Sunday, December 22, 2019

Reforms Addressing Economic Imbalances Essay - 1554 Words

Reforms: addressing economic imbalances As noted, the growth model is facing its limits, with growth slowing and vulnerabilities rising, successful development in the past relied on high investment, relatively inexpensive labor, productivity- enhancing foreign direct investment, and strong global demand. Along the way, the government played an important role in the allocation of resources, both through state-owned enterprises and local governments, especially in infrastructure. The moderation of China s growth has been structural, in part reflecting natural convergence as income per capita reached middle-income levels. At the same time, slower growth reflects waning dividends from previous productivity-boosting reforms, such as the state-owned enterprise reform at the end of the 1990s and the accession to the World Trade organization in 2001. Already prior to the global financial crisis, China recognized the limits of its growth model and the growing imbalances inherent in it. Former Premier Wen Jiabao in March 2007 called for reforms to address unsteady, unbalanced, uncoordinated, and unsustainable development†. As the global financial crisis unfolded, reforms were largely put on hold, and the country embarked on massive economic stimulus amounting to 11 percent of GDP, mostly for infrastructure and social housing, this stabilized domestic demand and gave a welcome shot in the arm for the global economy. But it also led to a further build-up in imbalancesShow MoreRelatedWorld Hunger Essay506 Words   |  3 Pagesright. Although still far from being generally accepted, significant progress is being made. Community and nongovernmental organizations are implementing successful programs against hunger. A number of governments have adopted national policies addressing hunger, in some cases, especially in East Asia, cutting malnutrition in half in a single decade. Diseases caused by the hidden hunger of micro-nutrient deficiency are being dramatically reduced and could largely be eliminated by the year 2000. EarlyRead MoreThe Financial Balancing Act1315 Words   |  5 Pagesmakers must enhance the emerging economic growth prospects in order to adjust financial markets and globalization. The current era of globalization has been characterized with financial imbalances and governments must learn to navigate a financial landscape that is fragile. Without the government intervention, the recent economic imbalances will continue to make uneven shifts in the market policies and mechanisms. When governments attempt to fight global imbalances, they are likely to confront a newRead MoreDevaluation May Provide A Country With Devaluation1151 Words   |  5 Pagesachieving its main goals (increasing exports, boosting the domestic economy and correct trade imbalances). Nevertheless, the negative consequences that result from it (such as inflation, increasing unemployment, expensive imports) seem to overweight the benefits that devaluation could pr ovide a country with. This thesis will be discussed in the essay firstly by giving a brief definition of devaluation, by addressing its characteristics and causes, and by speculating on why devaluation might work theoreticallyRead MoreEfforts of the European Union to Help Combat the Greek Financial Crisis690 Words   |  3 Pagesmajor part in facing this Greek financial debt crisis, which requires a major restructuring in the economic sector and to tighten stronger integration among EU member country. The primary focal point is on restoring the sustainability of public finances and addressing other macroeconomic imbalances by fostering fiscal discipline. In addition, new rules are set to ensure stronger and more effective economic governance, particularly in the euro zone area, with adequate mechanisms to monitor progress andRead MoreThe World Bank And The Imf Essay1328 Words   |  6 PagesThe World Bank and the IMF are collectively known as the Bretton Woods institutions. They were formed at a conference in Bretton Woods in New Hampshire with the aim to addressing concerns to do with stability of world economic markets. IMF is mainly tasked with offering surveillance, financial aid and technical assistance. IMF has 187 member states who each appoint a representative to the IMF’s board of Governors. The World Bank has its voting power controlled by the USA and it was built with theRead MoreRussia And The Steps Toward A Western Democracy1745 Words   |  7 PagesRussia and the steps toward a Western Democracy Throughout most of the 20th century, Russia has arguably been the most dominant communist country in the world. Russia had created a socio-economic oder that gave the government control of everything from manufacturing, to the distribution of wealth, jobs, food and so forth. The communist ideology was greatly influenced by Karl Marx; a revolutionary communist who believed society functioned best when the governments intervened with markets (althoughRead MoreSources Of And Reforms For International Financial Instability2030 Words   |  9 PagesSources of and Reforms to International Financial Instability Over the past two decades, the health of the global economy has been periodically threatened by financial instability. What could be described as a ‘boom and bust’ cycle since the end of the Bretton Woods monetary system in 1971 has led to several significant economic downturns, the most recent being a financial crisis in the late 2000s. Much of the last several decades’ financial instability originates from expansionist monetary policiesRead MoreImpact Of The Asian Financial Crisis Of 1997 On The Region s Development1704 Words   |  7 PagesII, development has been the most important term used to describe economic, social and political changes in what have come to be known as Third world countries† (Zhang, 2003). The Asian financial crisis of 1997 had a major impact on the regions development as it was the end of the East Asian economic miracle, a time that showed staggering economic growth throughout the Asia Pacific. However, despite evidence that the economic development has slowed down within the region, it can be argued thatRead MoreThe Keynes Solution By Paul Davidson Essay1678 Words   |  7 PagesIntroduction The Keynes solution â€Å"The Path to Global Economic Prosperity by Paul Davidson is written to show the real reason of the global economic financial crisis that has led to widespread impact to the economic policy. The author of this book discuss and emphasize to his reader what are the impact and how they can get out into this crisis and he also showed how this Keynes Solution theories help with this crisis. The author of this book, Paul Davidson discussed the possible problems that mayRead MoreThe Evolution of the Federal Budget Process989 Words   |  4 Pagesbudget. The Congressional Budget Act of 1974 also created several other instruments for Congress to use during budgeting. First, the Congressional Budget Office was conceived to provide financial data to Congress. This financial data includes an economic analysis of the President’s budget and its own budget proposal for comparison. Previously, Congress had no choice but to use information from the Office of Managemen t and Budget which was part of the executive branch. After the CBO was created, Congress

