Great Move, Renault

"Renault was about to abandon this investment and the Moroccan state gave it huge advantages to convince Renault to continue”_Fouad Abdelmoumi Economist.

The biggest car factory in North Africa has been officially opened in Morocco by the French firm Renault.

The plant is in Melloussa, a small town on the Mediterranean near Tangiers, in an area close to Europe which offers tax benefits to manufacturers.Low-cost cars will be produced under the Dacia brand for emerging markets and Renault executives say up to 10% of the production could be sold locally. It employs about 2,000 local staff and intends to triple production by 2015. The BBC's Nora Fakim in Tangiers says this could boost staff numbers to 6,000 and create up to 35,000 jobs indirectly.
In recent years, Morocco's economy has been expanding thanks to free trade deals with international partners, but unemployment remains an issue - especially for graduates, who hold weekly protests outside parliament.
Morocco's King Mohammed VI attended the inauguration in Melloussa, along with the country's trade minister and the head of Renault. Our reporter says like many foreign companies investing in Tangiers - in an area known as the Tangiers Free Zone - Renault says it wants to help develop northern Morocco, which was neglected by past governments. Renault has invested $1.5bn (£946m) in the factory, which currently has the capacity to produce 147,000 cars annually.

Where Economics Suck: Bad News Always Making Headlines

Unexpected loss for India's Tata Steel

The company saw a net loss of 6.03bn rupees ($122m; £77m) in the third quarter, Tata Steel said in a statement.
That compares with a net profit of 10bn rupees a year earlier.
Higher prices for raw materials as well as falling demand and prices in Europe contributed to the decline, Tata said.
Analysts were expecting a 3.4bn rupee net profit, according to Reuters news agency.
The company operates two thirds of its capacity in Europe, where the debt crisis is hitting demand.
The head of Tata's European operations said he did not expect demand to pick up this year.
"We are accelerating cash conservation in expectation of muted but stable demand in our core markets in 2012," he said in a statement.
Analysts said Tata Steel was being squeezed from both sides.
"There hasn't been a demand uptick that was expected, so prices have come down," said Ravindra Deshpande from Elara Securities in Mumbai.
"At the same time, none of their production costs are lower, so margins are under pressure."
Mr Deshpande added that he did not expect much better results in the next few quarters.

JANUARY: A BAD MONTH FOR THE NEW AFRICAN MESSIAH

"We believe the major drag and biggest risk to China's growth in 2012 is weaker external demand caused by the ongoing eurozone debt crisis”_Ting Lu Bank of America Merrill Lynch.

China's exports fell in January, the first decline in more than two years, raising fresh concerns about the impact of a global slowdown on its economy.

Exports dipped 0.5% from a year earlier hurt by sluggish demand and factories being shut during the Lunar New Year.
Imports fell by 15.3%, resulting in a trade surplus of $27.3bn (£17bn) which was a six-month high.
The fall in imports comes as China has been trying to boost domestic demand in an attempt to offset slowing exports.
Analysts said while the closure of establishments during the Chinese New Year affected the numbers, the decline could not be attributed to the festival alone. They said that the bigger-than-expected drop, especially in imports, was worrying as it gave an indication of slowing growth.
"The collapse of imports begs particular attention," said Ren Xianfeng of IHS Global in Beijing.
"A fall of over 15% in January cannot be entirely explained by the lunar calendar, and adds weight to the view that economic output is slower than headline indicators might suggest."
Earlier this month, the China Federation of Logistics and Purchasing reported that the import index for January fell to 46.9 from 49.3 in the previous month, showing slowing demand at home.
Despite these numbers, analysts said the dip was likely to be short-lived and imports may start to rise in the coming months.
'Biggest risk' The export sector has been key to China's economic growth in the past few years as global firms have turned to Beijing to take advantage of its low-cost manufacturing.
However, a slowdown in the US and the eurozone, which are two of the biggest markets for Chinese goods, has seen the pace of growth of shipments slow in recent months.
The debt crisis in the eurozone and high rate of unemployment in the US have hurt consumer confidence and dented demand for Chinese goods.
Official figures on Friday showed that bilateral trade between China and the European Union fell more than 7% in January.
Analysts said the continuing debt issues in the eurozone were the biggest threat to China's growth.
"We believe the major drag and biggest risk to China's growth in 2012 is weaker external demand caused by the ongoing eurozone debt crisis," said Ting Lu of Bank of America Merrill Lynch in Hong Kong.
"Our European economists expect a moderate eurozone recession at -0.6% in 2012, while nobody knows the exact probability and severity of a collapse of the eurozone."
More pressure? China's trade surplus has been a politically sensitive issue, especially with trade partners such as the US.
Businesses and policymakers have accused China of keeping the value of its currency artificially low in a bid to boost its foreign sales.
They have argued that China's high trade surplus has been detrimental to their economic growth.
The latest data comes ahead of Chinese Vice Premier Li Keqiang's visit to the US next week.
Analysts said the latest jump in the surplus was likely to result in added pressure on China, during the vice-premier's visit, to alter its export-led growth policy.

