Economic Interdependence between European countries

Economic Interdependence between European countries Why is economic interdependence necessary? When we talk about economic interdependence between countries the first and foremost factor that comes to mind is the exchange of goods and services then the flow of labour, capital, technology, and finally the flow of funds. Helpman (2011) describes the economic fortunes of a country being intertwined â€Å"†¦via trade, foreign direct investment, and financial capital flows†. Helpman also talks about how the global crises of 2008 illustrated the importance of this interdependency between countries when it caused the volume of international trade to fall by almost a quarter which then adversely influenced even the countries with a sound financial system. Coming to the first aspect of the exchange for goods and services (trade); it is indeed, essential to trade in order to derive maximum benefit from the efficient use of scarce resources available and as economic development and progression takes place resultantly because of globalisation, international trade is becoming i ncreasingly popular particularly when it comes to European countries. Piggott and Cook (2006) talk about the need for international trade quite comprehensively: â€Å"exports and imports can smooth demand fluctuations in the domestic economy, and growth via exports could increase competition at home. Therefore basically trade allows firms to escape the confines of the domestic market, so reducing costs, improving quality and hopefully leading to higher sales and profits†. Furthermore, this leads to the countries’ then helping even their businesses or organisations obtain a competitive advantage through specialisation and giving them access to international markets which in turn helps boost the economy even more. Europe’s global economic position Most of the countries in Europe have a significantly high GDP per capita and are considered to have extremely developed economies when it comes to the Global market; examples of which include Germany, France, Netherlands, and so on. In fact, the International monetary fund in its latest report in 2018 places most of the European countries in the advanced economies’ category whether it is in final domestic demand, stock building, or foreign balance. It is especially impressive that most of these countries progressed themselves post communism particularly with European countries like Hungary and Latvia undergoing financial crises as Grzegorz Ekiert (2012) puts it â€Å"†¦these countries’ political and economic achievements have been in stark contrast to the failures seen in other post-communist states.† The most important role in economic development however, has to be acknowledged as well which is the economic interdependence between these European countries. Economic interdependence and its importance â€Å"Economic interdependence is occurring due to specialization of countries, as they are dependent on others in the purchase of products which are not manufactured nationwide.† (Surugiu, 2015) It should be of a common understanding that progress cannot be achieved by being alone or confining to a limited way of approaching desired economic objectives and it proves to be true in the global economy as well. As more countries pool in their share of different scarce resources and bring about extra demand as well from their economies they do in fact help in reducing the wastage of resources. Needless to say, this really does synchronise with efficiently allocating these available resources too. When we talk about globalisation and economic interdependence the most critical element to have are good international relationships between countries due to the aforementioned fact that it is not only international trade that influences the countries’ economies but also other economic factors such as the flow of labour, easing of trade regulations or even financial tie-ups. These relationships are usually quite diplomatic and do involve a collaboration from both sides, it could even be argued that this relationship in itself is an exchange in order to achieve mutually favourable growth thus, these can also be the difference between maintaining peace and economic well-being. Paul Wilkinson(2007) talks about how paramount these can be in his book â€Å"†¦some of the major problems and challenges of international relations reveals that we live in a very dangerous world, and that many of the most serious threats to our peace, security, and economic and social well-being are the result of human actions.