Monday, November 17, 2008

The Eco Road to Economic Recovery

There’s one major worry in the current economic crisis.

Not “Shall I lose my job?” Not even “Will the banks keep my savings safe?”

But “What short-cuts will we take to get the world’s economy growing again?

All round the world companies are failing or cutting back output, and people are having to survive on much less income than they had last year. In developing countries people are going hungry. In the developed world some very rich people now have fewer billions to worry about than they did before. And more poor people are dependent on state assistance than before.

At least our planet is getting a break from relentless ruin. Fewer people working in industry, driving their cars and trucks about, making steel and aluminium, and turning their heating or cooling systems onto maximum, means that less fossil fuel will be burned in the next year or two than was forecast last year. You can see the indications of this now, in falling oil and commodity prices, and falling deep sea shipping rates.

There’s an eco downside as well, however. News from the UK this past week, for example, was of a small company recycling cardboard that has hit the buffers because demand for toys in the USA has dropped. The toys- all of them!- would have been made in China and packaged in boxes made from recycled cardboard, including some shipped from the UK. So the global recession is hitting global recycling already, and China isn’t even in an official recession yet. More hits on local eco efforts are very likely in the months to come.

The really big danger is that in their efforts to “kick-start” the world economy, the world’s politicians will relax their previous attitudes to carbon emissions, on the basis that economic recovery is more important than the greening of the world economy. It isn’t, of course, it’s just more immediate. But politicians find it very difficult to focus on the long term important issues when the newspaper headlines are screaming about today’s trouble.

In the western democracies the financial crisis is dominating the news, and politicians don’t want to risk their possible non-election by seeming not to act. So there will be a huge temptation to throw money at immediate projects, and damn the consequences. Or to relax environmental rules to help struggling businesses save on costs. Or to cut taxes on fuel to help struggling families.

But now would be the perfect time for government to put resources into eco projects. Major economies should focus their anti-recession spending on the green agenda. No one will complain about extra resources being focused on job creation in new eco industries at a time when every job counts. The global recession is a perfect excuse for finding the extra funds to do this.

It’s also the perfect time for a decisive shift in private consumption towards eco goods, and away from mass-produced environmentally damaging products.

Biome Lifestyle is a UK-based retailer which has the environment at the heart of everything it does. Some of the stories behind its products are inspiring. All of its products avoid the pitfalls of the mass produced, environmentally damaging, stuff you find on the High Street. And all its suppliers are the kind of businesses that will grow without damaging our precious planet in the process.

Find out more about Biome by clicking: ethical products

Friday, November 14, 2008

Tips from Aim – Excel in TOEFL iBT

Number 1: Comparison and contrast

Comparison and contrast is a big part of the TOELF test. Your ability to recognise and communicate these relationships is examined across all parts of the test: in reading, listening, speaking and writing. Let's look at how you can do this, and how to avoid mistakes.

Remember that the iBT is an examination of communication in academic English. This test is asking you to explain the relationships among ideas in written or spoken information. Comparison and contrast implies that similaries or differences exist between several subjects. A likely conclusion would be that either the subjects are more similar or more different, or that one is better than the others.

You will probably never find that the subjects are of equal value. For example, a listening exercise on high-tech lifestyles looks at positive and negative ideas about mobile phones and email. It would be a mistake to jump to a conclusion that they are simply both good and bad. Although the speaker mentions many positive aspects of instant communication, he actually feels that the negative consequences are more important. He thinks that many people don't have time to be creative because they're too busy answering messages. You are asked to see this conclusion.

Comparison means looking at similarities, while contrast focuses on differences. Comparison signals include also, both, similarly, like, comparable, the same and likewise. Contrast signals include but, however, unlike, differences and on the other hand. In addition, please do also listen for changes in intonation that add ideas or suggest opposing opinions. Some relationships are implied, that is, not stated directly. Sarcasm and irony are used, because that's how we naturally use English. Lots of practice helps students with this challenging task.

Students often incorrectly assume that two items must be of equal value because they are being contrasted. Perhaps a preference for harmony, or simplicity in teaching, has led to this. In academic life, you'll hardly ever find two options equally good. It's similar in the TOEFL test. Many questions ask you to make a choice. Do it, and support those choices with reasons and details. You'll be a star. Contact Aim for more details on effective TOEFL iBT preparation


Kita hidup di zaman yang penuh tantangan

Article by AIM originally published in English. Translated by Aim professional translation services

Dari Amerika hingga Irlandia, dari Inggris hingga Indonesia, dan dari Peru hingga Jepang, pesan yang sama terdengar berulang kali.

“Dunia akan mengalami resesi”.

Bahkan - resesi kali ini mungkin tidak seperti yang pernah kita alami selama beberapa generasi belakangan. Kita semua berharap bahwa langkah-langkah yang diambil oleh pemerintah di seluruh dunia akan mengurangi intensitas dan durasinya. Kita juga bisa berharap bahwa Presiden Amerika yang baru akan memimpin negaranya, dan negara kita, agar cepat kembali pada kemakmuran. Akan tetapi untuk saat ini kenyataan yang harus kita hadapi adalah bahwa kita hidup di masa yang penuh tantangan.

Lalu bagaimana sebuah bisnis dapat menghadapi tantangan semacam itu? Bagaimana ia bisa bertahan? Bagaimana ia bisa sukses mengelola tantangan itu?

