EMERGING MARKET 49fresh impetus to the development and extension of transport networks. As part of its strategy towards energy use, Morocco gives priority toThe aim is to support the country's desire to become an international developing renewable energy and sustainable development. Withlogistics hub and an attractive destination for growth-oriented abundant solar resources (a potential of 2 600 kWh/m²/year) and ainvestments. strategic position at the heart of an energy hub, Morocco offers a wide range of investment opportunities in the sector of thermal and photovoltaic solar energy, Integrated Wind Energy Project. Wind is highly abundant in nearly all the coastal regions. Wind potential could be of 25,000 MW. According to Moroccan Ministry of Energy the total wind power installed capacity of the country is expected to be more than 2,000 MW in 2020. The main focus areas of the logistic strategy are: 5. AGRICULTURE (i) Optimization and accessibility of goods through the In 2008, the Moroccan government adopted a strategy called the Green development of a national network of multi-flow logistic Morocco Plan to drive and reform the agricultural sector, promote the zones (ZLMF); integration of agriculture into international markets and help agriculture (ii) Development of a network of logistics sector actors; achieve sustainable growth. Its implementation relies on two main (iii) Training in logistic trades; and pillars and a variety of intersecting programs. (iv) Establishment of a governance framework for the sector and regulatory measures. I. The first pillar relates to high-yield, intensive and market- related agriculture.4. ENERGY ii. The second relates to bolstering the position of small farmers through the proper promotion of crop yield growth and encouraging a shift toward crops that are better adapted to environmental conditions and market demand. The intersecting programs involve water conservation, land ownership and the mobilization of investments. In total, the Green Morocco Plan is comprised of 1,500 projects requiring, until 2020, more than $10 billion to implement. 5. PHARMACEUTICAL The pharmaceutical industry in Morocco is liberalized and open to foreign investment with profits and capital gains being fully transferable abroad. All aspects of the pharmaceuticals sector are highly regulated, including the establishment, operation and monitoring of pharmaceutical manufacturers and the placing on the market and pricing of drugs. Total spending on health, which is around MAD 47.8 billion, accounts for 63% of GDP and has been rising very slowly for over a decade. However, the pharmaceutical industry only manages to cover 65% of national demand.Morocco is the only North African country with no natural oil resources Royal Air Maroc serves a network comprising over 90 destinations, ofand is the largest energy importer in the region. Petroleum imports which 56 are international ones. The carrier flies to 17 cities withinaccount for 20% of total imports and 50% of the current trade deficit. Morocco, 13 European countries, 24 countries in Africa, Middle EastMorocco has had to import increasing amounts of electricity from Spain and America.through two 400kV subsea cables that span the 26-kilometre Strait ofGibraltar. Imports in 2012 were close to 5,000 GWh compared with Sept.2015|1,000 GWh in 2005.
