Need historical statistics?

Copyright: weirdvis

International Historical Statistics; Africa, Asia and Oceania 1750-2005 is the latest edition of the most authoritative collection of statistics available.

It is available in our Reference collection at HG2 MITC (this means that you won't be able to take the book out, however, you can make photocopies)

Updated to 2005 wherever possible, it provides key economic and social indicators for the last 255 years, serving as an essential reference source.

Contents provides:

• statistical data in easy to use tables


• for the last 255 years (where available)


• of every country in the African, Asian and Australiasian continents
  

Covering:
Population & Vital Statistics
Includes population of countries at enumerations, by sex and age groups, of major cities, vital statistics, international migrants

Labour Force
Includes economically active population, unemployment, industrial disputes, indices of wages/earnings

Agriculture
Main arable food crops; various foodstuff outputs; livestock, exports of various agricultural commodities

Industry
Includes coal , crude petroleum, natural gas and iron ore production; assembly of motor vehicles, imports & exports

External Trade
Includes aggregate current values, main trading partners and major commodity exports

Transport & Communication
Includes length of railway open lines, freight/passenger traffic on railways, merchant ships registered, motor vehicles in use, civil aviation traffic, postal/telegraph traffic, radio/tv sets in use

Finance
Includes currency/banknotes in circulation, demand deposits in commercial banks, savings, money supply, total central government expenditure,central government revenue (tax yields)

Prices
Includes wholesale and consumer price indices

Education
Includes number of children schools and higher education

National Accounts
Includes national accounts totals , proportions of GDP by sector of origin, balance of payments

ScienceDirect's Hottest articles April - June 2008

Every 3 months ScienceDirect distributes a list of the Top 25 Hottest articles published with in a specific subject area.

Here is the newest list available for Business, Management & Accounting for the time period: April - June 2008

1. Mixed truck delivery systems with both hub-and-spoke and direct shipment • ArticleTransportation Research Part E: Logistics and Transportation Review, Volume 39, Issue 4, 1 July 2003, Pages 325-339Liu, J.; Li, C.-L.; Chan, C.-Y.Cited by Scopus (5)


2. Social adaptation ecotourism in the Lacandon forest • ArticleAnnals of Tourism Research, Volume 32, Issue 3, 1 July 2005, Pages 610-627Hernandez Cruz, R.E.; Baltazar, E.B.; Gomez, G.M.; Estrada Lugo, E.I.J.Cited by Scopus (2)


3. Ecotourism and indigenous micro-enterprise formation in northern Australia opportunities and constraints • ArticleTourism Management, Volume 26, Issue 6, 1 December 2005, Pages 891-904Fuller, D.; Buultjens, J.; Cummings, E.Cited by Scopus (5)


4. Market efficiency, long-term returns, and behavioral finance • ArticleJournal of Financial Economics, Volume 49, Issue 3, 1 September 1998, Pages 283-306Fama, E.F.Cited by Scopus (395)


5. Responsive supply chain: A competitive strategy in a networked economy • ArticleOmega, Volume 36, Issue 4, 1 August 2008, Pages 549-564Gunasekaran, A.; Lai, K.-h.; Edwin Cheng, T.C.Cited by Scopus (3)


6. Issues in Supply Chain Management - Don't Automate, Obliterate • ArticleIndustrial Marketing Management, Volume 29, Issue 1, 1 January 2000, Pages 65-83Lambert, D.M.; Cooper, M.C.Cited by Scopus (197)


7. Progress in information technology and tourism management: 20 years on and 10 years after the Internet-The state of eTourism research • ArticleTourism Management, Volume 29, Issue 4, 1 August 2008, Pages 609-623Buhalis, D.; Law, R.


