The ECB's Monetary Policy Strategy A monetary policy strategy is a coherent and structured description of how monetary policy decisions will be made in order to achieve the objective of the central bank.
It has two important tasks to fulfil. First, by imposing a clear structure on the policy-making process itself, the strategy ensures that the ECB's Governing Council ...
As times change and demand men to be extraordinary, organisations have not even noticed the trends. Promila grieves for men who have reverted to where women were 15 years ago... Promila sighed. She was reading up material that was sent to her for a ‘Bring the women back to work’ seminar. Is that the demand of thinking, feeling individuals or inanimate organisations? She wasn’t sure if women could be simply brought back like that. It needed not just men to support — they were supportive already; it needed organisations to drop their blinkers.
Now, one para stared at her: What helps to mitigate cultural pressures are supportive in-laws. Supportive peers. Other men who are in the same situation. The great thing about this development is that it allows men to reassess and look at the bigger picture. A lot of the men I’ve talked with feel they’re able to pursue the kind of work they want to do rather than making a high salary the chief goal.
Some examples were presented from the global scene:
X, director, has two children. Her husband is a stay-at-home dad. “I do not understand how anyone, at my level, can have this type of career and not have a spouse who stays at home; It becomes too complicated to juggle both and do it adequately.”
Promila was not sure if this was even an example. Can I forget Zubin? Only son of a mighty father, today he will not take over and run the family empire because his wife is CEO somewhere in the UK and life hangs on the joys of a little three-year-old moppet named Khushru. And she wrote angrily: “So, does Ms X become a role model for other women, for life? All she has done is passed on the ‘complication’ and the ‘juggling’ act to her husband! That, in my book of living, does not translate to success. In fact, hey, we call that ‘loser’s game’.”
Success belongs to a family, not an individual — wrote Promila and highlighted this in yellow. She was now clear; she was attending that conference. Men and women should seek family success, not individual glory…
Our Heartfelt Thank-You! by Martin D. Weiss Ph.D. Dear Subsciber,
With so much going on in the world, we cherish days like today when we can give thanks for all the wonderful things that fill our lives with joy.
Whenever I bring up the subject of grandchildren with Anthony, his typical answer is "Don't hold you breath, Dad."
But we're grateful for our grandniece and nephews who treat Elisabeth and me like their own grandparents.
And we're equally grateful for the hundreds of loving children, ages 3 to 13, at our Weiss School.
Larry's also on the "grandparents-in-waiting" list.
But with two grown boys and one girl, I get the distinct impression that his odds are a bit better than mine.
When Larry's kids were little, they also attended the Weiss School.
In fact, that's how I first met Larry. His daughter, who was in my 4th grade Japanese class, informed me one day that her father was a good writer, gave me a copy of a report he wrote with predictions that had already come true, and told me I should hire him. I did, and the rest is history.
I'm equally delighted with our entire Money and Markets team.
And all of us are especially grateful for the trust you place in us.
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World MBA Tour Fall 2007 - register now! Meet face-to-face with the MBA admissions officers and alumni of the world’s top business schools to help you make your Business School selection and to find out about MBA scholarships, MBA rankings, MBA Admissions, MBA Careers and much more.
The Tour provides an outstanding opportunity for candidates to research business schools and make informed education and career choices, whilst offering the business schools an ideal chance to meet a highly targeted audience of the world's best young professionals.
27 of the top 30 North American business schools and all the top schools from Europe and the rest of the world travel on the QS World MBA Tour.
Last year, 96% of attendees rated the QS World MBA Tour ‘very useful’ or ‘useful’.
Select the city near you and register NOW to ensure your place at the World MBA Tour.
Asia Pacific (23rd-November - 27th-November) Bangkok Singapore Kuala Lumpur India and Middle East (29th-November - 10th-December) Delhi Bangalore Hyderabad Mumbai Dubai Cairo North America (2nd-February - 2nd-February) New York North America Spring Tour (5th-February - 7th-February) Washington DC Toronto European Spring Tour (26th-February - 18th-March) Lisbon Barcelona London Moscow Paris Rome Sofia Bucharest Frankfurt Almaty Africa (31st-March - 2nd-April) Johannesburg Nairobi
Frequently Asked Questions World MBA Tour 2007 About the tour
Started in 1995, the World MBA Tour now visits over 50 cities in nearly 40 countries, working in partnership with leading national media in every location.
The Tour provides an outstanding opportunity for candidates to research business schools and make informed education and career choices, whilst offering the business schools an ideal chance to meet a highly targeted audience of the world's best young professionals.
MBA candidates consistently rate face-to-face contact with Admissions Officers and alumni as the two most important sources of information in making their school choice.
How to make most of the fair
At the Fair you can ask questions such as: program content, costs and ROI, the benefits of short or long program length, financial aid and post- MBA career options. The event is designed to inform and to encourage candidates to ask questions, enter into discussion and gain advice based on their own experience and ambitions. Do your research in advance - learn more about the schools that visit your city on www.topmba.com/scorecard
MBA candidates consistently rate face-to-face contact with Admissions Officers and alumni as the two most important sources of information in making their school choice.
Studying while working: ExecMBA Village
At the World MBA Tour you will meet business schools that offer Full-time MBA programs as well as Executive MBA, Part-time MBA and Distance Learning MBA programs.
The ExecMBA Village at the World MBA Tour is the ideal the chance for the experienced professional, corporate high-flyers and HR managers to enquire about a growing range of focused Executive MBA programmes. Further information on our Executive Events
MBA Scholarships MBA Scholarships & Funding Advice
Candidates who attend the QS World MBA Tour and World Grad School Tour qualify to apply for scholarships worth over US$ 2.7 MILLION.
The admission officers will give you information on the financial aid and loan schemes available for their MBA programs and - at selected venues, local banks will illustrate their MBA loan schemes. At the fairs, visit the QS bookstore where our Team will present the new TopMBA Scorecard Scholarships database.
“The QS World MBA Tour Scholarship has helped me towards completing my MBA.”
Ana Paula Fontes, Brazil – MBA INSEAD
Apply for QS scholarships
If you have visited one of the World MBA Tours, and would like to be considered for one of $2,700,000 exclusive scholarships offered only to the QS World MBA Tour participants in partnership with the QS World Grad School Tour, you should take part in our MBA Applicant Survey.
Schools that offer the scholarships this season include: Chicago GSB, Wharton, Rotman School of Management, Politecnico di Milano, Cass Business School, Ashridge, IE Instituto de Empresa, Wim Kok Nijenrode, ESMT - European School of Management and Technology Scholarships, MIB School of Management (Trieste - Italy).
GMAT & Admissions Seminars MBA Admissions Panels
You are welcome to attend invaluable MBA Admissions Panels, featuring Admissions Directors from up to five leading business schools and QS experts discussing key topics such as: choosing the right school, financing an MBA, taking the GMAT test and preparing a winning application.
The MBA Admissions Panels usually take part one hour prior the fair. Please, check the time while registering for your city.
You will receive the schedule of all the seminars after the World MBA Tour registration.
Free GMAT Seminars
A free GMAT Seminar will provide an overview of the GMAT test, as well as offering strategies to maximize your score. GMAT study guides and test prep centers are also reviewed. The GMAT seminar is provided by an experienced international or local GMAT trainer.
You will receive the schedule of all the seminars after the World MBA Tour registration.
QS MasterClass in Management
If you want to get the taste of a business school classroom, join The QS MasterClass in Management™. Presented by leading professors of some of the world’s top business schools, these interactive sessions aim to provide MBA aspirants with insight into the dynamic and engaging atmosphere of an MBA class.
The seminars will look at themes such as leadership, marketing, strategy and entrepreneurship - effective leadership strategies within organisations, marketing campaigns adapted to different markets, strategy in a global competitive environment, corporate growth and innovation, and more.
You will receive the schedule of all the seminars after the World MBA Tour registration.
WMT Participating Business Schools Do the business schools participating in the Tour have a formal MBA accreditation?
The majority of the schools traveling with the QS World MBA Tour are accredited by the main international bodies such as the US-based Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business (AACSB International); EQUIS, the accreditation arm of the European Foundation for Management Development (efmd) in Brussels; and the UK’s Association of MBAs (AMBA). However, the World MBA Tour invites the top local schools in each country to take part in the event and often these Institutions are recognized by their national accreditation bodies. QS ensures that the business schools that take part in the World MBA Tour enjoy a solid reputation within the international and/or local business community.
You can check the status of schools on the tour by visiting www.topmba.com/scorecard - this free service helps you create a personalized ranking based on audited data. You can see the reputation of each school with recruiters, as well as: career placement record; student quality, faculty strength, specializations and even Return on Investment. You can even review the ranking of each school from third party publications like the FT, The Economist, Wall Street Journal.
Which business schools take part in the Tour?
The World MBA Tour is the biggest event of its kind in the world. Over 400 business schools take part in the World MBA Tour each year. At a typical fair we will have between 80 and 140 top business schools present, so you really have every chance to make an informed decision about your future.
Once you have registered, you will be able to access the list of schools taking part in each region of the Tour. You will also be given a password and will be able to use TopMBA.com/Scorecard to research suitable schools and gather background information before you meet them at the fair.
The euro came off vis-à-vis the U.S. dollar today as the single currency tested bids around the US$ 1.4775 level and was capped around the $1.4855 level. The common currency established a fresh lifetime high before ceding some intraday gains. Sentiment in the U.S. dollar eroded further after the release of yesterday’s FOMC meeting minutes from the end of October. The Fed’s decision to reduce the federal funds target rate by 25bps was a “close call” but officials saw additional economic weakness in the future. Moreover, the Fed released updated GDP and inflation forecasts and scaled back expectations for 2008 GDP growth to 1.80% - 2.50% and core PCE inflation to 1.7% to 1.9%. The reduction in growth expectations cemented traders’ belief the FOMC is likely to ease monetary policy further next month. Many traders believe the federal funds target rate may be back at 4.00% at the conclusion of the FOMC’s two-day policy meeting in late January.
The yen appreciated sharply vis-à-vis the U.S. dollar today as the greenback tested bids around the ¥108.25 level and was capped around the ¥110.00 figure. The pair fell to its lowest level in a couple of years as risk aversion returned to the market. The resurgence in the price of oil to near the psychologically-important US$ 100.00 figure added to the yen’s gains. Data released in Japan overnight saw the September all-industries index recede 1.6% while the October merchandise trade surplus rose 66.1% to ¥1.019 trillion. Trade minister Amari said an exchange rate around ¥110 should be appropriate for the greenback. The Nikkei 225 stock index lost 2.46% to close at ¥14,837.66. Dollar bids are cited around the ¥106.55 level. The euro moved lower vis-à-vis the yen as the single currency tested bids around the ¥160.05 level and was capped around the ¥163.15 level. The British pound and Swiss franc weakened vis-à-vis the yen as the crosses tested bids around the ¥222.40 and ¥97.85 levels, respectively. The Chinese yuan firmed vis-à-vis the U.S. dollar as the greenback closed at CNY 7.4110 in the over-the-counter market, down from CNY 7.4218. Bush administration officials will visit China next month to discuss the yuan and trade issues.
The British pound fell vis-à-vis the U.S. dollar today as cable tested bids around the US$ 2.0525 level and was capped around the $2.0695 level. Technically, today’s intraday low was right around the 50% retracement of the move from $1.9870 to $2.1160. Sterling moved lower after minutes from Bank of England’s November Monetary Policy Committee meeting were released and evidenced a 7-to-2 vote in favour of keeping rates unchanged. MPC member Blanchflower and Deputy Governor Gieve voted for a rate cut. Gieve is generally perceived to be a hawkish member of the MPC and his vote for a cut suggests there could be an increasing consensus on the MPC that borrowing costs need to come down. Most traders believe the MPC will reduce interest rates in 2008, and possibly as early as next month. Cable bids are cited around the US$ 2.0365 level. The euro extended recent gains vis-à-vis the British pound as the single currency tested offers around the ₤0.7215 level and was supported around the ₤0.7165 level.
