The funding is being allocated to all areas of the country from the Local Authority Business Growth Incentives (LABGI) scheme that rewards councils which successfully promote local growth. In the East of England more than £5.5million funding is being allocated to eight sub-regions as follows:

Bedfordshire and Luton             £664,322
Heart of Essex                                £603,690
South west Essex                         £319,617
Hertfordshire                              £1,386,687
Peterborough and Lincs          £653,285
Norfolk                                            £632,833
Suffolk                                             £591,443
Thames Gateway                          £689,468

John Denham is clear that vital public sector support at this time can lessen the impact for struggling families and businesses. He wants to see councils use this grant to help small and new businesses in hard hit areas who often need extra support to get through the tougher times so they can hit the ground running as economic growth picks up.

Last July, the scheme was re-launched with a similar £50m grant. Today’s announcement builds on that and takes the total LABGI funding since 2005 over £1 billion, on top of normal Government grants.

Government action through Real Help Now has supported many families and businesses.  It is also giving wider support including free business health checks, discounted rate bills for small businesses, tax payment deferrals, capital loans or help with bank loans for business growth, and a 10 day Government payment promise.

Mr. Denham said

“Building economic recovery is the Government’s top priority and we firmly believe in the decisive leadership role councils have to play. Strong, vibrant, decisive local government is an essential part of our plans to promote growth and cut unemployment while rebuilding the public finances.

We put the public sector in the lead while the private sector was struggling, spending and investing to lessen the impact on individuals, businesses and communities. We are giving councils up and down the country a further £50m to support small and new businesses in hard hit areas that might need a little jump start to get up and running again.

“Local councils, and councillors, with their unique democratic mandate, are best placed to provide financial support and local services that are responsive to the pressures being felt by families and businesses in local areas.

“Through our Real Help Now plan, we have committed a billion pounds to create more than 150 000 jobs and guaranteed everyone under the age of 25 a job, training or work experience if they are out of work for over six months and given struggling small businesses financial support through our billion pound Enterprise Finance Guarantee and tax payment deferrals.”

The award was won by PD Ports for its Logical Link service – a coastal feeder container shipping service offering a next day connection between Felixstowe in the south of England and Teesport in the north, which runs three days per week.

ASDA has used the Logical Link service since it launched in January 2009, to ship goods destined for its northern markets into Teesport, where the retailer operates a 360,000ft distribution centre. In its first year of operation, the Logical Link service reached its goal of reducing operational costs for customers and minimising the adverse impact that road transport has on the environment.

ASDA, which opened the first PortCentric import centre at Teesport in 2006, has now considerably reduced the volume of company trucks on the already over-burdened UK road network. This has led to a saving of over 1,265,459 road miles. That’s enough to make almost three trips to the moon and back.

Alex Linton, ASDA’s supply chain operations manager, commented: “PD Ports’ innovation in the development of the Logical Link concept and the subsequent efficiency in the management of the service were key factors in winning this award.

“The continued improvement and solid performance in PD Ports’ transport business, PD Logistics, provided a further rationale for judging the company to merit this award.”

Jerry Hopkinson, PD Ports MD, Bulks, Ports & Logistics, said: “We are delighted to have been named as ASDA’s outstanding carrier of the year as a result of the success we have seen with the Logical Link service.

“There is without doubt, a continued and vital need to reduce the amount of freight transported by road from southern UK ports but which is destined for the north of the UK. This award further cements the benefits our customers can achieve through the Logical Link service.”

This blip in the prevailing downward trend in U.S. productivity was largely explained by dramatically reduced working hours that offset output decline (employment fell by 3.6 percent in 2009; hours worked per worker by 1.5 percent.) U.S. productivity growth is projected at 3 percent for 2010.

European productivity growth turned negative in 2009, falling far behind the United States. Output per hour fell 1 percent in the Euro Area.

“These are unusually large differences in productivity growth between the United States and Europe,” said Bart van Ark, chief economist of The Conference Board. “U.S. employers have reacted much more strongly to the recession than their European counterparts in terms of cutting jobs and hours. In 2010, both Europe and the United States will see higher productivity growth coming out of recession. However, a jobless productivity recovery is the most likely scenario in both regions.

“Most emerging markets outside Central and East Europe and Russia fared better than advanced economies on both output and productivity growth in 2009,” said van Ark. “Emerging economies are becoming global competitors to be reckoned with on the basis of high productivity growth, not just because of low cost.”

China’s productivity growth rate (8.2 percent) was the best among emerging markets in 2009 and is projected to be 7.7 percent in 2010. “China’s 2009 productivity growth is largely due to government stimulus supporting state-owned enterprises,” van Ark said. “Going forward, it remains to be seen whether this can continue as support for SOEs wanes.”