Saturday, December 14, 2019

Saying No to Bribes †The Infosys Way Free Essays

Corruption is widespread in every walk of life in many parts of the world. It is difficult to define and identify corruption in black and white. Bribing is a form of corruption many corporate bodies try to indulge. We will write a custom essay sample on Saying No to Bribes – The Infosys Way or any similar topic only for you Order Now Companies like Infosys disagreed with Government and other contractors who take to corruption considering it as the way of the world phenomenon. Ultimately, the Infosys strategy worked and the message to the corporate world is that honesty, transparency and fairness can make you win irrespective of the corrupt environment around you. This gives a new insight in to the Virtue Matrix and suggests that a new socially responsible corporate world is in the offing. Saying No to Bribes – The Infosys Way The Cut Out Tasks As a Regional Sales Manager of South East Asia, located in Philippines, I prefer to take the bull by the horns. I have a tough time meeting my corporate goals. There are competitors. I understand my responsibilities that I owe to my employer. I do not have the freedom to show an entirely antagonistic approach to the existing forms of corruption. But I certainly have the freedom to choose the gradient with which I could maneuver scenarios that involve bribing either directly or indirectly. I am proud of Narayana Murthy of Infosys who asked the customs official â€Å"What is the alternative to paying bribe? † and later he decided â€Å"We will just do that. † (Abdelal, Di Tella Kothandaraman, 2007) It was a threatening moment for Infosys politically and financially at the start-up. The question was raised whether Narayana Murthy had succeeded in corporate governance by being anti-corrupt. The answer very much lies in the fact that the Indian Government awarded Narayana Murthy with the corporate governance award in 2000. Infosys grew fabulously. Today it is known for transparency, honesty and trustworthiness. Besides, it stands as a role model inspiring the corporate world. I would avert any situation that lures me towards corruption and solely benefits me. I would be religious in deciding between choices. The hypothetical case narrated by Narayana Murthy that ‘if he were traveling in Siberia alone and a lady was ready to have a consensual relationship with him, he would deny it’ is a fine example that conscience governs us in our walk of life (Abdelal, Di Tella, Kothandaraman, 2007). The Infosys Strategy Next, I would think from a different perspective – the Infosys strategy. If Infosys could say no to bribe and overcome difficult times at its start-up phase, why not my company? Where there is a will, there is a way. I would like to develop my team with a positive note and motivate the team members to vie for an identity. Identity is earned through honest practices, transparency, sincerity, by being qualitative and competent in business. The first and serious test for Infosys was threatening both financially and politically when they did not have an identity. At a later stage, Narayana Murthy noted â€Å"We have had zero trouble with customs since then† (Abdelal, Di Tella, Kothandaraman, 2007). Other companies like Tata Consulting Services and Wipro followed its path to remain non-corrupt in their dealings. When a company is given to corruption for whatsoever reason, there is no guarantee that it would be in compliance with socially responsible behaviors. Companies like Infosys with its honesty, integrity, and transparency, will be able to keep in tact the civil foundation at the time of less healthy economies. During troubled times, only the trusted senior management of a company can avert the risks involved to perform well in the strategic frontier of the Virtue Matrix. The able leadership ingrained with corporate virtue alone can work in the growth and interests of the company that maintains equilibrium among shareholders, employees, their communities, and the environment. Besides the above-mentioned factors, the role of Government is vital in assisting the companies with policies that are impartial and supportive. This in turn will help the companies build socially responsible relations. The Infosys strategy is certainly the right strategy to build the civil foundation in India but with expectations still awaiting from all sides. There is a growing trend of many companies following at least a minimal degree of social responsibility. This is an indication that building a civil foundation in India using Virtue Matrix is a near possibility. The Growing Trend in Asia The last three decades have witnessed a lot of political and economic changes in the Asian countries. The pressure and demand by the Non-Governmental Organizations, regulators and the social organizations on corporate companies are more. The combined effort of Non-Governmental Organizations and a strong legal system can drive away corruption and improve working conditions as it is already happening in South Asia. By and large many companies started showing interests in social and environmental responsibilities. The scope of stepping up this positive trend lies in wise adaptation of the Virtue Matrix by the companies in Asia. However, the fact that corruption in many Asian countries compared to many European countries is high, makes it difficult to bring a drastic change (Abdelal, Di Tella, Kothandaraman, 2007). Guarding S and E Corruption is an epidemic which could spread down the hierarchy following the pecking order. Only if the top order is non-corrupt and lead by example, the others in the company will follow it. When honesty and integrity are flouted by bribing, the company cannot show an impeccable face towards Skills and Engagements. If at all it does, it is in the self interests of the company for the sake of revenue. The companies should have ethics and corporate virtue while developing technology. This will promote socially responsible attitudes and avoid infringing the rights or utilizing the skill sets to their advantage. How to cite Saying No to Bribes – The Infosys Way, Papers