50 ONLINE MARKETING TIPS AND TRICKS FOR TWITTER MARKETING Sept.2015|
ONLINE MARKETING 51First impressions are everything. So, before you even get to the tips and tricks of twitter marketing, let's start with your Twitterbrand page. Here's a basic checklist of what you need for an eye-catching informative brand page: A great handle. Make it as short and simple aspossible, while still keeping to your brand name. Don'tuse any special characters that will make it difficult for people to remember, search for, or type it in. For example, use @MibTimes instead of@Mib-Times. Use a high-resolution header image that really represents your brand. (1500x500 pixels) A great handle. Make it as short and simple aspossible, while still keeping to your brand name. Don'tuse any special characters that will make it difficult for people to remember, search for, or type it in. For example, use @MibTimes instead of@Mib-Times. Your description should be an elevator speech with somehigh caliber keywords sprinkled in. You can even use Emojiin your description, because although Google doesn't allow you to search on Emoji, both Bing and Twitter do. Sept.2015|
52 ONLINE MARKETING Choose a color scheme that matches your company colors. Always view your Twitter brand page in a number of different browsers, and on various desktop and mobile devices after making changes. Make sure the profile photo doesn't obscure any important text or graphic elements in the header image, and make sure you can read everything on a smaller mobile device.Twitter is an enigma for many businesses, because it's such a different environment than what they're used to – even when itcomes to the world of social media marketing. It can be very challenging for marketers to try to engage an audience or get apoint across in 140 characters or less, but it can also help you get really good at honing your messaging. Remember, Twitter isgoing to be most effective for your business when it is an integrated piece of your entire marketing strategy. There is no moreeffective way to engage an audience in real time than on Twitter.Here Are Some Tips And Tricks For Twitter Marketing : Position your company as a thought leader - If you have employees who are considered industry experts, give them some Twitter love when they speak at conferences, publish an article or blog post, or get recognized for an award. Tweet links to current news in your industry. This shows you keep up to date and know what's going on outside your own four walls. Tweet content that makes you look smart and well- connected. Writing a guest post on a highly trafficked blog is a great way to garner some free company publicity, and position yourself as a thought leader. Engage with your audience - Twitter is not meant to be your personal megaphone. It's a two-way conversation. Gone are the days when you can just post links to content and call it good. If someone on Twitter mentions your company in a tweet – good or bad – you need to respond in real time. It's a chance for you to show there's a human behind the tweets, and that you care. And you can get extra points for authenticity. Give your brand some personality- Nobody wants to read a bunch of dry robotic tweets. Find the personality in your brand and give it a voice. The trick is to bring the personality without being personal. If you have multiple people manning your Twitter feed, make sure they know what company persona the brand is going for, and that they are consistent with that voice. Drive traffic to your content - If you're not using Twitter to drive traffic to your content you're really missing the boat. You can promote the same piece of content multiple times by changing the text in the tweet and scheduling posts in different time zones. Try using the #ICYMI (In Case You Missed It) hashtag on recycled posts so people know they're not new. Check out your competition- Your competition's Twitter stream is like a free pass into their marketing plan, so why wouldn't you pay attention? Companies post links to their latest press releases, eBooks, blog posts, acquisitions, and product announcements. You can also see what other people are saying about your competition by searching on their brand name and any hashtags they use regularly. Sept.2015|