† How and why European countries are economically interdependent Being geographically close such as the countries within Europe gives them an advantage to not only make trading easier and quicker but it also provides them with a strategic advantage of achieving their political missions and their businesses with a competitive edge in the international markets. When countries do intend to come together in order to achieve economic progression they usually end up forming an alliance/trading bloc or in Europe’s case most prominently a regional trading bloc (European Union) which overtime proved to be of immense significance to their   economic and political environment. This proved to be extremely pertinent in making sure that the countries involved not only maintained peace and excellent diplomatic ties but also that they assisted each other’s economies with regards to growth and exchanging of resources allowing them to specialise more distinctively and get an even higher trade advantage. This enabled the member countries to contribute to the union financially and in return the union invested in its members’ economies accordingly. As stated by European Commission (2018) the EU adopted budget aims to invest (in its member countries) about EUR 160, 113.52M in several areas including sustainable growth, competitiveness for growth and security amongst others. The European Union could arguably be one of the most powerful economic integrations. Over the years, it has not only helped its members in areas like capital accumulation, and technical progress but it has also maintained common and standardised policies for trade and as attested by European commission(2018) itself the EU making one of its main aims to become economically interdependent and avoid any future conflicts between its members. Consequently, countries such as Germany, Spain and France who were at war for centuries have now ensured that they now work in harmony to attain mutual benefit (Mankiw, 2016, p.528). Some other examples of European economic integrations include the European Economic Area (EEA) with around 32 members, European Union Customs Union (EUCU) with 28 of the EU and 3 non-EU members (Turkey, Andorra, and San Marino), and European Free Trade Association (EFTA) with currently 4 members. The most compelling benefit however, is provided by there being a single currencies’ adoption by the European Union members which brings with it the convenience of eliminating transaction costs, reduction in price discrimination and the stability of the foreign exchange rate (Mankiw et al, 2016, pp.531). Threats economic interdependence presents While recognising the pivotal aspects of European countries having to be economically reliant on each other we must also look at the limitations it brings with it. Some of these limitations include a 5% decrease in intra EU trading during 2000-2014, Europe’s internal crises in 2015 which was triggered by the euro crises a few years prior, not giving the countries involved to make independent political decisions without undermining their relationships with a majority of their trading partners, and it taking just one opposing country to threaten a powerful alliance like EU as Greece tried to in 2015 against EU sanctions placed on Russia (The German Marshall Fund of the United States, 2016). This can also cause a free rider problem as well which Mankiw, Et al (2016) explains by giving the example of the Greek recession where the government borrowed more than they could pay back and eventually the EU had to bail them out. Most impactful though, are the difficulties that arise because of there being a single currency (Euro) adoption within the selected EU countries; these are including but not limited to fiscal federalism (Mankiw et al, 2016) describes it as the fiscal policy in the currency union working like that of a single economy, they also give up their right to have an individualistic monetary policy, and finally the macroeconomic adjustment generating from the external value of their currencies also known as automatic stabilisers (Investopedia, 2018). In conclusion, it can be said as Monnet (1978) suggests; the process of economic integration in Europe has always been incremental in nature, and often ‘forged in crises’. The main aims of these integrations also keep changing with respect to the challenges the economic environment brings with it and that being said, as long as these aims are met and all countries feel like they are benefiting mutually they will always understand that there are more pros than cons of economic interdependence for them, if not then they can always choose to leave like the UK did with the EU in June 2016. It goes without saying that trading blocs are an integral part of economic integration and political reasoning might also be a huge element in deriving its existence. However, as long as the collective European economies continue to prosper by depending on each other economically and the consequences of abandoning this interdependence do not surpass the benefits of remaining it would not make any sense for a country to be an independent economy. Reference List: European Free Trade Association (2018) About EFTA: The European Free Trade Association Available from: http://www.efta.int/about-efta/european-free-trade-association [Accessed 21 April 2018] European Commission (2018) Budget: Annual budget. Available from: http://ec.europa.eu/budget/annual/index_en.cfm [Accessed 19 April 2018] European Commission (2018) The EU in brief: From Economic to Political Union Available from: https://europa.eu/european-union/about-eu/eu-in-brief_en [Accessed 21 April 2018] European Commission (2018) Taxation and Customs