By
Kelly Ranasinghe JD

At the core of modern legal systems is jurisdiction, an ancient legal concept which means ‘to speak the law.’ However, the legal definition of jurisdiction and the common lay understanding of jurisdiction are not the same. In fact, there are multiple types of jurisdiction which differentiate between time, space and people. The colloquial understanding of jurisdiction refers to `the power’ of an institution, such as a Sheriff, to take a certain action (as in one having ‘jurisdiction’ to do something). This is only obliquely related to the core concept of legal jurisdiction. The second colloquial understanding of jurisdiction refers to the purview of one’s authority (`this is outside my jurisdiction’) and is also an extension of its legal concept, but actually is more consistent with state authority and the police power than jurisdiction proper.

Jurisdiction in its most simple legal form is the ability of an institution sitting in a given territory to hail a party (an individual or organization) into court. For instance, if a man residing in the town of Blackacre commits a crime, a court within the same territory will generally have jurisdiction to summon that person to answer for his misdeeds. This is the simplest form of legal jurisdiction, and is referred to as territorial jurisdiction. The power over a specific geographic area.

A court may also have jurisdiction outside of its geographic area over a category of people. This is called in personam jurisdiction or `personal jurisdiction.’  It is the ability of a court to, again, hail a party into court because of their specific group status. For instance, members of the military are frequently under the purview of a military court system regardless of where they are stationed. Note however, that simply because a person may be under the personal jurisdiction of one court (such as a United States service member in Japan falling under the jurisdiction of a military court located on his base) that does not absolve one from being under the jurisdiction of another court at the same time. This is called overlapping jurisdiction, and is quite common. For instance, a person residing in San Diego, California falls under the jurisdiction of the state superior court of San Diego, but also falls under the jurisdiction of the federal United States District Court for Southern California. He might also fall under the jurisdiction of a city tribunal which hears zoning violations or city code infractions.

A third category of jurisdiction is called subject-matter jurisdiction, and is the ability of a court to adjudicate a certain kind of case. A court which has the ability to hear all cases in a given area, regardless of their subject, is referred to as a court of general jurisdiction. In contrast, a court which has specific purview over a type of conduct or case is called a court of limited jurisdiction. For instance, a Federal Bankruptcy Court confines itself to cases involving Bankruptcy. In lower level courts, courts of limited jurisdiction are typically ‘carved out’ of a court of general jurisdiction to adjudicate special classes of cases such as family law, domestic violence or probate.

In the arena of international business, jurisdictional questions arise for a variety of reasons, many of them stemming from the concept of in personam jurisdiction extending beyond the country’s borders. While the law of a given country prevails when governing the conduct of an organization doing business in that country, expatriate workers often ‘carry with them’ protections under domestic law which allows them to raise claims of unlawful conduct once they have returned to their country of origin. Said another way, if an expatriate worker defrauds a foreign citizen in a foreign nation, he will be at the behest of foreign law. However, if a U.S. company discriminates against a U.S. worker who is living and working in a foreign country for the U.S. corporation, the company is still bound by U.S. law. (Of course, the worker would be suing in the United States, as foreign countries do not adjudicate claims of U.S. law).

Complicated? Consider this added dimension. Assume that a U.S. citizen and a foreign national work side-by-side in a U.S. company’s operation in a foreign country. Both workers perform the same job, work the same hours, and are administratively equal in their hierarchy. For all intents and purposes, the U.S. citizen and the foreign national are identical in terms of employment and profit. The U.S. citizen however, is protected by the powerful civil rights laws of the United States in his employment, the Title VII Civil Rights Act and the Americans with Disabilities Act. He is protected regardless of where he is working, so long as he is working for a U.S. corporation and as long as his suit is filed within the United States. A U.S. citizen could not, of course, bring suit in a foreign country under United States law. (Interestingly enough, the converse is not necessarily true. A foreign citizen can sometimes bring suit in the United States under principles of international law, generally human rights infractions, under the Alien Tort Claims Act, 28 U.S.C. § 1350).   

However, our foreign national, although he performs precisely the same job for the same company in the same location, is not protected by U.S. civil rights law, even if he did choose to bring suit in the United States.

Now assume that our foreign national is instead, working in an identical position in the United States for a foreign corporation. Not only is the foreign national protected under civil rights laws, but he is also protected from discrimination based on his foreign citizenship.[1] Confused? A foreigner working for a U.S. corporation overseas is not protected. A foreigner working for a foreign company domestically is protected. So a Swiss company operating in Texas, and discriminating against a Mexican national is subject to U.S. law. A United States company, operating in Switzerland, and employing a Mexican national, is not subject to U.S. law. (This is not so much a matter of protection, as United States law holds that the Mexican national would not have ‘standing’ or the legal basis to sue in a U.S. court).   To quote the EEOC directly “Individuals who are not U.S. citizens are not protected against discrimination overseas.”[2]

The discerning factor in each of the above examples is territoriality. A company operating in the United States is subject to United States law, just as a United States company operating in a foreign country is subject to foreign law. However, a United States company operating overseas is also subject to United States law, as it remains with the in personam jurisdiction of the United States.

What does this mean for corporations who wish to explore overseas opportunities? Initially, corporate executives should be mindful that simply because operations are lawful in the United States it does not mean that they will be permissible in a foreign country. A corporation establishing a legal presence in a foreign nation is,  just like an individual,  subject to the laws of that country –  without exception. Those laws may differ substantially in character and substance from American laws, and may also differ structurally and procedurally. For instance, in the United States many court systems have ‘fast-track’ court dockets which expedite civil litigation. A plaintiff in the United States can reasonably expect some form of resolution or settlement in months, certainly in 1-2 years. In India, the court system has a backlog of nearly 30 million cases, which, according to some, would take more than three centuries to clear.[3]  If resolution is desired, it will not be within the legal system.

Somewhat counterintuitive to this concept, is the understanding that a corporate executive must also comply with United States protections if he has United States expatriate workers, in addition, to the legal obligations of the host country.

This can be operationally problematic depending on cultural mores.

For instance, if a female United States citizen working in Muslim nation desires to be elevated to a management position requiring her to work at night with male colleagues and foreign national workers, there is the chance that this action might run afoul of nation/ region-specific sharia  law. Assuming that it does, if the company chooses to comply with the law of the host country and promote a male instead, it is subject to litigation in the United States for violation of Title VII.

The corporation above is left with a legal Catch-22 situation where to comply with socio-religio-cultural mores and foreign law would be tantamount to violating United States law. It is thus left in the unenviable position of being legally ‘boxed-in’.   In addition, it cannot simply ‘withdraw’ from the country or ‘withdraw’ or “remove” the worker as a corrective action. The corporation may very well have to conduct two battles at once, as it is assailed by the U.S. worker domestically, and government agencies internationally.

Interjected into the legal structure of international business relations is the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA), codified in Title 15, sections 78 et.seq of the United States Code. The FCPA generally covers  American individuals and business in the United States with operations abroad, and prohibits bribery of foreign officials and governments, but exempts certain payments to officials if they are legally permissible under the law of host country ( ‘grease payments’). Corporations conducting business abroad must, as a matter of operational concern, understand that the FCPA may render them non-competitive if bribery in the host country is such common practice as to become part and parcel of industrial relations. Indeed, Prof. Yockey of Notre Dame has a forthcoming paper on the subject of overdeterrence and the FCPA.[4]

American Corporate executives planning on conducting business overseas should understand , and become expert  , the legal ramifications as they relate to Global business strategy prior to committing themselves or their organization  to overseas ventures.

In recent years there has been much discussion about the benefits of `outsourcing’ with little discussion as to the strategic implications from outsourced operation inside a foreign legal environment. In addition, a company extending itself into a foreign country must be prepared to defend against regional legal attacks, as well as attacks ‘behind the front lines’ in the United States, for civil rights and securities violations.

Absent this preparation, a corporation may remain vulnerable to substantial loss from litigation.

The WSJ article is located here:

http://blogs.wsj.com/chinarealtime/2011/08/03/photos-chinas-new-generation-of-copycat-stores/?KEYWORDS=copycat+stores

Having lived in the PRC for just short of two years this is not entirely surprising, nor is it shocking… I have also had the advantage of also living in Japan for 3 years as well.

What Mr. Murdoch’s Wall Street Journal may say about copycatting I would call normal market research and good business tactics.

I see it as no different to how companies here in the United States  garner competitive advantage from seeing what their competitors do well …do better than themselves …then putting on their own very similar version, marketing and selling “their “ version of what is selling well.

In fact, what the WSJ calls copycatting I would suggest is purely normal business.

I am somewhat disappointed that Mr. Murdock’s WSJ chose to single-out China as some sort of pariah… ( Dr. Ranasinghe has informed me that this infection may be spreading) perhaps the WSJ playing on media coverage to offset the global opprobrium about their parent entity and the disgusting phone hacking scandals.  The WSJ probably “copycatted”  rabid postures begun by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) and the Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA) with raised placards demanding that the United States be harder on China insisting huge amounts of movies and music are being pirated, forgetting where America and all Americans buy their xxxx large underwear, and where indeed the placards they brazenly raise are made.

The WSJ may conveniently forget it …but I am surprised if someone forgets that China is constantly responding to our requests for assistance by buying our AMERICAN debt – thereby helping keep this nation afloat so you can indeed wear your Chinese-produced  xxxx large underwear while raising the made-in-China placards to protest the fact that you are wearing them.

Where did the WSJ say any of that?  The fact is that the WSJ failed to admit that all businesses around the world – including American -  do this… this is not a China-unique phenomenon, and to suggest otherwise is lacking wisdom….but more,  its bordering on crass unfairness and racism …both distinctly un-American traits.

All around the world there are people researching new and innovative ways to part you - the consumer – from your money.

Why aren’t you writing stern letters of protest to your legislators because AMERICAN marketers know you - the American buyer – so well …they use point of sale techniques which intentionally put packages of gum and candy at the check-out stand at your local grocery store – because they understand the American-birthed concept of “impulse purchases”?

The fact of the matter is that China is gleaning market research from all around the world not just America (to think that it’s just America is so arrogant as to surpass belief) – all around the non-communist, capitalistic world. China is learning what and how the US consumers purchase goods and services. They are applying what we have foisted off on them about how to compete and how to sell.  The PRC is gaining strides - huge leaps and bounds - in this area.  As with every other nation which is watchful and pensive, because China is learning so fast it does not have to go through the weaning years that the United States did on market research. China just hires the best and brightest Chinese students – those just graduated with MBAs from excellent universities around the world - who are readily equipped with the information they need to be successful.

You should know that probably unlike the WSJ researchers – I have personally visited the Ikea store in Beijing and it looks exactly like every other Ikea you have ever been in …except there are less pink people, and more… much more Chinese shoppers. Indeed, it was so packed I had to walk through the Kitchenware department twice trying to edge myself over to a counter packed with Chinese Shoppers …to look at some knives that caught my eye. So if Ikea is losing ground in China, it cannot be because the Chinese are not visiting it intent on buying IKEA products… It must be something else.

While I lived in China my local supermarket was next to a Chinese-owned store called Homeway. At a time when Home Depot had NOT entered the PRC market …it  looked and felt exactly like Home Depot, so they were not copycatting any US company in China.  It was no surprise to me when the Homeway signs were suddenly replaced by signs of new ownership and management with a new store name…  go on …you guessed it …the US-owned “Home Depot”.

It was far easier for Home Depot, in their initial step into the PRC, to purchase a very successful existing Chinese owned store…a store where the brand was already established. Where the Chinese shoppers had had good experiences. Was Home Depot then copycatting ( a la the WSJ ) a Chinese store?   If so should it not be vilified by the WSJ.

Here in the United States we know very well that our patent and copyright system is not only completely flawed but it has stifled creativity and innovation.

Just look to your local newspaper. Inevitably the technology section and you will see some sort of suit or case against copyright or patent infringement. This speaks more to me about corporate greed rather than “fighting” for their rights, but that is just my humble opinion.

In Japan you can visit very fine restaurants such as First Kitchen or Moss Burger. Perhaps the WSJ could argue that they are McDonalds or Burger King copycats. Or you – using your excellent insight - can say they are – instead - providing something that is uniquely Japanese. Where else can you get a tasty Rice Burger, or Curry Burger or French Fries with a choice of 5 different flavors including green tea.

This I believe is true innovation, and knowing who your consumers are.

I personally do not put too much thought into rabid WSJ arguments of piracy and the like.

Middle Eastern, African and some Asian cultures are such that to copy an idea means something honorable because the original idea was felt by you to be so excellent that you are in fact showing extreme respect for that original idea by only “adapting” it and making it better to suit local tastes. It should be seen to mean the local business is giving kudos to the original idea.

