Archive for the 'Entrepreneurship' Category
Reading this week, Andre Comte Sponville philosophical works in relation to Time, reminded me of the NLP Time orientation. Our spatial representation of Past - Present- Future is linked to the vision and out look of our being. A change in the representation will certainly change our outlook thus operate a corresponding change in our behavior. Do you want to be a more future oriented person? Do you want to have a better Time Management? Read below an extract of the book: Change your mind and keep the change, by Connirae and Steve Andreas, my NLP tutors. It is one of the NLP books which I cherish.
Time Orientation
Let’s talk a little bit more about past-, present-, and future-oriented people, and how their orientations relate to their time sorts. For example, one person that I worked with had the past right behind her, the present directly in front of her, and the future going out ahead. Now, what kind of person was she with respect to time? If you try on that timeline, what will your orientation be?
Al: I’m not sure. It’s confusing.
Well, can you see the future?
Al: No, not really.
Not unless your pictures are transparent, and hers weren’t! If the present is right in front of you and the immediate future is behind that, so you can’t see it, what is your time orientation?
Sally: Present.
Right, and for her it was the immediate present. When she said “right now,” she really meant right now–this split second! Five minutes from now would be in the future for her. She had a very narrow sense of the present.
Now try this out. What if your future goes off to your right at an angle, so you can see most of what’s in each picture, and it gets bigger and brighter as it goes forward in time? The far future will be more important for you. You would tend to live for the far future, and respond less to the present and past.
If the near future or the present were bigger and brighter than the far future, you might experience difficulty with long-range planning or thinking about the consequences of your behavior, but be very good at planning immediate future events. Investigating your timeline can often give you some clues about how to change it in a useful way.
Carol: I started out being very present-oriented. My present was big, bright, and close, and both future and past were small and dim. We changed it so that I could keep all that wonderfulness of the present, but move some of that brightness into the next several weeks also, so that I’d respond more to the immediate future and get more done.
That sounds like a useful change. Here’s another timeline you can all try out. One man had his past on a line straight in front of him. His future went way off to the right. You know the phrase, “My past flashed in front of my eyes?” This man lived that way all the time. What does that do to your experience? It certainly focuses your attention on the past. Depending upon whether your past was wonderful or horrible, you might like it or not, but you wouldn’t pay much attention to the present or future. This is the kind of person for whom using the Change Personal History pattern will be very impactful, because he responds so strongly to representations of the past.
Carl: I’ve noticed that in certain circumstances I can focus a lot on the past. My past was right up here in front of me. So I just moved it over there to my left, and went, “Beep. Bang!” and slammed the door.
And how does that work for you?
Carl: Well, I don’t know yet.
If you now take this new timeline into future situations, you can get a good idea of how it will work, and if any adjustments need to be made. The ideal is to have some flexibility with your timeline–to be able to move the past where you can see it when that’s useful, and move it out of the way when you want to be more present- or future-oriented.
I think you are all getting the idea that in general, whatever is right in front of you and noticeable–big and bright, colorful, etc.–will be most compelling and you will pay most attention to it.
Fred: I’m interested in hearing about some useful timelines.
Well, the question is always “Useful for what purpose?” or “Useful for whom?” You’re getting a sense of what the possibilities are. Let me tell you some fairly standard ones. Most people have some kind of gentle, open curve, the way Linda has. The past is usually a line off to the left, the present right in front of you, and the future in a line to the right. Images may be stacked behind one another, but they’re usually offset or arranged at an angle, so that part of each successive picture is visible.
Deciding whether a timeline is useful or not depends on what your personal outcomes are, and what’s ecological for you. Saying “this is the right timeline” is like saying “this is the right way to be, and there are no other useful ways to live in the world.” A person’s timeline can make him unique. But if it gets him into trouble in certain situations, or if a different timeline would allow him to do things that he can’t now do with his own, then it might be appropriate to explore alternatives, at least for specific contexts.
Timeline Spacing
It’s often useful to find someone you think is very capable and skilled, investigate how she sorts time, and try it out. For example, people who are good long-range planners tend to have the future close in front of them rather than off to the side. We know a man who teaches business people long-range planning, and he’s very good at it. He has both his five-year and his ten-year plans right there in front of him, very detailed, and quite close. Ten years is only about two feet away. That works fine for him, and he really likes it, but when I try it, the future seems to press in on me too much. I want the future a little bit farther away and less detailed, so that I have more room to move in the present.
What difference might it make in a person’s life if his future timeline is really e-x-p-a-n-d-e-d instead of compressed, like that of the long-range planner I just mentioned? Try putting tomorrow halfway across the room, next week down the hall, and next month so far away on the horizon that it’s barely visible. What might be the behavioral consequences of having such an “expanded” timeline?