8. Investor protection and corporate governance • ArticleJournal of Financial Economics, Volume 58, Issue 1-2, 1 January 2000, Pages 3-27La Porta, R.; Lopez-de-Silanes, F.; Shleifer, A.; Vishny, R.Cited by Scopus (321)


9. A grounded theory research approach to building and testing TQM theory in operations management • ArticleOmega, Volume 36, Issue 5, 1 October 2008, Pages 825-837McAdam, R.; Leonard, D.; Henderson, J.; Hazlett, S.A.


10. A strategy for third-party logistics systems: A case analysis using the blue ocean strategy • ArticleOmega, Volume 36, Issue 4, 1 August 2008, Pages 522-534Kim, C.; Yang, K.H.; Kim, J.


11. The use of information systems for logistics and supply chain management in South East Europe: Current status and future direction • ArticleOmega, Volume 36, Issue 4, 1 August 2008, Pages 592-599Ketikidis, P.H.; Koh, S.C.L.; Dimitriadis, N.; Gunasekaran, A.; Kehajova, M.


12. A historic review of management science research in China • ArticleOmega, Volume 36, Issue 6, 1 December 2008, Pages 919-932Wang, J.; Yan, R.; Hollister, K.; Zhu, D.


13. Selective marketing for environmentally sustainable tourism • ArticleTourism Management, Volume 29, Issue 4, 1 August 2008, Pages 672-680Dolnicar, S.; Leisch, F.


14. Event tourism: Definition, evolution, and research • ArticleTourism Management, Volume 29, Issue 3, 1 June 2008, Pages 403-428Getz, D.


15. Network design for reverse logistics • ArticleOmega, Volume 36, Issue 4, 1 August 2008, Pages 535-548Srivastava, S.K.Cited by Scopus (2)


16. Information asymmetry, corporate disclosure, and the capital markets: A review of the empirical disclosure literature • ArticleJournal of Accounting and Economics, Volume 31, Issue 1-3, 1 September 2001, Pages 405-440Healy, P.M.; Palepu, K.G.Cited by Scopus (181)


17. Customer relationship management: Finding value drivers • ArticleIndustrial Marketing Management, Volume 37, Issue 2, 1 April 2008, Pages 120-130Richards, K.A.; Jones, E


18. .Project management: cost, time and quality, two best guesses and a phenomenon, its time to accept other success criteria • ArticleInternational Journal of Project Management, Volume 17, Issue 6, 1 December 1999, Pages 337-342Atkinson, R.Cited by Scopus (60)


19. The effects of brand credibility on customer loyalty • ArticleJournal of Retailing and Consumer Services, Volume 15, Issue 3, 1 May 2008, Pages 179-193Sweeney, J.; Swait, J.Cited by Scopus (1)


20. Supply chain management in the US and Taiwan: An empirical study • ArticleOmega, Volume 36, Issue 5, 1 October 2008, Pages 665-679Chow, W.S.; Madu, C.N.; Kuei, C.-H.; Lu, M.H.; Lin, C.; Tseng, H.


21. Examining the structural relationships of destination image, tourist satisfaction and destination loyalty: An integrated approach • ArticleTourism Management, Volume 29, Issue 4, 1 August 2008, Pages 624-636Chi, C.G.-Q.; Qu, H


22. .Customer satisfaction and loyalty in service: Two concepts, four constructs, several relationships • ArticleJournal of Retailing and Consumer Services, Volume 15, Issue 3, 1 May 2008, Pages 156-162Bodet, G.Cited by Scopus (1)


23. The theory and practice of corporate finance: evidence from the field • ArticleJournal of Financial Economics, Volume 60, Issue 2-3, 1 May 2001, Pages 187-243Graham, J.R.; Harvey, C.R. Cited by Scopus (215)


24. Revisiting the relation between environmental performance and environmental disclosure: An empirical analysis • Article Accounting, Organizations and Society, Volume 33, Issue 4-5, 1 May 2008, Pages 303-327Clarkson, P.M.; Li, Y.; Richardson, G.D.; Vasvari, F.P.


