Zappos-Amazon Acquisition

Amazon’s Acquisition of Zappos Acquisition regarding Amazon and Zappos Companies that want to be among the elite competitors in their particular fields have to be able to adapt and evolve in an always changing market place. In order to do so many large companies initiate mergers or acquisitions with smaller or similarly sized companies. They believe they can leverage and collaborate with each other in order to create more company value.The main difference between a merger and an acquisition is a merger is a situation in which two firms agree to unite as one single company rather than remain two separately operating firms owned by one company. The firms are usually the same size, and both companies’ stocks are surrendered creating new company stock issued in its’ place. An acquisition is when one company completely buys out the selling companies stock and makes itself the new owner of the company. Legally the selling company still exists as an independent legal en tity, but overall control is in the hands of the parent company.In July 2009 CEO of Zappos, Tony Hsieht made the announcement of Amazon’s acquiring of Zappos. In a lengthy e-mail Tony eloquently explains the future of Zappos and what will take place in the near future at Zappos. Throughout Amazon’s reign as online shopping powerhouse, they have been consistent in one of the most important aspects–growing and developing as a long-term contender in the online shopping world. Amazon has adapted and involved in the always changing markets by expanding market share through acquisitions.In 1998 Amazon expanded itself into new markets with three key acquisitions. Two of the acquired companies, Bookpages and Telebook, were bought to expand Amazon’s market share into Europe; and the third acquisition, The Internet Movie Database (IMD), was bought to expand Amazon into a new developing market of online video sales. Amazon has always stressed customer service and cu stomer ease as a main objective throughout their development. Zappos is a company known to be a customer service company since its inception.In fact, Tony Hsieh stated in a Harvard business review article that he does not think of Zappos as a shoe company, but rather a customer service company. On the surface this acquisition seemed like a good fit for both parties, but the reality of high failure rates of acquisitions signifies there are many things to think about when considering acquiring a company. Our team will give a brief analysis on pre-acquisition activity within both companies, analysis of the acquisition itself, and give an overview of the success or failure of the acquisition.The key aspects to consider in this acquisition are as follows: the simplest and most underestimated factor is what are the specific goals of each company in regards to a possible acquisition, can the two separate companies effectively leverage each other’s strengths to create a greater compa ny value, and do these two companies align with one another in order to carry out their objectives and grow long-term. A History Of Zappos Zappos is an online selling shoe company founded in 1999 by Nick Swinmurn, Alfred Lin, and Tony Hsieh.The company’s key concept is that they are in the customer service business, not a shoe company. Customer service is Zappos’ main asset. They do everything a little bit differently than any other company. Tony Hsieh encourages company culture which is the core of the company allowing them to be so successful. Before the acquisition, Zappos CEO Tony Hsieh had to make sure that the company will remain unchanged. Many people thought it would be end of Zappos and their culture after Amazon bought them. Amazon took over Zappos, but allowed them to run separately, keeping their company name and culture.Zappos’s goal for the future is to deliver happiness to their customers and acquisition by Amazon allowing them to leverage each ot her’s strengths. Now with the merger Zappos has much better cash flow than before. Now they can refund people’s credit cards much faster than they could before and improve their customer service even more. With the acquisition they also gained lot of experience from senior staff of Amazon and vice versa. Prior to the acquisition, Zappos had to discuss their independence with Amazon.Zappos tried to stay unchanged by the acquisition as much as possible while keeping all the benefits from the acquisition as long as they could. Zappos had big plans before the acquisition, and now with Amazon they are still focusing on their goals, but with resources from Amazon they can achieve them much faster. Zappos’ net sales in the first quarter of 2010 were almost 50% higher than the same quarter of the previous year. To ensure Zappos can grow at this fast pace they had to hire the right people. Zappos’s way to make sure that their employees really want to work at the f irm is quite nontraditional.After few weeks of training they offer their trainees money to leave. This price constantly raises and after the acquisition it was at $3000 not to take the job. Zappos didn’t change immediately after the acquisition, but now few years later we see some changes happening, but Zappos still keeps their culture untouched. The biggest change that happened in Zappos was handing over their Kentucky warehouse to Amazon. Tony Hsieh explained it as necessary move due to legal obligations. Zappos employees in Kentucky had to be transformed under Amazon with all their benefits changing.Usually during acquisition many people will get laid off due to efficiency for both firms. Zappos has actually grown since the acquisition and no one lost their job as a result of it. It was a risky move for Tony Hsieh, because in one interview he admitted that Amazon can technically sell Zappos at any time. Some of their agreement works on mutual trust and so far it works for both Amazon and Zappos. A History of Amazon Amazon. com Inc. sells just about everything, and lots of it. What drives Amazon is the desire to enhance the consumer experience, whether it's shipping or product availability or price.Over the past decade, Amazon has moved from strictly retail to both selling goods and then executing the orders, for itself and for third parties. Amazon, as much as people like to think of it as an e-commerce provider, is becoming a direct-to-consumer fulfillment company. How did Amazon become so successful so quickly? Strategy! Investing in the right plans at the right time and staying the course. Amazon embraced what is known as a â€Å"design school model† of strategy development. Despite the title, the model is simple to understand and can be highly effective.It is the one used most by professors and consulting organizations. Organizations often struggle in finding a compelling competitive position. Successful organization can begin to drift awa y and total fail at what it takes to be successful. This tool can begin to help an organization get into the game. The design school model calls for both external and internal appraisals. An external appraisal helps an organization to understand threats and opportunities that are out there in the market. The internal assessment helps the organization to understand its strengths and weaknesses. The â€Å"Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities andThreats† (SWOT) tool is one that most people are familiar with and stems from the design school model. Amazon conducted the external analysis using the following analysis frameworks: PESTEL Analysis, Industry and Competitor Analysis, Competitor Analysis, Global Internet Trends and GE Matrix. The â€Å"PESTEL† framework helped Amazon to identify trends that could impact them in six key areas: (P) Political factors: areas to focus on include political direction, taxes, trade restrictions. (E) Economic factors: includes GDP, inflatio n, interest rates, exchange rates and other macro and micro economic factors. S) Social factors: includes social trends, population growth rate, age distribution, career expectations, etc. (T) Technology factors: includes equipment, information technology, R;D. (E) Environmental factors: Includes weather and climate. (L) Legal factors: include health, safety, employment, discrimination, consumer and antitrust laws. Political, economic, social, technological progress indicates an increasing and attractive market? to be exploited by Amazon. com. The external appraisal includes Amazon looking at its competitive position to determine opportunities and risks and where it should focus.To do this, they used Porter’s 5-force tool that helped them to understand the strengths and weakness of its competitive position, and where they might consider moving forward. The competitive rivalry amongst the e-retailing industry is intense. From some of the largest to the smallest companies, dotc om businesses are abundant, making? competition intense. Amazon. com competes directly with big firms such as Barnes and? Noble and Ebay. In simplest terms, the model looks assumes there are five important forces that determine competitive power. Amazon has hundreds of competitors.The challenge is what ones to focus on. They focused on large-scale Internet retailers that offer a broad range of products. This exercise helped Amazon to better understand who their competition is. Ebay and Wal-Mart are examples. Global Internet Trends The Internet is Amazon’s key channel. The 20 top countries in Internet usage, and grow patterns were identified. A GE Matrix has been used to identify the attractiveness and competitive position of the? markets that Amazon. com operates in. GE Matrix: This is a matrix used to screen portfolios of business units.Both the attractiveness of the industry and the strength of each business unit within the industry are plotted. Industry attractiveness is d etermined by the following factors: Growth rate, Size, Demand, Competition, Profitability and Global opportunities. Business unit strength is determined by: Market share, Market share growth, Brand, Distribution channels, Production capacity and Profit margin comparisons. Knowing, constructing, and fully leveraging strengths in the best manner possible is an important key to creating long-term competitive advantage.Amazon is a great, leading-edge company that has successfully developed and implemented compelling strategies that we can learn from. Most large organizations conduct strategic planning, but in many cases real â€Å"strategy† and â€Å"planning† are missing. Instead too many strategic planning exercises are nothing more than budget positioning exercises. Not so with Amazon. Amazon has developed common sense as an organization. Becoming clear as to what will provide you a competitive advantage is paramount. We chase after the hot new industries where the risk is highest. The key is to sustained focus on smart strategies.There are three simple tools that Amazon focuses on as part of its internal appraisal process. They include: Value Chain, Resources Based View and Financial Analysis. Amazon developed a value chain of itself to internal it can operationally best add value and maintain a competitive advantage. The value chain analysis undertaken examines the operational effectiveness of activities that? enable Amazon. com to perform better than its competitors; i. e. the distinctive value chain activities that are difficult to imitate. This analysis focuses on ‘value creation’ and ‘transaction cost economies’; where Amazon. om? configures its value chain activities to create unique value for customers, reduce its costs of? carrying out these activities and reduce the cost of its customers’ transactions. Some of Amazon’s competitive advantages from a value chain perspective include: Strong technologi cal infrastructure with a single platform, High investments in technology development (e. g. , Kindle) to best leverage digital products, Great product forecasting system, Print on demand, Constantly soliciting suggestions on new products, Easy and fast payment system, 24 hour operations and Free returns within 30 days.The resource based view helps an organization to determine where to invest in critical resources to have a competitive advantage. The more valuable and rare the right resources are in the right places, the more likely the firm may have a long-term advantage over its competition. A firm utilizes its resources and capabilities to create a competitive advantage. The organization’s resources and capabilities combined together constitute its distinctive competencies. Amazon successfully identified the right resources and developed its capabilities in key target areas.These investments resulted in: Sophisticated online retailing technologies, Personalization features for customers on its websites, Reliable and easily scalable IT systems all one platform, New products (100 different products in seven major geographic markets), Top customer relationship system, State of the art warehousing, New products (100 different products in seven major geographic markets). Gearing, Debt and Capital Structure Amazon’s investments are paying off. Their net sales continue to grow, their cost of goods decreases as a % of sales and their net income continues to increase.And, they continue to invest in initiatives that provide them a longer-term competitive advantage. Goals: The acquisition of Zappos by Amazon is equally beneficial in the long run for the two companies. Zappos’ goals after the acquisition are mainly focused on its own growth internally and externally. As their own independent firm they want to pursue their vision of delivering happiness to customers, employees, and vendors; and now they will be able to get their much faster.Amazon h as the capacity to help them grow at a pace they would not be able to by themselves. Zappos is going to remain its own independent entity and it will be run by the same owners the way they see fit. This is beneficial because one of Zappos’ best qualities is its unique culture and brand. Financially, Zappos wanted a shareholder and partner that thinks long term and will also do what is best for their existing shareholders. Amazon’s goals for Zappos are very similar to what Zappos themselves want. They like Zappos because they have a lot of growth potential.Zappos is very popular, however they are not as large nor do they have the capacity for shipping, storage, or personnel that Amazon does and they want to leverage their capabilities to help Zappos grow. Amazon wants to leverage the intangible assets that Zappos possesses; the people and the culture of the company. The Culture of Zappos is one of its best qualities that no other company can easily replicate; working to gether the companies can share and learn from one another to improve the workplace culture in both companies.Customer service is what Zappos hangs its hat on and Amazon can learn from them about their policies and even help them to provide better service. Metrics: It will take some time for Amazon and Zappos to be able to measure the effectiveness of the acquisition mainly because both firms emphasize the long term. The main focus for both sides is to grow the Zappos brand and their effectiveness in their goal to help customers. Zappos should see increased sales, more efficient distribution, and faster response times when customers have issues. Methods: Aligning the two companies and leveraging each company’s strengths to better each other.Amazon has resources, technology, and operational experience that Zappos does not. Zappos can leverage all of these to make their own operations faster and more efficient by bringing people in from Amazon and learning from them. Amazons imp roved technology will help Zappos fill orders faster and improve logistics. Zappos has a very large distribution center in Kentucky fairly close to the UPS shipping hub. Amazon now has a very important strategic advantage with access. They can now move product faster and easier making their own distribution faster and less expensive.Post- Acquisition Turnout On Wednesday, July 22nd, 2009, Tony Hsieh, the CEO of Zappos. com, emailed all of his employees to share the great news of their acquisition with Amazon. His board approved and signed a definitive agreement, in which all of the existing shareholders and investors of Zappos will be exchanging their Zappos stock for Amazon stock. After the exchange took place, Amazon became the sole shareholder of Zappos stock. Post-acquisition, Zappos continued to run their operations the same, doing what they believe is best for their brand, their culture, and their business.By leveraging each other’s strengths, Zappos reached their visio n even faster—delivering happiness to customers, employees, and vendors. By merging with Amazon, Zappos was able to accelerate the growth of their brand and culture. Amazon supports Zappos in continuing to grow their vision as an independent entity, under the Zappos brand with their unique culture. Hsieh also aligned his company with a shareholder and partner that think long term, just like Zappos. Zappos continued to run as an independent entity. In legal terminology, they became a wholly-owned subsidiary of Amazon.Therefore, all of their jobs were as secure as they were pre-acquisition. The Zappos brand continued to be separate from the Amazon brand. Although they now have access to many of Amazon’s resources, they continued to build their brand and their culture just as they always have. Zappos has continued to grow their headquarters out of Las Vegas, attracting the right talent for each of their departments. After acquiring Zappos, Amazon has seen more profitabili ty, more market share, greater growth and revenue, and most importantly, a better brand image.By encompassing the unique customer service aspect of Zappos, Amazon has become one of, if not the biggest, online company. Amazon has seen substantial growth in net revenue since acquiring Zappos in 2009. Online business is a growing industry—the percentage of households with at least one computer has gone up from 64% in 2004 to 87% present day. In 2009, Amazon’s revenue was $24. 5 billion. This past year, they finished with total revenue of $61. 09 billion. In 2009, Amazon’s cost of goods sold was $18. 97 billion. This past year, it has grown to $45. 97 billion, a growth of $27 billion in just three years.In 2009, before the acquisition of Zappos, Amazon’s gross profit was $5. 5 billion. Three years later, it has escalated to a staggering $15. 1 billion. Although debt as a percent of total capital increased at Amazon. com Inc. over the last fiscal year to 34. 8 7%, it is still in-line with the Internet and Catalog Retail industry's norm. Additionally, even though there are not enough liquid assets to satisfy current obligations, operating profits are more than adequate to service the debt. Accounts Receivable is typical for the industry, with 17. 78 days worth of sales outstanding.Last, inventory levels, relative to its Cost of Goods Sold, are typical for the industry and have shown a consistent decrease during the last 4 years. This implies that management is becoming more efficient. Amazon’s acquisition of Zappos was clearly a smart move on both ends. Zappos and its employees were compensated fairly, and Amazon has seen a steady increase on the balance sheet and income statement. There is no limit to Amazon’s potential, now that they have acquired the amazing and unique company that is Zappos. Closing Remarks It is clear from our analysis that Amazon’s acquisition of Zappos is a good fit for both parties.Each company ’s goals of the acquisition were made clear through pre-acquisition negotiations. Zappos wanted to expand their operations through the use of Amazon’s large market share and also be able to use Amazon’s large array of assets to create a better costumer experience. Amazon wanted to learn the intangible and effective costumer service methods that have proven to be Zappos competitive edge. So far, each company has been able to effectively leverage each other’s strengths to achieve their goals. Furthermore, these companies align with each other in moving forward to achieve long-term growth.

