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Can you please talk about Brazil as an example of modern poverty? In Brazil, the difference between the rich and the poor is very serious: rich people became powerful with the economic miracle of the 1960s and 70s, which destroyed the environment (infrastructures, indiscriminate mining and destruction of the Amazon forest) and made poor people's lives even more desperate. Poor people in Brazil have no basic services like electricity, sanitation, education and public transports. What was the negative consequence of the rapid industrialization of Brasil? The sudden growth in economy of this country caused the concentration of power in the hands of few rich people, with a disastrous damage to the national debt, which is now massive. Minerals and timber are exported as a way to repay the debt, but in general it's very difficult to cancel the financial debt to foreign countries, which exploit Brazilian natural resources at low exportation costs. What other countries can you mention in the instance of modern poverty apart from Brazil? Bangladesh, the Philippines, India, Vietnam, Zaire, Mozambique, Tanzania, Sudan, Ethiopia, Angola, Uganda, Malaysia, Haiti, El Salvador, Colombia, Guatemala, Per첫 and so on. What are the main consequences of national debt to foreign countries? In a modern society with severe economic problems, poor people become poorer and have no rights nor decent conditions of life. Future generations are in danger of irreversible poverty because of the massive national debts and the environment is destroyed by devastating and irresponsible exploitation of natural resources. What is the ECONOMY OF COMMUNION and who founded it? It is also called EOC and is a specific social project based on the concept of the culture of giving, in contrast with the principle of the consumer economy which is founded on the culture of having. The Economy of Communion started in 1991 in Brazil, because the living conditions of the favelas were horrible: poor people had no home, no education, no medical assistance, no jobs. Ms Lubich, the promoter of the EOC, asked big Brazilian businesses to share their profits with people in need. How was the project realized? Ms Lubich asked Brazilian business men to conduct their businesses so that their profits would respect the law and more importantly the rights of workers, competitors, consumers, suppliers. In this way, society and the environment would not be damaged by irresponsible economic expansion. Which was the revolutionary concept in the EOC project? The main idea was that if everything is shared among people, there will be no people in poverty or need. Businesses would not take all profits: they should distribute their profits freely, and use them for: the expansion of their own economic resources, the sustainment of poor people in need, the creation of new structures useful for social development. Was the EOC successful? This project was a real success, because it created a sense of unity among workers and employers, both in the work environment and outside the business. It also increased industrial innovation and economic performance, it stimulated personal creativity and motivation, with lower business costs as a consequence. Has the EOC been an example for other countries? The project has been transfered to many world countries, and its experience has interested economists and academics, students and experts. Congresses, seminars and graduate theses have been based on this subject, thanks to it revolutionary impact on the Brazilian economy. So far, nearly 800 businesses have adopted the EOC principles, mostly small and medium-sized businesses. In April 2001, the 1st International School for Entrepreneurs was founded in Rome, with experts of many subjects interested in collaborating together on the basis of the EOC principles and experience. Who is Ms Lubich? Ms Chiara Lubich is from Trento and she is the founder of the Focolare Movement which is now in 187 countries worldwide. This movement promotes a united world with no social, economic, racial, religious or cultural barriers. She has been awarded honorary citizenships and degrees in many countries, and also she received the UNESCO Price for Peace Education in 1996, the Human Rights Price by the Council of Europe in 1998, and the Southern Cross by the Brazilian Government in 1998.
