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.

Read the full article here.

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.