...Dear ….. With this letter, I would like to express my interest in studying at the FH Aachen University of Applied Sciences as an Erasmus student. I am currently studying a Bachelor’s Degree program in Economics at the Dokuz Eylul University in Izmir. Having looked through the materials of the Foreign Department of my university, I was very delighted to find the opportunity to spend one semester learning Business Studies at the FH Aachen University of Applied Sciences. I have decided to apply for this program because I am sure it would strongly enrich my future studies and help me in my prospective career. Moreover, I consider this program as a great opportunity to get in touch with German culture and educational system. Last but not least, I am very curious about different approaches to the business studies at the foreign university. I would like to emphasize that I am eager to benefit from this program, as I will get to know better Erasmus students from the whole Europe, exchanging experiences and practices. I advocate the opinion that Erasmus program is an excellent opportunity to meet various groups of young people, spend quality time with them and get to know their habits, attitudes, lifestyle, etc. Also, living, studying and having fun within international scholars would broaden my horizons and enable me to build a strong social network with people through our continent. Very important for me is also an “Excellent” rating for teaching of the business studies department...
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...To excel in today’s global market, it is important to understand the cultural differences that exist. A global leader is capable of being flexible and managing across cultures. The Global Human Resource Management (GHRM) and Human Resource Management (HRM) perform similar duties, but are faced with different challenges. “Most HR professionals no longer question that there are important cultural differences between nations that might influence the effectiveness of HRM policies and practices” (Ivancevich & Konopaske, 2013, p. 99). The ability to understand and adapt, has a huge impact on an organization, and its likelihood to succeed when doing international business. Holfstede’s Cultural Dimensions Theory Geert Holftsede is a Dutch social psychologist and former IBM employee. Holfstede traveled internationally when working for IBM and was the head of the Personnel Research Department. Holfstede studied differences amongst different cultures. Between 1967 and 1973, he conducted a large survey containing samples from 117,000 IBM employees; he compared value scores from the database. “The data covered more than 70 countries, from which Hofstede first used the 40 countries with the largest groups of respondents and afterwards extended the analysis to 50 countries and 3 regions” (Natural Cultural Dimensions, 2014). Based on Holfstede’s theory there are five dimensions of national cultures: power distance index (PDI), individualism (IDV) vs. collectivism, avoidance of uncertainty...
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...trade between United States and China, the first that comes into our mind might be the big trade deficit from China to United States. However, have you ever think about the other side, what does America export to its third largest foreign market China? Last Tuesday I read an article from Chinabusinessview’ website, named What America exports to china. In this article, the author list the top 10 exports from America to China with the facts and numbers related. These products could be divided these products into three types. Type one are agriculture products including Soybean, cotton and corn. Type two is aircrafts and vehicles including Civilian aircraft, Passenger vehicles with small engines, and Passenger vehicles with large engines. Type three is scrap including Copper materials, Aluminum Materials Electronic integrated circuits. Then I draw of pie graph for the top ten exports. You’ll find that the agriculture product ranked absolute first among them, with nearly half of the share. Yes, it is the agriculture products, not the iphone, or ipod, not the cars or industrial materials, that China import most form America. Until now, you may be wondering why does China, as a big former agriculture country, import so many agricultural products from America? And Is there any potential concerns about this situation? Next I would analyze these two questions. First of all, as a big country with large population, limited water and land resource, China has a high demand in agriculture...
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...the United States resumed its economic relationship with the nation of China; in 1979, a bilateral trade agreement was signed by the two countries. Today, China has become one of the largest trading partners with the United States, trailing only behind Canada and Mexico. The United States benefits with this trade agreement due to the large and growing consumer market for U.S. firms and the Chinese imports cost less due to the low labor cost in China. The nation of China benefits due to the increased integration with world economy through overseas education and trade, creating awareness on issues such as environment and human rights. The numerous benefits of this union between two powerhouses of the world economy bring many negative issues. The first issue that affects many Americans today is the loss of jobs due to outsourcing and importing rather than producing goods here in the United States. From the years 2001 to 2010, the trade deficit with China caused the loss of 2.8 million jobs in the U.S. This affects the Untied States’ economy by increasing the number of Americans receiving unemployment insurance and food stamps. One example of this outsourcing is Nike, Incorporated which produces an estimated forty percent of its shoe output in Chinese factories. However, Nike Inc. justifies this outsourcing because profit margins are dependent on labor cost. Another issue with the union between U.S. and China is the lack of flexibility of China’s exchange rate. Many experts argue...