25. Marketing the competitive destination of the future - Growth strategies for accommodation establishments in alpine regions • Article Tourism Management, Volume 21, Issue 1, 1 February 2000, Pages 97-116Buhalis, D. Cited by Scopus (69)

Sport falls under Nursing & Health Professionals:

1.A comparison of pressure ulcer prevalence: concerted data collection in the Netherlands and Germany • Article International Journal of Nursing Studies, Volume 41, Issue 6, August 2004, Pages 607-612Tannen, A.; Dassen, T.; Bours, G.; Halfens, R. Cited by Scopus (14)

2.Pulmonary Arterial Hypertension • Review article Journal of the American College of Cardiology, Volume 51, Issue 16, April 2008, Pages 1527-1538Chin, K.M.; Rubin, L.J. Cited by Scopus (2)

3.Contrast-Induced Acute Kidney Injury • Review article Journal of the American College of Cardiology, Volume 51, Issue 15, April 2008, Pages 1419-1428McCullough, P.A. Cited by Scopus (1)

4.Pre-Operative Risk Assessment and Risk Reduction Before Surgery • Review article Journal of the American College of Cardiology, Volume 51, Issue 20, May 2008, Pages 1913-1924Poldermans, D.; Hoeks, S.E.; Feringa, H.H.

5.Communciation channels to help build an international community of education and practice • Article Journal of Professional Nursing, Volume 20, Issue 6, November 2004, Pages 381-389Oakley, D.; Yu, M.-y.; Lu, H.; Shang, S.; McIntosh, E.; Pang, D.; Van Doren, E.

6.Best Practices in Web-based Courses: Generational Differences Across Undergraduate and Graduate Nursing Students • Article Journal of Professional Nursing, Volume 21, Issue 2, March 2005, Pages 126-133Billings, D.M.; Skiba, D.J.; Connors, H.R. Cited by Scopus (9)

7.Intensive Lipid Lowering With Atorvastatin in Patients With Coronary Heart Disease and Chronic Kidney Disease • Article Journal of the American College of Cardiology, Volume 51, Issue 15, April 2008, Pages 1448-1454TNT (Treating to New Targets) Investigators; Shepherd, J.; Kastelein, J.J.P.; Bittner, V.; Deedwania, P.; Breazna, A.; Dobson, S.; Wilson, D.J.; Zuckerman, A.; Wenger, N.K. Cited by Scopus (1)

8.A Nurse Educator Teaching with Technologies Course: More Than Teaching on the Web • Article Journal of Professional Nursing, Volume 21, Issue 1, January 2005, Pages 59-65Bonnel, W.; Wambach, K.; Connors, H. Cited by Scopus (2)

9.Pharmacologic management of neuropathic pain: Evidence-based recommendations • Review article Pain, Volume 132, Issue 3, December 2007, Pages 237-251Dworkin, R.H.; O\'Connor, A.B.; Backonja, M.; Farrar, J.T.; Finnerup, N.B.; Jensen, T.S.; Kalso, E.A.; Loeser, J.D.; Miaskowski, C.; Nurmikko, T.J.; Portenoy, R.K.; Rice, A.S.C.; Stacey, B.R.; Treede, Cited by Scopus (26)

10.The Role of Aspirin in Cardiovascular Prevention • Review article Journal of the American College of Cardiology, Volume 51, Issue 19, May 2008, Pages 1829-1843Gasparyan, A.Y.; Watson, T.; Lip, G.Y.H. Cited by Scopus (2)

11.Qualitative content analysis in nursing research: concepts, procedures and measures to achieve trustworthiness • Article Nurse Education Today, Volume 24, Issue 2, February 2004, Pages 105-112Graneheim, U.H.; Lundman, B. Cited by Scopus (248)

12.Psychological Stress and Cardiovascular Disease • Review article Journal of the American College of Cardiology, Volume 51, Issue 13, April 2008, Pages 1237-1246Dimsdale, J.E. Cited by Scopus (1)

