Critically Evaluate the Debates Surrounding the Continuity

| 3. Critically evaluate the debates surrounding the continuity of Bretton Woods’s institutions. Which of these institutions would you recommend to be discontinued? Justify your choice. While preparing to rebuild the international economic system after WWII, 730 delegates of the 44 allied nations met in New Hampshire, United States, to form the Bretton Woods agreement. The aim was to set up rules and regulations to stabilize the global monetary system and ensure the free movement of capital goods through a global market.The agreement established two regulatory institutions, firstly the International Monetary Fund (IMF) to control the exchange rates and bridge temporary imbalances of payment. Secondly, the International Bank of Reconstruction and Development (IBRD), later known as the World Bank, which was founded to finance the reconstruction of post war Europe. In 1947 the Havana Charter proposed a third regulatory institution, the International Trade Organization (ITO) that transformed into the World Trade Organization (WTO).This essay will critically evaluate the performance of the three Bretton Wood? s institutions, giving recommendations to operational changes for the IMF and the WTO, and argue to discontinue the WB as it operates currently. The IMF was one of the key institutions that stabilized the world economy after WWII. Its initial goal was to regulate and stabilize exchange rates and assists the reconstruction of the world’s international payment system. One of the key objectives of the IMF was to prevent the devaluation cycle.Through joining the IMF in the post War period, countries surrendered their economic rights, especially on setting its exchange rate, in return they were guarantied â€Å"exchange stability, avoidance of competitive exchange depreciation and a liberal regime of international repayments† (deVries, 1986). Essentially the original conception behind the IMF, was to control the behaviour of countries that joine d the IMF, â€Å"spelled out in a code that was administered by an international institution†. The 1970s oil crisis was a turning point for the role that the IMF played.Third world countries were most affected by the oil crisis, since their economies became dependent on oil and the increasing prices accumulated large amounts of debt. The IMF agreed to lend money, and rose to †new prominence, with new functions and greater powers of control over even more dependent countries† (Peet, 2009). The main change in the IMFs mission, is the shift of lending to first world countries, in order to reconstruct the world payment system using expansionary policies, to lending to third world countries, accompanied by â€Å"conditionality’s†, which restrict countries fiscal and monetary policies.Anne Kruger, managing director of the IMF, said; â€Å"Much of what we do is very different from the way the Fund operated in those early years. It has to be. The world econ omy has changed beyond recognition. But we still apply those same core principles, international financial stability and the prevention of crises† (Kruger 2004) The IMF became subject to severe criticism, one of the main critics is Joseph Stiglitz. He argued that the IMF has failed its mission to sustain global economic stability.The main point of his argument is that the IMF has diverged its initial mission â€Å"based on the assumption that markets did not always work perfectly, that is, there were times when intervention might be needed to secure a stable global economic order â€Å"(Stiglitz, 2002) Now, he argues, the IMF operates largely on the untenable ideology that markets should be left to operate on their own, with no need of intervention. The Washington Consensus largely influenced the change in economic policies of the IMF. The Consensus was based on Latin American countries, were growth was not sustained.The belief of the Washington Consensus was that this had h appened as a result of excessive government intervention in the economy. The Consensus therefore recommended policies such as capital market liberalization, fiscal austerity and the privatisation of public companies. Furthermore, critics say; â€Å"the IMF frequently argues for the same economic policies regardless of the situation. † (Pettinger, 2008) The IMF blindly imposed the same â€Å"conditionality’s† to all its loans. What policies might have worked for one country might make matters even worse in others.The Argentinean financial crisis (1999-2002), underlines that the policies imposed by the IMF can lead a country into a severe recession. The IMF convinced the Argentinean government to maintain its fixed rate of exchange: one peso for one U. S. dollar. This made imports artificially cheap but exports too expensive. Consequently, Argentina had a severe trade deficit. Secondly, in order to maintain the overvalued currency, a country needs large reserve of dollars. The IMF lent $40 billion to support the Argentina peso, enhancing the debt of the country.On top the IMF made its loans conditional to a „zero deficitâ€Å" policy. „Argentina's implosion has the IMF's fingerprints all over it. â€Å" (Weisbrot, 2001) However the IMF has also been the last opportunity for many countries to avoid a default. Most currently, the IMF has given Greece a 1. 