Anne: I wouldn’t be very motivated to do something that was way out there someplace! I’d feel as if I had a lot of time to kill before getting around to it.
Mike: How true! When I was writing my dissertation, finishing it was quite a way off in the future. There was lots of room to add other projects between the present and the completion date of my dissertation, so I kept taking on new jobs and putting off the dissertation. When I finally realized what was happening, I “reeled in” the deadline until it was so close to the present that there wasn’t enough room to add anything in between. Any new projects had to get added on after the dissertation was done.
Nice! That’s a good illustration of how compressing a timeline can help someone meet deadlines.
Lars: I think I need to do the opposite. My future is all bunched up close, and I always feel like the future is pressing in on me. When I spread it out a little more, I feel much more relaxed.
You look as if that might lower your blood pressure 30 points. Let’s check carefully for ecology, though. Imagine taking this new spread-out timeline with you through the next day . . . and the next week . . . Can you still get the things done you want to get done? Or are you too “laid back”?
Lars: No, not at all. In fact I think I can plan and schedule better. Before, my future was so bunched up that I couldn’t really see it to plan very well.
That sounds good. We’ve also noticed that for some people, having a long-range future that is filled with big bright goals literally gives them “something to live for” and they’re more apt to stay alive! One study on cancer patients found that survivors are apt to be future-oriented, whereas non-survivors are past-oriented.
Bob: I used to be much more future-oriented than I am now. In the past couple of years I’ve slowed down, and my future seems to be less clear than the way it was before. There are obviously advantages and disadvantages.
Absolutely. If you are too fixated on the future, you may not be taking care of things in the present. You may not notice that you’re having a lousy time now, and that your family’s having a lousy time, too. On the other hand, if all your attention is on having fun in the present, you won’t notice the future consequences, and your future won’t be as enjoyable as it could be. Depending on the consequences you ignore, it could be a lot shorter, too!
Peter Drucker’s Story of Two Vice Presidents (Why What Everybody Knows Is Frequently Wrong) I enjoyed that piece of wisdom so much that I had to blog it for you.
In 1975 William Cohen was among the first students in legendary management guru Peter Drucker’s Executive Ph.D. program at what was then Claremont Graduate School and is now The Peter F. Drucker and Masatoshi Ito Graduate School of Management at Claremont Graduate University. In the following excerpt from his new
book A Class with Drucker: The Lost Lessons of the World’s Greatest Management Teacher (AMACOM, 2007), Cohen describes a lesson he learned in the fall of 1975 during his first class with the master.
The Story of the Two Vice Presidents
Drucker began with a story about a company he had observed. As the president of the company grew older, he knew that he should begin thinking about succession. Fortunately, he had two vice presidents, both equally outstanding, and of the right age, and each with a record of outstanding prior accomplishments with this firm. He increased the responsibility of both subordinate executives and gave them each the new title of executive vice president. He called them in together and announced that he intended to retire in five years and that one of them would be named to succeed him as president.
Both men thanked the president for the opportunity. The president had confidence that he had picked the right candidates. Although both were ambitious, he knew that both would put the company before themselves in whatever they undertook. He knew that either would make an excellent replacement.
Over the five years of their apprenticeship a differing pattern began to emerge from each of the prospective presidents-to-be. Although both men did well in every task given them and were equally successful in accomplishing their assignments, the process each followed was quite different. One would be given a task by the president. He would request the information needed and would ask when the job was to be accomplished. He would go off, gather his subordinates together, and would invariably present the president with a completed job well done days, weeks, or months later. Unless he needed some specific information or permission to do something a little out of the usual process, he would do this without ever bothering the old president.
The other executive vice president took an entirely different approach. Given a project by the president, he too would organize his subordinates to complete it successfully. However, there was a big difference. The first candidate worked independently and didn’t bother the president with the details of what he was doing unless specific help was needed. However, the second candidate met periodically with the president to discuss the project and frequently requested additional meetings, continually seeking the president’s advice.
“Now,” asked Drucker, “when the president retired, which candidate did he pick to succeed him: the executive who was always successful without bothering him or taking his time, or the one who continually seemed to seek his help and approval?”
Many hands shot up, including my own. Drucker called on several students. Each stated his opinion that the president picked the executive who was able to succeed on his own without having to report back until the job was done unless there was a specific problem. This was my opinion too. Our thinking was that the new president would need to operate on his own and would not have the old president’s counsel to fall back on.
Drucker asked for a show of hands as to how many agreed that the president selected the executive who demonstrated that he was able to operate independently and without the president’s ongoing approval. A large majority agreed with the students Peter had previously called on. Only a few thought that the second executive who constantly bothered the former president had been the one selected.