Japanese Family

Japanese family is known for being industrious, hardworking and for being responsible; but they have time for leisure. Japan is instituted through what they call the ie system. The ie or household is considered as the basic unit of Japanese law until the end of World War II. It consists of grandparents, their son and his wife and their children.Each family was required to follow to the ie system, with a multigenerational household under the legal authority of a household head. (Japanese Family† access 2007) This ie system is patterned after the Confucian’s of the upper classes of the Togukawa period.The ie lay legally the authority and responsibility to the household head. Every generation supplied a man and woman , with a preference to acquire by the first son and for the patrilocal marriage. In Japan daughters were expected to get married and the younger sons were expected to establish their own family.Japanese woman have no right to legally own or control property at the same time to choose her man to be her husband. The ie system are very restricted to the development of each individual, women’s rights and most of all the individual rights. During the late World War II, Allied occupation forced to create a new family beliefs based on the equal rights for women , equal rights required by all children and the freedom to choose of spouse and field. In the late 1960’s also most Japan marriages have been based on the mutual feelings and attraction of the couple and not the parents arrangement.Actual negotiations do not start until all the concerned parties including the husband and wife are satisfied with the relationship. Japanese family current lifestyles the husband and wife are satisfied with the relationship. Japanese family current lifestyles is that the father or husband may travel to work and return late.They spend so little time for their children except Sundays which is the favorite day for family outings. While the wives cal led as â€Å"expert or professional wife† which have a total responsibility for raising their children, to guarantee their career and marriages, managing the household and at their children, to guarantee their career and marriages, managing the household and at the same time the family budget. Wife also responsible in maintaining the social relations to their relatives, neighbors and for maintaining and managing the family’s reputation. Social life of wife is separated from that of her husband.She also required to participate in the adult education or other community activities. Mother and the children are the closest emotional ties. The question whether the contemporary Japanese families still have preferences for entertainment during their free time, is obviously an interesting one. Base on research conducted, despite their busy schedule Japanese family are engaged in different forms of entertainment. Fathers in Japan, choose the following entertainment during their free time are singing in the karaoke ,listening in the Japanese music and going to the department stores.They are doing this to make them feel relaxed, enjoyed and satisfied. On the other hand, mothers in Japan are only in the house and much comfortable in serving and cooking for their family. Most of them likes to watch TV movies. They are close to their children just because they are the one staying in the house always. Children in Japan like to watch movies, reading the anime, and listening Japanese music. The two leading forms of entertainment in Japan by family members are the Karaoke and Anime. Japanese love music. They usually sing and dance even though they are not good singers.They like to hear and sing different interesting melodies like â€Å"What a Wonderful World†, Love Spreads†, â€Å"99 Red Balloons†, â€Å"Bigorouf Strikes again†. Karaoke is one of the best choices of entertainment in Japan. Karaoke is very well-known in Japan. â€Å"Karao ke as a form of entertainment†¦, is as much a part of life as music itself. †[For Japanese people]. (Newman, 2001) Japanese Japanese are very passionate in singing in the karaoke. Karaoke have different kind of shows to choose from by amateur and professional. One of the shows is a glance inside the private karaoke rooms.In Japan. And the other one is the Home karaoke systems are located at electronic stores. Fathers in Japan are very busy because of their work but they have also time to enjoy their selves and go to some karaoke bars to sing their. This is the reason why they are returning home very late. Fathers in Japan have so little time for their wife and children but they see to it that they are all together during Sunday, their favorite day for their outing. Not only have the fathers loved to sing in the karaoke also the children specially the youth sing together with their friends They expressed their feelings by singing.Mothers or wives also love music but they o nly sing in the home karaoke, because they are only staying in their house to serve their husbands. Japanese families second choice of entertainment is the Anime. Anime reminds the Japanese culture Good example of this is the Manga which every Japanese people loves specially the Japanese children. Mr. Tezuka Osamo is recognized as the Father of Anime in Japan. He was distinguished as the Mangaka or cartoonist. Tezuka Osamo introduce anime to the TV screen, one of his own Manga on 1963 which is the Tetzuwan Atomu also known in the other country as Astro Boy. (â€Å"Modern Japan â€Å")Other well known cartoonist is the Gundam in the 80’s and Neon Genesis Evangelion on 1995. Japanese had a very eager appetite for Manga or comic books during rush hour on a train. In the West mainstream comics are almost entirely for children. Japanese Manga has different types and some are not appropriate for children. Examples of this are the graphic violence and sex. Two main forms of Manga come weekly, twice-monthly and monthly magazine . style Manga and paper books. Some good examples are in the sections on animated movies and TV cartoons.Japanese used Mangajin, one of a classic magazine as a fun and effective method to learn Japanese. It was promoted last 1990-97, it also contains interesting article on different aspects of Japanese culture. There is a shonen manga which is for young guys and shojo manga which id for young girl. They deal with a science fiction, young guys and shojo manga which id for young girl. They deal with a science fiction sports and romance and tend to portray male. Characters as the male manga do with the male characters. One of the popular female manga is Sailor Moon, which became a very successful TV show.Manga become popular and exceedingly large in Japan. One of the important things learned in this course is the reality of distinct family values among different cultures. That there is a difference between an Asian culture specially to th e Japanese. According to Mr. Yakamoto â€Å"I love singing in karaoke it makes me feel relaxed and happy† Based to Mr. Yakamoto’s statement he chooses karaoke as his entertainment because he find it relaxing and happy. Almost the father in Japan, their choice of entertainment is the karaoke . While in the other Asian country likePhilippines loves to watch movies and play basketball. His wife Mrs. Yakamoto loves to cook and sing in the home karaoke because according to her she wants to give the excellent service to her husband and kids. Their little son Aikihiru Yakamoto says that â€Å"For me my choice of entertainment in our country is the Anime. I really enjoyed reading it. † Based to the Yakamoto family they emphasized that they have their own choice of entertainment which give them satisfaction. They feel relaxed and happy too. Every country has different choices of entertainment but in Japan they emphasized that the karaoke and anime are their best choice d uring their free time.Their favorite day is Sunday which all the members of the family are join together to have their outing. Mr. John E. Lamuth, 45 years old author who finished his Master of Science Degree in Counseling from California State University who wrote â€Å"The Essential Guide to Family Values under the Grand Unified Theory of Ethics and Morality† which the title involve new moral scheme is the first grand combination theory of its kind: the ethical values establish in traditional Greek philosophy improved by the writings of the great Church theologians for the past two years.The typical groupings of ethical values defined within this scheme all happen to be related on an perceptive level, recommending a clear sense of essential cohesiveness. The source of innovation behind this alteration arises as a direct result of the emerging field of Communications, Theory, borrowing the critical concept of the met perspective. Based on this theoretical example, the concep tual groupings of virtues and values are cooperatively seen as subsets within this ladder of met perspectives, each more theoretical grouping constructing upon those which it succeed.There are ten levels hierarchy of met perspectives somewhat reproduced like GLORY reproduced as PRUDENCE, PROVIDENCE reproduced as FAITH, GRACE reproduced as BEAUTY, TRANQUILITY reproduced as ECSTACY , HONOR reproduce as JUSTICE, LIBERTY reproduced as HOPE, FREE WILL reproduced as TRUTH and EQUALITY reproduced as BLISS. The consistent hierarchy of qualities, morals, and best proves extremely complete in scope , accounting for almost every major ethical term renowned within the Western ethical tradition.It is simple to achieve a sense of the development towards increasing theoretical when examine each of the individually represent columns from top to bottom. Such external similarity, however, has an inadequate claim to be the complete picture; for it further proves probable to stand this hierarchy of fam ily values completely within a behavioral organization; specifically the vocabulary of operant conditioning recommended by the famous American psychologist ,B. F Skinner. The complete ten level of hierarchy of family values lastly accomplished the degree of authenticity applicable such accurate â€Å"technology of behavior.† Definitely, this new system proves particularly well appropriate for launching moral values to a new generation of youth. One of the important things learned in this course is the reality of distinct family values among different cultures. That there is a difference between an Asian culture specially to the Japanese. The grand unified theory of ethics in moral by Mr. John Lamuth is very applicable to Japanese family because they are very aware to their family reputation and moral. They give this kind of responsibility to all the housewives.That’s why all the mother or wives are responsible in maintaining social relations to their relatives, neighbo rs and for maintaining and managing the family reputation. In this theory we learn the importance of ethics and morality in a person itself. Because of this they can get the respect and love of others people. It is not hard for them to talk to them and ask for some help because we already planted a good moral for yourself. Japanese families gain this kind of high reputation. They possess some characteristics like being responsible, honest,loving and respectful from within and to their love ones.Meaning their family are intact and with a good relationship to each other. Japanese families are very ideal and somewhat to idolized by every family in Asian country and Western country too. They are really different to other families because even they are so busy they can save time too for their family specially Sunday. This is one good reason why they are so successful. Being successful and happy start first in the relationship we had for your own family. Family gives us the totality as a person. No one can understand you and love you like what your family gives you.Love, Care and Respect your family. Don’t be so selfish to give your love and attention to other member of the family and you will see in return that love and attention you give makes them feel better and very happy. Happiness makes a person successful because of doing their work easily.BIBLIOGRAPHYâ€Å"http://en. wikipedia. org. /wiki/Japanese_family†Http: www. furious. com/perfect/karaoke. html Modern Japan – Entertainment – Anime. htm Lamuth, John E. 1999, The Ultimate Guide to Family Values: A Grand Unified Theory of Ethics in Morality, California U. S. A

