ºìÌÒÊÓƵ Blog Archive September 2011

Mining for gold has traditionally been viewed as a toxic business that harms the environment leaving mercury and other harsh chemicals in the atmosphere. However, this view is beginning to change as gold mining practices turn to fair trade. The set social, environmental, and economic measures to eliminate child labor and minimize the use of toxic chemicals such as mercury and cyanide. The major goal of this movement is to avoid the negative impacts that mining causes in the environment while also aiming to help the millions of people who depend on the for employment.

In 2011, the ºìÌÒÊÓƵ embarked on a full site redesign to increase the interactivity and usability of the entire website. We wanted to add to the user-friendliness that our users have come to count on. In addition to the statistics, resources, and trade information in our sections, the new ºìÌÒÊÓƵ now includes additional maps, interactive rankings, and easier-to-use pages. The purpose of today’s blog is to highlight these new features of the next generation of ºìÌÒÊÓƵ.

Are companies that have implemented carbon reducing practices performing better financially?  The recent release of the CDP Global 500 report by the answers in the affirmative.  In fact, this report has revealed that the companies working to decrease their carbon emissions are outperforming those that have not begun this change.  These same companies are said to be performing better in the stock market as well.

“We are also excited to bring a greater focus on social media and connectivity to the latest version of ºìÌÒÊÓƵ with numerous RSS feeds, opportunities to connect with ºìÌÒÊÓƵ via LinkedIn and Facebook, and to follow us on Twitter and by reading our blog.” – The ºìÌÒÊÓƵ Team

ºìÌÒÊÓƵ has certainly transformed into a more interactive and social site. Our new portal is the best place to find all of the ways to stay up to date with ºìÌÒÊÓƵ. From here you will be able to access the , the , the , and quick links to all of our social media pages. With our Facebook and Twitter feeds streaming on the side of the page, it is easier than ever to stay on top of all that ºìÌÒÊÓƵ has to offer!

The widely accepted “BRIC” designation for the world’s largest emerging economies may soon be in need of a revision.  In fact, some international business scholars have felt for many years that Jim O’Neill’s term for the developing nations of , , , and should be updated to include one additional country.  publicly stated as early as two years ago that the commonly referenced acronym should be revised to “BRIIC” in order to include the rapidly growing economy of . 

On behalf of the ºìÌÒÊÓƵ team, I again welcome you to the new website!  As stated in the , the posts this week will focus on introducing and explaining some of the recently added features found on the new site.   Today’s focus will be on the new Export Tutorials section.  This section answers your questions about exporting and provides great insight and knowledge into the realm of international trade. 

The past several years, the economy in has been characterized by macroeconomic stability and low inflation. However, the country has been faced with high unemployment and its task in recent years has been to accelerate growth in order to create more jobs.

Morocco's initiatives for developing entrepreneurship put stress on improving the literacy rate and encouraging women to enter the business field. In the past decade there have been numerous literacy programs, targeting mostly women, the largest one being "". The government sees education as the tool to decrease poverty. The larger goal is to diversify the economy so that it is not as agriculture focused and make the country more attractive to foreign investors.

The year of 2011 has been a busy yet very exciting year for ºìÌÒÊÓƵ. Over the past year, the ºìÌÒÊÓƵ team has embarked on a mission to redesign the entire ºìÌÒÊÓƵ site in order to increase its usefulness and interactivity as a leading international business resource. We are thrilled and happy to announce that the has been released and this week the blog team will help you get familiar with the various updates and new sections of ºìÌÒÊÓƵ. Blog posts will cover many features of the new site including our new export tutorial section, the greater focus on social media, and the enhanced interactivity of ºìÌÒÊÓƵ. Today, we will look at the brand new section devoted to providing information about the world’s major trade blocs and trade agreements.

With the cloud computing world market by 2013, what are emerging markets doing to get a piece of this pie? Cloud computing is finally growing in developed nations. Many companies are gradually moving more applications to cloud data centers where they can take advantage of pooling of computing resources, more efficient use of data processing power and increased flexibility. Cloud computing could have a huge impact on societies and economies in developing countries as well.

Welcome to the new ºìÌÒÊÓƵ!

The ºìÌÒÊÓƵ team has been hard at work redesigning ºìÌÒÊÓƵ. The new design also includes a bevy of new features: , an feature, increased maps and social media, and a section devoted to . We hope you will enjoy exploring the site and trying out these new sections and features and can be a little patient while we work out any remaining last few bugs!

While cloud computing provides benefits to many technical areas of business, cloud storage technology is also being used for forecasting methods in the . In a time when faster than they can be renewed, farmers need to find processes designed to conserve valuable water supplies. Cloud computing technology has allowed them to do just this.