The reality is that there really is nothing truly new - or something perfectly curtailed to the original concept – under the sun. Nothing American is only for Americans UNLESS WE BECOME ISOLATIONISTS. But if we intend the rest of the world to see, taste, feel our products …then buy them …someone …somewhere is going to believe they can be adapted to better serve the local circumstance.  Do you think an American Pizza is like a pizza in Italy? I have had pizza in Italy, it is not like American pizza. I have had pizza in Japan, it is nothing like American pizza. Or do you think US Chinese food is anything like real Chinese food? No …we’ve “copycatted” it and products get adapted to particular tastes.  To erroneously claim copycatting is far too self-aggrandizing a term.

What the WSJ does not say ( probably because it knows the intelligent among us will laugh them into oblivion ) is if they and anyone else feel so badly about the rest of the world and its ways …then they should – as Dr. Ranasinghe often says – shun the rest of the world …stay at home …lock the doors …do not allow the world in …and do not venture out to accrue profits. Have the WSJ try that for a while. What they will find is that the rest of the world will really continue on its merry way with or without the United States. If America  disappeared or chose to close its borders I would suggest the rest of the world would continue . .

Further is it not that ideas should be free for all of us to use and to stifle it is to stifle the future, especially when the benefits of said idea can help many others?

Certainly I am not saying that the originator of the idea should not be remunerated for their idea…but only IF ITS AN EXACT COPY …not if it’s even slightly different …not if it has been even slightly adapted. Such is how US patent and copyright law should function.

But say you were an African researcher and learned an American scientist had discovered an Aids vaccine. A vaccine desperately needed all over Africa.  Say you requested that the Americans sell the vaccine throughout Africa at a reasonable rate which Africans could afford. To your horror – with people dying all around you from AIDS … you find the American pharmaceutical companies refuse to help …refuse to lower their rate even a fraction. How would you respond? Would you think it robbery by the American companies?

If you were then contacted by an Indian scientist who could recreate a similar vaccine  ( not the same …just similar …with equal efficacy ) at a cheaper rate whilst NOT infringing on patent laws… would you think it robbery? Would you say the Aids sufferers of Africa are deserving of your insight and “bigness” of heart?

Finally, being global villagers, I would challenge everyone to be angry when an Australian owned newspaper attempts to publish news in this manner. The word “Copycat” especially is particularly patronizing. Perhaps China should demand payments from the WSJ for their western world’s use of the printing press. The Chinese did invent it you know and the WSJ are using their own – even if adapted – versions of an original Chinese design.  Or perhaps they should demand payment for our use of fireworks every 4^th of July. They did invent it you know. This WSJ article posted on GETDA’s Linkedin channel is decidedly and unabashedly pro-western, and anti-China in its tone. It grandiosely assumes that anything that looks “western” must be the result of copycatting.

I would caution anyone who gleefully posts copies of stuff like this – WITHOUT FIRST PUBLISHING THEIR OWN DISCLAIMER THAT THEY DO NOT ALIGN WITH SUCH WRITING.

I have written several articles on this matter, while specifically focusing on Japan. One in particular written many years ago was titled “Japan: Westernization or Globalization”… let me say clearly that consumers are the same around the world, the cultures may differ, the languages may differ, but people all over the world worry about their families, and want to buy the best for them. This is a fact that market research need not enter. If a business looks similar to other businesses, that is not necessarily a copycat, take it into good cognizance that it may simply be that it is a good business model, and that any businessman or businesswoman would be foolish enough not to recognize that fact. This has nothing to do with westernization, and everything to do with living in the global arena.

Daniel Wolf MBA

Will Burundi make it in time to join the East African Monetary Union? ©

By
Dr. Yvan Nzerwe  D.B.A.  

The Question

Burundi formally joined the East African Community (EAC) in 2007.  The EAC is an intergovernmental organization with its headquarter in Arusha, Tanzania. The other member countries are Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda and Rwanda (www.eac.int).

Burundi   - a francophone African nation – is situated between Rwanda, Tanzania and the DRC Congo. It has a population of approximately 7 Million People. There are three major ethnic groups in Burundi- Tutsi 14%, Hutu, 85% and Twa.1%. Traditionally, Tutsis were considered to be a Royal Tribe, known as Abaganwa.  Since Burundi`s independence in 1962, Burundi has experienced multiple ethnic conflicts. The Tutsis have dominated the military and held power from 1962 until 1993. In 1993, the first democratically elected Hutu President Melchior Ndadaye defeated Major Pierre Buyoya, a Tutsi. President Ndadaye was killed by the Tutsi military after 3 months into his presidency. The coup d’état revived ethnic tensions and several Hutu rebel groups were formed. Major Pierre Buyoya took power again in a coup d’état in July 1996. The neighboring countries imposed an economic embargo that lasted until 1999. The economic embargo was put in place in order to force Major Buyoya to give up power.

Ndikumana (2001) mentioned that the ethnic conflict has severely weakened the Burundian economy. He also mentioned that the Burundian government has shifted the allocation of resources from capital and social expenditures to military and security spending.  Salter (1999) assessed the impact of the economic embargo on the Burundian economy.  The embargo stopped all to and exports to Burundi. Ngendakumana (1999) also said that, with the embargo, foreign donors stopped helping Burundi and the Government deficit reached 6.5% of GDP in 1996.

The EAC comprises 126 million people and has a total annual economic output of $73 billion (www.eac.int). The East African monetary union will be a Euro zone type with a single currency, the East African Shilling. Anand (2011) says that the monetary union will increase the size of the regional market and could potentially bring economic development, gains from regional integration and trade, and enhanced global competitiveness for the EAC. The current negotiations for a single currency are focusing on the differences of inflation, public debt and GDP growth among EAC members.

The East African monetary Union is scheduled to begin functioning in 2015.  The proposed East African Central Bank will be launched in 2013 and  will be designing the interest rates and monitor the exchange rates.

The monetary union will require the harmonization of macroeconomic policies by member countries` governments. The EAC member countries` governments will need to create sustainable and competitive business environments.

At this time therefore a question which arises is: Will Burundi make it by the proposed start date for East African monetary union?

It is this writers’ position  that Burundi has a lot to do before achieving this goal.

Macroeconomic Issues

The Burundian government budget largely depends on foreign aid.  In 2010, the government revenues were approximately $585 million, while expenditures were approximately $699 million.  55% of the revenues came from foreign donors and 65% of the revenues were used to pay government employees` salaries (Central Bank of Burundi Report 2010). It is in the opinion of this writer that the Burundian government should  increase its revenues by efficient tax collections and anticorruption measures.

In Burundo it is generally acknowledged that the inflation rate is high. The inflation rate went from 3.5% in September 2010 to 6.5% in December 2010 (Central Bank of Burundi Report 2010).  According to the Central Bank of Burundi  the increase in  fuel prices was the main driver for this inflation,. It is the opinion of this writer that the Burundian government swiftly undertake policies that can stabilize the inflation rate.

Corruption

While Burundi has started multiple anti corruption strategies and initiatives, corruption is still rife in Burundi. The 2010 report of Transparency International-Kenya  (www.tikenya.org) revealed that Burundi is the most corrupt country in the EAC. Burundi`s East Africa bribery index was 36% while Rwanda, the least corrupt country, had a 6% bribery index.

The Organisation de la Lutte contre la Corruption et Malversations Economiques (www.olucome.bi), an anti corruption watchdog, says that the Burundian government lost $25 million in 2010 revenues due to corruption.  These revenues could have been used to build schools, roads or hospitals.

The fight against corruption will need to be taken to a higher level.  Corruption increases the loss of government revenues and  - in the opinion of this writer – this definitely hampers economic growth.

Private Sector Development

As with almost everywhere else around the world, in Burundi, the private sector is an important potential engine for economic growth and job creation.

However this writer is personally aware that in Burundi, the private sector is underdeveloped and mainly consists of small businesses that produce for the local market.  Also, the private sector does not have similar financing options – available in many other nations – that can contribute to its development.

The World Bank Doing Business Report 2009 reported that business loans typically carry a bank interest rate of around 17% and the corporate tax rate is around 37%. Nkurunziza (2009) emphasized the need for the Burundian financial sector to address the needs of core drivers of economic growth in Burundi. He identified the private sector (agriculture and industry) as the core drivers of economic growth.

In Burundi, the majority of jobs come from the Government.  It is different in Kenya and Tanzania where the private sector employs more people than the Government (East African Business Council Report 2008).

Other EAC countries have created entities that have the sole purpose of supporting the private sector. For example, there are the Rwanda Investment and Export Promotion Agency and the Kenya Private Sector Alliance. Such has not occurred in Burundi.

It is the opinion of this writer that without a vibrant private sector, Burundian businesses will struggle and languish against other East African competitors.

This writer is of the opinion that – at minimum, The Burundian government should:

-          Create and support a Government Agency for the private sector;

-          Work with local banks in getting better financing options for small businesses;

-          Make the Burundi Revenue Authority an efficient and corruption-free agency.

Financial Sector Development

Nkurunziza (2009) says that, in Burundi, the financial sector does not address the needs of core drivers of growth (agriculture and industry). Other studies such as those by Niyubahwe (2008) and Ndikumana (2001) mentioned the important role of financial systems in sustainable economic growth.

Niyubahwe (2008) says that Burundi’s financial sector is still relatively shallow, undiversified, dominated by an oligopolistic banking sector, and characterized by relatively high lending rates, extremely low insurance penetration, a scarcity of long term debt, home mortgage financing and equity capital and an inadequately functioning payments system

Other EAC countries such as Kenya have a stock market and a diversified financial sector.  In Kenya, companies have raised over $1 Billion in Initial Public Offerings through the Nairobi Stock Exchange.

This writer feels strongly that the Burundian government should quickly embark on a series of reforms aimed at modernizing the financial sector, improving the financial regulations and thereby improve the performance of the financial sector in the economy.

In so doing it will begin to ready itself for active and equal membership in the proposed East African Monetary Union.

References

Anand et Al (2011), “Moving Toward a Monetary Union and Forecast-Based Monetary Policy in East Africa”, Policy paper, Princeton University.

Bank of the Republic of Burundi (BRB) Reports, 2009 and 2010.

East African Business Council Report 2008

Internet Research: www.eac.int ,  www.nse.co.ke, www.tikenya.org  , www.eabc.info

Ndikumana L (2001), “Financial Intermediation and Economic Growth in Southern Africa”, Journal of African Economies.

Ndikumana L (2001) “ Fiscal Policy, Conflict and Reconstruction in Burundi and Rwanda”, United Nation University paper 2001/62

Ngendakumana V (1999), “Prospects for Social Protection in a Crisis Economy”, World Bank Policy paper.

Niyubahwe A (2008) ,”Financial Intermediation and Economic Growth: Time Series Evidences from Burundi”, IDEC Policy paper

Nkurunziza J. (2009), “Why is Burundi`s Financial Sector not Development-Oriented?”, UNCDA policy paper

Salter I (1999), Action Aid Policy paper, 1999

Transparency International-Kenya Report 2010

World Bank Doing Business Report 2009

by Mr. Farid Saydee

Over 30 years of war and instability have ruined the infrastructure of all spheres of Afghan life. Education has probably been the sector that has sustained the most devastation in Afghanistan. Educating the Afghan populace – especially the young generation – is a critical facet toward engendering enduring peace and stability, alleviating endemic poverty, and resuscitating economic growth in the country.

From this writer’s personal awareness, in Afghanistan today most schools lack proper teaching facilities and materials (apart from the usual facilities this would include current library holdings, computerized language labs, computer labs etc) .  But perhaps most important of all …in Afghanistan …there is a critical shortage of qualified teachers. Teachers with current qualifications reflective of those which would be demanded, at a minimum, in neighboring states …let alone the rest of the world.

Beyond the issue of availability of adequate educational opportunity however, the educational crisis in Afghanistan is further acerbated by societal circumstances.  This writer is certain most readers will be aware of the circumstances which prevail in Afghanistan but, according to a report by Surgar (2011), Afghan parents are reluctant to send their children to school buildings which – because the populace is aware of the grim inadequacy of the schooling facilities – are strikingly empty of activity and children.  The Surgar report underpins this writer’s own research on the ground in that it reveals that the quality of Afghan education is “ low” and in most cases a striking non-existence of textbooks and of proper curricula and syllabi is evident.

Another issue that has a bearing – but which has not figured prominently in discussions about the re-engineering of the Afghan educational system – relates to the socio-cultural bias that many Afghans have toward the education of females, especially in the conservative and remote areas of the country. This is another challenge that the Afghan government needs to wrestle with.  According to a report by the United Nations Children’s Fund the disparity between the enrollment (at schools offering even the most basic educational facilities) of girls’ and boys’ is enormous.  In 2009 the enrolment of young Afghan girls constituted only 35% of the total primary school enrollments (UNICEF, 2009). This percentage swells in some rural provinces in the south of the country such as in Zabul Province. Due to growing instability 90 out of 100 girls are not in schools in that province. As an average only 50% of all children receive schooling in Afghanistan (IRIN, 2011).