Drucker stated the results: “Most of you are wrong. The former president selected the candidate who continually consulted with him.” The class was in an uproar. This went against everything we knew about management and leadership. Everyone knew that the candidate who demonstrated that he could make decisions on his own should and would be selected.
Drucker’s Lesson: Question Your Assumptions
“What everybody ‘knows’ is frequently wrong,” Peter responded. “We are dealing with human beings. Most top managers want to feel that their policies and legacies will be continued. The constant contact and interaction with the second manager gave the president that confidence.
“Both executives were outstanding, but while the president felt that he knew and understood the executive who maintained contact, he was less certain about the other executive and he was less invested in his success. After picking candidates based on accomplishment, he went with his gut instinct, a perfectly correct way in which to make such an important decision after considering all the facts. Unless the president’s preferred style was to let those who reported to him operate independently, the first executive should have tried to adapt his preferred method to what his boss preferred, even though ‘everyone knows’ that continual consultation with a higher manager is less desirable.”
Drucker was right, and I should have known better. I was in the process of losing the confidence of my then boss by behaving exactly like the executive who operated independently. That in itself is an important lesson, but the idea that what everyone knows is frequently wrong proved even more important to me, and I think many other of Drucker’s students. Over the next few years, I heard Drucker say this quite a few times.
Maybe through repetition I finally began to think more deeply about what the words really meant. This seemingly simple and self-contradicting statement is amazingly true and immensely valuable, and not only in business. What Drucker wanted to emphasize was that we must always question our assumptions no matter from where they originate. This is especially true regarding anything that a majority of people “know” or assume without questioning. This “knowledge” should always be suspect and needs to be examined much more closely. In a surprisingly high percentage of cases, the information “known to be true” will turn out to be false or inaccurate, if not generally, then in a specific instance. This can lead to extremely poor, even disastrous management decisions.
Things Once “Known to Be True” Are Now Known to Be False
Of course there are many old “truisms” once thought by everyone to be true which we laugh at today. “The world is flat.” “The earth is the center of the universe.” The ancient Greeks knew that everything was made up of only four elements: earth, air, fire, and water. Of course, in modern times we learned that they were mistaken. When I took chemistry in high school, I learned that a Periodic Table of Elements had been formulated by a fellow named Mendeleev and that it had been established that there were exactly 93 elements, no more, no less. We got an “A” if we could name them all. Today, there are 102 elements—or so “everybody knows.”
Questions Raised by 100% Agreement
Interestingly, Drucker’s lesson goes back over the millennia. In ancient Israel, the highest court was called the Sanhedrin. It corresponded roughly to the U.S. Supreme Court today, although it had a lot more power. The Sanhedrin tried the most important cases, and it had the power to exact capital punishment. In this high court, there were no prosecuting or defense attorneys and no appeals. The Sanhedrin court consisted only of judges. Some historians say 71 judges, others 23. The actual number is unimportant to some factual points.
The judges could examine the defendant, the accusers, and any witnesses either side brought before it. To exonerate a defendant required a majority of one, while to find him guilty required a majority of two. But perhaps the most interesting aspect of this ancient Jewish legal body was that if all judges found the accused guilty of a capital crime, he or she was allowed to go free! This was because the ancient Hebrews were convinced that there is a defense to be argued for every individual accused, regardless of the gravity of the crime and the persuasiveness of the evidence. If not a single judge thought that the defendant’s case had merit, then it was clear that no matter how heinous the crime, something was wrong in the situation and it was likely that the accused was innocent. In other words, when every judge “knew” something to be “true,” it probably wasn’t.
In modern times, the impact of mass agreement about an issue has been addressed and confirmed in psychological research. In one experiment, subjects were asked to rate the attractiveness of individuals depicted in selections of photographs. However, there was only one real subject and the results were rigged. Unknown to the subject, the other participants were part of the scientist’s team of experimenters. These participants were to agree about the most attractive individual depicted in any particular set of photographs at random. It was found that the subject could usually be influenced to agree with any photograph that the group selected, regardless of merit. This experiment demonstrates the influence of social proof, while it confirms one reason why Drucker’s theory that what everyone knows is frequently wrong is correct. Accepting what everybody knows without any examination will often result in faulty decisions.
© 2008 William A. Cohen.
L’économie de la santé est un secteur que nous entrepreneurs à Maurice devrait étudier pour trouver des opportunités. Le cercle des économistes français ont étudié la question et ont publié un cahier.
Déjà dans notre secteur tourisme, une part grandissant des services est orienté vers la santé et le bien-être à travers les centres de spas. Pourrions nous être plus pointu dans le secteur santé ? Comment pourrions nous à Maurice détourner une partie des dépenses de santé des pays riches à être dépensé chez nous ? Pourrions nous offrir à une clientèle nantie des soins dans des établissements de convalescence ? Des pays comme Inde, la Thaïlande offrent déjà des services de santé à l’international avec de la technologie au standard européen.
