"How effectively does the Cotonou Partnership Agreement address the perceived weaknesses of the EU's development policy?"

Julia Mueller PO(566): Europe and the World Jackie Gower "How effectively does the Cotonou Partnership Agreement address the perceived weaknesses of the EU's development policy?" Development and trade. These have been the two focal points of policies towards the African, Caribbean and Pacific states (ACP) as expressed in the four Lome Treaties and subsequently also in the new Cotonou Agreement of 2000. Although all these policies are fundamentally designed to reduce poverty, increase intra regional trade and enable the European Union to gain preferential access into new developing markets, the methods and conditions of achieving these aims have changed significantly over the last fifteen years. In the 1980s and 1990s, political and economic conditionality became an important imperative when negotiating eligibility for any economic or developmental EU aid programmes. Although the emphasis of the Cotonou policy remains the same, one is able to identify various structural modifications made to the paper itself. It is therefore evident that previous weaknesses of developmental policies have been addressed. However, whether or not these modifications have increased the rate of developmental progress in the region can only be discerned by comparing current economic and political actualities in these states with their historical positions under the Lome Treaties. Furthermore,

  • Word count: 3225
  • Level: University Degree
  • Subject: Business and Administrative studies
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"How has social psychology contributed to understanding of (a) who might emerge as the leader of a group; and (b) what makes an effective leader?

PERSONALITY AND SOCIAL PSYCHOLOGY "How has social psychology contributed to understanding of (a) who might emerge as the leader of a group; and (b) what makes an effective leader? Over the centuries, the phenomenon of leadership has been highlighted through literature, art and music. Even the Egyptian hieroglyphics written 5000 years ago include the terms leader and leadership (Bass, 1990). In fact, leadership appears to be one of the universals of human behaviour. While the concept itself has been scrupulously examined in many political and sociological investigations, the genuine psychological analysis into the subject has only begun in the early twentieth century. Traditionally, the research is centered on the trait, behavioral and situational perspectives of leadership. The earliest studies were concentrated on individual qualities that assist some persons to achieve power and authority with later research shifting focus on the conditions, which influence the effectiveness of leaders. The findings led to suggest that leadership is as much an acquired skill as an inborn personal attribute. In order to understand how leaders lead and who is likely to emerge as a leader, social psychology has adapted a variety of different theoretical emphasis and perspectives. Such approach has given this old phenomenon its formal strength and scientific status. Originally, the

  • Word count: 1934
  • Level: University Degree
  • Subject: Business and Administrative studies
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"If faced with rising inflation, the government might apply a severe contradictory economic policy. What might that involve and what might be the effects upon a business of your choice?"

BUSINESS STUDIES H/W 2 Q: "If faced with rising inflation, the government might apply a severe contradictory economic policy. What might that involve and what might be the effects upon a business of your choice?" Inflation is the general rise in prices across a wide range of goods and services. Inflation is also the loss in the purchasing power of money. The government may apply a contradictory policy; this may include changing the interest rates. This will mean it becomes more expensive for people and businesses to morrow money. Therefore, businesses will invest less. Individual will consume less because they will be paying more else where in mortgages reducing the amount of surplus money that would have normally been available. The cuts in investment and the cuts in spending will mean a reduction in the level of demand in the economy. The second method is by increasing Taxes, this reduces purchasing power and consumption generally. The third method to reduce inflation is by cutting government spending. The business is a small drinks warehouse outlet by the name of Bay Distribution. This company is growing and each year it makes more investments. I rise is interest rates would affect this company a lot because it trying to invest by increasing it sales. I rise in the interest by the government will affect the consumers as the cost of borrowing money increases, meaning

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  • Level: University Degree
  • Subject: Business and Administrative studies
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"In oligopoly markets price and output decisions are indeterminate." Explain and discuss.

