Regional Blocs


Book Description

A topical study of regional arrangements covering ASEAN, SAARC and APEC in Asia, NAFTA and MERCOSUR in the Americas, SADC, SACU and ECOWAS in Africa, and the European Union, EFTA and Eastern Europe. The book argues that foreign direct investment is complementary to trade and most regional arrangements can create trade and induce growth so long as they remain open and non-discriminatory. But they could also become stumbling blocks to globalization. The book demonstrates how US and EU trade policy will be crucial in shaping the world economy.







Mastering the Cube


Book Description

"Mastering the Cube" skillfully lays out proven organization design principles. Comparing today's complex organizations to a Rubik's Cube, the authors explain how focusing improvement efforts on just one or two facets of the organization is akin to concentrating on just one side of the cube. Doing so is bound to affect-and more likely jumble-the other areas needed to generate a healthy and sustainable organization. They advocate stepping back and taking a systems-wide, comprehensive view of change and bringing all elements into alignment with strategy. They describe eight common beliefs and missteps that cause leaders to stumble, and they offer eight building blocks to effectively orchestrate complex organizational change. Written for both business leaders and their change partners in human resources, organization effectiveness, organization design, strategy, information technology, and process or continuous improvement (e.g., Lean Six Sigma), the book offers practical wisdom to help readers develop a shared perspective on organization design and achieve positive business results. It also outlines key principles and concepts for leading effective organization alignment-and moving your organization into a productive, rewarding future. Whether the transformation before you involves restructuring, consolidations, or mergers and acquisitions, this resource provides the guidance you'll need to become skilled in the important, real work of strategic organizational alignment. "This is a great step-by-step how-to manual on defining and changing the design of your company. If you're facing such challenges and have only time to read one thing, read this. It is omniscient, efficient and sufficient." --Clayton Christensen, Professor, Harvard Business School "A must read for C-Suite execs interested in cutting the fat and preserving the muscle. Mastering the Cube: Overcoming Stumbling Blocks and Building an Organization that Works is a blueprint for smart, engaging cost reduction and efficiency no matter the circumstances." --Joe Nothwang, President, Rentals and Leasing, the Americas and Asia, Hertz Corporation "The 8 stumbling blocks are an excellent reminder of the all-too-often misguided approach and beliefs at play within businesses tackling organization transformation and change. Mastering the Cube offers thoughtful and practical wisdom and techniques for any leader who seeks to ensure that the organization design efforts they undertake are aligned with strategy and result in sustainable business impact." --Angela S. Lalor, Senior Vice President, Human Resources, Danaher "This book doesn't sugar coat the tough choices with which organization leaders are confronted For those who have the courage to move forward, " Mastering the Cube "is a practical and valuable guide to aligning organization "choices" to strategy. I found the guidance equally applicable to all types of organizations: for-profit, government, and non-profit." --Ann R. Henry, Vice President, Global Operations, Cisco Capital Mastering the Cube "is a guide organization architects can use to maneuver through the critical steps to produce an organization that works. Nicely done." --Larry Costello, Executive Vice President and Chief Human Resource Officer, Tyco International AlignOrg Solutions is an international consultancy serving enterprises of all sizes and types to clarify strategy, align organizational choices, build organization capabilities, manage and implement change, and develop alignment leadership. The firm offers a high-engagement approach, exceptional alignment tools, and hard-won expertise in leading organization transformation projects. They are respected worldwide for helping leaders and their change partners align the choices in their organizations with a differentiated strategy for future success.




Building Blocks for Strengthening Your Life


Book Description

Complications, struggles and frustrations are the result of the choices the individual makes. Each choice either strengthens life through clarity or weakens it through confusion. The guiding force becomes the foundation of principles life is built on. The foundation is either made up of stumbling blocks or building blocks. Building Blocks For Strengthening Your Life examines 20 life strengthening principles that can turn a life filled with stumbling blocks into a journey designed to experience true happiness, personal fulfillment and personal freedom.