Je cite un extrait du cahier signé par Marc Guillaume :
Il faut s’attendre à un fort développement de nos dépenses de santé dans les prochaines décennies. Et s’en réjouir, même si cela pose de redoutables problèmes de financement. S’en réjouir d’abord parce que la santé est un bien inestimable. Mais aussi parce que le secteur de la santé, replacé dans l’ensemble de l’économie et dans la perspective de la mondialisation est au cœur des nouvelles orientations d’un développement qualitatif et durable. C’est un moteur de croissance stratégique compte tenu des emplois qui sont liés à ce secteur de services. Et aussi un secteur industriel soumis aux contraintes de compétitivité sur le marché mondial et donc aux enjeux de technologie et de recherche associés à ces contraintes. L’économie de la santé contribue grandement à la santé de l’économie !
Nous montrons en premier lieu que les dépenses de santé s’inscrivent dans la perspective d’un développement qualitatif et durable, en cohérence avec les nouvelles orientations de la croissance. Qu’elles constituent un puissant moteur de croissance compte tenu de la densité des emplois liés à un secteur de services. Compte tenu aussi des contraintes de compétitivité et des enjeux de recherche associés à ces contraintes. En ce sens, certaines dépenses de santé sont aussi des investissements, et des investissements stratégiques. Cette analyse globale est ensuite illustrée et précisée sur un secteur particulièrement important et exemplaire, celui de la pharmacie et des biotechnologies qui est soumis à une intense concurrence mondiale.
Il apparaît ainsi clairement qu’une réflexion sur l’économie de la santé ne peut pas s’enfermer dans le cadre français, ni même européen. L’intensification de la concurrence et des échanges invite à la confrontation des systèmes nationaux et à une réflexion sur la gouvernance mondiale de la santé. C’est pourquoi une contribution de ce Cahier est consacrée au système de santé américain. Elle met en évidence l’importance que les Etats-Unis accordent au secteur de la santé et les spécificités, ainsi que les difficultés, de son financement. En conclusion, ce Cahier s’attache à un thème à la fois essentiel et d’actualité, celui de l’économie des brevets et des médicaments génériques et, plus généralement, celui des urgences sanitaires mondiales.
Marc Guillaume
SOMMAIRE
Avant-propos de Marc Guillaume I. Le paradoxe de la santé Marc Guillaume
II. Déplafonner les dépenses de santé : modalités et conséquences Patrick Artus
III. Les effets de la santé sur la croissance économique Jean-Hervé Lorenzi et Mathieu Baratas
IV. Les nouveaux modèles de l’industrie du médicament Michel Didier
V. Les dépenses de santé aux États-Unis et leur financement Jacques Mistral et Bernard Salzmann
VI. Du bon usage des épidemies : mondialiser le progrès sanitaire Marc Guillaume
La présence des entreprises chinoises sur la scène mondiale est aujourd’hui incontournable. Et pourtant, nous ne les avons pas vu venir… Comme le chat, elles ont cette aptitude à bouger très vite, à sauter et à retomber sur leurs pattes, quelle que soit la hauteur de la chute. D’où tirent-elles leur force ? Pouvons-nous nous en inspirer ?
À travers des allers-retours continus entre Chine et Occident, entre pensée chinoise et philosophie occidentale, Sophie Faure développe la métaphore féline. Les qualités indispensables à cultiver dans l’environnement actuel, marqué par l’ambiguïté, l’incertitude et la complexité, sont justement celles qui définissent le mieux les entreprises chinoises. Loin des considérations habituelles sur le “péril jaune” ou le “miracle chinois”, ce livre nous invite à nous interroger sur chacune d’elles :
- l’audace,
- la persévérance,
- la fluidité,
- l’intelligence mouvante,
- le lâcher prise,
- la perspicacité,
- le sens de l’équilibre,
- le discernement…
Toute personne désireuse de mieux manager trouvera ici des clés précieuses pour explorer d’autres voies, en changeant de regard et en osant une pensée plus mobile, plus adaptable.
Ainsi après ses premiers livres : Manager à l’école de Confucius, et Enseignements d’un dirigeant asiatique, elle écrit « Mettez du chat dans votre management. »Sophie que j’avais rencontré en décembre 2005, m’a annoncé la sortie de son livre la semaine dernière et j’attends de le lire.
What is Islamic banking?
Last week one of my colleagues at the APM club could not attend a seminar because he was attending a curse in South Africa on Islamic banking. I recall a few years ago, my very good friend Eric, was sent to Malaysia to study Islamic banking and financing. Chota also years ago, was involved in setting up investment portfolio of shares from the Mauritius stock exchange that were compliant with Islamic rules. I heard that Chee Peng Tan who I knew years back will be organizing some seminars in Mauritius on the same subject.
