KNOWING YOURSELF
KNOWING YOURSELF
There have been many studies during the past few years that have attempted to have the following characteristics:
- High level of physical energy
- Ability to set clear goals and plans to reach goals
- Strong positive attitudes
- High levels of moral strength
- Willingness to take chances .
- Industrious - need to be always working at something
- Takes the initiative in starting work
- High level of reasoning ability
-Able to make decisions
-Willing to lead others
- Organized
- Positive attitude towards others
- Uses time effectively
- Willing and eager to learn
Obviously not all entrepreneurs are alike, but based on a variety of studies most of the successful ones have the above characteristics.
What characteristics do you find absolutely necessary for every manager?
Which of them are inborn and which ones can be acquired?
What are of primary importance?
Do you possess them?
TEXT 8 "INTERNATIONAL" MANAGERS
Executivesand managers who can operate effectively across cultures and national borders are invaluable players in the global business arena. As the world grows ever smaller, improved cross-cultural skills and an international perspective are critical executive qualities. As more and more companies expand abroad, competition for top talent to run new international operations will steadily intensify.
The 2010s will test the capacities of multinational corporations to react rapidly to global changes in human resources as in all other areas of the company.
Global selection systems enable a company to find the best person anywhere in the world for a given position. The system measures applicants according to a group of 12 character attributes. These twelve categories are: motivations, expectations, open-mindedness, respect for other beliefs, trust in people, tolerance, personal control, flexibility, patience, social adaptability, initiative, risk-taking, sense of humour, interpersonal interest, spouse communication.
Beyond superior technical and managerial skills, an effective international executive displays a combination of desirable personal qualities. „These include adaptability, independence, leadership - even charisma.
What part can management education play in developing the international manger? A good deal. Management education can provide training in the so-called "hard" skills such as international marketing and finance and in the so-called "soft" skills such as international relationships. We can easily define certain "hard" skill and knowledge areas that the international manager will need and which are very susceptible to formal education and training approaches. These include an understanding of the global economy and foreign business systems, international marketing, international financial management, political risk analysis and the ability to analyze and develop sophisticated global strategies.
We can also point to some "soft" skill areas such as communication, leadership, motivation, decision-making, team-building and negotiation where research indicates that national cultural differences can have important effects (The international manager is said to spend over half of his or her time in negotiation.) International managers need at least to be aware of some of the issues involved. They need, furthermore, not only to be aware of how foreign cultures affect organizational behaviour and management style, but also to understand how their own culture affects their own style.
1. Use your knowledge and logical reasoning to express your point of view why the 12 categories mentioned in the text are so important for an international manager.
2. What is meant by 'soft' and 'hard' skills?
3. Technical and managerial skills and personal qualities - do they help each other? In what way?
4. Explain the meaning of the word charisma. Give your examples of charismatic persons.
5. In what way can education contribute to 'creating' an internationally mobile and internationally thinking manager?
TEXT A. Law of Demand
One of the most important building blocks of economic analysis is the concept of demand. When economists speak about demand, they usually have in mind not just a single quantity demanded, but what is called a demand curve. A demand curve shows the quantity of a good or service that is demanded at successively different prices.
The most famous law in economics, and the one that economists are most sure of, is the law of demand. Almost the whole system of economics is built on this law. The law of demand states that when the price of a good rises, the amount demanded falls, and when the price falls, the amount demanded rises.
Some of the modem examples of the law of demand are from econometric studies which show that when the price of a good rises, the amount of it demanded decreases. How do we know that there are no cases in which the amount demanded rises and the price rises? A few cases have been known but they almost always have an explanation that takes into account something other than price. Nobel Laureate George Stigler said years ago that if any economist found a true counter example, he would be rapidly promoted. The fact that no one has come up with an exception to the law of demand shows how rare the exceptions must be.
The main reason economists believe so strongly in the law of demand is that it is so vivid, even to non-economists. Indeed, the law of demand is deep-seated in our way of thinking about everyday things. Shoppers buy more strawberries when they are in season and the price is low. This is evidence for the law of demand: only at the lower, season price are consumers willing to buy the higher amount available. Similarly, when people learn that frost will strike orange groves in Florida, they know that the price of orange juice will rise. The price rises in order to reduce the amount demanded to the smaller amount available because of the frost. This is the law of demand.