Mentoring & Coaching Essay

Analyse and evaluate the use of Mentoring and/or coaching to support both your own and others,’ development of professional skills and knowledge. In ancient Greek mythology Mentor was the friend of Odysseus and tutor to his son. His name is well-known for a faithful and wise adviser. Today on the athletic field and in corporate offices a mentor or coach can help elevate performance. (http://heartlandbusinessexchange.com/MentorCoach.aspx) There are many definitions for coaching and mentoring. The commonality we can find in these hundreds of definitions of Coaching and Mentoring is that they both aim to support the Coached / Mentees (people that are in a relation with a Coach/Mentor) developing themselves in order to reach specific goals. Coaching is collaborative inquiry into the technical aspects of any activity, most often of work, as well as support for development and performance improvement. Of course, coaching applies to relationships in every setting. Mentoring provides a unique growth-oriented relationship which is the necessary context for risk taking, deep sharing, insights, and growth. Mentoring requires commitment and freely choosing to be held accountable for living out one’s intentions. It also includes coaching, but adds a wide range of strategies for discovering, supporting, and challenging personal, spiritual, and/or professional growth Both coaching and mentoring must be non evaluative, positive, and nonjudgmental if the process is to be authentic and genuine and the results are to be discovery, learning, growth, and improvement. Mentoring and coaching are an investment in another person’s success, you may have experienced this kind of empowering support from parents, a pastor, a teacher, an athletic coach, a friend, perhaps even a boss or your spouse. Often, people like these care so much about you that they will go the â€Å"extra mile† and do all they can to help you succeed. We might call this f orm of support â€Å"intuitive† mentoring or coaching because it is well meaning folks, doing the best they can, based on common sense and what they feel is best. www.businessmentorcenter.com A mentor can enter into a truly collaborative, trusting, positive, and support relationship . He can make you feel comfortable and make a person see the benefits of an open sharing of his feelings and dreams for his life, help to  learn to see oneself more objectively and how to gain the personal insights one needs to succeed, assess one’s natural tendencies and gifts and how their interactions may create internal confusion and dissatisfaction. It helps a person to set goals and develop plans and the self discipline to achieve his goals and more over he helps to solve and understand the problems and conflicts one confronts and move on. Coaching and Mentoring are then aimed to promote the development of an individual in order to be successful in the fulfilment of their tasks (at school, at work or in their personal lives), reinforc ing and strengthening their competencies and self-confidence. Coaching and Mentoring are to be considered as the two extreme of the line. Between these two extremes exists many different and flexible possibilities for support, using Mentoring and Coaching as appropriate to the situation.

HPLC analysis of caffeine and benzoic acid in diet coke Lab Report

HPLC analysis of caffeine and benzoic acid in diet coke - Lab Report Example Many beverages contain caffeine and benzoic acid. Caffeine can be classified as a drug and can be extremely addictive. Diet beverages also contain aspartame and saccharin. Aspartame and saccharin can be used to instead of sugar in the diet beverages. Aspartame and saccharin taste more than the normal sugar. The reason that many of these beverages contain aspartame and saccharin is because manufacturers prefer to use aspartame and saccharin instead of sugar. This has been because there are people who cannot take sugar due to health issues. To meet the demand of their customers, the manufacturers of the beverages see it fit to use saccharin and aspartame instead of sugar. Aspartame is the most commonly used more than saccharin. It becomes commonly used because it can be digested. When it gets digested, it breaks down into methanol, aspartic acid and phenylalanine. Aspartame has an effect on brain. It can therefore, cause some mental disorders due to its effect on the brain if taken in excess. Saccharin cannot be digested hence it is not commonly used. To avoid the danger associated with high intake of the two sweeteners, they should be used in small quantity. The function of benzoic acid is to conserve the beverages. Benzoic acid preserves the beverages by making some bacteria and yeast grow. The growth of yeast and bacteria ensures that the beverages last longer without going bad. Therefore, the shelf life of the beverages becomes increased. Companies that produce products that contain benzoic acid should make sure that the concentration level of benzoic acid is standard. Though benzoic acid is essential in preserving the beverages, high concentration of the acid can be dangerous. Concentration of benzoic acid in beverages normally varies from 0.05 percent to 0.10 percent. In a day, a person should take 5mg per kilogram of the body weight. If human beings consume too much of the acid, it can cause destruction to the liver and kidney. Liver and kidney are supremely valuable organs in the human body hence people should observe their intake of benzoic acid. Manufacturers should take into consideration the effects of the benzoic acid and pu t their customers’ life first. Some manufacturers often produce beverages that have a high concentration of benzoic acid because they want their products to stay longer. By doing this, they endanger lives of many people. Even though benzoic acid can be used as a preservative, if beverages stay for longer, they lose the original taste. Caffeine can be classified as a drug. Caffeine can be found in plants. In plants, caffeine may be used as a pesticide. It helps to kill pests in plants. This does not mean that it should not be used as it is beneficial if taken in the right amount. In diet soda and other beverages, caffeine can be used as a taste additive. Because of its bitter taste, caffeine enhances other flavors. Caffeine is also a stimulant. Because of its stimulant effect, many people take products with caffeine so that they can be alert. Also, caffeine decreases tiredness hence many people who are always busy consumes a lot of caffeine. Too much consumption of caffeine ca n cause restlessness and headaches. Normally, a person should consume around 250 milligram of caffeine in a day. More than that amount can be dangerous. It could be noted that individuals who consume much caffeine are likely to suffer hypertension, and other cardiovascular diseases compared to those who take less caffeine. In addition, caffeine can be highly addictive, and that can be one of the reasons that caffeine became classified as a drug. High performance liquid chromatography (hplc

Answer questions below Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Answer questions below - Essay Example Natural gas on the other hand is preferred mostly, due to being very cheap in nature although the infrastructure that has to be laid for it costs a lot both financially and socially. Push and pull factors are those which compel or stop a person from migrating from a rural setup to urban setups respectively. The three most common push factors are famine, unemployment and poor living conditions. Famine causes lack of food, income and employment whereas poor living conditions make people thinking of the better facilities available in urban setups. These factors contribute majorly in making a person think about leaving his village and working in an urban environment which attracts him with these factors are known as the pull factors. The most common pull factors are known to be employment, better income-to-work ratio and urban facilities available in a city like medical care and better schools for children. There are many ways in which water can be conserved but broadly it can be divided into two parts namely engineering methods and domestic methods. Some of the engineering practices that are useful in conserving water are plumbing. Many practices fall under the plumbing category for example the use of low flush toilets and pressure reduction techniques. The next sub-category engineering methods may be named as landscaping in which technique known as landscape irrigation is regarded as the best. In this method plants with lower water needs are used as well as grouping plants together which have similar water needs. This factually saves a whole volume of water. Domestic methods are those which can be inculcated in the everyday behavior trends of people in their daily life. The most common way of saving water by daily users are: ENSO is an abbreviation for El Nino Southern Oscillation. As a result of ENSO there is a decline in the amount of rainfall in Australia. In Indonesia, the early ENSO causes dryness where as in the later phase causes

Steps to Success in Academia Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Steps to Success in Academia - Essay Example Use of clock for time management helps in doing a job with in dedicated time. I use my spare time in jogging and listening music to freshen up my mind. I take interest in studies and sports for distraction from domestic issues. Difficult subjects can be easily understood by comparing them with the daily life. Bright future is the big motivational factor in making someone to do well in academics and academic success is not possible without motivation. The motivational factors as highlighted by Linnenbrink and Pintrich (2002) are achievement goals, self-efficacy and they explain that these factors are essential in enabling a student to gain academic success. All the five senses need to be fully used for better results. I used to prepare weekly study schedule according to a timetable to follow it easily. I divided the time in three categories. These are sleeping time, class hours and personal time. I followed the schedule strictly for better comprehension. I left all other activities du ring study times and got confidence. Pre reading is the essence of good academic performance. I used to spend one hour in reading the subjects of next day’s classes. Summaries and introductions of the topics are always helpful in understanding the complete topic. Internet should be used to find more information about the topic. Pre reading is also useful in revision of the same topic. Abraham Lincoln says and I quote, â€Å"A capacity and taste for reading gives access to whatever has already been discovered by others.† (Brainy Quote 2011). We read what has already been discussed and discovered but this adds to our knowledge and eventually enables us to gain academic success. I always find tables very useful for learning. I used to sub divide the topic into different categories. Making tables for those categories help in understanding different characteristics. Tables are also good for comparison between different topics. I always divided my daily time for different su bjects. Weekends must be given to those subjects that need more attention and preparation. It is always difficult to study one subject throughout the day. Breaks in-between the study hours should be used in different sort of sports and health activities. Progressively time can be adjusted for different subjects as the study progresses. Studying same thing for complete day is sometimes full of fatigue and boredom also. Therefore, the same subject should be planned for three days for 4 hours each day provided situation permits so. For me, group study is the best way of learning. This helps in learning from each other’s knowledge. This is less boring and less stressful. Frequent questions can be asked from the group members and instant solutions can be found. Difficult topics should be tackled through group studies. Sharing of notes and ideas makes group study very interesting. Robert Quillen says, â€Å"Discussion is a exchange of knowledge†. Discussion is only there whe n we sit in groups to study due to which, there is fruitful exchange of knowledge that is helpful for all the students studying in groups. (Brainy Quote 2011) Problem solving is best done by group studies. I always tried to find out problem and then ask group to resolve it. Then the best suitable answer can be remembered without any revision. This is the best way to create interest in problem solving. Use of clock or timer is basic element of success in academics. Class quizzes and examinations must be timed for rapid