Friday, December 6, 2019

Determine Level of Satisfaction Based on Gender

Question: Discuss about the Determine Level of Satisfaction Based on Gender. Answer: Introduction A gym survey was conducted to determine the customer satisfaction based on whether they need gyms to be unisex or not. According to Lewis (2016), firms that want to expand and make profit in the present and in future are likely to appreciate customer service is a vital part of their strategic plan. The way a company handles its customers on a day to day basis be it physically or online is all within the domain of customer service. DeSmet, McGurk, and Schwartz (2010) postulate that in one study on customer service companies globally to train its workers on customer care spend over $ 100 billion. This overwhelming high amount of expenditure only goes to suggest that studying customer relations is important as any other discipline in business. The current survey therefore sorts to investigate whether the customers thought that gyms should be made unisex. This was hypothesized as one of the characteristics or requirements that customers hoped to derive from the gym they attend. Related Literature As observed by Newhall (2013), the assumption regarding undivided availability, data reveals that women use gyms more often than men do. There is little or no research done to address women specific needs for gym space and the likely challenges they face in an endeavor to access space. The study aimed at addressing the socio cultural, availability of women spaces such as aerobics room or weight room based on gender as opposed to the general room policy. Specifically, the study addressed women spaces in a gym and the gym procedures implemented in three different gyms in the United States. She observed that women understood the entire gender disparity in terms of what drives individuals to access gym facilities and their choice of exercise or fitness equipment routines in addition to movement of women inside the gym and what it says about a womans body. Considering from the past as back as the medieval Greece era when gymnasia was a male domain, this presumption has done little to chan ge the current mindset. Gender dispensation has not changed much historically since the early times. During the time, gyms were meant for building muscles and developing a culturally ideal physique and were exclusively used by men. However, she notes that the current gyms are multi-purpose facilities used by both men and women and are perceived as unisex since the facilities are not established with gender exclusivity in mind. Ostgaard (2006) observes that women only gyms have grown considerably over recent years globally and in particular in the United States. For instance, Curves International has over 8,000 locations worldwide with over 3.5 million members whereas Contours Express has over 300 gyms in the US and close to 500 globally. However ,the significance of these women spaces is still not defined. The studies reviewed above sought to determine the relevance and need for women exclusive gyms. It is observed that women prefer their own exclusive gyms but it is not clear the reason for this. An Analysis of the Relationship between Gender and Whether Gym Should be Unisex To determine the relationship between gender and as to whether gyms should be made unisex, a chi-square test was performed. This is a non parametric test that seeks to determine the variation between two categorical variables by analyzing the observed responses against the expected values. Ideally, the data to be tested is qualitative in nature. The first analysis was to run some descriptive to analyze the frequencies from both genders on the question under review. This was done by running a contingency table to identify the frequencies of the responses as shown in figure 1 below. According to the preliminary analysis above the overall response rate was 56% said they did not want gyms to be unisex while 44% said they would. Of the 44% who said they would like gyms to be unisex, 25 women said they would want