6 billion euro loan, to keep the Greek economy floating, and stabilize the euro zone. Another criticism of the IMF is that decisions made on which countries have the right to borrow money are made by a handful of nations who have the main rights.Out of the 24 board members in the IMF, only 10 are occupied by developing countries, holding only 26% of the shares. America in comparison has nearly 18% of the shares in the IMF. This inequality in the board of the IMF shows that decisions are mainly focused in developed countries. Stiglitz argues that the IMFs decisions were driven by the collective will of the G7. Wealthy, industrialized nations, and the commercial and financial interests within those countries dominate the IMF. The IMF was not falsely criticized, however the existence of the IMF is still important and inevitable.The current financial crisis has shown that supranational organizations such as the IMF still play a key role in stabilizing countries economies. However in order for the IMF to prosper in future and efficiently operate in economically developed and less developed countries, several changes will have to be adopted. Firstly the board members will have to split up more evenly. It is understandable that larger countries with more economic output have slightly more voting power than smaller ones. However developed countries, holding 74% of voting power, solely make decisions.Since the IMF largely gives loans to less developed countries, they should have enough members on the board to able to make decisions, on loan agreements. Secondly the IMF has to make detailed analyses of each country they borrow too, and based on that give consultancy on economic policies. History has shown that countries can prosper with different economic policies. While the western economy has largely grown on a liberalized free market, the Asian Tigers have managed to grow, ignoring the neoliberal economic policies the IMF imposed on them.Therefore the IMF must acknowledge that not every country can develop successfully under the same economic policy. The World Bank is the second institution founded at the Breton Woods conference. It was formally named the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (IBRD). The initial role was to help in the reconstruction of post-war Europe, hardly mentioning the issues of global poverty reduction. Now, however the World Bank operates as a development agency, providing loans to developing countries, in order to reduce poverty and increase living standards.In its mission statement the bank says, à ¢â‚¬Å"Our dream is a world without poverty†. The size of the World Bank has also changed dramatically, starting with 38 members in 1946, to 187 members currently. The World Bank comprises two main institutions, the IBRD and the International Development Agency (IDA). The IBRD provides loans to creditworthy middle-income countries, charging an interest rate of around 1%. It raises money through bond sales in the international capital market.These bonds have a triple A rating, since they are backed by member states share capital. The IDA, on the other handy, focuses on providing long-term, interest-free loans â€Å"to the world's 78 poorest countries, 39 of which are in Africa†, (World Bank official website, 2011) addressing issues such as primary education, basic health services clean water supply and many others. â€Å"Resources to fund IDA loans are raised through subscriptions from wealthy members such as United States, Japan and Germany† (Hill, 2002)The IBRD f inanced several successful projects in various areas in the developing world and was able to improve the living conditions and reduce the poverty rate in some areas. The IBRD, for example, largely funded the education system in Mexico. The WB funded over 18,000 schools under the â€Å"Quality Schools Programâ€Å" in rural areas of the country. Recently the WB has granted a 300 million US dollar loan, to further support Mexico’s School Education System (Educacion y Cultura, 2012). The IDA has also successfully reduced poverty and improved infrastructure in some areas of the world.A notable example is the „Highway Programâ€Å" in Azerbaijan, which focuses on â€Å"improving international and domestic road networks for stimulating economic growthâ€Å" (World Bank Official Website, 2011) The highway project reduces travel time by 33%, stimulates trade and business along the rural area and created over 20,000 jobs. However the World Bank has faced some severe critici sm as well. One of the strongest criticisms has been the negative environmental impact of some the World Bank projects. For instance, the construction of the Yacyreta dam in the 1990s in Argentina, which was largely funded by the World Bank.As a result of the dam, over 40,000 people have been displaced, and the majority of them were not compensated for their losses (The Whirled Bank Group, 2002). Furthermore, because of the dam construction several children failed to reach their school. The dam also had negative impacts on biodiversity, and due to the calm waters, diseases such as malaria and the dengue fever started to spread. Another controversial aspect of the World Bank has been its undemocratic governance structure, which is dominated by the main developed nations. These countries choose the leadership and senior management of the World Bank, and so their interests dominate the bankâ€Å" (Cornell University Press, 2006) Similarly to the IMF, the US holds the most voting power with 15. 