Blog #7

One of the topics covered in chapter 13 is the role of expatriates. While looking for articles online about this topic, I came across the website, fausa.org- which discussed the topic of repatriation. This website offered two or three articles which explained how repatriation affected an individual going through the process alone, and also an individual going through this process with their family; specifically their children. I thought this website was interesting because the articles that were provided were real life stories or experiences submitted by expatriates. This website also offers a “reflection on Medicare” link- which offers knowledge on accessing Medicare overseas and also how repatriating citizens are affected.

http://www.fausa.org/articles1.htm

Blog #6

One of the topics covered in chapter 12 is knowledge management. I thought this would be an interesting topic to blog about because we spent a decent amount of class time discussing this topic. By the book definition, knowledge management is the structures, processes, and systems that actively develop, leverage, and transfer knowledge. I found an article online titled, Knowledge Management Strategy: Beyond Change Management, which offers a number of different definitions for knowledge management. I found it interesting that one concept can have a number of definitions- which is a point the author of the articles also makes. He states that in order to improve your organizational strategy you must grasp the concept of knowledge management. As time changes, so does knowledge management. It is an evolving concept that changes along with technology.

http://knowledge-management.bestmanagementarticles.com/a-40868-knowledge-management-strategy-beyond-change-management.aspx

Blog #5

One of the topics covered in chapter 9 is entrepreneurship and entrepreneurial firms. I found an article online titled, “Giving Dangerously- Advice for Three Types of Female Entrepreneurs.” Being a female- and a management major, I found this article interesting. This article starts off saying that many female entrepreneurs have the basic nature to give- they look for new, positive ways to do this and it usually leaves them drained and exhausted. The author of this article argues that it doesn’t have to be this way. She outlines three different “types” of female entrepreneurs and explains how each “type” should act- in regards to giving and receiving- in order to grow as a successful entrepreneur.

http://entrepreneurship.bestmanagementarticles.com/a-42612-giving-dangerously--advice-for-three-types-of-female-entrepreneurs.aspx

Blog #4

One of the topics covered in chapter 7- and the basis for Discussion Question #6 is the affects of China revaluing the Yuan. For my discussion question, I stated that I did think it would be a good idea for China to revalue the Yuan. While looking online, I came across the article, “Why Would China Revalue The Yuan?” –which strengthened my reasoning. This article states the six main factors that could persuade the Chinese authorities to allow the revaluation of the Yuan. These six factors include; overheating the Chinese economy, the sterilization policy becoming unwieldy, the constrains interest rate policy, the desire to moderate dollar reserve accumulation, the need to balance a growth model, and the pressure China faces from the U.S. and other foreign governments. Take a look and see what you think- does this affect your answer for DQ #6?

http://www.minyanville.com/businessmarkets/articles/china-yuan-revalue-dollar-usd-renminbi/3/15/2010/id/27281?page=2

Blog #3

One of the topics covered in Chapter 5 is free trade; at the end of our class session today we began to discuss the issue of free trade and whether or not we thought it was a positive or negative aspect of the economy. While looking for articles on-line about free trade, I came across the article, “ Economists Rethink Free Trade” from Business Week. This article states that “ordinary Americans” have always had their doubts about free trade, and now an increasing number of economists are beginning to feel the same way. For economists, these doubts have stemmed from the increasing stand still in income that much of the middle class is experiencing. They fear that the benefits for free trade may only be benefitting a “small group” at the top and the low-skilled workers are getting “slammed.”

Take a second to read through the article, as I previously stated, we began to touch upon this topic at the end of class today so I thought it was interesting to see an economists view point on the issue of free trade.

http://www.businessweek.com/magazine/content/08_06/b4070032762393.htm

Blog #2

One of the topics covered in Chapter 4 is SWOT analysis. This is one of the leading tools used by global businesses to determine a firm’s strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats. While looking for articles online about SWOT analysis, I came across the article, “SWOT Analysis; Discover new opportunities. Manage and eliminate threats,” on the website, MindTools.com. This article offers a brief description of what SWOT analysis is, and how to use it. It then goes into detail about each aspect of the SWOT analysis and offers questions that you or the business should ask yourself in order to complete the SWOT analysis.

In addition, this article offers an example of SWOT analysis for a start-up small consultancy business to refer to while doing your own SWOT analysis and also an interactive video that helps to analyze your/ the business’ situation. I found this website to be interesting and helpful because it offers very basic, step-by-step instructions to complete the SWOT analysis.

http://www.mindtools.com/pages/article/newTMC_05.htm

Blog #1

One of the topics covered in Chapter 2 is the Intellectual Property Rights. These rights refer to the ownership of intellectual property and are primarily associated with patents, copyrights, and trademarks. While looking online for a related source, I came across the article, “Biden Says Copyright Part of Nurturing Innovation.” In this article, Vice President Joe Biden discusses the Obama administration’s effort to nurture innovation for economic growth. He states that in order for this to happen, we need to protect the intellectual property rights. Biden states that the Obama administration is “committed to making sure ideas and products reach their full potential without being stolen, co-opted, or quite frankly compromised.”

            I found this article interesting and relevant because it mentions President Obama’s State of the Union address that took place this past week and it gives the reader an insight on one of the rising issues that our country is facing. If we want the United States to “remain the most powerful economic force of the 21^st century,” as Biden refers to it, we- as a nation need to ensure that the Intellectual Property Rights are enforced.

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-01-28/biden-says-nurturing-innovation-includes-protecting-copyrights.html