journals analyisis
Assignment: You should do at least two journal entries a week (date the entry) for me to review. You will submit these in two halves in electronic format to my email address at
Title the file for the submission as follows:
[YOUR NAME] JOURNAL 1 (or 2)
In other words, if your name is Martha Smith, when you submit your second journal, you would have titled the file you sent to me
Martha Smith Journal 2
I'll review the journal entries midway through the semester and will respond individually to the entries. I am the only person in our course with access to the journal entries (apart from you). As the Journals are based on your readings of new events or related topics impacting the international business community, our expectation is for you to also be prepared to share highlights of the article with the class. Your individual participation is extremely important and will generate good class discussions on the news worthy event. I should add that I might raise issues or respond to concerns as I read your work, but those responses will not allude to the person writing the entries. If you would rather that I not read an entry, don't include it.
Due Dates:
first half: See Schedule (Minimum of 8 entries)
Second half: See Schedule (Minimum of 8 entries)
NOTE: You must resubmit the entries with my comments still included from the first half when you submit the second half so that I will have the complete journal on November 10. You must also clearly indicate where the new entries begin.
Points: This is a major assignment. Each journal is worth 100 points.
Grading Method:
i won't grade your work on this journal on what you say or think, but rather on the consistency of your effort, the depth of your discussion and on your growing ability to be introspective and to reflect on the events happening around you that apply to the class's subject areas. I am looking for ideas and don't apply conventional standards for format, spelling or grammar to the journal. I am looking for the generation of ideas here.
Content:
use the journal assignment to encourage ongoing thinking about the issues we're exploring. I am interested in having you critically think about the issues that arise and their relevance to you. Too often, what we do in the classroom has no apparent relevance in the world around us.
journal entries let you review and reflJournal entries let you review and reflect upon the readings, class discussion and chapter end cases. Equally importantly, journal entries encourage you to examine your everyday experiences and observations as they relate to international business. The journal records your own reactions and responses to issues this course raises (and, that which other courses raise too) as well as what happens to you daily. Your readings /sharing will allow the class to also grow/benefit from your insightful research.
Examples: Pick topics that can lead to new international business opportunities or topics that could be challenging or disruptive to the business community. The current environment, gives you many different news stories every day about a variety of companies.
Puzzles or contradictions you find in the subject matter with which we're dealing in class or in what you read. You might see an issue that seems to contradict what we're doing; write about it (including why it is a puzzle). You might want to revisit it later as you learn more or as your opinions change.
Relevant articles in the media. When you do so, be sure to include a live hyperlink (preferred) or a physical copy of the article (if no hyperlink is available. along with your comments on it). In similar fashion, if you find an interesting web site, please provide the URL (the address) with your comments so that I can access it as well.
NOTE ONE: MAJOR US SOURCES. Regularly scan the major US news sources for business. These should include at least one reference per journal to at least one of the following sources (and preferably more frequently):
Bloomberg Business Week http://www.businessweek.com/ (Links to an external site.)Links to an external site.
CNN-International http://edition.cnn.com/ (Links to an external site.)Links to an external site.
The New York Times http://www.nytimes.com/ (Links to an external site.)Links to an external site.
NPR Business News: http://www.npr.org/sections/business/ (Links to an external site.)Links to an external site.
The Wall Street Journal http://online.wsj.com/home-page (Links to an external site.)Links to an external site.
Washington Post http://www.washingtonpost.com/ (Links to an external site.)Links to an external site.
NOTE TWO: MAJOR NON-US SOURCES. Regularly scan the major UK and English-language news sources from outside the US. These should include at least one reference per journal to at least three of the following major non-US sources (and preferably more frequently): Al-Jazeera (from Qatar, in English version) http://www.aljazeera.com/ (Links to an external site.)Links to an external site. Asia and Japan Watch of Asahi Shimbun (from Japan, in English version) http://ajw.asahi.com/ (Links to an external site.)Links to an external site. The Australian http://www.theaustralian.com.au/ (Links to an external site.)Links to an external site. BBC News (from the UK) http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/ (Links to an external site.)Links to an external site. Deutsche Welle (from Germany, in English version) http://www.dw.de/dw/home/0,,266,00.html (Links to an external site.)Links to an external site. The Economic Times (from India) http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/ (Links to an external site.)Links to an external site. The Economist (from the UK) http://www.economist.com/ (Links to an external site.)Links to an external site. The Financial Times (from the UK, cite given is US edition) http://www.ft.com/home/us (Links to an external site.)Links to an external site. France 24 (from France, in English version) http://www.france24.com/en/ (Links to an external site.)Links to an external site. Globe and Mail (from Canada) http://www.theglobeandmail.com/ (Links to an external site.)Links to an external site. The Korea Herald http://www.koreaherald.com/ (Links to an external site.)Links to an external site. Radio Netherlands Worldwide (despite the name, this also includes print articles and video podcasts) http://www.rnw.nl/english (Links to an external site.)Links to an external site. The Straits Times (from Singapore) http://www.straitstimes.com/ (Links to an external site.)Links to an external site. NOTE THREE: BROAD BASE OF SOURCES. Do NOT limit yourself to the journals listed above. Try to get a wide range of sources; in other words, try not to limit yourself to only to the media mentioned above. If you are citing articles in another language, be aware that I can only read English. Many newspapers and journals around the world have online versions. A link I often use myself to find articles around the world is World Newspapers at http://www.world-newspapers.com/index.html (Links to an external site.)Links to an external site.