8%, additionally all World Bank presidents have come from the US. Japan and China follow with only 7% and 6% voting power correspondingly. This large voting power inequality shows how voiceless most of the developing countries are, although nearly all loans affect their economies. The last, and arguably the most important criticism of the World Bank, are the neoliberal policies that World Bank imposed on lending nations.The ideas that were created in the Washington Consensus, including the deregulation and liberalization of markets, privatization and the downscaling of government, were seen as they key policies to promote development. However, what might have worked for the western economies might not be the best solution for developing nations. Usually the World Bank imposes structural adjustments to countries to which they lend money. These adjustments include reduced state support, and the liberalization of markets. Studies have shown that these policies have led to int ensified poverty and a slowdown in the economy, especially in African nations.Richard Peet claims that the austerity policies attached to the World Bank have â€Å" declined the per Capita income by 25% in sub-Saharan Africa, and the removal of food and agricultural subsidies caused prizes to rise and created food insecurity† (Peet, 2003). The policies have not only exacerbated poverty, but due to the imposed decline of health expenditures of governments, HIV and other diseases spread rapidly, causing the life expectancy of Africans to drop by fifteen years during the last two decades.In the Millennium Development Goal 6, the World Bank states, â€Å"to reverse the spread of HIV/AIDS, through prevention, care, treatment, and mitigation services for those affected by HIV/AIDSâ€Å". Although the WB has been successfully fighting AIDS in some African nations, spending over 3,000 million USD in the construction of HIV testing and teaching sites, it has worsened the situation i n other areas through imposing neoliberal economic policies on countries. Overall the â€Å"World Bank is an institution out of time and place† (Rich, 1994).The IBRD claims to be a development agency, however the institution is funded through issuing bonds on the capital market, creating a conflict of interest. Due to the fact that numerous shareholders own the IBRD, they will always have the pressure to create shareholder value, and cannot focus their attention solemnly on poverty reduction. Furthermore, the World Bank has largely overlapping interest with the IMF, especially the IBRD. They both focus on the same core neoliberal policies, and impose these on the countries they lend money to.These policies have mostly ended in poverty and economic failure in developing countries. Consequently, the IBRD should be discontinued, and the capital that the IBRD holds could be transferred to the IDA. The IDA could then be reorganised as a subgroup of the IMF. This would not only giv e the IMF a better image, but also infuse new ideas into the organisation. The IMF can still give similar loans as the IBRD did, since they have the capital and the power to credit those loans. There is no doubt that the IDA is an important institution with the correct core values, ut there is simply no need for two supranational institutions focusing on the same broad goals. On top, over the last decades, there have been increasing inflows of FDI into developing countries and private microfinance, which can boost development and GDP growth. The main role of the IDA should therefore be consultancy, to ensure the private loans are used effectively. An increased cooperation with the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and the UN should ensure sustainable poverty reduction. The third supranational institution, originating from the Breton Woods agreement is the World Trade Organization.Initially named the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT), it aimed to govern internat ional trade relations, since countries would use tariffs to protect their own economies at the expense of their neighbours. This was seen as a threat to push the economy into a further recession; hence an institution was needed to encourage the free flow of goods and services. The GATT was transformed into the WTO in 1994, under the Marrakech Agreement. Currently, the WTO has 154 members, and embraces 95% of the global market.Its mission still is, to supervise and liberalize international trade. It has two main functions, firstly to provide a forum for negotiations and for settling disputes. If there is a dispute the WTO may direct the „loosingâ€Å" member to take action to bring its laws, regulations or policies into conformity with the WTO Agreements, however there is no punishment enforced. Secondly, it „oversees the implementation, administration and operation of the covered agreementsâ€Å" (WTO official website, 2012). The WTO claims that the introduced trading system has produced several benefits. Listed in the 10 benefits of the WTO) The main benefits are, firstly, that free trade generally cuts the cost of living and gives the consumer more choice. The reduced trade barriers through negotiations results in reduced costs for producers, reducing the price of finished goods and services, ultimately resulting in a lower cost of living. The increased global competition also forces producers to cut costs, again resulting in a benefit for the consumer. Secondly, lowering trade barriers adds to personal income. The WTO claims since the Uruguay Round trade deal between $109 and 510 billion dollars were added to the world income. In Europe, the EU Commission calculates that over 1989–93 EU incomes increased by 1. 1–1. 