The Swiss franc appreciated vis-à-vis the U.S. dollar today as the greenback tested bids around the CHF 1.1025 level and was capped around the CHF 1.1080 level. The pair established a fresh multi-year low as risk aversion returned to the markets. U.S. dollar offers are cited around the CHF 1.1355 level. The euro and British pound weakened vis-à-vis the Swiss franc as the crosses tested bids around the CHF 1.6345 and CHF 2.2685 levels, respectively.
Aegerion Pharmaceuticals revived its initial public offering, six months after withdrawing a previous IPO due to "market conditions."
The Bridgewater, N.J.-based company initially filed for an IPO in March, but pulled the offering in June, citing “market conditions,” according to filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission.
Terms of the IPO, including the number of shares and their expected selling price, were not disclosed, though Aegerion had previously said it would sell 5 million shares at an estimated range of $12 to $14 per share.
The company, which will list its stock on the Nasdaq under “AEGR,” plans to use proceeds from the sale to repay debt, fund clinical programs and for general corporate purposes, including potential acquisitions.
Founded in 2005, Aegerion develops drugs to treat cardiovascular and metabolic diseases.
For the nine months ended Sept. 30, Aegerion lost $14.9 million, compared with $4.3 million loss for the first nine months of 2006.The company said it has not yet generated any revenue from its development-stage products and doesn’t know that it will ever be profitable.
ON THE face of things, a fall in the number of people infected with HIV (the virus that causes AIDS) from 39.5m to 33.2m over the course of a single year should be cause for rejoicing. That is the news from this year’s AIDS epidemic update from the World Health Organisation (WHO) and UNAIDS published on Tuesday November 20th. Indeed, it is good news, for it means there are fewer people to treat, and fewer to pass the infection on, than was previously thought. But the fall is not a real fall. Rather, it is due to a change in the way the size of the epidemic is estimated.
Factor that change in and the number of infected individuals has actually risen since last year, by 500,000. And even that is not necessarily bad news in the paradoxical world of AIDS. As treatment programmes are installed around the world, death rates are falling. According to the revised figures, the peak, of 2.2m a year, was in 2005. Now the figure is 2.1m. Since the only way for an infected person to drop out of the statistics in reality (as opposed to by sleight of statistical hand) is for him to die, such increased survivorship inevitably pushes up the total size of the epidemic.
The best news of all, however, is that the new figures confirm what had previously been suspected—that the epidemic has peaked. The highest annual number of new infections around the world was 3.4m in 1998. That figure has now fallen to 2.5m.
Both the change in the death rate and the change in the infection rate are partly a consequence of the natural flow and ebb of any epidemic infection. But the changes are also a reflection of the hard graft of public-health workers in many countries, which has persuaded people to modify or abandon risky behaviour, such as having unprotected sex, and has also created the medical infrastructure needed to distribute anti-retroviral drugs that can keep symptoms at bay in those who do become infected.
The revision of the figures is mainly a result of better data-collection methods, particularly in India (which accounts for half the downward revision) and five African countries (which account for another fifth). In India many more sampling points have been established, and in all countries better survey methods, relying on surveyors knocking on doors rather than asking questions at clinics, have gathered data from more representative samples of the population.
Sceptics will feel vindicated by the revision. There has been a feeling around for a while that the older survey methods were biased, and that the inflation thus produced was tolerated because it helped twang the heart-strings of potential donors. However, the structures for collecting and distributing money to combat AIDS are now well established, and accurate data are crucial if that money is not to be misdirected.
The new information also means that the goal of treatment for all who need it will be easier and cheaper to achieve. The WHO and UNAIDS are planning to publish a report on the matter early next year, but Paul De Lay, UNAIDS’s director of evidence, monitoring and policy, says that the financial requirements for 2010 will probably be about 5% less than previously estimated, and by 2015 that figure will have risen to 10%. Good news for everyone, then, donors and sufferers alike.
BACK in Sydney and, with just two days until the election, two issues finally surface that have barely rated a mention so far in a campaign dominated by the economy and climate change.
A storm breaks over a successful bid by John Howard’s conservative coalition government to ban the release of documents on its controversial workplace laws. A Sydney journalist had sought the documents more than two years ago under Australia’s freedom of information laws. But a tribunal has now ruled in favour of the government’s case to keep them secret.
Heading for a wall?The timing of this, to say nothing of the decision itself, could hardly have been worse for Mr Howard’s campaign. After he won his fourth successive election in 2004, Mr Howard introduced laws that removed the last vestiges of union power from workplaces and made individual contracts between workers and bosses the new norm. The laws are deeply unpopular, and explain at least some of Mr Howard’s consistent deficit in opinion polls this year.
And the ruling has given the opposition Labor Party and Kevin Rudd, its leader, fuel for a fear campaign: the government, it says, must be planning more draconian changes if it is re-elected, and is trying to cover them up. But the ruling also has disturbing overtones of a more widespread drift towards government secrecy.
About two weeks ago, as the election campaign was passing its mid-point, I attended a press conference in Sydney called by a group called Australia’s Right to Know. In a city with fiercely competitive media, this group is a rare coalition of Australia’s biggest print and electronic media companies. The conference was held in the headquarters of News Limited, Rupert Murdoch’s Australian company.
Freddie Mac, one of America's two government-sponsored mortgage giants, reported a net loss of $2.03 billion for the third quarter and blamed “weakening house prices and deteriorating credit” for its woes. Fannie Mae, its larger rival, recently announced a quarterly loss of $1.4 billion. Both handle around $4.8 trillion in housing loans and were set up by the government partly as a bulwark against times of crisis in financial markets.
The share price of Countrywide Financial, America's biggest private mortgage-lender, fell by around 22% in intraday trading amid rumours it was about to run out of cash. The company has been dogged by reports that it is on the verge of bankruptcy since the turmoil in money markets began in the summer. It denied the latest speculation and its share price recovered.
More data pointed to a deepening slump in America's housing market. Permits to erect homes, an indicator of future building, fell in October to the lowest level in 14 years. Actual construction starts on single-family homes fell by 7% compared with September. There was one glimmer of hope: more condominiums meant total construction starts rose by an unexpected 3%.
Northern crock Northern Rock, a British bank afflicted by the credit crunch and which is now being propped up by public money, said it had received more expressions of interest about a takeover, though some of the offers came in below its already-depressed share price. More calls were made for Northern Rock to be nationalised and its assets sold. See article
The fallout from the credit-market crisis spread to the reinsurance industry when Swiss Re took a SFr1.2 billion ($1.1 billion) write-down stemming from its exposure to subprime-mortgage related debt. The company's revelation came two weeks after buoyant quarterly earnings that gave no hint of the loss.
DP World raised almost $5 billion in its initial public offering, the biggest ever in the Middle East. Owned by the emirate of Dubai, the port and logistics company was caught in a political squall last year when it bought some operations in the United States.
ArcelorMittal said it was talking to China Oriental Group about increasing its holding in the firm. The world's biggest steelmaker took a 28% stake in its Chinese rival earlier this month. China's government has resisted attempts by foreigners, so far, to take control of Chinese steel producers.
Beer buddies SABMiller's offer to buy Grolsch for euro816m ($1.2 billion) was accepted by the Dutch brewer. Grolsch is one of the world's oldest breweries, tracing its roots to 1615. It sells most of its beer in Britain and the Netherlands, but SABMiller thinks Grolsch will go down well in emerging markets too. The deal left Anheuser-Busch standing at the bar; America's biggest brewer markets Grolsch in the United States and was interested in an acquisition.
TomTom, the market leader in satellite-navigation devices, made formal its offer to buy Tele Atlas, a maker of digital maps, after Garmin conceded defeat for its rival bid. TomTom amassed a 28% stake in Tele Atlas, its Dutch compatriot, during negotiations.
Amazon took the wraps off its new portable digital book-reader. The Kindle allows its users to download books and magazines for a fee and, unlike similar devices, has a wireless connection. A revolution in reading habits through e-books has long been promised by retailers, but many analysts remain sceptical.
Hewlett-Packard reported a strong quarter that helped its annual sales (for the year ending October 31st) push past $100 billion for the first time.
Gap posted a healthy increase in quarterly profit, though sales remained flat. The company is revamping its Gap and Old Navy clothing lines in response to miserable pre-Christmas trading last year. All retailers will be nervously checking their shop fronts and online stores this year in the hope of a stampede of American consumers in lavish mood after Thanksgiving. Some surveys indicate they may be disappointed.
A port in a storm With stockmarkets wobbling and the dollar falling, investors sought refuge in safer bets. The yield on ten-year Treasury bonds fell below 4% for the first time since 2005. There was little solace for markets in the release of the minutes of the Federal Open Market Committee's latest meeting, which predicted slower economic growth next year. Optimists took that to mean another interest-rate cut is on the cards. The Fed has specifically warned markets not to expect such a decision at its next gathering.
Banks and brokers are having a terrible time. Now the misery is spreading NAMING yourself after the three-headed dog that guards the gates to hell was, perhaps, asking for trouble. Cerberus, the private-equity beast in question, now finds itself at the centre of a fierce debate about whether corporate America is in for a hellish time, as the credit crisis spreads from financial services to the rest of the economy.
Only months ago Cerberus was praised as the saviour of the American car industry when it bought Chrysler from its German owner and struck a remarkable deal with the unions to cut jobs and benefits. But on November 20th it emerged that Cerberus's bankers had abandoned efforts to sell $4 billion of the debt it took on when it bought Chrysler. Investors turned up their noses even when offered a 3% discount.
George Bush is the only man who can bring an independent Palestine closer
Getty imagesGEORGE BUSH is not likely to be remembered by history as the saviour of the Middle East. He botched Iraq, dropped his democratic “freedom agenda” when the Arabs started voting for the wrong people, and has spent most of his two terms more or less ignoring Palestine. On this last front, however, he now has an opportunity for redemption.
If all goes to plan, Mr Bush will preside on November 27th over a peace meeting in Annapolis, Maryland. Expectations of this one-day event are at rock bottom. Nobody foresees much more than some bland speechifying and a photo-opportunity. And yet, if he is bold, Mr Bush has it in his power to turn Annapolis into a significant step towards peace. All he has to do is pluck up the courage to make the right speech.
Please come, we promise nothing will happen... That may sound like a wild claim to make of an event already shrouded in defeatism. This is a party nobody is thrilled to have been asked to. Ehud Olmert is going because an Israeli prime minister cannot leave an invitation from the White House to curl in the in-tray. Mahmoud Abbas is going because after losing the Gaza Strip to Hamas he must show that he is still president of Palestine, if only in the eyes of the great powers. Not even the hosts seem excited. Condoleezza Rice, America's secretary of state, is a genuine if late convert to the idea that America can budge things in Palestine. But the rest of the administration appears to see Annapolis as a way to roll out the customary pieties on Palestine and so make it easier for America to line up its Arab friends against Iran.
Worse still, these modest ambitions have shrivelled as the day has neared (see article). Plan A was for Mr Olmert and Mr Abbas to talk to one another before Annapolis and make a joint declaration when they arrived. To give the Palestinians what Ms Rice calls a “political horizon” (ie, hope) this declaration was supposed to go beyond Mr Bush's oft-repeated but ephemeral “vision” of an independent Palestine and fill in the vital missing detail on borders, refugees and Jerusalem. But although the two sides have indeed talked in recent weeks they have not bridged their longstanding differences.
