The Asset Quality Review and Capital Needs: Why re-capitalise banks with public money? CEPS Policy Brief No. 311, 19 December 2013

It is generally assumed that any capital needs discovered by the Asset Quality Review the ECB is scheduled to finish by the end of 2014 should be filled by public funding (= fiscal backstop). This assumption is wrong, however. Banks that do not have enough capital should be asked to obtain it from the market; or be restructured using the procedures and rules recently agreed. The Directorate-General for Competition at the European Commission should be particularly vigilant to ensure that no further state aid flows to an already oversized European banking system. The case for a public backstop was strong when the entire euro area banking system was under stress, but this is no longer the case. Banks with a viable business model can find capital; those without should be closed because any public-sector re-capitalisation would likely mean throwing good money after bad.

Gazprom's position on the Russian gas market weakening. OSW Commentary No. 70, 2012-02-23

As the difficulties Gazprom has faced in recent years on the European market have multiplied1, so more and more symptoms have appeared which may suggest that the company’s dominant position is deteriorating. The decision made by the Russian government in June 2011 to double the tax Gazprom has to pay on the extraction of gas, which was later approved by parliament, was the first time in many years when the company’s fiscal privileges were withdrawn. The process of Gazprom’s assets being taken over by private companies and business partners from within Vladimir Putin’s closest circle is underway. More and more frequently attempts are being made to challenge the company’s monopoly in areas of key importance for the functioning of the entire gas sector, such as Gazprom’s exclusive right to dispose of the Russian gas transportation system and its exports monopoly. Competition from independent gas producers on the domestic market is growing, and Gazprom is gradually being pushed out of some of that market’s most profitable segments (industrial clients). The emerging tendencies in the Russian gas sector derive from a number of factors – from the situation on the European gas market, through difficulties hampering the development of the sector in Russia itself, to the private interests of the current ruling class and its business partners. The plans for a structural reform of the monopoly (including isolating gas transportation system from Gazprom), presented since 2000 by the Ministry for Economic Development and since 2003 by the Russian Association of Industrialists and Entrepreneurs (RSPP), suggest a direction for the changes necessary to stimulate the sector’s development and improve the efficiency of Gazprom itself. However, the monopolist’s current business model gives the government full control over this strategic enterprise, which is a core of Putin’s concept for developing Russia as a global energy power. Despite Putin’s recent statement that he “does not rule out privatising Gazprom in the future” (made at a meeting with political scientists in Moscow on 6 February this year), any structural reform of Gazprom (and consequently, a weakening of the state’s control over it) seems unlikely in the foreseeable future. Still, the developments on the domestic market – growing pressure from other gas companies (oil corporations and independent producers) and changes on the European market2 – may result in the weakening of Gazprom’s monopoly privileges and a gradual deterioration of its special status within Russia.

Europe's exports superstar - it's the organisation! Bruegel Working Paper 2015/05, 15 July 2015

What explains Germany’s superb export performance? Is Germany’s export behaviour very distinct compared to other European countries? The authors explore the organisational responses to competition of 14,000 exporting firms in seven European countries. The paper examines the export business model of the median exporter and of the top one percent exporters in each country, accounting for 20 percent to 55 percent of total exports. What do these firms do to become superstars? The authors find, first, that the export market share of the median exporter in each of the countries to the world more than tripled (in some cases the export market share increases tenfold) for firms that combine decentralised management with offshoring of production to low-wage countries. Exporters which abstain from any organisational adjustment do very badly. Decentralised management provides incentives for workers for product improvements allowing exporters to compete on quality. Offshoring production to low-wage countries reduces costs allowing exporters to compete on price. Second, we find that Germany is the leading quality exporter in Europe followed by Austria and Spain. Among the top 10 percent of exporters there is no single firm with low quality in Germany and Austria, which suggest that decentralised management has provided incentives for quality in these countries. Third, Germany’s exports are less vulnerable to price increases, while exports from France and Italy respond strongly to price changes, and thus costs reductions via offshoring benefits these countries most.