Union: Customs Union Available from: https://ec.europa.eu/taxation_customs/business/calculation-customs-duties/rules-origin/customs-unions_en [Accessed 21 April 2018] Helpman, Elhanan. (2011), Understanding Global Trade, Harvard University Press Available from: ProQuest EBook Central, http://ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/lsbuuk/detail.action?docID=3300975. International Monetary Fund (2018) World Economic Outlook cyclical Upswing, Structural change: statistical appendix table part A. Available from: https://www.imf.org/en/Publications/WEO/Issues/2018/03/20/world-economic-outlook-april-2018#Statistical%20Appendix [Accessed 20 April 2018] Investopedia (2018) Automatic Stabilizer: What is an ‘economic stabilizer’? Available from: https://www.investopedia.com/terms/a/automaticstabilizer.asp [Accessed 21 April 2018] Mankiw, G. Taylor, M. Ashwin, A.  (2016), Business Economics: The Global Economy, 2nd edition, Cengage textbooks. Monnet, J (1978),  Memoirs, London. Piggott, Judith. Mark, Cook. (2006), International Business Economics: A European Perspective, Palgrave Macmillan. Surugiu, M. and Surugiu, C. (2015) International Trade, Globalization and Economic Interdependence between European Countries: Implications for Businesses and Marketing Framework, Procedia Economics and Finance, 32 (1), pp. 133. Available from: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S221256711501374X [Accessed 19 April 2018] The German Marshall Fund of The United States (2016) Policy Brief: How Economic Dependence Could Undermine Europe’s Foreign Policy Coherence. Available from: http://www.gmfus.org/publications/how-economic-dependence-could-undermine-europes-foreign-policy-coherence [Accessed 21 April 2018] The Icelandic Directorate of Immigration (2018), Home: EEA Member Countries. Available from: https://utl.is/index.php/en/eea-member-countries [Accessed 21 April 2018] Wilkinson, Paul. (2007), International Relations: A Very Short Introduction, Oxford: Oxford University Press.

Arthur Asa Bergers Analysis of Cheers Essay -- essays research papers

"Cheers" - A Semiotic Analysis by Berger   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  In Arthur Asa Berger’s essay, he conducts a semiotic analysis of the comedy television show "Cheers." In his analysis of the show he points out many characteristics that refer to semiotics. Even though one could not agree with all of his findings, many of them are reasonable. One discrepancy someone might have with his ideas is that he applies his analysis to simply one episode rather than the entire series. Berger could have been able to conduct a more thorough examination if he used the whole series as a basis for his semiotic analysis. There are many examples Berger uses to explain his point.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  One such example Berger uses is the instance about the signs. He states that there is more than one significant meaning of the word â€Å"cheers.'...

Teva Pharmaceutical Industries

TEVA Pharmaceutical Industries,Ltd Problem statement After many years of successful growth in the Generic Pharmaceutical industry, competing against the biggest western Pharmaceutical companies, TEVA Pharmaceutical Industries, Ltd the major and biggest player in this competitive industry, has reached a point where after acquiring many other pharmaceutical companies and achieving his 1 billion dollar theory goal, seem to have lost focus and found themselves in need of setting a new goal that will give them, future vision and will help them avoid being scattered all around the market and dispersing their limited budget ?On one hand is the global market for generics, where many new low-cost players are growing using Teva’s exact same successful formula to capture market share and existent gigantic innovative players are starting to incur, making of this specific industry a very challenging one with stiff competition, collapsed prices and very low profits. On the other hand, the i nnovative drug market, an unknown market for Teva, where the capital investment is accounted in billions in expenses in R&D, and growth is expected to slow down, the possibilities for high revenues are greater than Teva can imagine. External Analysis Industry: The Pharmaceutical industry, a 600 billion industry, has been growing at an approximate rate of 12% over the last five years, with a typical ROE of 20%, among the highest of any industry.It has 2 main sectors, namely Innovative Pharmaceuticals and Generic Pharmaceuticals. The Innovative Pharmaceutical, considered a sector of high risk due to the high capital investment in R&D, the low probability of having an approved development hence the opportunity to generate revenues exceeding the invested R&D and costs, has currently negative expectations regarding the future mainly because of slow growth predictions, the end of a patent protection period of up to 70 drugs with no innovative products in the pipeline to replace them.Itâ⠂¬â„¢s counterpart, The Generic Pharmaceuticals a 52 billion sector, although dependent on the innovative drug’s patents to be produced, is expected to have a growth