NOTE FIVE: BIAS. Op-Ed Pages: The journals listed in Notes Two and Three above are generally reliable, except for their editorial pages. Be aware that editorial and Op-Ed pieces are knowingly opinion rather than neutral coverage. Thus even among the most respect news outlets reflect a bias in their editorials. Thus the New York Times and Washington Post tend to lean to the left on editorials while Bloomberg Business Week and the Wall Street Journal tend to lean to the right, Al-Jazeera slants against Israel in editorial bias, the Economist slants against any greater UK integration into the European Union, and so on. You may use the editorial pages but with the condition that you point out the nature of the bias in the opinion. Bias in Coverage: Many major publications have a marked bias in their supposedly neutral coverage of events.
State-Censorship: Many nations do not have freedom of the press and have direct state-control of the media. The degree of press freedom of lack of freedom is closely monitored by the French-based NGO Reporters Without Borders which posts at http://en.rsf.org/ (Links to an external site.)Links to an external site. If you are unfamiliar with RSF (it usually uses its French initials), familiarize yourself with it, especially with their annual Press Freedom Index at http://en.rsf.org/press-freedom-index-2011-2012,1043.html (Links to an external site.)Links to an external site. You will see that there is not necessarily a correlation between the business importance of a nation and press freedom. Thus, while the People’s Republic of China ranks #2 in GDP, for example, its press always reflects the official view of the government leading it to rank 174th out of 179 nations in press freedom. When you cite sources from China Daily (the PRC’s leading English-language paper at http://usa.chinadaily.com.cn/ (Links to an external site.)Links to an external site. ), you would therefore want to comment on the nature of the source. By the way, currently the US ranks 47th out of 179 countries in press freedom. Self-censorship: State censorship differs from self-censorship. Many news sources reflect a political (aligned with a particular political party or with a particular domestic or foreign issue) or self-serving bias (giving consideration to companies that advertise with them or make contribution to their operation) or pandering to a given audience (that is, putting in the best light issues that would align with the prejudices or sentiments of a local readership, most notably with sports coverage but in other areas as well). In the United States, for example, the politically neutral Pew Research Center found in a 2000 survey that Self-censorship is commonplace in the news media today, according to a survey of nearly 300 journalists and news executives by the Pew Research Center and the Columbia Journalism Review. About one-quarter of the local and national journalists say they have purposely avoided newsworthy stories, while nearly as many acknowledge they have softened the tone of stories to benefit the interests of their news organizations. Fully four-in-ten (41%) admit they have engaged in either or both of these practices. http://www.people-press.org/2000/04/30/self-censorship-how-often-and-why/ (Links to an external site.)Links to an external site.
his is far from limited to the US press, which even at 41% is less self-censoring than the outlets in other nations with a more or less free press. Keep this in mind when citing sources. Keep this in mind when citing material from sources with a strong bias beyond their editorial pages. These include in the US MSNBC (left-leaning) and Fox News (right-leaning); in France Le Monde (left-leaning) and Le Figaro (right-leaning); in the UK The Guardian (left-leaning) and The Times (right-leaning); and so on. NOTE SIX: Given the bias issues explained above, on a least one journal entry (and preferably more), compare coverage from several sources within the same nation and from nation to nation on the same subject. This will aid in critical thinking and synthesizing your information. NOTE SEVEN: Try to keep entries to a minimum. Two short paragraphs would be fine.
introspection. You might want to explore the relevance of some of the issues raised in class to yourself. Bring in past experiences as they seem relevant to your current thinking in the course, too. Values, attitudes, and perceptions are all appropriate issues to apply here, especially if these reflect cross-cultural differences.
A NOTE ON REFERENCES Formal citations. You must give full citations. These should follow the standard APA formatting for references complete with authors, article titles, journal number, dates, and pages or weblink page. If you need help with this, check out the Online Writing Lab at Purdue at: http://owl.english.purdue.edu/handouts/research/r_apa.html (Links to an external site.)Links to an external site. or ask the business librarian here at EMU for help (her name is Kate Pittsley and she has office hours both here in the COB and at the Halle Library. Here email is kpittsle@emich.edu ) Current material. Things change rapidly in IB and especially so with emerging markets. If the material is more than one year old for economic data, it is out of date. If the material is more than five years old for cultural information, you may still use it if it is still accurate but make sure that you supplement what you find with material that is more current.