The accumulation of the recent events moved me to look closer in the subject and possibly to refresh and upgrade my knowledge thereon. As far as I recall there was a strong element of social equity in the practice of Islamic banking, earning interests on money was not allowed and also there was prohibition in investing in economic activities which were in opposition to the Muslim faith such as: liquor, gambling, pork, drugs.
Admittedly, if Mauritius has aimed to be a world financial center or at least a meaningful regional financial center: the operators have to provide service to this type of funds which are growing in leaps and bounds. Could Mauritian institutions join the Lariba Islamic Banking network? I would well imaging that a large amount of the petro-dollars are invested through Islamic Banking.
What I gathered in summary:
Islam not only prohibits dealing in interest but also in liquor, pork, gambling, pornography and anything else, which the Shariah (Islamic Law) deems Haram (unlawful). Islamic banking is an instrument for the development of an Islamic economic order. Some of the salient features of this order may be summed up as:
- While permitting the individual the right to seek his economic well-being, Islam makes a clear distinction between what is Halal (lawful) and what is haram (forbidden) in pursuit of such economic activity. In broad terms, Islam forbids all forms of economic activity, which are morally or socially injurious.
- While acknowledging the individual’s right to ownership of wealth legitimately acquired, Islam makes it obligatory on the individual to spend his wealth judiciously and not to hoard it, keep it idle or to squander it.
- While allowing an individual to retain any surplus wealth, Islam seeks to reduce the margin of the surplus for the well-being of the community as a whole, in particular the destitute and deprived sections of society by participation in the process of Zakat.
- While making allowance for the ways of human nature and yet not yielding to the consequences of its worst propensities, Islam seeks to prevent the accumulation of wealth in a few hands to the detriment of society as a whole, by its laws of inheritance.
- Viewed as a whole, the economic system envisaged by Islam aims at social justice without inhibiting individual enterprise beyond the point where it becomes not only collectively injurious but also individually self-destructive.
The Islamic financial system employs the concept of participation in the enterprise, utilizing the funds at risk on a profit-and- loss-sharing basis. This by no means implies that investments with financial institutions are necessarily speculative. This can be excluded by careful investment policy, diversification of risk and prudent management by Islamic financial institutions.
It is possible, that investment in Islamic financial institutions can provide potential profit in proportion to the risk assumed to satisfy the differing demands of participants in the contemporary environment and within the guidelines of the Shariah.
The concept of profit-and-loss sharing, as a basis of financial transactions is a progressive one as it distinguishes good performance from the bad and the mediocre. This concept therefore encourages better resource management.
Islamic banks are structured to retain a clearly differentiated status between shareholders’ capital and clients’ deposits in order to ensure correct profit-sharing according to Islamic Law.
Could some of the funds handled in Mauritius be ‘Islam finance’ compliant?
I fully subscribe to the statement below which have to be read without any religious undertone:
We Advocate Socially Responsible Investing. We DO NOT Invest in Alcohol Related Businesses, Gambling, Gaming, unhealthy food products and Unethical Activities. We do not invest in Businesses that harm the Environment and that does not treat its employees and customers fairly. We are Sensitive about who we deal with. We scrutinize our customers and investors as to their character and community standing.
« Nous avons l’honneur - et le plaisir! - d’être invités encore une fois par Foi et Vie pour une rencontre le jeudi 8 novembre 2007 au Thabor à Beau Bassin à 18h00.
Foi & Vie nous informe que les Mouvements d’Action Catholique auront une rencontre internationale à Malte en octobre 2008 avec comme thème “Les migrations, une chance pour construire des ponts”. En lien avec ce thème, et avec la situation actuelle du pays,, Foi & Vie avait organisé une soirée fin juillet dernier avec Lindsay Rivière suite à son article “Risques et Périls“.
Pour faire suite à celà, le mouvement Foi & Vie organise la soirée de jeudi prochain avec Maurice Lam, haut cadre du Board of Investment, qui avait pris part au Symposium “Pas blyé nou rasin” le 19 juillet 2006 en prononcant un discours sur “Mauritius - the Global Nation“.
[Afin de vous familiariser avec ce sujet, il serait opportun de prendre connaissance de ce discours mais regrette de ne pouvoir vous le communiquer avec ce message. Peut-être pourriez-vous consulter le site de ce Symposium?]
Foi & Vie compte sur la présence d’un bon nombre de Cadres afin que les partages durant la soirée soient riches et animés! Egalement, pour favoriser une ambiance conviviale, Foi & Vie a la bonne idée de suggérer à chacun de porter son apéritif et ses sandwiches ou autre collation.