World productivity growth also declined in 2009 (-1 percent in terms of output per worker), putting it in negative territory for the first time in almost two decades, but it is expected to recover strongly in 2010 as both emerging and developing economies show stronger productivity performance.

The data reported today is drawn from The Conference Board Total Economy Database. Widely watched and utilized by economists and other analysts around the world, the database is available free of charge for public use. It is updated twice yearly, with analyses provided to member companies in January in The Conference Board Productivity Brief, and a more in-depth Performance research report later in the year.

Among today’s key points:
The worldwide recession caused a 1-percent drop in global output per worker, taking it into negative territory for the first time in 19 years. (It was negative in 1991, but by only 0.1 percent). Global productivity growth is expected to go strongly positive again in 2010 (+2.2 percent).

Productivity growth in the Euro Area turned negative (-1 percent) following two years of decline, but is projected to recover significantly (+2 percent) in 2010. Of the -3.1 percent decline in hours worked, only -1.9 percent was due to a fall in employment; the rest was due to a 1.2-percent drop in hours per worker.

U.K. productivity (-1.9 percent) fared worse than that of the European Union or the Euro Area, primarily due to a larger contraction in output. Productivity is projected to return to positive growth of 1.7 percent in 2010. The long-term trend in U.K. labor productivity has been significantly downward since 1995, along with a weakening labor market.

The Conference Board Total Economy Database provides a comprehensive overview of growth rates of productivity, GDP, employment and hours worked for 123 economies representing 97 percent of the world’s population and 99 percent of global output. It also contains estimated levels of productivity (expressed in U.S. dollars and adjusted for relative price differences), as well as the levels of GDP, employment, hours worked (for selected countries), population, and labor productivity. (Productivity per hour captures those workers who are still employed, but at reduced hours.) The Total Economy Database draws largely on such international sources as the OECD, Eurostat and the IMF, and also from the latest national accounts, labor surveys, and other employment statistics available for individual countries. New to the Total Economy Database this year is Total Factor Productivity (TFP), which accounts for such sources as improvements in workers skills, machinery and software. TFP is a more precise measure of efficiency than labor productivity.

ABOUT THE CONFERENCE BOARD
The Conference Board is a global, independent business membership and research association working in the public interest. Our mission is unique: To provide the world’s leading organizations with the practical knowledge they need to improve their performance and better serve society. The Conference Board is a non-advocacy, not-for-profit entity holding 501 (c) (3) tax-exempt status in the United States.

For further information contact:
Frank Tortorici
(1) 212 339 0231
f.tortorici@conference-board.org

More than 8m Toyota cars are being recalled worldwide, including 180,000 in the UK, with the company also under investigation in the US over problems with the brakes on its hybrid Prius car.

Mr Toyoda is planning measures which he hopes will avoid a repeat of the crisis. He will lead a committee that will take charge of introducing initiatives including the introduction of new “quality management” professionals at “Automotive Centres of Quality Excellence” in key regions, an improvement in the way it researches its cars and customers, and greater autonomy for regional divisions.

Mr Toyoda apologised to customers for the turmoil but insisted that his company’s vehicles are safe. and that Toyota has yet to establish whether it needs to launch a global recall of the Prius, of which there are about 40,000 in the UK. “I have instructed that consideration be made as soon as possible regarding the way to address such units. Once a decision is made we will inform the public,” he said.

The Toyota boss, who took over last year in the face of a major collapse in global car sales, has come under fierce criticism for his handling of the crisis, which has wiped $30bn (£19bn), or a fifth, off the company’s market value and is estimated to have already cost $2bn.

The crisis could have serious implications for the Toyota brand, which prides itself on quality and reliability. Standard & Poor’s, the rating agency, yesterday put Toyota’s AA rating on its negative watchlist because of “increased concern over the potential negative impact on Toyota’s business risk profile of unfolding developments related to recent quality issues”.

Source: Based on Daily Telegraph Article

From January to November, Chinese exports were worth 1.07 trillion dollars, while German data showed that exports from Europe’s biggest economy amounted to 734.6 billion euros, or 1.05 trillion dollars.

The widely-expected crowning of a new export champion should be confirmed when Germany releases full-year 2009 trade figures on February 9.

Economic growth in both countries depend on exports, which critics claim contributes to overall global imbalances, urging Germans to consume more and Chinese authorities to let the yuan float freely against the dollar.

In November, the German trade surplus climbed to 17.2 billion euros, seasonally corrected figures showed, from 13.6 billion in October largely thanks to strong Asian demand.

German imports fell by 5.9 percent to 53.4 billion euros, in part owing to fewer purchases of foreign autos as a car-scrapping premium expired, while exports gained 1.6 percent to 70.6 billion euros.

“The German product specialisation with a high share of capital goods and high presence in Asian markets, make Germany one of the main beneficiaries of an investment-led global recovery,” ING senior economist Carsten Brzeski said.