Beyond early School education …in Afghanistan today there are other significant education related challenges that need to be addressed. Among them is the desperate circumstance surrounding availability of higher education opportunities  (certificate, diploma  and degree programmes)  for those Afghans who have actually made the difficult, and sometimes perilous, journey through early school …to qualify with a High School qualification.  Part of the issue is an epidemic of despair that, for those who complete early schooling …high school … and do not have the resources to proceed further with their education, there are virtually no employment opportunities upon graduation.  This situation, obviously, only lends to the damaging environment of thought that education does not do anything to better ones lot in life.

Further looming education related problems continue to surface in Afghanistan. According to the Ministry of Higher Education of Afghanistan (2010), the number of high school graduates will reach 600,000 students by 2014. These are young eager Afghans on the brink of adulthood who should be able to look to their own country for the provision of further, higher education opportunities with which to prepare themselves to compete in a world filled with others of their own age who are forging ahead armed with modern further education qualifications. Under normal circumstances the half a million or more Afghans who will seek admission to college or university should not – if proper strategic planning had been evident …if the governmental will had been evident – have been a problem. Unfortunately such is not the case in Afghanistan.

As of this time of writing – in January 2011 – the currently existing public and private universities do not have the capacity to cope with such a huge number of potential new applicants (MoHE, 2010).

Although, the Afghan government sponsors higher education of some Afghan students by sending them to countries such as the United State and India,  in a nut-shell this alternative is disastrously expensive for Afghanistan, and, in most cases, futile.  Most Afghan students studying abroad – upon earning whatever qualification they had sought – often do not return to Afghanistan after completion of their education.  This writer is personally aware that many seek asylum in the host countries (personal research, 2010).

Despite the fact that – since the fall of Taliban in 2001  – the Afghan education sector has – according to the nation’s Ministry of Education – witnessed substantial progress in, for instance,  the amount of overall enrolment in some form of educational pursuit (7 million),  the training of teachers, and the construction of over 4,500 schools (Afghanistan Ministry of Education, 2010); Afghanistan sustains the highest illiteracy rates in the world for both men and women.   More than 11 million Afghans over the age of 15 still cannot read or write.  In rural areas, where the majority of Afghans live, 90 percent of the women and more than 60 percent of the men are illiterate (REAC, 2010). This situation has created a perfect opportunity for the opposition of the Afghan government to exploit the unawareness of the locals and use them for political and personal agendas (Time, 2010).

It is this writer’s strongly-held personal belief that Education has a pivotal impact on peace and stability. If the Afghan government – and the international community which spends billions in Afghanistan facing the enemy militarily – want to bring peace and security to Afghanistan, they must play a strong, supportive role in pressing the Afghan authorities to focus upon educating Afghans.   In essence there needs to be a sea-change in the much promulgated strategies we fall victim to so often from supposed experts.  The essential need is that there MUST be greater and better educational opportunities inside the country.

It is patently obvious that in this vital period of national re-building the authorities have many other vital imperatives to address. Hospitals, transportation infrastructure, etc.  But in ignoring the country’s precious resource – its young..its youth …and their education …Afghanistan is breeding further problems. The high rate of unemployment and crisis-level –lack of availability of opportunities to higher educational institutions simply means more foot soldiers for the enemy (Associated Content, 2007).  The opposition … fighting in Afghanistan… easily recruits disaffected, disgruntled, under-educated, and under-utilized young Afghans and uses them against the Afghan government and coalition forces.

Even the encouraging strides to provide more schools, colleges and universities, made by the Afghan education authorities are, to this writer, insufficient. Far too often (public, state-funded) Universities from the Coalition countries float into Afghanistan and enter into arrangements with local government universities. This is not necessarily what is needed.

The Afghan Education authorities should not – in this era of resuscitation – try to go it alone. They should encourage private higher educational organizations – who may be more apt to develop genuine long-term relations – given their personal investment not garnered from government coffers – to invest in the country …to open degree programmes in discipline areas which will train Afghans to take their place in the global arenas of business, commerce, international trade, international relations, and leadership. The Afghan Education authorities should encourage international private education entities to invest in the nation and its people by making the currently extraordinarily- difficult approval process much leaner and rational.

Sources:

Afghanistan Ministry of Education. (2010). Where We Are Now. Retrieved from http://english.moe.gov.af/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=68:where-we-are-now&catid=63:about-moe&Itemid=90

Associated Content. (2007). Unemployment Pushes Afghanistan Youth to the Taliban. Retrieved from http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/446162/unemployment_pushes_afghanistan_youth.html

IRIN. (2011). Record Numbers Enroll in New School Year. Retrieved from http://www.irinnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportId=70844

Ministry of Higher Education. (2010). Strategic Plan. Retrieved from http://www.mohe.gov.af/?lang=en

Oxfam. (2004). Afghanistan Education Report Card. Retrieved from http://www.oxfamamerica.org/publications/afghanistan-education-report-card/?searchterm=None

Relief and Education for Afghan Children. (2010). Education. Retrieved from http:// http://reachafghanschools.org/index_files/Page950.htm

Surgar. (2011). Marja Schools. Retrieved from http://www.surgar.net/

Time. (2010). The Taliban: Friend to Education. Retrieved from http://www.time.com/time/world/article/0,8599,1581119,00.html#ixzz0nYZqijdq

UNICEF. (2009). Critical Issues for Children and Women. Retrieved from http://www.unicef.org/har09/index_afghanistan.php

Here – for the first time for 2011 – are a new set of my “Snippets” of information from around the world. … gleaned from my daily (somewhat eclectic) review of global events.

This is a brief review of the world’s Main Business and Political Global events over the period 01st – 07th Jan 2011. I take the liberty to share these with you especially since our mutual abiding interest in global issues probably requires on-going awareness of the Global environment (of which America is an integral part). Further I do hope that this little effort will be such that each of you may wish to do further research and reading on any matters which spur your interest.

Please note that these snippets are extrapolated from material kindly despatched by Britain’s `Economist’ (All Rights Reserved. Copyright, The Economist London 20111.)

Obviously if you wish to discuss any item with your GETDA colleagues ….go ahead and raise the matters in/ at our GETDA Linkedin site.

The URL link is http://www.linkedin.com/groups?gid=2787028.

****************
BUSINESS
****************

An index of WORLD FOOD PRICES compiled by the UN reached a record level in December, surpassing its previous high of June 2008, a year in which the cost of food sparked rioting in Haiti and elsewhere. Unlike then, the prices of some staple cereals such as rice remain relatively stable, though the price of wheat is rising. The increasing costs of other cereals and sugar were the main factors behind the rise in the index.

The American presidential commission investigating the causes of last year’s OIL SPILL in the Gulf of Mexico released a chapter containing the key findings of its final report, due on January 11th. The chapter stated that “most of the mistakes and oversights” leading to the explosion at BP’s well “can be traced back to a single overarching failure–a failure of management”.

THE PRIVATE NETWORK
It emerged that FACEBOOK has secured $500m in financing from Goldman Sachs and Digital Sky Technologies, a Russian investment firm, to fuel its expansion plans. Goldman also set up an investment vehicle for its clients to buy into privately held Facebook’s equity. The arrangement values Facebook at $50 billion, up from an estimated $10 billion just 18 months ago, prompting questions about whether the rules for disclosure on trading in the stock of private firms need to change.

The European Financial Stabilisation Mechanism issued a bond to raise money for bailing out IRELAND. There was strong demand for the sale of EURO5 billion ($6.7 billion) in five-year debt.

Markets kept a wary eye on other bond issues in the euro zone. PORTUGAL successfully sold EURO500m ($665m) in six-month treasury bills, though the average yield was 1.64 percentage points higher than at its last sale of a similar maturity in September. SPAIN received a boost, however, when Li Keqiang, China’s deputy prime minister, said that his country would still buy Spanish debt and had particular confidence in the Spanish financial market.

TRICHET’S POTENTIAL HEADACHE

INFLATION in the euro zone rose to 2.2% in December, the highest since October 2008 and above the European Central Bank’s target of close to but below 2%.

Chile’s central bank announced that it was committing $12 billion over the next year to intervening in foreign-currency markets in an effort to keep the value of the Chilean peso down. It is the latest shot in the “CURRENCY WARS”, in which some emerging economies are using a variety of measures to stop their currencies appreciating. But India’s Financial Stability Development Council, at its first meeting, criticised policies that attempt to keep currencies artificially low, which was seen as a dig at China.

QUALCOMM, the world’s biggest maker of chips for mobile phones, said it was buying ATHEROS COMMUNICATIONS, which is based in San Jose. The $3.1 billion acquisition is Qualcomm’s biggest to date and expands its business in wireless chipsets of the kind used in smart-phones and tablet computers.

Separately, Microsoft said its next version of WINDOWS would run on chips designed by ARM, which are better suited to mobile devices than those supplied by Intel, Microsoft’s established partner.

BANK OF AMERICA paid $2.8 billion to settle claims brought by FANNIE MAE and FREDDIE MAC, two housing-finance giants, against the mortgage-lending practices of Countrywide Financial, a distressed bank that BofA acquired in 2008. BofA still faces potentially large claims from insurers and private investors seeking to get their money back for home loans that purportedly failed to meet the proper underwriting criteria.

Sergio Marchionne suggested that FIAT could obtain a controlling stake in CHRYSLER before the Detroit carmaker’s stockmarket flotation later this year. Mr Marchionne has been chief executive of Fiat and Chrysler since 2009, when Fiat took a 20% stake in Chrysler as part of a rescue plan engineered by the American government. Meanwhile, Fiat officially demerged its carmaking operations from its truck and farm-equipment business.

RENAULT suspended three senior managers. The company did not say why, but the suspensions are thought to be related to the suspected leaking of its secrets about electric-car design.

PROMPTED TO CHOOSE

More Europeans now use Mozilla’s FIREFOX web browser than Microsoft’s INTERNET EXPLORER, according to data compiled by StatCounter, a market-analysis company. Firefox took 38.1% of the European market in December, compared with 37.5% for Internet Explorer and 14.6% for Google’s Chrome. Microsoft’s browser still predominates in America and Asia.

OTHER NEWS FROM AROUND THE WORLD

FROM CNN ONLINE
ARIZONA SHOOTING SPREE
ON 08th Jan 2011, In Arizona, U.S. Rep. Gabrielle Giffords, a third-term Democrat who had organized a “Congress on Your Corner” meet and greet session was gunned down. Authorities believe the gunman had specifically targeted Giffords. She is in critical condition after undergoing surgery for a single gunshot wound to the head, but doctors said they are optimistic over her prospects for recovery.

The suspect, 22-year-old Jared Lee Loughner, is in custody of the Pima County Sheriff’s Office…. Authorities also are seeking a person of interest but his suspected connection to the incident is unclear.

Loughner is accused of shooting 18 people. Eleven others were wounded in the shooting and six are dead, among them U.S. District Court Judge John Rolls, a friend of Giffords’ who had stopped by the event to say hello after attending Mass, Pima County Sheriff Clarence Dupnik said. Also killed was Giffords staffer Gabe Zimmerman, director of community outreach who had coordinated the event to introduce Giffords to her constituents. A 9-year-old girl also was killed.

The shooting sent shock waves through Washington, where Giffords was regarded as gracious and kind, a moderate Democrat known for her dedication to her constituents and willingness to work across party lines.

In light of the shootings, all legislation on the House schedule for the coming week has been postponed,

( Further thoughts on the ) Tragedy in Tucson
Are words to blame?
From The Economist on 09th Jan 2011, 22:16
The attempted assassination of Gabrielle Giffords, a congresswoman from Arizona, has sparked a fiery debate about the dangers of heated political rhetoric.

THE motive for the bloodthirsty attack on Gabrielle Giffords, a Democrat embarking on her third term in Congress, remains opaque. The suspected gunman, Jared Lee Loughner, appears to be something of a paranoid, right-wing, anti-government conspiracy-theorist. But his politics are hardly coherent: he is interested, according to his MySpace page, in both the Communist Manifesto and Mein Kampf. But his rampage on Saturday outside a supermarket in Tucson, in which a judge, a nine-year-old child, a congressional aide and three senior citizens were killed, and 14 others, including Mrs Giffords, were injured, is already having a political impact.

Eric Cantor, the number two in the Republican hierarchy in the House of Representatives, said that the coming week’s legislative agenda, including the new Republican majority’s much-publicised effort to repeal Barack Obama’s health-care reforms, would be postponed so that Congress could take stock of the shooting. His boss, John Boehner, the new speaker of the House, tried to defuse any partisan tensions over the tragedy, issuing a statement arguing that an attack on any member of Congress constituted an attack on all of them. But several Democrats, including Dick Durbin, the party’s number two in the Senate, have argued that wayward souls might find justification for such appalling acts in the pugnacious rhetoric many politicians use on the campaign trail.