5% more than they would have done without the Single Market. Thirdly, trade stimulates economic growth, which could lead to increased jobs, if countries have the correct adjustment policies. Lastly, the least criticize d benefit of the WTO, is that the system is based on the rules rather than power. Meaning that voting power is equal for every member, and decisions are largely made by consensus.Rich and poor countries alike have an equal right to challenge each other in the WTO’s dispute settlement procedures. Although the WTO claims that free trade is essentially positive for all nations, critics have targeted the 10 benefits of WTO harshly. Richard Peet argues, that the WTO clearly does not adopt a neutral stance on trade policy. He further says; the WTO â€Å" is passionately against protectionism and just profoundly for trade liberalization† (Peet, 2003). The WTO therefore generally favours some interests while harming others. Furthermore, Peet targets the effect of free trade on workers and unemployment.The fact that the WTO shows no evidence for the increase in employment, stating reliable estimates become impossible, shows that there is little behind this benefit. Quite on the contrary, several workers have lost their job as result of free trade, due to increased competition and the cost reduction of manufacturers. Furthermore, free trade often resulted in developing countries trading more but actually earning less. The reason being, many countries were unable to shift their production from primary commodities to manufacturing. The increased competition between developing countries and dropping commodity prizes meant lower profit margins.Another point of criticism deals with the TRIPs agreement, which sets down minimum standards for many forms of intellectual property. Critics argue that the TRIPS agreement has a detrimental effect on the access of medicine in developing countries. The most controversial issue involves the use of drugs to cure AIDS. For example, Thailand suspended the patents of drugs treating HIV and heart conditions, to make the medicine affordable for poor patients. The EU and the US protested formally and the US even threatened retal iatory actions. The WTOs operations have also been criticised for being biased towards developed nations.While the EU has largely enforced trade protectionist measures, subsidizing the textile and agricultural industry, developing nations have been forced to open their markets. European and US lobbyism plays a great role in the WTO, and explains why the US and the EU were allowed to use these protectionist measures. In general, the WTO has proved to be an extremely useful institution for freer trade, and in some cases successfully enhanced the growth of nations. However several developing countries have felt the downside of free trade, with some of their economies shrinking due to increased competition combined with higher unemployment rates.Nevertheless, according to Ingo Walter an international trade professor at NYU â€Å"the world as a whole is certainly materially better off under free trade than with no trade at all and so is the individual nationâ€Å" (Walter, 2011). The W TO will face several challenges in the future, including trade negotiation between BRIC countries and the EU and US. â€Å"If export-oriented interests mobilize in countries, including the BRICs, they will push for reciprocal market openings† (Schaffer, 2009) The WTO must ensure negotiations are fair, and to ensure that they cannot allow US and EU multinationals to interfere with the WTOs decision making.In conclusion, the critics towards the Bretton Woods institutions have several core similarities. These critics argue that the institutions do not effectively alleviate poverty, they are generally poorly governed and developing countries remain marginal and without influence in decision-making. Those institutions have profoundly affected the developing world and it is time for a reform of these organizations. This essay has outlined the possibility of a united World Bank and IMF, in order to pool the capital towards a common goal.For this merger to succeed the IMF will have t o undergo serious restructuring and embrace a goal towards the sustainable development of the world economy. Word Count: 3228 References: Bretton Woods Project. What are the main concerns and criticism about the World Bank and IMF? Available: http://www. brettonwoodsproject. org/item. shtml? x=320869 (Accessed: 15 March. 2012) de Vries,M. G. (1986) The International Monetary Fund 1966-1971. Washington D. C: International Monetary Fund Education y Cultura. (2012, March 14) World Bank lends Mexico 300 million dollars for high school. (Education y Cultura) Available: http://www. ducacionyculturaaz. com/noticias/bm-presta-a-mexico-300-mdd-para-educacion-media/? lang=en (Accessed: 20 March. 2012) Goddard. C. R, Conklin. J, ; Passe-SMmith. T. (1996) Open World: International Political Economy. Boulder: Lynne Rienner Pub Griesgraber,J. M. Gunter B. G. (1996) The World’s Monetary System: towards stability and Sustainability in the Twenty-first Century. London: Pluto Press Hill C. W. L. (2002) International Business: Competing in the Global Marketplace 3rd ed. London: McGraw-Hill Irwin Irwin,A. I. (1999) Do we need the WTO? Available: http://www. cato. org/pubs/journal/cj19n3/cj19n3-2. df (Accessed: 17 March. 2012) Kruger,A. (June 2004) The IMF at 60: Equipped for Today's Challenges? Available: http://www. imf. org/external/np/speeches/2004/062304. htm (Accessed: 17 March. 2012) Legrain,P. (2007) Open World: The Truth about Globalisation. Chicago: Ivan R. Dee Peet,R. (2007) The Geography of Power: the making of global economic policy. Oxford: University Press Peet,R. (2003) Unholy Trinity, The IMF, World Bank and WTO 2nd ed. London: Zed Books Pettinger,T. (2008, 10 November) Criticism of IMF. Available: http://econ. economicshelp. org/2008/11/criticism-of-imf. tml (Accessed: 17 March. 