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p.38 Talk about the Focolare movement. The Focolare Movement was launched in Trento in 1943, and today it is present in more than 180 countries in all continents. It has more that 4.5 million among members and sustainers. It promotes a simple yet revolutionary way of living and of conceiving the socio-economic balance of countries in the world: no differences of any type among the people of the same nation and among people of the world, based on the ideas of cooperation, unity and sharing resources and profits. p. 39 Who received the 2006 Nobel Peace Prize and WHY? In 2006 the Norwegian Nobel Committee decided to award two important figures in the domain of social and economic development: Muhammad Yunus and Grameen Bank, as promoters of peace and social development at the basis of democracy and human rights, through the elimination of poverty in the long term for most people. The way to promote this is to implement micro-credit. p. 39/40 M. Yunus and the Grameen Bank He is a from Bangladesh, one of the poorest countries in the world, and he has been able to produce practical aid to help millions of poor people in their personal and socio-economic growth, both in his country and abroad. Starting from very modest conditions, a loan of $27, through the Grameen Bank (“banking for the poor”), he developed a micro-credit scheme which enables poor people to find some financial security, at the base for their development. Today the Grameen banking system credits more than 7 million people worldwide, especially women., still chained to local money-lenders with high interest rates. He broke the circle of “low income, low saving, low investment”, showing that more credit gives way to more investment and in turn to more savings and more income. Even poor people with no guarantees should be able to borrow money and create their own chance for economic stability. Under this finance scheme, even beggars have been able to borrow money. Grameen Bank has inspired and supported institutions, and has shown how micro-credit can be a “liberating force” for all poor people living in extreme social and economic conditions, with no rights nor political democracy. In fact, it is owned mainly by the rural poor it helpes, while 10% stake belongs to the Government. In 1999, Mr Yunus was awarded the Indira Ghandi Prize for peace, disarmament and development in India, and his commitment was publicly recognised by Hilary Clinton in 2000 as his micro-credit scheme helped the USA with some very poor communities of Arkansas. There have also been doubts about the future of Grameen, in the light of increasing competition and problems in the bank's loan repayment rates, but Mr Yunus affirmed in 2002 after criticism by the Wall Street Journal, that the bank would never disappear as it is a basic need for the people involved. The final goal for Mr. Yunus and Grameen Bank is to apply the micro-credit worldwide, combined to other financial factors, in order to fight and eliminate poverty completely, as he thinks that it is completely unfair that half of the world population is denied basic financial services. P. 42-43 MICROCREDITS and MICROFINANCING (p. 44-45 spiegazione in italiano) what are microcredits? Microcredits are very small loans (maximum $100) created for poor people with no other possibilities of traditional banking credit. With these credits, everyone can create a business and fight their state of poverty. Often microcredits are given to women because they are culturally the only member sustaining the family finances, in fact currently 97% of Grameen Bank customers are women. how do microcredits work? Loans are used by borrowers to buy equipment to start their own activity and they have been applied also to fisheries and irrigation. Transactions are conducted at the village level (Grameen means in fact “village”). In this way, no exploitation by employers or local money lenders is possible, exploitation is in fact one of the main causes of poverty in rural communities. Moreover, giving credit to women is also important in order to fight domestic violence, because women can create their financial independence and be more equal to men. What are the negative aspects of microcredits? One of the main criticism is that the Grameen concept risks of being oversold and exploited, and there is the danger for borrowers to experience pressure to repay the money because they tend to associate in loan clubs in their own village. Finally, Grameen Bank has also met accusations about its capacity to provide adequate funds, even if Mr. Yunus explained that there is no real danger because the bank raises enough money from the commercial sector.