He noted that German exports to China had increased by almost 12 percent from November 2008, and that Germany’s unadjusted trade surplus of 17.4 billion euros was the biggest since June 2008.

Global trade was crushed later that year after the collapse of US investment bank Lehman Brothers.

China meanwhile expects its share of global trade to exceed nine percent in 2009, Vice Commerce Minister Zhong Shan said late last month, from 8.86 percent in 2008 despite a forecast fall in exports of 16 percent on the year.

Chinese wares shipped abroad include items such as electronic goods and clothing while Germany exports automobiles, chemical products and specialised machine tools.

On December 30, China and southeast Asian nations established the world’s biggest free trade area in terms of population, and one which rivals the European Union and North America Free Trade Area in terms of value.

Germany benefits greatly from EU trade, which accounted for 63 percent of its exports in November, providing 462 billion euros in revenues.

“It is good to know that the German economy can at least rely on a good old friend: its strong export sector,” Brzeski said.

Europe’s biggest economy is recovering from its worst recession since World War II, and is estimated to have contracted by around 5.0 percent in 2009.

The German central bank forecasts growth of 1.6 percent in 2010.

China’s economy likely grew by 8.5 percent in 2009, a senior official has said, and could gain another 9.5 percent this year.

In the end, most experts say increased trade benefits everyone, but efforts to boost global commerce remain deadlocked and the recent economic slowdown has fuelled fears of increased protectionism.

The Doha round of trade liberalisation talks has dragged on since its launch in 2001, dogged by a string of missed deadlines and setbacks.

For Germany, “export demand is set to show more moderate growth rates than at the beginning of the current recovery, not least as fiscal stimulus is increasingly phasing out and the global inventory cycle loses steam,” UniCredit economist Alexander Koch said.

J Sainsbury plc, one of the largest supermarket chains in the UK, recognises that climate change poses both risks and opportunities to its business. As a result, Sainsbury’s has adopted a proactive strategy of understanding climate change and implementing programmes to reduce its direct environmental impact. Its goal is to reduce carbon dioxide emissions by sourcing energy responsibly, minimising energy demand and promoting efficient consumption.

In order to become more energy efficient and reduce its carbon emissions, Sainsbury’s Sainsbury’s worked with the Carbon Trust to highlight initiatives that would reduce carbon emissions for Sainsbury’s. We have been able to exceed our reduction targets and ensure that we remain a responsible company in minimising our impact on the environment..

Results

Over the past three years, J Sainsbury plc’s carbon emissions per square metre of sales area (CO2/m2) have consistently decreased. The retailer has achieved a 20 per cent CO2/m2 reduction on energy use between 2001 – 2005, against an initial target of 10 per cent. Energy efficiency projects alone, including a combination of voltage reduction, refrigeration system recommissioning and lighting improvements, have contributed to an 11 per cent decrease in carbon emissions. This reduction in energy use equates to a cost saving of in excess of £8M per annum from the start of the target period – 1997/98.

This improvement in efficiency is equivalent to the entire energy and transport emissions from all homes and businesses in London for one day every year.

Looking ahead

The organisation is continuing to improve energy efficiency and has set a new target to achieve a further five per cent reduction in CO2/m2, compared to April 2005, by April 2008. Sainsbury’s recognises that this target will be a challenge, but is determined that with a continued focus on housekeeping, as well as operational efficiencies, it can be achieved.

Our work with the Carbon Trust has aided us enormously, helping us to achieve our commitment to the continued reduction in carbon emissions.

Source:

Julius Brinkworth, Sainsbury’s Group Energy Manager.

The Road to Copenhagen is the UK Government’s case for an ambitious agreement at Copenhagen and focuses on urgent action to limit global temperature increases to no more than 2 degrees Celsius, beyond which the risks of dangerous climate change become much greater.

The UK Government as part of it,s overall strategy to combat climate change, is committed to minimising the amount of waste produced and getting as much value as possible out of what is left by reuse, recycling or composting and the recovery of energy while protecting human health. Efficient use of resources and the effective management of waste [in all it's forms] are essential functions of an environmentally sustainable economy.

Environmental Management is a systematic approach whereby an organisation takes responsibility for the environmental impact of its activities. The successful management of environmental impacts is to allow the use of energy, natural resources, and waste in a manner that ensures the long term sustainability of an organisation.

The Institute of Management Services [IMS] members have a proven record in assisting management in sytematically identifying and reducing waste in the field of human endeavour and material resources. This role could be productively expanded to include waste minimisation in all its forms.

Shown in the table below are some examples of ‘ Waste’ that could be tackled in a more coordinated  and systematic way, using Management Services tools and techniques.

As an example, the conceptual framework, shown below, could be developed to incorporate the environmental management aspects into our traditional areas, using established IMS  techniques, procedures and critical analysis processes.

Management Services

Application of the Method Study Procedure to Achieve the Minimisation of Waste and Inefficiencies.

