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The World Bank

Daniel Daboczy - Editor in chief — Thu, 06 May 2010 12:56:17 +0000

World Bank is a term used to describe an international financial institution that provides leveraged loans to developing countries for capital programs. The World Bank has a stated goal of reducingpoverty.

The World Bank differs from the World Bank Group, in that the World Bank comprises only two institutions: the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (IBRD) and the International Development Association (IDA), whereas the latter incorporates these two in addition to three more:^[3]International Finance Corporation (IFC), Multilateral Investment Guarantee Agency (MIGA), andInternational Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes (ICSID).

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_Bank

http://www.worldbank.org/

Project management on the edge of chaos

Invited Contributor — Tue, 13 Apr 2010 10:46:07 +0000

Project management on the edge of chaos

by Arne Vestergaard and Marianne Smedegaard

We have for a number of years taught project managers how to manage people and processes. We have heard stories from many different organisations describing numerous ways to understand and execute projects. It seems that there exists not a single correct way to manage projects, but many possible ways. One thing, though, seems to be characteristic of most of the cases. Top management expects the project manager to have complete control over the project and to have answers to any question anyone might want to ask. In many cases it is also a requirement that the project manager ensures that members of the project group have clear goals and that the development of the project is on schedule.

In this paper we want to explore to what extent the effort to control and direct a project is useful, and to what extent a project can be restricted by tight control. Perhaps there are other concepts for project management that better fit with the complexity and variability that characterise projects in today’s world. Perhaps it is preferable to see projects as a living system rather than strategically and bureaucratically.

A change in perspective of this kind would mean that the project organisation must relinquish the idea of having control over the project all the time and, if they do achieve control, see it as a temporary state of affairs. Some degree of chaos then becomes a necessary (but not exclusive) condition for innovation and for handling complexity and change. In other words, the project manager must place the project on the edge of chaos. In this paper we will try to understand what this means in practice.

GLOBAL TRADE LOGISTICS IMPROVING, BUT MORE NEEDED TO BOOST RECOVERY

Invited Contributor — Tue, 23 Mar 2010 14:24:08 +0000

GLOBAL TRADE LOGISTICS IMPROVING, BUT MORE NEEDED TO BOOST RECOVERY

Brazil, China, Bangladesh and Uganda see upgrade in rankings, as Germany tops list

WASHINGTON, January 15, 2010—The capacity of countries to efficiently move goods and connect manufacturers and consumers with international markets is improving around the world, but much more progress is needed to spur faster economic growth and help firms benefit from trade recovery, according to a new World Bank Group survey on trade logistics.

Germany is the top performer among the 155 economies ranked in the Logistics Performance Indicators (LPI), which are included in the report Connecting to Compete 2010: Trade Logistics in the Global Economy. The study is based on the most comprehensive world survey of international freight forwarders and express carriers.

“Economic competitiveness is relentlessly driving countries to strengthen performance, and improving trade logistics is a smart way to deliver more efficiencies, lower costs and added economic growth,” said World Bank Group President Robert B. Zoellick, who is visiting Berlin January 13 -15 to discuss global development and economic issues. “Streamlining the connections among markets, manufacturers, farmers and consumers offers tremendous growth and investment opportunities and should be a top focus for developing country growth strategies. As we issue this global report, I’m pleased to be in Germany, the top performer on efficient logistics.”

According to the LPI, high income economies dominate the top logistics rankings, with most of them occupying important places in global and regional supply chains. By contrast, the ten lowest performing countries are almost all from the low and lower income groups.

Although the study shows a substantial “logistics gap” between rich countries and most developing countries, it finds positive trends in some areas essential to logistics performance and trade. Some of them include the modernization of customs, use of information technology, and development of private logistics services.

“Following our first survey in 2007, many developing countries have improved their capacity to connect to international markets, which is a key ingredient for competitiveness and economic growth,” said Otaviano Canuto, World Bank Vice President for Poverty Reduction and Economic Management. “But if developing countries want to come out of the crisis in a stronger and more competitive position, they need to invest in better trade logistics.”

“Countries with better logistics performance can grow faster, become more competitive and increase their level of investment,” said Bernard Hoekman, World Bank Trade Department Director. “Our research shows that increasing logistics performance in low income countries to the middle-income average could boost trade by around 15 per cent and benefit all firms and consumers through lower prices and better quality services.”

The report, headed by World Bank Group economists Jean Francois Arvis and Monica Alina Mustra, notes that among developing economies logistics performance transcends the level of per capita income: Many countries perform better than what their income level would suggest. The ten most significant over-performers include China (27), India (47), Uganda (66), Vietnam (53), Thailand (35), the Philippines (44), and South Africa (28).

Likewise, the countries with significant improvement in performance between the two surveys (the 2007 and 2010 LPI) are often those which implemented comprehensive logistics and trade facilitation reforms earlier, such as Colombia, Brazil, and Tunisia.

In terms of how developing countries are doing per region, South Africa (28) is the top performer from Africa; China (27) from East Asia; Poland (30) from Central and Eastern Europe; Brazil (41) from Latin America; Lebanon (33) from the Middle East; and India (47) from South Asia.

According to the study, logistics performance is heavily influenced by the quality of public sector institutions and the effective coordination of border clearance processes among all border management agencies. In this area, customs performs better than many other agencies, pointing to the need for border management reforms. In low performing countries, on average, half of the containers are physically inspected and one container out of seven at least twice.