13.Effects of physical activity on food intake • Review article Clinical Nutrition, Volume 24, Issue 6, December 2005, Pages 885-895Melzer, K.; Kayser, B.; Saris, W.H.M.; Pichard, C. Cited by Scopus (7)

14.Efficacy and Safety of Varenicline for Smoking Cessation • Article American Journal of Medicine, The, Volume 121, Issue 4, April 2008, Pages S32-S42Hays, J.T.; Ebbert, J.O.; Sood, A. Cited by Scopus (2)

15.Long QT Syndrome • Review article Journal of the American College of Cardiology, Volume 51, Issue 24, June 2008, Pages 2291-2300Goldenberg, I.; Moss, A.J.

16.Lipid Levels After Acute Coronary Syndromes • Article Journal of the American College of Cardiology, Volume 51, Issue 15, April 2008, Pages 1440-1445Pitt, B.; Loscalzo, J.; Yc@?as, J.; Raichlen, J.S. Cited by Scopus (1)

17.Oral Direct Renin Inhibition: Premise, Promise, and Potential Limitations of a New Antihypertensive Drug • Review article American Journal of Medicine, The, Volume 121, Issue 4, April 2008, Pages 265-271Shafiq, M.M.; Menon, D.V.; Victor, R.G.

18.Update on Pharmacologic Options for Smoking Cessation Treatment • Article American Journal of Medicine, The, Volume 121, Issue 4, April 2008, Pages S20-S31Nides, M. Cited by Scopus (2)

19.Assessment of Autonomic Function in Cardiovascular Disease • Review article Journal of the American College of Cardiology, Volume 51, Issue 18, May 2008, Pages 1725-1733Lahiri, M.K.; Kannankeril, P.J.; Goldberger, J.J.

20.Aortic Valve Replacement for Low-Flow/Low-Gradient Aortic Stenosis • Article Journal of the American College of Cardiology, Volume 51, Issue 15, April 2008, Pages 1466-1472Levy, F.; Laurent, M.; Monin, J.L.; Maillet, J.M.; Pasquet, A.; Le Tourneau, T.; Petit-Eisenmann, H.; Gori, M.; Jobic, Y.; Bauer, F.; Chauvel, C.; Leguerrier, A.; Tribouilloy, C.

21. Lipoprotein Management in Patients With Cardiometabolic Risk • Review article Journal of the American College of Cardiology, Volume 51, Issue 15, April 2008, Pages 1512-1524Brunzell, J.D.; Davidson, M.; Furberg, C.D.; Goldberg, R.B.; Howard, B.V.; Stein, J.H.; Witztum, J.L. Cited by Scopus (4)

22.Current Status of Cardiac Rehabilitation • Review article Journal of the American College of Cardiology, Volume 51, Issue 17, April 2008, Pages 1619-1631Wenger, N.K.

23.Renin Inhibition in Hypertension • Review article Journal of the American College of Cardiology, Volume 51, Issue 5, February 2008, Pages 519-528Gradman, A.H.; Kad, R. Cited by Scopus (3)

24.Adjusted Clopidogrel Loading Doses According to Vasodilator-Stimulated Phosphoprotein Phosphorylation Index Decrease Rate of Major Adverse Cardiovascular Events in Patients With Clopidogrel Resistance • Article Journal of the American College of Cardiology, Volume 51, Issue 14, April 2008, Pages 1404-1411Bonello, L.; Camoin-Jau, L.; Arques, S.; Boyer, C.; Panagides, D.; Wittenberg, O.; Simeoni, M.C.; Barragan, P.; Dignat-George, F.; Paganelli, F. Cited by Scopus (4)

25. Intensive Lipid-Lowering With Atorvastatin for Secondary Prevention in Patients After Coronary Artery Bypass Surgery • Article Journal of the American College of Cardiology, Volume 51, Issue 20, May 2008, Pages 1938-1943Shah, S.J.; Waters, D.D.; Barter, P.; Kastelein, J.J.P.; Shepherd, J.; Wenger, N.K.; DeMicco, D.A.; Breazna, A.; LaRosa, J.C.