A Bailing God for Greek's Economy

Eurozone finance ministers have set out new conditions to a 130bn euro ($170bn; £110bn) bailout for Greece.

The ministers, meeting in Brussels, said the Greek parliament would now have to pass a package of cuts and reforms on Sunday.
In addition, Greek politicians will have to find an extra 325m euros ($432m; £273m) in savings for 2012.
Greek unions had already called a 48-hour strike, beginning on Friday, in opposition to the measures.
The chairman of the meeting of Eurozone finance ministers, Luxembourg Prime Minister Jean-Claude Juncker, also said Greek leaders would have to give "strong political assurances" that they will continue to implement reforms after a general election due in April.
"Despite the important progress achieved over the last days, we did not yet have all necessary elements on the table to take decisions today," he said, referring to a plan agreed by Greece's fragile ruling coalition after days of talks.
"All these measures are important to ensure a smooth implementation of the programme also after the upcoming general elections.
"These three elements, those I mentioned, need to be in place before we can take decisions," Mr Juncker added.
He further welcomed "assurances provided by the Greek government that all the necessary elements will be put in place in the coming days," Reuters reports.
The conditions would need to be fulfilled before Eurozone finance ministers reconvene on Wednesday, he said.
Toughening mood Eurozone countries were also "seriously considering" creating a new, separate account for Greece, which would block a portion of state revenues to guarantee the repayment of bailout loans, EU economic affairs commissioner Olli Rehn said.
A Franco-German proposal on budgetary discipline, with automatic penalties for eurozone nations that overspend, is "one possibility for reinforcing surveillance and effectively implementing the programme," he said.
The BBC's Chris Morris in Brussels says that given the worsening state of the Greek economy, there is serious concern among European ministers that the overall plan for Greece - involving the new bailout as well as an agreement for private banks to write off a substantial chunk of Greek debt - still doesn't do enough to put the country on a sustainable economic path.
Greece is trying to negotiate the bailout from the EU and International Monetary Fund (IMF).

It is the second such bailout, and lenders have insisted on more austerity measures in return for the loan.

The mood among Eurozone countries appears to be toughening on Greece, our correspondent says.
While the official view is still that Greece must be saved, he says there is more and more talk on the margins that a Greek default would not be a disaster.
'Painful measures' The plan agreed by the Greek government earlier this week includes 15,000 public-sector job cuts, liberalisation of labour laws, lowering the minimum wage by 22% from 751 euros per month to 600 euros and negotiating a debt write-off with banks.
But a key demand of the EU, IMF and European Central Bank was reform of the pension system, an issue that proved to be a stumbling block.
Greek Prime Minister Lucas Papademos tried to convince his coalition partners to overhaul pensions and save 300m euros a year.
Talks broke up without an agreement, but officials later announced that a compromise had been reached. It was not clear how the 300m euro saving would be made.
The government needs the backing of the eurozone ministers and the approval of the Greek parliament before the deal can be finalised.
Greek Finance Minister Evangelos Venizelos, of the left-wing Pasok party, launched an attack on his conservative rival Antonis Samaras after attending the finance ministers' meeting in Brussels.
Mr Venizelos said his European counterparts "took into consideration that [Mr] Samaras has still not signed" a letter committing to spending cuts and reforms.

