Our country is from the accession to the WTO on January 1 of A.D. 2002 (abbreviate as WTO), after becoming 144th member's body, according to the classification of GATS, have educated into a service trade , has educated and turned into the goods that can be bought and sold. Under WTO norm, the opening and marketization of the educational market have been already irresistible, higher education opens, globalization and market-based challenge in the face of the educational market, how to develop under the educational liberalization policy? Quite worth the discussion .

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Corruption has been a global issue since ancient times till today, and acts of corruption take place regardless of the political system we exist under, hence, corruption can be said to be a type of conventional crime. As such crimes directly affect the functions, reliability and efficiency of governments, as well as national competitiveness of a country, relating to political austerity, economic prosperity and public sentiment, it would be sufficient enough to affect social stability, the rise an -+d decline of a nation¡¦s might, and the survival of governments. Throughout history, keeping corruption in check has always been a priority without exception by past governments in bringing peace and stability of the country; and ¡§Integrity¡¨ is the most fundamental requirement of a government. Should the administration of a government lacks the measure of integrity, the trust of the people towards the government will decline with poor governance, dishonest officials and rampant corruption, as a result, the integral administration of a government shall descend into a crisis; therefore, there is not one country around the world that is not constantly advancing its efforts in curbing corruption and governing impartially. Thus, in order to raise the integrity competence of the government, and to respond to the expectations of the public, the government convened a meeting with relevant agencies from the consensus of the meeting on the sustained development of Taiwan¡¦s economy, to jointly deliberate and enact the ¡§Anti-Corruption Action Plan¡¨, which has already been checked and ratified by the Executive Yuan on November 30, 2006. The purpose of enacting the plan was to immediately eliminate corruption and other factors that destabilize economic development, as well as to incorporate economic crimes that seriously impair the image of the government, hoping to effectively raise the integrity competence of the government and enhance national competitiveness. Since its establishment in 1995, Transparency International, the only international organization devoted to fighting against corruption, has according to the results of various corruption studies, established a Corruption Perception Index based on countries as the assessment subjects, and published it worldwide simultaneously. After several years, this economic index has become the most widely used instrument as a measure of the corruption situation in a country. The Swiss International Institute for Management Development has since 1989 been releasing its annual research report on the economic competitiveness of countries within major economic blocs. This has led to the close attention of various governments and related civic agencies around the world, moving on to adopt this report as its benchmark in governance and operations. The information published by the abovementioned organization has more than proven that the morality of government ethics is closely correlated to the overall performance of civil servants in notion, spirit, virtue, lives and work attitude. The ¡§Integral Governance Ethics Action Plan¡¨ currently driven to be implemented will improve not only the impartial image of government departments but also has the functions of educating and guiding the society. In view of this, various countries around the world place extreme importance in enacting and actualizing its anti-corruption policies. According to Transparency International, from their observations in the past 12 years, there has been little change in Taiwan¡¦s position on the Corruption Perception Index. On the whole, since 1995 till 2006, Taiwan¡¦s position has been hovering in the narrow range of 25th to 35th. From the viewpoint of comparison between countries around the world, Taiwan is yet to be classified a country with average integrity. However, it is worth noting that on November 6, 2006, Transparency International-Taiwan announced the findings of the 2006 Corruption Perception Index conducted by Transparency International, that Taiwan was placed jointly with Israel at 34th position with 5.9 points, as compared to 2005 , though the score has remained the same, its position has dropped by 2 places. While in comparison with Asian countries such as, Singapore (9.4 at 5th position), Hong Kong (8.3 at 15th position) and Japan (7.6 at 17th position), Taiwan was only slightly superior to South Korea (5.1 at 42nd position), indicating that the corruption situation in Taiwan remains one of the utmost issue pending improvement. Again, according to the 2006 Global Competitiveness Position officially released by the Swiss International Institute for Management Development on May 11, 2006, among the 61 economies, Taiwan was positioned 18th, dropping by 7 places as compared to its standing in 2005. The position of Taiwan in the 4 main index categories in 2006 unanimously slides down, except for ¡§Enterprise Efficiency¡¨ at position 14th, thus having certain comparative advantage. However, ¡§Economic Performance¡¨, ¡§Government Efficiency¡¨ and ¡§Infrastructure Construction¡¨ respectively positioned at 27th, 24th and 20th were on the contrary weaker; hence, there is still much room for improvement in enhancing national competitiveness. From the ranking results above, this should be a serious warning to Taiwan which has only just completed its democratic transformation, as it strives towards quality administration in the 21st century. Looking to the future, it is only with advocating integrity and anti-corruption by the different political parties and factions as well as blue and white collar classes and academic circles of Taiwan, that a united and collaborative networking relationship can be created. By striving together to build the National Integrity System of Taiwan, it is only then that Taiwan will have a chance to ascend to a country of high integral governance, and be able to play an even more active and important role in the international effort against corruption. In conclusion, among the ¡§Rebuilding Project of the Government¡¨, an integral governance is the basic demand of the people. The strength of national competitiveness is the key to whether a country is being able to have a foothold in the international community, and raising national competitiveness begins with the strengthening of ethical administrative work, and also forms the basic foundation for the current administration to be rebuilt on. According to the statistics from surveys carried out by the Ministry of Law recently, most of the people in society subjectively feel the improvement in the ¡§Integrity of the Government¡¨, though there is still considerable expectations, and how to have the people and government band together to form a climate of integrity, is the unshirkable mission of all civil servants in Taiwan. Though ¡§Uprighting Government Ethics, Stamping Out Corruption¡¨ is the principal task of administrative revolution and administration rebuilding ,it is an even more important index parameter of national competitiveness. Essentially erecting an ¡§Integrity Pride, Corruption Ashamed¡¨ benchmark, and by resolutely upholding the ¡§dare not desire, cannot desire, unable to desire and no necessity to desire¡¨ conviction, so that corruption cases within the government organizations have no avenue of arising again, it is then that a nation of integrity and transparency can be established. Consequently, the results of the present study can be sum up with the following conclusions and recommendations: 1. The acts of the government in stamping out corruption urgently needs to be strengthened. 2. The faith of people in judiciary officials remains low. 3. The promotion of anti-corruption by the government is still insufficient. 4. The undesirable practices of social nepotism and bribery needs further education. 5. Establish an integrated anti-corruption apparatus to give full support; to have a clean administration, clearing away all economic hindrance, lifting the national competitiveness of Taiwan, and stride into the ranks of countries with high integral governance in the world. Keywords: Keeping corruption in check, national competitiveness, integral governance, Transparency International and Swiss International Institute for Management Development.