Disruptive Marketing Strategy - ribaltare i classici modelli di approccio al mercato

Viviamo in un epoca di cambiamenti. Continuamente, giorno dopo giorno, il vecchio scompare per fare spazio al nuovo. La tecnologia permea sempre più in ogni aspetto della vita, conquistando le nostre abitudini, cambiando il nostro modo di vedere il mondo, e, in maniera inevitabile, il nostro modo di agire. L’essere umano ha da sempre cercato di concepire cose che ancora non ci sono, per cambiare la realtà e modellarla a suo piacimento. Si parte, quindi, da qualcosa che fin dalla nascita è dentro ognuno di noi, un desiderio che arde nell'animo umano, che si alimenta grazie al soffio dell’immaginazione e che non c’è modo di spegnere. L’innovazione porta novità. Resistere al cambiamento non è sempre facile, e se si cerca di ostacolarlo esso ti travolgerà. “Affrontare il cambiamento è come scalare una colata di fango giù per una collina” - esordisce in “The Innovator Dilemma”, Clayton M. Christensen - “Bisogna affrontare qualsiasi cosa per rimanere su di essa, e non appena ci si ferma per prendere fiato si viene seppelliti”. Si intuisce come il cambiamento tecnologico non solo sia di fondamentale evidenza nella vita di ognuno, ma come esso abbia cambiato e stia cambiando il modo di fare business. In questo umile lavoro si è voluto analizzare come certi tipi di innovazione abbiano il potere di cambiare tutto un sistema di riferimento sul quale prima l’impresa faceva affidamento. Sono le Disruptive Innovation – le innovazioni dirompenti – quelle innovazioni che ribaltano un modello di business, il modo di vedere un prodotto, la logica dietro a certe operations aziendali, che seppur sembrassero solide, si sgretolano scontrandosi con innovazioni così forti. Vi è poi una domanda critica a cui si è cercato di rispondere. Si può fare Disruptive Marketing? Alcuni esempi virtuosi ci mostrano come si possa attuare una strategia di questo genere, e come si possa “comprendere, creare, comunicare e distribuire valore” in modo innovativo.

Managerialism at the bottom of the pyramid: a case study in Brazil

Nas últimas décadas, a Base da Pirâmide tem sido cada vez mais debatida entre líderes ocidentais como a nova terra das oportunidades. Com o advento do neoliberalismo no campo do desenvolvimento na década de 1990, o papel da sociedade civil e, em particular, o de Organizações Não-Governamentais, passou a ser enfatizado como sendo central nas estratégias ocidentais no "Sul" do mundo. Os atores do desenvolvimento, no entanto, muitas vezes abordaram essas questões utilizando perspectivas tradicionais, que estavam geralmente fora de contexto. A tese foca na controvérsia em torno do uso de técnicas de gestão em cenários que diferem daqueles nos quais estas ferramentas têm sido desenvolvidas. Em particular, ela procura compreender em que medida o gerencialismo - a ideologia da gestão - está a influenciando as atividades de uma Organização Não-Governamental brasileira, a Galpão Aplauso. O estudo, usando uma estrutura teórica, analisa o relacionamento entre a ONG e seus parceiros, sublinhando os resultados de conflitos ideológicos. No geral, descobriu-se como o encontro das perspectivas do Norte e do Sul originou alguns debates que levaram, em parte, à aceitação de ideias gerencialistas, tais como a replicabilidade e sistematização de processos, enquanto que em alguns casos, eles intensificaram a resistência da ONG sobre conceitos como sustentabilidade financeira e transformação em um negócio social.