"In oligopoly markets price and output decisions are indeterminate." Explain and discuss. Introduction An oligopoly is a market with only a few sellers, each offering a product similar or identical to the others. If the product is homogenous1, there is a pure oligopoly. If the product is differentiated, there is a differentiated oligopoly. Since there are only a few sellers of a product, the actions of each seller affect the others. That is, the firms are usually mutually interdependent. The key point to make regarding markets price and output decisions are that there is no single theory of oligopoly (equivalent to that of perfect competition or monopoly) that exists because the behaviour of oligopolistic firms are determined by the strategic reaction and behaviour of their rivals and these reactions will differ according to the market situation. Therefore the markets price and output decisions are indeterminate2. Under conditions of oligopoly, the industry is likely to exhibit the following features: * It will only have a few sellers - a few firms are so large relative to the total market that they can affect the market price. This relatively small number of large scale firms, sell branded products. * There would be significant entry barriers into the market in the long run which reduce the contestability of the market. * Within the market each firm must take into

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  • Level: University Degree
  • Subject: Business and Administrative studies
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"Industrial Business Relationships and Networks"

"Industrial Business Relationships and Networks" - The well sounded name of this course. But what does it mean at all? What was the purpose of the course and what kind of knowledge could we collect during the class? In times of Globalization and a world without borders it is rather important for every company (companies on the domestic market as well as companies which are dealing on the global market) to provide an international network as well as to know But how is that to manage? What are the managerial implications for network decisions, how important is the human factor in such network connections and what means that for the companies marketing? Only a couple of several questions I will try to answer. First of all I want to write some words about the class of that course and second, I try to give you a short overview about the made literature experience we made. I. CLASS - OVERVIEW The purpose of the course was to summarize the key messages of the Industrial Business Relationships and Networks (Incl. Relationship Marketing from a Strategic Perspective) During the class we dealt the following topics. -Marketing, Business Models & Value Creation Definition of a business model: A business model is a kind of architecture for the selling product as well it indicates information flows and includes a description of various business actors and their roles.

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  • Level: University Degree
  • Subject: Business and Administrative studies
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"International business: the new bottom line" Written by Bruce Kogut for Foreign Policy, 1998 - Summary of the article.

Greg Jenkins International Business Research Article December 17, 2003 "International business: the new bottom line." Written by Bruce Kogut for Foreign Policy, 1998 SUMMARY OF THE ARTICLE Bruce Kogut is a professor of management and codirector of the Reginald H. Jones center at the Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania. In his article, "International business: the new bottom line" which he writes for Foreign Policy he looks at the importance of firms to pursue international business and the factors that help shape what doing business in that manor is all about. In the world today, multinational corporations are more likely to guide foreign policy than follow it. This is evident because according to Kogut, they tend to dominate trade and world production, where international business focuses on how managers deal with their employees in the very different cultural marketplaces. Kogut then breaks the article into sections; why invest in another country, what it takes to be multinational, recognizing competitive advantage, technology and its life cycle, and the global division of mental labor. It is important to look at each of these segments to understand why international business is the new bottom line. The first reason according to Kogut to invest in another country deals with the differences in the rates of return to capital among countries. This helps to

  • Word count: 1442
  • Level: University Degree
  • Subject: Business and Administrative studies
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"Investment is always likely to be more volatile than other elements of "Investment is always likely

"Investment is always likely to be more volatile than other elements of "Investment is always likely The volatility of the level of investment is one of the most repeatedly observed features of most economies. Although the fluctuations of an economy over time affect all of the variables that are used by economists to show the current state of prosperity (for example national income, production, employment, prices, etc.), the level of investment has been noted for being particularly volatile. In discussing whether this will always be the case, various hypotheses and theorems regarding the behaviour of investment and its relationship to other elements of the economy will have to be considered. The first problem that has to be surmounted is the issue regarding what investment actually is. An economy's resources can either be consumed immediately (consumption), or added to the fixed capital stock in order to use at a later date. This is a basic definition of investment. It is worth noting in passing that both consumption and investment form part of aggregate demand. The level of investment in an economy is usually defined as the expenditure on fixed assets for either replacing old equipment or adding to stock. This is known as "Gross Domestic Fixed Capital Formation" (GDFCF). Unfortunately, the composition of GDFCF is somewhat arbitrary in practice as only investment in the

  • Word count: 1438
  • Level: University Degree
  • Subject: Business and Administrative studies
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"IS IT TRUE THAT ANY PARETO EFFICIENT ALLOCATION COULD BE ACHIEVED BY LUMP SUM REDISTRIBUTION OF ENDOWMENT? ELABORATE YOUR ARGUMENT BY USING THE EDGEWORTH BOX."

