Entrepreneurship in the Mekong Region: Myanmar

At the end of the Second World War, Myanmar [then known as Burma] was the richest country in the Mekong Region, albeit that a substantial portion of that wealth was managed by and for the colonial British masters. Now, after decades of predatory misrule by the military junta, Myanmar has become the poorest and most miserable countries not just in the Mekong Region but the whole world.

People who want to learn about how to improve Myanmar’s financial situation may choose to look into information via www.financedegreeonline.org.

Read the full article here.

Entrepreneurship in the Mekong Region: Opportunities in Yunnan

Yunnan province is a region of some 45 million people and, hence, quite a substantial market in its own right. It also benefits from the quite extensive physical infrastructure now put in place to assist business and individuals. The tourism industry is doing particularly well, attracting Chinese and international travelers to picturesque historical towns such as Lijiang, the Elephant part (there are some 300 wild elephants left in China) and the perhaps less salubrious karaoke-casino complexes of Jinghong.

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Empirical Investigation of the Proficiency of Selecting Partners in the Thai Fine Gold Jewellery Industry

Announcing: Nithisatihian, Kittichok, Somchai Rattanakomut and John Walsh, “Empirical Investigation of the Proficiency of Selecting Partners in the Thai Fine Gold Jewellery Industry,” paper presented at the World Business, Economics and Finance Conference (Bangkok: Novotel, September 26-27th, 2011).

Abstract:

An alliance is a strategic instrument in the contemporary business world that provides several advantages, such as creating a competitive advantage; reducing costs; providing access to new markets etc. Although the growth in strategic alliances is quite high, the majority of strategic alliances are reported as being unsuccessful. The literature indicates that the characteristics of partners and the way firms select strategic partners can foretell the success of the strategic alliance to a certain extent. This paper studies strategic partner selection based on the Thai fine gold jewelry industry perspective. The results show that in order to be successful in a business alliance, firms cannot rely on trust, cannot rely on partner’s past performance, and cannot rely on face-based judgments. Firms need to acquire as much information as possible before entering an alliance and constant monitoring to prevent any misconduct in the strategic alliance. In order to be selected by a partner, firms need to build up their reputation and create indispensability. In terms of negotiation, to avoid any problematic issues, the thick face and black heart approach is recommended.

Review of Stross’s The Fuller Memorandum

 

Horrors from beyond space and time continue to stalk the universe, irrespective of whether anyone else really wants them to and with indeed blithe indifference to the desires of humans, cultists, civilians and Laundry operatives. Fortunately for the sanity of humanity, the way into our perception of the universe is long and tangled and requires such things as chanting, the stars being right, blood sacrifices and advanced algorithmic calculations in the field of combat epistemology. The bad news, of course, is that all of these once very onerous requirements are now easily available via a laptop computer or even a smart phone – the Necronom-Ipod, perhaps.

Read the full review here.

Entrepreneurship in the Mekong Region: Yunnan Province

Yunnan Province is the most southerly part of China and the area most closely linked to the remainder of the Mekong Region for historical, ethnic and cultural reasons. It is a diverse area, ranging from the foothills of the Tibetan plateau in the northwest where the Himalayas provide the origins of the great rivers that water the region. The central area is a plain where the cities of Dali, Chuxiong and the capital Kunming (the ‘Spring City’) may be found.

Read the full article here.

Review of Wasserman and Katz’s The Invisible Manager

There are so many management self-help books available these days that many if not most of them have begun to rely on gimmicks to try to stand out from the swelling throng. It is very refreshing, therefore, to come across one that relies on careful observation of human behaviour and pragmatic responses to the problems likely to be encountered in the course of a managerial career. Authors Wasserman and Katz draw upon their many years of experience as management consultants to find a series of vignettes which are presented in straightforward language with the lessons to be learned clearly signposted.

Read the full review here.

Review of Stapledon’s Last and First Men

To write the future history of the human race from the middle of the twentieth century to a position two billion years from now is quite an achievement, one which will inevitably give rise to as many questions as answers. That, of course, is a good thing in that it stimulates consideration and debate. Stapledon begins with the epoch-defining struggles between three sets of competing ideologies: the first is the war between Britain and France, which represents to my mind the rival approaches to imperialism, the highest form of capitalism as Lenin called it.

Read the full review here.

Entrepreneurship in the Mekong Region: Human Resource Issues

Tourists in the Mekong Region can be captivated by the politeness, deference and humility of the people serving them and enjoy the smiling faces apparently available everywhere (Thailand, after all, is known as the Land of Smiles). However, the assumptions underlying these feelings should be questioned because, notwithstanding the charm of many people, there is a considerable lack of technical capacity in the workforce generally and a need to impress upon employees the importance of the service mind or service orientation.

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Review of Updike’s The Coup

The later and great John Updike was known as a master of the fiction of bourgeois couples in mostly small town America. The genius he brought to the dialogue, internal monologue and the casual forms of behaviour between individuals in such a milieu is certainly not to be under-estimated and it brought him praise, awards and honours throughout his lengthy career. However, that talent did have its limits: in his greatest work (arguably), the Rabbit novels, the quality dips noticeably in the second episode in which Updike broadens the action to try to account for the ups and downs of the late 1960s, especially compared to the brilliance of the other books

Read the full review here.

Review of Erikson’s First Tales of Bauchelain and Korbal Broach

Steven Erikson has outlined episodes of the history of his Malazan Empire over the course of ten often quite lengthy and always complex and multi-dimensional novels – all of which I have reviewed for this site and all of which I have enjoyed immensely. Among the thousands of pages and millions of words are scenes that evoke nearly all human emotions – yet one aspect seems often to be ignored (perhaps by myself as much as anyone else) is the humour that supports the stories of grim squaddies facing almost certain death with only the unknown and probably repulsive magic of a hedge wizard to help them.

Read the full review here.