Harmful impacts of cartels on consumers
November 30, 2011
Munshi Abdul Ahad
A cartel is an anti-competitive arrangement between two or more competing businesses. Anticompetitive agreements, particularly cartels, harm consumers in urbanised society, as well as in the emerging countries. In adding together, cartelised industrial sectors lack competition which certainly reduces competitiveness in the long run and may have a negative impact on the overall performance of a country’s economy. Widespread shapes of cartels conduct are: price fixing, market sharing, bid rigging and output control.
Price fixing take places when Read more
How to troubleshoot the economy
November 30, 2011
Sadiq Ahmed
Bangladesh is facing serious macroeconomic challenges and I have written a lot explaining them in a series of articles published in The Daily Star and in The Financial Express. In this new article I am going to write specifically about how Bangladesh could address those challenges while also mobilising substantial external financing in a flexible form that will help both the balance of payments and the budget. This kind of financing will also be helpful in lowering inflationary pressures.
It is fashionable in developing countries to blame the International Monetary Fund Read more
Jute bag prospects in global arena
August 26, 2011
Md Rashedul Karim Munna
Global consumer demand for eco-friendly products has increased in both developed markets (such as Western Europe, the United States and Australasia) as well as new markets with emerging opportunities (such as the Middle East) mainly because of heightened awareness of the ill effects of environmental pollution and global warming.
Large chain stores are also offering alternate bags made of jute or cotton. This proves there is healthy global demand for these products due to the growing awareness of and demand for eco-friendly and biodegradable Read more
Safeguarding citizen’s money
August 19, 2011
Sadiq Ahmed
Banking is an entirely different ball game. When a licence is given to a bank to manage citizen’s money, the government is taking on a huge responsibility. By granting the licence, it is essentially certifying that it has confidence in the enterprise and trusts that the enterprise will safeguard the citizen’s money it mobilises through deposit taking.
In banking, safety is of paramount importance; returns are relatively less significant. Ask citizens whether they prefer a bank that gives 20 percent return but a large probability of failure to a bank that gives 10 percent Read more
Women entrepreneurship and our commitment
August 4, 2011
Tarique Afzal for The Daily Star
“Entrepreneur” is a French word that means “undertake”.
Women entrepreneurship is inherent as they are naturally endowed with the qualities of entrepreneurship. Instincts of a woman generate enormous strength and determination that drive the fear away from them. Entrepreneurship for a woman remains an innate quality and thus is authentic when applied in reality.
In support, the government is relentlessly working to ensure women empowerment, where entrepreneurs will be able to receive Read more
Managing macroeconomy
July 10, 2011
Sadiq Ahmed for The Daily Star
Bangladesh has achieved good economic performance over the past few years. It has successfully managed the transition from the global financial crisis of 2008-10 with relatively modest slowdown in economic activity. Economic growth has recovered and official data suggest that growth is on the upswing. While there is some debate about the magnitude of the upswing, mainly owing to the contentious unprecedented estimated growth in agriculture, there is enough corroborative evidence that economic recovery Read more
Organisational culture
April 22, 2011
Mamun Rashid
From an academic perspective, we can look at the way Edgar Schein, a former professor at the MIT Sloan School of Management, defines organisational culture as ‘a pattern of shared basic assumptions that was learned by a group as it solved its problems of external adaptation and internal integration, that has worked well enough to be considered valid and, therefore, to be taught to new members as the correct way you perceive, think, and feel in relation to those problems’. Personally, my favorite definition would be Read more
The organisational machine
February 9, 2011
Sarwar Ahmed
What is an organisation? As you reach for Wikipedia in today’s digital world, you have access to a whole repertory of knowledge for free. An organisation is a social arrangement that pursues collective goals, controls its own performance, and has a boundary separating it from its environment.
An organisation consists of people who are responsible for achieving all the collective goals. To function, an organisation is created with a formal structure that is headed by a leader who should have a thorough knowledge of the Read more
Women and workplace dilemma
November 30, 2010
Mamun Rashid
I recently wrote a piece for The Daily Star business section on our lady colleagues. As usual, I received a few e-mails and phone calls. One of them was from a younger friend of mine, working for a regional conglomerate. He thought I did not do enough justice to the male colleagues, while championing the cause of our lady colleagues.
He felt there are plenty of male colleagues who help the women in the office excel and find a good balance between work and personal life. There are plenty of organisations too that promote diversity at the workplace Read more
A great leap in training
November 24, 2010
Mahmudur Rahman
Technical and vocational education and training has come a long way. Once the mere acquiring of basic skills was considered enough to address the demand for technical expertise. Times and demands have changed. But in an age when emphasis is placed on technical competencies, especially in blue-collar jobs, Bangladesh faces a challenge.
Parents, guardians and students are so wrapped up in the two general education streams of SSC and Madrasah that they do not view technical and vocational education as Read more
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