That is no surprise. With Hamas snapping at his heels, it would take immense courage for the timorous Mr Abbas to modify the Palestinians' mantra: a state on the 1967 borders, a capital in Jerusalem and the “right” of the refugees of 60 years ago to return to what is now Israel. And although Mr Olmert is at least the prime minister of a functioning state, he governs in coalition with men who hate the very idea of an independent Palestine and have worked sedulously to tie his hands. Polls show that many Israelis long to be rid of the Palestinian territories. But even they wonder how they can trust Mr Abbas's ramshackle Palestinian Authority to police a state when it has already lost Gaza to the rocket-firing rejectionists of Hamas and might well lose the West Bank too.
In the absence of a pre-Annapolis meeting of minds, America has therefore moved to Plan B. There may still be a joint declaration, but it will be vague. It will pay homage to the principle of two states and recite the relevant, long-ago United Nations resolutions, which both sides know by heart but interpret differently. The two sides may then promise to sit down together the day after Annapolis to talk about borders, refugees and Jerusalem, with the hope of reaching agreement within a year. In the meantime, Tony Blair, in his new guise as the UN's midwife for Palestine, will set out his plans to strengthen the economy and institutions of the West Bank in preparation for the independence that will come, some day.
Freddie Mac, one of America's two government-sponsored mortgage giants, reported a net loss of $2.03 billion for the third quarter and blamed “weakening house prices and deteriorating credit” for its woes. Fannie Mae, its larger rival, recently announced a quarterly loss of $1.4 billion. Both handle around $4.8 trillion in housing loans and were set up by the government partly as a bulwark against times of crisis in financial markets. See article
The share price of Countrywide Financial, America's biggest private mortgage-lender, fell by around 22% in intraday trading amid rumours it was about to run out of cash. The company has been dogged by reports that it is on the verge of bankruptcy since the turmoil in money markets began in the summer. It denied the latest speculation and its share price recovered.
More data pointed to a deepening slump in America's housing market. Permits to erect homes, an indicator of future building, fell in October to the lowest level in 14 years. Actual construction starts on single-family homes fell by 7% compared with September. There was one glimmer of hope: more condominiums meant total construction starts rose by an unexpected 3%.
Northern crock Northern Rock, a British bank afflicted by the credit crunch and which is now being propped up by public money, said it had received more expressions of interest about a takeover, though some of the offers came in below its already-depressed share price. More calls were made for Northern Rock to be nationalised and its assets sold.
The fallout from the credit-market crisis spread to the reinsurance industry when Swiss Re took a SFr1.2 billion ($1.1 billion) write-down stemming from its exposure to subprime-mortgage related debt. The company's revelation came two weeks after buoyant quarterly earnings that gave no hint of the loss.
DP World raised almost $5 billion in its initial public offering, the biggest ever in the Middle East. Owned by the emirate of Dubai, the port and logistics company was caught in a political squall last year when it bought some operations in the United States.
ArcelorMittal said it was talking to China Oriental Group about increasing its holding in the firm. The world's biggest steelmaker took a 28% stake in its Chinese rival earlier this month. China's government has resisted attempts by foreigners, so far, to take control of Chinese steel producers.
Beer buddies SABMiller's offer to buy Grolsch for euro816m ($1.2 billion) was accepted by the Dutch brewer. Grolsch is one of the world's oldest breweries, tracing its roots to 1615. It sells most of its beer in Britain and the Netherlands, but SABMiller thinks Grolsch will go down well in emerging markets too. The deal left Anheuser-Busch standing at the bar; America's biggest brewer markets Grolsch in the United States and was interested in an acquisition.
TomTom, the market leader in satellite-navigation devices, made formal its offer to buy Tele Atlas, a maker of digital maps, after Garmin conceded defeat for its rival bid. TomTom amassed a 28% stake in Tele Atlas, its Dutch compatriot, during negotiations.
Amazon took the wraps off its new portable digital book-reader. The Kindle allows its users to download books and magazines for a fee and, unlike similar devices, has a wireless connection. A revolution in reading habits through e-books has long been promised by retailers, but many analysts remain sceptical.
Hewlett-Packard reported a strong quarter that helped its annual sales (for the year ending October 31st) push past $100 billion for the first time.
Gap posted a healthy increase in quarterly profit, though sales remained flat. The company is revamping its Gap and Old Navy clothing lines in response to miserable pre-Christmas trading last year. All retailers will be nervously checking their shop fronts and online stores this year in the hope of a stampede of American consumers in lavish mood after Thanksgiving. Some surveys indicate they may be disappointed.
A port in a storm With stockmarkets wobbling and the dollar falling, investors sought refuge in safer bets. The yield on ten-year Treasury bonds fell below 4% for the first time since 2005. There was little solace for markets in the release of the minutes of the Federal Open Market Committee's latest meeting, which predicted slower economic growth next year. Optimists took that to mean another interest-rate cut is on the cards. The Fed has specifically warned markets not to expect such a decision at its next gathering.
How a poetic Marxist has transformed business prospects in West Bengal
UNTIL a few years ago foreign capitalists were unlikely to look for investment opportunities in the Indian state of West Bengal, seat of the world's longest-serving democratically elected communist government. They were about as likely to ask for the novels of Gabriel Garcia Marquez in Bengali, the local language. That both are now readily available is largely down to one man. He is Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee, the state's chief minister, a poet and playwright, the translator of the great Colombian-born novelist—and a life-long communist.
Since taking charge of West Bengal in 2000, Mr Bhattacharjee has embraced business with apostate zeal. The results have been little short of revolutionary. Under a coalition of leftists led by his own Communist Party of India (Marxist), which has won seven consecutive elections, West Bengal was previously best known for industrial action, capital flight and the immiseration of its capital, Calcutta, recently renamed Kolkata. Things improved slightly in the mid-1990s, after investors were officially invited to the state. But only in recent years, after Mr Bhattacharjee began travelling the world and wooing foreign companies, have many actually come. They have joined an influx of Indian firms in computer services, manufacturing and steelmaking. Tata Motors says that next year it will start producing a new low-cost car—expected to sell for less than $3,000—at a factory it is building at Singur, near Kolkata.
Mr Bhattacharjee, who has a reputation for probity unusual in an Indian politician, has been credited with this success. In person, he is modest and engaging. With shining eyes and a breathy chain-smoker's voice, he enthuses on topics from agri-business to consumerism and Indian poetry, which he often quotes. In private life his tastes are Gandhian in their austerity: he has lived with his librarian wife and environmentalist daughter in the same two-bedroom flat for two decades. Azim Premji, the chairman of Wipro, a big computer-services company, has called Mr Bhattacharjee India's best chief minister. The prime minister, Manmohan Singh, agrees.
Why the U.S. Wants the Dollar to Fall Imagine that you have $2.8 trillion sitting around. And for kicks, let's assume that most of that money, about two-thirds, is invested in U.S. dollars and other dollar-denominated assets like U.S. Treasury bonds.
And let's assume that your currency was linked to the U.S. dollar, too. In other words, you often buy dollars to maintain a stable value relative to the buck.
As long as the dollar is doing okay, there's no problem. But what if it's falling, as it has been over the last few years?
You might decide to no longer peg your currency to the dollar. That solves the problem of tying your monetary policy to a boulder rolling downhill.
Of course, your decision also means your $2.8 trillion in dollar-denominated assets will get hammered in the process!
Okay, you say, I can just sell off a lot of those assets to avoid the losses. The problem is that it's not easy to unload such a huge amount of investments without the market realizing what you're doing. And when they catch wind of your plan, they'll sell too. Thus, the price will fall even faster!
Companies fail for a host of reasons. Bad luck plays a role, sure, but disaster usually strikes because of a more fundamental flaw--in the original idea, the strategy, the execution or all of the above.
When it comes to building a business, even Warren Buffett would agree that no one can spot every opportunity or anticipate every threat. There are simply too many variables. And in an increasingly competitive global economy, those variables are changing faster than ever before.
What entrepreneurs can do is ask the core set of tough questions that govern the fate of any enterprise. Armed with those answers, they stand the best chance of beating some fairly dire odds: Studies estimate that just two-thirds of all start-ups survive the first two years, and less than half make it to the fourth.
In Pictures: The 20 Most Important Questions In Business
Make no mistake: Digging for those answers is a grueling exercise--one that takes serious intellectual and emotional honesty. With any hope, the process begins long before money's been spent, products are built and customers are lost.
The real challenge, though, is to keep digging as the business grows. New opportunities and threats emerge, and yesterday's answers may not--and probably won't--suffice. Relentlessly asking the tough questions is how behemoths like Wal-Mart (nyse: WMT - news - people ), Microsoft (nasdaq: MSFT - news - people ) and General Electric (nyse: GE - news - people ) stay on top.
With that in mind, we present the 20 most important questions entrepreneurs need to answer--and keep answering--to build their businesses. Some highlights:
What is your value proposition?
This is the single most important question of the bunch. If you can't explain--in three, jargon-free sentences or less--why customers need your product, you do not have a value proposition. Without a need, there is no incentive for customers to pay. And without sales, you have no business. Period.
What differentiates your product from the competitors'?
Few companies can rely on--let alone afford--clever marketing schemes to separate themselves from the competition. Yes, Starbucks (nasdaq: SBUX - news - people ) made people believe they wanted $4 caffeinated concoctions, and Louis Vuitton lulled people into shelling out $1,500 for denim handbags, but those are the exceptions that prove the rule. If you want to win in business, you need to offer something tangibly valuable that the competition doesn't. Examples: rock-bottom prices (Wal-Mart); ingenious product design (Apple (nasdaq: AAPL - news - people )); extreme convenience (Fed Ex (nyse: FDX - news - people )).
How much cash do you need to survive the early years?
It doesn't matter how much money your business might make down the road if you can't get out of your garage. Plenty of business plans boast hockey-stick-style financial projections but run out of cash before the good times kick in. (Remember all those busted dot-com companies from the tech boom?) Three words: Mind the cash.
What are your strengths?
Google (nasdaq: GOOG - news - people ) writes powerful search algorithms; Steinway works wonders with wood; Cisco (nasdaq: CSCO - news - people ) sniffs out promising new technologies and buys them. Figure out what you're good at and stick to it. An obvious notion, perhaps, but plenty of zealous entrepreneurs lose their way--especially when the world seems so full of possibilities.
How big is the threat of new entrants?
If you're smart enough to spy a profitable business opportunity, you can bet competition isn't far behind. Some barriers to entry--patented technology, a storied brand--are more fortified than others, but eventually someone will find a way to do what you do faster, cheaper and maybe even better. If not a direct competitor, then a substitute technology might take a chunk out of your hide. (Think what digital film did to Kodak.) The trick: building a loyal following before that happens.
How much power do your suppliers have?
Convincing customers to buy your products is tough enough without suppliers breaking your back. Basic rule of thumb: The fewer the number of suppliers, the more sway they have. Take the steel industry, which relies on a handful of companies for its iron feedstock. If two of those big guys should get together--as BHP Billiton (nyse: BBL - news - people ) and Rio Tinto (nyse: RTP - news - people ) have been discussing--they would have significant pricing power, potentially crimping steel producers' margins. On the flipside, beware getting hooked on low-cost providers who don't keep an eye on quality. ("Lead-laced" Barbie, anyone?)
Does the business scale?
Bill Gates plowed piles of money into developing the first copy of Microsoft Office. The beauty: Each additional copy of that software program costs next to nothing to produce. That's called scale--and it's the difference between modest wealth and obscene riches. What models don't scale? Think service businesses, where the need for people grows along with revenues.
What price will your customers pay?