A significant patient care event within a multidisciplinary care Essay

A significant patient care event within a multidisciplinary care setting - Essay Example The paper will focus on the events that led to her injury and the steps taken by the emergency department staff to stabilize her. After stabilization, the steps taken to manage the patient are discussed. I was on duty when Elizabeth reported to the emergency. She had an attendant, James, with her. Elizabeth was conscious but she had sustained severe injury and so was not in a condition to tell the details of what had happened to her. James was bruised but and had a bleeding tooth but had not sustained any serious injury as Elizabeth. James gave the history. He said that Elizabeth was driving while he was in the back seat when a deer came on the road. They were on a relatively silent country road on their way to the city. On seeing the deer, only a few meters from them, Elizabeth immediately reacted by steering the car towards the side of the road. In doing so, the car hit the side pavement. Since the car was being driven at 80km/h, the collision threw them forward in their seats. Jam es was not badly hurt but Elizabeth sustained serious head injuries. James said that Elizabeth had seizures before she lost consciousness. Panicking, he called for help. When the paramedics arrived, they immediately lay her on a stretcher, and transported Elizabeth and James both to the hospital. They gave James some shot that lessened the pain that he was experiencing. On reaching the hospital, John was examined and found not to have any serious injury. His bruises and bleeding from the teeth were addressed and managed. I was assigned as the critical care nurse for Elizabeth. The paramedics mentioned that Elizabeth had gained consciousness while on the way back; however she was not oriented in time and space. She had mobility of all her limbs but her speech was not clear and coherent. She was speaking broken words that made no sense. On measurement of her pupils, they were of 3mm in size, with intact papillary reflexes. On assessing her consciousness level, she was rated as 9 on th e Glasgow Coma Scale. According to Brooker and Nicol (2003), measurement of the GCS is the one of the most significant procedure the nurse carries out when a patient who is not well oriented in time and space comes. It is also the duty of the nurse to properly and accurately write down the results. Moreover, the nurse must be alert and continually observe the neurological condition of the patient. If there is any change, the nurse must report them immediately since quick interventions are required. Clinical decisions are dependent on the credibility and strength of these nursing interventions (Brooker & Nicol 2003). When assessing the consciousness, if the patient has a GCS rating of less than 7, the patient is said to be in a comatose state. Elizabeth, with a GCS rating of 9, was not labeled comatose. On carrying out the assessment and the standard protocol of ABC and stabilization of her vitals, it was seen that she was experiencing a quick decline of her neurological functioning. It is necessary to keep a track on the neurological condition of the patient. As mentioned above, such deterioration in the patient’s neurology is a matter of concern and should be duly addressed. Within a matter of a few seconds, Elizabeth’s speech started to deteriorate and she only made incomprehensible sounds now. Her eye

Research paper_Literature Review Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Paper_Literature Review - Research Paper Example In giving statistics in support of these facts, Andrade and Evans (2009) discussed that the incoming international students and their guardians or parents contribute up to about USD 14.5 billion every year, towards supporting their living expenses during their stay. One benefit drawn from the inflow of Chinese learners into Canada, which cannot be overlooked, is the fact that they increase cultural diversity at the learning facility and in the classes, which adds value to education and enriches the academic environment (Olivia and Lee, 2006). Yoon and Portman (2004) noted that, despite the wide variety of facts on the advantages that they bring into Canada, Chinese students, like other international learners may face strains during their adjustment within the social fabric and the host environment. These strains emanate from language constraints, cultural differences and social behaviors. Despite the fact that a lot of information is available on the adjustment crisis facing this gro up, Olivia and Lee (2006) note that there is a need to integrate the statistics and the findings. For this reason, this literature review will explore the adjustment issues of these students, exposing the costs and the benefits of international learning at Canada; lastly, future inferences will be developed to demonstrate the outcomes of international learning. ... Unlike social cultural adjustment, which refers to the ability of the learners to fit into the Canadian culture, psychological adjustment will cover emotional well-being also. Andrade and Evans (2009, p. 2) discuss that the Chinese learners at Canadian schools and campuses do not face problems that are unique to them; they also experience the problems experienced by Canadian students. However, Ward et al. (2008, p. 35) noted that, in addition to the problems experienced by their Canadian counterparts, they will also suffer from unique problems that could be traced to cultural differences, potential prejudices and language difficulties among others. For that reason, exploring the adjustment needs of Chinese students in Canada and the world at large can increase the information to facilitate student decision making and can improve the acculturation of the different students groups. Berry (1980) notes that, starting from the 1980s; research studies were commonly focused around the accul turation of international students and acculturative-related stresses, where focus was direction was directed towards the coping approaches adopted by international learners. The studies also entailed reviewing the experiences in adjusting to the different society, from a social point of view (Ward et al., 2008, p. 146). The change shows that there has been a change from viewing Chinese among other international student groups from a clinical to a development-related outlook. For these different reasons, irrespective of the expanding knowledge in the area, the need to synthesize and merge the inferences, as a way of further illuminating the available knowledge is necessary. Kwon, Y. (2009) and Swagler and

Stakholder in limerick county council Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Stakholder in limerick county council - Essay Example However, there are challenges facing organizational change at Limerick city council. These challenges include: long term norms in the city, the fact that local public services need local priorities, development of culture and improving performance of the city council. In order to ensure successful change in the council, there is a need to overcome these difficulties. The change Limerick city council adopts should be a constant activity moving at a pace and degree similar to that of the external environment. Organizational change at Limerick local government involves a merger between city council and county council. This transformational change involves merging of many programs, people, processes, systems and data between Limerick city council and county council. This new framework aims at making Limerick city a place for business and development. The change model also ensures that the local government of Limerick offers the best public services to its people. The new environment at Limerick also ensures that there are economic development and employment opportunities for people. Implementing the new change model makes Limerick city provide the best services to its citizens. The model can be an example other people to follow. The ongoing change at Limerick city includes coordinated change program, customer service offering, improvements in ICT and digital strategy, and communications for the organization, workforce planning and target operating model. Both the managers and employees have certain expectations and power within an organization. Both managers and employees within the city council have different interests and powers. Both these groups of people have different responsibilities within the city council. Any suggestions and proposals for change should focus on the interests, expectations and powers of stakeholders. Friedman and Miles (2002), agree that â€Å"factors such as

The Things They Carried Essay Example for Free

The Things They Carried Essay Throughout his novel, the things The Carried, author Tim O’Brien uses a plethora of strategies to give the reader a deeper incite into the day to day life of an American ground soldier during the Vietnam War. O’ Brian shares with us his extensive knowledge and first hand experiences throughout the novel. Being a veteran of the Vietnam War helps O ‘Brian gives us a look into American’s longest war, not often given. Aside from recalling past events, he uses many unique techniques that we may be less used to. The first is the use of characters and objects as representations. This is one of the tactics most often used in the book. Another way that O ‘Brian uses rliterature to emphasize a point is the use of meta-fiction. This is basically telling the truth in a lie. Lastly, his knowledge and experiences add another dimension to this book that can really engage the reader. All of these components working together are what has mad the Things They Carried, such a critically acclaimed book. I have found that a good strategy to use when reading this book, is to remember that often times things are not what they seem. The book was filled with figurative language and representation the O ‘Brien uses to emphasizes and support his points. This strategy is used with both people and objects. In the book, there are characters that O ‘Brian tells us that he served with in the war, but in interviews told people that he fictionalized them to emphasize his point. An example of this would be Mark Fossie’s girlfriend Mary Ann Belle who visits the men in Vietnam. She is the classic example of the â€Å"American girl†. â€Å" A tall, big-boned blonde. AT best, Rat said, she was seventeen years old, fresh out of Cleveland Heights Senior High School. She had long, white legs and blue eyes and complexion like strawberry ice cream. Very friendly, too. She is a representation of what all them men left behind when the joined the war. The young, attractive, and vibrant girl is a dramatic contrast to the death and destruction that they are forced to endure everyday. As time goes on and Mary spends all of her time in a war zone surrounded by men, there is a dramatic change in her character and personality. She starts to embrace the death and carnage that the war zone is filled with. â€Å"Everything I want, is right here. † –Mary. Legend says that she disappeared into the black of the jungle, never to be heard from again. This experience shatters Mark Fossie’s erception of Mary as a harmless beauty, which was a thought he would use to escape from the horrors of war. Another example of this use of characters are more than a character to add to the plot is O ‘Brian’s daughter Kathleen. She, much like Mary, is young and naive. Although to the naked eye she would appear to be nothing more than a little girl, she actually represents how war has affected the soldiers. She may show Tim what he was, pre-war and how being sent to the front lines at such a young age can turn anyone to a little girl. Meta-fiction is one of my favorite literary devices. It is essentially the use of lies to tell the truth. This may sound contradictory but in certain cases, there is not factual information or, â€Å"truth† to support your point. An example of this from â€Å"the Things They Carried† would be the scene where Kiowa died. This event never actually never happened during O ‘Brian’s service despite the fact that he tells it this way. This is because as far as the message that the author is trying to tell us about the Vietnam War, Kiowa’s death represents more than just a soldier dying in battle. â€Å"Kiowa was gone. He was under the mud and water, folded in with the war. † He may have known many men that died in combat but none in a way that is this representative. The mud and water where he sunk into and eventually died represents the way that the war can bog someone down. Whether you die in combat or not, a piece of your is almost left on the battle field. This is the point that O ‘Brian is trying to make. Another example of meta-fiction was the entire chapter titled, â€Å"The Man I Killed†. In this chapter, the young Tim O ‘Brian shorts a man in the face. After, the kill, he goes over and inspects the dead body. He inspects it from head to toe, paying special attention to the star shaped bullet wound where the victim’s eye should have been. Again, while one may just assume that this is just the author talking about a man he killed, but in this situation, this never even happened. In fact, O ‘Brian tells us that he never even saw any of the men that he killed. He was to s cared to â€Å"see a life ended by his trigger†. He inserts this chapter because this is how he imagines seeing a man that you killed you feel, and look like. Even if he had looked at the man he had killed, the real experience may not have captured all the emotions that this fictionalized scenario would. This is a tactic used by writers because these cenarios that they create can capture emotions and powerful moments that may not have happened but still feel real. The more knowledge and author has on a given subject usually results in a better final product. O ‘Brian’s personal experiences in the Vietnam War assures us that the stories and information we are receiving is as first hand as it comes. Rather than just reciting dates and facts like a history textbook, he shares with us what it was actually like to be risking your life in the field. While some of the stories he tells are admittedly fictionalized, most are not. Even those that are often are based on some fact or true event. Tim O ‘ Brian’s personal experiences help him in achieving his goal of giving us a look into the day to day life of a foot soldier in Vietnam. All of these devises utilizes by O ‘Brian help make the Things They Carried one of the best war books that I have ever read. Symbolism, meta-fiction, and personal experience help give the reader a more personal look into America’s longest war. I believe that Tim O ‘Brian was very successful in accomplishing his goal of giving readers an in depth look into a war that is often not talked about for what happened on the battle field.

