COMMENT, Albania — Korça është njëri nga qytetet kryesore të Shqipërisë. Ajo shtrihet në jug-perëndim të vendit, në lartësinë 869 m mbi nivelin e detit.

Nga gjetjet arkeologjike rezulton si vendbanim i fisit ilir të Enkelejve. Duke pasur një pozicion të favorshëm, ajo u shndërrua në një qendër qytetare me një kishë të përmendur në shek. IX. Qyteti filloi të zhvillohej me shpejtësi dhe pas pushtimit turk,(në shek. XV), u kthye në një qendër të përmendur zejtare e tregtare.
Në gjysmën e dytë të shek. XIX, Korça u bë njëra nga qendrat …

COMMENT, Balkans –I hate ignorance.
And bad ideas in nice policy binders.
Kosovo independence for 2 million Kosovars is a bad idea in a nice binder.
There’s only 2 million Kosovars. Balance that against the population of the Balkans, many of whom are not for the independence, as they will be the ones likely dragged into a war.
As Bismarck once said, “Albania, it’s a geographic expression.” (well that’s what he said about Albania, but you get the idea about Kosovo – which is even smaller.)
Families like yours and mine will die in their …

ANALYSIS, Balkans — There is a lot of discussion over an independent Kosovo.
Most of this naively assumes such independence is good, like independence is a golden panacea for the problems of the Balkans.

Much of this presumes, that the Balkans is a child-ish conflict. But the Serbs are not the ‘bad kids’ to be sternly warned by the US and EU. The causes are far more complex.
Too often nascent racism is played out, calling the Serbs ‘bad’ and to be blamed for the original conflict. There are more dirty hands regionally. …

COMMENT, Sydney and Global – Global is a word often thrown around like candy at Halloween.
Too often global operations have inbuilt assumptions that people are the same everywhere. We all do it.
The assumption of homogeneity effects Customers. Employees. Suppliers.
Assumptions of homogeneity are exacerbated when people speak the same language, often English.
These assumptions can cause big issues. Issues that surface when expanding into overseas markets or staffing a remote operation or even visiting foreign lands.
Why do we assume?
Too often we see similar western accoutrement’s like McDonalds, CDs, computers, internet, CNN, DVDs, …

OPINION, Melbourne — We all keep hearing how difficult Generation X & Y are to work with. (Mainly Gen Y).
Well I’d say it has something to do with those “oh so demanding baby boomers” who were their parents.
Truth is:
if you dose a bunch of kids up on sugar, …
chauffeur them around to every single hobby that might interest them, …
tell them that all viewpoints are culturally equivalent, …
teach them to question all authority figures, …
give them what they want with no discipline,…
smoke dope yourself but lecture them on it/tell them …

ANALYSIS, Sydney — Prague proves the point. Culture determines innovation.
Markets do not, not in isolation.
The Czech Republic has one of the least basket-case economies in Eastern Europe and key investment destination of the former Eastern European business investment destinations.
Walking the streets of Prague, we can see all the consulting firms, and major corporations, who have established offices here.
Remote analysis is useful, but research-including-walking-around and observing is often invaluable in pointing out flaws in statistical analysis.
The Balkan problem with Innovation – dogma
Croatia, a very beautiful place, and Slovakia its former sister …

Well President Bush has been in Albania, Tirana, the capital to be precise.
This is a huge and welcome milestone for the small country that Bismarck once called a geographical expression. During the visit, Albanians were handed out America/Albania partners t-shirts. Albanians were encouraged by their government to welcome him. I don’t think they needed much encouragement, as it’s been a long-term dream for Albanians generally speaking, to have a US president visit. Symbolic, but important.
And it wasn’t about Kosovo (Despite some of the press coverage by journalists who get ‘confused‘.). …