Other areas for improvement include better transport policies, increasing competition in trade-related services such as trucking, freight forwarding and railways; and better trade-related infrastructure. For many low-income countries the most binding constraints are often in logistics services and international transit systems. Given they perform better on many other indicators, improving trade infrastructure is often reported to be a priority for middle-income countries.

The World Bank Group has a number of projects designed to improve trade logistics in developing countries. The US$250 million East Africa Trade and Transport Facilitation Project improved the corridor infrastructure and upgraded the main border crossing between Uganda and Kenya at Malaba, reducing border crossing times from three days to three hours. In Tunisia, a US$250 million operation is improving competitiveness by reducing trade costs and streamlining border clearance procedures. And in Afghanistan, the Bank is providing funding for a US$31.2 million project to modernize and computerize four major border crossings, increasing customs revenues from US$50 million when the project started in 2004 to over US$399 million in 2008.

In addition, the Bank is working with IBM, Microsoft and the Global Express Association as part of a public-private partnership on “Aid for Trade Facilitation.” The objective is to develop pilot projects in developing countries that apply innovative IT solutions to streamline border procedures.

To access the report under embargo, please visit: www.media.worldbank.org

The report and related material will be available to the public after the embargo expires at:
www.worldbank.org

The Idea of the Year AWARD

Daniel Daboczy - Editor in chief — Mon, 11 Jan 2010 13:02:56 +0000

We are announcing “The Idea of the Year Award”. The first annual prize to the best idea received to IdeasForChange from 2010 -01 -01 untill 2010-10-01. The prize and the amount is growing for each day and consists of all of the donated amount, google ad revenue and some other. If you have a good idea, want to share a great idea, know about a great idea for our world please Contribute or if you wish to donate please use the DONATE button on the top right corner and help us build the funds and make the prize bigger. Any ammount big or small will be highly appreciated and used in fully for the prize.

The 10 finalists will be presented on october 02 and the winner will receive the prize on October 30.

For more information please e-mail daniel@ideasforchange.tv

/Daniel Daboczy

How rich are we?

Daniel Daboczy - Editor in chief — Sun, 22 Nov 2009 21:30:09 +0000

Every year we gaze enviously at the lists of the richest people in world. And compared to them we feel quite poor. The other world is far away. Very far away. We can´t always relate. That´s why it so damn difficult to engange and DO soemthing.

Wondering how rich you are compared to the rest of the world?
Wonde where you would you sit on one of those lists? Here’s your chance to find out.

Try this out:

http://www.globalrichlist.com/

No related posts.

Independece is to dare

Book Fair Visitor — Fri, 25 Sep 2009 09:36:31 +0000

To dare live your life regardless of the expectations or rules of your society. To always work towards reflecting and [...] Related posts:

The plan for this project

Daniel Daboczy - Editor in chief — Wed, 23 Sep 2009 11:44:09 +0000

We have been asked by allot of people what our long-term goal is. And of course it’s our way of doing some good in this world. But more then that, this will be an active tool for you! For your ideas, for your goals, for your projects for your cause. Something more then just a grassroot Ted or an YouTube with a heart and brain.

The simple plan is this:

First we will build the community. This is built in three ways. One with video content, one with texts, blogs and written knowledge and one with you and other engaged, interested and valuable people.

When this is done we will open the possibility to create own groups. Action groups with methods on how to expand the challenges you face. And then to collect ideas on how the solve the challenges. When this is done you will have: well defined challenges and problems with real, smart and adequate solutions with an engaged community and network. Needless to say that as tools it will be a lot more powerful to reach investors and politicians. With those onboard you make real impact and real change.

/ Daniel Daboczy, Editor in chief

daniel@ideasforchange.tv

Great Things Together

joel.ahlberg — Sun, 13 Sep 2009 19:05:03 +0000

The twenty-first century did not begin peacefully. Armed conflict is a reality for people in 15 locations around the world, in which military spending in a global context has increased 45% since 1999[1]. For others, particularly in the Western world, the concept of w taken on a more metaphorical meaning, as our governments take measures in regards to the proclaimed “War on Terror.”

Governments tend to justify their participation of this metaphorical war in terms of their acting as safe guardians of their citizens. This self-invented role seems to correlate with more government surveillance of its citizens. It is ironic, however, that in the midst of the fighting for democracy in Afghanistan, the citizens of Western liberal democracies show up in lesser numbers in the voter’s booth. Fewer attend public meetings and fewer of us tend to do things collectively for the benefit of a greater good. It was only a generation ago, when governments´ existence was justified as a protector of civil liberties, in order to guarantee citizens´ participation in democracy.

Collective participation for a greater good is fundamental for societies to thrive and is what makes democracy pulsate. In this global world, we need to find the coordinates of pursuing shared goals to meet existing challenges to humanity. These must arguably be based on more tangible and durable aims than one’s present position in the world. The strategy of finding an organizing principle behind this social change and to ensure that it is followed through, will hopefully give the next decennium a more peaceful start.

Joel Ahlberg

works for the Folke Bernadotte Academy, Sweden, with civil society peace initiatives.

[1] Total global military spending in 2008 amounts to 1464 USD billion according to SIPRI Yearbook 2009.

Internet – a human right?