University News from the West

Universities Looking More Like Corporate Research Labs steven bell University “tech transfer” offices have boomed from a couple dozen before the law’s passage to nearly 300 today. University patents have leapt a hundredfold. Professors are stepping away from the lab and lecture hall to navigate the thicket of venture capital, business regulations and commercial competition. None of these are necessarily negative outcomes. The primary concern is that its original intent — to infuse the American marketplace with the fruits of academic innovation — has also distorted the fundamental mission of universities.

Studying Student Shopping Behavior...For Their Courses steven bell Most colleges and universities have fairly lenient drop/add policies. Students can drop a course well into the semester, and courses can be added during a short time window at the beginning of the semester or term. During that course add period, some students do course shopping. They sign up for a course, attend the first couple of sessions, then drop the course and replace it with another course. Some students course shop regularly and extensively. Researchers studied course shopping in urban community colleges—nine Los Angeles community college campuses, to be specific. They used data collected as part of a larger study of transfer and retention issues in urban community colleges. The researchers offer a variety of suggestions that might help students make those wise first choices.


Living the dream Students' expectations of college life are formed long before they arrive, but blaming them for a lack of realism isn't the answer. Hannah Fearn reports

Tory promise: more students, more freedom
Shadow Minister says he wants a bold new direction for higher education

Students more satisfied than ever before
Most are happy with teaching, but assessment is still a concern

RAE table will be shaken by use of journal rankings
Panel member says leaders who chose entries on impact factor may be surprised

‘MTV generation learns through fun’
Dull teaching styles risk losing students to online education, US innovator warns

Noddy management
Treat your staff to lashings of 1940s-style good sense and you jolly well won’t go far wrong, advises Enid Blyton devotee Sally Feldman

Grand masters of vinyl
Prog rock devotee Greg Walker takes an affecionate look at an intelligent and gloriously ambitious genre, and asks us to celebrate the era when rock’s dinosaurs roamed the Earth

Book of the week
Tara Brabazon acclaims a monograph of merit: Wendy Griswold’s Regionalism and the Reading Class

A Community College Divided
At Thomas Nelson, a president who outraged faculty elsewhere runs into trouble again — and leaves an institution split over priorities, race and right to dissent. more


In New Orleans, Move-In Day (Again) As students return to Loyola U. campus after pre-hurricane evacuation, the campus is neat and the mood upbeat, but storm clouds loom (literally). more


Print Journalism Squeeze Hits Campuses As newspapers across the country face declining revenues, student publications are feeling the brunt, too. more


EUROPE: Impact of sharp population decline Keith Nuthall
European academics are preparing to gather at a high-level conference to discuss the problems caused to higher education by a sharp decline in the European population. The debates at the European University Association conference come as the latest figures from the European Union statistical agency Eurostat confirm the number of young people in European countries is already shrinking and will get smaller

GLOBAL: Higher education expanding rapidly Diane Spencer
The higher education sector has expanded rapidly worldwide over the past decade, says the latest annual report from the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development. Education at a Glance 2008 shows that 37% of school-leavers went to university in 1995 whereas 57% on average now do in the 30 member countries of the OECD. In Australia, Finland, Iceland, Poland and Sweden, three out of four school-leavers go on to a degree course. The 500-page report also shows that public expenditure on higher education has increased but that private investment has risen even more.

GLOBAL: North America far ahead in new rankings Rebecca Warden
North American universities are the clear winners in the latest edition of of The Web Ranking of World Universities, published by the Spanish National Research Council or CSIC's Cybermetrics Lab. The council has US and Canadian universities between them accounting for 123 of the world's top 200 universities. Europe comes in a very poor second with 61 universities while the Asia-Pacific region manages a total of 14. The league table, produced twice yearly since 2004, ranks institutions according to the size and quality of their presence on the internet and its wider impact.