ONLINE MARKETING 53Tweet at 120 characters or less - There's nothing more frustrating than trying to retweet a tweet that uses the full 140 characters allowed byTwitter. You do realize that Twitter adds your Twitter handle, an “RT”, a space, and a colon to the tweet when someone retweets, right? Keepyour tweets at 120 characters or less to maximize your chance of a retweet.Don't make it all about you - We all know your company and your products are awesome, but please don't tweet about yourself ad nauseum.Your Twitter feed needs to tell a story when someone reads through a day's worth of tweets. Make sure that story isn't all about you.Mention your customers - Everyone likes a little public recognition. If one of your partners or customers has a paper published or speaks at anevent, give them a shout out if it's something that relates to your business.Schedule for all time zones - Just because you're awake at 7am on a Friday, doesn't mean the rest of the world is. Be conscious of who will seeyour tweets, and at what time. Use a good scheduling tool to help you schedule tweets in all relevant time zones, and for goodness sakes don'tschedule five tweets at the exact same time. It's a dead giveaway that your posts are automated. People want to know there's a human behindthe feed.Pin a tweet- If you have a specific tweet that's generating a lot of engagement, or you want to be sure anyone who visits your Twitter page sees aspecific tweet, you can pin that tweet to the top of your feed. Find the tweet you'd like to be featured, click on the three dots (ellipses in the bottomright corner of the tweet), and choose “Pin to your profile page.” Refresh your page and voila! That tweet is now pinned to the top of your feed.Follow brand advocates - The only way to get followers is to start following people, unless of course you're Justin Bieber or Kim Kardashian. Beselective in who you follow, because it's a reflection on the company. Find your brand advocates and industry influencers and follow them. Beaware that Twitter has a follow limit, and will disable the follow function if you follow too many people too fast.Use consistent hashtags- There's nothing worse than using a hashtag in a tweet, and then finding out it's being associated with somethingcompletely unrelated by other users on Twitter. Create a list of well-researched hashtags, and make sure everyone in your company knowswhat the approved list of hashtags is.Follow brand advocates - The only way to get followers is to start following people, unless of course you're Justin Bieber or Kim Kardashian. Beselective in who you follow, because it's a reflection on the company. Find your brand advocates and industry influencers and follow them. Beaware that Twitter has a follow limit, and will disable the follow function if you follow too many people too fast.Change your header image to promote events - Although you should always have at least one standard company header image, you can (andshould) create custom header images to promote big events. It's perfectly acceptable to use that image to promote a conference date, but youshould never use that image to try to sell something. It's bad form. Sept.2015|
54 SINGAPORE BUSINESS NEWSISLAND WIDE RETAIL RENTS SLUMPFOR THE FIRST TIME IN TWO YEARSThe retail crunch is coming to a head. Retail vacancy rates have been creeping up for several quarters, but rents have been relatively unscathed untilnow. For the first time since 3Q13, Singapore's overall retail rents declined by 0.5% qoq in the second quarter. According to Maybank Kim Eng, thesharp decline in occupancy is especially evident in the City Hall area, where vacancies leaped to 13.4%. This marks a sharp increase from 11.7% inthe preceding quarter. CBRE estimates that rents there slipped 1.6% QoQ and 2.6% YoY. Even the Orchard Area was not spared. Rents in the primeshopping belt dipped 0.4% in Q2, on the back of persistently soft tourist arrivals.\"The outlook for tourist-based malls -Orchard, City Hall area andVivocity has not improved on weak regional economies and currencies. These continued to rein in arrivals from Indonesia, Malaysia, Europe andAustralia,\" the report said. [SBR]SINGAPORE CONSUMER OPTIMISM UP Consumer confidence in Singapore hasIN 2015: MASTERCARD SURVEY gained steadily, reaching a high of 65.3 index points in mid-2015, according to the MasterCard Index of Consumer Confidence. The MasterCard survey took responses from about 400 people in Singapore, aged 18 to 64, who were asked to give a six-month outlook on five economic factors: economy, employment prospects, regular income prospects, stock market and their quality of life. Zero is considered the most pessimistic, 100 the most optimistic and 50 is neutral. In all, 8,718 respondents in 17 Asia-Pacific markets were surveyed. Singapore's lift in optimism was buoyed by growth in positive sentiments in four of the five indicators of the consumer confidence index. The survey revealed strong improvements in the outlook for the stock market and quality of life, with the only decline seen in employment. [The Businesstimes]Sept.2015|
