Wall-Mart pulls out of Korea - Yahoo! News

Wal-Mart pulls out of Korea - Yahoo! News

What's interesting here -- toward the end of the article, it mentions that Carrefour is also bailing out of South Korea. The British (Tesco) are doing ok, but they're in a joint venture with a South Korean firm, Samsung (whose Shinsegae subsidiary bought the Wal-Mart operation).

The next step, China. The Wal-Mart folks say that the proceeds from the sale of the Korean units will go towards increasing their presence in China. Only problem is that the Koreans are saying the same thing:

"As a result, E-Mart will increase the number of outlets to 102 including seven in China and will take on all 3,356 workers hired by Wal-Mart."

"With the acquisition of Wal-Mart stores, we will secure the ground for our stable business at home. This will also help us step up our operations in China," Shinsegae president Koo Hak-Seo told reporters."

Stay tuned here for updates.....as far as success in China goes, I'd put my money on the South Korean firms.

"Emblems of Corporate Corruption"

Very nice look, with a historical perspective, at the public image of Big Business. It's a British perspective, meaning close enough to understand US thinking, yet far enough to have some objectivity. I especially liked the insight about our love-hate realtionship with W**Mart.

America's most-hated companies The very bottom line Economist.com

A different take on gender issues in Japan

If you'll recall, we touched on gender roles in Japan.

For example, it's only just now that the Japanese are considering changing the rules to allow a female heir to inherit the throne. Japanese women are less likely than women in the US to be part of the paid labor force.

It does seem as though these traditional gender roles are undergioing some change. More and more Japanese women are delaying or foregoing marriage. Japanese women control the household finances. On the other hand, these developments may well mean that women have different expectations, but that men still hold to traditional values. Why marry, if all that means is being a second class citizen. And, if you do marry, have some securtiy that you control.

I'd really like some comments on this one; press the little envelope button below to comment.

IB Exam, February 22

Do you know what language is spoken in Brazil ??? You should.

Did you look over the Fortune Global 500 slides ?? You should.

Article You Might Use for IB Notebook

BBC NEWS Africa Nigerian militants claim attacks

New Book on Vanderbilt Women

This may be of some interest to the leadership class from fall 2005 (who are you kidding, Kristin ?) -- this recently published book is a detailed study of the 2 Vanderbilt women we saw for just a few minutes in the video.

'Consuelo and Alva Vanderbilt,' by Amanda Mackenzie Stuart - The New York Times Book Review - New York Times

Handy Phrases for Your Next Visit To France

French phrases

Quick post for Feb. 14 -- Cross-Cultural Flirting

Flirts: doing what comes naturally - Yahoo! News

Geographic Name Changes

One minor source of confusion can be when a country, region, or city changes its name or goes by more then one name.

From "Turin" to "Torino": Olympics Put New Name on the Map

As in this case, lots of differences stem from translation to English.

In other instances, it's political. For example, St. Petersburg (Russia) went to Petrograd (anti-German feeling in WWI), then to Leningrad (after the Russian Revolution), and now back to St. Petersburg.

For these -- 1 homework point for each that you can explain ("This is the old name, this is the new name"). Find one or two more that I didn't, for 1 or 2 more points.

Other examples of "old" and "new" names -- Volgograd, Persia, Myanmar, Zaire, Beijing, East Pakistan.

Defunct names -- countries that no longer exist -- Yugoslavia,
Czechoslovakia

For other examples, look at internet suffixes -- .ch, .de, .za, .es, .kh. And the really really strange internet domain -- .cat (which is not yet actually in use).

Can money buy happiness???

Your thoughts?

Unhappy? That's rich . . . - Times 2 - Times Online

Technology Update: Western Union Stops Sending Telegrams

The age of the telegram is over. When I think "telegram", I think old black-and-white tv and movies. Perry Mason sent telegrams, as did Sam Spade. Ah, well, the telegram has gone the way of the rotary dial phone, the manual typewriter, and the Manhattan......

Nostalia aside, I'm surprised that it took this long.

LiveScience.com - Era Ends: Western Union Stops Sending Telegrams

Internet Censorship

Real quick -- here it is. Note that this also happens in Europe.

Google: China decision painful but right - Yahoo! News

Russia and Ethnic Issues in the Caucasus

You've no doubt heard of Chechnya -- politically part of Russia, but ethnically separate. And, depending on which side you want to come down on, there are "Chechnyan terrorists" or "fighters for Chechen independence;" for a somewhat more balanced view, see "Russia struggles to keep grip in Caucasus." Me, I figure there's enough blame for all of the parties to have their share, and then some (where's my 10-foot pole when I need it...)

In any case, the Chechens are just one of many disaffected ethnic minorities in the Caucasus region, none of whom appear to have much use for their Russian rulers. There's the Republic of Ingushetia, as well.

Why does this matter? We'll talk about this next week in class. 10 free homework points to anyone who finds and prints and brings to class the CIA's map of the ethnic and religious groups in this region.

More bad news for brand counterfeiters in China

I'd always said that the problem of brnad counterfeiting in China wasn't going to go away. Bring out the knife and fork, because I need to dine on those words.

Designer brand pirates told to pack their bags

For this spring's Management 420 class....

As in previous semesters, a meaningful comment here is worth one extra credit point (maximum 1 point, however).

Starbucks wins China trademark fight

An ongoing discussion in the International Business class has been the problem with China and intellectual property -- specifically, the reluctance of the Chinese government to take meaningful action to crack down on rampant brand counterfeiting, copyright infringment, and the like. Maybe this is a start???

Starbucks wins China trademark fight - Business - International Herald Tribune