While U.S. private equity investment is expected to remain flat in 2008, China should register 30%-plus growth for the next three years. With the current credit crunch roiling financial markets, private equity firms in the U.S. and Europe are finding it hard to tap the credit they need to fund their acquisitions. According to Dealogic, the value of buyouts dropped almost 90% in the U.S., from $216 billion in the second quarter of 2007 to only $22.1 billion in the final… 

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Coming from a country such as Holland, people are not used to others bragging about money or possessions. A good dose of self-confidence is considered healthy and it’s totally acceptable to talk about personal achievements as long as we avoid talking about materialistic success. Being proud of your expensive car in front of the door, talking about prices of a newly bought boat or mentioning the price of wine to your guest will more than likely bring you…

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With China’s opening of its market and recent succession into the WTO, it has undergone rapid development in the past two decades. Due in part to such growth and in combination with its massive 1.3 billion population (330 million in its middle-class alone as compared to America’s total population of 300 million), it represents the world’s largest yet ‘untapped’ consumer market. For many franchisors seeking to market reliability associated with…
 
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The question for dispute settlement is lawsuit or arbitration. When I just graduated from law school and joined a big import & export company, I was asked by the general manager to review their sales contract. The first thing I noticed on the contract was that the dispute settlement clause said that both parties can choose litigation and arbitration as dispute resolution methods.

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Is outsourcing the new Holy Grail for R&D organizations? The IT departments in the enterprise went first and discovered lower costs and improved efficiencies by outsourcing call centers and back office projects offshore. Now the R&D development department in the same enterprise wants to follow the same outsourcing route and realize comparable results. It’s true that outsourcing can yield significant benefits. However, as many early adopters of…
 
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