Nous espérons vous voir nombreux à cette rencontre et vous disons merci d’avance pour votre présence! »
J’étais présent à cette rencontre, d’ailleurs ma première, avec Foi & Vie. Je livre ici mes notes de la rencontre que je conserve pour ma mémoire.
Grande était ma surprise d’avoir eu à adresser la parole à l’assemblée présente, et ce, à la demande du père Gérard Sullivan, pour présenter Maurice Lam. En boutade, je disais que je me voyais comme Jean Baptiste qui annonçait la venue de Jésus. C’était pour mieux situer Maurice Lam qui se dit par la suite, dans son exposé, citoyen du monde, résident à Singapour et qui fait la navette entre sa ville résidentielle, île Maurice, son pays d’origine, New York où vivent & travaillent ses enfants. Consultant international en finance et stratégie, il a quitté île dans les années 75 pour le Canada et les Etats-Unis où il poursuivit ses études à l’université de Columbia. Dans le cadre de son travail, il a résidé et travaillé à Tokyo, Londres et Singapour. Maurice Lam se situe lui-même dans son cadre familial d’un père de foi bouddhiste et d’une mère catholique. Il est fier de l’éducation obtenue dans son enfance et adolescence dans l’île et mit en exergue la contribution des prêtres Avrillon, D’Arifat, Bathfield, et Brown qui lui ont donné un fondement chrétien solide. D’avoir pu se baigner dans ce bouillon de culture et de religions dans l’île lui a donné un esprit d’ouverture et de paix intérieure qui habite toujours en lui, n’ importe où il pourrait se trouver.
Maurice se dit un optimiste par nature et nous livre ses convictions :
Pourquoi avoir accepté la présidence de la BOI ?
- Motivé par la gratitude qu’il a pour son pays natal, il choisit de servir son pays. Il voudrait également démontrer qu’il est possible de travailler au gouvernement en témoignant d’une façon de faire chrétienne.
- Il a été choisi pour ses qualités professionnelles, non pas par le jeu d’influence.
- Il souhaite aider son pays à changer pour une meilleure justice sociale, et pour prendre les orientations qui répondent à l’ère de la mondialisation comme il avait évoqué dans son discours fait précédemment à l’ouverture du symposium.
- Il souhaiterait voir plus de chrétiens qui oeuvrent aux responsabilités de l’état.
- Attendons peu du gouverment, changeons notre facon de penser et de faire.
- Je suis pour une prise en charge de soi, l’assistanat étant un modele révolu.
- De mendier des aides et subsides aux pays riches et amis pour subsister est dépassé. Il n’y a plus d’acquis.
- Maurice aura à se réinventer continuellement pour être compétitif dans le marché global.
- De même que nous avons souffert de la concurrence mondiale sur notre main- d’œuvre dans le secteur textile, il y a nul doute que nous subirons le même phénomène dans les industries de services. L’arbitration se fait à l’echelle mondiale.
- Notre insularité et notre éloignement avec les marchés ne sont plus des handicaps dans les services.
- Notre système d’éducation est à revoir et à être reformé de toute urgences. Nous héritons d’un passé lourd qui s’exploserait en une fracture sociale.
- Maurice Lam semble prôner le libéralisme et crois dans l’arbitrage par la libre concurrence interne et étrangère. Par conséquent, il recommande que l’intervention de l’état soit minimisé pour laisser aisance et actions aux innovateurs entrepreneurs non distincts de leur nationalité. En contrepartie, les entrepreneurs ont la responsabilité et des devoirs envers les démunis de la societe. Ils devront créer le climat social propice au développement de tous.
Notes
Dans ma lecture de ce jour dans mon livret ‘Magnificat’ :j’ai été agréablement surpris de lire un texte de Mgr Marc Ouellet qui parle de la manière d’agir et de pâtir du citoyen chrétien :
Le disciple qui pratique la justice est transformé par le Christ, sanctifié par l’esprit Saint et mû par la charité. Cela se révèle à la manière d’agir et de pâtir du citoyen chrétien qui par l’éthique des Béatitudes, révèle la dignité christique de tout homme et de toute femme. Sa manière de traiter chaque personne laisse en effet transparaître le christ présent dans son corps en venant à la rencontre de tout homme. Le chrétien qui vit « dans le christ » ne peut donc pas se laver les mains de l’injustice du monde et se réfugier dans le domaine du pur religieux.
Thomas Friedman, the columnist of the New York Times and Author of ‘The world is flat’ yesterday published on his column on the opportunities that are knocking on the doors of India: a greater jackpot than the Y2K software glitch at the turn of the century. He coined this new phenomenon E2K.