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P. 46-47-48 DIFFERENCES between Grameen Bank and conventional banks What can you say about the Grameen methodology? The Grameen concept is based on the idea that everyone can have a loan, and the less people have, the highest priority they get for receiving a loan. Conventional banks serve only people with a secure economic background, but Grameen bank provides financial services for poor people because its idea is that credit is a human right and that everyone has the potential to grow socially and economically. What is the main objective of Grameen Bank? While conventional banks have the main objective to maximise profit, Grameen intends to provide financial support for the poor, to help them building their own economic stability and to overcome severe problems of education, sanitation, social rights, domestic violence, and so on. In other words, Grameen programme means creating not only economic stability, but looking after the poor at all levels, especially women What are the advantages of borrowing with Grameen Bank? Grameen Bank has branches in rural areas and its representatives meet people at their houses, so that they feel more comfortable and helped. Money is repaid in very small week installments and there is no legal instrument which can prosecute borrowers who do not repay their loans. Borrowers can reorganise the timings to repay their loans, and in case of death, the family is not oblige to pay back the loan for the deceased relative. This is because Grameen Bank has an insurance programme which pays back loans for people who can't repay it themselves. Grameen Bank even helps beggars borrowing money and understanding how it can be used to create a stable source of income, in order to change their lifestyle in the long term. The Grameen system looks after social, educational and health issues, and intends to solve them with its borrowers according to the SIXTEEN DECISIONS, which are for example no drowry, sanitary latrine, planting trees, and so on. What is the idea of the “human bonsai”? Grameen Bank thinks that people's life and conditions are given by their social background, so people are poor because they don't have a real social and economic base to grow on and build a decent life. This idea is similar to the idea of a bonsai: if a tree seed is planted in a small pot, it will grow to be a miniature of its original species, and that's not because the seed is faulty, but simply because there isno't enough space for the seed to grow properly. P.49 THE TEN INDICATORS TO ASSESS POVERTY BY GRAMEEN BANK Grameen Bank analyses its borrowers' progress in social and economic status according to the following points: the family lives in a house with a tin roof and where all members have a bed, or in a house worth Tk. 25,000. the family drinks pure, boiled or purified water. all children of the family over 6 years go to school or have an education. minimum loan installment every week is Tk. 200 or more. the family uses a sanitary latrine. all family members have adequate clothes, even for winter periods, and also use mosquito-nets. the family has alternative sources of income, such as vegetable gardens, to rely on if money is short. the borrower has an average annual balance of Tk. 5,000 in savings. the family regularly eats 3 meals a day throughout the year. tahe fmily has adequate healthcare and all members receive treatment if they become ill. What is management? Management means organizing people, either individually or in groups for the realisation of common goals. Managers set objectives for their company and decide how to use resources for the company's activities. They have to motivate their staff to work well and to be productive, and they make decisions about salary and promotions. Difference in meaning between “manager” and “entrepreneur” A manager is the head of a department in a company. An entrepreneur, instead, finds opportunities to use resources in a more productive way. For example, he finds methods and occasions to commercialise new products that will make the company more successful in the market and in comparison to competitors.
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4 Describing an organization chart A board will consist of a chairman, a managing director and a series of specialist directors like finance, production or sales director. Directors are elected by shareholders at the AGM (Annual General Meeting). Executive directors are employees of the company who make decisions, for example the sales executives. Non –executive directors are outside the company; they are elected either for their expertise, or as representatives of important shareholders such as banks.
Company Structures Most companies have a HIERARCHICAL or PYRAMIDAL structure, with one person or a group of people at the top and an increasing number of people below them at each level. Today most large manufacturing organizations have a functional structure: they are organized according to their functions. Decentralisation means that companies are divided into autonomous divisions, with their own markets , to be more productive. Matrix management is a type of organizational management in which people with similar skills are put together for work assignments. Different kinds of companies. 1) The nationalized companies are state – owned and they belong the public sector.