 "The (conservative) party must decide - if they want to stay in the eurozone, they have to say so clearly," Mr Venizelos said, AFP reports.

Greece is already feeling the effects of an earlier round of austerity, put in place as part of a deal to release funds from a previous bailout.
Those cuts triggered widespread unrest and violent protests.
Greece is deep in recession with unemployment rising above 20%.
Unions have already said they will go out on strike over the latest austerity plans, condemning them as "painful measures" that would create misery.
Meanwhile, US President Barack Obama has reaffirmed America's willingness to help stabilise the eurozone.
In a meeting with Italian Prime Minister Mario Monti, he also urged European countries to promote a strategy of growth.

Hihaha... of Farts, Shit, Hairs..and many more

 Let me speak of farts. If you have sleep apnea, and have to use a c-pap machine, or need a b-pap to breathe during the night, a common side effect is forced air, ergo, gas and belches. I have a malfunctioning diaphragm and seizures, add the two together and during seizures, while I may get my memory wiped, I will be gasping for air of which SOME may make it into my lungs.
The next day, with a nose bleed and a severe case of the farts, I ask, "Did I have a seizure last night?" I'm told I had three. Ah, well, that explains it. But how do I explain it while in line at the supermarket or while renting a DVD? A ripping sound emerges from the wheelchair, do I look around with a smile going, "Had a seizure yesterday!" Let's try not to remember the MRI tube episode.
So yeah, disability is never just one thing but a whole bag of surprises. And you get used to it. It is amazing what can be gotten used to: leaning over the side of a bed to drain out aspirated liquid and food, having your drool/spittle wiped after a seizure, and flying out of a wheelchair at a bad kerb cut. The days when you're too weak to use the hair dryer, look in the mirror and decide, "I'll live with it!" Then there is having an impacted colon, having a colostomy bag, having a catheter, having to use a cane and having to sit down more often while your friends keep walking. Migraines, seizures and ASD give extreme sensitivity to light or noise while many others give muscle tremors: having the shakes and dropping things with your hands, and biting your lip or side of your mouth when you are tired and trying to eat. Then there are the spontaneous nosebleeds, the nausea from blood pressure, the sensitivity to cold for quads needing blankets and to heat for MS patients needing cooling vests.
But we get used to it.
The general public has no idea, "Oh, MS means you shake or something, or is that Parkinson's, which one does (insert famous person here) have?" As a person with minimal nerves, I have bruises over most of my right side; but my regular spills and smashing into walls would dislocate elbows, shoulders, fingers and ankles of my EDS friends.
Yes, I know these are the things I am NOT supposed to talk about, but this is the reality of disability. For example, here they love to shove baby changing tables inside wheelchair accessible toilets. Okay, I may be a newbie wheelie but it takes a while to get my clothes down, my underwear down and transfer onto the toilet only to hear a mother try the handle of the door and say to her baby, "Oh, you'll have to wait, it will only be a minute." Yeah. No pressure. Also, while there are grab bars to slide OVER to the toilet, often there aren't ones to slide BACK. Which makes getting into the wheelchair a sort of 'climbing Everest with your arms while your underwear is around your ankles' event.