SINGAPORE BUSINESS NEWS 55Two Singapore-based startups celebrated SG50 with lucrative funding TWO START-UPS GET LEG-UP FROMdeals led by A-listed venture capitalists (VCs), enabling them to grow VENTURE CAPITALISTSmore quickly.Robotics start-up Grey Orange won US$30 million (S$42million) in funding led by United States-based Tiger Global Management.Indian VC Blume Ventures also participated in this round of funding. Tigerpreviously backed social network giant Facebook and India's largest e-commerce company Flipkart.The other winner last week was healthcarestart-up Practo, which secured US$90 million in funding led by ChineseInternet giant Tencent. Other investors included VC giants Sequoia Indiaand Google Capital and Russian investor Yuri Milner, who has invested insocial network Twitter and Chinese smartphone company Xiaomi. GreyOrange and Practo will use the funds to undertake further productdevelopment and expand their business operations. [Asiaone]INDUSTRIAL LANDLORDS SUFFER AS Industrial landlords are struggling with the double whammy ofLARGE MANUFACTURERS EXIT vanishing tenants and a massive space glut. A massive space glut isn't the only trouble plaguing Singapore's industrial leasing segment. Industrial landlords are also grappling with the consequences brought about by vanishing tenants, as evidenced by two large manufacturers which decided to close local operations in the second quarter.According to Savills, manufacturers are choosing to exit on back of Singapore's rising business costs. For instance, Japanese petrochemicals giant Teijin announced that it would shut down its Singapore operations at the end of this year. “The situation bears out the industry's challenges that could quite easily oust smaller manufacturers who are less resilient to the onslaught of issues buffeting the industry,” Savills said. “The upcoming oversupply of factory and warehouse space for the rest of the year and into the next will place further downward pressure on industrial rents, while sales are expected to remain thin,” the report noted. [SBR]SINGAPORE'S EXPORTS DOWN 0.8% Non-oil domestic exports (NODX) in Singapore fell 0.8 per centYEAR-ON-YEAR IN JULY year-on-year in July 2015, due to a decrease in non-electronic exports, according to statistics released on Aug 17 by International Enterprise (IE) Singapore.The fall in exports comes after a 4.5 per cent expansion in the previous month. Electronic exports rose 2.3 per cent on-year, following the 7.6 per cent increase in the previous month. The increase was largely due to PCs (74.3 per cent), telecommunications equipment (86.6 per cent) and diodes and transistors (21.7 per cent), IE Singapore said.Non-electronic exports contracted by 2.1 per cent, following the 3.3 per cent rise in the previous month. The decrease was led by structures of ships and boats (-98.3 per cent), printed matter (-51.8 per cent) and primary chemicals (-22.1 per cent).On a year-on-year basis, NODX to all of the top 10 markets except Hong Kong, South Koreaand Thailand - fell last month. The top three contributors to the decline were Japan, Taiwan and China, according to the agency, which drivesSingapore's external trade. Non-oil re-exports (NORX) rose by 5 per cent year-on-year in July, after the 1 per cent expansion in the previous month,due to an increase in both electronic and non-electronic re-exports. [CNA] Sept.2015|
56 EMERGING TECHNOLOGY Fuel-cell vehicles : Sept.2015|
EMERGING TECHNOLOGY 57Now automobile companies are aiming at the technologies in creating space-age vehicles...Oh! I know where your imagination goes, not flying cars!But technologies where vehicles are run by chemical reactions rather than traditional batteries.Brand new cars are going to be released using Fuel-cell technology with zero-emission of carbon.Fuel-Cells: What is it?A fuel cell is a device that generates electricity by a chemical reaction. A battery is a closed source of energy where it depletes and requiresrecharging, a fuel cell, on the other hand, uses an external supply of chemical energy and can run indefinitely, as long as it is supplied with a source ofhydrogen and a source of oxygen (usually air). The waste will be emitted in the form of water vapour.Fuel cells can vary from tiny devices producing only a few watts of electricity, right up to large power plants producing megawatts. ADVANTAGES OF FUEL-CELLS IN VEHICLESFuel-cell vehicles have long promised several major PROS & CONS OF GENERATING HYDROGEN.advantages over those powered by electricity or hydrocarbons.The technology has only now begun to reach the stage where Generally speaking,if hydrogen is to be the energyautomotive companies are planning launches for consumers, alternative of the next century , we must examinehowever. Initial prices are likely to be in the range of $70,000 but whether hydrogen production can possibly keep paceshould come down significantly as volumes increase within the with the incredible energy needs of our ever expandingnext couple of years. international economy.The cost and effort will be twice as we spend to generate electricity.Unlike battery-powered electric vehicles, fuel-cell poweredones have a long cruising range—up to 650 kilometers per tank But the scope of this article is only about Fuel-Cells in(the fuel is usually compressed