What’s the situation? • Storm Damage • What Happened?! • How Bad Was It? © 2011 The Futures Company. All rights reserved. 2 Storm Damage The eight days of near-doom in September 2008 struck like a lightning bolt, cleaving the market in two along an already-weakening fissure largely hidden from view until laid bare by a direct hit from the financial crisis. Across the developed world, most particularly the US, the UK and the Eurozone, decades of stagnant real wages, accumulating debt and flagging innovation had left the middle class acutely vulnerable to the financial storm that swept the globe. In the wake of the Great Recession, a sizable stratum of spent consumers has materialized where an aspirational middle used to be. Overlooked—or just ignored— during the boom preceding the global recession was clear evidence that the position of the middle class in developed markets was increasingly fragile. The New York Times reported in early 2008 that “[t]he European dream is under assault, as the wave of inflation sweeping the globe mixes with this continent’s long-stagnant wages.” A recent report from the UK-based Resolution Foundation Commission on Living Standards documents the failure of wages in developed markets since the mid-1970s to keep pace with economic growth, as shown in Figure 1. Figure 1: Wages as a Percentage...
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