Get this answer wrong and you could leave bags of money on the table--or worse, send customers running into the arms of the competition. When Apple sliced the price of its iPhone by a third after only two months on the market, even loyal customers screamed, forcing chief Steve Jobs to apologize and offer a partial rebate. Consultants get paid handsomely to help companies arrive at the right price. For more affordable advice, check out The Six-Step Guide To Pricing Your Product. Wannabe consultants should read How To Price Your Consulting Services.
How committed are you to making this happen?
About a year ago, Chuck Prince, recently resigned chief executive of Citigroup (nyse: C - news - people ), addressed a group at New York University's Stern School of Business. An audience member asked what life looked like at the helm of such a colossal firm. Prince responded that, save for a few exceptions, every evening for the next five months was already accounted for. Fair warning: If you want to run the show, get ready to give everything--and then some.
Most influensive Q in business 1. What is your value proposition?
This is the single most important question of the bunch. If you can't explain--in three, jargon-free sentences or less--why customers need your product, you do not have a value proposition. Without a need, there is no incentive for customers to pay. And without sales, you have no business. Period. 2. Does your product address a viable market?
Entrepreneurs are passionate to a fault. Many fall in love with an idea before confirming that there's any viable market for it, let alone one large enough to attract investment capital. If a market doesn't yet exist--the toxic term of art here is "white space"--they assume they can create one. (Hint: There may be a reason for all that white space.) 3. What differentiates your product from competitors'?
Few companies can rely on--let alone afford--clever marketing schemes to separate themselves from the competition. Yes, Starbucks made people believe they wanted $4 caffeinated concoctions, and Louis Vuitton lulled people into shelling out $1,500 for denim handbags, but those are the exceptions that prove the rule. If you want to win in business, you need to offer something tangibly valuable that the competition doesn't. Examples: rock-bottom prices (Wal-Mart); ingenious product design (Apple); extreme convenience (Fed Ex). 4. How big is the threat of new entrants?
If you're smart enough to spy a profitable business opportunity, you can bet competition isn't far behind. Some barriers to entry--patented technology, a storied brand--are more fortified than others, but eventually someone will find a way to do what you do faster, cheaper and maybe even better. If not a direct competitor, then a substitute technology might take a chunk out of your hide. (Think what digital film did to Kodak.) The trick: building a loyal following before that happens. 5. How much start-up capital do you need?
Any early stage investor or small business consultant will tell you that most businesses fail because they were undercapitalized. The lesson: Figure out how much you think you need, and then add plenty of extra cushion. 6. How much cash do you need to survive the early years?
In case you didn't pay attention to the previous question, take this one to heart. It doesn't matter how much money your business might make down the road if you can't get out of your garage. Plenty of business plans boast hockey-stick-style financial projections but run out of cash before the good times kick in. (Remember all those busted dot-com companies from the tech boom?) Three words: Mind the cash 6. How much cash do you need to survive the early years?
In case you didn't pay attention to the previous question, take this one to heart. It doesn't matter how much money your business might make down the road if you can't get out of your garage. Plenty of business plans boast hockey-stick-style financial projections but run out of cash before the good times kick in. (Remember all those busted dot-com companies from the tech boom?) Three words: Mind the cash 6. How much cash do you need to survive the early years?
In case you didn't pay attention to the previous question, take this one to heart. It doesn't matter how much money your business might make down the road if you can't get out of your garage. Plenty of business plans boast hockey-stick-style financial projections but run out of cash before the good times kick in. (Remember all those busted dot-com companies from the tech boom?) Three words: Mind the cash
Question counti........... 7. How will you finance the business?
You have a few choices: Aunt Sally, credit cards (dangerous), angel investors, and if you're really onto something, venture capital. Forget bank loans (at least until the cash is flowing in a positive direction). As for selling shares to the public, what with all the regulatory hurdles, you might find the price of that exposure a tad steep. If you can bootstrap your business, do it; raising money is difficult and distracting. If you plan on stumping for capital, consider how much equity and control you're willing to give up. (The more you need the money, the stiffer the terms will get, so ask for it sooner than later.) Finally, always remember to match the timing of cash inflows from your assets and the outflows to cover liabilities. A mismatch can sting. 8. What are your strengths?
Google writes powerful search algorithms; Steinway works wonders with wood; Cisco sniffs out promising new technologies and buys them. Figure out what you're good at and stick to it. An obvious notion, perhaps, but plenty of zealous entrepreneurs lose their way--especially when the world seems so full of possibilities.
9. What are your weaknesses?
You may know how to design a widget, but not know a thing about running an efficient manufacturing plant. Apple designs and markets its nifty iPods and iPhones, but lets someone else slap them together. Countless Webpreneurs farm out the design of their sites and back-office payment systems. Wasting resources just to be mediocre is suicide. Stick to core competencies and find trusted partners to handle the rest.
10. How much power do your suppliers have?
Convincing customers to buy your products is tough enough without suppliers giving you a hard time. Basic rule of thumb: The fewer the number of suppliers, the more sway they have. Take the steel industry, which relies on a handful of companies for its iron feedstock. If two of those big guys should get together--as BHP Billton and Rio Tinto have been discussing--they would have significant pricing power, potentially crimping steel producers' margins. On the flipside, beware getting hooked on low-cost providers who don't keep an eye on quality. ("Lead-laced" Barbie, anyone?)
11. How much power do your buyers have?
Take a lesson from Delphi, the giant auto parts supplier stuck in Chapter 11 despite its $26 billion in annual sales: It's no fun to be in a business where a few big customers can demand price cuts with each passing year. Meanwhile, movie theaters--even while besieged by video-on-demand and other services--still manage to push higher prices on the disaggregated masses. The cost of a seat at a Regal Entertainment Group theater in lower Manhattan is now $12--up 20% in less than three years.
12. How should you sell your product?
There is no one-size-fits-all solution to wooing customers. For two decades, Dell Computer bypassed retailers and sold directly to customers, with limited tech support. General Motors and Coca Cola rely on distributors to move their cars and cans. Clothing companies like Ralph Lauren work both internal and external channels. And thanks to daily, intensive sales training, privately held Lazy Days moves some $800 million worth of RVs out of one sprawling location near Tampa, Fla. Whatever sales method you choose, make sure it aligns with your overall business strategy.
Question counti............ 13. How should you market your product?
Young companies have to get the word out, but they also can go broke doing it. A decade ago, America Online spent so much money flooding the planet with free trial software that it tried to mask the bleeding by capitalizing those expenses on its balance sheet. (Regulators later nixed that accounting treatment, wiping out millions in accounting profits.) What percentage of sales should go toward marketing? As with sales, there is no one rule of thumb. For more, check out Six Marketing Strategies Worth Paying For.
14. Does the business scale?
Bill Gates plowed piles of money into developing the first copy of Microsoft Office. The beauty: Each additional copy of that software program costs next to nothing to produce. That's called scale--and it's the difference between modest wealth and obscene riches. What models don't scale? Think service businesses, where the need for people grows along with revenues.
15. What are your financial projections?
You can't lead if you don't have a destination. Two critical milestones: 1) the point where more cash is coming into the business than going out in a given period, and 2) the point at which you finally recuperate your cumulative initial investment (including an adjustment for the time value of money). Financial projections should be reasonable. Paint too rosy a picture and seasoned investors will run; more to the point, you might run out of cash.
16. What price will consumers pay?
Get this answer wrong and you could leave bags of money on the table--or worse, send customers running into the arms of the competition. When Apple sliced the price of its iPhone by a third after only two months on the market, even loyal customers screamed, forcing chief Steve Jobs to apologize and offer a partial rebate. Consultants get paid handsomely to help companies arrive at the right price. For more affordable advice, check out "The Six-Step Guide To Pricing Your Product." Wannabe consultants should read "How To Price Your Consulting Services."
17. How do you protect your intellectual property?
Imagine slaving for years on a new cellphone battery that lasts more than two days, only to watch it reverse-engineered and patented by someone else. Before you ask anyone to crank out a few prototypes, file for a provisional patent. It protects your idea for a year while you work out the kinks. For more on intellectual-property protection, check out Protect Your Prototype and The Patented Path To Profits.
18. How do you keep the help happy?
What's Google worth without its super-geeks? Goldman Sachs without its number crunchers (and their golden Rolodexes)? The local bar without old Jim manning the tap? Not much, which is why attracting and retaining talent is critical to so many businesses. For starters, that means crafting the right benefits package. Starbucks sets a fairly high standard: Health benefits are available to any Starbucks employee who works at least 20 hours a week and has been with the company for more than 90 days.
19. How committed are you to making this happen?
About a year ago, Chuck Prince, recently resigned chief executive of Citigroup, addressed a group at New York University's Stern School of Business. An audience member asked what life looked like at the helm of such a colossal firm. Prince responded that, save for a few exceptions, every evening for the next five months was already accounted for. Fair warning: If you want to run the show, get ready to give everything--and then some.
20. What is your end game?
Running a business with an eye toward flipping it to a strategic buyer is a lot different than digging in for the long haul. (Will YouTube ever turn a profit? Who knows, but that's Google's problem now; the same goes for MySpace and News Corp.) Not sure whether you want to build the next great empire or just make a decent buck? Ask yourself the following eight questions.
All these question make a good productivity of the business. That is confidentaly helpful of the new entreprenureship.
Russia's new president will almost certainly be Dmitry Medvedev
IN SOME countries the suspense of a presidential election is based on the question of who is going to win a popular poll. In Russia it centres on who the outgoing president (in this case Vladimir Putin) picks as his successor. On Monday December 10th the winner was announced. Dmitry Medvedev, a 42-year-old lawyer from Mr Putin’s native St Petersburg is almost certain to become the next president in March. He is the chairman of Gazprom, the state-controlled gas monopoly and the deputy prime minister in charge of national projects. But what qualifies him for the job of Russia’s president is his (so far) unconditional loyalty to the current president. Mr Putin has two daughters, but appointing Mr Medvedev is the next best thing to his appointing a son.
The choreography of Mr Putin’s announcement speaks volumes about Russia’s virtual democracy. On Monday Mr Putin received Boris Gryzlov, the leader of the Kremlin’s own United Russia party which scored 64% in this month’s parliamentary elections. Mr Gryzlov told Mr Putin that United Russia, having consulted with other pro-Kremlin parties, would like to nominate Mr Medvedev as a candidate for the presidency. A chorus of friendly politicians echoed him. Mr Putin blessed their choice. “I fully and entirely support this candidate,” Mr Putin told them. “I have known Mr Medvedev and worked closely and fruitfully with him for 17 years.”
With status talks between the Serbian government and the Kosovan Albanian leadership exhausted, the stage is set for Kosovo soon to declare independence rather than receive a universal recognition of its statehood via the UN. This independence declaration will be co-ordinated with and recognised by the US and the leading EU states. However, it will create a troubling precedent internationally and is likely to destabilise the Balkans, at least in the short term.
The final round of internationally-mediated talks in Austria between Serbia and the Kosovo Albanians concluded in late November without a breakthrough. Serbia was very active in the final stages of the negotiations in proposing various models of extensive autonomy for Kosovo, but these were rejected by the Kosovo Albanians, confident that their aspiration for independence had the support of the US and leading EU states. Serbia and Russia would like negotiations to continue beyond the formal deadline of December 10th, but there is little readiness elsewhere for this. The decision on Kosovo's future status will now be taken by the international powers, following the submission of a report on the negotiations by the international mediating troika (representing the US, EU and Russia) to the UN Secretary General on December 10th. The report, which is not expected to make recommendations on the status issue, will be discussed by members of the UN Security Council the following week.
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The ECB's Monetary Policy Strategy
A monetary policy strategy is a coherent and structured description of how monetary policy decisions will be made in order to achieve the objective of the central bank.
It has two important tasks to fulfil. First, by imposing a clear structure on the policy-making process itself, the strategy ensures that the ECB's Governing Council ...