hydrogen gas); a hydrogen fuel vehicles, the generation of hydrogen won't be a problem.refill only takes about three minutes. Hydrogen is clean- Hydrogen can be produced in an environmentallyburning, producing only water vapor as waste, so fuel-cell friendly manner for vehicles. Lets expect awesomevehicles using hydrogen will be zero-emission, an important vehicles to hit the road before this year end.factor given the need to reduce air pollution. Rest in Next!Mass-market fuel-cell vehicles are an attractive prospect GANESH MURUGANbecause they will offer the range and fueling convenience oftoday's diesel and gas-powered vehicles while providing the Ganesh Murugan, MBA, PMP,benefits of sustainability in personal transportation. Achieving Analyst, Solution Arshitect andthese benefits will, however, require the reliable and CEO of eSolution Webbers Sdn Bhdeconomical production of hydrogen from entirely low-carbon e-Mail : [email protected] as well as its distribution to a growing fleet of vehicles, Skype : esolution_ganeshexpected to number in the many millions within a decade. Sept.2015|
58 EASTERN MANAGEMENT THE ESSENCE OF VEDIC PHILOSOPHY FOR BUSINESS It focuses to work for a reason by which we can get some monetary returns and 'betterment of mankind.'In Vedic philosophy, business has been considered as a legitimate, integral part of the society to live our livelihood. The basic activity of business is to create prosperity for the society to make the people physically & mentally healthy through manufacturing, balanced domestic distribution of products & services, foreign trade, financial transactions and other relatedactivities. It focuses to work for a reason by which we can get some monetary returns and 'betterment of mankind.'Sustainable growth and excellence in business and social life can be attained through 'Prosperity for all mankind or 'Dharmicpath'.'Speak truth and follow Dharmic way', meaning the right way of living life, earn bread & butter (Teetitriya Upanishada 1.11) is akey ancient teaching. The importance of traditional style of doing business lies in adopting an ethical approach and making itpossible to fulfill the expectations of the society at the whole. Sept.2015|
EASTERN MANAGEMENT 59 EQUALITY performs deeds whose fruits he will reap in existing and succeeding lives. Every moral act must lead to its appropriateTo attain the excellence we need to have Common reward: if not in this life, then in a future one. Vision, Universal Brotherhood, and Equitable Prosperity for all, so that everybody can In an organization, perceptions of customers, employees, be happy & prosper. shareholders, suppliers and society about the organization are formed based on its past performance and current deeds. Also,Rig-Veda explains the \"Rta\", or “cosmic order\" saying physical every positive initiative taken by the organization will fetch goodas well as moral laws govern the entire universe and that no results now or in the future. Thus, an organization shouldtransgression of these laws is allowed. Thus, to attain the continuously focus on the improvements as per Deming'sexcellence we need to have Common Vision, Universal PCDA (Plan-Do-Check-Act) Circle or the RADAR (Results,Brotherhood, and Equitable Prosperity for all, so that Approach, Deployment, Assessment and Review).everybody can be happy & prosper. The following mantra from The emphasis on continuous efforts for improvements to attainRig-Veda clearly explains this concept: excellence is supported by Vedic hymn: \"The Gods like hard- working persons. They dislike easy-going and idle people. Ever-\"O ye mankind! Let your vision and thinking of life be one and wakeful persons attain great happiness and prosperity\".common, Let your hearts be transpired with feeling of equality, Another Vedic hymn focuses on continuous improvements: \"OLet your minds be united together, Resulting in equal man! You grow very high\".prosperity and common excellence in the life for all”.Excellence is dependent upon making a balance and satisfyingthe needs of all relevant stakeholders including employees,customers, suppliers, shareholders and society in general onthe whole. Development and implementation of theimprovement plans by the organizations is a part & parcel ofTotal Quality Management implementation. It is in line with thefollowing Vedic hymn: \"Effort is the hallmark of a human being”. CONTINUOUS IMPROVEMENTEvery positive initiative taken by the organization Fast Facts will fetch good results now or in the future Dr. William Edwards was trustedThe Upanishads deal with the central philosophical questions: consultant to influential business leaders, powerful corporations and governments What is the nature of ultimate reality? around the world. This includes inspiring What is the essence of humanity? and guiding the spectacular rise of Japanese industry after World War II, andPutting together these two ideas, the essence of humanity and the resurgence of the American automobilethe essence of the world, the ancient philosophers produced industry in the late 1980sthe greatest insight of the Upanishads. Upanishads alsopresent the doctrine of Karma. According to this teaching, each Sept.2015|human soul lives in countless lives. It is born and reborn againand again until it reaches liberation and is born no more. In life,the individual suffers and enjoys the results of immoral or moraldeeds done in existing and previous lives. In turn, the individual