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...Exploring the prospects for U.S-China trade With the significant development of economy, China has already exceeded Japan, becoming the second largest economic entity in the world. From 1949 to the present, China's economy grew annually from 4 to 10 percent. There is no doubt that the export contributes a lot to China’s GDP; meanwhile, United States just replaced the European Union, turning into China’s largest trade partner last year. It is obvious that China and U.S. are closely connected in the modern economy. Since U.S. and China are inextricably linked, I would like to analyze the trade between U.S. and China in this paper, and find out what are influencing the value of trade between the two countries. First of all, there are some economic concepts that need to be explained. China has a favourable balance of trade, which means nowadays China exports more than imports; however, U.S. has run a trade deficit every year for more than thirty years, which means U.S. imports more. The import and export are always connected with the exchange rate. For instance, if you are exporting and your local currency becomes strong then your products become more expensive for your buyers. If you are importing and your local currency becomes weak then the products you are importing become more expensive. As we can see, China is exporting more to the U.S., so I would assume that one of the reason why U.S. would import more from China may be the exchange rate of China’s currency Yuan is slumping;...
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...With the recent subprime financial crisis in the U.S. it is evident that the U.S., China and India are dependant on each other. Although the subprime crisis was related to factors regarding monetary policy in the U.S., China and India have been negatively affected. China and India assumed that they would be immune to the after affects of the subprime financial crisis which took place in the U.S. housing sector. Unfortunately China and India have been greatly impacted by experiencing financial instability and experiencing a deep recession. China’s banks not being overly exposed to these toxic assets were supposed to be able to weather the storm and be a source for global liquidity. When U.S. imports of automobiles, electronics and machinery from China slowed down, their economy was disrupted. Similarly to the liquidity crisis taking place in the U.S., India is experiencing their own liquidity squeeze. The BSE was forced down when foreign portfolio investors withdrew over $11 billion dollars. India, China and America are commonly described as emerging powers. Over the years China and India have become economic, political and military powers in the 21st century. The United States, China and India have a common interest in peace and prosperity. This relationship provides the U.S. with low cost consumer goods and advanced manufactured products to the India and China. Recently, more people have been viewing these relationships as a threat. However, the international division...
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...Exec Summary: W. W. Grainger, Inc. is recently thinking of redesigning the supply chain for shipments from China/Taiwan. The reason being as an obvious to reduce costs, lead times and to improve supply chain efficiency. The major issue identified was the lead time and a huge fixed overhead because of small shipments which then were consolidated by the company to make a full 40-feet container load. Through a thorough cost analysis and weightage of pros and cons of three alternatives, the team recommends to use an NVOCC (Non-Vessel operating common carrier) for small shipments which will lead to a lot lesser lead times and will help reduce costs as well. Along with this, the recommendation is also to increase packing efficiency for company’s already in use 20/40-feet containers. Currently the packing efficiency is 85%, and just by making it 95% the cost saving is $ 253,863.89 annually which will increase as total shipments are forecasted to grow by 15% for the next 5 years. Issues: The major issue identified in the case is to reduce the expenses on consolidated shipments from china overall increasing the supply chain efficiency. This issue is in fact more of an opportunity and the opportunity is to reduce the variable cost associated with the consolidated shipments as the estimated growth in shipments from China and Taiwan is 15% per year. This growth rate implies the cost reduction in consolidated shipments which is 11% of total will be contributed to profit margin. Inferred...
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...Summary of documentations on paper recycling In Japan, the US, Europe and China Recycling benefits the environment much more than other waste management methods (Technical University of Denmark and the Danish Topic Centre on Waste and Waste & Resources Action Programme (WRAP), 2006). With the environmental, economic and societal benefits, we can conclude that building an effective paper recycling system in China would be a good idea. This paper is a basic summary of paper recycling practices in Japan, the US and Europe. It is intended to be a reference for drawing up an appropriate and practical plan for school and office paper recycling projects in China. Paper Recycling Statistics Japan has an extraordinary reputation in paper recycling because of its refined and effective paper recycling system. While the volume of recovered paper grew in the 1980s, the paper recycling rate went through a stagnant period before the rate started to rise rapidly in 1997. Japan’s paper recycling rate reached 77.9% in 2011, but the volume was 21.5 million tons, which is less than the 22.7 million tons recycled in 2008, due to less consumption of paper(Paper recycling in Japan, 2012). According to the 2012 sustainability report of American Forest & Paper Association (AF&PA), the U.S. achieved a paper recycling rate of 66.8% (about 46 million tons of paper) in 2011, which was nearly twice the 1990 rate. In addition, the goal of the AF&PA’s “sustainability initiative - Better...
