Poor productivity holding back business | Metro Newspaper

Published: Monday, August 20, 2012

Poor productivity is holding back business in South Africa with the problem much worse than official estimates, according to a report released today.

Prophet Analytics analyst Peter Aling said labour productivity had declined since the 1980s, contrary to an SA Reserve Bank estimate that it had risen two percent a year since the 1960s.

This central bank figure would mean that worker productivity, when adjusted for inflation, had increased 127 percent since 1967.

?They do not explain why firms continue to lay off workers in large numbers? and they do not explain why labour?s share of national income has fallen from 60 percent in 1995 to 52.8 percent in 2011.?

Aling also claimed the SARB was wrong in estimating that capital productivity ? a company?s profits per its existing assets ? had fallen one percent a year since 1995, a decrease of about 33 percent when adjusted for inflation.

?Nonsense,? Aling said.

He said the economy had been producing more output using fewer workers and it only appeared that the remaining workers had become more productive.

?This, of course, is nonsense and does not correspond to what is meant by productivity, namely making the greatest use of available resources.?

Aling said South African businesses were still increasing overall productivity despite a decline in labour productivity.

This was because improving capital productivity had made up for the fall in labour productivity.

Aling published his findings in the Labour Market Navigator, third quarter report.

He said the report found that JSE companies were struggling for productivity with only 65 generating labour productivity that exceeded costs.

?These findings support other data which show that labour productivity for the South African economy as a whole has fallen to a 40-year low.?

He said while the private sector was suffering from poor labour productivity, it was still working 450 percent better than the public sector.

Source: http://www.metronewspaper.co.za/2012/08/20/poor-productivity-holding-back-business/

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HTC, $40M Down From OnLive, Puts $35.4M Into Magnet Systems For Enterprise Apps

HTC, the troubled Taiwanese handset maker, today dealt its investors a one-two punch. The company will take a $40 million hit from its investment in the cloud-based gaming startup OnLive, but it will also be redoubling its efforts to find new sources of revenue, this time in enterprise services: it is making a $35.4 million investment in Magnet Systems, an enterprise applications startup that is backed by Andreessen Horowitz, among others. HTC says that it will take a 17.1% stake in the company, a Series B investment,?equivalent to $35.4 million. To date, Magnet had raised $12.6 million led by Andreessen Horowitz in a Series A round. The investment announcement was first spotted by Reuters.

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Techcrunch/~3/9KzkMnE6LsI/

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[Hit With Fitness] Anti Aging Foods to Boost Your Health and Fitness!

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Cutting Exercises : A Bodybuilding Myth?

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Zebra Decoration Ideas : How to Decorate Your Zebra Themed Bedroom or Home!

Maybe just going to host a party and need some fresh ideas on how to theme it? Well, look no further because your fingers have done...

Source: http://pojokindah.com/+hit+with+fitness

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Community Voice: What can other MMO Devs learn from Square ...

We all know that when an MMO is dying, (or have crashed so hard that the possibility of reviving is null and void) the Devs/Publishers of those MMOs pull the plug or go free to play (And sometimes shut down afterward).

When Square Enix rushed out the newest online game in the numbered series 2 years ago (When it was being developed through Himorochi Tanaka's team) Fans lapped it up, like bees to honey, but later realized that the game wasn't as great as it seemed, their cries of content fell on deaf ears, and favoritism was rampart (AKA JAPAN OPINIONS?ONRY)

Fast forward to a half a year later and the team has been replaced and the new director Naoki Yoshida, takes the helm.

Not only did he listen to his fans, but he listens to his fans WORLD WIDE, he takes their feedback and implements them into the game, making improvements to almost all of the problems the game had.

We know Sqaure Enix won't give up on a numbered Final Fantasy title, but it goes to show that if changes can be made to an MMO (No matter how drastic the changes must be) that mmos CAN be saved if under the right supervision.

A month ago Star Wars: The Old Republic announced a FREE TO PLAY OPTION (with LIMITATIONS) to content, although problems still exist and patches are used for "Quick Fixes", TERA has been having problems since launch (And not just in North America), En Masse's forums are littered with topics regarding problems with not only the game, but with the company's workers as well, EME ?usually closes the threads with?"Were looking into it", but nothing is done about the underlying problems and constant overcharges of the game.

FFXIV could have crashed and burned, it could have went free to play, but it didn't, because someone saw potential in a game that was doomed to obscurity and raised it from the dead like a?Phoenix?from the ashes and built it back from the feedback of it's audience.

Other companies would slap on a quick fix patch and never go through the lengths Square has gone (From the very core of the game) to make the game better than it was 2 years ago, and has marked one of the rarest things ever done in MMO history.

99% of MMO developers won't admit that they screwed up, give their community a year of free to play time, nor communicate with them constantly and keep them up to date with upcoming information.