The procedure shown above is a basic framework which could be used in waste minimisation strategies, it is not intended to be comprehensive. The entries under each heading are examples of the things that could potentially be included in any review undertaken. Any comments/views on the feasibility of this approach would be welcomed.

The National Transport Commission (NTC) is an independent body tasked by the Australian Transport Council (ATC) to provide advice to state and Federal Transport Ministers on regulatory and operational reforms. Its latest review, conducted in parallel with supply chain pilot studies that investigated coal, grain, intermodal and livestock supply chains, concentrates specifically on identifying reform opportunities to improve productivity within the rail sector.

Five main areas of impediment were identified: Policy, planning and investment; economic regulation and market structure; environmental, safety and technical regulation and standards; human capital; and productivity measurement.

The analysis across the freight rail industry has shown that further work is necessary and that there is a role for government in addressing productivity impediments in the rail sector,” the NTC says.

Most importantly, as a high priority, governments should:

• Develop more coordinated and transparent frameworks to facilitate planning and investment within the rail industry and build on the planning and investment already undertaken by governments individually.
• Work with industry to ensure that policy objectives for funding being provided are met. This will require reciprocal obligations from industry in terms of ensuring government subsidies are used efficiently and providing adequate information to governments regarding funding outcomes and expected future investment requirements.
• Improve efficiency across the transport sector through the progression of the Council of Australian Governments’ Road Reform Plan and development of a nationally consistent regulatory model for access to strategically important terminals.
• Continue to work towards implementation of a single national rail safety regulator and investigator to deliver a nationally consistent rail safety regulatory framework.
• Develop comprehensive productivity indicators for the rail sector.

Looking specifically at a couple of these recommendations, NTC wants coordinated and prioritised transport objectives across all levels of government and government-owned corporations to ensure consistent and cohesive implementation. A fundamental part of this will be a long-term ports and freight strategy to undertake coordinated planning and investment across governments and encourage private investment in transport infrastructure.

This strategy should address the interaction between rail planning and planning for other interests, including land use planning, supply chain interfaces, passenger and freight conflicts, existing transport market distortions and social objectives, and take a national focus where necessary,” NTC says.

Productivity data
The NTC’s review admits its task was made more difficult by the lack of available freight rail productivity data and thus wants comprehensive productivity indicators developed by the Bureau of Infrastructure, Transport and Regional Economics and made available across governments and industry. BITRE is well placed to undertake this work as it already publishes a number of rail performance indicators in conjunction with the Australasian Railway Association (ARA).

NTC believes this should be done in conjunction with the Standing Committee on Transport Sub-Committee responsible for transport data collection and research.

Governments should investigate mandating the provision of data from rail businesses where necessary to ensure adequate industry data is available for undertaking meaningful analysis. The collection of rail productivity data should also be undertaken with a supply chain focus to enable policy and planning to occur across all modes,” it says.

Industry can also play a strong role in improving productivity through developing and adhering to technical, operational and environmental industry standards and working to improve coordination along the supply chain, NTC concludes.

Source: Extracts from World Cargo News – October 2009

British ministers are pressing for the most ambitious deal possible in order to avoid these dangerous impacts.

The map – launched at the Science Museum with just 45 days to go before international climate change talks begin in Copenhagen – by Foreign Secretary, David Miliband, Climate and Energy Secretary Ed Miliband, along with the UK’s Chief Scientist, Professor John Beddington, was developed using the latest peer-reviewed science from the Met Office Hadley Centre and other leading impact scientists. The poster highlights some of the impacts that may occur if the global average temperature rises by 4 degrees Celsius above the pre-industrial climate average.

The UK Government is calling for an agreement that’s ambitious, effective and fair. This means no more than 2 degrees temperature rise.

The poster shows:

• that a 4 degree average rise will not be spread uniformly across the globe. The land will heat up more quickly than the sea, and high latitudes, particularly the Arctic, will have larger temperature increases
• The average land temperature will be 5.5 degrees above pre-industrial levels.
• The impacts on human activity shown on the map are only a selection of those that may occur, and highlight the severe effects on water availability, agricultural productivity, extreme temperatures and drought, the risk of forest fire and sea level rise.
• Agricultural yields are expected to decrease for all major cereal crops in all major regions of production. Half of all Himalayan glaciers will be significantly reduced by 2050, leading to 23% of the population of China being deprived of the vital dry season glacial melt water source.

The UK is the fifth easiest ‘economy in the world in which to conduct business, according to the World Bank.

It has moved up one place from last year in the bank’s annual “Doing Business” survey, making it the best placed country in Europe.

Singapore retained the top spot, ahead of New Zealand, Hong Kong and the US.

The report found that a record 131 economies – more than 70% of those surveyed – reformed business regulation in 2008-9, amid the global downturn.