The Male Model
As times change and demand men to be extraordinary, organisations have not even noticed the trends. Promila grieves for men who have reverted to where women were 15 years ago...
Promila sighed. She was reading up material that was sent to her for a ‘Bring the women back to work’ seminar. Is that the demand of thinking, feeling individuals or inanimate organisations? She wasn’t sure if women could be simply brought back like that. It needed not just men to support — they were supportive already; it needed organisations to drop their blinkers.
Now, one para stared at her: What helps to mitigate cultural pressures are supportive in-laws. Supportive peers. Other men who are in the same situation. The great thing about this development is that it allows men to reassess and look at the bigger picture. A lot of the men I’ve talked with feel they’re able to pursue the kind of work they want to do rather than making a high salary the chief goal.
Some examples were presented from the global scene:
X, director, has two children. Her husband is a stay-at-home dad. “I do not understand how anyone, at my level, can have this type of career and not have a spouse who stays at home; It becomes too complicated to juggle both and do it adequately.”
Promila was not sure if this was even an example. Can I forget Zubin? Only son of a mighty father, today he will not take over and run the family empire because his wife is CEO somewhere in the UK and life hangs on the joys of a little three-year-old moppet named Khushru. And she wrote angrily: “So, does Ms X become a role model for other women, for life? All she has done is passed on the ‘complication’ and the ‘juggling’ act to her husband! That, in my book of living, does not translate to success. In fact, hey, we call that ‘loser’s game’.”
Success belongs to a family, not an individual — wrote Promila and highlighted this in yellow. She was now clear; she was attending that conference. Men and women should seek family success, not individual glory…
Our Heartfelt Thank-You!
by Martin D. Weiss Ph.D.
Dear Subsciber,
With so much going on in the world, we cherish days like today when we can give thanks for all the wonderful things that fill our lives with joy.
Whenever I bring up the subject of grandchildren with Anthony, his typical answer is "Don't hold you breath, Dad."
But we're grateful for our grandniece and nephews who treat Elisabeth and me like their own grandparents.
And we're equally grateful for the hundreds of loving children, ages 3 to 13, at our Weiss School.
Larry's also on the "grandparents-in-waiting" list.
But with two grown boys and one girl, I get the distinct impression that his odds are a bit better than mine.
When Larry's kids were little, they also attended the Weiss School.
In fact, that's how I first met Larry. His daughter, who was in my 4th grade Japanese class, informed me one day that her father was a good writer, gave me a copy of a report he wrote with predictions that had already come true, and told me I should hire him. I did, and the rest is history.
I'm equally delighted with our entire Money and Markets team.
And all of us are especially grateful for the trust you place in us.
Thank you for letting us share our thoughts with you each and every day.
Happy Thanksgiving and God bless!
World MBA Tour Fall 2007 - register now!
Meet face-to-face with the MBA admissions officers and alumni of the world’s top business schools to help you make your Business School selection and to find out about MBA scholarships, MBA rankings, MBA Admissions, MBA Careers and much more.
The Tour provides an outstanding opportunity for candidates to research business schools and make informed education and career choices, whilst offering the business schools an ideal chance to meet a highly targeted audience of the world's best young professionals.
27 of the top 30 North American business schools and all the top schools from Europe and the rest of the world travel on the QS World MBA Tour.
Last year, 96% of attendees rated the QS World MBA Tour ‘very useful’ or ‘useful’.
Select the city near you and register NOW to ensure your place at the World MBA Tour.
Asia Pacific (23rd-November - 27th-November)
Bangkok Singapore Kuala Lumpur
India and Middle East (29th-November - 10th-December)
Delhi Bangalore Hyderabad Mumbai
Dubai Cairo
North America (2nd-February - 2nd-February)
New York
North America Spring Tour (5th-February - 7th-February)
Washington DC Toronto
European Spring Tour (26th-February - 18th-March)
Lisbon Barcelona London Moscow
Paris Rome Sofia Bucharest
Frankfurt Almaty
Africa (31st-March - 2nd-April)
Johannesburg Nairobi
Frequently Asked Questions
World MBA Tour 2007
About the tour
Started in 1995, the World MBA Tour now visits over 50 cities in nearly 40 countries, working in partnership with leading national media in every location.
The Tour provides an outstanding opportunity for candidates to research business schools and make informed education and career choices, whilst offering the business schools an ideal chance to meet a highly targeted audience of the world's best young professionals.
MBA candidates consistently rate face-to-face contact with Admissions Officers and alumni as the two most important sources of information in making their school choice.
How to make most of the fair
At the Fair you can ask questions such as: program content, costs and ROI, the benefits of short or long program length, financial aid and post- MBA career options. The event is designed to inform and to encourage candidates to ask questions, enter into discussion and gain advice based on their own experience and ambitions. Do your research in advance - learn more about the schools that visit your city on www.topmba.com/scorecard
MBA candidates consistently rate face-to-face contact with Admissions Officers and alumni as the two most important sources of information in making their school choice.
Studying while working: ExecMBA Village
At the World MBA Tour you will meet business schools that offer Full-time MBA programs as well as Executive MBA, Part-time MBA and Distance Learning MBA programs.
The ExecMBA Village at the World MBA Tour is the ideal the chance for the experienced professional, corporate high-flyers and HR managers to enquire about a growing range of focused Executive MBA programmes. Further information on our Executive Events
MBA Scholarships
MBA Scholarships & Funding Advice
Candidates who attend the QS World MBA Tour and World Grad School Tour qualify to apply for scholarships worth over US$ 2.7 MILLION.
The admission officers will give you information on the financial aid and loan schemes available for their MBA programs and - at selected venues, local banks will illustrate their MBA loan schemes. At the fairs, visit the QS bookstore where our Team will present the new TopMBA Scorecard Scholarships database.
“The QS World MBA Tour Scholarship has helped me towards completing my MBA.”
Ana Paula Fontes, Brazil – MBA INSEAD
Apply for QS scholarships
If you have visited one of the World MBA Tours, and would like to be considered for one of $2,700,000 exclusive scholarships offered only to the QS World MBA Tour participants in partnership with the QS World Grad School Tour, you should take part in our MBA Applicant Survey.
Schools that offer the scholarships this season include: Chicago GSB, Wharton, Rotman School of Management, Politecnico di Milano, Cass Business School, Ashridge, IE Instituto de Empresa, Wim Kok Nijenrode, ESMT - European School of Management and Technology Scholarships, MIB School of Management (Trieste - Italy).
GMAT & Admissions Seminars
MBA Admissions Panels
You are welcome to attend invaluable MBA Admissions Panels, featuring Admissions Directors from up to five leading business schools and QS experts discussing key topics such as: choosing the right school, financing an MBA, taking the GMAT test and preparing a winning application.
The MBA Admissions Panels usually take part one hour prior the fair. Please, check the time while registering for your city.
You will receive the schedule of all the seminars after the World MBA Tour registration.
Free GMAT Seminars
A free GMAT Seminar will provide an overview of the GMAT test, as well as offering strategies to maximize your score. GMAT study guides and test prep centers are also reviewed. The GMAT seminar is provided by an experienced international or local GMAT trainer.
You will receive the schedule of all the seminars after the World MBA Tour registration.
QS MasterClass in Management
If you want to get the taste of a business school classroom, join The QS MasterClass in Management™. Presented by leading professors of some of the world’s top business schools, these interactive sessions aim to provide MBA aspirants with insight into the dynamic and engaging atmosphere of an MBA class.
The seminars will look at themes such as leadership, marketing, strategy and entrepreneurship - effective leadership strategies within organisations, marketing campaigns adapted to different markets, strategy in a global competitive environment, corporate growth and innovation, and more.
You will receive the schedule of all the seminars after the World MBA Tour registration.
WMT Participating Business Schools
Do the business schools participating in the Tour have a formal MBA accreditation?
The majority of the schools traveling with the QS World MBA Tour are accredited by the main international bodies such as the US-based Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business (AACSB International); EQUIS, the accreditation arm of the European Foundation for Management Development (efmd) in Brussels; and the UK’s Association of MBAs (AMBA). However, the World MBA Tour invites the top local schools in each country to take part in the event and often these Institutions are recognized by their national accreditation bodies. QS ensures that the business schools that take part in the World MBA Tour enjoy a solid reputation within the international and/or local business community.
You can check the status of schools on the tour by visiting www.topmba.com/scorecard - this free service helps you create a personalized ranking based on audited data. You can see the reputation of each school with recruiters, as well as: career placement record; student quality, faculty strength, specializations and even Return on Investment. You can even review the ranking of each school from third party publications like the FT, The Economist, Wall Street Journal.
Which business schools take part in the Tour?
The World MBA Tour is the biggest event of its kind in the world. Over 400 business schools take part in the World MBA Tour each year. At a typical fair we will have between 80 and 140 top business schools present, so you really have every chance to make an informed decision about your future.
Once you have registered, you will be able to access the list of schools taking part in each region of the Tour. You will also be given a password and will be able to use TopMBA.com/Scorecard to research suitable schools and gather background information before you meet them at the fair.
The euro came off vis-à-vis the U.S. dollar today as the single currency tested bids around the US$ 1.4775 level and was capped around the $1.4855 level. The common currency established a fresh lifetime high before ceding some intraday gains. Sentiment in the U.S. dollar eroded further after the release of yesterday’s FOMC meeting minutes from the end of October. The Fed’s decision to reduce the federal funds target rate by 25bps was a “close call” but officials saw additional economic weakness in the future. Moreover, the Fed released updated GDP and inflation forecasts and scaled back expectations for 2008 GDP growth to 1.80% - 2.50% and core PCE inflation to 1.7% to 1.9%. The reduction in growth expectations cemented traders’ belief the FOMC is likely to ease monetary policy further next month. Many traders believe the federal funds target rate may be back at 4.00% at the conclusion of the FOMC’s two-day policy meeting in late January.
¥/ CNY
The yen appreciated sharply vis-à-vis the U.S. dollar today as the greenback tested bids around the ¥108.25 level and was capped around the ¥110.00 figure. The pair fell to its lowest level in a couple of years as risk aversion returned to the market. The resurgence in the price of oil to near the psychologically-important US$ 100.00 figure added to the yen’s gains. Data released in Japan overnight saw the September all-industries index recede 1.6% while the October merchandise trade surplus rose 66.1% to ¥1.019 trillion. Trade minister Amari said an exchange rate around ¥110 should be appropriate for the greenback. The Nikkei 225 stock index lost 2.46% to close at ¥14,837.66. Dollar bids are cited around the ¥106.55 level. The euro moved lower vis-à-vis the yen as the single currency tested bids around the ¥160.05 level and was capped around the ¥163.15 level. The British pound and Swiss franc weakened vis-à-vis the yen as the crosses tested bids around the ¥222.40 and ¥97.85 levels, respectively. The Chinese yuan firmed vis-à-vis the U.S. dollar as the greenback closed at CNY 7.4110 in the over-the-counter market, down from CNY 7.4218. Bush administration officials will visit China next month to discuss the yuan and trade issues.
₤
The British pound fell vis-à-vis the U.S. dollar today as cable tested bids around the US$ 2.0525 level and was capped around the $2.0695 level. Technically, today’s intraday low was right around the 50% retracement of the move from $1.9870 to $2.1160. Sterling moved lower after minutes from Bank of England’s November Monetary Policy Committee meeting were released and evidenced a 7-to-2 vote in favour of keeping rates unchanged. MPC member Blanchflower and Deputy Governor Gieve voted for a rate cut. Gieve is generally perceived to be a hawkish member of the MPC and his vote for a cut suggests there could be an increasing consensus on the MPC that borrowing costs need to come down. Most traders believe the MPC will reduce interest rates in 2008, and possibly as early as next month. Cable bids are cited around the US$ 2.0365 level. The euro extended recent gains vis-à-vis the British pound as the single currency tested offers around the ₤0.7215 level and was supported around the ₤0.7165 level.