CANADA: Tuition-fee patchwork siphons students Philip Fine
Hundreds of bargain-hunting Canadian students have moved to Newfoundland and Labrador, a province with the lowest tuition fees in the country. The recent student migration is one of the strange things to emerge in a country where individual provincial governments fund university operations, while the federal government is relegated to observing the wild patchwork of varying fees.

UK: Students underestimate debts Diane Spencer
As the British university term is about to begin, new students are being warned not to underestimate how much they are likely to be in debt by the end of their courses. A survey from the National Union of Students reveals that prospective university students are underestimating the basic costs of living such as groceries, household bills and travel by nearly £450 (US$822) a year.

GERMANY: Studying too expensive Mike Gardner
Yet another damning report has been released on social background and studying in Germany. This time the Deutsches Studentenwerk or DSW, the country's student welfare organisation, has drawn attention to the fact that more and more school-leavers in Germany are choosing not to study owing to difficult financial hurdles. Even among the group with top marks in the Abitur higher education admission certificate, parents' income is clearly a decisive factor in career planning.

GERMANY: OECD statistics cause for concern Michael Gardner German first-year student numbers appear to be stagnating, according to OECD statistics. The country is also performing poorly in terms of graduation figures, says the organisation's Education at a Glance 2008 report released last week. President of the Hochschulrektorenkonferenz (HRK - the conference of higher education heads in Germany), Professor Margret Wintermantel, is worried that Germany is increasingly lagging behind other countries and has called for more funding for higher education.

SOUTH KOREA: KAIST conference attracts leading researchers Douglas Rogers* The big-budget conference circuit with high-profile international speakers hits Korea in October. This year, the Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST), in Daejon, has got in early with a series of activities straddling the weekend, reflecting the dynamic leadership of the President, Dr Suh Nam-Pyo.

Download up to 20 articles from ScienceDirect at the same time!

ScienceDirect has a brand new function!

It's called Document Download Manager and enables you to download up to 20 full text articles at a time whilst still doing normal searching in ScienceDirect.

The DDM also allows you to automatically name downloaded full-text articles according to your own naming convention and pre-select a preferred destination for downloads. This helps reduce the irritation factor of lost files, and makes the process much more intuitive.

Confused?

Here is how it works: (Click on the images to enlarge them)

Step 1: Do a search on ScienceDirect

When you get the list of results you will see a new button just above the results (on the image marked in black) - Download Pdf's. This button allows the downloading of more than 1 full text article at a time.

You can either mark certain articles and then click on Download Pdf's - or you can click on it without marking any items. (If no items have been marked you will get a pop-up stating that the first 20 articles will be downloaded.)

Step 2: Make sure the pop-ups are not blocked

Step 3: Click on the Download Pdf's link

Step 4: Choose the name of the file as well as where you want the pdf's to be downloaded to (e.g. flash drive, specific folder etc)

You can give your own naming convention to the list:

Once you are down naming the file and choosing a place for the pdf's you can see the status of the files as they are being downloaded

Once the download is complete you will see an icon of the pdf:

If you go to where you've saved the files you will see all of them are there:


I think this will save a great deal of time for researchers since you can still go on with the searching in ScienceDirect, while your files are being downloaded in the background.

Time is running out to order books for 2009

Copyright david_ming

Time is almost running out to order new books for 2009 - and some departments still have a bit of money left in their book budgets. (Contact your HOD for the exact amount)

Remember you will lose what you do not spend.