The Government should also reduce the number of places in medical schools, a newly released report advises, and consider dropping some operations, including to remove varicose veins.

In a report commissioned by the Department of Health, McKinsey and Company, the consultancy firm, recommends that 137,000 NHS posts should be shed.

Although ministers say that they have comprehensively rejected the ideas critics claimed that they revealed the scale of the financial problems facing the NHS.

The Government aims to make between £15billion and £20 billion in effeciency saving between 2011 and 2014.

The report advises that jobs be cut among frontline healthcare staff as well as among administrators.

Other suggestions include that the NHS should freeze all staff recruitment, cut the number of medical school places, and begin an early retirement scheme to encourage GPs and community nurses to make way for “new blood”.

The NHS could save £700m if procedures with limited clinical benefits, such as tonsillectomies, varicose vein removal and some hysterectomies, were no longer offered, it estimates.

The report also claims that 40 per cent of patients in a typical hospital at any one time do not need to be there.

It warns that patients are being delayed receiving hospital tests or treatments and that there are too few care facilities in a patient’s own home or community.

Andrew Lansley, the shadow health secretary, said: “Yet again Labour Ministers are failing to be straight with the British people. Andy Burnham promised to protect the NHS, but now we find out that his department has been drawing up secret plans for swingeing cuts.

“Clearly we need to get better value for money from the NHS, so we applaud any drive for greater efficiency, but it is extraordinary that Labour plan to take an axe to the hospital budget rather than to the bloated health bureaucracy.”

The report, seen by the Health Service Journal, also estimates that £2.4bn could be saved if hospitals with the lowest levels of staff productivity improved to meet the average.

Limiting the number of new and new and follow-up outpatient appointments every year to around 25 million, instead of 29 million, could also save £600m.

Ministers were given the report in March this year.

Mike O’Brien, the health minister, said that the Government had “rejected” the proposals and that there were no plans to adopt them in future.

He added: “The Government does not believe the right answer to improving the NHS now or in the future is to cut the NHS workforce.

“In core frontline services like maternity, nursing and primary care we need more staff rather than fewer.”

The Royal College of Nursing warned that any reduction in the number of nurses would have a detrimental effect on the quality and safety of patient care.

Dr Peter Carter, the RCN chief executive, said: “These proposals are deeply worrying because recent studies show that there is a direct link between the number of nurses working on wards and patient deaths.”

He added that 20,000 nurses were already due to retire over the next 10 years.

Norman Lamb, the Liberal Democrat health spokesman, said: “The huge gap between what ministers say in public and the secret reports being circulated in Whitehall is becoming clearer by the day.”

He added: “The credibility of outside consultants who have squandered billions of pounds of taxpayers’ money over the last decade must be questioned.”

Source: Daily Telegraph.

A few short questions which will define Competitiveness in 2009, and beyond

by Professor Stephane Garelli

Director of IMD World Competitiveness Center

How long will the recession be?

As an indicator, the informal feedback from business leaders recently attending IMD events indicates a “wait and see” attitude until the summer. Some signs of recovery are expected during the second half of 2009 and stronger results will appear in the statistics of early 2010. As usual the stock exchanges will pick up earlier. After all, we cannot stay on a diet forever!

What type of recession?

An “ECG U type”! This means a rather long recession with some ups and downs (like a graph of an ECG of brain waves) and a few false starts during the lower part of the U and before the real upturn occurs.

Which country shall recover first?

The US, which was among the first to enter into recession, will naturally lead the recovery. Even if some regions of the world (China) experience some early growth, the one and only key and credible message that the worst is over will come from the US.

Which countries shall recover last?

Traditionally Germany, Japan and Switzerland are the last to recover. Their “structural rigidities” are higher than in most Anglo- Saxon countries and may explain why their economic cycle is usually delayed.

Do we risk a Depression?

The answer is no, for most countries, if a depression is defined as a 10% fall in GDP or a 3 years’ recession. However, Iceland and the Baltic States may be the exceptions to this rule.

Shall we have deflation?

Again in most countries, no (here the exceptions may be Britain, Japan and Spain). However, certain industry sectors may experience a severe drop in prices (e.g. automobile) across the globe.

Will the stimulus packages work?

The IMF estimates that these packages can be valued at $5,000bn, which represents the cumulative budget deficits in 2009 and 2010. In the industrialized world, people will save the money they receive. They live in a “replacement economy” (a new product replaces an old one) and they can delay a purchase for a certain period of time without experiencing a perceptible decline in their standard of living. In the emerging economies, people live in a “first buy economy” and they will not want to delay a long expected purchase. In this case, Keynesian policies will work and people will spend the money they get.

What about unemployment?