Old systems removed:

• Stamina (Your battle actions were determined by this bar and refilled slowly after each action)
• Fatigue (A system made to limit how much you played the game and tried to encourage the use of other classes)
• Physical Level/Rank Level (now a single level gauge)
• Battle Regimen (A combo system that has been revamped as the LIMIT BREAK SYSTEM)
• Skills (Skill TP useage had been reduced and a number of skills have been removed that were deemed useless)
• EXP based on weapon use. (Experience was gained through the way your weapon was used IE: Blocking)
• UI Lag improvement (UI lag completely eliminated in 2.0)
• Changed EVERY recipe in the game for more realistic crafting approach
• Guild Marks system (Removed entirely, this was currency used to by skills at higher levels)
• Guildleve System reliance (Guildleves were used as a main way of farming money or rare items)

Small list of 1.xx and 2.0 additions:

• Mail/Delivery system (a standard feature, needed to be done)
• Jump (another MMO standard needed)
• New combat system (TP is able to be used at the start of battle allowing skill usage from the get go)
• FF Job system
• Limit Break system (The party is able to fill a gauge to use a limit break, and it's effects depends on the player who triggers it)
• Materia System
• Completely revamped Craft system
• Primal Summoning System (After Primals ie: Ifrit, Garuda, Shiva; are defeated, players are able to summon them that lasts a week through the open world)
• Free Companies
• Complete Map redesign (Maps were re-designed due to the copy-paste concept of the old designs)
• Quest Based Progression (elimination of mob grind)
• Content Finder
• Instanced Content
• Final Fantasy-esque battles. (very evident in the final parts of the 1.xx storyline)
• Chocobo Companions (more than just a mount, but a combat buddy)

So to the community:

What can other mmo developers with dying titles learn from SE's persistence and determination?

Source: http://my.mmosite.com/2342910/blog/ritem/community_voice_what_can_other_mmo_devs_can_learn_from_square_enix.html

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Morning Market Roundup: Greece Finalizing Austerity Cuts, German ...

Here?s what?s important in the business world this morning:

Greece: Greece?s finance officials were working Monday to finalize ?11.5 billion ($14.19 billion) in spending cuts necessary for it to continue receiving the international funding that is protecting it from bankruptcy.

Finance Minister Yannis Stournaras was meeting with his deputy ministers and Labor Minister Yannis Vroutsis to hammer out the measures for 2013 and 2014, which officials aim to have finalized in time for a visit to Athens on Wednesday by Luxembourg Prime Minister Jean-Claude Juncker, who chairs the eurozone finance ministers? meetings.

After talks with Juncker, Prime Minister Antonis Samaras will head to Berlin and Paris on Friday and Saturday for talks with German Chancellor Angela Merkel and French President Francois Hollande.

The country has fallen behind on implementing reforms and austerity measures demanded in exchange for the rescue funds, fueling impatience in Germany ? the largest single contributor to the bailouts ? and other eurozone countries and speculation that Greece will have to leave the euro, the currency used by 17 European nations.

Germany: Germany?s Finance Ministry says the country?s tax income was nearly 9 percent higher in July than a year earlier ? helped by recent wage increases and underlining the continuing strength of Europe?s biggest economy.

The ministry said in its monthly report released Monday that Germany?s total tax take last month was ?43.13 billion ($53.2 billion) ? an increase of 8.6 percent compared with July 2011. Over this year?s first seven months, tax income was up 5 percent at ?311.36 billion.

Many German workers have enjoyed solid pay increases after two years of strong economic growth. Unemployment is low.

Germany?s momentum has slowed this year, but the country is still doing far better than many others in the debt-troubled eurozone. Its economy grew 0.3 percent in the second quarter.

Best Buy: Best Buy Co. has tapped Hubert Joly, the former head of global hospitality company Carlson and turnaround expert, as the nation?s largest consumer electronics chain?s new CEO and president.

The announcement, made Monday, comes after the ailing retailer said Sunday that its offer to advance talks with company co-founder Richard Schulze on his takeover bid was rejected.

Best Buy says Joly, who is French, is expected to take over as CEO in early September when his visa is secured. Carlson, which operates such businesses as Radisson and T.G.I Friday?s, announced Sunday that Joly resigned from that company.

U.S. Futures: Stock futures were mixed on poor corporate earnings in the U.S. and ahead of a pivotal week in Europe.

Dow Jones industrial futures slipped 21 points to 13,226. The broader S&P futures gave up 1.5 points to 1,413.70. Nasdaq futures tacked on 1.25 points to 2,774.25.