2012) Schaffer,G. (2009, February 24) Future of the WTO- Liberal Ideas and Domestic Politics. Available: http://uchicagolaw. typepad. com/faculty/2009/02/future-of-the-wto-liberal- ideas-and-domestic-politics-gregory-shaffer. html (Accessed 20 March. 2012) Sinha,A. (2012) What are the important advantages of Free Trade ? http://www. preservearticles. com/201012291889/important-advantages-free-trade. html (Accessed: 20 March. 2012) Stiglitz,J. (2002) Globalization and its Discontents. London: Penguin Books Stiglitz,J. (2007) Making Globalization Work: The Next Steps to Global Justice.London: Penguin Weisbrot,M. (2001, December 25) Argentina's Crisis, IMF's Fingerprints. (Washington Post) Available: http://www. washingtonpost. com/ac2/wp-dyn? pagename=article&node=&contentId=A22623-2001Dec24 (Accessed: 20 March. 2012) World Bank Group. (2011) Azerbaijan Highway Program. Available: http://web. worldbank. org/WBSITE/EXTERNAL/NEWS/0,,print:Y~isCURL:Y~contentMDK:22739570~menuPK:64256345~pagePK:34370~piPK:34424~theSitePK:4607,00. html (Accessed 20 March. 2012) WTO. (2012) Marrakesh Agreement Establishing the World Trade Organization. Available:

The Effect of Bad Debt Management in Nigerian Banking Industry and Dissertation

The Effect of Bad Debt Management in Nigerian Banking Industry and Remedies - Dissertation Example 2. Literature Review 10 2.1 Nigerian Banking Industry and its Role in Economic Growth 10 2.2 Deregulation of the Banking System 12 2.3 Credit Risk and its Management Strategies 13 2.4 Impact of Credit Risk 17 CHAPTER THREE 19 3. Research Methodology 19 3.1 Justification of the Methodology 19 3.2 Research Methodologies 20 3.2.1 Qualitative Methodology 20 3.2.2 Quantitative Methodology 21 3.3 Data Collection 21 3.3.1 Primary Data 22 3.3.2 Secondary Data 23 3.4 Sampling 23 3.5 Reliability and Validity 23 3.6 Ethical Considerations 24 References 25 CHAPTER ONE 1. Introduction The history of Nigerian banking industry dates back to the year 1892 when the first bank was incorporated by the colonial British Empire (Okezie, Tella, and Akingunola, 2011). The business operation of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) was initiated in the year 1959. The autonomy of CBN was lost to the Federal Government during the period 1968 to 1999. It resulted in Nigeria being surrounded by a loose monetary policy that was implemented by the Federal Government then. In the year 1999, the last of the military regime in Nigeria, gave back the banks legal autonomy in the field of exercising monetary policy and regulatory functions (Central Bank of Nigeria, n.d.). After the independence of Nigeria in 1960 till the beginning of 1980s, the banking industry of the country was mainly dominated by the three banks namely First Bank, Union Bank, and United Bank for Africa. The banking sector was deregulated by the Nigerian government in 1986 which resulted in easement of entry barriers for the new entrantsin the banking industry of Nigeria. As a result of this deregulation, many new banking firms made an entry into the Nigerian banking sector and the number of banks in the country rose to over 100 (Ekpenyong, and Acha, 2011). Many of these new banking firms were poorly managed and weakly capitalised. The regulatory supervision was also quite weak. This resulted in a series of bank failures and turned up to be banking crisis in the year 1990s. At the beginning of 1989, almost 20% of the loan portfolios were adjudged to be non-performing assets. Since the year 2002, the banking industry of Nigeria comprised of 24 commercial banks, 5 development finance institutions, 5 discount houses, 50 class A bureau de change, 598 class B bureau de change, 84 finance companies, 98 primary mortgage institutions, and 914 microfinance institutions (Iwukemjika, n.d.). One of the major concerns for the policy makers is the increasing level of cases of banks in being distress. Hence bad de bt forms an important aspect of the banking industry in Nigeria. 1.1 Background of the Study It is a fact that the banking system is considered to be the engine of growth in any economy. It is so because of its function of financial intermediation. With the help of this function the banks are able to increase their performance, facilitate capital formation, and ultimately help in promoting economic growth (Badun, 2009). However, the ability of the banks to foster economic development and growth depends on the stability, health, and soundness of the system. The shareholders fund constitutes only a small portion of the total liability of the banks. This fact undermines the need for a reliable, viable and strong banking system. Hence, not surprisingly, the banking sector is found to be one of the most regulated sectors in an economy. In a modern economy, one can find clear distinctions between deficit and surplus economics units and also in the process of separation of the mechanism re lated to saving investment. This fact has led to the emergence of financial institutions whose primary responsibility includes

Suez Canal Crisis of 1956 Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2250 words