of up to 16% in major world markets and It has 3 categories: ? Commodity generics: Requires the lowest capital investment and also is the largest segment of generics, reason why many competitors were attracted to it. ? Niche generics: Have to be prescribed by physicians even in pharmacist-driven markets.Although requires higher capital investment than commodity the gross margins were higher. ? Biosimilars: Refers to the undeveloped segment of the generic version of the so called â€Å"Biotech†, which active’s compounds were highly complex, by far harder to duplicate than traditional pharmaceuticals. Has high expectative of growth, and margins General Factors per country of the generic market United States: The world largest generic pharmacist-driven market, offered benefits for generic drugs such as the ANDA process which shortened the approval of generic drugs and the â€Å"paragraph IV† which allowed generic companies to challenge innovative drugs long before patent expiration. The competition in the US is stiff due to a large amount of competitors entering the market which is negatively affecting the pricing and consequently the profits. Europe: The UK and Netherlands, the most competitive markets in the region resembled the US (pharmacist-driven, prices were regulated by the market, with a high penetration of generics, 49%, which makes the competition high). France and Germany on the other hand, were physician-driven for which generics have to market and brand their drugs like innovative companies, hence incurring in the same marketing expenses as innovative companies, while prices were regulated by the government.Also, these markets were accounted as part of the biggest globally and had lower penetration rates, 12% for France and 41% for Germany, while having high growth potential. Also they both accounted for only 12% of Teva’s revenues in Europe. ? Rest of the world: Japan is a highly regulated market with generic penetration of 10%, specially because of the patients’ perception of generics as of lower quality, only expected to growth in a the long term.Other markets like Latin America, Eastern Europe, Russia, China, and India were expected to grow in the generic market although due to limited disposable income the patients demanded low price generics. Five forces Analysis (See Appendix 1) ? Rivalry (High) ? Power of supplier (Low) ? Power of buyers (high) ? Substitute products (Medium) ? Threat of new entrants (high) Opportunities: There are 70 innovative drugs in the US about to loose their patents in 2010, which are potential new generics developments for Teva.There are still some unsaturated markets such as France, Germany, Latin America and Asia where Teva can make an strategic move. There is still the Niche generic and B iosimilar Markets where barriers of entry can be created to prevent new competitor entrance, and finally, there are still not many competitors and high growth expectations specially in Biosimilar products in the US. Threats: ANDA and â€Å"Paragraph IV† are slowing due to fierce competition and entrance of new competitors, while innovative companies started also to enter the commodity generic market.The industry is highly fragmented which makes competition fierce and some global markets have government regulated prices and compulsory licensing making competition on price difficult. Finally, the US Market is getting saturated of competitors which is reducing profitability. Internal Analysis Corporate strategy: Teva’s Corporate strategy is to diversify into related businesses that through a well managed chain value (Localized management and marketing, and centralized R&D, manufacturing and APIs) has given them greater scale benefits than any of its competitors, and a rep utation as the company not to compete on price with.Teva’s business strategy and Competitive advantage: Teva’s business strategy is cost leadership based in keeping R&D low, an efficient management of its supply chain, backward integration into pharmaceutical ingredients (API), rigorous execution including filing ANDA applications faster than competitors (which gave them a large pipeline of paragraph IV challenges and a broad portfolio of commodity generics), and finally a reputable, successful acquisition team. See Appendix 3) Value chain (see appendix 2): Teva has maintained its low cost culture during the years, and thanks to his careful growth into new markets through acquisitions has achieved greater benefits of scale than any other competitor. Its R&D, which usually adds for a high percentage in the industry (14% of net sales), was only of 7% for Teva thanks to the strong collaboration with the scientific institute in Israel such as Weizmann institute, Hebrew uni versity of Jerusalem and the Technion.Additionally, Teva has entered new markets where they have successfully been able to push their products by influencing market players namely Pharmacists-driven markets. Key success factors: Within the main success factor we can recognize former CEO Hurvitz , who fostered a culture of goal settings and low prices, acknowledging the commodity-like nature of the industry and whose vision