As evidence that the right has gone too far, left-wingers point to a campaign website run by Sarah Palin, the Republican vice-presidential candidate in 2008, which at the past election had marked congressional seats she hoped the Republicans could wrest from the Democrats with cross-hair symbols, as if in the sights of a gun. They also cite one of Mrs Palin’s gung-ho slogans: “Don’t retreat, reload”.

Mrs Giffords herself said of Mrs Palin’s map last year, “When people do that, they’ve got to realise there’s consequences to that.” Mrs Giffords’s father, when asked if her daughter had had any enemies, replied “the whole Tea Party”, referring to the right-wing activists who helped to deliver the Republicans their resounding victory in November’s election, and only narrowly failed to unseat Mrs Giffords herself.

Needless to say, both tea-party activists and their inspiration, Mrs Palin, reject the idea that they somehow contributed to the shooting. Mr Loughner, tea-partiers in Tucson say, has no known ties to any local group. What is more, points out the leader of one national network of tea-party outfits, it is not really clear he agreed with their politics. Mrs Palin, meanwhile, issued a statement of sympathy to the victims; a spokeswoman condemned any attempt to tie her to the massacre as “repulsive”. In other words, the debate about whether partisan rancour had anything to do with the shooting is itself becoming rancourous. Left-wing bloggers talk of the atrocity as a wish come true for the tea-party; right-wing bloggers retort that the left is exploiting the death and injury of innocents for political gain.

It is hard to see any resolute action emerging from this shouting match.

America’s protections for free speech—which Mrs Giffords herself helped remind the world of last week when she read out the first amendment to the constitution during the ceremonies surrounding the seating of the new Congress— preclude any legal limits on violent talk.

It is testimony to the strength of America’s gun lobby (and another constitutional safeguard) that there has been little talk of any measures to curb gun ownership as a result of the incident.

Mrs Palin and a few others may find themselves on the back foot for a few weeks, and may indeed tone down their rhetoric for a spell. But after a spate of hand-wringing, Congress is likely to do little more than strengthen its security arrangements.

That will come a little late for Mrs Giffords, who was shot in the head at close range, and remains in critical condition.

**********************

Hopes for a more liberal PAKISTAN were dealt a blow with the assassination of Salman Taseer by his police bodyguard. The governor of Punjab province, the most populous in Pakistan, Mr Taseer was an outspoken critic of religious intolerance and of the country’s harsh and arbitrary blasphemy law. His murder compounds the woes of the ruling Pakistan People’s Party, which saw its main coalition partner walk out.

Death of a liberal
by The Economist | ISLAMABAD . 05th Jan 2011,
WHERE is liberal Pakistan? Its fading light may have been snuffed out by the assassination of a leading progressive politician and critic of extremism, Salman Taseer.

Mr Taseer, who had been leading a lonely fight to repeal Pakistan’s pernicious blasphemy law, was gunned down in daylight in central Islamabad on Tuesday January 4th by one of his own police security guards. The killer later said he acted because of Mr Taseer’s campaign against the blasphemy law. The 66-year-old governor of Punjab, Pakistan’s most populous province, had taken up the case of a poor Christian woman, Asia Bibi, who was condemned to death for blasphemy late last year.

The law, introduced in colonial times but given venom in the 1980s by the fundamentalist dictator General Zia-ul-Haq, is open to abuse. Dozens of people are convicted each year, though hearsay is often used as evidence and accusers invent verbal transgressions.
Mr Taseer’s killer, Mumtaz Qadri, may have acted alone—an investigation to determine this has begun—but his cause has support in Pakistan. Following the assassination, a broad alliance of the country’s clergy issued a statement condoning the murderer and lionising his assassin. “No Muslim should attend the funeral or even try to pray for Salman Taseer or even express any kind of regret or sympathy over the incident,” said Jamaate Ahle Sunnat Pakistan, an organisation that represents the moderate Barelvi sect, the mainstream branch of Islam in the country.

The murder will certainly cow and intimidate Pakistan’s political leadership, which had taken fright at Mr Taseer’s stance well before his murder. Indeed, Mr Taseer’s own Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP), which leads the government, had not backed his call for the blasphemy law to be repealed.

The PPP government, which was already weak, lost a key coalition partner over the weekend, leaving it as a minority administration. The party has been badly shaken by the murder, which recalls the assassination of the PPP’s leader, Benazir Bhutto, in 2007. Though its manifesto committed it to seek reform of the statute, the party is too busy with its struggle for political survival to pick a fight over the blasphemy law. Pakistan’s other pressing problems, including an economy in a tailspin and a raging Islamist insurgency, will also have to wait.

Update: On January 7th the MQM announced it would return to the government which, as a result, now has a majority again. But this comes at the expense of a planned hike in the price of petrol that would have cut government subsidies, something that Pakistan badly needs to do.

****************

In CHINA power-failures (often termed “brownouts” in America), caused by a shortage of coal, afflicted the country. In some provinces power stations were down to just a few days of coal stocks. Government regulations keep coal well under the market price, reducing incentives to get it out of the ground. Harsh weather has compounded the problem.

The worst flooding for decades in QUEENSLAND cut off many cities and towns. Coalmining operations in the Australian state were severely hampered.

NOT A GREAT START
HUNGARY took over the rotating presidency of the European Union on January 1st, amid growing concern over media legislation recently passed by the country’s government that critics say threatens press freedom. Meanwhile, the EU said it would investigate a number of “crisis” taxes imposed by Hungary on banks and other firms that are mainly foreign-owned.

Boris Nemtsov, a prominent figure in the RUSSIAN opposition, was arrested in Moscow after a demonstration and given a 15-day jail sentence. A day earlier he had criticised the 14-year prison term handed to Mikhail Khodorkovsky, a former oil tycoon who had been convicted of stealing oil.

A food-contamination scandal erupted in GERMANY when traces of dioxin were found in poultry and eggs. Officials said that the food presented “no acute health danger”.

The rate of value-added tax in BRITAIN went up from 17.5% to 20%. The opposition Labour Party said it would hit the poorest hardest. Some economists feared the tax rise would threaten Britain’s recovery. The government said it was necessary to boost Treasury coffers.

CARNAGE AMONG THE PRAYERS
At least 21 EGYPTIANS, mostly Coptic Christians, were killed by a bomb in a church in the city of Alexandria, heightening anxiety among co-religionists across the Middle East who have recently felt beleaguered, especially in Iraq. It was unclear who perpetrated the atrocity. Muslim authorities in Egypt and elsewhere in the region expressed solidarity with their Christian- Arab brethren.

A leading anti-Western Shia cleric, Muqtada al-Sadr, who is a crucial backer of IRAQ’S new coalition government, returned home after three years in exile in IRAN.

Laurent Gbagbo, who is almost universally deemed to have lost his bid for re-election as president of COTE D’IVOIRE in late November, refused to heed the African Union and a string of visiting African leaders trying to persuade him to go. The Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), the most influential regional body, aired the prospect of using military force to evict him.

In the run-up to a referendum on secession in SOUTH SUDAN to be held on January 9th, the president of Sudan as a whole, Omar al-Bashir, said he would accept the result if, as expected, the southerners vote to secede.

Trouble persisted on the streets of towns in TUNISIA, where the immolation in public of an unemployed youth in December, followed by his death on January 4th, sparked a wave of protests against joblessness, inequality and corruption at the top.

DILMA’S WISH LIST
Dilma Rousseff took office as BRAZIL’S president. She promised to eradicate extreme poverty, control inflation, increase public investment, improve health, education and public security, open doors for women in public life and support political and tax reform.

On his last day in office Ms Rousseff’s predecessor, LUIZ INACIO LULA DA SILVA, rejected a request to extradite to Italy Cesare Battisti, a former member of an extreme leftist faction convicted of murder. Italy withdrew its ambassador to Brasilia in protest; Mr Battisti’s lawyers said they would apply to Brazil’s Supreme Court for his release from prison.

The UNITED STATES revoked the visa of VENEZUELA’S ambassador to Washington in retaliation for the rejection by Hugo Chavez of Larry Palmer, the nominated American ambassador to Caracas, who had criticised his government.

VENEZUELA devalued the bolivar for the second time in a year, abolishing a preferential rate of 2.6 bolivares to the dollar and unifying the official exchange rate at 4.3.

Faced with massive protests by many of his own supporters, Evo Morales, BOLIVIA’S socialist president, cancelled an increase in fuel prices of more than 70%. The government had earlier said that the price rise was needed to end an unsustainable subsidy and to encourage oil production, which has been falling.

LET THE GAMES BEGIN

The 112TH CONGRESS convened in Washington with a cohort of fresh, mostly Republican, faces. One priority of the leadership in the Republican-controlled House of Representatives was to start a debate on repealing Barack Obama’s health-care-reform act; a vote on the matter was set for January 12th. In the Senate the Democrats, who now command a smaller majority in the chamber, tried to force changes to parliamentary rules that would narrow the ability of a senator to mount a vote-delaying filibuster.

America’s gross NATIONAL DEBT passed $14 trillion for the first time, up by $2 trillion in little over a year. The figure is very close to the current debt ceiling, which Congress must raise if the government is to continue borrowing and avoid a possible default. Some Republicans have insisted they will resist any attempt to increase the debt limit.

As Mr Obama prepared to appoint new advisers to the White House, ROBERT GIBBS announced that he would step down as the president’s press secretary next month. Mr Gibbs has worked with Mr Obama since 2004, when he worked on his campaign to become a senator for Illinois.

New state GOVERNORS were sworn into office, including Andrew Cuomo in New York and (the not-so-new) Jerry Brown in California

Ah! the cherished Sound of leather on Willow but …
In today’s Britain, cricket is, sadly, just sport
Jan 7th 2011, from the Economist
BY ANY measure, England’s cricketing victory over Australia in the early hours of this morning is a big British news story… or so you would imagine. All the ingredients for a frenzy of crowing celebration were there. England cricketers have spent years being humiliated by their former colonial cousins from down under. This was the first time that England had beaten Australia in a test series on Australian soil in 24 years. Nor did England just squeak a win, they won the fifth and final Ashes Test in Sydney by an innings and 83 runs, taking the series 3-1, or—to use a technical term—England walloped Australia. In a country accustomed to living on short rations, when it comes to international sporting glory, this should be a feast.

A footballing win of similar heft would, I suspect, be on pages 1, 2 and 3 this morning, plus a pull-out colour supplement.

So it is pretty revealing about modern Britain that the tabloid press ( Hmmm…” lesser” tabloid press? Dr. KLR…a cricket fan ) almost ignored the victory this morning. The two mid-market tabloids, the Daily Mail and Daily Express, did not mention the win anywhere on their front pages, treating the cricket as a purely sporting story. Remarkably, the Mail first mentions the Ashes on page 90, though it is usually happy to trumpet its love of cricket as a symbol of an eternal England (cf, Sir John Major, and his elegy as prime minister for a “country of long shadows on cricket grounds, warm beer, invincible green suburbs, dog lovers and pools fillers”): not even an editorial comment. Instead, the Mail fills its front page with a murder story, a spot of terrorism, a story about a television soap opera and a plug for a new diet plan. The Express front page is similarly silent, preferring a health scare story, a scare story about immigrants taking over nice houses as squatters and the same story about a television soap opera.

Among the red-top popular tabloids, it is the same. The Mirror ignores the story until page 16, when it returns as a human interest story about the cherubic choirboy past of one of the England cricket stars. The Sun carries a little pictorial flash on its front page, but then (apart from a short editorial) it is page 24 before it appears again. Also, the Sun’s news story is a soft feature about how British women with no previous interest in cricket have suddenly decided the team is rather sexy: an assertion buttressed by a large photograph of three of the team naked, their modesty preserved by strategically placed cricket bats.

Now, you could argue that the timing of the win was tricky for the newspapers. Thanks to the time difference with Australia, the final result was only known after most newspapers had stopped updating their editions for the night. But that is not really an explanation: England had already retained the Ashes at the end of the fourth test, and by the time final editions were going to bed last night, they were clearly on their way to winning the whole series 3-1. The tabloids ran lots of victorious coverage in their sports pages, and the heavyweights—the Daily Telegraph, the Times, the Guardian, the Financial Times and the Independent—all ran victory stories on their front pages. So if editors had wanted to play up the cricket, they were free to do so.

What is going on? I have a hunch several big trends are in play. For one thing, class rears its head: cricket is always (though, today, not exclusively) a game played by the upper – and some middle classes – and primarily at private schools.

Cricket’s exclusion from the nation’s breakfast table conversation is also, arguably, a reflection of a wider trend of the splintering of all forms of media into myriad tiny niches. Once upon a time (ie, a few years ago) there were only three or four television channels, and a big cricket match would be broadcast for hours on one of them. Now, live coverage of the Test has been snaffled up by the pay-to-view satellite broadcaster Sky, with only highlights shown later on terrestrial television.