The purpose of the scientific research is to suggest the model of national tourism industry competitiveness and determine the main factors that increase national tourism industry competitiveness basing on fundamental national competitiveness theories and national tourism industry competitiveness conceptions.

Competitiveness is multifaceted phenomenon and evaluation of this requires to consider reached results in each, not only economical, realm. In order to find out the singularities of competitiveness’ conditions in Vilnius region, it was looked theoretical, cartographical material and statistical, archival data and sociological research was made (representatives of local municipalities and companies and farmers were interviewed). I will give broad – brush results: Municipalities’ deployment in different geographical pieces influences competitiveness conditions in agriculture the most. Ukmerge region has the best conditions to develop agriculture. Other municipalities are classed to profitable agricultures’ space, in which at the position of economical side is not worth to work. Vilnius city makes the most significant influence for the whole region economical situation. 65 % inhabitants in the region are concentrated in the capital. There are 2 – 3 times less unemployment rate and one third bigger salary in contrast with the rest municipalities of region in Vilnius. Vilnius city according to the optimum economical conditions every year enlists more qualified labour force and this gives competitive preeminence against each municipalities. The status as the capital, well developed transport, and growth of selling production amounts give the opportunity to concentrate 18 % industries’ potential in Vilnius region. The most significant part (16 %) falls to Vilnius city... [to full text]

Thesis ( M. Phil (Informatics)) -- University of Pretoria, 2006. / Includes summary. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 78 - 87).

