http://www.apmforum.com/drops/ Chao Phraya Rat's personal satirical review on Asian business, marketing, culture, politics, and trends en-us webmaster@apmforum.com Tue, 29 Mar 2005 05:39:35 +0800 http://www.apmforum.com/images/ico/dropsrss.gif http://www.apmforum.com/drops/ 88 31 http://www.apmforum.com/drops/000332.php With the price of oil generally speeding up like a bullet to stratospheric levels, it will be a certainty that the price of oil will top the US $100 per barrel in the very near future. http://www.apmforum.com/drops/000331.php In recent months, the prices of oil and gold have risen to stratospheric levels not seen in a long time. A lot of writings have been given to explain these rises. From the economics perspective of basic demand and supply to reasons such as the threat of war and the depleting reserves of these commodities. http://www.apmforum.com/drops/000330.php Multinational enterprises (MNEs) have essentially "swarmed" the globe with regional and local offices in an attempt to benefit from expanded production or market opportunities or to meet international social or health needs... These challenges are associated with finding effective strategies for marketing, leadership, communication, staffing, screening and self-selection, training, succession planning, management style, organizational design, community or government relations, and so forth http://www.apmforum.com/drops/000329.php The practice of empowement in Asia will be shaped by the pratice of guanxi and the giving of face. Relationship based on respect for the elders or those in higher positions will dictate how much power they will give to their employees. http://www.apmforum.com/drops/000328.php A useful list of glossary terms for doing business in Korea http://www.apmforum.com/drops/000327.php A useful list of glossary terms for doing business in Korea http://www.apmforum.com/drops/000326.php Despite the growing variety and volume of relationship between Taiwan and China proper, the Taiwanese are at least one and maybe two generations ahead of mainland China in their evolution into free-thinking, free-speaking, free-spending practitioners of market economies. http://www.apmforum.com/drops/000325.php Despite the many cultural and political handicaps involved in doing business in Korea, there are even more compensations that make the effort worthwhile for a growing number of foreign businesses. http://www.apmforum.com/drops/000324.php All the available money in the world today is simply not enough to buy all the patents at their valuation. A good software patent can generate hundreds of millions in revenues through use and licensing... http://www.apmforum.com/drops/000323.php There is no way to anticipate or avoid all of the problems of dealing with Chinese businesspeople and bureaucrats, but there are a number of common-sense guidelines, learned the hard way by pioneers in the country. They should help to minimize the problems and significantly enhance the possibilities of success. Here is a list of dos and don'ts that front-line business veterans are quick to share with newcomers... http://www.apmforum.com/drops/000322.php Folklore, taboos, and joss (luck) are integral parts of Chinese life. The Chinese have traditionally believed that spiritual currents, affected by the movements of the sun and moon, influence their daily lives. This "cosmic breath" known as Feng Shui, or "Wind and Water," is also affected by the form and size of hills and mountains, the height and shape of buildings, and by the direction of roadways. http://www.apmforum.com/drops/000321.php Korea has continued to add to the number and content of laws designed to protect intellectual property, but enforcement is another thing. http://www.apmforum.com/drops/000320.php How to do business successfully in Korea can be summarized in the following set of general guidelines that, if followed, will greatly reduce the obstacles foreigners have to overcome. http://www.apmforum.com/drops/000319.php "Positioning" is dead, and McDonald's has just put up the tombstone. But what is really interesting for branding is what is taking its place... http://www.apmforum.com/drops/000318.php Despite having invented clocks (for astronomical purposes, not to impose controls on personal behavior), the Chinese never defined or segmented time as was done in the West. To most Chinese today, time simply flows from one day to the next. http://www.apmforum.com/drops/000317.php Throughout most of China's long history, the relationship between people in all classes were based on carefully prescribed forms of behavior that covered virtually every aspect of conduct. http://www.apmforum.com/drops/000316.php Nearly half a century of observing the reactions of Westerners to Japan has taught me a number of things - one of which is the