Things just take longer. But for some reason people think that once inside a disabled toilet, you gain the speed of an able bodied person. Well, no, not if you have muscle weakness on one side, or Parkinson's muscle slowing, then a quick toilet trip is 45 minutes. And when you have bladder retention instead of loss, then I sometimes want to scream to the people trying the handle every 30 seconds to see if I have teleported out, "Disabilities are MORE than skin deep!" Meaning, it takes TIME.
Okay... hair... don't know what happens to guys but if you are a female with a chronic illness there is a good chance your nice hair goes bye-bye, either from medical treatment or from auto-immune diseases. But hey, some will start showing up on your face! Fun, fun, fun. And if you are like me, with assisted showering, I don't have the time or energy for leg shaving. It's 40-60 minutes just to shower.
I literally did not know how much head hair I had until I started losing it, and then it goes, and goes, and goes and eventually, no matter how creative your hairdresser, it shows. A friend told me that due to her auto-immune disease she has lost and had her hair come back three times. I was not comforted, I only wanted to know one thing, "How did you make it come back?!"
So we are biological beings living against a standard made for people who have no condition except aging. So it is amazing what can and often MUST be endured. The amount of times I have had to pee to a collective medical audience is not worth remembering. Yet in a future seizure, I will pee: myself, the wheelchair and all near by things ("fountain McClung" they call me). I've opened the apartment door with my teeth because both arms and hands are so shaky I have given up yet STILL need to get inside! Sometimes painful, sometimes embarrassing, sometimes both (try going to the ER with an impacted bowel, woo hoo!), but still, the things that 'must be done.'
Now that I have left you with the image of hairy legged, balding, farting, belching, bruised and slurry speeched woman (oh wait, I hadn't mentioned the slurry speech, darn!). Please come on, give up the stories. I know I am not the only woman with a sudden medical gift of hair (steroids: helps tumors AND gives facial hair!), and I am sure guys have just as many issues. For one thing, wheelchairs are not known for their leaving a person thin, svelte and sleek looking. And the "doing what must be done." Please, I have not done it all, but I have heard a lot. So here I am, interested, wanting to know, what is it about you or your condition that I don't get, what story of that day and thing which "must be done" (how about this horrid phrase, "Needs to be re-broken"), that is endured, that isn't understood. And if you can't talk on that, surely you have a comment on disabled toilets!

Business Code

Business ethics is a code that addresses ethical and moral principles and problems in a business environment. It is engaged in business transactions that govern the conduct of an individual and the organization. Business ethics should become the norm of the business in its daily transactions. Business ethics not only governs the relationship between the business and the world but also the interrelationship among the workers. It also administers the relationship between the workers in the business and the customers. Many businesses have failed to maintain a good reputation because of their main goal of acquiring capital. They rarely consider the manner in which they acquire capital. In a business, business ethics should be a vital priority.

            In organizations, human resource management department caters for the recruitment, orientation, training, and employment of employees. The managers in this department should be loyal enough to adhere to the code of ethics. Business ethics inhibits prejudice in terms of gender, age, race, religion, and disability. They should highly consider the professional ability of an individual. Every being has a right to employment regardless of the physical appearance. Other managers concentrate on the physical attractiveness of the employee. Inefficiency among the workers in an organization leads to lack of survival for the business in the competitive world. The managers should consider employing competitive employees in the organization in order to boost the organization’s functioning. Employees in the organization have a right to privacy, compensation, which enhances the morale of the employee.

            In an organization, business ethics guides the employees on how to work together in order to realize success. A group should work together in harmony in order to achieve success. A leader facilitates group work properly. The group leader should observe the performance of the team members. The leader should bring the best out of the employees. Every being has a level of ability. Different people have their strengths and weaknesses, and the leader of the team should significantly consider that. Team performance should be highly monitored in order to amplify the productivity of the team. Performance management dwells on enhancing the potential of an employee. The employee also develops positive communication with fellow workers and the leaders. The organizations productivity is significantly boosted due to the employees’ competence. The leader of the group realizes work improvements and skills acquisition among the team members. Therefore, the team leader presents feedback concerning the development in order to note successful trend of the organization.