Η διδακτορική διατριβή με τίτλο: «Προσαρμογή των πολιτικών για την ενίσχυση της ανταγωνιστικότητας των επιχειρήσεων στο νέο επιχειρηματικό περιβάλλον» εστιάζει στη μελέτη των ελληνικών πολυεθνικών επιχειρήσεων και συγκεκριμένα στα κριτήρια επιλογής της χώρας υποδοχής των διεθνών επιχειρηματικών τους δραστηριοτήτων για την ενίσχυση της ανταγωνιστικότητάς τους. Οι στόχοι της διδακτορικής διατριβής, ήταν: 1. η μελέτη των κινήτρων, των οφελών, των στρατηγικών και των προσκομμάτων για τη διεθνοποίηση των ελληνικών επιχειρήσεων, 2. η καταγραφή των πολιτικών ενίσχυσης της ανταγωνιστικότητας των επιχειρήσεων που ισχύουν στη χώρα, 3. η ανάλυση των τάσεων για το θέμα της διεθνοποίησης που επικρατούν σήμερα στο παγκόσμιο περιβάλλον, 4. η αξιολόγηση της ανταγωνιστικότητας της ελληνικής οικονομίας, και, τέλος, 5. η πρόταση για τις αναγκαίες προσαρμογές των πολιτικών που ενισχύουν την ανταγωνιστικότητα των επιχειρήσεων στη χώρα μας, μέσω της υλοποίησης διεθνών επιχειρηματικών δραστηριοτήτων. Η διδακτορική διατριβή, αφού έχει μελετήσει τα κίνητρα και τα προσκόμματα των ελληνικών επιχειρήσεων για την επιλογή μιας χώρας υποδοχής διεθνών επιχειρηματικών δραστηριοτήτων, ολοκληρώνεται με την πρόταση προσαρμογής των υφιστάμενων πολιτικών και με την υιοθέτηση νέων, που στόχο έχουν την αποτελεσματική ενίσχυση της ανταγωνιστικότητας των ελληνικών επιχειρήσεων στο νέο επιχειρηματικό περιβάλλον. Τα ερευνητικά ερωτήματα της παρούσας εργασίας είναι πέντε (5) και οργανώνονται κατά τον ακόλουθο τρόπο: • τρία από αυτά αφορούν τη μελέτη των κινήτρων των ελληνικών επιχειρήσεων για τη χωροθέτηση της διεθνούς παραγωγής τους: α.1.) στα Βαλκάνια, α.2.) στη Δυτική Ευρώπη, και, α.3.) στον Υπόλοιπο Κόσμο, • ένα από τα πέντε εξετάζει ως μελέτη περίπτωσης τη γειτονική Βουλγαρία, ενώ, • το πέμπτο από αυτά εξετάσει συνολικά τη συμπεριφορά των διεθνοποιημένων ελληνικών επιχειρήσεων που ακολουθούν στρατηγική οριζόντιας ολοκλήρωσης. Συγκεκριμένα τα ερευνητικά ερωτήματα είναι: (Ε1) Ποια είναι τα κριτήρια με τα οποία λαμβάνεται η απόφαση των ελληνικών επιχειρήσεων για τη δημιουργία άμεσης επένδυσης στις χώρες των Βαλκανίων; (Ε2) Ποιοι είναι οι παράγοντες που υπαγορεύουν την παρουσία των ελληνικών επιχειρήσεων στις αγορές των χωρών της Δυτικής Ευρώπης; (Ε3) Πόσοι και ποιοι είναι οι καθοριστικοί παράγοντες για την ανάληψη δράσεων εξαγωγής προϊόντων από τις ελληνικές επιχειρήσεις στις χώρες του «Υπόλοιπου Κόσμου»; (Ε4) Ποιοι είναι οι βασικοί παράγοντες διεθνοποίησης των ελληνικών επιχειρήσεων στη γειτονική Βουλγαρία; (Ε5) Από ποιους παράγοντες εξαρτάται η επιλογή της στρατηγικής «οριζόντιας ολοκλήρωσης» για τις ελληνικές επιχειρήσεις που υλοποιούν άμεσες επενδύσεις στο εξωτερικό; / The doctoral dissertation entitled “Adaptation of Policies for Strengthening the Competitiveness of Firms within the New Business Environment” focuses on the study of Greek multinational firms and more specifically on the criteria for the selection of countries that are to host their international business activities, under the general objective of strengthening their competitive edge. The objectives of the doctoral dissertation have been the following: 1. to study the incentives, prospective gains, entrepreneurial strategies and possible obstacles related to the process of internationalization of Greek firms, 2. to record policies for strengthening business competitiveness that are currently in force in the country, 3. to analyze tendencies and approaches to the issue of entrepreneurial internationalization that are currently prevalent in the global environment, 4. to evaluate the competitiveness of the Greek economy, and, finally, 5. to put forth proposals for the necessary adaptation and adjustment of policies that apply to our country for strengthening business competitiveness through the implementation of international business activities. Having examined the incentives afforded and obstacles faced by Greek firms in their selection of a third country to host their international business activities, the doctoral dissertation concludes with a proposal for the adaptation of existing policies and the adoption of new ones, aimed at an effective strengthening of Greek firm competitiveness within the new business environment. The five (5) research themes of the present research work are organized in the following fashion: • three of these themes regard the study of incentives afforded to Greek firms for the spatial location of their international productive activities, (a.1.) in the Balkans, (a.2.) in Western Europe and (a.3.) in the rest of the world, • one of the five research themes regards our neighboring Bulgaria as a case study, while • the fifth of these themes regards an overall examination of the behavior of internationalized Greek firms that follow a strategy of horizontal integration. More specifically, research questions are as follows: (Ε1) What are the criteria utilized by Greek firms in the process of deciding the location of a direct investment in the Balkan countries? (Ε2) What are the underlying factors for the presence of Greek firms in the markets of Western European countries? (Ε3) What are the defining factors that lead to the adoption by Greek firms of product exporting actions aimed at countries of “the rest of the world”? (Ε4) What are the main factors leading to the internationalization of Greek firms by locating in neighboring Bulgaria? (Ε5) In reference to Greek firms that are in the process of implementing direct investment projects abroad, what are the factors on which the choice of a strategy of “horizontal integration” depends?