This is definitely a big issue. The International Labor Organization anticipates a 50 million
increase in world unemployment in the near future. Most nations will have a close to 10% unemployment rate, some (Belgium, Ireland, Russia, Spain, South Africa, Slovakia, Turkey, etc.) will unfortunately fare a lot worse. The cost impact on public finances will be huge. The temptation of protectionism will increase as the public asks, “Shouldn’t stimulus packages benefit and protect only domestic businesses?”

How to pay for massive government debt?

The US expects $2,500bn of borrowing requirements in 2009 and Europe $1,000bn. Obviously one way to repay the debt is to raise taxation on high earners (e.g. Britain with a marginal tax rate increased to 50%). As a consequence, tax havens will be under attack to prevent money from escaping higher taxation.

Will inflation kick in?

With the recovery, yes! It will be triggered by both an excess of money supply (especially dollars) and a rapid rise in commodity prices (essentially fuelled by the demand of emerging nations). Central banks will not react immediately so as not to impede recovery and also because inflation is an effective way to reduce the value of debt. Companies will learn once again how to manage an inflationary environment, for example, by moving from cash to more tangible assets.

Do companies still have some money?

Yes and a lot! It is estimated that the 100 top global companies have some $600bn in cash. This money will be used to buy back shares (to sustain price and to be better protected against hostile takeovers). Acquiring industrial assets and companies will also be a priority. M&A and market consolidation are back!

Who are the new investment bankers?

With some $6,000bn in currency reserves, emerging powers are the new big players and they will increase their weight in international organizations. In addition, sovereign funds, despite some losses, still manage some $3,000bn. This money will increasingly be used to finance infrastructure projects, to buy assets abroad and to finance the development of local companies and brands. They are the new investment bankers!

Will the dollar survive?

So far yes! 60% of the world currency holdings are in dollars, and many currencies are pegged to the dollar. In comparison, the holdings in Euros are only half as much while the Pound sterling and the Yen remain negligible. But the excesses in dollar supplies will sooner or later take their toll and the dollar will weaken. Several nations are already contemplating moving away from the dollar (for currency reference or commodity sales) to a basket of currencies. The Euro will attract more candidates. The Pound and the Yen will remain marginalized.

Who will ultimately gain power?

National governments of course! They have the ultimate power: printing money, making laws and setting taxes. The multilateral world is on decline (IMF, World Bank, WTO). It is again a brutal power game among the big nations. But beware: In the words of Thomas Jefferson: “A government big enough to give you everything you want, is also strong enough to take everything you have!

]]> http://www.imseasternregion.co.uk/2009/07/04/and-now-what%e2%80%99s-next/feed/ 0 http://www.imseasternregion.co.uk/2009/07/04/the-world-competitiveness-ranking-2009/ http://www.imseasternregion.co.uk/2009/07/04/the-world-competitiveness-ranking-2009/#comments Sat, 04 Jul 2009 18:44:05 +0000 Ray Martin http://www.imseasternregion.co.uk/?p=318 Again this year, the United States is first in the rankings of the 2009 IMD World Competitiveness Yearbook, a pioneer in ranking and analyzing how nations compete and manage their path to prosperity,

But will the United States’ run continue? In 1989, Japan seemed firmly in the number one position with the US in third. By 1994, however, the US took over leadership, a position it has held ever since.

Method study is the process of subjecting work to systematic, critical scrutiny in order to make it more effective and/or more efficient.

It was originally designed for the analysis and improvement of repetitive, manual work, but it can be used for all types of activity at all levels of an organisation.

The process is often seen as a linear, described by its main steps of:

• Select (the work to be studied);

• Record (all relevant information about that work);

• Examine (the recorded information);

• Develop (an improved way of doing things);

• Install (the new method as standard practice);

• Maintain (the new standard proactive).

Although this linear representation shows the underlying simplicity of method study, in practice the process is much more one of iteration around the above steps with each dominating at a different stage of the investigation.

The cyclic process often starts with a quick, rough pass in which preliminary data are collected and examined, before subsequent passes provide and handle more comprehensive and more detailed data to obtain and analyse a more complete picture.

Work is selected for method study on the basis of it being an identified problem area or an identified opportunity (resulting from a systematic review of available data, normal monitoring or control processes, high levels of dissatisfaction and complaint or as part of a management-derived change in policy, practice, technology or location), and usually because it meets certain conditions of urgency and/or priority.

Before any method study investigation is begun, it is necessary to establish clear terms of reference which define the aims, scale, scope and constraints of the investigation. This should also include an identification of who “owns” the problem or situation and ways in which such “ownership” is shared. This may lead to a debate on the aims of the project, on reporting mechanisms and frequencies, and on the measures of success. This process is sometimes introduced as a separate and distinct phase of method study, as the “define” stage. It leads to a plan for the investigation which identifies appropriate techniques, personnel, and timescale.