The coverage also shows, with unusual clarity, how feminised the tabloid press has become. The mid-market papers have always had a strongly female edge to them, but papers like the Sun were traditionally rather male: the paper read by burly builders or van drivers (just think of Page Three girls). Now, understandably enough at a time of dwindling newspaper circulations, all the lesser daily papers are putting a lot more thought into wooing women readers. That would be something to celebrate wholeheartedly if it were not also rather a patronising phenomenon too. All too often, making news stories appealing to women seems to involve lots of soft lifestyle stories about the wives and girlfriends of the rich, famous or successful, their clothes, hair and shopping habits.

Finally, perhaps, this is a reminder of how America has intruded into British popular culture. Though this is hardly a new phenomenon and lots of newspapers around the world run photographs of Hollywood stars, the boundaries between British and American celebrity news do seem to have become – sadly – unusually blurry, especially as British news organisations seek out international English-speaking readers on the web.
(If this intrusion continues)… Give it a few more years, and perhaps cricket may not be seen as a national game at all, but a local sporting eccentricity, like British professional darts.

*****************

What Americans sound like
01st Jan 2011, by N.B. The Economist | NEW YORK
The English language as employed in North America, like its British antecedent, has many diverse regional dialects and sub-dialects. Did you know that residents of the San Francisco Bay area generally speak differently from other Californians? Had you heard that people from parts of New Orleans sound like New Yorkers, or that residents of North Carolina’s outer banks can sound more like folks from Charleston, South Carolina than other southerners?

All this information and more is available on Rick Aschmann’s map of English dialects in North America.

Regional American accents can be tough to decipher, especially for foreigners.
( Note from Dr. KLR Probably more especially for Britons when Americans try to assure them there is some link between the words and accents Americans employ …to the grandeur and majesty of the English Language )

In addition to being endlessly fascinating, Mr Aschmann’s map can actually be a useful tool. Want to prepare yourself for how someone from Duluth, Minnesota or Alaska’s Mat-Su valley (home to Sarah Palin!) is going to sound? You can zoom in on the map and click to hear audio samples. (You’ll find that Ms Palin and Duluth Mayor Don Ness don’t sound all that different.)

Mr Aschmann has collected and categorised dialect samples from native speakers all over North America, and that, even more than the map itself, is the valuable part of what he’s created.

There are even some relatively extinct dialects in the database—take actress Katharine Hepburn. Born in Connecticut in 1907, Ms Hepburn regularly dropped “r” sounds from words. For her, “cart” = “cot.” You don’t hear that very often any more in Connecticut, except among older people. Growing up in eastern Connecticut, this Economist contributor developed a slight New England accent. “Water” is “waw-der,” with the “r” sometimes dropping off the end. But “cart” and “cot” aren’t pronounced the same. Television and the internet are definitely doing something to our regional accents: a Boston accent that would have seemed weak in the John F. Kennedy years now sounds thick by comparison.

This stuff matters for business.
A few weeks ago, I met a CEO for a top international company who felt compelled to make a joke about his (relatively modest) Boston accent.

In surveys, business people say some accents – the English accent for instance – are “better for trade” than others. In fact, many business people “change their accents when doing business,”. Those same sorts of things happen here in America.

So please, check out Mr Aschmann’s map, shed a tear for dying or fading dialects, and try not to judge those of us with regional quirks too harshly while doing business. We’re doing our best.

For further information on ALL these snippets of world news you may wish to look to the full articles in the Economist.

Dr. Kamal L. Ranasinghe

It is generally acknowledged that American Academics, educators, business leaders and the general populace espouse the internationalization of U.S. Business school curricula in higher education as imperatives for the continued future and increased expansion of the global business frontier.  Proposals from many esteemed educational institutions, community business leaders and other major governmental bodies around the globe have recognized the inevitability of international market globalization.  Most even agree that colleges, universities, and other business leader training facilities, include into their respective internationalized educational business curricula, cultural, linguistic, and academic tools, as they are, and will be, absolute necessities for all aspiring future global business leaders.

Harvard, Columbia, and the Thunderbird School of Management, a few of the renowned higher education facilities in the United States,  all lay some claim to the origins of international business education during the advent of the 20th century or thereabouts.  Much ado was made of the US efforts at inclusion of global education as an integral part of international business training for students enrolled in those prestigious institutions. Many of those graduates would go on to become some of the nation’s leading international and domestic business and community leaders.

This author opines however that failure to understand the seismic impact that the “rapid pace of change in the next century “(Estrada, 2010) will have on the new horizon, and to be faced by future business leaders, cannot be delayed until students reach the College or University level.

This training must begin much sooner!

Early childhood, kindergarten through grade 12 (k-12) is where multi-lingual, and multi-cultural education, foundations for the future globalization of business must begin.
This type of training will provide students with the early cultural, linguistic, perception, social outlook, ethnic considerations and skills to interact on a more level playing field with their counterparts from around the world.

If American  students are to absorb and adapt to the rapidly changing internationalization of global enterprise, they must not only be of the highest caliber in Reading, Writing, Math and Science, they must also become students of the world, as this is the platform upon which many will be called upon to perform. Preferably, while being proud of their nationality they should be imbued with a vision of themselves as citizens of the world.
During a recent coffee house discussion with a gentleman of Ethiopian heritage, it was discovered that this gentleman’s educational background and current achievements revealed the foundation of this authors premise not only valid, but achievable, should the worlds of education, academe, and business choose to promote and demand it.
After emigrating from Ethiopia, he was approximately 12 years of age.  Upon entering middle school, the lad already spoke at least 5 languages fluently, (Oromo, English, Amharic, Semitic, Cushitic), and several other dialects of the 77-80 languages spoken in his native Ethiopia.  He identified his lack of early childhood training in the European languages as a shortcoming in his education!

Once accepted into the San Diego School system, he excelled in Math and Science, facilitated by his early (k-12) training, his linguistic prowess, and his rapid assimilation into American culture.  His extensive early preparation in multiple languages and cultures, combined with the rigorous training in the computational disciplines,  ensured he soon surpassed the accomplishments of many of his native born peers. In fact the top graduates of his middle school class were predominantly immigrants from African countries, though they composed less than six percent of the ethnic mix of his graduating class.  This accomplishment must not be written off as individual genius, though genius he may be, his accomplishments measured against those of his age and class mates demonstrate the advantages early childhood education imbued upon students fortunate enough to be recipient of such training. It appears to have set them on the precipice of continued academic and future excellence.

Currently pursuing a doctoral degree in Health Sciences, his experience provides an evidentiary platform for the argument that multi-cultural and multi-lingual education combined with rigorous teachings during the k-12 years in math, science, and cross-cultural studies will provide future business leaders with an exceptional foundation and preparation.  Skill sets which will allow them to excel in a globally expanded international marketplace, as excellent practitioners, managing and functioning in complete understanding and alignment with the foreign nationals with whom they interact.
Author Rob Harrison offers his “key strategies for future success as a global business” (Harrison, 2006).   They are;

“forget the past, think global, base business on knowledge and information, create an information-based organization, concentrate on core competencies, reduce organizational levels, provide life-long learning opportunities, practice global benchmarking, and create partnerships inside and outside the organization” (Harrison, 2006).

Mr. Harrison’s strategies are competencies that should be indelibly ingrained in the core makeup of each global leader.  Formulation of the skill sets espoused by Mr. Harrison cannot be minimized during the early formative years of the k-12 student population.

Many studies validate the efficacy of early childhood educational training in language skills, a vital component of cultural understanding during developmental negotiations and marketing strategy so crucial to future global business development and practice  (Department of Education and Early Childhood Development, Victoria Australia [DEECD, Melbourne], 2008).

Perusing the entire world as a marketplace, multi-cultural and multi-lingual exposure must begin during the early kindergarten through grade 12 years (k-12). This is when  a youthful  student’s unquenchable thirst for knowledge helps them to absorb, and have a globally open perspective, prior to introductions of stereotypes, cultural and ethnic bias, and a world vision limited by regionalism and isolationism.  As Harrison points out if the world is truly the global stage, benchmarking must be performed in “global measure”, else severe positive and negative excess may result from the most minute miscalculation.
Louis Derman-Sparks and the ABC Taskforce in writing “The Anti-Bias Curriculum” posited “Contemporary multicultural education is greatly influenced by sociology”.  The sociology can be ethnic, national, religious, or gender-centered, to name just a few.  Acceptance of this theory however lays a foundation explaining “why” education and Global Business leader development must begin during the k-12 educational framework, and not be relegated to the near adult learning environment in the College, Business School and University environment.

British author Julia Resnick states; “The relevance of multicultural skills in global management alongside the decay of multiculturalism in public education systems entails a growing educational disparity between lower class and higher class children” (Resnick, 2009, p. 1).

Throughout many areas of the world, education is far more likely not received by all in equal proportions.  This denial of opportunity inadvertently or otherwise robs a culturally diverse and rich global environment of a vast array of potential intellectual capital (Sinagatullin, 2004).

A noted lecturer, Dr. Kamal Ranasinghé  … paraphrased here …recently stated,  “Who’s to say where the next great invention, medical cure, or revolutionary idea in business will come from?”  He iterated further, that  “The U.S.  hosts , and provides,  the greatest array of educational opportunity on the planet…”( Ranasinghé,2010),

“yet it  continues to rapidly fall behind other countries in the ratings of early childhood education”(Kulzer, Cordiero, & Mendes, 2009).

This leads to,  in this author’s opinion, a dearth of well qualified, socially, linguistically, and culturally prepared future business leaders.

We appear in the United States to be perpetually waiting for those entering American higher education to become interested in business, international relations and trade …waiting for them to emerge after a few years of adult education into various social and cultural dynamics. We expect them – somehow – to be prepared not only to compete, but to excel on the global stage.  The escalating train of thought is that this active model in the United States of America has been, and is, failing (Wardle, 2008).

This failure of early American education manifests itself daily in international business and business retraction, market share and restraint.  Culminating often in escalations of cultural and ethnic strife in global marketing, and increasing imbalances in trade between global business’ …and their trading partners.

The early training discussed in this article should provide future American business leaders with a foundational insight and understanding into other cultures…especially since  young minds are  ripe for the “new advances” in future business practices. This in turn will lend increased efficacy to business development of corporate strategies in multi-national, international, and global market undertakings.  Allowed to live the language and culture of other ethnic, and linguistically different cultures will allow exposed students to see, sense, live and breathe the language and culture in ways which develop sensitivity and ingrained knowledge of how they can do business, and participate as excellent global citizens of the world.  Experiencing reality as the consumer does, knowing the strategies that will move the business to the next level, maximizing profit for shareholders, and laying claim to a long-term corporate development and presence.

It does not take a far stretch of the imagination to visualize how a young mind, trained during and throughout its formative and higher educational years, will provide new and innovative ways of promoting, developing, and servicing worldwide global markets, while expanding the profit and influence of the business’ they represent around the world.

References

British Journal of Educational Studies. (2009). MULTICULTURAL EDUCATION – GOOD FOR BUSINESS BUT NOT FOR THE STATE? THE IB CURRICULUM AND GLOBAL CAPITALISM

Department of Education and Early Childhood Development, Victoria Australia. (2008). Blueprint for Education and Early Childhood Development. Retrieved from http://www.eduweb.vic.gov.au/edulibrary/public/commrel/policy/multicultural-ed-strategy.pdf

Estrada, D. (2010). More Education and Cash Transfers needed to Fight Inequality. Retrieved from http://www/ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=53738

Harrison, R. (2006). Look Wide: The Impact of Global Business in Professional Education. British Journal of Administrative Management.

Kulzer, R. L., Cordiero, L. M., & Mendes, L. D. (2009). Development of e-Learning Modules for the K-12 Programs of Brazilian Public Schools. Manuscript in preparation.

Peet, S. (2006). A Message from Steve Peet (Issue Brief). U.K.: British Journal of Administrative Management.

Ranasinghé, K. L, Ph.D., DBA, (2010) Lecture – OPS/GM571 INTERNATIONAL OPERATIONS MANAGEMENT, University of Phoenix

Resnick, J. (2009). MULTICULTURAL EDUCATION – GOOD FOR BUSINESS BUT NOT FOR THE STATE? THE IB CURRICULUM AND GLOBAL CAPITALISM

. Retrieved from http://www.ingentaconnect.com/content/bpl/bjes/2009/00000057/00000003/art00001

Sinagatullin, I. M. (2004). A Global Glimpse of Multicultural Education: CONSTRUCTING MULTICULTURAL EdUCATION IN A DIVERSE SOCIETY . Retrieved from http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qa3935/is_200410/ai_n9464762/

Walker, J. (in press). Language and Culture Requirements in International Business Majors at (AACSB)-Accredited Business Schools. Journal of Teaching in International Business, 20:293–311, 2009.

