manga, Japanese conformism, losing face, Lost Decade
Asian Chemical Connections
China’s growth conundrum
I couldn’t let today pass without including a picture of the Olympic Stadium in Beijing where the opening ceremony is about to take place. The purpose of this redefined blog is not to look at the short term, though. For expert commentaey on the effects of the Olympics and other macroeconomic factors on the world’s […]
BASF seeks “decisive” change
alternative energy, oil, catalysts, Fischer Tropsch
The West can still be the best
It is very easy assume that Asia ex-Japan will eventually catch up with the West and become as good at “solution” chemicals as the West. I am excluding Japan because it has long been a major speciality player. All the money that China, for example, is pouring into its state-run research institutes would seem to […]
Innovate or lose your job
Continuing my environmental theme, I’ve been musing over building a new training course around helping companies help their employees to think outside the box. This is a tough task in certain companies and cultures. As Benjamin Franklin so wisely said, “insanity is doing the same things over and over, and expecting a different result.” So […]
The CO2 blame game
In my previous post, I talked about the collapse of the Doha round of trade negotiations and how this didn’t auger well for a new global agreement for setting greenhouse gas-emission limits and a worldwide price on carbon. The chemicals industry needs clarity. A global price for carbon would enable companies to plan R&D investments […]
Why the Doha failure is bad
The failure, and quite possibly the death, of the Doha round of trade negotiations earlier this week could create a very confusing and erratic regulatory landscape for the chemicals industry. This excellent entry in the New Scientist environment blog by Fred Pearce, senior environment correspondent, makes the point that if the world cannot agree on […]
Market mind reading
Regular readers of my blog might have seen last week’s post linking through to the New Scientist article about research into new ways of assessing how markets behave. Prompted by the irrationally steep falls triggered by the credit crisis (or maybe they were reverse – the previous high valuations were based on irrationality, leading to […]
Missing the point
Great that my entry yesterday Work can be the death of you produced a response. But I think the commentator missed the point. Working long hours is not an issue for staff who are properly managed and motivated. The “presenteeism” of some work cultures, though, is surely a major source of concern for the welfare […]
Work can be the death of you
My dear old mother used to often say “what’s the world coming to?” as if life was constantly getting worse. But for South Korean workers – and for workers everywhere in Asia – expectations of employers have long been unreasonable. Tied into this is loyalty, “face”, pride and ridiculously long and often unproductive hours that […]
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