Suez Canal Crisis of 1956 - Essay Example To undertake construction Ferdinand de Lesseps created a company with Egyptian partners known as the Universal Suez Ship Canal Company. At the time the Ottoman Empire had influence and control over Egypt’s politics. The economic crisis forced Egypt’s ruler to sell his shares of the Universal Suez Ship Canal Company to England. England now had considerable share in the operation of the canal along with French investors, whereas Egypt lost control over the canal and its profits. The period saw great turmoil and the wars made the potential and strategic importance of the canal apparent to all forces. The British Imperial Empire had colonies across the world and the canal proved to be essential for trade. In 1882 Egypt was invaded by the British and the country was termed an indispensable possession of the British Empire. The canal became a super highway for the British to link its trade to its colonies in East Africa, India, and Australia. Egyptian rebel groups tried to pu sh British Colonial Empire but were not successful. 2. Weakening of the British Colonial Empire After the World War II, the British Empire faced economic difficulties to maintain its colonial empire. The Indian subcontinent was left after the war and the British forces were weakened. The time saw an uprising among the Egyptians to phase out the British from the country. The British maintained presence of a garrison at Suez to protect her strategic interests. The British were allowed to maintain presence of 10,000 troops on the basis of Anglo-Egyptian Treaty of 1936 (Tucker 107). But Egyptian rebel groups started gaining popularity of the masses and pressure increased over Britain to vacate the area. The events ultimately led to a coup in 1952 and finished kingship in the country. Egypt was made a republic by the key member of the coup and the new president of Egypt Gamal Abdel Nasser. 3. Nationalization of Suez Canal Gamal Abdel Nasser was the second president of Egypt and gathered support against the colonialist. He shifted cooperation of Egypt towards the Soviets and the act ions were against the two super powers of the time, the British and the French. He was viewed as a great threat by the two forces. At the time the US had very less influence in the Middle East. Its main ally in the region was Saudi Arabia. Gamal Abdel Nasser moved towards Saudi Arabia for its future ties and the US saw an opportunity to increase influence in the region. The biggest step that Gamal took against the British and the French was perhaps the nationalization of the Suez Canal on 26 July 1956 (Witte 51). This step was the basis of this crisis. The British and the French militaries were exhausted and their economies were at a low stage. Gamal took over the Suez Canal without firing a single shot and the Suez Canal came under Egypt. He cancelled the Anglo-Egyptian Treaty of 1936 and forced the British to vacate the canal within the next 20 months (Tucker 107). This was a surprise move by the army and the British forces were not given a chance to react. The Suez Canal Company was frozen and all its shareholders were given the share. 4. Buildup of Egyptian Army Foreseeing the threats, Gamal used his newly developed relations to build up his army on modern weapons through an arms deal with Czechoslovakia (DeRouen and Heo 346). These weapons were from the Soviets and the two countries became close allies. The Soviets equipped Egypt with modern tanks and its air force with fighters and bombers. Artillery guns were given to Egypt and Self Propelled Artillery pieces were procured from the Soviets to move along with the tanks in the desert

Investigation on the influence of the recession towards online Dissertation

Investigation on the influence of the recession towards online shopping - Dissertation Example However, Monroe, Sinclair, and Wachinger (2009) also indicate that over the past several years there has been considerable progress in retail sales and in 2007 it was note that there was more than 30 percent increase in retail sales in the Netherlands, France, in Germany and in Italy. Moreover, the researchers have also viable proof to suggest that sales in the United Kingdom actually spiked by more than thirty percent in 2008 in comparison to previous years while actual retail stores suffered losses in the sales in accordance with the data collected by British Retail Consortium. In accordance with online retail marketing, Monroe, Sinclair, and Wachinger (2009) suggest that retailers have a lot to learn if they would like their online sales to increase, â€Å"such as levels of broadband penetration and the shopping attitudes that differentiate European retail markets†. Constantin (2010) states in his research that because of recession, many countries and many organizations fac e a significant challenge to maintain themselves in the economy. Many sectors within the economy have been affected, top of them being automobile manufacturing, tourism, health insurance and retail. He states that because of recession, there has been a general slowdown in the economy and thus buyers have actually reduced traditional shopping. In this case, Monroe, Sinclair, and Wachinger (2009) support this research’s hypothesis that online sales have actually increased over time due to recession. They believe that the patterns of sales show increase because of broadband penetration which has led to people shopping more and more online. Monroe, Sinclair, and Wachinger (2009) along with other researchers also suggest that retail outlets online will have to work on finding the right niche in order to actually obtain sales in these recessionary times since buyers are ready to purchase goods online however, they are primarily targeting their needs instead of their wants. (Grewal and Tansuhaj, 2001; Gronroos, 1989; Keisidou, Sarigiannidis and Maditinos, 2011; Koksal and Ozgul, 2007; Li and Zhang, 2002; Lian and Lin 2008) The study conducted research on ninety three respondents within an age bracket 18 to 51 with maximum respondents (83 percent) being in the age group of 18 to 23 and about 75 percent being males amongst the respondents. Various questions were asked from the respondents to evaluate the concept of traditional shopping versus online shopping