CHF
The Swiss franc appreciated vis-à-vis the U.S. dollar today as the greenback tested bids around the CHF 1.1025 level and was capped around the CHF 1.1080 level. The pair established a fresh multi-year low as risk aversion returned to the markets. U.S. dollar offers are cited around the CHF 1.1355 level. The euro and British pound weakened vis-à-vis the Swiss franc as the crosses tested bids around the CHF 1.6345 and CHF 2.2685 levels, respectively.
Drug developer plans $86 million IPO
Aegerion Pharmaceuticals revived its initial public offering, six months after withdrawing a previous IPO due to "market conditions."
The Bridgewater, N.J.-based company initially filed for an IPO in March, but pulled the offering in June, citing “market conditions,” according to filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission.
Terms of the IPO, including the number of shares and their expected selling price, were not disclosed, though Aegerion had previously said it would sell 5 million shares at an estimated range of $12 to $14 per share.
The company, which will list its stock on the Nasdaq under “AEGR,” plans to use proceeds from the sale to repay debt, fund clinical programs and for general corporate purposes, including potential acquisitions.
Founded in 2005, Aegerion develops drugs to treat cardiovascular and metabolic diseases.
For the nine months ended Sept. 30, Aegerion lost $14.9 million, compared with $4.3 million loss for the first nine months of 2006.The company said it has not yet generated any revenue from its development-stage products and doesn’t know that it will ever be profitable.
WHO’s counting?
Not as bad an epidemic as once seemed
ON THE face of things, a fall in the number of people infected with HIV (the virus that causes AIDS) from 39.5m to 33.2m over the course of a single year should be cause for rejoicing. That is the news from this year’s AIDS epidemic update from the World Health Organisation (WHO) and UNAIDS published on Tuesday November 20th. Indeed, it is good news, for it means there are fewer people to treat, and fewer to pass the infection on, than was previously thought. But the fall is not a real fall. Rather, it is due to a change in the way the size of the epidemic is estimated.
Factor that change in and the number of infected individuals has actually risen since last year, by 500,000. And even that is not necessarily bad news in the paradoxical world of AIDS. As treatment programmes are installed around the world, death rates are falling. According to the revised figures, the peak, of 2.2m a year, was in 2005. Now the figure is 2.1m. Since the only way for an infected person to drop out of the statistics in reality (as opposed to by sleight of statistical hand) is for him to die, such increased survivorship inevitably pushes up the total size of the epidemic.
The best news of all, however, is that the new figures confirm what had previously been suspected—that the epidemic has peaked. The highest annual number of new infections around the world was 3.4m in 1998. That figure has now fallen to 2.5m.
Both the change in the death rate and the change in the infection rate are partly a consequence of the natural flow and ebb of any epidemic infection. But the changes are also a reflection of the hard graft of public-health workers in many countries, which has persuaded people to modify or abandon risky behaviour, such as having unprotected sex, and has also created the medical infrastructure needed to distribute anti-retroviral drugs that can keep symptoms at bay in those who do become infected.
The revision of the figures is mainly a result of better data-collection methods, particularly in India (which accounts for half the downward revision) and five African countries (which account for another fifth). In India many more sampling points have been established, and in all countries better survey methods, relying on surveyors knocking on doors rather than asking questions at clinics, have gathered data from more representative samples of the population.
Sceptics will feel vindicated by the revision. There has been a feeling around for a while that the older survey methods were biased, and that the inflation thus produced was tolerated because it helped twang the heart-strings of potential donors. However, the structures for collecting and distributing money to combat AIDS are now well established, and accurate data are crucial if that money is not to be misdirected.
The new information also means that the goal of treatment for all who need it will be easier and cheaper to achieve. The WHO and UNAIDS are planning to publish a report on the matter early next year, but Paul De Lay, UNAIDS’s director of evidence, monitoring and policy, says that the financial requirements for 2010 will probably be about 5% less than previously estimated, and by 2015 that figure will have risen to 10%. Good news for everyone, then, donors and sufferers alike.
Why John Howard's love of secrecy may sink him
BACK in Sydney and, with just two days until the election, two issues finally surface that have barely rated a mention so far in a campaign dominated by the economy and climate change.
A storm breaks over a successful bid by John Howard’s conservative coalition government to ban the release of documents on its controversial workplace laws. A Sydney journalist had sought the documents more than two years ago under Australia’s freedom of information laws. But a tribunal has now ruled in favour of the government’s case to keep them secret.
Heading for a wall?The timing of this, to say nothing of the decision itself, could hardly have been worse for Mr Howard’s campaign. After he won his fourth successive election in 2004, Mr Howard introduced laws that removed the last vestiges of union power from workplaces and made individual contracts between workers and bosses the new norm. The laws are deeply unpopular, and explain at least some of Mr Howard’s consistent deficit in opinion polls this year.
And the ruling has given the opposition Labor Party and Kevin Rudd, its leader, fuel for a fear campaign: the government, it says, must be planning more draconian changes if it is re-elected, and is trying to cover them up. But the ruling also has disturbing overtones of a more widespread drift towards government secrecy.
About two weeks ago, as the election campaign was passing its mid-point, I attended a press conference in Sydney called by a group called Australia’s Right to Know. In a city with fiercely competitive media, this group is a rare coalition of Australia’s biggest print and electronic media companies. The conference was held in the headquarters of News Limited, Rupert Murdoch’s Australian company.
Business this week
Freddie Mac, one of America's two government-sponsored mortgage giants, reported a net loss of $2.03 billion for the third quarter and blamed “weakening house prices and deteriorating credit” for its woes. Fannie Mae, its larger rival, recently announced a quarterly loss of $1.4 billion. Both handle around $4.8 trillion in housing loans and were set up by the government partly as a bulwark against times of crisis in financial markets.
The share price of Countrywide Financial, America's biggest private mortgage-lender, fell by around 22% in intraday trading amid rumours it was about to run out of cash. The company has been dogged by reports that it is on the verge of bankruptcy since the turmoil in money markets began in the summer. It denied the latest speculation and its share price recovered.
More data pointed to a deepening slump in America's housing market. Permits to erect homes, an indicator of future building, fell in October to the lowest level in 14 years. Actual construction starts on single-family homes fell by 7% compared with September. There was one glimmer of hope: more condominiums meant total construction starts rose by an unexpected 3%.
Northern crock
Northern Rock, a British bank afflicted by the credit crunch and which is now being propped up by public money, said it had received more expressions of interest about a takeover, though some of the offers came in below its already-depressed share price. More calls were made for Northern Rock to be nationalised and its assets sold. See article
The fallout from the credit-market crisis spread to the reinsurance industry when Swiss Re took a SFr1.2 billion ($1.1 billion) write-down stemming from its exposure to subprime-mortgage related debt. The company's revelation came two weeks after buoyant quarterly earnings that gave no hint of the loss.
DP World raised almost $5 billion in its initial public offering, the biggest ever in the Middle East. Owned by the emirate of Dubai, the port and logistics company was caught in a political squall last year when it bought some operations in the United States.
ArcelorMittal said it was talking to China Oriental Group about increasing its holding in the firm. The world's biggest steelmaker took a 28% stake in its Chinese rival earlier this month. China's government has resisted attempts by foreigners, so far, to take control of Chinese steel producers.
Beer buddies
SABMiller's offer to buy Grolsch for euro816m ($1.2 billion) was accepted by the Dutch brewer. Grolsch is one of the world's oldest breweries, tracing its roots to 1615. It sells most of its beer in Britain and the Netherlands, but SABMiller thinks Grolsch will go down well in emerging markets too. The deal left Anheuser-Busch standing at the bar; America's biggest brewer markets Grolsch in the United States and was interested in an acquisition.
TomTom, the market leader in satellite-navigation devices, made formal its offer to buy Tele Atlas, a maker of digital maps, after Garmin conceded defeat for its rival bid. TomTom amassed a 28% stake in Tele Atlas, its Dutch compatriot, during negotiations.
Amazon took the wraps off its new portable digital book-reader. The Kindle allows its users to download books and magazines for a fee and, unlike similar devices, has a wireless connection. A revolution in reading habits through e-books has long been promised by retailers, but many analysts remain sceptical.
Hewlett-Packard reported a strong quarter that helped its annual sales (for the year ending October 31st) push past $100 billion for the first time.
Gap posted a healthy increase in quarterly profit, though sales remained flat. The company is revamping its Gap and Old Navy clothing lines in response to miserable pre-Christmas trading last year. All retailers will be nervously checking their shop fronts and online stores this year in the hope of a stampede of American consumers in lavish mood after Thanksgiving. Some surveys indicate they may be disappointed.
A port in a storm
With stockmarkets wobbling and the dollar falling, investors sought refuge in safer bets. The yield on ten-year Treasury bonds fell below 4% for the first time since 2005. There was little solace for markets in the release of the minutes of the Federal Open Market Committee's latest meeting, which predicted slower economic growth next year. Optimists took that to mean another interest-rate cut is on the cards. The Fed has specifically warned markets not to expect such a decision at its next gathering.
Business and the credit crunch
At the gates of hell
Banks and brokers are having a terrible time. Now the misery is spreading
NAMING yourself after the three-headed dog that guards the gates to hell was, perhaps, asking for trouble. Cerberus, the private-equity beast in question, now finds itself at the centre of a fierce debate about whether corporate America is in for a hellish time, as the credit crisis spreads from financial services to the rest of the economy.
Only months ago Cerberus was praised as the saviour of the American car industry when it bought Chrysler from its German owner and struck a remarkable deal with the unions to cut jobs and benefits. But on November 20th it emerged that Cerberus's bankers had abandoned efforts to sell $4 billion of the debt it took on when it bought Chrysler. Investors turned up their noses even when offered a 3% discount.
George Bush is the only man who can bring an independent Palestine closer
Getty imagesGEORGE BUSH is not likely to be remembered by history as the saviour of the Middle East. He botched Iraq, dropped his democratic “freedom agenda” when the Arabs started voting for the wrong people, and has spent most of his two terms more or less ignoring Palestine. On this last front, however, he now has an opportunity for redemption.
If all goes to plan, Mr Bush will preside on November 27th over a peace meeting in Annapolis, Maryland. Expectations of this one-day event are at rock bottom. Nobody foresees much more than some bland speechifying and a photo-opportunity. And yet, if he is bold, Mr Bush has it in his power to turn Annapolis into a significant step towards peace. All he has to do is pluck up the courage to make the right speech.
Please come, we promise nothing will happen...
That may sound like a wild claim to make of an event already shrouded in defeatism. This is a party nobody is thrilled to have been asked to. Ehud Olmert is going because an Israeli prime minister cannot leave an invitation from the White House to curl in the in-tray. Mahmoud Abbas is going because after losing the Gaza Strip to Hamas he must show that he is still president of Palestine, if only in the eyes of the great powers. Not even the hosts seem excited. Condoleezza Rice, America's secretary of state, is a genuine if late convert to the idea that America can budge things in Palestine. But the rest of the administration appears to see Annapolis as a way to roll out the customary pieties on Palestine and so make it easier for America to line up its Arab friends against Iran.
Worse still, these modest ambitions have shrivelled as the day has neared (see article). Plan A was for Mr Olmert and Mr Abbas to talk to one another before Annapolis and make a joint declaration when they arrived. To give the Palestinians what Ms Rice calls a “political horizon” (ie, hope) this declaration was supposed to go beyond Mr Bush's oft-repeated but ephemeral “vision” of an independent Palestine and fill in the vital missing detail on borders, refugees and Jerusalem. But although the two sides have indeed talked in recent weeks they have not bridged their longstanding differences.