A influência dos aplicativos móveis no negócio das empresas prestadoras de serviço de táxis em São Paulo: um estudo de caso

Este estudo pretende identificar as mudanças relevantes no mercado e qual o valor percebido pelos clientes e taxistas, considerando-se a inserção das empresas prestadoras de serviços de táxis da cidade de São Paulo no mundo virtual, através do uso de aplicativos. Para tanto, explanamos o conceito de cadeia de valor, incluindo cadeia de valor virtual e rede de valor, a fim de um melhor entendimento da estrutura em que se embasam as empresas desse novo ambiente, bem como explicamos os conceitos de modelo de negócio e Business Model Canvas. Com esse embasamento teórico propomos um framework com a finalidade de auxiliar o processo de extração e análise das informações que permitiram identificar as mudanças relevantes que ocorreram nesse mercado e o valor percebido pelos clientes e taxistas, fazendo uso de um estudo de caso. O tema é relevante, por se tratar de uma mudança significativa na forma como as empresas se relacionam com seus clientes e prestadores; e por permitir observar que valor agregado esse modelo tem propiciado, que fez com que cerca de 30 mil taxistas, dos 35 mil da cidade de São Paulo, optassem pelo uso de aplicativos, fazendo com que uma das empresas estudadas nessa dissertação atingisse mais de 2.5 milhões de downloads em todo o Brasil. Espera-se, com este estudo, identificar as mudanças relevantes que a inserção dos aplicativos trouxeram aos usuários e taxistas e apresentar um framework que pode ser utilizado como um facilitador na análise da cadeia de valor e cadeia de valor virtual do mercado de prestação de serviços de taxis, esclarecendo que esse modelo não é apenas um modismo ao qual se pode atribuir uma série de benefícios, mas, sim, uma tendência que está redefinindo o formato das empresas desse mercado.

British and European influences on the "Australian Way" from the 1980s

Commonwealth countries share their British social policy legacy in a variety of ways. Autstralia attempted to adopt the postwar new Fabian welfare state model at the very time when international economic circumstances undermined its Keynesian foundation. With Labor governments in power from 1983 to 1996, Australia diverged significantly from the neo-liberal reform path adopted in the United Kingdom. Australian governments looked increasingly to European social democracies for alternative social policy model In a manner anticipating the Third Way. the tendency was towards mixing neo-liberal economics with social democratic welfare. The Australian Third Way which resulted proved unstable. Current social reformers, the paper proposes, ought to revisit a neglected but characteristically British emphasis on the need for a measure of socialization of investment to underpin redistributive strategies.

A TV digital e o setor industrial tecnológico brasileiro

O presente estudo disserta sobre o papel da indústria, com foco nos fabricantes de televisores e sua participação na implantação e desenvolvimento da TV Digital no Brasil, como os primeiros atores desse cenário a apontar o norte para a viabilização de um modelo de negócio para a Televisão Digital (TVD) e Televisão Digital Interativa (TVDI): a TV Conectada e a TV Inteligente. Faz um levantamento histórico do tema desde o Governo FHC, passando pelo Governo Lula até o atual Governo Dilma. O texto apresenta os desafios técnico, político e econômico dessa implementação. Pretende identificar os acertos e enganos dos atores envolvidos nesse cenário, montado para a implementação do sistema digital da TV brasileira. Ressalta os interesses, nem sempre harmônicos, de todos os envolvidos: do capital, com foco no lucro; do governo, com seus acordos políticos, muitas vezes contrapondo ao cumprimento de seu papel de representante dos interesses da maioria da população brasileira; e da dinâmica científico tecnológico-industrial, que necessita de campo fértil, propício e contínuo para se desenvolver.(AU)

Effects of some 5-hydroxytryptamine and related ligands in anxiety models

Drugs acting at 5-HT receptors were evaluated on three animal models of anxiety. On the elevated X-maze test the majority of 5-HT1 agonists were found to be anxiogenic. However, ipsapirone was anxiolytic and buspirone and gepirone were inactive. The 5-HT2 agonist DOI and the 5-HT2 antagonist ritanserin were anxiolytic while ICI 169,369, a 5-HT2 antagonist was inactive. All 5-HT3 antagonists tested were inactive in this test, while the indirect serotomimetics zimeldine and fenfluramine were anxiogenic. Neither beta-adrenoceptor agonists nor antagonists had reproducible effects on anxiety in this model. Combined beta-1/beta-2 adrenoceptor antagonists reversed the anxiogenic effects of 8-OH-DPAT while selective beta-1 or beta-2 antagonists did not. On the social interaction model the 5-HT1 agonists 8-OH-DPAT, RU 24969 and 5-MeODMT were anxiogenic and ipsapirone was anxiolytic. The 5-HT2 agonist DOI and the beta-adrenoceptor- and 5-HT- antagonist pindolol were anxiolytic, while the 5-HT2 and 5-HT3 antagonists were inactive. In the marble burying test, the 5-HT upake inhibitors zimeldine, fluvoxamine, indalpine and citalopram, the 5-HT1B/5-HT1C agonists mCPP and TFMPP and the 5-HT2/5-HT1C agonist DOI reduced marble burying without affecting locomotor activity. 5-HT1A agonists and the 5-HT2 and 5-HT3 antagonists were without effect. Lesions of the dorsal raphe nucleus reversed the anxiogenic effects of 8-OH-DPAT in the X-maze model. The implication of these results for the understanding of the pharmacology of 5-HT in anxiety is discussed.