and how people have actually moved to this type of shopping particularly in the recessionary times being experienced in this day and age. Based on survey results, a summarization of the results can be that there has not been much impact in online sales of these respondents because they continue with their patterns of purchase irrespective of how the economy has been functioning. The reasons behind this continued pattern of purchase is for reasons other than economic recession where most find it convenient, e asy and time saving to actually shop online in comparison to shopping traditionally in shops. Evans (2009) suggests in her forecast for online shopping for 2013 that despite the negative effects of the economy on shopping, both traditional as well as online shopping. There are various reasons because of which people have reduced their short term online and traditional shopping. Evans (2009) believes that such reasons include various aspects of spending such as lower levels

Mass marketing and Targeted marketing Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Mass marketing and Targeted marketing - Essay Example It includes Radio, Television, Newspapers and even the internet. According to Jakacki (2001), some of the products that are suited for this marketing strategy include drinking juice, furniture, automobiles as well as mobile phones. An example of a company that has used this strategy with a good measure of success is Coca Cola. Other food manufactures such as Nestle and electronics giants like Sony have also used this strategy to reach a world wide market. The major advantage of this strategy is economies of scale since production is in large quantities. At the other opposite end of mass marketing is targeted marketing or better still Niche marketing. Targeted marketing is aimed at a given market segment. A segment in this case may be a given geographic area, demographic profile such as the youth or behavioral segment based on variables such as income status or level of brand loyalty. There has been a shift from mass marketing to targeted marketing occasioned by a number of factors. Changing consumer patterns, the need to position products differently from competitors and the importance of being an expert in a given area. Jakacki (2001) says that today's consumers have diverse needs. For instance there is a segment that is keen on losing weight, and another one which wants to avoid sugar. This has led to the emergence of products such as Coke diet to cater for this unique segment. At the same time intense competition has led companies to produce products that are unique to a given segment hence setting the product significantly apart from those of the competitor. A phone company will therefore manufacture mobile phones with a music player in order to tap the youth market. This makes their products unique and leads to more sales in the specific market segment. The shift to targeted marketing can also be attributed to the fact that emphasis on one area makes you an expert in that particular field. A company is more likely to stand out from the crowd if only it is viewed as an expert in a given area by the consumer. For instance a food manufacturing company may get more mileage if it concentrates its effort in the manufacture of baby products only. Since it is the expert in this field then a good number of mothers are likely to buy its products. Using practical examples, explain how an integrated marketing communications strategy might enable marketers to more effectively reach target customers Integrated marketing communication is a new approach in marketing that is aimed at blending all marketing communication efforts of a company. (Moschis 1994) The ultimate goal is to make the various communication tools used by a company to compliment each other rather than work in isolation. It is based on the idea that the combined effect of the various communication tools is way much better than the sum of their individual effects. This helps in creating synergy in the company's communication effort. Moschis (1994) points out that a company can reach its customers using a number of communication tools. It can be through advertising, sales promotion or direct marketing. Now, integrated marketing communication aims at integrating all these tools so as to reach the

International Relations and Foreign Policy Essay

International Relations and Foreign Policy - Essay Example 89-91). However, it is arguable that international relations theories are not self-explanatory of the behavior of all countries and cannot be applied to all circumstances. While the theories are general in nature, they do seek to explain the behavior of nations in general during some of the most important events in history such as the World Wars and other economic treaties (Dougherty and Pfaltzgraff, 2001, pp.95-96). Foreign policy regards the policy or the set of norms that a country adopts regarding its personal behavior with other nations. These norms may govern aspects such as trade, alliances, aid, peace treaties, military support, coalitions, and other matters. Foreign policy is arguably a determinant of a country’s personal circumstances and their own relative power in the international arena. Critics (Janis, 1972, pp. 45-46) may argue that foreign policy is not set according to the activities conducted in the international arena, but is set according to the individual domestic factors of a country itself and the preferences and prejudices of its leader. Therefore, if this is the case, this suggests that international theories, which generalize the behavior of countries throughout the