That is no surprise. With Hamas snapping at his heels, it would take immense courage for the timorous Mr Abbas to modify the Palestinians' mantra: a state on the 1967 borders, a capital in Jerusalem and the “right” of the refugees of 60 years ago to return to what is now Israel. And although Mr Olmert is at least the prime minister of a functioning state, he governs in coalition with men who hate the very idea of an independent Palestine and have worked sedulously to tie his hands. Polls show that many Israelis long to be rid of the Palestinian territories. But even they wonder how they can trust Mr Abbas's ramshackle Palestinian Authority to police a state when it has already lost Gaza to the rocket-firing rejectionists of Hamas and might well lose the West Bank too.
In the absence of a pre-Annapolis meeting of minds, America has therefore moved to Plan B. There may still be a joint declaration, but it will be vague. It will pay homage to the principle of two states and recite the relevant, long-ago United Nations resolutions, which both sides know by heart but interpret differently. The two sides may then promise to sit down together the day after Annapolis to talk about borders, refugees and Jerusalem, with the hope of reaching agreement within a year. In the meantime, Tony Blair, in his new guise as the UN's midwife for Palestine, will set out his plans to strengthen the economy and institutions of the West Bank in preparation for the independence that will come, some day.
Business this week
Freddie Mac, one of America's two government-sponsored mortgage giants, reported a net loss of $2.03 billion for the third quarter and blamed “weakening house prices and deteriorating credit” for its woes. Fannie Mae, its larger rival, recently announced a quarterly loss of $1.4 billion. Both handle around $4.8 trillion in housing loans and were set up by the government partly as a bulwark against times of crisis in financial markets. See article
The share price of Countrywide Financial, America's biggest private mortgage-lender, fell by around 22% in intraday trading amid rumours it was about to run out of cash. The company has been dogged by reports that it is on the verge of bankruptcy since the turmoil in money markets began in the summer. It denied the latest speculation and its share price recovered.
More data pointed to a deepening slump in America's housing market. Permits to erect homes, an indicator of future building, fell in October to the lowest level in 14 years. Actual construction starts on single-family homes fell by 7% compared with September. There was one glimmer of hope: more condominiums meant total construction starts rose by an unexpected 3%.
Northern crock
Northern Rock, a British bank afflicted by the credit crunch and which is now being propped up by public money, said it had received more expressions of interest about a takeover, though some of the offers came in below its already-depressed share price. More calls were made for Northern Rock to be nationalised and its assets sold.
The fallout from the credit-market crisis spread to the reinsurance industry when Swiss Re took a SFr1.2 billion ($1.1 billion) write-down stemming from its exposure to subprime-mortgage related debt. The company's revelation came two weeks after buoyant quarterly earnings that gave no hint of the loss.
DP World raised almost $5 billion in its initial public offering, the biggest ever in the Middle East. Owned by the emirate of Dubai, the port and logistics company was caught in a political squall last year when it bought some operations in the United States.
ArcelorMittal said it was talking to China Oriental Group about increasing its holding in the firm. The world's biggest steelmaker took a 28% stake in its Chinese rival earlier this month. China's government has resisted attempts by foreigners, so far, to take control of Chinese steel producers.
Beer buddies
SABMiller's offer to buy Grolsch for euro816m ($1.2 billion) was accepted by the Dutch brewer. Grolsch is one of the world's oldest breweries, tracing its roots to 1615. It sells most of its beer in Britain and the Netherlands, but SABMiller thinks Grolsch will go down well in emerging markets too. The deal left Anheuser-Busch standing at the bar; America's biggest brewer markets Grolsch in the United States and was interested in an acquisition.
TomTom, the market leader in satellite-navigation devices, made formal its offer to buy Tele Atlas, a maker of digital maps, after Garmin conceded defeat for its rival bid. TomTom amassed a 28% stake in Tele Atlas, its Dutch compatriot, during negotiations.
Amazon took the wraps off its new portable digital book-reader. The Kindle allows its users to download books and magazines for a fee and, unlike similar devices, has a wireless connection. A revolution in reading habits through e-books has long been promised by retailers, but many analysts remain sceptical.
Hewlett-Packard reported a strong quarter that helped its annual sales (for the year ending October 31st) push past $100 billion for the first time.
Gap posted a healthy increase in quarterly profit, though sales remained flat. The company is revamping its Gap and Old Navy clothing lines in response to miserable pre-Christmas trading last year. All retailers will be nervously checking their shop fronts and online stores this year in the hope of a stampede of American consumers in lavish mood after Thanksgiving. Some surveys indicate they may be disappointed.
A port in a storm
With stockmarkets wobbling and the dollar falling, investors sought refuge in safer bets. The yield on ten-year Treasury bonds fell below 4% for the first time since 2005. There was little solace for markets in the release of the minutes of the Federal Open Market Committee's latest meeting, which predicted slower economic growth next year. Optimists took that to mean another interest-rate cut is on the cards. The Fed has specifically warned markets not to expect such a decision at its next gathering.
The capitalist communist
How a poetic Marxist has transformed business prospects in West Bengal
UNTIL a few years ago foreign capitalists were unlikely to look for investment opportunities in the Indian state of West Bengal, seat of the world's longest-serving democratically elected communist government. They were about as likely to ask for the novels of Gabriel Garcia Marquez in Bengali, the local language. That both are now readily available is largely down to one man. He is Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee, the state's chief minister, a poet and playwright, the translator of the great Colombian-born novelist—and a life-long communist.
Since taking charge of West Bengal in 2000, Mr Bhattacharjee has embraced business with apostate zeal. The results have been little short of revolutionary. Under a coalition of leftists led by his own Communist Party of India (Marxist), which has won seven consecutive elections, West Bengal was previously best known for industrial action, capital flight and the immiseration of its capital, Calcutta, recently renamed Kolkata. Things improved slightly in the mid-1990s, after investors were officially invited to the state. But only in recent years, after Mr Bhattacharjee began travelling the world and wooing foreign companies, have many actually come. They have joined an influx of Indian firms in computer services, manufacturing and steelmaking. Tata Motors says that next year it will start producing a new low-cost car—expected to sell for less than $3,000—at a factory it is building at Singur, near Kolkata.
Mr Bhattacharjee, who has a reputation for probity unusual in an Indian politician, has been credited with this success. In person, he is modest and engaging. With shining eyes and a breathy chain-smoker's voice, he enthuses on topics from agri-business to consumerism and Indian poetry, which he often quotes. In private life his tastes are Gandhian in their austerity: he has lived with his librarian wife and environmentalist daughter in the same two-bedroom flat for two decades. Azim Premji, the chairman of Wipro, a big computer-services company, has called Mr Bhattacharjee India's best chief minister. The prime minister, Manmohan Singh, agrees.
Why the U.S. Wants the Dollar to Fall
Imagine that you have $2.8 trillion sitting around. And for kicks, let's assume that most of that money, about two-thirds, is invested in U.S. dollars and other dollar-denominated assets like U.S. Treasury bonds.
And let's assume that your currency was linked to the U.S. dollar, too. In other words, you often buy dollars to maintain a stable value relative to the buck.
As long as the dollar is doing okay, there's no problem. But what if it's falling, as it has been over the last few years?
You might decide to no longer peg your currency to the dollar. That solves the problem of tying your monetary policy to a boulder rolling downhill.
Of course, your decision also means your $2.8 trillion in dollar-denominated assets will get hammered in the process!
Okay, you say, I can just sell off a lot of those assets to avoid the losses. The problem is that it's not easy to unload such a huge amount of investments without the market realizing what you're doing. And when they catch wind of your plan, they'll sell too. Thus, the price will fall even faster!
The 20 Most Important Questions In Business
Companies fail for a host of reasons. Bad luck plays a role, sure, but disaster usually strikes because of a more fundamental flaw--in the original idea, the strategy, the execution or all of the above.
When it comes to building a business, even Warren Buffett would agree that no one can spot every opportunity or anticipate every threat. There are simply too many variables. And in an increasingly competitive global economy, those variables are changing faster than ever before.
What entrepreneurs can do is ask the core set of tough questions that govern the fate of any enterprise. Armed with those answers, they stand the best chance of beating some fairly dire odds: Studies estimate that just two-thirds of all start-ups survive the first two years, and less than half make it to the fourth.
In Pictures: The 20 Most Important Questions In Business
Make no mistake: Digging for those answers is a grueling exercise--one that takes serious intellectual and emotional honesty. With any hope, the process begins long before money's been spent, products are built and customers are lost.
The real challenge, though, is to keep digging as the business grows. New opportunities and threats emerge, and yesterday's answers may not--and probably won't--suffice. Relentlessly asking the tough questions is how behemoths like Wal-Mart (nyse: WMT - news - people ), Microsoft (nasdaq: MSFT - news - people ) and General Electric (nyse: GE - news - people ) stay on top.
With that in mind, we present the 20 most important questions entrepreneurs need to answer--and keep answering--to build their businesses. Some highlights:
What is your value proposition?
This is the single most important question of the bunch. If you can't explain--in three, jargon-free sentences or less--why customers need your product, you do not have a value proposition. Without a need, there is no incentive for customers to pay. And without sales, you have no business. Period.
What differentiates your product from the competitors'?
Few companies can rely on--let alone afford--clever marketing schemes to separate themselves from the competition. Yes, Starbucks (nasdaq: SBUX - news - people ) made people believe they wanted $4 caffeinated concoctions, and Louis Vuitton lulled people into shelling out $1,500 for denim handbags, but those are the exceptions that prove the rule. If you want to win in business, you need to offer something tangibly valuable that the competition doesn't. Examples: rock-bottom prices (Wal-Mart); ingenious product design (Apple (nasdaq: AAPL - news - people )); extreme convenience (Fed Ex (nyse: FDX - news - people )).
How much cash do you need to survive the early years?
It doesn't matter how much money your business might make down the road if you can't get out of your garage. Plenty of business plans boast hockey-stick-style financial projections but run out of cash before the good times kick in. (Remember all those busted dot-com companies from the tech boom?) Three words: Mind the cash.
What are your strengths?
Google (nasdaq: GOOG - news - people ) writes powerful search algorithms; Steinway works wonders with wood; Cisco (nasdaq: CSCO - news - people ) sniffs out promising new technologies and buys them. Figure out what you're good at and stick to it. An obvious notion, perhaps, but plenty of zealous entrepreneurs lose their way--especially when the world seems so full of possibilities.
How big is the threat of new entrants?
If you're smart enough to spy a profitable business opportunity, you can bet competition isn't far behind. Some barriers to entry--patented technology, a storied brand--are more fortified than others, but eventually someone will find a way to do what you do faster, cheaper and maybe even better. If not a direct competitor, then a substitute technology might take a chunk out of your hide. (Think what digital film did to Kodak.) The trick: building a loyal following before that happens.
How much power do your suppliers have?
Convincing customers to buy your products is tough enough without suppliers breaking your back. Basic rule of thumb: The fewer the number of suppliers, the more sway they have. Take the steel industry, which relies on a handful of companies for its iron feedstock. If two of those big guys should get together--as BHP Billiton (nyse: BBL - news - people ) and Rio Tinto (nyse: RTP - news - people ) have been discussing--they would have significant pricing power, potentially crimping steel producers' margins. On the flipside, beware getting hooked on low-cost providers who don't keep an eye on quality. ("Lead-laced" Barbie, anyone?)
Does the business scale?
Bill Gates plowed piles of money into developing the first copy of Microsoft Office. The beauty: Each additional copy of that software program costs next to nothing to produce. That's called scale--and it's the difference between modest wealth and obscene riches. What models don't scale? Think service businesses, where the need for people grows along with revenues.