2) The privatised companies, when the state returns a company to the private sector. A private company has just one owner or thousands of shareholders that own the company. Some companies only produce one good or service ; others produce many different products, for example the “MULTINATIONALS”. Management, a stressful occupation. Stress is a subjective condition because it affects each manager in different ways and with different results. In difficult situations some level of stress is helpful, even essential, to succeed because it creates the adrenalin and prepares the mind and the body for high performances. But stress becomes dangerous when it is too extreme. The most damaging effects of stress happen in the longer term, for example if we are not able to sleep at night, stress can harm our health causing damages to the heart and digestive system. Ways of working and interconnected world. They are: 1) Part-time jobs, when a person only works for part of the day or week;2) job sharing, when two people share the same job by sharing the work-hours 3) flextime job which is a system that allows employees to vary the time they start or finish work. 4) freelance jobs, when a person is not employed by one organization but he is paid for the work he does; 5) teleworking is working from home using telephones, faxes and computers to keep in contact. The internet and online marketing Internet is a vast and global web of computer networks. Online marketing is an interactive online computer system, which links consumers with sellers electronically. The consumers can order thousands of products electronically from major stores and catalogues. Electronic markets and e-commerce Electronic markets are “market-spaces” in which sellers offer their products and service electronically and buyers search for information, identify what they want, and place orders using a credit card or other electronic payment. E-commerce is the buying and selling process that is supported by electronic means. The benefits and the challenges of the online marketing. Online Marketing is convenient, easy and private because people can do shopping from home, with their computers. Moreover, they can find more competitive prices and shopping becomes interactive and immediate. For marketers online marketing is convenient because it can reduce costs(for example the cost of rent , insurance and utilities), and increase efficiency, because it offers great flexibility in assortments and prices. For consumers, online marketing is not convenient because there are millions of websites and this can become frustrating, confusing and time-consuming. Some consumers also worry that some people will intercept their credits card details and make unauthorized purchases. For online companies, online marketing is not convenient because it is a limited marketplace, because the major part of web users don’t buy online. Moreover they fear that others will use the internet to invade their computer systems for commercial espionage or even sabotage. So privacy must be considered, together with segmentation and discrimination for those people who can’t use internet.
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5 How can liquidity be injected into a company? What are Bonds? Companies can raise capital by : -issuing bonds – selling shares – asking for a government loan – asking for bank overdrafts. Bonds are securities bearing an interest that can be redeemed after a fixed period of time. For companies the advantage is that bond interest is tax deductible. Gilts are long-term government bonds.
How are bond- issuing companies rated? What are shares? Bond-issuing companies are rated by private rating companies such as Moody’s and Standard & Poor’ . These companies study the investment grade on the basis of the financial situation and performance. A share is one of the equal parts into which the capital of company is divided. A share represents a portion of the nominal capital of a company. Blue chips are the safest share investments. The percentage of profits given to shareholders is called dividend. Parmalat Bankruptcy, the story behind it. Parmalat was the largest Italian food company that controlled 50% of the Italian market in milk and milk-derivative products and it had 34000 employees. Behind Parmalat’s façade was a giant financial speculative scheme to lure investors' money and use it into a network of 260 international offshore speculative entities, where the money disappeared. The receiver of that huge amount of money was an offshore entity called Bonlat , based on the Cayman Islands. The story began in 1997, when Parmalat decided to become a “GLOBAL PLAYER “ and started a campaign of international acquisitions , especially in north and south America. “ Parmatour” and “Parma soccer club” were two companies bought by the new CEO of the Parmalat, Calisto Tanzi , to recover the losses due to the missed profits of the international acquisitions in America. Parmatour is a tourism agency that has had a loss of at least two billion euros. The losses of the Parma soccer club are not known, but it has bought overpriced Colombian Soccer Players, the so called “Medellin Cartel”. Parmalat used many offshore mailbox companies to hide losses and guarantee liquidity for its bonds. Banks trusted the company and never imagined the fraud. A big role was Played in New York by the Zini legal firm which helped faking operations and liquidity. Tanzi declared that this fraud was all created by the banks involved. Parmalat crisis , how it developed. Parmalat crisis finally broke out on December 8th 2003, when Parmalat defaulted on a € 150 million bond. One of its customers called Epicurum was fraudulent, but it was discovered that it was one of Parmalat’s offshore entities. On December 9th Standard & Poor’s finally reduced Parmalat bonds to junk status , and in the next few days, Parmalat stocks lost 40% and then 66%. Fausto Tonna , Parmalat’s financial manager, confessed he had invented a € 3.9 billions account. 