            Meetings in an organization are vital and should be managed properly. Staff meetings facilitate efficient communication among the employees and the employers. The Chief Executive Officer, human resource manager, the owner of the business or any head official can address meetings in the organization. Meetings enhance direct communication especially with the head officials. The employees air their views and opinions, which should be considerably taken. Meetings also provide a venue where the official leaders present their expectations from the employees. Through this meeting, the employees state their stand about their employer’s expectations. This dialogue inhibits oppression of the employees in the organization. Departmental meetings motivate the employees on working to achieve the set goals. In addition, refreshments are granted to members in the meeting to revive their energy during the session. Communication is vital in an organization; therefore, meetings should be idolized. They create a clear pathway of the organization’s direction. In certain cases, meetings are held on site especially in boardrooms. Onsite meetings take place in cases where some members’ presence is limited by distance.

The Sixth Trait: Asian Car Makers and Generation Y

The Sixth Trait: Asian Car Makers and Generation Y: Leading car manufacturers are seeking to expand their consumer bases all over the world with a new group of dynamic individuals known as ...

Asian Car Makers and Generation Y

Leading car manufacturers are seeking to expand their consumer bases all over the world with a new group of dynamic individuals known as Generation Y in mind. This cohort of young people believed to be born of the late seventies, eighties and early nineties and, therefore, share a new century. They have distinctive characters in social awareness, cultural diversity, massive spending powers, technological consciousness, and peer group influences (Coates, 2007). Asian automobile makers having studied the car market in the U.S have ascertained that this generation associates Asian made cars with trendiness thus “must haves.” Moreover, the large customer base, over 70 million highly influential young Americans, is an ideal target market alternative with their home market comprised of an aging generation.

Two of these manufacturers currently enjoying this market are Honda and Toyota. The duo Asian vehicle giants have it in them that young Americans prefer to treat new and foreign car models as ones meant for them. Through product branding, Honda and Toyota jointly launched rival models Element and Scion XB respectively, two fly and elegant SUVs that are affordable thus have a strong market leadership. Product branding ensured formulating stylish brand names and design aimed at attracting consumers of age 24 years old (Cravens,2005). Furthermore, Toyota concentrated heavily in advertisements through television commercials and social networking sites such as Twitter, MySpace, and Facebook. Their marketing managers aimed to score a large number of young views from social fronts, on and offline.

Such strategies have sure desirable payoffs shown by the amazing returns from the sale of Toyotas’ Scion XB. This brand, since its launch has exceeded the company’s original sales target by selling over 150000 vehicles with eighty percent of these buyers being first time consumers. So high is the sales volume that the manufacturer may have considered a possible concentration on other viable projects. We could term this strategy as a success story based on the number of Asian competitors watching, envying and showing entry interests. Rival examples include Kia, Hyundai, and Nissan with the former choosing to stay with its older models while at the same time studying the potential young market (Cravens, 2005).

On the other hand, Nissan and Kia introduced the Cube and Soul aimed at competing in a market already dominated by Scion XB. However, this campaign has failed to activate since most Soul and Cube users are either too affluent or older than their initial target market. The above exhaustive argument, therefore, proves that the Toyota-Honda strategy is the best vis-à-vis that of their competitors.

Toyota, however, has come up with a decision to limit the number of SUV Scion XBs available for sale. We can say that this is a desirable move considering that this is a generation with its own negative characteristics. Let us consider a situation where company X introduces a new technology Y in the market for a generation Y. Backed by heavy advertisement, Y trends so much until competitor firms come in to try to have a share of sales by offering different versions of Y. Since agents from generation Y are technologically conscious, they will always be eager and curious, moving from product to product depending on which one is fashionable (Coates, 2007). It is, therefore, necessary for Toyota to determine a breakeven point to create room for brand improvement. Better still, they could also come up with a remarkably different model to replace this market dominance based on consumer feedback and critics thus slowly facing out Scion XB.

References

Coates, J.(2007). Generational Learning Styles: Generation Y- The Millennial Generation. River Falls: WI .LERN Books.

Cravens, W.D. ( 2005). Strategic Marketing. Pennsylvania State University: Pennsylvania. McGraw-Hill.

                          Written by Lio Savage.