One of the great things about capitalism is that it encourages entrepreneurship and fuels the creation of disruptive technologies. The tech industry has been a breeding ground for these new technologies and one of their latest creations is cloud computing. Like any new technology, early leaders benefit greatly - usually at the expense of slower, older competitors. Cloud computing touches many industries within the technology sector and each one will be affected in different ways.

Now that you know more about the basics of cloud computing, we can begin to take a look at some of the risks and benefits businesses encounter when using the cloud. As cloud based applications grow, businesses have numerous opportunities to take advantage of this new technology. With smartphones, tablets, and personal computers, businesses can easily access their cloud storage data from virtually anywhere. The at first—decreased data storage costs and integration across all areas of a business. However, some may wonder whether the benefits of cloud computing outweigh the risks.

This week’s ºìÌÒÊÓƵ blog series will delve into a topic that is becoming a major buzzword in the global business world.  Cloud computing may be the of information technology, with countless ramifications on the future of industries, businesses, and individuals.  While the cloud also has implications for the , we will focus instead on the “private” cloud- how it is utilized by world governments, multinational corporations and other major players in the world economy.  Throughout the week we will look more closely at risks and benefits, impacts on specific global industries, and financial implications of the cloud. 

In chaos theory, the butterfly effect is where a small change in one place can result in large differences to a later state. One application of this theory is determining how policy decisions being made across the globe will affect the world economy. Many are aware of the economic problems in Greece, Ireland, Spain and Portugal, but Europe’s core economies (Germany and France) and now the United States have also seen their GDP growth slow significantly. Leaders have responded to the dangerously high debt-loads in many countries by increasing taxes and cutting spending. This has many, including the International Monetary Fund, worried that and possibly cause another recession.

Currently, the global water supply is in a problematic state as Earth’s fresh water supply is being used up without having the chance to be recharged. As the population grows rapidly, more and more water is needed to produce the food that feeds this growing population. Agricultural crops and animals are not the only products requiring water. Industrial productions of almost all goods require water as a resource. In fact, water is a key material for almost any business application in the world today. On top of this, water is also being polluted and wasted which contributes greatly to the decline of the fresh water supply. Despite this bad news, turn this situation around by establishing an effort to save the water supply.

Forbes recently came out with an article outlining a list of the. This list targets companies around the globe that are doing well in regards to profit growth, the return to stockholders, return on capital, and sales growth. These main categories help show an interesting shift to companies not many instantly think of and others that are continuing to blow us away.

The economic growth outlook for developed countries has gotten much worse in the past few months. With the amount of in the business world today, economic concerns abroad can have profound impacts at home. A lot of experts in the field are beginning to wonder: will these events lead to another global recession?

While the global economy has been slowly improving, it is still not back to where most would like it to be – especially for those out of work looking for jobs. The good news is fewer positions are being cut, and more people are choosing to leave jobs on their own. Still, for every open position, there are several candidates out of work. This puts the power in the hands of the hiring managers. In this intensely competitive environment, it is important to set yourself apart.

Since the Industrial Revolution coal has been one of the most important commodities for and industries across the world. However, this is beginning to change as many businesses search for cleaner energy sources. With new drilling techniques, lower prices, and a large domestic supply in the , natural gas is becoming a very popular energy commodity. This energy switch from coal to natural gas is often viewed as beneficial for the environment but there has been some doubt regarding this belief.

A Wall Street Journal published last week declared that the curtain had officially come “down with a bang” on the global market for personal computers.  With the recent announcement by industry leader that it may be abandoning its PC business, many analysts have come to this same conclusion.  Ever since abandoned its PC business in 2005, many have been predicting that tablets and other technological devices will render computers obsolete.  Is the PC industry really dead, or does the modern world economy offer new opportunities for companies to profit? 

In the last decade, has undergone a rapid ascension from widespread poverty and a huge budget deficit towards economic prosperity and stability.  The , only ten years ago, defaulted on a $100 billion budget, sending over half its population into poverty.  Following this economic catastrophe was a period of contraction.  This, however, would last only three months and would then give way to economic growth.

is one of the world leaders in renewable energy. They currently receive 17% of their energy from alternative sources and have vowed to increase these levels to 35% in 2020 and 80% by 2050. Deutsche Bahn, the country’s major railroad company and largest energy user has just released plans to be completely carbon-free by 2050.

With the goal of becoming a developed nation by 2020, Malaysia has some work ahead but recent show that this developing country is definitely on the right track. A predicted economic growth rate between five and six percent puts in a much better position than other South East Asia economies in today’s global climate. Over the last decade Malaysia has faced tough competition in exports and production from low wage countries such as . Now, Malaysia is looking forward to a knowledge-based economy lush with opportunities and potential.

The Euro has popped up many times in the news recently. Because of the debt crisis in , many countries were left unable to fulfill the convergence criteria to have the Euro as a currency, leading to many problems throughout Europe. It wasn’t just the that brought about these issues; they have been rooted in the Euro ever since it was created. So what exactly are a few of these issues and how can they be solved?