world, are not relevant when it comes to devising theories of foreign policy. Being a neo-realist, Kenneth Waltz claims that international theories do not consider enough variables specific to countries; hence, they cannot be used to predict foreign policy and are not applicable in this regard. However, if international relations theory cannot be applied to predict or analyze the behavior of countries and are not explanatory of their foreign policy, then what is their use? This paper aims to explore the difference between theories of international relations and theories of foreign policy, while explaining the main two international theories prevalent in the international arena. The main emphasis of this paper will be upon the neo-realist school of thought and Kenneth Waltz’ considerations of why the neo-realist theory is inadequate to predict the behavior of individual states and therefore is not applicable as a theory of foreign policy. The aim of this paper will be to refute Kenneth Waltz argument that international relations theories cannot be used as theories of foreign policy through the aid of academic articles. International Relations theories are highly popular when it comes to finding explanations regarding the behavior of countries collectively and in general terms. The theories consider the behavior of all countries to be alike while accounting for variables such as their military strength, economic prosperity, power in the international arena, and their motives (Janis, 1972, pp. 88-89). These theories are supposedly used as indicators of the behavior of countries in different circumstances and as predictive measures. The most popular theories of international relations include realism and liberalism. The two schools of though t, realism, and liberalism are quite divergent from one another and are complete opposite theories. Hence, here has been a longstanding debate between the supporters of both schools of thought. The liberalists believe that morals, international organizations, and legislation or law governs the world. For liberalists, the power

Corporate social responsibility Dissertation Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3500 words

Corporate social responsibility - Dissertation Example Corporate social responsibility Moreover COSCO business practices illustrate practices that are fruitful for all (stakeholders, shareholders, workers, partners, suppliers, customers) (COSCO, 2011). In terms of social contributions COSCO is working on the principle of addressing workers to effectively participate in their community development, with its myriad activities are aligned and performed in order to participate in social growth and employees are also encouraged and supported in this regard. For instance COSCO in Singapore have been supporting Yellow Ribbon Project consecutively since five years, keeping in view that this projects has given employment opportunities to person who have been offenders previously by engaging locals in order to give them another chance. As a result COSCO is proud of the fact that many ex-criminals are now back serving societies (COSCO, 2011). Similarly in China COSCO group is very much fulfilling its duty of social responsibility by providing opportunities and supporting various education programs for needy students in China. For instance COSCO Zhoushan Shipyard devised a social activity by the name â€Å"Transfer Youth love, warm Tibetan Herdsman†. The core purpose behind this activity was to provide assistance and help for the needy Tibetan students in remote areas of Tibet. Likewise â€Å"Blue ocean plan love Tibet† launched by Trade union and youth league of Nantong Shipyard which consists of three main parts namely seagugll, seashell and dolphins was drafted in order to build a structure of support (long term) for the needy children of Tibets. The core aim behind this activity was to ameliorate literacy levels by donating basic school needs like bags, uniforms, books, toys, stationery and other material that is needed by students (COSCO, 2011). Besides these activities COSCO also provide help in terms of disaster relief and various other activities related to charity. COSCO is very much aware of the environmental issues and understands th e seriousness of the matter. Therefore various innovations have been carried out by the organisation in order to come up with practices that could less effect the environment. For achieving this goal, different innovations are being carried out like the concept of GREEN SHIP OF THE FUTURE. This concept enables staff and workers to come up with eco friendly ideas and practices. As COSCO is very much keen on practicing and devising designs of ships and operations of management that best suits environment or are environment friendly (COSCO, 2011). LITERATURE REVIEW Corporate Social Responsibility Guthey, Langer, and Morsing (2006) have defined Corporate Social Responsibility as a practice of management that is garnering importance and nowadays is also considered as fad of management. Meanwhile it is believed that businesses around the world have incorporated CSR differently or CSR practices vary around the world. For instance many organisations have perceptions that CSR is an effective tool that can help confining risks and costs related to business operations (Hockerts, 2008). But only very limited amount of organisations are using CSR effectively in order to come up with originality and innovations. Likewise Blum-Kusterer and Hussain after studying 150 British and German pharmaceutical companies believes that in order to achieve sustainability in innovations, advancement in technology