The Record stage of method study is to provide sufficient data (in terms of both quality and quantity) to act as the basis of evaluation and examination. A wide range of techniques are available for recording; the choice depends on the nature of the investigation and the work being studied, and on the level of detail required. Many of the techniques are simple charts and diagrams, but these may be supplemented by photographic and video recording, and by computer based techniques.

Especially with “hard” (clearly defined) problems, method study often involves the construction and analysis of models, from simple charts and diagrams used to record and represent the situation to full, computerised simulations. Manipulation of and experimentation on the models leads to ideas for development.

The recorded data are subjected to examination and analysis; formalised versions of this process are critical examination and systems analysis. The aim is to identify, often through a structured, questioning process, those points of the overall system of work that require improvements or offer opportunity for beneficial change.

The Examine stage merges into the Develop stage of the investigation as more thorough analysis leads automatically to identified areas of change. The aim here is to identify possible actions for improvement and to subject these to evaluation in order to develop a preferred solution.

Sometimes it is necessary to identify short-term and long-term solutions so that improvements can be made (relatively) immediately, while longer-term changes are implemented and come to fruition.

The success of any method study project is realised when actual change is made ‘on the ground’ – change that meets the originally specified terms of reference for the project. Thus, the Install phase is very important. Making theoretical change is easy; making real change demands careful planning – and handling of the people involved in the situation under review. They may need reassuring, retraining and supporting through the acquisition of new skills. Install, in some cases ,will require a parallel running of old and new systems, in others, it may need the build-up of buffer stocks, and in others ….. what matters is that the introduction of new working methods is successful. There is often only one chance to make change!

Some time after the introduction of new working methods, it is necessary to check that the new method is working, that it is being adhered to, and that it has brought about the desired results. This is the Maintain phase. Method drift is common – when people start to either revert to old ways of working, or introduce new changes. Some of these may be helpful (and should formally be incorporated); others may be inefficient or unsafe. A methods audit can be used to formally compare practice with the defined method and identify such ‘irregularities’.

]]> http://www.imseasternregion.co.uk/2009/05/07/method-study/feed/ 0 http://www.imseasternregion.co.uk/2009/04/17/productivity/ http://www.imseasternregion.co.uk/2009/04/17/productivity/#comments Fri, 17 Apr 2009 16:54:41 +0000 Ray Martin http://www.imseasternregion.co.uk/?p=284 The term ‘productivity’ is widely used, it appears daily in our national press and frequently on the TV news channels. Members of parliament, leaders of industry, commerce, and trade organisations, all repeatedly refer to the need to increase the level of productivity,

The word is is far easier to use than to define. Among those who can define it, only a few can do so so in terms precise enough to evaluate the level of productivity in a given work situation. However, this is more usually attempted in a manufacturing industry than in those whose end product is a service.

Essentially a Ratio

Productivity is the ratio between input and output: the measure of the amount gained from a process, in terms of quantity and quality of a product or service, in return for a given input of resources.

These  resources may be:-

• Land and Buildings

• Materials

• Plant, Machines, Tools and Equipment

• Human Resources

or, as is generally the case, a combination of all four

]]> http://www.imseasternregion.co.uk/2009/04/17/productivity/feed/ 0 http://www.imseasternregion.co.uk/2009/02/23/work-study/ http://www.imseasternregion.co.uk/2009/02/23/work-study/#comments Mon, 23 Feb 2009 21:06:29 +0000 Ray Martin http://www.imseasternregion.co.uk/?p=228 Binmen given computers to build household ‘rubbish profiles’

Waste collection crews are being issued with devices featuring GPS technology that allow councils to store a history of information about individual rubbish collections, including whether householders are failing to recycle properly.

The system feeds binmen with up-to-the minute information about houses they are visiting.

It also provides local authorities with enough information to issue recycling advice or automated fines to residents who fail to obey bin rules.

Opposition MPs and campaigners say the technology will make it easy for the government to resurrect plans for the introduction of a £50 pay-as-you-throw tax on millions of families.

Recycling charges are part of the Government’s waste strategy to encourage households to recycle at least 40 per cent of their rubbish by 2010, rising to 50 per cent by 2020.

Fourteen councils are already using the multi-million pound Waste Collector Live system, covering hundreds of thousands of homes, with another 30 in talks with manufacturers Bartec Systems.

A small computer in the cab of each dust cart gives binmen detailed advice about households on their route, such as whether the occupants are disabled and therefore unable to move wheelie bins onto the pavement.

It also allows information to be collected on when householders have not used their recycling bins correctly or have put out too much rubbish.

Under the government’s pay-as-you-throw plans, councils were offered the chance to give rebates to households producing the least waste or impose penalties of up to £50 on those who failed to recycle.

The trials would have begun in April but the Department for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) said not one of 388 councils had volunteered to test the taxes. Earlier trials last year using microchips in bins to assess the weight of rubbish produced by each household failed. Tory-run South Norfolk council, the first in England to pilot the scheme, blamed a combination of electrical, data, mechanical and hydraulic faults.