Wardle, F. (2008). Multicultural and Multilingual Education in Early Childhood ( infants to age-8 ) Programs. Manuscript in preparation.

by Kara L. Meyer MBA

As we move into the second decade of this new millennium, American business leaders cannot afford to limit themselves to considerations pertaining only to their domestic environment.  2010 continued to produce a vastly expanded range of cross-continental commerce, making it imperative for any effective American business leader – and his staff – to possess a global mindset.  Increasingly, the line separating domestic and global has become blurred – even nonexistent – and American businesses must recognize an inadequacy in their organization’s ability to compete with their globally-inclined counterparts.

In seeking to understand the reasons for this circumstance – and many such circumstances exist – this writer is of the opinion that the foundational issue revolves around one in particular:  American education.  The effects of a sub-par national education system, coupled with an overall complacency towards understanding the ethnic, social, religious cultural and national imperatives of those making up today’s dynamic global environment -  are negatively affecting the American people’s ability to succeed.

Americans – as opposed to citizenry in most other nations – are curtailed during their early, formative years from learning about the rest of the world.  International emphases have been virtually erased from American educational programs. This, when combined with faculty bereft of any “real” global expertise, ( i.e. expertise actually garnered from working  “on-the-ground”  overseas …rather than from reading American  texts on ‘how to do business globally’) American students face near insurmountable obstacles to their education. The sad truth is that such students face such hurdles without ever being aware of these impediments.  For a nation whose elected officials proclaim at the top of their lungs that America is “a global leadership nation,” how can something as integral to this country’s success as specific facets of the education of its future leaders be so blatantly overlooked?  In this globally interlinked environment, how is it possible that so few educational programs address the need for a significant global component in their curricula?  I am behind the times…I cannot catch up…but I just don’t care…

On December 10, 2010, the New York Times released a report detailing the latest international scores from the Program for International Student Assessment (PISA), a standardized test administered to 15-year-old students by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (New York Times, 2010).  China’s debut in international standardized testing amazed experts. Chinese 15-year-olds outscored their international counterparts in dozens of other countries in subjects ranging from reading and math to science.  Scores from Shanghai reflect the culture of education in China: greater emphasis on instructor education and more time involved in studying as opposed to extracurricular activities (New York Times, 2010). More time actually studying? Instead of on extra-curricular activities? What a novel idea!

In an interview on December 6, 2010, United States Secretary of Education Arne Duncan said,

“I know skeptics will want to argue with the results, but we consider them to be accurate and reliable, and we have to see them as a challenge to get better…the United States came in 23rd or 24th in most subjects.  We can quibble, or we can face the brutal truth that we’re being out-educated.” (New York Times, 2010)

The abysmal state of global awareness that the American education system imparts to its students serves to prepare them simply to be behind the rest of the world. This, in turn, creating a debilitating effect upon the quality of globally aware, internationally sophisticated, globally prepared U.S. citizens produced here in the United States.

It is this writer’s belief that, at least in global endeavor, American students – and subsequently American business leaders – are falling further and further behind their international counterparts.

Shortly before this article was completed, and just after the results from the most recent PISA assessment were released, an article from the Oregonian revealed something a bit shocking: Oregon middle and high school students were now being allowed to use a spell check tool on their computers for state standardized tests in 2011.  Perhaps it was just too difficult to teach the students the basics of the language they have spoken – in some form or fashion – for their entire lives?     State Superintendent Susan Castillo told the Oregonian, “ We are not letting a student’s keyboarding skills get in the way of being able to judge their writing ability” (Oregonian, 2010).  Srue, but what if they smpily cnaont slepl?

Oregon State Representative Sherrie Sprenger said:

“The concern I was hearing from colleagues in my school districts is that seeing a kid struggle with spelling on the test forces them to continue to work on spelling with that student…Instead, we’re going to be saying there’s a tool to adapt for that. But there’s value in continuing to persevere in learning that skill.”  (Oregonian, 2010).

So, while 15-year-olds in Shanghai were producing amazing test scores, 15-year-olds in the United States were being allowed to use spell check.  Fantastic.

In March 2010, a Texas Board of Education panel pushed through substantial changes to Social Studies textbooks distributed to students from elementary to high school.  Elected to the panel members – whose professional/vocational calling ranged from real estate agents to dentists  -  pushed through over 200 amendments to recommendations from teachers, professors and education industry experts in the field of economics, sociology, and history (New York Times, 2010).  The amendments are significant – not only in Texas but in the rest of the country – as this state is one of the nation’s leading purchasers of textbooks.  These elected officials have placed their conservative stamp (Note: this writer meant conservative NOT Republican, for those who may presume a political statement was being proffered) – steeped in prejudicial values, religious fervor, and anti-globalization ideals – on the next decade of textbooks and, consequently, the next decade of students across the United States.

Throughout and after her own graduate level endeavor, this writer interacted with many other Masters level alumni and students from around the nation.  In numerous personal discussions she found many individuals pointed to an extraordinary chasm which existed in the level, depth and continuous accrual of vital, current, global and cross-cultural awareness amongst the majority of the faculty with whom they had to work.  Many students this writer spoke with about their experience in American higher education spoke to the adamant refusal of university administrators to take heed of the aforementioned shortcomings. This insult – levied at their own students – was only compounded by the ensuing rejection of the idea that such deficiencies could possibly exist in their “carefully vetted” staff.

Sadly, the overwhelming majority of the American degree-seeking students, however, had absolutely no opinion on the matter at all.  Of course, this writer acknowledges that this could be simply because the students were completely unaware that they were being short-changed.  Essentially, many of the individuals this writer had the opportunity to speak with may have been – when students – so ill-prepared for degree classes focusing on current global issues they were unaware the faculty person knew so little.  Unfortunately, this produces classroom after classroom of future American business leaders without any idea as to the professional environments they are preparing to enter.

After several months and myriad interviews, it became apparent that – at many American universities with a declared objective to provide world-class business education – the quality of instruction took a back seat to the administration’s private agenda.  Amongst the many discussions she had it became apparent that, for instance, at one particular institution (which could serve as an example of many others) a prevailing posture (and it continues as of the writing of this article) amongst the senior directors of the Graduate School of Business was to first excuse, then downplay the students’ grievances about faculty incompetence.  Student complaints were either systematically ignored or aggressively attacked by the head of the department…but the institution continued to collect federal aid money.  Is it any wonder there has been such a reaction to the exponential increases in tuition?

The vast majority of faculty chosen to instruct students in global business are considerably under qualified, though not in the way which may first come to mind.  This writer says nothing of their individual academic qualifications; the primary concern is a complete lack of understanding and appreciation of other cultures, other nations, other national laws and policies…other peoples of longevity of existence on the planet. This is coupled with a dismal lack of actual executive experience in the international environment.   Perhaps they went on an extended vacation fifteen years ago with their wife’s family.  Maybe they served in a branch of the U.S. military for a time.  None of that provides in-depth, current, expertise in global affairs.
It is also possible they were chosen to teach for the simple fact that they are – by race or heritage – from some specific overseas nation and are now in the United States.  For example: how does someone of Irish background, an academically and vocationally-qualified microbiologist, add anything to a graduate class which is supposed to be focused on international finance?  A course which – inherently – requires an understanding of current finance issues around the world…not just in Ireland?  An effective instructor of international business has been continuously exposed to cultures other than his own, possessing the knowledge and cultural appreciation necessary to effectively underscore the importance of extending one’s mind outside the pre-programmed domestic boundaries of the United States.

Obviously there are – albeit a precious few – graduate faculty who are excellent global business instructors. Beyond their constantly updated awareness of global imperatives, however, such faculty encourages their students to undertake a critical examination of their own beliefs, values and attitudes.  Through the utilization of globally-inclined assignments, lectures and dynamic educational expertise underpinned by their own recent international experiences, proper academic debate …even polite controversy… is vigorously pursued as students are continually exposed to ideas, cultures and people uniquely different from what many American students consider to be “normal.”   In many instances, these instructors provide the first look at a world of “besides America.”  The caliber of the teacher directly affects the caliber of the student.

Individuals – and not just Americans – should think back to their own education. Was there a significant global component in any of the courses completed?  Who was teaching these courses…were they qualified to do so?  From whence did they come by their qualifications?  Apart from extended vacations abroad…was there anyone amongst the faculty who had actually operated a business outside the United States?  Someone who had accrued an in-depth understanding and appreciation of a culture outside their home country?  Was there an exchange program offered at the university?  Did the institution offer regular study abroad programs?  How many universities in the United States mandate courses devoted strictly to other areas of the world?  How many business programs require fluency in a second or third language?

The question which arises for this writer is how such American institutions actually receive accreditation….at least for their Global business/management programs.   Do the American accreditation bodies actually have people on staff capable of vetting such programs? That would mean functioning academics with the sort of global expertise mentioned above.  Does the United States Department of Education actually demand of the regional accreditation bodies that they vet more strenuously?  Demand of institutions that they prove their Global business faculty have actually operated businesses overseas?    Why do they not require of accredited American institutions that the accreditation site visitors be actually allowed to speak to a random sampling of students (a sampling chosen at random by the accreditation board itself…not carefully vetted and put forth by the institutions themselves) who are actually enrolled in these courses?

This writer supposes that if an American institution can get by the accreditation process simply by saying it has faculty to teach the classes…in a supine fashion, the accreditation bodies allow them to go ahead and teach.  This would surely explain the rift between the manner of the knowledge necessarily present in a global expert as opposed to the clowns some institutions try to pass off as such.  By decreasing the quality of the faculty person and increasing the amount of tuition, universities all over the country are making millions in one of the worst economic downturns in American history.

As part of her professional undertakings this writer has been interacting – internationally – with multimillion dollar buyers from the Middle East, South America and various countries in the European Union.  In so doing she had to work alongside American (and other) professional compatriots as the interests and needs of the international clientele were addressed.  Over the years it became apparent that insularity, complacency, arrogance and an embarrassing lack of awareness amongst the leaders of her American employing organizations was prevalent.  This awareness – and continual embarrassment – carried on through her graduate studies as she met more and more executive level adults who were completely oblivious of the world in which the United States is an integral yet fractional part.

Over several years it has become apparent to this writer that a significant impediment to America’s global business success has been the abysmal lack of socio-religio-cultural-national awareness of the global arena.  This is especially so amongst the ranks of the decision making executives of multinational corporations.  Inevitably these are corporations which are either already functioning internationally or have ambitions to succeed in the international environment.  They seem to be under the illusion that the outdated, American-inspired technical knowledge of the deal-making process is enough to carry them through any negotiation with any other party. They could not be more wrong. Indeed, it is this arrogance which will surely derail any negotiation almost before it has begun.

It is this writer’s contention that the most debilitating factor for American businesses has been – and will continue to be for the foreseeable future – the lack of in-depth, constantly updated awareness by senior American executives of the constantly evolving social, religious, national, regional and cultural imperatives held by the people they will have to deal with around the world.  In this new decade and beyond, such Americans will not be constrained only to competing with incredibly well-educated, globally-sophisticated executives of overseas organizations; they will need to deal with government officers, heads of agencies, and overseas entrepreneurs. Indeed they will need to understand overseas citizenry.

This speaks to a worrying lack of awareness of the volatility and constantly evolving nature of global issues across all divisions of most businesses.  For instance, in the case of human capital management in the United States…at a time when more and more talented, multilingual, globally sophisticated, overly well-qualified executives from around the world now compete with Americans…most American human resource departments are ignorant of how to deal with talented new staff – whose antecedents lie overseas – yet are now an integral part of the American employee constituency.

Wake up, America.  It’s a long fall from the top.

References

The New York Times.  Shanghai Test Scores Stun Educators.  December 7, 2010.  Retrieved December 7, 2010, from http://nytimes.ms.ggqRCn

The New York Times.  Texas Conservatives Win Curricula Change. March 12, 2010.  Retrieved December 10, 2010, from http://www.nytimes.com/2010/03/13/education/13texas.html

The Oregonian.  Oregon will Allow Students to use Spell Check on State Writing Tests in 2011. December 14, 2010.  Retrieved January 2, 2011 from
http://www.oregonlive.com/education/index.ssf/2010/12/oregon_will_allow_students_to.html

Greetings Global Villagers!

2010 has been an interesting year… hasn’t it ? I do hope you have found the snippets I have compiled over the last year useful …indeed I do hope you enjoyed reviewing them from time to time. Do let us know.

To lead us into 2011 then …here – for the last time this year – are some “Snippets” of information from around the world, gleaned from my daily (somewhat eclectic) review of much that I have shared with you over the last few months.

This is an attenuated review of the world’s Main Business and Political Global events as we move inexorably toward the end of 2010. I take the liberty to share these with you especially since our mutual abiding interest in global issues probably requires on-going awareness of the Global environment (of which America is an integral part). Further I do hope that this little effort will be such that each of you may wish to do further research and reading on any matters which spur your interest.

