International Business – Marketing and Distribution Terminology

ADAPTATION – The process of adjusting to a different environment. BRANDING – A name, term, design, symbol, or any other feature that identifies one seller’s good or service as distinct from those of other sellers. CROSSCULTURAL SYMBOLS – The meanings of symbols across several cultures. CUSTOMS BROKERS – An authorized agent specialized in customs clearance…

International Business – Terminology

International Business: Includes all commercial transactions (such as private and governmental, sales, investments, and transportation) that take place between two or more regions, countries, and nations beyond their political boundaries Balance of Trade: The difference in value between a country’s imports and exports Balance of Payments: The difference in total value between payments into and…

MERCOSUR: Economic & Political Union

MERCOSUR is an economic and political union formed in 1991 by Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay, and Uruguay to promote the free movement of goods, services and people among member states. MERCOSUR’s primary interest was to eliminate obstacles to regional trade, such as high tariffs and income inequalities. In 1994 the MERCOSUR countries also established a protection…

Free The Children: NGO, History, Projects

Free The Children literally wants to free the children from poverty, exploitation, and the thought of being powerless. They put these three values into their mission statement, “Free the children from poverty. Free the children from exploitation. Free the children from the idea that they are powerless to change the world.” (Craig Kielburger, 1995). Young…

Foreign Policy: Terms & Definitions

Isolationism Isolationism is a foreign policy whereby a country decides to exclude itself from relations with other countries; isolating itself in the world. Example: the U.S. in the 1920’s when they refused to join the League of Nations.  Another example would be North Korea today who purposefully does not interact with many nations. Unilateralism Unilateralism…

McDonaldization

McDonaldization is the term Ritzer derived from the McDonalds’ fast-food chain to describe the state of our society. Ritzer claims our social institutions have become completely dehumanized in the form of a bureaucracy. Health care is an example of one institution that is characterized by the four components of bureaucracy: efficiency, predictability, control, and quantification.…

Essay: Problems of Modernization in Developing Nations

The economic situation which exists in the developing world today, is the result of the relationship between the modern, and developing nations of the world.  Modernized nations benefited from this relationship because it gave them access to natural resources. However, because of this relationship, many developing nations now suffer from severe problems.  These nations are…

Essay: Preferential Hiring in the United States of America

No other democratic society in the world permits personal freedoms to the degree of the United States of America.  Within the last sixty years, American courts, especially the Supreme Court, have developed a set of legal doctrines that thoroughly protect all forms of the freedom of expression.  When it comes to evaluating the degree to…

Commercial Fishing: Development, Harvesting, Processing

Commercial fishing is a worldwide enterprise that involves the capture of marine and freshwater fish and shellfish and their preparation for market. Fishing equipment ranges from small boats whose nets are cast and hauled in by hand to factory ships equipped with the most advanced technologies for finding, harvesting, and preparing huge amounts of fish.…

Essay: Reasons why Poverty Exists

It is often overwhelming for people when they hear about all the problems that plague third world or “developing” countries today.  People are aware about all the poverty, exploitation, environmental degradation, corruption and conflict that ravage these countries without knowing the reason WHY these problems exist.  How come these problems don’t take place in first…

Linda McQuaig’s Shooting the Hippo: Causes and Results of Debt

Linda McQuaig’s most recent book, “Shooting the Hippo” is about the causes and results of the debt. It is a look at both the factual causes and the arguments which are merely presented to us through the various elements of the media. McQuaig delivers an insightful overview of the extensive media coverage which has bombarded…