World stock markets fluctuated. In early European trading, the FTSE-100 index of leading British companies edged 0.2 percent lower to 5,843.08 while Germany?s DAX rose 0.4 percent at 7,066.17. France?s CAC-40 gained almost 0.1 percent to 3,488.86.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Source: http://www.theblaze.com/stories/morning-market-roundup-greece-finalizing-austerity-cuts-german-tax-income-up-best-buys-taps-new-ceo/

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John Tarnoff: 21st Century Career Reinvention for Boomers (Part 1)

On July 14th, I was asked to give a TEDX Talk for TEDxSoCal in Long Beach, CA (home of the big TED event) on the theme of "The Alchemy of Transformation ... Our Selves, Our Work Places, Our Living Spaces." In looking at this question, it occurred to me that while my professional work is focused on helping the next generation of media content professionals adapt to the amazing and pervasive paradigm shifts introduced by digital technology, here was an opportunity to discuss some of these same paradigm shifts for an audience that I had never really addressed: my own Baby Boomer generation.

While the students that I work with (and the schools they go to) are trying to figure out how to prepare for entering the media industry and developing new careers, the Baby Boomers are on the other side of equation, looking at how to wrap up their careers and transition into what we commonly refer to as "retirement."

The well-known problem for the Boomers (those born between 1946 and 1964), is that, as a generation, we have not prepared for this transition. There are many statistics available here, but the most striking number to me is this one: 80 percent of us have saved less than $100,000 for our retirement. Given the economics of the last five years, and the prospects ahead of us, what this means is that the Boomers are going to have to keep working -- and the problem there is that neither we nor the society at large are prepared for us to remain in the work force.

My point in the TEDx talk is propose some ideas on how to reinvent ourselves in order to maintain our relevance in and relevance to the workforce. We need to start reframing who we are and what we think we're capable of doing, and to reject the idea that old dogs can't learn new tricks.

After all, we have some pretty amazing life experience to draw from. If our kids are actually listening to all of our music (my daughter is currently negotiating vociferously for access to my 600 hundred-album stack of vinyl...), then we can't be all that out of touch. If we were able to piss off our parents and master the art of talking on the phone, doing homework and listening to the radio, we should be able to figure out how to multi-task between Text, Email, Voicemail and Skype while sitting at Starbucks in between meetings.

As I know from working with my graduate students, there's a lot that they know, and there's a lot that they don't know. They and we want and need guidance from one other. It's one big ecology: our wisdom and experience + their digital awareness and limitless passion.

In the midst of so many paradigm shifts that I'm observing in the digital age, one emerges out of this situation that I'd like to share. In the 20th century, we thought of life in three broad stages: Education, Career and Retirement. In the 21st century however, I believe that these three need to be replaced by Self Awareness, Creation, and Service. While this is guidance for young people starting out, it is also an important concept for those of us on the other side of the curve.

In Part 2 of this post, I'll explore that concept in more detail. For now, I invite you to view the TEDx Talk to hear some specific suggestions on how the Boomers can take back some control of our careers as we press on into unexpected and uncharted territory. Hint: The kids can be alright!

?

Follow John Tarnoff on Twitter: www.twitter.com/johntarnoff

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Source: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/john-tarnoff/21st-century-career-reinvention_b_1792059.html

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White House Prepares Oil Reserves To Prevent High Energy Costs - NewsOXY

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By: John Lester, NewsOXY Reporter
08/17/2012 07:58 PM ET

Get ready because the White Houseis getting ready for a potential release of oil reserves to help lower prices and prevent high energy costs from undermining sanctions against Iran, a source told Reuters.

U.S. officials will monitor market conditions over the next few weeks, watching whether gasoline prices fall after the September 3 Labor Day holiday, as they historically do, the source said.

It was too early to detail the size of any release from the U.S. Strategic Petroleum Reserve and other international stockpiles if a decision to proceed was taken, the source said.

Oil prices have surged in recent weeks, with Brent crude prices closing in on $120 a barrel, up sharply from below $90 a barrel in June. The United States and other Group of Eight countries studied a potential oil release in the spring but shelved the plans when prices dropped.

As prices rise again, U.S. officials were now collecting information from the market about potential needs and studying futures, production numbers and data on Iranian oil exports.

"The driving force in this is both impact on the economy and impact on the Iran sanctions policy," the source said, noting that Washington did not want rising oil prices to create a windfall for Iran while international sanctions were having an effective impact on its crude exports and revenues.

The United States has not yet held talks with international partners about a coordinated move. The source noted that Britain, France, Germany and other partner nations in the Paris-based International Energy Agency (IEA) were receptive to a potential release a few months ago when conditions were similar.

Those countries were concerned about the impact of high oil prices on the global economy and Iran then, and those concerns remain equally relevant now.

"The logic behind a potential release in the spring is at least if not ... more true today," the source said.

Within the United States, tapping reserves could spark criticism from Republicans, who would cast it as a political move to boost Democratic President Barack Obama's chances in the November 6 election.

Source: http://www.newsoxy.com/business/white-house-oil-reserves-84672.html

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