History and Influences on South East Asia

History and Influences on South East Asia CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION If there were only two men in the world, how would they get on? They would help one another, harm one another, flatter one another, slander one another, fight one another, make it up, they could neither live together nor do without one another Philosophical Dictionary, 1764 Increasing role of China in South Asia has attracted the attention of the policy framers as well as scholars. Its foreign policy towards Southeast Asia has varied from indifference to hostility, but Chinese interest in the region has persisted since 1949. While India occupies a vital position in the Chinese calculation, there are discernible variations in Chinese policy towards other states in the region. The behaviour of Southeast Asian states towards China has also varied. Notwithstanding the persistence of the Indian factor in their perceptions, we observe different response to Chinese behaviour and policy in these states. Chinese foreign policy is undergoing a metamorphosis never seen in the history of the Peoples Republic (PRC). The country has enjoyed a more secure place in the world than before, yet it has remained dissatisfied with its international status. Chinas quest for international legitimacy and a positive image is tested by its pursuit of security interests and the power politics logic of its own and other states. Chinese foreign policy strategy has equally stressed the need to protect its national interest in a threatening world and the struggle to remold the international environment in line with its preferences. Clearly PRC foreign policy is complicated, dynamic, and consequential. China has managed to become a rising star in the international arena, both politically and economically. The bipolar world order lasting for nearly half a century came eventually to an abrupt end in the closing months of the 1980s as a result of dramatic changes in Eastern Europe and the so-called post cold w ar era began in the final decade of this century. China has some motivations in the Southeast Asia one of these is China is in pursuit of hegemony[1] in the region, another possibility is primarily defensive an attempt to neutralize the region while China focuses on internal priorities and the third possibility is to have a cooperative structure. India is seeking an expanded role in the international Geo-political arena which includes Asia and Southeast Asia. Indias growing economy ,common energy security interests, national interest, and power projection makes India China a Peer competitor. Beijings current goal in southeast Asia is to maintain a stable environment around its periphery to assure others that China is not threat, and to encourage economic ties that contribute to Chinas economic modernization and thus regime stability. The foreign policy instruments that Beijing has employed to secure its goals are constituent throughout most of Southeast Asia, but the priorities assigned to different strategic goals vary depending on Chinas interest in different part of the region. CHAPTER II METHODOLOGY STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM To examine the current politico-economic influences in South east Asia and recommend measures for India to significantly expand its politico-economic strategic influence in the South East Asian region with a view to counterbalance the overwhelming Chinese politico – economic dominance in the South East Asian Region.. Justification of the Study The most significant strategic development after the Cold War, is probably the sudden growth in Chinas economic potential and consequent national power. A rapid rise in power of a major country in the past has usually led to tension in the region, conflict with the neighbours and eventually a war. To make an assessment of Chinas posture well into the future is fraught with number of uncertainties. Equally, a projection of that role in the next century would, of necessity, demand an intimate acquaintance with how the Chinese have been involved in their dealings with this part of the world in the past. Above all, how that relationship has evolved, to the present day environment. Idea shall be to restrict the paper and sketch out important events in the near past, which have shaped the present and loom larger than the hoary past on the future that is yet in the limbo. The basic intention in writing this dissertation is To examine the current politico-economic influences in South east As ia and recommend measures for India to significantly expand its politico-economic strategic influence in the South East Asian region with a view to counterbalance the overwhelming Chinese politico – economic dominance in the South East Asian . A direct question has been addressed whether or not China restricts India from emerging as a global player. Scope Axiomatically any meaningful discussion of Chinas role in Southeast Asia would imply an understanding of its relations with the Indian subcontinent as a whole. Of the worlds great powers, China is geographically the closest to the Southeast Asian countries. It has common borders with Myanmar, Thailand, Laos, Vietnam, Caombodia. There is significant cultural similarities far reaching political and strategic repercussions over the past couple of centuries, and has propelled the worlds most populous regions into interaction in a wide variety of ways. From a simple geographical perspective, qualitative changes in the Chinas foreign policy should be expected if China grows from a medium-sized power to superpower. At its present rate of economic growth, Chinas productive capabilities and total wealth will soon outstrip those of the other Asian powers. As a weaker power, Chinas dependence on the favour of its neighbours has been comparatively high. But increased relative capabilities make i t feasible for a rising great power to exert greater control over its surroundings. If the opportunity arises to establish a dominant role in the region, China can be expected to seize it. Thus the scope of this paper has been restricted to Chinese dominance in the Southeast Asian region, which will pose vexing problems for India . An attempt has been made to analyse, how India can focus and counterbalance the overwhelming Chinese politico – economic dominance in the South East Asian. Organisation of Dissertation. The study is proposed to be dealt in the following sequence: Modern History strat influences in South East Asia. Political Economy of South East Asia. Chinese political and economical strategy in South East Asia. Indian political and economical strategy in South East Asia. Comparative Analysis of Indian Chinese politico-economic strategies in SE Asia. Recommended response of India to expand its influence in the region. CHAPTER III MODERN HISTORY AND STRATEGIC INFLUENCES IN SOUTHEAST ASIA The post-Cold War world is seeing in some areas a resurgence of nationalism and in others a greater emphasis on regionalism. These two tendencies will overlap. In Southeast Asia national and ethnic differences were significantly blunted by European colonialism and in some cases have been further submerged in the post-colonial period of new nation states. But what is new in Southeast Asia is the development of voluntary (as distinct from externally mandated) cooperation on a sub-regional or regional level. Most recently there is the assertion of an Asian identity, shared by Southeast Asians, which is sharply distinguished from Western value systems, social norms and economic models. It is too early to say how far that will be taken or how much it will influence the political and social development of Southeast Asia. The very important differences between and indeed even within the Southeast Asian countries induces some skepticism in academic circles about the existence of Asian values [2] etc. But there is no doubt that there is a perception in the region of some essential shared values or priorities, and a rejection of what are seen as Western individualistic and libertarian values. An embryonic sense of shared interests transcending ethnic or national groups emerged in colonial times between independence movements, student movements and other groups, including notably the various Marxist-inspired or communist movements in the region. But until after the Pacific War there was little connection across the region. The colonial empires were very separate and governed on different principles. It is a common observation nowadays that Australia, on the fringe of the region, only recently and belatedly become aware of and involved with its Southeast Asian neighbors. That is true, though with some qualifications. There was peripheral contact in the north even before the Europeans colonized Australia. But in the colonial era there was no steady development of contact or interest. The shifting patterns of alliance politics in Europe affected such contacts as there were between the colonial administrations in Southeast Asia and Australia, and indeed between the Southeast A sian colonial administrations themselves. Australia was not unique, or even unusual, in having little contact with its neighbors and in having its external links directed principally along the lines laid down by the metropolitan power. What are now the independent nations of Southeast Asia also had little contact with each other during the European colonial period. Just as the lines of communication and trade ran from Melbourne and Sydney to London, so did those between the French, Dutch, and other British colonies and the respective metropolitan powers in Europe. Right up to the Pacific War there was little or no communication between, for example, what are now Indonesia, Vietnam, Malaysia, and the Philippines. The links ran from Manila to the United States, from Batavia to the Netherlands, from Hanoi to France, and so on. It was the remarkable Japanese campaign which began at the end of 1941 which precipitated or accelerated the radical changes which took place between 1945 and the end of the Vietnam war. The sheer speed and success of the Japanese successes against numerically superior defending forces in Southeast Asia made a strong impression on opinion in the erstwhile colonies. The Japanese failed to capitalize on that in the sense that after early political successes in encouraging nationalist and pro-Japanese movements the appeal to shared Asian interests lost plausibility in the face of Japanese policies and actions which were exploitative or worse. Although Japan lost the war and left wounds in the region which are still not healed, the war precipitated the end of the moribund European colonial era, and accelerated the creation of independent states largely within borders established by the colonial empires. For some years trade and other economic links remained predominantly in the old colon ial grooves but with the economic supremacy of the United States and then with Japan embarked on decades of the highest rates of economic growth the world had yet seen, those patterns diversified. In the region the United States and Japan became the two most important outside powers and that was reflected inter alia by their leading roles in the setting up of the Asian Development Bank in 1966. By that time Australia[3] too had perforce diversified its trade away from Britain which had made it clear that it would seek its future economic arrangements in Europe and the Commonwealth arrangements which had supported much of Australias traditional export industry were phased out. Australia turned to Japan and others for new markets (a trade agreement with Japan had already been made in 1957). Australias development assistance programme had from the beginning concentrated on Southeast Asia and become and increasingly important instrument for involving this country with the region, especially as significant numbers of students from the region came to our universities and other institutions under the Colombo Plan and successor programmes.The failure of the attempted coup in Indonesia, the Gestapu of 30 September 1965, and the subsequent establishment of the New Order government there opened the way to overcome the regional or sub-regional strains produced by President Sukarnos eff orts to crush the newly-constructed Malaysia, as well as other tensions created or exacerbated by the Sukarno policies. In this climate ASEAN, the Association of South East Asian Nations, was established in 1967 and set out on its long and successful course of gradually building a sense of common interest and regional association among the six (originally five) members. ASEAN recently embarked on the development of AFTA, the ASEAN Free Trade Agreement. ASEAN has become the key institution in Southeast Asia not only because of its success in developing a sense of community among its very disparate members, and in finding a road for them to closer economic cooperation. It has also become the forum for discussion with the main world powers on a wide range of matters. This has come about through an annual mechanism of post-Ministerial consultations held after ASEANs own internal consultations through which ASEAN member governments, at Foreign Minister level, meet with their counterparts. These counterparts, termed dialogue partners, currently are Australia, Canada, the European Union, Japan, the Republic of Korea, New Zealand and the United States. In 1994 discussions on regional security were further developed with the establishment of the ASEAN Regional Forum (ARF) which groups ASEAN and its dialogue partners with Russia, China, Vietnam, Laos and Papua New Guinea. Looking at the recent evolution of Southeast Asia perhaps the most sig nificant thing has been the change that has occurred since the ending of the Cold War and the collapse of communism. Until relatively recently the centrally planned economy model had much attraction for many developing countries and there was up to the beginning of the eighties quite widespread aversion to capitalism and to the liberal market model as exemplified by the Western industrialized countries. Now virtually all of Southeast Asia is committed to market economics, albeit with more governmental political control than in the Western countries. There is a virtual unanimity about the commitment to economic development based on relatively open markets, private ownership and competition. With that has come a period of unprecedented economic growth. The major economies of Southeast Asia are all growing at rates previously thought unattainable for a sustained period. There are of course some uncertainties about the future; but there are few who doubt that Southeast Asia will early i n the twenty-first century be a major centre of economic power and influence. Southeast Asia has traditionally been a site of great power competition for regional dominance, due to its strategic location as a bridge between continental and maritime East Asia. To manage this competition and to enhance their own sub regional autonomy, the member states of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) engaged in a number of regional institution building initiatives during the early 1990s. This institutionalism agenda led to speculation that ASEAN could become the hub of a nascent regional security community following the 1997 Asian financial crisis, however, the prospect that ASEAN could act as an autonomous entity to mitigate Sino-U.S. geopolitical pressures seemed increasingly tenuous. Weakened by political and economic instability, intra-regional disputes and a simultaneous expansion of its membership, ASEAN has come to question its own identity. This has only further undermined ASEAN-led regional security initiatives such as the ASEAN Regional Forum (ARF ). More frequently, Southeast Asian states have favored bilateralism and have looked to external powers to realize their security interests. These changing sub regional dynamics