Bob Neill, shadow local government minister, said: “Using technology to make refuse collections more efficient worthwhile but profiling every household could be open to abuse.

“I am concerned that the government may use the existence of this information to put unfair pressure on local councils to resurrect their discredited ‘pay as you throw’ bin tax scheme by the back door. This makes it all the more important that the bin tax laws, which were quietly left in place when the government’s fist attempt to do this failed last year, are now repealed with out delay.”

Colin Webb, managing director of Bartec Systems, said: “The technology could be used differently if recycling moves in a different political direction. It could be used for the scheme proposed by Defra for pay-as-you-throw or it could be used for a scheme such as the one proposed by the Conservatives for incentive-based recycling which we would actually prefer. It is up to councils how they use it.”

Doretta Cocks, founder of the Campaign for Weekly Waste Collection, said: “I don’t think we have seen the last of pay-as-you-throw and systems like this make it easier for councils to enforce systems that residents don’t want rather than thinking of new ways of waste of reducing overall waste.”

Susan Hall, a councillor in Harrow where the system has just been bought in said it will save the council £3.1 million over 10 years. Although it is costing £2.1 million to install the computers and train bin men, she said money would be saved in planning more efficient routes and because any forgotten bins will be picked up immediately rather than having to do another round trip. Council spokesman Fergus Sheppard stressed the council has no plans to use the system to issue fines and did not wish to take part in Defra’s pay-as-you-throw trials.

A spokesman for the Local Government Association said: “When an estimated £1.8bn of council taxpayer’s money is going to be spent on landfill taxes between 2008 and 2011, it is vital that councils find ways to stop waste ending up in the ground.

” Landfill tax costs councils £32 for every tonne of rubbish they throw away. It is up to each council, with their local residents, to decide which sort of approach is used to ensure that people can recycle more and help do their bit to keep council tax down.”

Source: Daily Telegraph – 23.02.2009

Value Management has evolved out of previous methods based on the concept of value and functional approachThese were pioneered by Lawrence D. Miles in the 1940’s and 50’s who developed the technique of Value Analysis (VA) as a method to improve value in existing products.

Initially Value Analysis was used principally to identify and eliminate unnecessary costs. However it is equally effective in increasing performance and addressing resources other than cost. As it evolved the application of VA widened beyond products into services, projects and administrative procedures.

The Value Management Approach involves three root principles.

• A continuous awareness of value for the organization, establishing measures or estimates of value, monitoring and controlling them
• A focus on the objectives and targets before seeking solutions.
• A focus on function, providing the key to maximize innovative and practical outcomes.

The concept of Value relies on the relationship between the satisfaction of many differing needs and the resources used in doing so. The fewer the resources used or the greater the satisfaction of needs, the greater the value. Stakeholders, internal and external customers may all hold differing views of what represents value. The aim of Value Management is to reconcile these differences and enable an organization to achieve the greatest progress towards its stated goals with the use of minimum resources.

The new Act raises the potential punishments available to the courts in relation to health and safety offences, quadrupling the maximum fine in the magistrates courts from £5k to £20k.

Chief Executive of the Health and Safety Executive, Geoffrey Podger, urged that, although the Act does not impose any new duties on employers or businesses, it will act as a real deterrent to those who do not take their health and safety responsibilities seriously.

“Our message to the many employers who do manage health and safety well is that they have nothing to fear from this change in law. We will retain the important safeguards that ensure that our inspectors use their powers sensibly and proportionately. We will continue to target those who cut corners, put lives at risk, and who gain commercial advantage over competitors by failing to comply with the law.”

Welcoming the Act IOSH’s immediate past president Ray Hurst commented:

“We believe this Act will allow the courts to send a strong message to employers that health and safety offences are treated just as seriously as other offences, such as those involving financial misconduct. Employers need to remember that health and safety offences aren’t just about rule-breaking; they can actually ruin people’s lives.”

DWP Minister Lord McKenzie suggested the Act should bring about faster justice:

“It is generally accepted that the level of fines for some health and safety offences is too low. These changes will ensure that sentences can now be more easily set at a level to deter businesses that do not take their health and safety management responsibilities seriously and further encourage employers and others to comply with the law.

“Furthermore, by extending the £20,000 maximum fine to the lower courts and making imprisonment an option, more cases will be resolved in the lower courts and justice will be faster, less costly and more efficient.

“Jail sentences for particularly blameworthy health and safety offences committed by individuals, can now be imposed reflecting the severity of such crimes, whereas there were more limited options in the past.”

Finally remembering the Act’s origins, Lord McKenzie commented:

“I am delighted that this legislation is now on the statute book and very grateful to my colleagues Keith Hill MP and Lord Bruce Grocott for introducing the Bill and for the support received from all sides of both Houses of Parliament.”