A study of the impact of lean on UK manufacturing organisations that view it as a philosophy

There were three principal research aims: primarily, Lean is and always should be regarded as a business model as depicted by Toyota who is dedicated towards finding better ways of producing cars; consequently an investigation of whether organisations embracing Lean as a philosophy were indeed more triumphant. An adapted balanced scorecard was used which embraced strategic, operation and indices focused towards the future prospects of an organisation. Secondly, it was obligatory to explicitly and precisely determine whether an organisation espoused Lean as a philosophy as opposed to another process or strategy. Thirdly, since Lean has to be envisaged as a never-ending journey; it was important to map out the Lean journey and to be able to categorize the juncture an organisation occupies at any particular phase of its overall implementation. This affords an opportunity to advise an organisation of specific requirements it needs to satisfy should it wish to embrace Lean as a philosophy. The methodological approach focused on the effective deployment of survey questionnaires in sixty-eight organisations and seven extensive case studies in manufacturing organisations of varying sizes. The CIMA organisational classification, the Puttick grid and the Product-Process matrix were used to analyse the range of organisations used in this investigation. Whilst there was a requirement to investigate whether Lean indeed equates to success, pertinent performance measurement was considered decisive; the DMP Model (Maltz et al., 2003) was modified to perform this role. An unremitting theme both in literature concerning the implementation of Lean and in the research evolves around the notion of corporate cultures. Its relevance is explored further within the analysis. In accepting the premise that Lean incorporates a journey, it was fundamental to identify the voyage. Prevalent frameworks are deficient in identifying the sustainability and ideological facets of Lean. Consequently, an extensive Lean audit was developed and piloted in twenty disparate organisations.

Stand-alone groundwater desalination system using reverse osmosis combined with a cooled greenhouse for use in arid and semi-arid zones of India

In many areas of northern India, salinity renders groundwater unsuitable for drinking and even for irrigation. Though membrane treatment can be used to remove the salt, there are some drawbacks to this approach e.g. (1) depletion of the groundwater due to over-abstraction, (2) saline contamination of surface water and soil caused by concentrate disposal and (3) high electricity usage. To address these issues, a system is proposed in which a photovoltaic-powered reverse osmosis (RO) system is used to irrigate a greenhouse (GH) in a stand-alone arrangement. The concentrate from the RO is supplied to an evaporative cooling system, thus reducing the volume of the concentrate so that finally it can be evaporated in a pond to solid for safe disposal. Based on typical meteorological data for Delhi, calculations based on mass and energy balance are presented to assess the sizing and cost of the system. It is shown that solar radiation, freshwater output and evapotranspiration demand are readily matched due to the approximately linear relation among these variables. The demand for concentrate varies independently, however, thus favouring the use of a variable recovery arrangement. Though enough water may be harvested from the GH roof to provide year-round irrigation, this would require considerable storage. Some practical options for storage tanks are discussed. An alternative use of rainwater is in misting to reduce peak temperatures in the summer. An example optimised design provides internal temperatures below 30EC (monthly average daily maxima) for 8 months of the year and costs about €36,000 for the whole system with GH floor area of 1000 m2 . Further work is needed to assess technical risks relating to scale-deposition in the membrane and evaporative pads, and to develop a business model that will allow such a project to succeed in the Indian rural context.