have, in turn, prompted renewed efforts by China and the United States to cultivate influence within Southeast Asia. Chinas attempts to gain support for its new security concept and US efforts to secure additional access and infrastructure agreements along the East Asian littoral are illustrative. To some extent, Sino-U.S. geopolitical competition has been modified by strategic cooperation resulting from the war on terror. China still remains wary of U.S. attempts to engage Southeast Asia in countering global terrorism. These trends have, in turn, compelled analysts to reconceptualize the Southeast Asian security landscape in a balance of power context. It is clear continental Southeast Asian states have aligned with China and maritime Southeast Asian states have aligned with the United States. The geographi c position of China and the United States, and the evolution of their interests and military capabilities accordingly, make it unlikely that either country would seek to project power into the others respective sphere. Southeast Asian states maintain a position of equidistance between the great powers. She attributes this to the ASEAN states general distrust of great powers and their desire to maintain the delicate Sino-U.S. regional balance. CHAPTER IV POLITICAL ECONOMY OF SOUTH EAST ASIA China sleeps, when she wakes, the World will tremble Napoleon The South east Asian countries over the past four decades has transformed itself from a region with enormous economic and political problems to one blessed with relative peace and prosperity. In particular the five ASEAN economies, namely, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore and Thailand , grew strongly in the 1960s with an average rate of 6 percent. This buoyant economic performance continued in the 1970s with 7.3 percent as they benefited from the massive inflows of the foreign exchange earnings due to sharp increase in the world price of primary commodities, including two oil shocks which benefited some of the members the same period. In the 1980s the region slowed down to an average growth rate of 6.1 percent. Regional economies experienced recessionary conditions due to high interest rate policy of the US Federal Reserve Bank, the consequent debt crisis in the region, the recession in the ASEANs major trading and investment partners, and the fall in the world prices of the primary commodities. But there was also a positive trend of influx of export- oriented foreign direct investment from Japan and the NIEs following the strong appreciation of their currencies. The recovery from 1991 to 1996 was followed by an economic contraction in 1997-98 due to the crisis which began in Thailand in July 1997 and spread to other parts of the region. In 1999-2000, the ASEAN economies staged a dramatic recovery with Singapore and Malaysia leading, things again turned sour with the September 11 attacks and the lackluster performance of the export sector. There was again a decrease in the economic growth due to the SARS, Iraq cri sis and terrorist related attacks, slump in the electronic market and collapse of the WTO talks in Cancun. The global economy is most rapid in emerging Asia where GDP accelerated to 7.2 percent in 2003, accounting for about 50 per cent of world growth. Looking forward, growth is projected to remain high at 7.4 per cent in 2004 and 7.0 per cent in 2005. The IMF stated that while domestic demand growth has increased significantly in emerging Asia, the regional current account surpluses remain very large, with exports supported by the rebound in the information technology (IT) sector as well as depreciating exchange rates. In the ASEAN-4, Thailand has shown the strongest expansion at 6.7 per cent in 2003, and is expected to remain high at 7 per cent in 2004 and 6.7 per cent in 2005. Cyclical considerations and high levels of public debt necessitate fiscal prudence for Thai authorities. The Malaysian economy is also recovering strongly and is expected to continue with inflation and unemployment remaining at low levels. However, the main policy priorities are the implementation of the announced fiscal consolidation to achieve a balanced budget by the year 2006 and greater exchange rate flexibility accompanied with suitable macroeconomic policies. Indonesias modest growth continues to be driven by private consumption, and has been accompanied with lower inflation. The Indonesian government should continue to implement its planned fiscal consolidation. Moreover, it needs to sustain banking, legal and judicial reforms in order to provide a better investment climate conducive to higher growth. As for the Philippines, uncertainties remain high even after the May 2, 2004 presidential elections. The main concerns of the Philippine government include increasing the tax revenues, restructuring the power sector, strengthening the banking sector, and improving the business system. Following the SARS crisis, the Singapore economy recovered in 2003 with supportive macroeconomic policies. To enhance its medium-term competitiveness and growth prospects, the IMF recommends a deepening and acceleration of reforms including further divestment of government  ­linked companies Issues and Challenges for Southeast Asian/ASEAN Domestic policy issues and challenges. On the domestic front, the growth prospects for ASEAN are very much dependent on various factors including the ability of their respective governments to provide economic, political and social stability, implement economic reforms, and diversify their economies. ASEAN policy makers thus face the following challenges: Sound macroeconomic environment. Following the 1997/98 economic crisis, government budget deficits relative to GDP have broadly increased and this is of serious concern for ASEAN governments, particularly for Malaysia and the Philippines. Price instability has become a serious concern for Indonesia and the Philippines. Exchange rates in Indonesia, Laos, the Philippines and Myanmar have weakened significantly. Moreover, the rising levels of foreign debt in the Philippines and Indonesia could create additional uncertainties. In terms of the current account surplus as a proportion of GDP, the six older ASEAN members have broadly shown higher levels relative to Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar and Vietnam (CLMV countries). Thus, in order to achieve a sound macroeconomic environment, ASEAN economies need to adopt a prudent fiscal policy, low inflation rates, stable exchange rates, and manageable levels of external debt and current account balance. Stable political and business environment. The political environment in some countries has been affected by military uprisings, kidnappings, bombings and other terrorist-related activities, peoples demonstrations, and elections. A 1997 survey of Japanese firms conducted by JETRO indicated that political stability is considered as the most significant determinant of Japanese investments in ASEAN. Thus Southeast Asian governments need to find ways and means towards achieving and maintaining a politically stable environment in order to encourage domestic and foreign investments. Social Harmony. ASEAN countries need to address issues such as conflicts between racial groups (e.g. the Chinese and pribumis in Indonesia, and the Chinese and bumiputras in Malaysia), between religious groups (e.g. the Muslims and Christians in Southern Philippines) and between the poor and rich. Despite all the policies and resources spent on alleviating poverty and reducing income inequality, unemployment, poverty and income inequality continue to be the major policy concerns of ASEAN governments. In reality, it is very difficult to reduce poverty and narrow the income gap given the interplay of politics, economics and industry, and the conflicting goals of the various interest groups in the economy like businesses, religious groups, the elite, farmers, small and medium entrepreneurs, etc. Thailands income gap between the rich and the poor was the widest in the world (Bangkok Post, 2S Aug 2003). In the Philippines, Gerard Clark and Marites Sison (2003) in their study titled liDo t he well-off really care about the plight of the poor? revealed that majority of the respondents suggested that some elite people cared while others did not; and those who did care did too little or acted primarily out of self-interest. In fact, there are some people in the superior group like the elite who wish the poor to remain poor because of the benefits that can be derived from their poverty. For instance, politicians often depend on the poor at elections time for support that propels them to political office. Economic Reforms. Southeast Asian governments need to continue implementing economic reforms that include market opening, trade, investment and financial liberalization. These reforms are particularly crucial for the CLMV countries as they undergo transition from centrally planned to market  ­oriented economies and for the crisis-hit countries especially Indonesia and Thailand. In the case of Indonesia, there was a lack of seriousness on the part of the political leadership to undertake economic reforms. For example, there were delays in the removal of tariff control and the privatization of state assets and enterprises, so that the process of reforms is reverting to protectionism. Furthermore, a delay in the IMFs financial assistance added to the ineffectiveness of Indonesias recovery programme. Thailand completed its 34-month Stand-By Arrangement from the IMF that formed part of an international financial package worth US$17.2 billion from multilateral and bilateral lenders. Outs tanding obligations at end-June 2002 amounted to US$6.4 billion and repayment was finally completed on July 31,2003, some two years ahead of schedule a significant achievement on the part of the Thai government. Economic Diversion. Various factors impel ASEAN economies to continue to diversify their economies: volatile and broadly declining primary commodity prices, depletion of non-renewable primary resources such as oil and gas, and the high costs of production. Following the decline in crude oil prices in the 1980s, Brunei and Indonesia have begun to diversify their economies from oil towards non-oil products and services (finance, tourism). Because of the high costs of production (e.g. high labour costs), Singapores economy has emphasised the significant contribution of the services sector (IT, education, tourism, finance). The services sector has accounted for about 60-70 per cent of Singapores GDP. Moreover, to improve the competitiveness of Singapores manufactured products and services, several cost-cutting measures have been implemented, namely, cuts in contribution rates for mandatory saving, reduction in corporate taxes, and reduction in utility charges. Long-run policies include t raining and re-training programmes for workers and greater focus on RD activities for innovations and improvement in technology. In Singapore, there are more than 600,000 workers with secondary education or lower. As such, it is extremely important that these workers upgrade their skills and learn new tasks to be more productive and to be more employable in the future. There are also other schemes such as the job re-design programmes implemented by the Singapore Productivity and Standards Board which involves changing both job content and arrangement to encourage workers to become more productive. Other ASEAN countries can learn from Singapores experiences with regard to cost-cutting measures, training and re-training programmes, and RD activities to improve productivity and competitiveness. Multi-Ethnic States. Multi-ethnicity is a dominant feature of the region and therefore stable inter-state ties and intra-state ethnic stability are closely intertwined. The region has to work toward the stability and security of strong, secular, federal multi- ethnic states if it is to remain secure and stable in the coming years. The Challenge of Democratisaton. The other key political challenge that confronts South East Asian nations is how to build stable, democratic state structures in condition of a rising tide of expectations for better life and greater liberty. Through much of Asia, the struggle between pressures for democratization against existing authoritarian state structures or oppressive socio-political conditions is a reality. Human rights abuses are common in many of the states. In Myanmar and Indonesia there is a rising pressure for political change and expansion of political rights. Militancy, insurgency and terrorism have wracked many parts of ASEAN region in the past and continue to do so even now. Only through steady democratization, decentralization and provision of caring and efficient governance can the integrity of state structures and stability be preserved. CHAPTER V Chinese political and economical strategy in South East Asia. China perceives itself as a central power on Earth. The rest of the World is an array of greater and lesser powers which neither have unified structure nor a single head Macnall Mark[4] Chinas political and economic strategy are interlinked with the security relation that China shares with the Southeast Asia as a region. China embraced the Southeast Asian regionalism and of multilateralism with Southeast Asia is part of broader decision to jettison Chinas old confrontational policy and style. Chinese leaders officials turned this approach to South east Asia on its head replacing the assertiveness that characterized pre 1997 Chinese policy with accommodation. This concerted campaign assuaged South east Asian fears but also paved the way for South east Asian and Chinese to participate in and profit from this rapidly expanding economic ties. Chinese leaders and officials smoothly employed diplomacy in innumerable meeting with South east Asian counterparts to slowly and carefully win greater influence in south east Asia. The Chinese foreign policy community made a concerted effort to represent Chinas reemergence as a regional power. It portrayed recent trends as aligne d with the economic and security interests of its southern neighbors. China convinced the neighbors that it is not a threat. China employed the same set of instruments of Chinese national security policy at both multilateral level with ASEAN and bilateral level with individual ASEAN states albeit with differing effects in the countries concerned depending on their individual circumstances. It places contentious issues temporarily to the side, places processes before product and welcomes efforts to build EAST ASIAN community. Beijing binds the South East Asean countries with a spectrum of economic, political and cultural and security proposals. As Beijing courted its southern neighbors, it supplemented diplomacy with economic ties in terms of trade and economic investment. China opened China to overseas ethnic Chinese and invited ethnic Chinese Southeast Asians to invest in China and subsequently invited Southeast Asians. Rapid increases in the Southeast Asian- China trade led to ove rcome the financial crisis. Chinas economic success has been as impressive as its diplomatic campaign, because china and Southeast Asian countries have been competitors both FDI and for developed markets in Japan,Europe and the United States. Beijing has worked assiduously tp provide Southeast Asian economies with a stake in Chinas economic expansion thus stabilizing Chinas periphery and contributing to Chinas own economic growth. Chinas turn to multilateralism diplomacy was to compliment its intense bilateral diplomacy was timely. ASEAN grew during the 1990 and accommodated new countries and also in the due course of time it had not been able to respond to the financial crisis and also the turmoil in East Timor. Chinas help to ASEAN gave a new appearance to ASEAN. Multilateral diplomacy provided a two way street for ASEAN countries and China and provided measures to forge new bonds. ASEAN also