Castles of Seafaring Past

2014 Asia-Pacific Business Conference

November 27th to 29th 2014

Perth, WA, Australia

 

The conference aims to bring together worldwide academics, researchers & policy-makers to discuss ongoing research on FTAs and Regional Integration in East Asia. All accepted papers will be published by Springer in its Series in Business & Economics.

With the recent financial and economic crisis, globalization and regional economic integration has become again the focus of intense global interest and debate. Led by the rapidly growing Chinese economy, the East Asian region is forging closer economic ties than ever before, and remains the most dynamic region in the world. It is believed that open regionalism can contribute substantially to enhanced productivity and economic growth, and to poverty reduction, within the region. The emerging trilateral Free Trade Agreement (FTA) negotiation between China, Japan and South Korea provides new evidence of ongoing Asian economic integration. Given the economic size of the three countries and their respective shares in the global trade system, the social, economic, environmental and cultural implications of such an economic integration in the East Asian region would have an enormous impact world-wide.

Website: http://www.ecu.edu.au/conferences/2014/asia-pacific-business-conference

Kenpo: Using Anvil to Clear your Wrists

An opponent may attempt to grab your wrists to thwart resistance and force you in a direction of their choosing. They do so to pull you into a car, house, or other area you may not want to go. Understanding a few basic moves such as the Anvil and modified Anvil will help to keep your wrists clear and your options open. 

The purpose of the Anvil moves is to clear your wrists and strike the opponent thereby turning their attack into your counter-attack. During the wrist pull out it is necessary to use some force with a twist to loosen the grip and create a release. Try and pull out through the thumbs which are much weaker when compared to the other digits on the opponent’s hands. 

The front snap kick in the Anvil should be either to the stomach or groin. A proper kick to the groin will immobilize the opponent quickly leaving enough time to get away. While using the modified Anvil you should consider hitting the solar plexus to knock the wind out of your opponent leaving them gasping for air. If you practice it enough you can combine a sequence of punches with a snap kick that knocks the opponent backward onto the ground. 

Anvil-(Opponent grabs both wrists from the front)

-Step back with the right foot as you simultaneously rotate your wrists upward to release grips.

-Brush opponent’s hands aside using palms.

-Snap kick with the right foot to the opponent’s abdomen. Reset. 

Modified Anvil (Opponent grabs both wrists from the front)

-Step back with the right foot as you simultaneously rotate your wrists upward to release grips.

-Snap opponent’s arms away from the center of their body by chopping downward and outward from their outstretched arms.

-Deliver three punches (right, left, right) to solar plexus.

Art Exhibition: Anatomy of Drawing and Space (Brain Trash)

It’s wild and explores the innovative resources of man’s mind. James Drake’s Anatomy of Drawing and Space delves into brain trash. Anything he can think of is drawn out and stuck on the wall. Some of the works are great pieces of sketch mastery while others leave you wondering what the author is really attempting to say. Anything goes when you are splattering your brain trash on the wall. 

The work is primarily unconscious in the sense that it allows any connection between concepts to be drawn out and displayed for public consumption. Some of the ideas are far out while others are closely akin to conventional drawing.  You will find a variety of themes in the collage and can even find unique orientations of the work if you take a step back to see the whole picture.

Running June 10^th to September 21 at the Museum of Contemporary Art Jacobs building the exhibit offers ideas, innovation, life, and chaos spelled out in draftsman quality. The 1,242 drawings include creatures, animals, scientific formulas and deeply experienced emotions. The unconscious comes alive.

The display is a fairly accurate depiction of the process of innovation. To develop something new requires creative thinking and using multiple pathways to understand a concept. The standard approach is not the only approach and generally fails to keep up with the advent of change. 

Brainstorming is a process of letting anything goes in the understanding and solving of problems. The unconscious mind is that part of our existence that allows for the unique to come forward. Creative art, literature, poetry, and inspiration come from the neurophysiological factors of the aminergic-cholinergic brain chemistry that juices creative endeavors (Harle, 2011). James Drake’s Anatomy of Drawing and Space offers an opportunity to see how this operates first hand. 

General Admission $10
Seniors $5
Students 26 and over (with ID) $5
25 and under Free (with ID)
Military and their families Free (with ID)

Website: http://www.mcasd.org/exhibitions/james-drake-anatomy-drawing-and-space-brain-trash

1100 & 1001 Kettner Boulevard*
(between Broadway and B Street)
San Diego, CA 92101
858 454 3541

Harle, R. (2011). Creativity, chance and the role of the unconscious in the creation of original literature and art. Techneotic Arts: A Journal of Speculative Research, 8 (3).

Developing International Marketing through Stakeholder Collaboration

International start-ups rely on more than rudimentary resource allocation as they inherently require collaborative efforts for effective monetization. Entrepreneurial use of social and business networks to improve the chances of success is not something new and is part of the process of pushing innovation. Research by Evers, et. al (2012) brings forward a model of how stakeholders interact in international marketing development. 

The model requires the shifting from market oriented to stakeholder oriented developmental trajectories. By using the power of stakeholders it is possible to better understand the market, business performance, and overall effectiveness through enhanced knowledge management and innovative solutions. Working in collaboration with key market stakeholders can raise the possibilities of developing stronger market penetration. 

The type of stakeholder groups are as follows: 

Neutral Stakeholders: Companies and industry experts that have their own goals but often share knowledge with each other for individual development. General knowledge is converted to specific firm use. It is considered single loop learning. 

Cooperative Stakeholders: Cooperative stakeholders that work together for general improvement and know enough of each other to be effective. They are separate entities that have their own goals but will collaborate when it is beneficial. It is considered secondary loop learning. 

Allied Stakeholders: Allied stakeholders are highly motivated businesses and industry stakeholders that work together to create new products, services and opportunities. They are engage in triple-loop learning that leads to regenerative possibilities. 

Each stakeholder group has different information to offer that contributes to the developmental process. Many markets are made of neutral stakeholders that try and understand their market from various non-aligned parties that provide relevant information. When companies begin to collaborate around market problems they are able to focus the genre more closely on business needs. 

As companies make a significant commitment with each other and share tight resources that deliver products/services they are engaged in allied activities that raise innovative knowledge. We can see this exist when companies team with suppliers to develop better supply chain platforms for international delivery or Internet entities that work tightly with other virtual suppliers to create more effective campaigns. 

International marketing development doesn’t work in a vacuum and requires interested stakeholders to work together to create something new. Knowledge diffusion and innovation occurs when companies bring their current capabilities to collaborate with other companies to develop higher level outputs. The more focused companies are on defined outcomes the more likely they are able to orientate their efforts.

Evers, N. et. al. (2012). Stakeholders and marketing capabilities in international new ventures: evidence from Ireland, Sweden, and Denmark. Journal of International Marketing, 20 (4).