60 EASTERN MANAGEMENTCUSTOMER Three types of self-discipline :To attain the excellence we need to have Common Atma- Vision, Universal Brotherhood, and Equitable Glani or Prosperity for all, so that everybody can be happy & prosper. Self- GuiltThe customer is the final arbiter of the quality of any product orservice. Customer loyalty,retention, and market share gain are Ishwar-Bhaya orbest optimized through clear focus on the needs of current and Fear ofpotential customers. Deming stresses that management mustlearn their responsibilities and give first priority to customer punishment bysatisfaction as he is the king of market concept given by Philip GodKotler. He stresses to eliminate the need for inspection bybuilding quality into the product in the first place. This isendorsement to the teaching of Lord Krishna in Bhagavad Gita:\"Yoga is excellence in Karma (action)\".Thus customer satisfaction or 'quality of the highest order' canbe attained only through voluntarily following \"Swa-Dharma\" or\"Self-Ethics\" or \"Self-Inspection\" or \"Organization's ValuesSystem\", which will lead to achievement of excellence (Yoga) ofproduct or service ultimately passed on to the customers. LEADERSHIP Lok-Lajja or Fear of Society.Sept.2015|
EASTERN MANAGEMENT 61The behaviour of an organization's leaders creates a clarity and unity of purpose within the organization and an environment inwhich the organization and its people can excel. All business excellence models put leadership as the first step towards excellence.Manu Smiriti has many mantras, which guides how the good governance can be achieved. In the past hundred years we have seengrowth and fall of national economies and the companies. Role model ethics by the chief executive plays a major role in thedevelopment of organizational culture.Employees will follow the \"Swa-Dharma\" or Organization's Values System only if the chief executive and his top team set anexample before them as Vedic philosophy explains: \"As the chief executive (King) is, so are the people”. The above principle hasalso been endorsed by eminent international quality experts like Deming, Juran, Claus Moller, and Harry Roberts who deliberatelyidentify the personal quality of the chief executive as the very basic point for the organizational excellence. Deming has given specialfocus on various aspects of leadership. The search of personal quality starts from self-analysis or self-assessment.PEOPLEThe full potential of an organization's people is best released The hymn of Atharva Veda endorses the above concept:through shared values and a culture of trust and empowerment,which encourages the participation of everyone. Deming has \"O King! Take care of the welfare andstressed on people development. He emphasizes that each growth of all your people. Then you willemployee must be devoted to the organization's philosophy ofcommitment to never-ending improvement through education, grow as thetraining and self-improvement. Management should drive out sun grows and shines at dawn and after itsfear and create an environment of trust and innovation so thateveryone may effectively contribute. rise\". Sept.2015|
62 EASTERN MANAGEMENTThe sun makes consistent and continuous efforts to grow without fear. Similarly, the chief executive should make consistent andcontinuous efforts for the growth of his employees and the organization. The quality of a person's life is directly proportional to hiscommitment to excellence regardless of his chosen field of Endeavour. PARTNERSHIPAn organization works most effectively when it has mutually beneficial relationships built on trust, sharing of knowledge, andintegration with its Partners. Various excellence models emphasize to end the practice of awarding business on the basis of the pricetag. Instead to minimize total cost, move toward a single supplier for any one item and build the long-term relationship of loyalty andtrust.The enhancement of organizational performance, practices, and capabilities is possible only through teamwork, sharing of bestpractice information among organizations. The team spirit between the organizations play a vital important role in high growth, as thehymn in 'Atharva Veda' says,: \"People with same divine thoughts grow together\". Sept.2015|
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