History and Influences on South East Asia History and Influences on South East Asia CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION If there were only two men in the world, how would they get on? They would help one another, harm one another, flatter one another, slander one another, fight one another, make it up, they could neither live together nor do without one another Philosophical Dictionary, 1764 Increasing role of China in South Asia has attracted the attention of the policy framers as well as scholars. Its foreign policy towards Southeast Asia has varied from indifference to hostility, but Chinese interest in the region has persisted since 1949. While India occupies a vital position in the Chinese calculation, there are discernible variations in Chinese policy towards other states in the region. The behaviour of Southeast Asian states towards China has also varied. Notwithstanding the persistence of the Indian factor in their perceptions, we observe different response to Chinese behaviour and policy in these states. Chinese foreign policy is undergoing a metamorphosis never seen in the history of the Peoples Republic (PRC). The country has enjoyed a more secure place in the world than before, yet it has remained dissatisfied with its international status. Chinas quest for international legitimacy and a positive image is tested by its pursuit of security interests and the power politics logic of its own and other states. Chinese foreign policy strategy has equally stressed the need to protect its national interest in a threatening world and the struggle to remold the international environment in line with its preferences. Clearly PRC foreign policy is complicated, dynamic, and consequential. China has managed to become a rising star in the international arena, both politically and economically. The bipolar world order lasting for nearly half a century came eventually to an abrupt end in the closing months of the 1980s as a result of dramatic changes in Eastern Europe and the so-called post cold w ar era began in the final decade of this century. China has some motivations in the Southeast Asia one of these is China is in pursuit of hegemony[1] in the region, another possibility is primarily defensive an attempt to neutralize the region while China focuses on internal priorities and the third possibility is to have a cooperative structure. India is seeking an expanded role in the international Geo-political arena which includes Asia and Southeast Asia. Indias growing economy ,common energy security interests, national interest, and power projection makes India China a Peer competitor. Beijings current goal in southeast Asia is to maintain a stable environment around its periphery to assure others that China is not threat, and to encourage economic ties that contribute to Chinas economic modernization and thus regime stability. The foreign policy instruments that Beijing has employed to secure its goals are constituent throughout most of Southeast Asia, but the priorities assigned to different strategic goals vary depending on Chinas interest in different part of the region. CHAPTER II METHODOLOGY STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM To examine the current politico-economic influences in South east Asia and recommend measures for India to significantly expand its politico-economic strategic influence in the South East Asian region with a view to counterbalance the overwhelming Chinese politico – economic dominance in the South East Asian Region.. Justification of the Study The most significant strategic development after the Cold War, is probably the sudden growth in Chinas economic potential and consequent national power. A rapid rise in power of a major country in the past has usually led to tension in the region, conflict with the neighbours and eventually a war. To make an assessment of Chinas posture well into the future is fraught with number of uncertainties. Equally, a projection of that role in the next century would, of necessity, demand an intimate acquaintance with how the Chinese have been involved in their dealings with this part of the world in the past. Above all, how that relationship has evolved, to the present day environment. Idea shall be to restrict the paper and sketch out important events in the near past, which have shaped the present and loom larger than the hoary past on the future that is yet in the limbo. The basic intention in writing this dissertation is To examine the current politico-economic influences in South east As ia and recommend measures for India to significantly expand its politico-economic strategic influence in the South East Asian region with a view to counterbalance the overwhelming Chinese politico – economic dominance in the South East Asian . A direct question has been addressed whether or not China restricts India from emerging as a global player. Scope Axiomatically any meaningful discussion of Chinas role in Southeast Asia would imply an understanding of its relations with the Indian subcontinent as a whole. Of the worlds great powers, China is geographically the closest to the Southeast Asian countries. It has common borders with Myanmar, Thailand, Laos, Vietnam, Caombodia. There is significant cultural similarities far reaching political and strategic repercussions over the past couple of centuries, and has propelled the worlds most populous regions into interaction in a wide variety of ways. From a simple geographical perspective, qualitative changes in the Chinas foreign policy should be expected if China grows from a medium-sized power to superpower. At its present rate of economic growth, Chinas productive capabilities and total wealth will soon outstrip those of the other Asian powers. As a weaker power, Chinas dependence on the favour of its neighbours has been comparatively high. But increased relative capabilities make i t feasible for a rising great power to exert greater control over its surroundings. If the opportunity arises to establish a dominant role in the region, China can be expected to seize it. Thus the scope of this paper has been restricted to Chinese dominance in the Southeast Asian region, which will pose vexing problems for India . An attempt has been made to analyse, how India can focus and counterbalance the overwhelming Chinese politico – economic dominance in the South East Asian. Organisation of Dissertation. The study is proposed to be dealt in the following sequence: Modern History strat influences in South East Asia. Political Economy of South East Asia. Chinese political and economical strategy in South East Asia. Indian political and economical strategy in South East Asia. Comparative Analysis of Indian Chinese politico-economic strategies in SE Asia. Recommended response of India to expand its influence in the region. CHAPTER III MODERN HISTORY AND STRATEGIC INFLUENCES IN SOUTHEAST ASIA The post-Cold War world is seeing in some areas a resurgence of nationalism and in others a greater emphasis on regionalism. These two tendencies will overlap. In Southeast Asia national and ethnic differences were significantly blunted by European colonialism and in some cases have been further submerged in the post-colonial period of new nation states. But what is new in Southeast Asia is the development of voluntary (as distinct from externally mandated) cooperation on a sub-regional or regional level. Most recently there is the assertion of an Asian identity, shared by Southeast Asians, which is sharply distinguished from Western value systems, social norms and economic models. It is too early to say how far that will be taken or how much it will influence the political and social development of Southeast Asia. The very important differences between and indeed even within the Southeast Asian countries induces some skepticism in academic circles about the existence of Asian values [2] etc. But there is no doubt that there is a perception in the region of some essential shared values or priorities, and a rejection of what are seen as Western individualistic and libertarian values. An embryonic sense of shared interests transcending ethnic or national groups emerged in colonial times between independence movements, student movements and other groups, including notably the various Marxist-inspired or communist movements in the region. But until after the Pacific War there was little connection across the region. The colonial empires were very separate and governed on different principles. It is a common observation nowadays that Australia, on the fringe of the region, only recently and belatedly become aware of and involved with its Southeast Asian neighbors. That is true, though with some qualifications. There was peripheral contact in the north even before the Europeans colonized Australia. But in the colonial era there was no steady development of contact or interest. The shifting patterns of alliance politics in Europe affected such contacts as there were between the colonial administrations in Southeast Asia and Australia, and indeed between the Southeast A sian colonial administrations themselves. Australia was not unique, or even unusual, in having little contact with its neighbors and in having its external links directed principally along the lines laid down by the metropolitan power. What are now the independent nations of Southeast Asia also had little contact with each other during the European colonial period. Just as the lines of communication and trade ran from Melbourne and Sydney to London, so did those between the French, Dutch, and other British colonies and the respective metropolitan powers in Europe. Right up to the Pacific War there was little or no communication between, for example, what are now Indonesia, Vietnam, Malaysia, and the Philippines. The links ran from Manila to the United States, from Batavia to the Netherlands, from Hanoi to France, and so on. It was the remarkable Japanese campaign which began at the end of 1941 which precipitated or accelerated the radical changes which took place between 1945 and the end of the Vietnam war. The sheer speed and success of the Japanese successes against numerically superior defending forces in Southeast Asia made a strong impression on opinion in the erstwhile colonies. The Japanese failed to capitalize on that in the sense that after early political successes in encouraging nationalist and pro-Japanese movements the appeal to shared Asian interests lost plausibility in the face of Japanese policies and actions which were exploitative or worse. Although Japan lost the war and left wounds in the region which are still not healed, the war precipitated the end of the moribund European colonial era, and accelerated the creation of independent states largely within borders established by the colonial empires. For some years trade and other economic links remained predominantly in the old colon ial grooves but with the economic supremacy of the United States and then with Japan embarked on decades of the highest rates of economic growth the world had yet seen, those patterns diversified. In the region the United States and Japan became the two most important outside powers and that was reflected inter alia by their leading roles in the setting up of the Asian Development Bank in 1966. By that time Australia[3] too had perforce diversified its trade away from Britain which had made it clear that it would seek its future economic arrangements in Europe and the Commonwealth arrangements which had supported much of Australias traditional export industry were phased out. Australia turned to Japan and others for new markets (a trade agreement with Japan had already been made in 1957). Australias development assistance programme had from the beginning concentrated on Southeast Asia and become and increasingly important instrument for involving this country with the region, especially as significant numbers of students from the region came to our universities and other institutions under the Colombo Plan and successor programmes.The failure of the attempted coup in Indonesia, the Gestapu of 30 September 1965, and the subsequent establishment of the New Order government there opened the way to overcome the regional or sub-regional strains produced by President Sukarnos eff orts to crush the newly-constructed Malaysia, as well as other tensions created or exacerbated by the Sukarno policies. In this climate ASEAN, the Association of South East Asian Nations, was established in 1967 and set out on its long and successful course of gradually building a sense of common interest and regional association among the six (originally five) members. ASEAN recently embarked on the development of AFTA, the ASEAN Free Trade Agreement. ASEAN has become the key institution in Southeast Asia not only because of its success in developing a sense of community among its very disparate members, and in finding a road for them to closer economic cooperation. It has also become the forum for discussion with the main world powers on a wide range of matters. This has come about through an annual mechanism of post-Ministerial consultations held after ASEANs own internal consultations through which ASEAN member governments, at Foreign Minister level, meet with their counterparts. These counterparts, termed dialogue partners, currently are Australia, Canada, the European Union, Japan, the Republic of Korea, New Zealand and the United States. In 1994 discussions on regional security were further developed with the establishment of the ASEAN Regional Forum (ARF) which groups ASEAN and its dialogue partners with Russia, China, Vietnam, Laos and Papua New Guinea. Looking at the recent evolution of Southeast Asia perhaps the most sig nificant thing has been the change that has occurred since the ending of the Cold War and the collapse of communism. Until relatively recently the centrally planned economy model had much attraction for many developing countries and there was up to the beginning of the eighties quite widespread aversion to capitalism and to the liberal market model as exemplified by the Western industrialized countries. Now virtually all of Southeast Asia is committed to market economics, albeit with more governmental political control than in the Western countries. There is a virtual unanimity about the commitment to economic development based on relatively open markets, private ownership and competition. With that has come a period of unprecedented economic growth. The major economies of Southeast Asia are all growing at rates previously thought unattainable for a sustained period. There are of course some uncertainties about the future; but there are few who doubt that Southeast Asia will early i n the twenty-first century be a major centre of economic power and influence. Southeast Asia has traditionally been a site of great power competition for regional dominance, due to its strategic location as a bridge between continental and maritime East Asia. To manage this competition and to enhance their own sub regional autonomy, the member states of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) engaged in a number of regional institution building initiatives during the early 1990s. This institutionalism agenda led to speculation that ASEAN could become the hub of a nascent regional security community following the 1997 Asian financial crisis, however, the prospect that ASEAN could act as an autonomous entity to mitigate Sino-U.S. geopolitical pressures seemed increasingly tenuous. Weakened by political and economic instability, intra-regional disputes and a simultaneous expansion of its membership, ASEAN has come to question its own identity. This has only further undermined ASEAN-led regional security initiatives such as the ASEAN Regional Forum (ARF ). More frequently, Southeast Asian states have favored bilateralism and have looked to external powers to realize their security interests. These changing sub regional dynamics