19- What is a takeover bid? It is the attempt to gain the control of a society or a bank by offering to buy its shares at a higher price than the market price, during a limited period of time. A potential buyer must show that it has: 1. a competent and honest management, 2. a solvent balance sheet, 3. a strong plan for the target bank. 20- What does "insider trading" mean? It means buying and selling shares when in possession of privileged information, not known to the public, that affect the market price of these shares. 23- Antonveneta: how did the story come to light? The story came to light when the European press published some transcripts of phone conversations between Mr. Fiorani and Mr. Fazio and his wife, about the takeover bid and about some secret meetings to hide their agreements. 24- Mr Fazio, the governor of the BOI, faces criticism and magistrates Milan magistrates confiscated BPI and the concert party's shares, suspended Fiorani, Gnutti and Ricucci from their job and confiscated 110 millions of euros made by the concert party who had sold their shares. Vedi pag 30-32 In mid-september with Fiorani's resignation as CEO, BPI withdrew its bid for Antonveneta leaving it for the Dutch bank. At the end of September, the BOI revoked its authorisation on BPI's bid. ABN Amro bought BPI's stake (39%) at €26,5 per share. On march 31st 2006 ABN aquired 98,9% of Antonveneta stocks, that is, the total capital of 308,8 million shares. On july 29 2006 ABN announced that it would exercise its rights to acquire the remaining 3.4 milion shares it did not own. Fazio's main motive for promoting BPI's bid was his desire to keep Antonveneta in Italian hands. Many people think that Mr Fazio has seriously undermined the central bank's credibility. In fact, by tipping off Mr Fiorani with market-sensitive information Fazio breached banking laws. Despite the growing pressure, Mr Fazio declared that he had acted correctly and that he had "no intention of resigning". At present Fazio is under judical investigation for abuse of office.
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25- The difficult job of the central bankers Central bankers have a difficult job. Their effectiveness and success depends on integrity and discretion, notably on monetary policy but also on issues of banking supervision. 26- The situation today. The reform of the BOI Today the governor of the Bank of Italy is Mario Draghi who was appointed by the president on the basis of a proposal by the government. ABN Amro now owns 100% of Antonveneta stocks. The reform: 1. Transfer the powers of appoinment from the Bank of Italy board of directors to the government 2. It weakens the governor's power, reducing his open-ended mandate to a six year period. 3. This mandate is renewable only once. 4. the reform transfers also some of the central bank's regulatory powers to Italy's competition authority. 27- The latest developments in October and November 2007 In october 2007 a consortium of banks which include: the Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS), Santander and Fortis won a difficult battle for the control of ABN Amro. In November, Emilio Botin , Spain top banker, announced that Santander had sold Antonveneta to Monte dei Paschi di Siena for 9 billion of euro. vedi pag 38 39 ? 33- What is Marketing? Marketing mix Marketing can be defined as an activity directed at satisfying needs and desires by producing and exchanging goods and values. Product, price, place and promotion are the four "P"s of marketing mix. The goal of marketing is to create customer satisfaction by understanding consumer needs and finding solutions that give superior value, quality and service. 34- The core concepts of marketing Human needs are states of felt deprivation. Wants or desires are human needs which are shared by culture and individual personality. Exchange is the act of obtaining a desired object from someone by offering something in return. Transaction is a trade between two parties and involves at least two things of value, agreed-upon conditions, a time of agreement and a place of agreement. 35- What is a market? a market is the place where two categories of people meet: 1- those who have something to offer, called sellers; 2- and those who have the power to buy goods or services to satisfy their needs, called buyers. 36- Market segmentation and target market It is a way of dividing a market into distinct groups of buyers. There are 3 ways to divide a market: 1geographic segmentation (for example nations,regions,cities), 2- demographic segmentation (for example on the basis of gender,income,occupation,religion and nationality), 3- Psychographic segment (for example, on the basis of social class or lifestyle). A target market consist of a group of buyers who have common needs or characteristics that the company decides to serve. 37- What is a product? Levels of a product A product is offered on a market to satisfy a need or a want. A product is not only a physical object but it can be services, activities or benefits. The levels of a product are 3: 1- the core product, or the benefits that consumers want in a product or a service; 2- the actual product, or the characteristics of a product: quality and durability, design and product styling, packaging and brand name; 3- the augmented product, or the aspects of a product: customer service, warranty, personnel, installation and after-sale support. 38- Services are activities or benefits offered for sale. They have 4 characteristics: 1-Intangibily, they cannot be seen before purchase; 2- Inseparability, they cannot be separated from service providers; 3- Variability: the quality of service depends on who, when, where and how they are provided, 4- Perishability, they cannot be stored for later sale or use. 39- Marketing myopia The sellers suffer from marketing myopia when they only consider their products as solutions for existing needs and do not consider new or underlying customer needs. 40- Ritz-Carlton / what is the Ritz-Carlton? It is a chain of luxury hotels famous for its excellent customer service. It is very important how the staff treat the guests in fact the new york times reported "they treat guests like kings!". The hotel management chooses very carefully its personnel, in fact the company's vice-president says: "we want only people who care about people."