extraordinary impact that traditional Japanese manners have on Americans http://www.apmforum.com/drops/000315.php Australia and New Zealand continue to be ignored by the rest of the 'regionalising' world, treading tightropes between alliances with the West and the Asian region in which they have always belonged geographically, and more recently, culturally as well. http://www.apmforum.com/drops/000310.php Good news for public transport users in Bangkok Thailand today, as public transport management authorities announced that fares for the Bangkok Skytrain and the upcoming subway system will be halved. The Bangkok Skytrain is still to make a profit - failing to become a favoured form of transportation for mainstream commuters, and public transport management is bracing to make sure that the same fate does not befall the upcoming subway-rail facility. http://www.apmforum.com/drops/000308.php Why Buddhists really ARE relaxed, and Radio Australia focuses on Thailand in a week long edition of 'Asia Pacific' next week, broadcast though 400 wireless stations in the Pacific. http://www.apmforum.com/drops/000306.php Singapore debunks SARS beer remedy to a disappointed public, the SARS death rate re-estimated at 20% in Hong Kong, and the Japanese grey demographic expands yet again... http://www.apmforum.com/drops/000303.php Thailand is requiring 'lower-ranking' officials to undergo health checks for SARS on arrival in Thailand for the ASEAN SARS summit next Tuesday. 'Leaders and ministers' are however, seen as being intellectually-capable enough to make their own decisions. ...Not a great portent for any positive results from this particular gabfest... http://www.apmforum.com/drops/000301.php The "Priestess of Soul" was aptly named, as she could reach into your soul and wrench it for all its worth. Other performers can reach your heart, but very few can reach your soul. Today Nina Simone left us, and the world is a decidedly better place for her time with us... http://www.apmforum.com/drops/000300.php SARS continues to dominate Asian headlines - Singapore tourism arrivals sharply down, Dr WHO versus Asian values, and Thailand may lighten up. http://www.apmforum.com/drops/000298.php SARS has cut a swathe through not only tourist arrivals but also domestic tourism as Thais and visitors avoid crowded areas and the traditional activities of Thailand's annual Songkran festival. The more pessimistic of tourism figures have predicted that tourist arrivals in April will be down 40% year on year. http://www.apmforum.com/drops/000297.php For a country so dependent on tourism revenue, the SARS outbreak creates a major threat to the Thailand economy. Already tourism arrivals are down 20 to 30% over the past 10 days, and even PM Thaksin Shinawatra is running around with his wings in a flap, threatening to recompense everybody who can prove they got SARS in Thailand 500,000 Baht. http://www.apmforum.com/drops/000292.php While the US-led military, industrial and political complex implements a campaign of 'shock and awe' to encourage the Iraq forces to lie down and surrender, many question not that it may well cause fear among Iraqi citizens and maybe regular troops, but whether it will have any effect on those that matter - the military and political leaders of Iraq. http://www.apmforum.com/drops/000290.php In the wake of an Iraq war that is seemingly not turning out to be the cakewalk that many expected, a calm and even relaxed looking Saddam Hussein appeared on Iraqi television 10 minutes ago exhorting Iraqis to keep up the cause. Significant was that it seems that Saddam is still alive and kicking. Even more significant was the escalation of the language of pys-ops and religion. http://www.apmforum.com/drops/000287.php The Malaysian hospitality industry is bleeding with one of the largest oversupply situations worldwide, triggered by poorly founded optimism on Kuala Lumpur as a MICE and tourist draw several years back. Occupancy has sagged for several years and average room rates are amongst the lowest in the region, especially in the business to luxury hotel sector. http://www.apmforum.com/drops/000282.php At 4 am on Sunday morning, tenants of 'Sukhumvit Square' - an untidy gaggle of 50 or so down-market souvenir and beer bar outlets with up-market prices - were awakened by banging on the doors and commands to '...get out or be buried...' as bulldozers moved in to demolish the area. Sun-up revealed a mass of devastation, broken lives, injuries to tenants, smug goons, and serious questions on the bases of doing business and resolving business disputes in Thailand. http://www.apmforum.com/drops/000277.php Old APMF mate Tom Parker Parham is taking a break from Thai-US business deal-brokering and is spinning love songs late night at Bangkok FM105. Send him a request for a love song!