Stumbling Blocks and Stepping-Stones


Book Description

Stumbling Blocks and Stepping-Stones is a two-volume publication which vigorously examines Mormonism's long struggle with those it has traditionally deemed as sexually and gender transgressive -- its LGBTI members. It emboldens Latter-day Saints and fellow Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, and Intersex, believing or disaffected, to dialogue with one another and consider the very real possibility of their full acceptance within the beloved faith community. It makes five enormous contributions: (1)It analyzes the "clobber scriptures" -- those most frequently used to end conversations on the topic -- drawing on a broad spectrum of Jewish, Christian, and academic scholars. The book provides connatural context and reasonable interpretations that broaden the discussion beyond "because God said so."(2)It provides a stimulating overview of scientific research on homosexuality in nature (severely undercutting the "homosexuality isn't natural" argument), what's currently known about the causes/influence on homosexuality, and the history of homophobia that has brought us to our current position. (3)It argues, persuasively, in my opinion, for ways in which the gospel can and does (and the church could and should) include lgbti members in full fellowship. (4)The longest section--part 4--provides a history of interactions between the church and its lgbti members. Because of my love for history, this is my favorite section, even though a lot of it seems like "baby step forward, giant step backwards," especially now. (5)The tone models a combination of compassion, serious scholarship, and firmly founded discipleship that should be elements that govern how the dialogue can and should be conducted.




Building Blocks for Strengthening Your Relationships


Book Description

At some point all relationships will stumble. That is not an assumption; it is a fact. When the stumbling blocks happen, they present you with an opportunity to improve the quality of your relationship. The tragedy is most couples ignore the stumbling blocks and in doing so pull more energy out of what is left of their relationship. Building Blocks For Strengthening Your Relationship offers 20 principles designed to take the reader through the most common stumbling blocks. The reader will learn from couples who have stumbled, but chose to face their issues and move beyond the negative impact those issues could have had on their relationship.




Challenges to Multilateral Trade


Book Description

Progress in multilateral negotiations to liberalize trade under the World Trade Organization (WTO) has become more difficult since newer members are generally developing countries with different interests than the United States, the European Union and other industrialized countries. More than 250 free trade agreements (FTAs) have come into effect since 1948. Partly as a result of the WTO impasse, over 130 FTAs have been ratified just in the past ten years; each agreement has been designed to eliminate trade restrictions and subsidies between the parties involved. Almost all of the WTO Members participate in one or more FTAs (some Members are party to twenty or more). Most books on FTAs are country- or region-specific, while others deal with the subject from a particular perspective. This timely work, produced by some of the world's leading experts in their respective fields, employs a broader approach exploring FTAs from the interdisciplinary perspectives of international law, political economy, culture and human rights




Trading Blocs


Book Description

The recent proliferation of free trade areas and customs unions in the world trading system has led to a revival of interest in the economic analysis of Preferential Trade Agreements (PTAs). The principal theoretical question of the 1950s and 1960s (Viner) was whether PTAs encourage or discourage the worldwide nondiscriminatory freeing of trade. The essays in this volume present the central contributions to the analytical approaches developed to examine these questions. -- Provided by publisher.




BUILDING BLOCKS OF THE MIND:A Powerful Protocol For Clearing Mental Distress


Book Description

Peter Owen is one of the few Master Practitioners of Percussive Suggestion Technique (PSTEC) in the world. PSTEC is a system of therapy tools which have been creating shockwaves amongst the psychological community. The author has worked with well over 1000 clients and in doing so has devised a system which can be applied to almost any psychological problem. As well as providing step by step details, he also gives countless real world examples of the process in action. Peter demonstrates the sheer power of the array of PSTEC tools as well as what to do when things don't go smoothly. There are comprehensive notes on grief, anxiety, OCD, anger, self hate, suicidal thoughts, post traumatic stress & so much more. Existing PSTEC therapists will learn novel approaches to issues which can only come from years of constant trial and error. CBT therapists & counsellors will see how they can plug in some of these methods to quickly overcome certain stumbling blocks which often crop up in the talking therapies.




Regionalism, Multilateralism, and Deeper Integration


Book Description

Over the past decade, international economic liberalization has been pursued through both multilateral and regional arrangements. In the Uruguay Round, more than one hundred governments pledged their commitment to greater open trade in goods and services, and established new rules under the enforcement of the World Trade Organization. At the same time, however, many regional arrangements have been negotiated--including the European Union and the North American Free Trade Agreement. Nonetheless, controversy still rages about these arrangements. Are regional arrangements stumbling blocks or, in fact building blocks for a more integrated and successful international economy? In this book, Robert A. Lawrence addresses this question and explains both sides of the debate. A volume of Brookings' Integrating National Economies Series