As the effects of the financial crisis are being felt around the world, Transparency International’s 2008 Bribe Payers Index (BPI) exposes the degree to which companies of the leading exporting nations are likely to engage in bribery when doing business abroad.

Unfortunately, we see the BRIC – Brazil, Russia, India and China – along with Mexico as the most corrupted countries.

Please, see full report here.

Lots of things we’ve been discussing in class – at least in Miami – are found in this excellent article. I really recommend it to anyone who wants to understand this crisis a bit more.

Why America Needs an Economic Strategy

All, this is an excellent video of a round table discussion held with as part of the Centennial Global Business Summit for the Harvard Business School.  It’s about an hour long, and the participant list includes:  Jeff Wolfensohn (Former President of the World Bank), Meg Whitman (Former president of Ebay), and Jeff Immelt (President and CEO of General Electric).

HBS: Leadership for the 21st Century Video

Ranking announced by Economatica was based on data from the third quarter of 2008. It lists the most profitable banks in the U.S and Latin America.

Check out this video. I’ve found it very, very interesting.

Here are some tips from Bennett Walker (Group BW – Business Communication Class) on how to improve our English skills.

Books:

Essential Grammar in Use by Raymond Murphy (Intermediate version)

Advanced Grammar in Use by Martin Hewings

The ELT Grammar Book: A Teacher-Friendly Reference Guide by Richard Firsten

Websites:

http://www.englishpage.com

http://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl

Obama’s election started in South America. Well, at least that’s what Lula thinks. According to the President of Brazil, this shows a trend that began with himself in 2002 and continued with the elections of Evo Morales (Bolivia), Fernando Lugo (Paraguay) and Tabaré Vazquez (Uruguay).

Problem is that Lula forgot two “minor” issues. First, Obama graduated in Harvard and Columbia. Second, the American people couldn’t care less about what happens in Latin America and don’t have a clue about those elections mentioned by Lula.

Sure enough, it was really amazing the fact that a poor metallurgist was elected President of one of the largest countries on Earth. But that’s it. You just can’t compare with the US elections.

By the way, Lula is trying to get together with Barack Obama next Saturday in Washington before the G20 meeting.

Guys,

I’m working on a very interesting project, a branding campaign for my company. The first step, as you might know, is an internal campaign that would help our employees better understand and embrace our brand.

Do you guys have any experience with that? Have you worked on something similar before? If so, please let me know. I will greatly appreciate your help.

Thank you.

Dear friends,

I am the proud parent of a bright, beautiful, and very loving adopted child.  My son is doubtless one of the greatest blessings in my life.  As such, I am against abortion; my son wouldn’t be here otherwise.  It is said that adoption is the loving option.  Notwithstanding, I oppose people’s choice to support a political candidate solely on that politician’s position on abortion.  I believe in human dignity and right to life across the entire spectrum of life, not only the pre-natal phase.  Sending young soldiers to die in a war driven by economic interests and watching an elderly person slowly loose a battle to cancer because he or she cannot afford healthcare or insurance is attempting against life as well.  Certain government policies as they stand are leading people to their deathbed, only that they’re doing this a little later in life and in a much slower fashion.  I encourage you to consider a candidate based on the entirety of his or her political platform and position across a host of issues affecting human dignity and life, and not vehemently supporting someone based on one isolated issue.  In sum, if you’re able to vote, vote with your conscience… but please do go out and vote.  God bless you.  

For all of us pursuing a global business career the life of an expatriate is definitely in our path.

It is very interesting to analyze all the factors that can influence one’s performance in an assignment overseas. The wellbeing of our spouse and children in their new home is crucial for an optimal performance; this has a great impact on us Latin Americans as we are very family oriented.

That aside, there are also new challenges for expatriates. Emerging countries such as China and India have lots of openings for this type of position. Here is a good article on TIME where a few examples are shown.

Hope that you’ll enjoy!