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...year, the United States studies and presents reports on hu- man rights practices in more than 190 countries around the world. In the 2010 Human Rights report, China was chastised by the U.S. for its poor human rights record. The Chinese government has been accused of imprisoning citizens for practicing their religious faith and op- pressing freedom of expression and information. The one child per family policy has been attacked continuously by the U.S. and they have also con- demned the arrest, detention and disappearance of Chinese citizens. This latest human rights report issued by the U.S. has highlighted many human rights transgressions in China. Yet the U.S. criticism on China’s human rights has been contradicted by China. As the fastest developing economy in the world, China is intent on defending its position where human rights are concerned. The two countries have had dialogues on human rights issues, the latest being held on April 27-28, 2011 in Beijing. The discourse came after prolonged foot- dragging on the part of both nations; talks were suspended for a few years. Both countries have not been able to publicly accept their human rights errors, but each has been focusing on violations committed by the other. Against the backdrop of military buildup by both countries, the con- troversy over whether the U.S. is morally justified in criticizing China’s hu- man rights can have far reaching and devastating effects for the entire world. The two “powers” have been going...
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...International trade issues in China Intellectual Property Rights (IPR) issues United States business and government representatives have voiced out on growing concern of the economic losses suffered by U.S. firms which are the impact from the invasion of intellectual property rights (IPR) in China for example cyber attacks. U.S. innovation and the intellectual property that is generated by such activities have been cited by various economists as a critical source of U.S. economic growth and global competitiveness. For example, according to the Department of Commerce, in 2010, U.S. Intellectual Property intensive industries supported at least 40 million jobs and contributed $5.1 trillion to U.S. gross domestic product (GDP). A study by NDP Consulting estimated that in 2008, workers in IP-intensive production earned 60% more than workers at similar levels in non-IP industries. A study on the Apple iPod concluded that Apple's innovation in developing and engineering the iPod and its ability to source most of its production to low-cost countries, such as China, have helped enable it to become a highly competitive and profitable firm as well as a creator of high-paying jobs such as engineers engaged in the design of Apple products in the United States. Lack of effective and consistent protection of Intellectual Property Right (IPR) has been cited by U.S. firms as one of the most significant problems they face in doing business in China. Besides that, U.S. firms have expressed concern...
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...relations between China and countries of the West and Africa have enjoyed a long standing relationship though at different levels. Since the emergence of the People’s Republic of China, China-West and China-Africa relations have advanced continuously, as shall be demonstrated herein by the deepening relations in economic, political and cultural realms. These relations have created a new form of strategic partnerships founded on political equality, economic win-win relations, mutual trust and social-cultural exchanges. Over the last 60 years or so, China-West and China-Africa co-operations, have been based on the principles of equality, sincerity, mutual benefit and international relations development. Particularly, in Africa the co-operations have demonstrated reverence to the will of African countries, deepened relations between African and Chinese businesses and indicated a higher level of sincerity in helping African countries in their development agendas. However, this may not be the case with co-operations between China and the West due to different interest between the two entities, apparently, different from those that are experienced in Africa. Notwithstanding these different interests, a common feature on trade and economic relations have reached remarkable results and the overall effect has enabled growth in business exchanges, widened scope in the relations and essentially yielded benefits to the people of China, West and Africa. The China-West and China-Africa co-operations...
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...was at the peak of its power. But when the U.S.-China Economic & Security Review Commission, a congressionally appointed panel, convened there on Sept. 23, it was not to discuss power but decline. One after another, economists, union officials, and small manufacturers took the microphone to describe the devastation Chinese competitors are inflicting on U.S. industries, from kitchenware and car tires to electronic circuit boards. These aren't stories of mundane sunset industries equipped with antiquated technology. David W. Johnson, CEO of 92-year-old Summitville Tiles Inc. in Summitville, Ohio, described how imports forced him to shut a state-of-the-art, $120 million tilemaking plant four football fields long, sending Summitville into Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection. Now, a tenfold surge in high-quality Chinese imports at "below our manufacturing costs" threatens to polish Summitville off. Makers of precision machine tools and plastic molds -- essential supports of America's industrial architecture -- told how their business has shrunk as home-appliance makers have shifted manufacturing from Ohio to China. Despite buying the best computer-controlled gear, Douglas S. Bartlett reported that at his Cary (Ill.)-based Bartlett Manufacturing Co., a maker of high-end circuit boards for aerospace and automotive customers, sales are half the late-1990s level and the workforce is one-third smaller. He waved a board Bartlett makes for a U.S. Navy submarine-detection device. His buyer...