To help you choose new relevant titles, here is a list of publishers with links to relevant books:

Department Business Management

Blackwell Publishing
Business & Management

Cambridge
Business & Management
Management catalogue

Elsevier
Business
Strategy and Strategic Management

Harvard Business Press
2008/9 Catalogue
Global Business
Leadership & Managing People

MIT
Business

Oxford University Press
Business

Springer
Business & Management

Taylor & Francis
Business Management

Wiley
Business & Management

Palgrave
Business

Department Information & Knowledge Management

Blackwell Publishing
Computing (General)

Chandos
September – December 2008 Catalogue

Elsevier
Management Information systems
Computer Science (includes applications, hardware & architecture, software, AI etc )
Computing & Information Technology

MIT
Computer Science & Intelligence Systems

Oxford University Press
Computer Science

Palgrave
Computer Science

Department of Marketing Management

Blackwell Publishing
Marketing

Cambridge
Business & Management: (Marketing falls under Business & Management at Cambridge)

Elsevier
Marketing

Harvard Business Press
Sales & Marketing

Springer
Marketing
Media Management

Wiley
Marketing & Sales
Advertising

Department of Sport & Movement Studies

Blackwell Publishing Sport Science

Elsevier
Sports medicine

Taylor & Francis
Sport

Palgrave
Sport

Department of Transport & Supply Chain Management

Wiley
Transportation
Logistics
Supply Chain Management

Springer
Transport
Procurement
Production & Logistics

Random House
Transportation

National Academic Press
Transportation And Infrastructure

Elsevier
Transport
Supply chain management
Logistics

Higher Education Inflation Index for the USA released

Copyright yirsh

The Higher Education Price Index (HEPI) is an inflation index designed specifically to track the main cost drivers in higher education in the USA.

It is an essential planning tool for educational managers, enabling schools to project the future budget and funding increases required to maintain real purchasing power and investment. HEPI is issued annually by Commonfund Institute and is distributed free of charge to educational institutions.

HEPI is a more accurate indicator of changes in costs for colleges and universities than the more familiar Consumer Price Index. It measures the average relative level of prices in a fixed basket of goods and services purchased by colleges and universities each year through current fund educational and general expenditures, excluding research.

HEPI is compiled from data reported and published by government and economic agencies. The eight categories cover current operational costs of colleges and universities. These include salaries for faculty, administrative employees, clerical employees, and service employees, fringe benefits, utilities, supplies and materials, and miscellaneous services.

HEPI has been calculated every year since 1983 and includes inflation data going back to 1961. Since fiscal year 2002, HEPI has been based on a regression formula. In 2005, Commonfund Institute assumed responsibility for maintaining HEPI and calculating its annual rate of change.

Credit Cards usage up in emerging markets

Copyright LotusHead

According to a new Forbes article, credit card usage is on the rise in the emerging economies of the world:

" The growth of credit card use in Latin America, Asia and Eastern Europe signals continuing financial development in these markets. However, the experience of South Korea in 2003 demonstrates that excessive growth in this type of consumer credit has the potential to threaten economic stability.
In recent years, the credit card industry in emerging-market economies has expanded rapidly:
--Between 2004-07, the number of credit cards in Brazil and Mexico more than doubled, while the number of cards in circulation in Poland tripled.
--Russia has also seen major growth.
--Outstanding credit card debt in India tripled over the same period.
--In China, growth in the number of outstanding credit cards averaged just over 23% from 2004-07. It surged to nearly 93% in the first half of 2008. "

For more on the article, click here.

For scholarly articles discussing credit cards and emerging markets click:

• here for articles from EbscoHost
• here for articles from ProQuest
• here for articles from ScienceDirect

Who's in charge of Asia's Fab 50?

Forbes Business just released a list of CEO's of the Top 50 companies operating in Asia:

The Council for Medical Schemes Annual report released

Copyright by miqueias

The Council for Medical Schemes (CMS) released their Annual Report for 2007/2008 yesterday.

As the regulatory authority responsible for overseeing medical schemes in South Africa (SA), the Council for Medical Schemes (CMS or Council) administers and enforces the Medical Schemes Act 131 of 1998 (MSA or Act).
The CMS is an autonomous public agency funded through levies charged to medical schemes and is accountable to the Minister responsible for national health matters.