took the company to reach and pass the â€Å"Billion Dollar theory†. His legal team, who is in charge of filing ANDA, is famous for being faster than any competitor.His acquisitions team who has a great reputation in the industry for the systematic approach and successful outcomes in integrating acquired companies. Strengths: Teva is the largest commodity generic producer in the world by having an amazingly well managed cost structure and by setting economies of scale to produce at a lower cost than its competitors, hence being able to compete with low pric es. Its capacity to influence key market players within its markets (pharmacists). An acquisition team that has lead to successful buys and integrations.Also, Teva has a non Bureaucratic structure that is aligned with the low cost structure. Weaknesses: The limited knowledge of Physician-driven markets, is for instance, the cause for Teva’s low presence in France and Germany that together accounted for only 12. 5% of the revenues of Teva in Europe. Limited research budget and limited experience in innovative pharmaceuticals market. High focus in the US market, reason for which any possible downturn, like the regulatory impasse, has a high possibility of affecting negatively the results of the company.Alternatives 1. Teva has successfully introduced 2 blockbuster innovative drugs into the market, Copaxone in partnership with Sanofi-Aventis, and Azilect, which proved that Copaxone was not a one-off. This can lead us to think that Teva can keep on going down the road of innovati ve drugs and in other therapeutic areas with sales estimates of up to $6 billion dollars. We can’t forget though, that Teva has limited research budget and limited experience in this market where giant companies like Merck, Novartis and Sanofi-Aventis compete.Additionally CEO Hurvitz qualified this move as nothing else than supreme self-confidence. 2. Move into Niche and Biosimilar markets which are relatively new or completely unknown markets for Teva, especially for the type of relationship with the Physician-driven markets but that can give advantages and possibilities to create entry barriers to new competitors and that would definitely set a solid base for Teva’s continuous growth. 3.Enter new geographical markets: continue with its low cost strategy and enter new geographical markets, such as Germany and France, this strategy is aligned with the move into Niche and Biosimilar market mainly directed to physician-driven markets. 4. Status Quo: Teva should focus sol ely in the commodity generic market in which the company is currently the strongest player, but risking to loose market share with competitors such as Sandoz, Ranbaxy and Barr. See appendix 4 for Analysis of Alternatives RecommendationIn the light of the alternative analysis (see appendix 5), the best move for Teva is to start entering the Niche and Biosimilar markets while also expanding geographically into Physician-driven markets such as Germany and France where it is wise to consolidate and try to get a bigger market share using Ivax and Sicor’s know-how in these areas. Ivax has already given Teva the leading presence in Latin America where must of the countries were physician-driven markets, proving that Ivax has experience in this type of market.Teva can give leverage to Ivax in order to be able to produce at low costs, while Ivax with its independent type of operation can give Teva access to global markets. For this purpose, Teva must successfully integrate Ivax into T eva’s culture while supporting its independent operation and providing marketing budget, which will definitely generate high revenues due the nature of Ivax’s niche generic products. Also, Ivax strength in first-to-file paragraph IV pipeline in the USA can positively affect Teva’s operation within its original market and generate a solid ground so that Teva can later on support its new operations in the new markets.On the other hand, Teva has already started developing Innovative drugs, and has had 2 blockbusters, but getting deeper in this market can be dangerous and the probabilities of failure are very high. Instead, Teva should use its previous experience in handling the innovative division, and handle Sicor experience in the Biosimilar in the same way. Teva’s experience in rolling out a product lunch will definitely become useful in order to support Sicor’s operation that can generate entry barriers to the Biosimilar market and higher revenues within the US in the injectables business.Also it is possible to use a low cost approach, and his economies of scale to be more prices efficient than the possible competitors. Implementation plan. Since 70 innovative drugs are loosing their patent protection by 2010 in the US, Teva should start developing the generic version of this drugs and can use Ivax experience in the first-filer paragraph IV in order to take advantage and make its position in the US market stronger. Teva should also start slowly moving away from the Innovative market.In order to do this, Teva should finish the development of the innovative drugs and they already have in the pipeline, and lunch them. After