Economists have struggled to think of exceptions to the law of demand. Marketers have found them. One of the best examples was a new car polish. Economist Thomas Nagle points out that when one particular car polish was introduced, it faced strong resistance until its price was raised from $0.69 to $1.69. The reason was that buyers could not judge the quality of the polish before buying it. Because the quality of this product was so important — a bad product could ruin a car's finish — consumers played it safe by avoiding cheap products that they believed were more likely to be inferior."
Many non-economists are skeptical of the law of demand. A standard example they give is about water. The demanded quantity of water will not fall when the price increases. How can people reduce their use of water? But those who come up with that example think of drinking water, or using it in a household, as the only possible uses. Even for, such uses, there is room to reduce consumption when the price of water rises. Households can wash their clothes less often, or shower instead of bathe, for example. The main users of water, however, are agriculture and industry. Farmers and manufacturers can substantially alter the amount of water used in production. Farmers, for example, can do so by changing crops or by changing irrigation methods for given crops.
It is not just price that affects the quantity demanded. Income affects it too. As real income rises, people buy more of some goods and less of what is called inferior goods. Urban public transportation and railroad transportation are classic examples of inferior goods. That is why the usage of both of these methods of transportation declined so dramatically as incomes were rising and more people could afford automobiles.
Also important is the price of complements, or goods that are used together. When the price of gasoline rises, the demand for cars falls.
TEXT В. Law of Supply
The law of supply states that the quantity of a good supplied rises as the market price rises, and falls as the price falls. Conversely, the law 'of demand says that the quantity of a good demanded falls as the price rises, and vice versa.
One function of markets is to find equilibrium prices that balance the supplies of and demands for goods and services. An equilibrium price is one at which each producer can sell all he wants to produce and each consumer can buy all he demands. Logically, producers always would like to charge higher prices. But even if they have no competitors, they are limited by the law of demand: if producers insist on higher price, consumers will buy fewer units. The law of supply puts the similar limit on consumers. They always would prefer to pay a lower scice than the current one. But if they successfully insist on paying less, suppliers will produce less and some demand will go unsatisfied.
Economists often talk of supply curves and demand curves. A demand curve traces the quantity of a good that consumers will buy at various prices. As the price rises the number of units demanded declines. That is because everyone's resources are finite: as the price of one good rises, consumers buy less of that and more of other goods that now are relatively cheaper. Similarly, a supply curve traces the quantity of a good that sellers will produce at various prices. As the price falls, so does the number of units supplied. Equilibrium is the point at which the demand and supply curves intersect – the single price at which the quantity demanded and the quantity supplied are the same.
Markets in which prices can move freely are always in equilibrium or moving toward it. For example, if the market for a good is already in equilibrium and producers raise prices, consumers will buy fewer units than they did in equilibrium, and fewer units than producers have available for sale. In that case producers have two choices. They can reduce price until supply and demand return to the old equilibrium, or they can cut production until supply falls to the lower number of units demanded at the higher price. But they cannot keep the price high and sell as many units as they did before.
Why does supply rise as the price rises and fall as the price falls? The reasons are quite logical. First, consider the case of a company that makes a consumer product. Acting rationally, the company will buy the cheapest materials. As production increases, the company has to buy progressively more expensive materials or labour, and its costs increase. It has to charge a higher price to offset its rising unit costs.
Critics of market prices have argued that rising prices for goods whose supply is fixed serve no economic purpose because they cannot bring forth additional supply, and thus serve to enrich the owners of the goods at the expense of the rest of society. This has been the main argument for fixing prices, as New York City has fixed apartment rents since World War II.
Economists generally believe that fixing prices will actually reduce both the quantity and quality of the good in question. In addition, economic rents serve as a signal to bring forth additional supplies in the future, and as an incentive for other producers to devise substitutes for the good in question.
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