Please note that these snippets are extrapolated from material kindly despatched by Britain’s ‘Economist’ (All Rights Reserved. Copyright, The Economist London 2010.)

In addition I have included a recent item which emanates from the PPI. PPI’s Project on Trade & Global Markets focuses on globalization to reflect interests and values, through a combination of open trade, international rules to protect the environment and promote labour standards. Among its primary purposes is the effort to provide Americans with the tools they need to compete …in the global arena. All Rights Reserved.

Obviously if you wish to discuss any item with your GETDA colleagues ….go ahead and raise the matters in/ at our GETDA Linkedin site.

The URL link is http://www.linkedin.com/groups?gid=2787028.

A YEAR END LOOK AT NEWS FROM AROUND THE WORLD

High levels of public debt among countries in the EURO ZONE turned into a full-blown crisis for the European currency block. As markets began to lose confidence in the ability of a few countries to finance their debt, and rapidly pushed up their borrowing costs, the European Union and the IMF eventually resolved to bail out GREECE and, later, IRELAND. Investors also fretted over Spain and Portugal. Measures to tackle BUDGET DEFICITS were met with protests, especially in Greece, which endured strikes and riots. In FRANCE 1m people demonstrated against pension reforms in a single day.

As Europe tightened its fiscal belt, America passed more stimulus measures. Barack Obama also signed into law the most sweeping changes to America’s FINANCIAL-REGULATORY SYSTEM since the 1930s and a HEALTH-CARE REFORM ACT that was hailed by many as America’s most significant piece of social legislation since the 1960s. Conservatives challenged the act in the courts.

Unease about deficits and the “jobless recovery” were factors behind the increasing clout of TEA-PARTIERS in America. With their support the Republicans scored a sensational win in a special election for Ted Kennedy’s former Senate seat in MASSACHUSETTS. November’s MID-TERM ELECTIONS saw the Democrats swept from power in the House by the biggest swing to the Republicans in decades. Congress ended the year on its lowest-ever Gallup approval rating–13%.

In CHINA the main worry was of an overheating economy. The central bank unexpectedly raised interest rates for the first time in three years amid concerns about inflation. Official trade statistics showed China had overtaken Germany as the world’s BIGGEST EXPORTER. Tensions over CURRENCY POLICY were at the forefront during summits of the G20 and IMF.

GOOGLE had a spat with China over censorship and a cyber-attack on its website there, causing it to redirect its Chinese internet searches through Hong Kong. ( From Dr. KLR : Interesting that Google thinks that its global users are unaware that Hong Kong is , in fact , part of the PRC ) Separately, Google, Facebook and others promised to do more to protect PRIVACY after an outcry about their handling of users’ personal data.

THE YEAR OF LIVING DANGEROUSLY

An earthquake in HAITI was a humanitarian disaster, killing at least 230,000 people and leaving 1m homeless. The quake devastated Port-au-Prince and left swathes of the country’s fragile infrastructure in ruins. A deadly outbreak of cholera later in the year and political unrest compounded the misery.

Drifting ash clouds emanating from a VOLCANO in Iceland led to the closure of European air space for several days, causing the biggest disruption to worldwide air travel since September 11th 2001.

American combat operations ended in IRAQ, seven years ( not as the Previous American President proudly pontificated had occurred much earlier ) after the start of the war. Around 50,000 troops remain in a support role until the end of 2011. Iraq continued to be troubled by violence and suicide-bombs after the Americans departed. An election was held in March, though a new government didn’t begin to emerge until November.

The war in AFGHANISTAN rumbled on. Coalition troops mounted their biggest offensive against the Taliban since 2001. The deaths of civilians in targeted missile attacks aimed at the Taliban and al-Qaeda caused rows. GENERAL STANLEY MCCHRYSTAL was sacked as commander of coalition forces after a magazine published an interview in which he disparaged the handling of the war by America’s civilian leadership. General David Petraeus took charge.

PAKISTAN endured another year of severe terrorist attacks, starting on January 1st when a suicide-bomber killed 100 people at a volleyball match. In July, the Pakistani Taliban claimed responsibility for huge blasts at a Sufi shrine in Lahore and at a market in the tribal area. Rioting in Karachi after the assassination of a politician killed scores. Relentless FLOODING from exceptionally heavy monsoon rains affected 20m people, adding to the country’s woes.

Among the year’s other deadliest terror attacks were co-ordinated bombings at two crowded bars in Kampala, the UGANDAN capital. The Shabab, a SOMALI Islamist militia, claimed responsibility.

THE HEAT IS ON

A spate of terrorist assaults in RUSSIA, including a suicide-bombing on the Moscow metro, killed scores of people. Chechen separatists were blamed. The hottest summer in Russian history resulted in hundreds of WILDFIRES, causing a public-health crisis in Moscow when smoke enveloped the city.

A spoof broadcast in GEORGIA claiming that Russia had invaded the country caused panic. The bulletin, using imagery from the 2008 Russia-Georgia war, prompted people to flee Tbilisi, the capital.

After months of cajoling, ISRAEL and the PALESTINIANS sat around the table for direct talks, though the negotiations soon broke down over the building of Jewish settlements on the West Bank. The American-Israeli relationship became somewhat strained.

Israeli intelligence was said to be behind the assassination of a senior HAMAS military leader, who was killed at a hotel in Dubai. A diplomatic row ensued when it emerged that the assassins had travelled under the stolen identities of European and Australian citizens. There was another international ruckus when Israeli commandos shot dead nine people on a TURKISH SHIP with humanitarian supplies bound for Gaza.

The world cheered when all 33 men trapped underground for 69 days at a mine in Chile were brought safely to the surface. But MINING accidents in China, Russia, West Virginia, New Zealand and Turkey each killed dozens of workers.

An election in BRITAIN saw Labour booted out of power after 13 years.
The Conservatives emerged as the biggest party but without an overall majority. After a few tense days of talks, the Conservatives formed a coalition (the first in Britain since the 1940s) with the Liberal Democrats, who came third at the polls. The new government, led by David Cameron, embarked on a radical programme of spending cuts.

JOYFUL AND TRIUMPHANT

In other big elections, Dilma Rousseff won the presidency in BRAZIL, the first woman to do so. Julia Gillard became AUSTRALIA’S first female prime minister after ousting Kevin Rudd; she kept the job after a subsequent election. For the first time in 50 years CHILE elected a conservative president, Sebastian Pinera. Mahinda Rajapaksa was re-elected as SRI LANKA’S president; his opponent was arrested soon after. Benigno Aquino won a presidential election in the PHILIPPINES; he is the son of a late president, Corazon “Cory” Aquino. And Viktor Yanukovich was elected president of UKRAINE, though Yulia Tymoshenko, his opponent, mounted a brief challenge to the result in court.

POLAND’S president, Lech Kaczynski, was killed in a plane crash near Smolensk, Russia, along with the head of Poland’s central bank, senior diplomats and military leaders. The ensuing presidential election was won by Bronislaw Komorowski, who defeated Mr Kaczynski’s twin brother, Jaroslaw.

An explosion at a BP well in the Gulf of Mexico in April killed 11 men and caused the world’s biggest civilian OIL SPILL to date, before the wellhead on the sea floor was finally sealed in September. The catastrophe forced a halt to commercial fishing in the area and a moratorium on drilling. The Obama administration faced sustained criticism of its handling of the crisis. BP’s share price slumped, wiping out almost half its stockmarket value. In December America launched a lawsuit against BP and other companies potentially liable for the spill for billions of dollars in damages.

NORTH KOREA’S increasingly bellicose attitude towards SOUTH KOREA rattled the world. The sinking of a South Korean navy ship with the loss of 46 sailors was blamed on a torpedo attack by the North. Later in the year the North launched an artillery barrage against a tiny South Korean island. Kim Jong Un, the youngest son of Kim Jong Il, North Korea’s ailing Dear Leader, moved up the ranks as heir apparent.

Naoto Kan became JAPAN’S third prime minister within two years when Yukio Hatoyama resigned after reneging on a promise to remove the American marine base near Okinawa.

A recall of TOYOTA vehicles in America amid reports of sticking accelerator pedals proved to be a public-relations disaster for the carmaker, compelling its boss to apologise at a congressional hearing.

There was more turmoil in THAILAND when red-shirted opposition protesters set up an encampment in central Bangkok. After a two-month stand-off the army moved in to clear the streets; 50 people were killed in the resulting clashes.

Aung San Suu Kyi was released from house arrest by MYANMAR’S ruling military junta. She had spent much of the past 20 years in detention and was freed after Myanmar’s first national election since 1990. The ballot was rigged to favour the junta’s candidates.

Goodluck Jonathan became president of NIGERIA when the ailing and absent Umaru Yar’Adua was deemed too ill to continue in office (he died in May). There was further bloody conflict along ethnic lines between Christians and Muslims near the city of Jos.

Ethnic rioting in KYRGYZSTAN between Kyrgyz and Uzbeks in the south of the country displaced hundreds of thousands and threatened to turn into a civil war.

THE “HOT POTATO” EFFECT

Stockmarkets around the world had a bumpy year, none more so than the Dow Jones Industrial Average, which plunged dramatically within a matter of minutes on May 6th, only to recover the losses some 20 minutes later. An investigation found that a poorly executed algorithmic trade was at the root of the “FLASH CRASH”.

KRAFT FOODS bought CADBURY in a $19 billion takeover, one of the biggest of the year, though the sale was contentious. After stepping down as Cadbury’s chairman, Roger Carr said that Britain had become “the most open goal of almost any country…in terms of foreign takeovers”. Mr Carr becomes head of the Confederation of British Industry in June.

ALL I WANT FOR CHRISTMAS…

Apple started selling the IPAD, a computer tablet that looked set to revolutionise digital publishing. Apple overtook Microsoft as the world’s biggest technology company.

Among the year’s SPORTING EVENTS, the winter Olympics were hosted by Vancouver, the World Cup was held in South Africa (and won for the first time by Spain) and the Commonwealth games took place in Delhi, though some competitors threatened to pull out because of poor hygienic conditions at the athletes’ village. An annual event in England where challengers chase a wheel of cheese down a hill was officially cancelled on health-and-safety grounds.

Globalisation : Optimism is on the move—with important consequences for both the hopeful and the hopeless
From The Economist (PRINT EDITION) on 16th Dec 2010 ::
“HOPE” is one of the most overused words in public life, up there with “change”. Yet it matters enormously. Politicians pay close attention to right-track/wrong-track indicators. Confidence determines whether consumers spend, and so whether companies invest. The “power of positive thinking”, as Norman Vincent Peale pointed out, is enormous.

For the past 400 years the West has enjoyed a comparative advantage over the rest of the world when it comes to optimism. Western intellectuals dreamed up the ideas of enlightenment and progress, and Western men of affairs harnessed technology to impose their will on the rest of the world. The Founding Fathers of the United States, who firmly believed that the country they created would be better than any that had come before, offered citizens not just life and liberty but also the pursuit of happiness.

Not that the West was free of appalling brutality. Indeed, the search for Utopia can bring out the worst as well as the best in mankind. But the notion that the human condition was susceptible to continual improvement sat more comfortably with Western scientific materialism than with, say, the caste system in India or serfdom in Russia.

Now hope is on the move. According to the Pew Research Centre, some 87% of Chinese, 50% of Brazilians and 45% of Indians think their country is going in the right direction, whereas 31% of Britons, 30% of Americans and 26% of the French do. Companies, meanwhile, are investing in “emerging markets” and sidelining the developed world. “Go east, young man” looks set to become the rallying cry of the 21st century.

Desperation Road

The West’s growing pessimism is reshaping political life. Two years after Barack Obama’s hope-filled inauguration the mood in Washington is as glum as it has been since Jimmy Carter argued that America was suffering from “malaise”. The Democrats’ dream that the country was on the verge of a 1960s-style liberal renaissance foundered in the mid-terms. But the Republicans are hardly hopeful: their creed leans towards anger and resentment rather than Reaganite optimism.

Europe, meanwhile, has seen mass protests, some of them violent, on the streets of Athens, Dublin, London, Madrid, Paris and Rome. If the countries on the European Union’s periphery are down in the dumps it is hardly surprising, but there is pessimism at its more successful core too. The bestselling book in Germany is Thilo Sarrazin’s “Germany Does Away with Itself”, a jeremiad about the “fact” that less able women (particularly Muslims) are having more children than their brighter sisters. French intellectuals will soon have Jean-Pierre Chevènement’s “Is France Finished?” on their shelves alongside Eric Zemmour’s “French Melancholy”.