“E2K stands, in my mind, for all the energy programming and monitoring that thousands of global companies are going to be undertaking in the early 21st century to either become carbon neutral or far more energy efficient than they are today. India is poised to get a lot of this work.”
By the way, I am ever so grateful to the New York Times for having given to the world the possibilities of reading its columns free of charge recently.
Nicolas Sarkozy this morning on his address to the congress of the United States pleaded for the largest economy of the world to attend to resolving the issue of the global warming.
On the other hand, Oil at 100 dollars is imminent. Without fail Carbon emission and efficient energy are the topics of the near future and of tomorrow. Carbon neutral legislation will soon be the name of the game.
The final paragraph of Thomas Friedman’s article, The Dawn of E2K in India, should instill our Mauritian entrepreneurs to look in the direction of Green Consulting, Green designers and Green builders.
“So, mom, dad, tell your kids: if they’re looking for a good stable-growth career — green consultants, green designers, green builders are all going to be in huge demand. And if they can speak a little Hindi — all the better.”
Why and how can we in Mauritius jump on the bandwagon?
My recent sojourn in France caused me to miss out the president’s dinner of the Chinese Business Chamber (CBC). Year in year out, I was always present to the annual function of the chamber to which I belong. On my return, my friends told me that the dinner was an exceptional one this year. Each year, it was the opportunity to listen to an overseas guest speaker. I recalled the addresses of Mrs. Moni Lai Stor, who spoke of ‘Chineseness’ and Ms.Peng Wen Lan who shared with us her life story of an overseas born Chinese to become the top TV telecaster of CCTV in China. This year, a Mauritian member of the Chinese community addressed the CBC on the theme of Hard Work.
Some time ago, in my earlier blog days, I wrote the story of my wife’s father in June 2006: ‘les tribulations des immigrants venus a Maurice’. Chief Justice Bernard Sik Yuen speech this year is much alike the story I wrote before. I was glad to have been able to read the speech on the website of the CBC.
My mathematics training generates the following formula: N + P = H W
Necessity coupled with Perseverance seems to yield Hard Work. May my fellow
Co-members of CBC understand and practice the formula especially when ‘Necessity’ in today’s context has loss its potency in comparison with our fore father’s days in the last century and ‘Perseverance’ is not a common value in the zapping world of today.
This is the title and theme carried on BBC TV for the month of October. The past Sunday, I decided to stay late in bed in the morning. I woke up late and watched immediately a film on the hard work and determination of three Egyptian ladies. And I was moved.This film, Egypt: We are watching you, prolonged my getting off my bed, after all it was Sunday. To see the back drop of Egypt in the film aroused also in me the sweet memories of my trip to his lovely country 10 years ago.
I enjoyed most of all, the determination of these ladies to fight of the pest of corruption of the system in place in Egypt. Their might, persistence and conviction to achieve their goals got them to their resources and intelligences unthought of. They coupled their resolution, persuasion skills with the internet technology available to attain their target: fight off corruption for democracy. “There is nothing concealed that will not be revealed, nor secret that will not be known.Therefore whatever you have said in the darkness will be heard in the light, and what you have whispered behind closed doors will be proclaimed on the housetops.” We are watching you. Indeed! Truth and transparency are real tools to democracy. I wish that such transparency in the ruling of public affairs could apply to Mauritius. Hats off to the return of people power! I encourage you to watch the film.
Directors Biography
Sherief Elkatsha was born in the USA, but raised in Cairo, Egypt. A graduate of Boston University, with a BA in Film Production, he has worked on numerous television productions, from music videos with Wyclef Jean and the The Roots, to Discovery Channel’s Eco-Challenge. His documentary Butts Out, which follows smokers and their difficult and comical struggles to quit, won the Best Documentary Award at the 2006 New England Film and Video Festival. In 2006 he was selected for the Berlinale Talent Campus.
Leila Menjou was born in Cairo and obtained a degree in directing from the Cairo Film School. She has worked on numerous movies, including the acclaimed Mothers of the Desert, which opened at IDFA and won first prize at the Timbuktu Film Festival.
Film Context
In 2005, Mubarak announced that Egypt would hold multi-party presidential elections in Egypt. The elections were given strong support by the U.S. government. The vote was marked by violence and fraud; it was boycotted by large parts of the opposition because they believed it was run unfairly. The voter turnout was remarkably low – according to the Carnegie Endowment it was a mere 23 percent. Regardless, the U.S. Government described it as a “victory”. Mubarak won a fifth term in office and very little was done to address the unfair aspects of the elections. In response to indifference about government and democracy three Egyptian women formed Shayfeen to educate the people about democracy.
Political History
Egypt was under monarchic rule until 1952 when Gamal Abdel Nasser came to power. Nasser was president from 1954 until he died of a heart attack in 1970. Nasser was a proponent of Pan-Arab nationalism, socialism and the non-alliance movement. He is famous for leading Egypt into the Six Day War with Israel in 1967, which Egypt lost.