What price will your customers pay?
Get this answer wrong and you could leave bags of money on the table--or worse, send customers running into the arms of the competition. When Apple sliced the price of its iPhone by a third after only two months on the market, even loyal customers screamed, forcing chief Steve Jobs to apologize and offer a partial rebate. Consultants get paid handsomely to help companies arrive at the right price. For more affordable advice, check out The Six-Step Guide To Pricing Your Product. Wannabe consultants should read How To Price Your Consulting Services.
How committed are you to making this happen?
About a year ago, Chuck Prince, recently resigned chief executive of Citigroup (nyse: C - news - people ), addressed a group at New York University's Stern School of Business. An audience member asked what life looked like at the helm of such a colossal firm. Prince responded that, save for a few exceptions, every evening for the next five months was already accounted for. Fair warning: If you want to run the show, get ready to give everything--and then some.
Most influensive Q in business
1. What is your value proposition?
This is the single most important question of the bunch. If you can't explain--in three, jargon-free sentences or less--why customers need your product, you do not have a value proposition. Without a need, there is no incentive for customers to pay. And without sales, you have no business. Period.
2. Does your product address a viable market?
Entrepreneurs are passionate to a fault. Many fall in love with an idea before confirming that there's any viable market for it, let alone one large enough to attract investment capital. If a market doesn't yet exist--the toxic term of art here is "white space"--they assume they can create one. (Hint: There may be a reason for all that white space.)
3. What differentiates your product from competitors'?
Few companies can rely on--let alone afford--clever marketing schemes to separate themselves from the competition. Yes, Starbucks made people believe they wanted $4 caffeinated concoctions, and Louis Vuitton lulled people into shelling out $1,500 for denim handbags, but those are the exceptions that prove the rule. If you want to win in business, you need to offer something tangibly valuable that the competition doesn't. Examples: rock-bottom prices (Wal-Mart); ingenious product design (Apple); extreme convenience (Fed Ex).
4. How big is the threat of new entrants?
If you're smart enough to spy a profitable business opportunity, you can bet competition isn't far behind. Some barriers to entry--patented technology, a storied brand--are more fortified than others, but eventually someone will find a way to do what you do faster, cheaper and maybe even better. If not a direct competitor, then a substitute technology might take a chunk out of your hide. (Think what digital film did to Kodak.) The trick: building a loyal following before that happens.
5. How much start-up capital do you need?
Any early stage investor or small business consultant will tell you that most businesses fail because they were undercapitalized. The lesson: Figure out how much you think you need, and then add plenty of extra cushion.
6. How much cash do you need to survive the early years?
In case you didn't pay attention to the previous question, take this one to heart. It doesn't matter how much money your business might make down the road if you can't get out of your garage. Plenty of business plans boast hockey-stick-style financial projections but run out of cash before the good times kick in. (Remember all those busted dot-com companies from the tech boom?) Three words: Mind the cash
6. How much cash do you need to survive the early years?
In case you didn't pay attention to the previous question, take this one to heart. It doesn't matter how much money your business might make down the road if you can't get out of your garage. Plenty of business plans boast hockey-stick-style financial projections but run out of cash before the good times kick in. (Remember all those busted dot-com companies from the tech boom?) Three words: Mind the cash
6. How much cash do you need to survive the early years?
In case you didn't pay attention to the previous question, take this one to heart. It doesn't matter how much money your business might make down the road if you can't get out of your garage. Plenty of business plans boast hockey-stick-style financial projections but run out of cash before the good times kick in. (Remember all those busted dot-com companies from the tech boom?) Three words: Mind the cash
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7. How will you finance the business?
You have a few choices: Aunt Sally, credit cards (dangerous), angel investors, and if you're really onto something, venture capital. Forget bank loans (at least until the cash is flowing in a positive direction). As for selling shares to the public, what with all the regulatory hurdles, you might find the price of that exposure a tad steep. If you can bootstrap your business, do it; raising money is difficult and distracting. If you plan on stumping for capital, consider how much equity and control you're willing to give up. (The more you need the money, the stiffer the terms will get, so ask for it sooner than later.) Finally, always remember to match the timing of cash inflows from your assets and the outflows to cover liabilities. A mismatch can sting.
8. What are your strengths?
Google writes powerful search algorithms; Steinway works wonders with wood; Cisco sniffs out promising new technologies and buys them. Figure out what you're good at and stick to it. An obvious notion, perhaps, but plenty of zealous entrepreneurs lose their way--especially when the world seems so full of possibilities.
9. What are your weaknesses?
You may know how to design a widget, but not know a thing about running an efficient manufacturing plant. Apple designs and markets its nifty iPods and iPhones, but lets someone else slap them together. Countless Webpreneurs farm out the design of their sites and back-office payment systems. Wasting resources just to be mediocre is suicide. Stick to core competencies and find trusted partners to handle the rest.
10. How much power do your suppliers have?
Convincing customers to buy your products is tough enough without suppliers giving you a hard time. Basic rule of thumb: The fewer the number of suppliers, the more sway they have. Take the steel industry, which relies on a handful of companies for its iron feedstock. If two of those big guys should get together--as BHP Billton and Rio Tinto have been discussing--they would have significant pricing power, potentially crimping steel producers' margins. On the flipside, beware getting hooked on low-cost providers who don't keep an eye on quality. ("Lead-laced" Barbie, anyone?)
11. How much power do your buyers have?
Take a lesson from Delphi, the giant auto parts supplier stuck in Chapter 11 despite its $26 billion in annual sales: It's no fun to be in a business where a few big customers can demand price cuts with each passing year. Meanwhile, movie theaters--even while besieged by video-on-demand and other services--still manage to push higher prices on the disaggregated masses. The cost of a seat at a Regal Entertainment Group theater in lower Manhattan is now $12--up 20% in less than three years.
12. How should you sell your product?
There is no one-size-fits-all solution to wooing customers. For two decades, Dell Computer bypassed retailers and sold directly to customers, with limited tech support. General Motors and Coca Cola rely on distributors to move their cars and cans. Clothing companies like Ralph Lauren work both internal and external channels. And thanks to daily, intensive sales training, privately held Lazy Days moves some $800 million worth of RVs out of one sprawling location near Tampa, Fla. Whatever sales method you choose, make sure it aligns with your overall business strategy.
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13. How should you market your product?
Young companies have to get the word out, but they also can go broke doing it. A decade ago, America Online spent so much money flooding the planet with free trial software that it tried to mask the bleeding by capitalizing those expenses on its balance sheet. (Regulators later nixed that accounting treatment, wiping out millions in accounting profits.) What percentage of sales should go toward marketing? As with sales, there is no one rule of thumb. For more, check out Six Marketing Strategies Worth Paying For.
14. Does the business scale?
Bill Gates plowed piles of money into developing the first copy of Microsoft Office. The beauty: Each additional copy of that software program costs next to nothing to produce. That's called scale--and it's the difference between modest wealth and obscene riches. What models don't scale? Think service businesses, where the need for people grows along with revenues.
15. What are your financial projections?
You can't lead if you don't have a destination. Two critical milestones: 1) the point where more cash is coming into the business than going out in a given period, and 2) the point at which you finally recuperate your cumulative initial investment (including an adjustment for the time value of money). Financial projections should be reasonable. Paint too rosy a picture and seasoned investors will run; more to the point, you might run out of cash.
16. What price will consumers pay?
Get this answer wrong and you could leave bags of money on the table--or worse, send customers running into the arms of the competition. When Apple sliced the price of its iPhone by a third after only two months on the market, even loyal customers screamed, forcing chief Steve Jobs to apologize and offer a partial rebate. Consultants get paid handsomely to help companies arrive at the right price. For more affordable advice, check out "The Six-Step Guide To Pricing Your Product." Wannabe consultants should read "How To Price Your Consulting Services."
17. How do you protect your intellectual property?
Imagine slaving for years on a new cellphone battery that lasts more than two days, only to watch it reverse-engineered and patented by someone else. Before you ask anyone to crank out a few prototypes, file for a provisional patent. It protects your idea for a year while you work out the kinks. For more on intellectual-property protection, check out Protect Your Prototype and The Patented Path To Profits.
18. How do you keep the help happy?
What's Google worth without its super-geeks? Goldman Sachs without its number crunchers (and their golden Rolodexes)? The local bar without old Jim manning the tap? Not much, which is why attracting and retaining talent is critical to so many businesses. For starters, that means crafting the right benefits package. Starbucks sets a fairly high standard: Health benefits are available to any Starbucks employee who works at least 20 hours a week and has been with the company for more than 90 days.
19. How committed are you to making this happen?
About a year ago, Chuck Prince, recently resigned chief executive of Citigroup, addressed a group at New York University's Stern School of Business. An audience member asked what life looked like at the helm of such a colossal firm. Prince responded that, save for a few exceptions, every evening for the next five months was already accounted for. Fair warning: If you want to run the show, get ready to give everything--and then some.
20. What is your end game?
Running a business with an eye toward flipping it to a strategic buyer is a lot different than digging in for the long haul. (Will YouTube ever turn a profit? Who knows, but that's Google's problem now; the same goes for MySpace and News Corp.) Not sure whether you want to build the next great empire or just make a decent buck? Ask yourself the following eight questions.
All these question make a good productivity of the business. That is confidentaly helpful of the new entreprenureship.
Russia's new president will almost certainly be Dmitry Medvedev
IN SOME countries the suspense of a presidential election is based on the question of who is going to win a popular poll. In Russia it centres on who the outgoing president (in this case Vladimir Putin) picks as his successor. On Monday December 10th the winner was announced. Dmitry Medvedev, a 42-year-old lawyer from Mr Putin’s native St Petersburg is almost certain to become the next president in March. He is the chairman of Gazprom, the state-controlled gas monopoly and the deputy prime minister in charge of national projects. But what qualifies him for the job of Russia’s president is his (so far) unconditional loyalty to the current president. Mr Putin has two daughters, but appointing Mr Medvedev is the next best thing to his appointing a son.
The choreography of Mr Putin’s announcement speaks volumes about Russia’s virtual democracy. On Monday Mr Putin received Boris Gryzlov, the leader of the Kremlin’s own United Russia party which scored 64% in this month’s parliamentary elections. Mr Gryzlov told Mr Putin that United Russia, having consulted with other pro-Kremlin parties, would like to nominate Mr Medvedev as a candidate for the presidency. A chorus of friendly politicians echoed him. Mr Putin blessed their choice. “I fully and entirely support this candidate,” Mr Putin told them. “I have known Mr Medvedev and worked closely and fruitfully with him for 17 years.”
Kosovo will go it alone within months
With status talks between the Serbian government and the Kosovan Albanian leadership exhausted, the stage is set for Kosovo soon to declare independence rather than receive a universal recognition of its statehood via the UN. This independence declaration will be co-ordinated with and recognised by the US and the leading EU states. However, it will create a troubling precedent internationally and is likely to destabilise the Balkans, at least in the short term.
The final round of internationally-mediated talks in Austria between Serbia and the Kosovo Albanians concluded in late November without a breakthrough. Serbia was very active in the final stages of the negotiations in proposing various models of extensive autonomy for Kosovo, but these were rejected by the Kosovo Albanians, confident that their aspiration for independence had the support of the US and leading EU states. Serbia and Russia would like negotiations to continue beyond the formal deadline of December 10th, but there is little readiness elsewhere for this. The decision on Kosovo's future status will now be taken by the international powers, following the submission of a report on the negotiations by the international mediating troika (representing the US, EU and Russia) to the UN Secretary General on December 10th. The report, which is not expected to make recommendations on the status issue, will be discussed by members of the UN Security Council the following week.
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