PSS as a service based strategy for western manufacturers

A product-service system (PSS) is a subtle blend of products and services that are offered as an integrated solution to customers. Much existing work on PSS has originated from Scandinavia and has been motivated by a sustainability agenda. Although valuable, this form has limited appeal to western manufacturers. However, by expanding the concepts of PSS to also embrace leading thinking on large scale complex service systems and informated products and services, it is possible to put forward the basis of a service business model that offers the means to differentiate from competitors who simply offer lower priced products. This paper aims to build this case. It reports the state-of-the-art of PSS, defines the concept, reports on its origin and features, discusses examples of applications, and finally proposes a research strategy for future work on this topic.

The right time and place:strategic positioning for competitive manufacture

Increasingly in the UK, companies that have traditionally considered themselves as manufacturers are being advised to now see themselves as service providers and to reconsider whether to have any production capability. A key challenge is to translate this strategy into a selection of product and service-centred activities within the company's supply chain networks. Strategic positioning is concerned with the choice of business activities a company carries out itself, compared to those provided by suppliers, partners, distributors and even customers. In practice, strategic positioning is directly impacted by such decisions as outsourcing, off-shoring, partnering, technology innovation, acquisition and exploitation. If companies can better understand their strategic positioning, they can make more informed decisions about the adoption of alternative manufacturing and supply chain activities. Similarly, they are more likely to reject those that, like off-shoring, are currently en vogue but are highly likely to erode competitive edge and business success. Our research has developed a new concept we call 'competitive space' as a means of appreciating the strategic positioning of companies, along with a structured decision process for managing competitive space. Our ideas about competitive space, along with the decision process itself, have been developed and tested on a range of manufacturers. As more and more manufacturers are encouraged to move towards system integration and a serviceable business model, the challenge is to identify the appropriate strategic position for their organisations, or in other words, to identify their optimum competitive space for manufacture.

Delivering optometric care in the UK

Optometrists play an important part in delivering eye care in the United Kingdom; however opportunities for practitioners to extend their role through co-management of patients with ophthalmologists vary across the country. Devolution in Scotland and Wales has led to greater emphasis on community based care in these regions. This thesis reviews the current situation and, by examining ophthalmic outpatient clinic data, discusses further opportunities to reduce demands on secondary care and the cost savings that can be made. To assess whether the profession is currently in a position to adopt an extended clinical role, changes in the availability of optometric instrumentation are assessed over a two year period. An increased prevalence of fundus cameras and contact tonometers places optometrists in a good position to take on further responsibilities in glaucoma management, however future investment could be impacted by the current economic climate as value for money became increasingly important to practitioners looking to purchase equipment. Methods of training optometrists in the necessary skills to utilise new technology to extend their role are evaluated in terms of both learning and cost effectiveness. Interactive distance learning is proposed as a convenient and effective method to deliver continuing professional development. Any changes to optometric practice must take account of the need for a sustainable business and the importance of attracting and retaining patients. The views of patients are assessed through a validated service quality questionnaire, SERVQUAL. The questionnaire is found to be valid for use in an optometry setting. Patients have a generally positive view of the service quality they receive from their optical practice and consider the intangible aspects, in particular responsiveness and empathy, most important. Optometrists are well placed to increase their role in patient management; however a viable business model must exist to enable investment in instrumentation and training.

Private equity and the flight of the phoenix four - the collapse of MG Rover in the UK

This paper explores the nature of the co-called ‘private equity business model’ (PEBM) and assesses its shortcomings, using the illustrative example of the role of private equity in structuring the finance and subsequent collapse of MG Rover, as the automotive industry has been a significant destination for private equity financing. The paper outlines the nature of the PEBM. It then details how the PEBM extracts value, before stressing how this can affect workers in a portfolio business. We argue that the emergence of the PEBM changes the basis of competitive rules in organizations and the running of erstwhile going concerns, necessitating a need for further regulation—particularly, how to secure wider stakeholder oversight without reducing the efficiency of PEBM concerns.