have, in turn, prompted renewed efforts by China and the United States to cultivate influence within Southeast Asia. Chinas attempts to gain support for its new security concept and US efforts to secure additional access and infrastructure agreements along the East Asian littoral are illustrative. To some extent, Sino-U.S. geopolitical competition has been modified by strategic cooperation resulting from the war on terror. China still remains wary of U.S. attempts to engage Southeast Asia in countering global terrorism. These trends have, in turn, compelled analysts to reconceptualize the Southeast Asian security landscape in a balance of power context. It is clear continental Southeast Asian states have aligned with China and maritime Southeast Asian states have aligned with the United States. The geographi c position of China and the United States, and the evolution of their interests and military capabilities accordingly, make it unlikely that either country would seek to project power into the others respective sphere. Southeast Asian states maintain a position of equidistance between the great powers. She attributes this to the ASEAN states general distrust of great powers and their desire to maintain the delicate Sino-U.S. regional balance. CHAPTER IV POLITICAL ECONOMY OF SOUTH EAST ASIA China sleeps, when she wakes, the World will tremble Napoleon The South east Asian countries over the past four decades has transformed itself from a region with enormous economic and political problems to one blessed with relative peace and prosperity. In particular the five ASEAN economies, namely, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore and Thailand , grew strongly in the 1960s with an average rate of 6 percent. This buoyant economic performance continued in the 1970s with 7.3 percent as they benefited from the massive inflows of the foreign exchange earnings due to sharp increase in the world price of primary commodities, including two oil shocks which benefited some of the members the same period. In the 1980s the region slowed down to an average growth rate of 6.1 percent. Regional economies experienced recessionary conditions due to high interest rate policy of the US Federal Reserve Bank, the consequent debt crisis in the region, the recession in the ASEANs major trading and investment partners, and the fall in the world prices of the primary commodities. But there was also a positive trend of influx of export- oriented foreign direct investment from Japan and the NIEs following the strong appreciation of their currencies. The recovery from 1991 to 1996 was followed by an economic contraction in 1997-98 due to the crisis which began in Thailand in July 1997 and spread to other parts of the region. In 1999-2000, the ASEAN economies staged a dramatic recovery with Singapore and Malaysia leading, things again turned sour with the September 11 attacks and the lackluster performance of the export sector. There was again a decrease in the economic growth due to the SARS, Iraq cri sis and terrorist related attacks, slump in the electronic market and collapse of the WTO talks in Cancun. The global economy is most rapid in emerging Asia where GDP accelerated to 7.2 percent in 2003, accounting for about 50 per cent of world growth. Looking forward, growth is projected to remain high at 7.4 per cent in 2004 and 7.0 per cent in 2005. The IMF stated that while domestic demand growth has increased significantly in emerging Asia, the regional current account surpluses remain very large, with exports supported by the rebound in the information technology (IT) sector as well as depreciating exchange rates. In the ASEAN-4, Thailand has shown the strongest expansion at 6.7 per cent in 2003, and is expected to remain high at 7 per cent in 2004 and 6.7 per cent in 2005. Cyclical considerations and high levels of public debt necessitate fiscal prudence for Thai authorities. The Malaysian economy is also recovering strongly and is expected to continue with inflation and unemployment remaining at low levels. However, the main policy priorities are the implementation of the announced fiscal consolidation to achieve a balanced budget by the year 2006 and greater exchange rate flexibility accompanied with suitable macroeconomic policies. Indonesias modest growth continues to be driven by private consumption, and has been accompanied with lower inflation. The Indonesian government should continue to implement its planned fiscal consolidation. Moreover, it needs to sustain banking, legal and judicial reforms in order to provide a better investment climate conducive to higher growth. As for the Philippines, uncertainties remain high even after the May 2, 2004 presidential elections. The main concerns of the Philippine government include increasing the tax revenues, restructuring the power sector, strengthening the banking sector, and improving the business system. Following the SARS crisis, the Singapore economy recovered in 2003 with supportive macroeconomic policies. To enhance its medium-term competitiveness and growth prospects, the IMF recommends a deepening and acceleration of reforms including further divestment of government  ­linked companies Issues and Challenges for Southeast Asian/ASEAN Domestic policy issues and challenges. On the domestic front, the growth prospects for ASEAN are very much dependent on various factors including the ability of their respective governments to provide economic, political and social stability, implement economic reforms, and diversify their economies. ASEAN policy makers thus face the following challenges: Sound macroeconomic environment. Following the 1997/98 economic crisis, government budget deficits relative to GDP have broadly increased and this is of serious concern for ASEAN governments, particularly for Malaysia and the Philippines. Price instability has become a serious concern for Indonesia and the Philippines. Exchange rates in Indonesia, Laos, the Philippines and Myanmar have weakened significantly. Moreover, the rising levels of foreign debt in the Philippines and Indonesia could create additional uncertainties. In terms of the current account surplus as a proportion of GDP, the six older ASEAN members have broadly shown higher levels relative to Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar and Vietnam (CLMV countries). Thus, in order to achieve a sound macroeconomic environment, ASEAN economies need to adopt a prudent fiscal policy, low inflation rates, stable exchange rates, and manageable levels of external debt and current account balance. Stable political and business environment. The political environment in some countries has been affected by military uprisings, kidnappings, bombings and other terrorist-related activities, peoples demonstrations, and elections. A 1997 survey of Japanese firms conducted by JETRO indicated that political stability is considered as the most significant determinant of Japanese investments in ASEAN. Thus Southeast Asian governments need to find ways and means towards achieving and maintaining a politically stable environment in order to encourage domestic and foreign investments. Social Harmony. ASEAN countries need to address issues such as conflicts between racial groups (e.g. the Chinese and pribumis in Indonesia, and the Chinese and bumiputras in Malaysia), between religious groups (e.g. the Muslims and Christians in Southern Philippines) and between the poor and rich. Despite all the policies and resources spent on alleviating poverty and reducing income inequality, unemployment, poverty and income inequality continue to be the major policy concerns of ASEAN governments. In reality, it is very difficult to reduce poverty and narrow the income gap given the interplay of politics, economics and industry, and the conflicting goals of the various interest groups in the economy like businesses, religious groups, the elite, farmers, small and medium entrepreneurs, etc. Thailands income gap between the rich and the poor was the widest in the world (Bangkok Post, 2S Aug 2003). In the Philippines, Gerard Clark and Marites Sison (2003) in their study titled liDo t he well-off really care about the plight of the poor? revealed that majority of the respondents suggested that some elite people cared while others did not; and those who did care did too little or acted primarily out of self-interest. In fact, there are some people in the superior group like the elite who wish the poor to remain poor because of the benefits that can be derived from their poverty. For instance, politicians often depend on the poor at elections time for support that propels them to political office. Economic Reforms. Southeast Asian governments need to continue implementing economic reforms that include market opening, trade, investment and financial liberalization. These reforms are particularly crucial for the CLMV countries as they undergo transition from centrally planned to market  ­oriented economies and for the crisis-hit countries especially Indonesia and Thailand. In the case of Indonesia, there was a lack of seriousness on the part of the political leadership to undertake economic reforms. For example, there were delays in the removal of tariff control and the privatization of state assets and enterprises, so that the process of reforms is reverting to protectionism. Furthermore, a delay in the IMFs financial assistance added to the ineffectiveness of Indonesias recovery programme. Thailand completed its 34-month Stand-By Arrangement from the IMF that formed part of an international financial package worth US$17.2 billion from multilateral and bilateral lenders. Outs tanding obligations at end-June 2002 amounted to US$6.4 billion and repayment was finally completed on July 31,2003, some two years ahead of schedule a significant achievement on the part of the Thai government. Economic Diversion. Various factors impel ASEAN economies to continue to diversify their economies: volatile and broadly declining primary commodity prices, depletion of non-renewable primary resources such as oil and gas, and the high costs of production. Following the decline in crude oil prices in the 1980s, Brunei and Indonesia have begun to diversify their economies from oil towards non-oil products and services (finance, tourism). Because of the high costs of production (e.g. high labour costs), Singapores economy has emphasised the significant contribution of the services sector (IT, education, tourism, finance). The services sector has accounted for about 60-70 per cent of Singapores GDP. Moreover, to improve the competitiveness of Singapores manufactured products and services, several cost-cutting measures have been implemented, namely, cuts in contribution rates for mandatory saving, reduction in corporate taxes, and reduction in utility charges. Long-run policies include t raining and re-training programmes for workers and greater focus on RD activities for innovations and improvement in technology. In Singapore, there are more than 600,000 workers with secondary education or lower. As such, it is extremely important that these workers upgrade their skills and learn new tasks to be more productive and to be more employable in the future. There are also other schemes such as the job re-design programmes implemented by the Singapore Productivity and Standards Board which involves changing both job content and arrangement to encourage workers to become more productive. Other ASEAN countries can learn from Singapores experiences with regard to cost-cutting measures, training and re-training programmes, and RD activities to improve productivity and competitiveness. Multi-Ethnic States. Multi-ethnicity is a dominant feature of the region and therefore stable inter-state ties and intra-state ethnic stability are closely intertwined. The region has to work toward the stability and security of strong, secular, federal multi- ethnic states if it is to remain secure and stable in the coming years. The Challenge of Democratisaton. The other key political challenge that confronts South East Asian nations is how to build stable, democratic state structures in condition of a rising tide of expectations for better life and greater liberty. Through much of Asia, the struggle between pressures for democratization against existing authoritarian state structures or oppressive socio-political conditions is a reality. Human rights abuses are common in many of the states. In Myanmar and Indonesia there is a rising pressure for political change and expansion of political rights. Militancy, insurgency and terrorism have wracked many parts of ASEAN region in the past and continue to do so even now. Only through steady democratization, decentralization and provision of caring and efficient governance can the integrity of state structures and stability be preserved. CHAPTER V Chinese political and economical strategy in South East Asia. China perceives itself as a central power on Earth. The rest of the World is an array of greater and lesser powers which neither have unified structure nor a single head Macnall Mark[4] Chinas political and economic strategy are interlinked with the security relation that China shares with the Southeast Asia as a region. China embraced the Southeast Asian regionalism and of multilateralism with Southeast Asia is part of broader decision to jettison Chinas old confrontational policy and style. Chinese leaders officials turned this approach to South east Asia on its head replacing the assertiveness that characterized pre 1997 Chinese policy with accommodation. This concerted campaign assuaged South east Asian fears but also paved the way for South east Asian and Chinese to participate in and profit from this rapidly expanding economic ties. Chinese leaders and officials smoothly employed diplomacy in innumerable meeting with South east Asian counterparts to slowly and carefully win greater influence in south east Asia. The Chinese foreign policy community made a concerted effort to represent Chinas reemergence as a regional power. It portrayed recent trends as aligne d with the economic and security interests of its southern neighbors. China convinced the neighbors that it is not a threat. China employed the same set of instruments of Chinese national security policy at both multilateral level with ASEAN and bilateral level with individual ASEAN states albeit with differing effects in the countries concerned depending on their individual circumstances. It places contentious issues temporarily to the side, places processes before product and welcomes efforts to build EAST ASIAN community. Beijing binds the South East Asean countries with a spectrum of economic, political and cultural and security proposals. As Beijing courted its southern neighbors, it supplemented diplomacy with economic ties in terms of trade and economic investment. China opened China to overseas ethnic Chinese and invited ethnic Chinese Southeast Asians to invest in China and subsequently invited Southeast Asians. Rapid increases in the Southeast Asian- China trade led to ove rcome the financial crisis. Chinas economic success has been as impressive as its diplomatic campaign, because china and Southeast Asian countries have been competitors both FDI and for developed markets in Japan,Europe and the United States. Beijing has worked assiduously tp provide Southeast Asian economies with a stake in Chinas economic expansion thus stabilizing Chinas periphery and contributing to Chinas own economic growth. Chinas turn to multilateralism diplomacy was to compliment its intense bilateral diplomacy was timely. ASEAN grew during the 1990 and accommodated new countries and also in the due course of time it had not been able to respond to the financial crisis and also the turmoil in East Timor. Chinas help to ASEAN gave a new appearance to ASEAN. Multilateral diplomacy provided a two way street for ASEAN countries and China and provided measures to forge new bonds. ASEAN also