In 1970 Anwar Sadat came to power. Sadat is most famous for signing the first peace agreement between Israel and an Arab country. The peace agreement was signed in 1979 and is believed to have been the reason for his assassination in 1981. Since then Mubarak has been in power.
Mubarak has been liberalising Egypt’s economy with the help of his current economically liberal cabinet, who have made big plans for far-reaching reforms. However, despite these efforts, unemployment and low standards of living are still prevalent.
Mubarak maintains friendly relations with the West, especially America. Egypt is the third largest recipient of aid from the United States, following Iraq and Israel. Meanwhile, Mubarak has resumed relations with the rest of the Middle East after a long isolation due to the signing of the peace treaty with Israel, which was perceived by many as a betrayal of the Arab people. Egypt currently plays a large role in the Middle East both as a regional media powerhouse and as an influential mediator in the Israel-Palestine conflict.
The Political Scene
Egypt has a semi-presidential system where the president is both the head of state and the head of government. Mubarak is the leader of the National Democratic Party, which has been the dominant party in power since its formation in 1978. In recent years the Muslim Brothers have gained significant power in Egypt. The Muslim Brothers are the largest and most powerful Sunni-Muslim organization in the world and are present in several Arab countries. The group promotes the idea of an Islamic state ruled in accordance with the Quran and Sharia law. However, since the 2005 elections, Mubarak has made it more difficult for political opponents to gain influence.
World Relevance
In 2005 civil liberties in Egypt were extended to the public but since then partially revoked. For years civil society has come under pressure from the largely undemocratic state, the rise of religious groups and the vast influence of foreign patrons that have different interests in the political direction of Egypt. Egypt: We See You shows the struggling voice of civil society as it is in Egypt and many other societies across the world.
Looking Ahead
In recent years Egypt has seen a rise in protests, mainly organized by students, intellectuals and political activists. However, with Mubarak only about halfway through his fifth term, some worry that there is relatively little chance of democratic change in Egypt. Islamic groups are gaining popularity and the Egyptian population is becoming more sceptical of the extensive aid they are receiving primarily from the United States. So how will Egypt’s political climate change in the coming years? Only time will tell.
Je suis heureux de lire que l’expertise mauricienne en matière de taille de diamant trouve place au soleil au Canada. Cette expertise trouve sa genèse dans la création de la première entreprise LSP (Lagesse Sussens Poncini) implantée à Floréal dans les années 70. La taille de diamants est ensuite reprise par Monsieur Denton avec MauriDen qui nous arrivait de l’Afrique du sud. Par aillieurs, le fils Sebatien Denton est un nomine pour l’entrepreneur de l’annee 2007. Je suis heureux d’avoir été un observateur curieux dès le départ de cette industrie à Maurice. En effet, par intérêt, et par ma fonction dans le domaine du transport aérien, je pensais à l’époque que la taille des diamants, et la fabrication des objets de valeur, convenait à l’île Maurice, où le bas coût de main-d’œuvre, couplé avec l’impact du coût de transport minimisé par le volume restreint transporté était idéale. L’occasion me fut presentée à cette époque d’évoquer avec les experts d’Air France Cargo sur le sujet pour ma thèse de fin d’étude à l’université et j’ai eu le plaisir de me rendre compte de la portée d’une telle activité en Israël. Plus tard, avec l’oncle Charlie, j’ai également suivi avec grand intérêt une aventure similaire dans la taille des pierres précieuses, importées de Tanzanie. MauriGem n’a pas malheureusement pas fait long feu pour manque d’approvisionnement régulier.
Comme les nombreux fils ou filles du sol qui pendant des années ont aidé à l’industrie sucrière en Afrique, aujourd’hui nos compatriotes aident à la transformation des pierres brutes en produits finis à l’étranger. Au Botswana, en Australie, au Congo et autres pays miniers, on pourrait bien trouver des débouchés pour nos artisans. Les pays producteurs voulant garder le plus- value dans le pays d’origine. Nos artisans d’une source d’apprentissage de Floréal se trouvent ainsi disséminer dans le monde : Inde, Thaïlande, Canada, Australie et Brésil.
Non, ce n’est pas une perte pour notre mère patrie Ile Maurice. J’ai vu et revu de nombreux mauriciens aidant financerement la partie de la famille restée au pays, et plus tard, au crépuscule de leur vie rentrent au bercail pour un climat plus clément et une retraite bien méritée.
C’est le cas de nos ‘infirmiers’ en Angleterre des années 60-70, nos artisans sucriers depuis plus de six décennies. Pourquoi pas nos immigrants de maintenant ?