Variety of sources. While references may include web-based sources, you must use more than web-based sources for research. Scholarly Journals: You are expected to research your subject in appropriate business data bases for scholarly articles (e.g., articles denoted as “scholarly” on the ABI-INFORM database, etc.). Reliable Layperson Business Newspapers and Magazines. You may supplement this research with articles cited from reliable layperson business sources (such as The Wall Street Journal, The Economist, Bloomberg/ BusinessWeek, Fortune, Forbes or The Financial Times) and the business sections of major newspapers (The Guardian, The New York Times, The Washington Post, and so on). Special Note 1: The Fortune “Global 500” comes out each summer with the 500 largest companies in the world. On country reports, you should be sure to see if your country is home to one of these. Special Note 2: When researching a specific country, if a major English language newspaper or business magazine is available, you should research through this to see what major issues may be covered there. For example, if you were writing a report on India, you might want to look at the Times of India http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/ (Links to an external site.)Links to an external site. , etc. For a list of the major newspapers and journals worldwide by country go to World Newspapers.com at http://www.world-newspapers.com/index.html (Links to an external site.)Links to an external site. Some of these publications are more reliable than others. Use your critical judgment here. General websites. You may use general websites only if reliable. It is arguable that the majority of websites available are not adequately reliable. A list of some of the more reliable sources is at the end of this discussion. As with journal or newspaper articles, you must cite this completely. Feel free to refer to sources in languages other than English if that is easy for you to do (don’t do so unless you are already fairly fluent in the language). In other words, if you read foreign languages, great! Give those sources as well. Note that I only read English so if you cite other languages, you will need to translate the titles of the articles for me and be prepared to speak with me about the article you cite. Avoidance of questionable sources. The web is full of questionable sources. These sources have political agendas frequently or are put out by people who do not research or support their a
General Sources Embassy and Consular Websites: Most countries that you research will have an embassy or consulate website (usually both) that will provide useful information about the country and its business environment. Be aware that some autocratic nations may provide data of questionable reliability and almost all countries may try to use information to place the country in its best light. Nevertheless, this is a good place to start. For q list of embassy and consular websites try: http://dir.yahoo.com/Government/U_S__Government/Embassies_and_Consulates/ (Links to an external site.)Links to an external site. Chambers of Commerce Abroad. Many nations have established chambers of commerce in nations with which they do trade. These chambers often provide useful information on their websites (and even more useful information if you are trying to begin business through them in person). For example: USA A directory of websites for US chambers of commerce abroad is listed at http://www.uschamber.com/international/directory (Links to an external site.)Links to an external site. Canada A directory of websites for Canadian Trade Commissions abroad is listed at http://www.tradecommissioner.gc.ca/eng/trade-offices.jsp (Links to an external site.)Links to an external site. Germany A directory of websites for German chambers of commerce abroad (in English) is listed ahttp://www.darmstadt.ihk.de/en/servicelabels/aboutus/494814/Netz_der_Deutschen_Auslandshandelskammern.html;jsessionid=4B1F051EB3A07F0C3028C59982C9774B.repl2 (Links to an external site.)Links to an external site. UK A directory of websites for UK chambers of commerce abroad is listed at http://www.britishchambers.org.uk/(Links to an external site.)Links to an external site
Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU): eiu.com (Links to an external site.)Links to an external site. (this is a division of the Economist magazine that specializes on important economic topics. You will find webinars and conferences and a variety of topics that could aid your journal entries. AT Kearney http://www.atkearney.com (Links to an external site.)Links to an external site. (this is a management consulting firm that gives out a good deal of free information including indices on trade and investment with various nations as well as trends within certain industries) CIA World Factbook: http://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/ (Links to an external site.)Links to an external site. (for basic country facts and political issues) GlobalEDGE http://globaledge.msu.edu/ (Links to an external site.)Links to an external site. (this is the site associated with your textbook and its authors – lots of information as well as activities and games if the mood hits you) Hoovers: http://www.hoovers.com/ (Links to an external site.)Links to an external site. (for specific company information, this is probably the most important site online; it is a subscription site for all but the opening paragraphs and data but you can access the site without a personal subscription through the EMU library which holds the subscription for you) International Monetary Fund (IMF): http://www.imf.org (Links to an external site.)Links to an external site. (Very useful collection of information on trends as well as on specific countries. The articles on the specific countries is accessed through the “Country Information” tab. NOTE: Some of the most current material you can find is on this site for each country; however, it also contains some of the most dated material. In other words, check when the article was posted to make sure that this is current information). Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD): http://www.oecd.org/ (Links to an external site.)Links to an external site. (Very reliable source for statistics and – through the country drop-down menu—trade agreements and related trade issues on a country by country basis) United Kingdom Trade and Investment: uktradeinvest.gov.uk (Links to an external site.)Links to an external site. (especially useful in the section called “Your Export Country” accessed through the interactive world map on the home page) United Nations Conference on Trade and Development http://www.unctad.org (