unisex gyms while 19 men opined they would like unisex gyms. Of the 56% total respondent who felt gyms should not be unisex, more men (43) than women (13) responded in the negative. However, on close examination, it was noted that men formed a higher percentage of the respondents at 62 males against an observation of 38 women. Therefore, cross tabulation to determine the expected and observed values was performed as shown in figure 2 below. Under the null hypothesis, it is expected that the differences between the observed values and expected values to be zero. That is, there is no difference between the expected values and the observed values. The question therefore is; are there more women than men that prefer unisex gyms? This formed the research or alte rnative hypothesis. The cross tabulations revealed that there was some variation between the expected values for males and females. The observed value for men who said yes was 19 while the expected was 27.28. For women the observed was 25 while the expected was 16.72 of those who said yes. On further analysis, as figure 2 above illustrates, the chi-square (x2) test revealed a statistic of 11.81 that was associated with a p value of 0.0006. Since the p value was less than 0.01 the decision was to reject the null hypothesis (x2 = 11.81, df = 1, p .01). It was therefore concluded that that is statistical evidence of infer that women do in fact prefer same sex gyms than men. Managerial Advice It is evident from the analysis that customers prefer same sex gyms. In particular a higher percentage of women have been seen to not to advocate for unisex gyms. The reviewed literature too revealed that women do not prefer unisex gyms. Based on these findings, the management was advised conduct another survey to determine which other aspects could be explored to enhance customer satisfaction in relation to gender sensitivity concerns. This was done by inquiring whether respondents would like exercise facilities be divided into different sections in terms of gender to cater for special needs especially for women. Analysis of the Proposed Alteration of Gym space to cater for gender specific needs A survey was carried out to determine whether customers preferred amenities geared towards addressing special gender based needs such as aerobics room and lounge area to enhance customer service. Figure 3 above revealed that at 90% confidence level that the proposed change would be supported by 90.2% 1.5% margin of error. In other words, we can be 90% confident that the number of customers that will support inclusion of special gender based facilities would be between 91.7% and 88.7%. Conclusion Previous research and the current study have provided evidence that unisex gyms are not ideal. The study has revealed mixed reaction concerning the issue of unisex gyms. Although men and women may have different opinions as to why they prefer same sex gyms or exclusive areas for the same gender, this debate is far from being conclusive. However, for the benefit of promoting better customer relations and in turn enhances customer satisfaction, the issues of exclusivity of gyms based on gender have been found to play a vital role. It is therefore felt that the management should constantly seek the opinion of its customers to determine areas that need improvement in terms of service delivery. References Aaron, D., McGurk, M. and Schwartz, E. (2010) Getting more from your training programs, Mckinsey Quarterly, 4, pp. 101107. Lewis, S. (2016) An online customer service survey to determine current levels of customer satisfaction at a CrossFit gym,All Graduate Plan B and other Reports., (Paper 243). Newhall, K.E. (2013)Is this working out?: a spatial analysis of women in the gym. PhD (Doctor of Philosophy) thesis thesis. University of Iowa. Available at: https://ir.uiowa.edu/etd/2594 (Accessed: 25 January 2017). Ostgaard, G. (2006) For Women Only: Understanding The Cultural Space of a Women Gym through Feminist Geography, https://etd.ohiolink.edu/send - pdf.cgi/Ostgaard%20Gayra%20 Dee.pdf?bgsu1155218461