Ada tiga hal penting yang perlu diingat. Pertama, banyak bisnis yang akan bisa bertahan hidup. Kedua, bisnis-bisnis yang bertahan hidup akan tumbuh menjadi lebih kuat berkat pengalaman mereka. Terakhir, cara untuk bertahan hidup yaitu melakukan hal-hal sederhana dengan cara yang lebih baik daripada saingan anda.

Apa saja hal-hal sederhana yang perlu kita lakukan?

Lagi-lagi ada tiga jawaban di sini.

Pertama, tetaplah fokus untuk memberikan pelayanan yang terbaik kepada pelanggan anda. Pelanggan anda juga punya masalah, dan mereka membutuhkan, dan akan menghargai, bantuan yang bisa anda berikan untuk mereka. Terlebih lagi, pada masa-masa sulit, alat penjualan terbaik yang bisa anda miliki adalah kesan baik dari pelanggan yang sudah anda miliki. Di masa resesi seperti ini, pasar akan lebih tegas dan kurang toleran terhadap pelayanan yang buruk, dan tentunya akan lebih kejam dalam memutuskan hubungan dengan penyedia jasa yang tidak kompeten.

Kedua, teruslah menjual. Pasti ada pembeli di luar sana, meskipun akan lebih sulit menemukan dan meyakinkan mereka. Karenanya alat penjualan kita haruslah lebih kuat. Tim sales anda harus memiliki pelatihan dan motivasi yang tinggi. Marketing anda harus inovatif, fleksible, dan sensitif terhadap perubahan-perubahan dalam mood pasar. Harga yang anda tawarkan juga harus fleksible, mengingat bahwa pengeluaran sedang dihemat di mana-mana.

Terakhir, jaga agar pengeluaran anda tetap wajar. Berhati-hatilah ketika memotong anggaran karena beresiko mengganggu tingkat pelayanan yang anda berikan, dan pasar akan sangat sensitif terhadap hal ini. Akan lebih baik kalau kita mengadopsi containment policy: menjaga agar pengeluaran tidak bertambah sampai matahari kembali bersinar. Hal yang tersulit adalah bahwa memotong anggaran sama seperti melakukan operasi pembedahan. Dibutuhkan keterampilan yang sangat tinggi kalau anda tidak ingin membunuh pasien anda. Anda harus menganggap customer service sebagai urat nadi yang menghidupi bisnis anda. Potong anggaran di sana dan anda akan merasakan akibatnya!

Ada sebuah tim ( kursus bahasa inggris)yang membantu bisnis di Indonesia untuk melewati badai krisis. Tim ini sendiri mampu mengendalikan pengeluarannya dengan sangat baik, sambil tetap memberikan pelayanan yang tak ada duanya di Jakarta. Harga yang mereka tawarkan sangat kompetitif, dan dengan demikian membantu para pelanggan mereka menghemat pengeluaran mereka. Meskipun dengan harga kompetitif, produk yang mereka tawarkan adalah yang terbaik. Mereka memberikan pelatihan bahasa Inggris, sesuatu yang sangat dibutuhkan oleh tim customer service di manapun bila mereka ingin mampu bertahan menghadapi tantangan resesi.

We live in challenging times

From the US to Iceland, from the UK to Indonesia, and from Peru to Japan the same message is flashing.

“There is a worldwide recession coming”.

More- it’s a recession that may be on a scale not seen for a generation, maybe not even for a lifetime. We all hope that the actions taken by governments around the world will reduce its intensity, and shorten the period of contraction. As I write we can also hope that the new young American President will lead his own country, and ours, swiftly back to prosperity. But the reality of today is that we live in challenging times.

So how on earth does a business cope with this kind of challenge? How does it survive? How does it manage?

There are three important things to remember. First, many businesses will survive. Secondly the businesses that survive will emerge stronger from the experience. And finally, the way to survive is to do the simple things better than your competition.

What are the simple things we all need to do?

Again, there are three.
First, keep focused on delivering the absolute best service you can to the customers you have. They have their problems too, and they need and will value all the help you can give them. More than this, in hard times the very best selling tool you have is the good opinion of your existing customers. In a recession the market is less forgiving, less liable to make allowances for bad service, more ruthless in cutting out poor suppliers.

Secondly, keep on selling. There’s going to be business out there, but it will be harder to find and much harder to win. Your selling tools need to be sharp. Your sales team must be highly trained and very highly motivated. Your marketing will have to be innovative, flexible, and sensitive to the changes in market mood. Your prices will need to be flexible, too, recognising that cash is tight everywhere.

Finally, keep your costs at the right level. Be careful with cost cutting, because there is a very real danger of damaging the level of customer service, and the market will be ultra-sensitive to that. Better to adopt a containment policy, capping cost growth until the sun starts to shine again. The really difficult thing about cutting costs is that it’s like surgery. It takes high-level skills if you don’t want to kill your patient. You should think of customer service as the main artery that keeps a business alive. Cut into it at your peril!

Aim for English is a firm, specialising in English language training, that is helping Indonesian business to weather the financial storm. With its own costs under tight control, it delivers a level of service second to none in Jakarta. Its pricing is very competitive, helping its customers to conserve their cash. The product it delivers is the best English language training in town, without which the customer service teams of its clients would be far less able to cope with their own recessionary challenges.