"IS IT TRUE THAT ANY PARETO EFFICIENT ALLOCATION COULD BE ACHIEVED BY LUMP SUM REDISTRIBUTION OF ENDOWMENT? ELABORATE YOUR ARGUMENT BY USING THE EDGEWORTH BOX." - - - - - - - - - - - CATHERINE ROBINS 03008113 - - - - - - - - - - - DR ERIKA SEKI THURSDAY, 12 - 1pm Pareto optimality is a central concept in economics, especially welfare economics, as a measure of efficiency. The term is named after Vilfredo Pareto, an Italian economist who used the concept in his studies of economic efficiency and income distribution. An allocation of resources is Pareto optimal if there is no way that one individual could be made better off without making any other individual worse off following a reorganisation of production or distribution1. It is a point where there is no other feasible allocation which either consumer prefers. If not Pareto efficient, we are being wasteful, because someone could be made happier without making someone else less happy. Pareto optimality is, therefore, a situation in which economic welfare is maximised. Welfare economics is concerned with the "social desirability of alternative economic states"2. The Fundamental Theorems of Welfare Economics link the concepts of competitive equilibrium and Pareto-optimal allocation. From the First Fundamental Theorem of Welfare Economics we know that, in a market economy where producers and consumers are all

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  • Level: University Degree
  • Subject: Business and Administrative studies
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"Is Taylorism an Outmoded Form of Technical Control?"

"Is Taylorism an Outmoded Form of Technical Control?" by Greg Bullock 03/12/01 T his discussion will attempt to address whether or not Taylorism can be considered an outmoded form of technical control. I will give a brief introduction to Taylorism, its objectives and methods, together with examples of it in action both today and historically. Having then presented the arguments for and against, I shall conclude by discussing the implications of Taylorism with regard scientific management today. Frederick Winslow Taylor (1856-1915) came from a well-to-do Philadelphia family and was a foreman in a Pittsburgh steel mill. He pioneered a means of detailing a division of labour through use of time-and-motion studies1 and a wage system based on performance. Taylorism, as it became known, is a widely embraced management strategy whereby work tasks are identified and measured in order that the completion of these tasks can be standardised so as to achieve maximum efficiency. Taylor makes the ideological assertion that for a given job, it may be broken down into fundamental sub-tasks, which may be individually optimised for the objective of increasing productivity and thus profit. The main characteristics of this scientific management2 include the divorce of the conceptual from the executable elements of work, separation of direct and indirect labour, the minimisation of skill

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  • Level: University Degree
  • Subject: Business and Administrative studies
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"It was a supply-side shock, not deflationary monetary and fiscal policies, which initiated depression in 1920 and contributed to the subsequent slump". Discuss.

"It was a supply-side shock, not deflationary monetary and fiscal policies, which initiated depression in 1920 and contributed to the subsequent slump". Discuss. Jaede Tan December 2004 During the immediate aftermath of the First World War, Britain experienced an economic boom, during which nominal wages, real G.D.P and industrial output all rose, whilst wholesale prices rocketed to three times their pre-war levels1. The boom effectively lasted just over a year, starting roughly six months after the war ended, and breaking in the second quarter of 1920. Howson estimates that by the end of 1919 both industrial output and real G.D.P had risen to their 1913 pre-war levels, whilst Pigou states that between April 1919 and April 1920, nominal income rose roughly 25-35%.2 Whilst the causes for the boom are generally and widely attributed to demand-side factors, such as increased consumer saving during the later years of WWI and hence a build up of effective consumer demand coming out of the war, the causes of the slump that quickly followed Britain's post-war boom have been more widely contested. Of the many schools of thought on the issue, the two that are most widely documented are the "supply-side shock" argument and the effects of monetary and fiscal policy. During the course of this essay I will examine the effects that both supply and demand side shocks had on the post-war

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  • Level: University Degree
  • Subject: Business and Administrative studies
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