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7 41- Global Marketing in the 21st century? The problem of entering a new country with a difficult, unreceptive market, needs the use of the traditional four Ps, "Plus economic", "Psychological", "Political", and "Public Relation" skills, to create cooperation of several parties in the country. For example, to have the government approval for its entry in the Indian Market, PepsiCo has offered to help India to export its agricultural products, to help the economic development of rural areas and to create an agricultural research centre. In trying to have the cooperation of the government and public groups, Pepsi had to consider two more "Ps": "Politics" and "Public Opinion".
43- Total quality management Quality is the relationship between what customers expect and what they get. Japan was the first country to award a national quality prize, the deming prize, after the second world war. Europe developed the European Quality Award in 1993 started a system of quality standards, called ISO 9000. In order to receive an ISO 9000 certification, sellers must pass a quality control every 6 months by a registered ISO assessor. Quality indicators of a product are: 1-Performance, 2-Durability, 3-Reliability, 4-Design and Style, 5-Corporate name and reputation. 44- Social Marketing Concept It should determine the needs and wants of target markets and deliver the desired satisfaction more effectively and efficently than competitors in a way that it mantains or improves the consumer's and society's well-being(benessere). the social marketing concept should combine 3 factors: 1-company's profits, 2- Consumer Satisfaction, 3- Society's interests. 45- Scarcity and choice The main causes of environmental degradation are: water, air and solid pollution, global warming, acid rains, rapid population growth and deforestation. In this context, choice means deciding how to use resources and to find renewable, sustainable sources of energy. 47- The meaning of sustainable development The project of sustainable development meets the needs of today's society without compromising the possibilities and life of the future generations. So, Sustainable development means combining development with environmental issues. 48- The new environmentalist and green marketing Many enviromental problems have caused the creation of a movement called "green marketing", supported by companies that want to develop and distribute environmentally-responsible products. McDonald's, for example, produces all napkins, bags and trays with recycled paper and is working to avoid unnecessary waste, saving 68 million pounds of packaging each year. 49- Wangary Maathai / who is? She is the first African woman to be awarded the nobel peace prize, in 2004. She created an organization, known as the "green belt movement", with the aim to reduce the devasting effects of deforestation and desertification by planting 30 million of trees in the villages of kenya to guarantee a better future to the population. 50- Cultural diversity and socialising Managers who work at the international level, should operate with "transcultural competence". This is an ability that managers can gain by understanding cultural, social, personal, and behavioural differences. In fact, They must learn to identify these factors before developing their marketing strategies. every organization can face cultural diversity by using two different strategic approaches: 1- the defensive approach considers the cultural differences as dangerous, because the weak links between people have a great potential for misunderstanding, conflicts, mistrust or even resentment. 2- the develompment approach sees cultural differences as resources, values and behaviour that people bring to business as the result of their different backgrounds.