Convergence, the resulting new business and emerging leadership, regulated environment and strategy, telecoms costs as barrier to entry, enablement of global market places. / The market environment of telecommunications in South Africa is such that currently there is only one provider of fixed-line services. This has contributed to much claims of prices of incumbent being too high. The government has licensed operators and service providers to compete with Telkom in an attempt to lower the costs of telecommunications in South Africa. The purpose of this research is to understand the relevance and nature of pricing policies, critically evaluate the management of pricing policies, research literature, theory and also the impact that these pricing policies have had on the business of Telkom. The research was conducted by analysing Telkom pricing related documents, financial statements and conducting interviews. The research found that the price-cap regulation has restricted flexibility in the pricing policies and that Telkom has adopted a short-term based approach to management of the pricing policies.

The dominance of global markets has created a need for organisations to search for a new set of competences to enable them to survive into the future. Whether they operate in local or international markets, global challenges are felt in every business. Research posits global mindset as a prerequisite for internationalisation, but there is emerging debate about whether global mindset is also a competence required for companies perform and compete in a local context as well. This is a qualitative and largely descriptive study that was conducted in two companies. The primary research was undertaken using electronic surveys. These were structured questionnaires used to obtain data to ascertain global mindset maturity, performance and competitiveness. Secondary data was used for actual performance and competitiveness measures. Two propositions out of the three were supported. The global mindset factors in a local context fall within the bounds of the three core global mindset themes. Global mindset maturity was found to be significant in the performance of an organisation in a local context. However, the relationship between global mindset and competitive was not explained by the results. Contextual global mindset was the most significant variable in explaining the variation in performance. / Dissertation (MBA)--University of Pretoria, 2011. / Gordon Institute of Business Science (GIBS) / unrestricted