The immediate explanation for this asymmetry is the economic crisis, which has not just shaken Westerners’ confidence in the system that they built, but also widened the growth gap between mature and emerging economies. China and India are growing by 10% and 9%, compared with 3% for America and 2% for Europe. Many European countries’ unemployment rates are disgraceful even by their own dismal standards: 41% of young Spaniards are unemployed, for example. And the great American job machine has stalled: one in ten is unemployed and more than a million may have given up looking for work. But the change goes deeper than that—to the dreams that have propelled the West.

For most of its history America has kept its promise to give its citizens a good chance of living better than their parents. But these days, less than half of Americans think their children’s living standards will be better than theirs. Experience has made them gloomy: the income of the median worker has been more or less stagnant since the mid-1970s, and, thanks to a combination of failing schools and disappearing mid-level jobs, social mobility in America is now among the lowest in the rich world.

European dreams are different from American ones, but just as important to hopes of a peaceful and prosperous future. They come in two forms: an ever deeper European Union (banishing nationalism) and ever more generous welfare states (offering security). With the break-up of the euro a possibility, and governments sinking under the burden of unaffordable entitlements as their populations age and the number of workers contracts, those happy notions are evaporating.

Shift happens

In the emerging world, meanwhile, they are not arguing about pensions, but building colleges. China’s university population has quadrupled in the past two decades. UNESCO notes that the proportion of scientific researchers based in the developing world increased from 30% in 2002 to 38% in 2007. World-class companies such as India’s Infosys and China’s Huawei are beating developed-country competitors.

The rise of positive thinking in the emerging world is something to be welcomed—not least because it challenges the status quo. Nandan Nilekani of Infosys says that his company’s greatest achievement lies not in producing technology but in redefining the boundaries of the possible. If people in other countries take those ideas seriously, they will make life uncomfortable for gerontocrats in China and Arabia.

But there are dangers, too. Optimism can easily become irrational exuberance: asset prices in some emerging markets have risen too high. And there is a danger of a Western backlash. Unless developing countries start taking their responsibility for global security seriously, Americans and Europeans may begin to wonder why they are policing the world to keep markets open for others to get rich.

As for the Westerners’ gloom, it has its uses. There Should Be a growing recognition that the old rich world cannot take its prosperity for granted—that it will be overtaken by hungrier powers if it fails to deal with its structural problems. Americans are beginning to accept that their country must become less spendthrift. Europeans are realising that they need to make their economies more agile and innovative. Both are beginning to treat this crisis as the opportunity that it is.

Nor should Westerners overdo the despair, for the emergence of new great powers will benefit them, too. True, their governments will find it harder to boss the rest of the world around; their most desirable properties will increasingly be owned by foreigners; their children will have to work harder to get good jobs in an increasingly globalised economy. But the rising number of Indians, Chinese and Brazilians who can afford to buy their products and services will help their companies prosper. The countries that have provided them with workers will increasingly provide them with customers too.

It may not feel like it in the West, but this is, in many ways, the best of times. Hundreds of millions are climbing out of poverty. The internet gives ordinary people access to information that even the most privileged scholar could not have dreamed of a few years ago. Medical advances are conquering diseases and extending lifespans. For most of human history, only a privileged few have reasonably been able to hope that the future would be better than the present. Today the masses everywhere can. That is surely reason to be optimistic.

For further information on ALL these snippets of world news you may wish to look to the full articles in the Economist.
*************************************
…and , as promised from PPI
The world has become more peaceful.

THE NUMBERS: Average annual deaths in armed conflicts, worldwide -

WHAT THEY MEAN:

The traditional Christmas wish — peace on earth — is usually made in a wistful tone, mixing sincere hope with awareness of a more brutal reality. But perhaps this is too cynical. Surveying the world of warfare, the Human Security Center at the University of British Columbia finds some startling and remarkably good news. Three examples:

Wars are less frequent: The Center’s 2009/2010 report group finds 34 conflicts, including 5 international wars in Afghanistan, Iraq, and the Congo Basin. This is a lower total than at any time since the 1970s, reflecting the fact that warfare in Europe has almost vanished, with exceptions in the Caucasus; and that the numbers of wars in East Asia, Southeast Asia, and Latin America have also plummeted. And despite the Iraq, Afghan, Somalia and Yemen conflicts, the Center argues that wars in the Muslim world are rarer too, reporting a decline of 70 percent in the scale of conflict in these regions.

Great-power wars are rare: No war has pitted great powers — meaning any of the world’s 10 biggest economies — against one another since the Sino-Soviet clashes of 1969. No war among Asian states has broken out since the Sino-Vietnamese war of 1979; the last war among European big powers is now 65 years in the past. All three intervals — the great-power, the European, and the Asian — are the longest periods of peace in the historical record.

Wars are less bloody: The report, reviewing the grimmest statistics, finds that the average war in the 1950s killed 20,000 soldiers and/or guerrillas each year, with war deaths averaging 155,000 in each year of the decade. Figures for the 1960s, 1970s and 1980s were similar. In the new millennium’s first decade, the casualty rate was about 3,000 per war; the average for all wars combined, having fallen to 95,000 by the 1990s, has been 27,000 (and 17,000 annually since 2002, with an all-time low of 11,000 in 2005.)

Why? The report suggests several possible, not mutually exclusive, hypotheses. Some are political and military: (a) decolonization and the end of the Cold War mean there are fewer nationalistic or ideological reasons to fight, (b) the spread of democracy may produce less belligerent governments, (c) today’s great powers are both less bellicose and less vulnerable than they used to be, with armies, air forces and navies strong enough to deter potential aggressors, (d) lots of international activism, from peacekeeping missions to sanctions on potentially aggressive states; and (e) with notable exceptions in East and South Asia, fewer border and land disputes.

Economic issues too may play a part: lower trade barriers, more open economic policies, more efficient logistics industries and better communications technology speed up and deepen integration across borders through trade and investment, strengthening mutual interests and reducing reasons for conflict. The report suggests that a 10 percent increase in FDI reduces a nation’s chance of international or civil war by about 3 percent, and that globalization reduces the reasons a country might want to fight:

“[T]he most effective path to prosperity in modern economies is through increasing productivity and international trade, not through seizing land and raw materials. In addition, the existence of an open global trading regime means it is nearly always cheaper to buy resources from overseas than to use force to acquire them.”
Despite headlines and video, then, a visitor from the past might find the 21st-century world surprisingly peaceful. Grateful for our own blessings, DLC’s trade & global markets staff wish our readers a joyful holiday and join in the traditional hope for peace on earth in the New Year.

FURTHER READING:
The Human Security Report 2009/2010: http://www.hsrgroup.org/human-security-reports/20092010/overview.aspx
DLC’s Defense & Security page: http://www.dlc.org/ndol_ka.cfm?kaid=124

..

Dr. K.L.Ranasinghe

To a great extent the Global Executive Training and Development Association evolved out of the recognition by the founding global business practitioners/academics that among our most effective means of conveying the latest in critical country/regional information, innovative techniques for international endeavour, has been by way of our Executive Seminars.

The Global Executive Training and Development Association offers continuous on-going seminars all around the world in select areas of interests with information, resources, techniques, and methodologies pertinent to the modern global arena.

Our seminars, training, and workshops are offered in the following most popular formats:

• Intensive
  • 1-Day
  • 2-Day
  • Weekend [Friday, Saturday]

• Extended
  • 1-Week (requires attendance four days – 6 hrs each – during the week in question)
  • 2-Week Programs ( 6 hrs each day/4 days each week )

• Senior Executive retreats (Closely Controlled in terms of numbers of attendees and specific content, usually led by two or three of our most Senior speakers who are experts in global business)

GETDA Seminar Programmes are regularly arranged to meet clients’ specific needs
A hallmark of the philosophy embraced by GETDA’s founder is that it should always underpin its global purpose by being responsive to the needs and interests of its global audience and its clients. To that end GETDA will – upon request – prepare seminars ( the specific content and approach) in areas which are specifically relevant to a client entity or a group of interested potential participants. Individuals and groups wishing to discuss such specialized seminar offerings should – in the first instance – contact GETDA (by e-mail only please) with fullest details of the area of focus for the proposed seminar, dates, country etc.

GETDA Seminar Programme accrue Certificates and opportunities for membership
All attendees of a GETDA seminar are – upon successful attendance/completion of the Seminar duration awarded Certificates. This are dispatched from GETDA central HQ or, should the circumstances allow, are awarded in a closing ceremony.

For a listing of Sample Seminar Topics and training programs please contact us.

The Global Executive Training and Development Association’s purpose is offering continuous, in-depth training, and professional enhancement to global executives from around the world and to support the global business endeavour of our clients and their employers.

Working with fraternal academic entities throughout the world GETDA is in a position to bring all its Certificate Training Sessions to venues across the globe. All our past endeavour in the United States, the United Kingdom and throughout the world, has indicated that global executives, while desiring to participate in our programmes ( thereby ensuring they are on the cusp of such professional excellence) are also subject to time constraints, professional obligations etc. Additionally many global executives have specific, currently-focussed, training needs which transcend the foundational academic standing they achieved in college and university.

To this end, GETDA has found it imperative to offer our on-going selection of certificate accruing programmes. Each GETDA course is designed for a specific target audience and is intended to provide additional career enhancement for in-work professionals. To assist those interested executives who may not be able to travel to the locations where our training sessions and seminars are offered GETDA ALSO OFFERS AN EXPANDING RANGE OF ONLINE PROGRAMMES.

Certificate Programmes
With our vast pool of highly qualified speakers and global representatives, GETDA is able to offer on-going On-Ground and Online certificate programmes all over the world. As regards the certificates each successful attendee/participant receives each certificate awarded by our fraternal academic partner organization – The Swiss Management Centre – ( a US and European -Accredited institution).

ON GROUND Certificate-Accruing
Seminars and Training sessions are offered in the following popular formats:

• Intensive
  • 1-Day
  • 2-Day
  • Weekend [Friday, Saturday]

• Extended
  • 1-Week (requires attendance four days – 6 hrs each – during the week in question)
  • 2-Week Programs ( 6 hrs each day/4 days each week )

• Senior Executive retreats (Closely Controlled in terms of numbers of attendees and specific content, usually led by two or three of our Senior most speakers who are experts in global business)

ONLINE Certificate-Accruing
Programmes are offered in the following formats:

• Each course is 4 weeks long and requires minimum participation several days each week
• All participants MUST be fully computer literate and must have dedicated internet access and constant usage of own computer.
• Senior Executive Online courses (Closely Controlled in terms of numbers of attendees and specific content, usually may, in some circumstances, be shortened but the coverage of content is mandatory )
• All Online training participants who have paid fees and registered must purchase the required texts and undertake reading prior to the actual start of the course.
• All online training participants should “check in “ to the online “session venue” 2 – 3 days prior to the start date and familiarise themselves with the online milieu and the course schedule.
• GETDA’s ONLINE programmes are structured so that each course is to be only a month long. The number of contact hours can also be covered during weekends so that in-work professionals will find it possible to attend these courses even while maintaining a full professional schedule.

COMPUTER LITERACY & TECHNOLOGY REQUIREMENTS
Intending Participants of any GETDA online course – to ensure success and to garner the optimum from each course – must be competent users of modern computer technology. At a minimum they should be proficient using email, the Internet, and common desktop productivity software. Succinctly, each participant must be able to use a computer to complete the reading proffered in each GETDA course, complete any short evaluations/assignments, download course materials, and perform other tasks.

Technology Requirements :

To be registered to take a GETDA Online course each participant must confirm they meet the following technology requirement :
- a processor of 1.6 GHz or faster;
- current anti-virus application is installed on the computer they intend using … which MUST be updated regularly;
- 512 MB RAM or greater;
- 20 GB hard drive or larger;
- 56.6 kbps modem or high-speed Internet connection preferred ( DSL or Cable modem) ;
- monitor and video card with 1024 x 768 ppi or greater resolution;
- sound card and speakers;
- CD ROM;
- inkjet or laser printer;
- an e-mail address; and an Internet Service Provider account.

Software requirements include:

- Microsoft Internet Explorer 6.0 or later;
- Adobe Reader 6.0 or later;
- Microsoft Outlook Express 6.0 or later;
- Microsoft Office Suite (Latest edition highly recommended);

* Contact GETDA for more information on structure of our online courses

Registration advantages to GETDA’s Certificate programmes include:

• Upon a potential candidate contacting us, or our global representatives, there will be swift evaluation of candidate and – usually – swift registration/admission to the Certificate programme sought.

• GETDA undertakes evaluation of each interested applicants prior academic endeavour if such details are forthcoming. and consideration of prior learning and experience from qualified candidates for admission, including adult professional candidates.

• Courses are conducted as “rolling attendance” so that candidates may join at any time.

• Interested participants may take just one of the Certificate courses, or go on to take an ascending series of courses – at their own pace – which add lustre to their professional undertakings.

• Completion of each course brings a full Certificate to each attendee/participant.

For details on the Certificate accruing Programmes offered please contact us.