this, most of these resources are going to be transported into the production of Biosimilars leaded by Sicor. With the intention of moving into Germany and France, Teva must start creating a solid marketing team in conjunction with Ivax, this capital investment should generate enough revenues to overshadow t he cost knowing that Niche products have higher gross margins.With Sicor, Teva should start developing Biosimilars within the US, before Barr with Pliva and Sandoz move into the US market that is supposed to support only 3 competitors. We know that Sandoz has already lunched one Biosimilar in Australia and Europe. Although the regulation pathway for Biosimilar in the US was still unknown this will give some lead-time for Sicor to develop and then have approved Biosimilar products in the US and hopefully start generating entry barriers for biotech and other Biosimilar competitors.Biosimilar product has margins close to those of the innovative drugs and with lesser risk of competing against the giants who don’t play in this market. Finally, Ivax gave Teva the leading position in Latin America, and although it accounts for only 39. 3 billions or 7% of the industry revenue, this revenue is expected to growth at a 9. 2% CAGR with medium-low competition. It is a great opportunity f or Teva to establish himself as the market leader in this growing market. Appendix 1 Porters 5 forces. [pic] Appendix 2 Value Chain [pic] Appendix 3 Sustainability of competitive advantage. |Valuable |Rare | |INNOVATIVE |High revenues if successful. |Slow growth and stiff competition against giant| | |2 successful innovative drugs already launched |companies. | | |Has some innovative drugs in the pipeline |Huge capital investment required. | | |projected to generate revenues of $6 billions |Inexperience of Teva in this market. | | |Goes against advantage of Teva of producing | | | |with low costs | |NICHE AND BIOSIMILAR AND GEOGRAPHICAL EXPANSION|High revenues and market growth expected |Teva does not have experience in this area of | |THROUGH ACQUISITIONS |Possibility to generate entry barriers to new |production | | |competitors |Teva has no experience and know how in | | |Has already bought Sicor (Biosimilar), Ivax |physician-driven markets however it can | | |(Niche) and has alr eady set up a separate |integrate Ivax and Sicor know-how. | | |division to focus on Niche market and | | | |Physician-driven markets | | | |Aligned with focused strategy and efficient | | |chain value for low costs | | | |Experience in acquisitions and integration | | |STATUS QUO |Strong consolidated position in the US |Saturated market | | |Know-how and experience in pharmacist-driven |Stiff competition with new competitors and | | |market |giant companies entering commodity generic | | |Experience in ANDA filing |market. | | | |Prices lowering and with them profits | ———————– Teva Pharmaceutical Industries, Ltd Final Report Professor

Green Information Systems Sustainability - 2721 Words

Zachary J Vaught Green Information Systems: Sustainability Syracuse University Green Information Systems: Sustainability Introduction Today’s society is one that is centered on the use of modern technology. Walking down the street during the day, one would be hard pressed to not to find people with their faces buried in their phones or tablets, checking their email, social media, or whatever it may be. Technology provides a means for people to stay connected with one another, accomplish certain tasks on the go, and much more. However, the constant use of technology that is seen in society today also uses up a myriad of resources, raising questions as to the future. It is also not just technology that is using up the†¦show more content†¦It’s important to live in the present, but to also be prepared for the future. This brings in the concept of sustainability. It’s important to make sure that future generations will also be able to fulfill their needs on this earth, which will not be possible if all of the resources are used. Sustainable development is something that needs to be imple mented into business strategies more and more. And while technology can sometimes be the problem, using it the right way, can also be a solution (Boudreau, 2007). Stages of Sustainable Development The first thing to focus on is the different stages that are associated with sustainable development. According to Stuart Hart, there are three stages: Pollution Prevention, Product Stewardship, and Clean Technology (Hart, 1997). Pollution prevention is just what it sounds like. The goal is to minimize the waste before it even has a chance to be created (Hart 1997). To do this, it is imperative that organizations are constantly adapting and improving their efforts. Pollution prevention is based on staying ahead of the game and ending waste before it can begin. Product stewardship takes things one step further than pollution prevention does. Pollution prevention is mainly pertaining to minimizing waste from manufacturing. In addition to this, product stewardship also focuses on minimizing the impacts that the life cycle of a product can have as well (Hart 1997). Many