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...The Yuan vs. the U.S. Dollar Over the last few years, the economy of China has grown at a considerably high rate averaged at nearly 10% annually. Due to this enormous growth, China now influences the economy of virtually every country all over the world. This is more apparent and frightening, considering the United States’ economic relationship with China. Until 2005, China pegged its currency to the U.S. dollar, but as from July 2005, it linked its currency to other currencies rather than dollars and let its currency appreciate by 2.1%. The central bank of China did this by buying and selling the dollar dominated assets in exchange of printed Yuan in order to eliminate excess supply or demand for the Yuan. Due to this, the exchange rate between the dollar and the Yuan, basically, remained constant irrespective of changes in economic factors which could have otherwise destabilized the Yuan relative to the dollar. Since these reforms, China has continued manipulating its currency to its advantages, such as giving exporters an unfair trade advantage. This paper will provide an analysis of China’s Yuan against the U.S. dollar for the past 5 years ending in 2010. Also, the exchange-traded fund (ETF) of Yuan is discussed in depth. Recently, the U.S. policymakers had been having debates over China’s currency policy. The policy adopted by China has been linked to the rapidly growing United States’ trade deficit with China and the decline of employment in the U.S. and the emergence...
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...International Labor Comparison. Manufacturing in China. Retrieved September 12, 2011 from http://www.bls.gov/fls/china.htm. The first literature review for manufacturing in China will consist of three aspects: a) Data comparability b) comparison of hourly rates of compensation of US and China c) comparison of hourly manufacturing compensation cost of US and selected economies and regions. China manufacturing statistics don’t follow regular international standards and sometimes could be hard to understand the data. China does not systematically collect labor statistics like other countries and all of their information about manufacturing has been collected by a set of hypotheses and estimates by U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Even though China data collection has many gaps, the International Community accepts the accumulated data as valid. Hourly compensation costs of manufacturing employees of China compared to U.S. manufacturing from 2002-2008. The data tables suggest that China manufacturing cost has risen on a constant steady pace. In 2008 China manufacturing cost was $0.57 and in 2008 it $1.36 (Manufacturing in China). Largely there is still a big gap compared to U.S. manufacturing and you can where China has gain many manufacturing jobs due to their relative low cost of manufacturing. Hourly compensation cost of manufacturing employees in selected economies and regions suggest that China has the lowest manufacturing cost out of U.S. , Japan, Europe, Mexico, Philippines and...
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...Strategies for Small and Medium-Sized U.S. Businesses Interested in Investing in China: Lessons That Can Be Learned from Taiwanese Companies Xun Wang Department of Sociology/Anthropology University of Wisconsin -Parkside David A. Ralston Management Department Michael F. Price College of Business University of Oklahoma Investing in China has been one of the hottest and most critical issues in the ever-changing business world since the early 1980s. Huge amounts of foreign investment poured into China during this period primarily because of China's huge market, plentiful cheap labor, and rapid economic development (Davies, 1998; Luo, 1998; Shi, 1998; Sun & Tipton, 1998; Wang & Ralston, 1995). From 1980 to 1988, the number of foreign-joint ventures approved in China increased from 348 to 15,955, and the amount of foreign capital pledged increased from $1.7 million to $28.2 million (Pomfret, 1991). The foreign investment in China totaled $27.5 in 1993 and that amount rose to $37.5 billion by 1995. At present, there are over 318,000 foreign funded companies in China with the total amount of realized foreign investment from 1978 to 1998 totaling $250 billion (Shi, 1998). While the interest in investing in China is worldwide, two major investors are the U.S and Taiwan (Pomfret, 1991; Shi, 1998; Sun & Tipton, 1998; Walker, 1996; Wang & Ralston, 1995;). What is also interesting to note is that while almost all U.S. companies investing in China are large multinational corporat ions...
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