Archive for December, 2009
Biodiesel 2020 author at World Biofuels Markets expo 2007
A longer interview with William Thurmond, author of Biodiesel 2020: A Global Market Survey and President of Emerging Markets Online at the World Biofuels Markets 2007 conference in Brussels, Belgium. More info at www.emerging-markets.com
Clifford
Outsourcing Statistics – What Figures Will Tell You
If you are still in the dark about the many benefits of outsourcing then you are left behind already – way behind. In recent years, outsourcing has gone from being a hot trend to a standard in business. Outsourcing statistics will tell you that the number of companies that are employing this strategy is increasing every year and the practice has now spread to industries that are not traditionally known to employ outsourcing. Now, even entrepreneurs and small business entities are taking advantage of the many benefits that hiring offshore companies and individuals brings.
When the concept was first introduced during the 1970s (though some experts would argue that the history of outsourcing goes way back), only manufacturing companies are contracting out some or majority of their job functions to other companies. Then as it is now, the biggest reason to outsource is to save money. Wanting to expand yet realizing the cost implications of hiring new personnel and creating new departments, companies simply thought of contracting out their menial yet still important requirements to outside parties. The result, companies are still able to pursue their growth aspirations and cut back on cost at the same time.
At the onset of globalization and with the invention of the Internet and other communication technologies, the vast pool of highly skilled yet affordable workforce that are present in the East and other developing countries became accessible to Western companies. Countries like the Philippine and India are just two of the Asian countries that more developed countries turn to for cheap yet quality work. By the year 2005, outsourcing statistics have shown that the industry has reached the $10 billion mark. It is continuously growing almost exponentially since then and the interesting part is that it is not expected to slow down even in the face of the recession that the United States and other major economies are experiencing.
Here are some more interesting outsourcing statistics and facts for you:
. Information Technology is still the most outsourced type of job accounting for almost 30% of the whole industry. It is closely followed by human resources and sales.
. The most popular source of labor are Philippines, India and China. Companies favor these three countries because of their stable communication infrastructure and the presence of highly skilled and trained individuals who are fluent in both written and spoken English.
. It has been estimated that more than 4 million jobs have been transferred from Western countries to developing countries because of outsourcing. This number is expected to rise exponentially in the years to come.
. The economic development of India as well as other developing countries has been largely attributed to their ability to provide cheap yet reliable workforce.
May these facts and statistics on outsourcing provide you with an idea of how big the concept is and what it can do for your business. Your hesitation to outsource may be affecting your company’s chances to compete and grow in this highly competitive business environment. Therefore, you must seriously consider outsourcing to expand your business and make it globally competitive.
Edgar
Convert English to Spanish Fast and Easy
Posted by admin in Reference And Education on December 29, 2009
It is not always very easy to convert English to Spanish. This is a dilemma faced by English-speaking people who find themselves in areas where Spanish is the primary language. While this might be difficult, this problem can be solved by using any of these three steps:
1. Asking for the help of a relative, friend, neighbor, or acquaintance who has a good grasp of the Spanish language. If there are some Spanish words that you do not understand, ask these people without hesitation. You will feel more comfortable asking them questions because you know these people. Make sure though that they both understand Spanish and English. This way, you will be more confident that their translation is accurate.
2. Another alternative for you would be to purchase a software for translation of English words to Spanish and vice versa. This will give you a quick answer to your translation inquiries. Moreover, it will allow you privacy as compared to asking other people to help you understand some foreign words spoken to you. With this software, all you need to do is key in words to be translated to your preferred language and within just a few seconds, you will have your answer. These may cost a couple of hundred dollars depending on their features. The quality of the translation is possibly not very high with this alternative, though. You might get some funny translations from using this because the software might only have a literal interpretation of the words that you key in.
3. Last, but not the least, among your options would be to hire professional translators. This translation service is unbeatable as you would be assisted by people who know what they do. Through these people, you will be sure that all the words that you want to be translated are done accurately. They would be able to effectively explain the words that may be foreign to you. The only downside with this is that you might have to shell out a hundred or even thousands of dollars to be able to avail of the services of professional translators. Many people, however, do not mind how much they will spend as long as the quality of translation is top notch.
Globalization is one of the important trends evident today. This allowed individuals and businesses alike to take advantage of the opportunities that they might find in other countries. This also brought forth the need to be flexible and to become more adept with understanding foreign languages. By knowing the options that you can use to convert English to Spanish, you should be able to master a language that was once foreign to you, with ease and confidence.
Phillip
Money In Motion – Emerging Economies in Asia
Emerging markets in Asia have been leading the world’s economic recovery and their growth is having a major effect on the region. VOA’s Philip Alexiou gives us the details in this edition of Money In Motion
Glenn
Raul Elizalde at Path Financial – Financial Markets Update 11/30/2009
Last week markets were shocked by the news that a Dubai state-owned company is defaulting on a $3.5bn bond payment. Is this a big deal? Probably not, because the global economic recovery that is underway is unlikely to be derailed by this. But it highlights the perils of traditional investing. Information about this company’s troubles were well known, but were useless in predicting the market disruption. Better alternatives are discussed. (4′ 12″)
Russell