The report itself is quite long (177 pages), but the key goals of the CMS, taken from the report, are:

Goal 1: We monitor the impact of the Medical Schemes Act 131 of 1998 and recommend improvements.

Goal 2: Secure adequate protection for beneficiaries by approving the manner in which medical schemes carry out business and by monitoring their financial performance.

Goal 3: Support the work of trustees and promote public understanding of the way in which medical schemes function.

Goal 4: Take fair and timely enforcement actions when required.

Goal 5: Investigate and resolve complaints of beneficiaries.

Goal 6: Foster the development of the CMS as an attractive workplace and an employer of choice.

Goal 7: Develop strategic alliances with counterpart regulators and others.

New issue of Consumer Insight available

Nielsen's magazine Consumer Insight just released the September 2008 issue and here is what you can expect:

The Online and In-Store Crossover Conundrum.

Can online and in-store have a synergistic channel relationship? The crossover sales question leaves marketers wondering—what are the incremental offline sales attributable to my Web site and do I run the risk of cannibalization?... Read More

Cross-Media Brands: Connecting with Consumers Across Platforms.

For brands that connect with consumers across multiple media, measurement accuracy is paramount. But which method is more accurate—single source or fusion data? A study by ESPN and Nielsen shows the best pathway to the richest insights.... Read More
Defensive Branding: How to Defend Your Brand in an Age of Consumer Control.

Bloggers gone wild. What do you do when consumer vigilantes attack your product? First, know your B.Q. (Nielsen Brand Advocacy Quotient). Second, kick your defensive branding campaign into high gear... Read More
Beyond Data: The Power of Insights .

Feeling overwhelmed by an avalanche of data? Information overload weighs heavily on businesses and “more” does not always mean “better”. When you parlay facts into wisdom, you gain competitive advantage by making the power of insights work for you... Read More
Rising Russian Rubles.

As residents of a cash-rich country with a rising middle class, Russian consumers are optimistic and on the run. As they drive the growth of “convenient” snacks, meal-makers, mobile phones, premium alcohol and others, how will this rising star change in the next decade?... Read More

"Below the Topline" - Global Immigration.

In many countries in the developed world, immigrant populations are so large that establishing a relationship between them and your products may mean the difference between reaching brand sales goals or not. read more

Copyrighted image: srbichara

Top Tens and Trends

Our latest intelligence on Movies, TV, Books, Music, CPG Trends and more. read more

Jacob Zuma's at UJ

Copyright David Sandison

Jacob Zuma, the president of the ANC, will address a public lecture here at the University with the theme of his talk being: Access to justice in a democratic South Africa.

Date: 9th September (this Tuesday)

Time: 14:30 for 15:00

Venue: UJ Sanlam Auditorium (E-Ring) here on the APK Campus

RSVP: Barenice van Reenen (x6662)

Know what your consumer is thinking

Keeping up to date with consumers and consumer attitudes is critical for business success, but how do you know what consumers are thinking? (Short of asking everyone you see...)

Nielsen's Global Consumer Reports are quite helpful as it provides statistics and commentary on global consumer/marketing issues.

Here is a list of some of the newest reports:

Consumer Confidence, Concerns, Spending and Attitudes to Recession: A Global Nielsen Consumer Report

Consumer confidence has fallen to its lowest level in several years, according to the Nielsen Global Consumer Confidence Index, the definitive gauge of consumer sentiment around economic and social concerns across 51 countries.

Consumers and Designer Brands : A Global Nielsen Report

The latest Nielsen survey on designer brands reveals that consumers remain enraptured by the allure of luxury, and there are generous payoffs for designer brands that dare to diversify

Packaging and The Environment : A Global Nielsen Consumer Report

There's no doubt about it: Green is the new black. With publicity surrounding the threat of global warming on the rise, environmental friendliness has fast become a marketer's dream.