Assessment of the potential threats: Middle East and Africa
"Political risk has many guises war, expropriation, currency devaluation but for companies doing business abroad, these risks don't begin to give a complete picture of potential threats to earnings" (Protests in Middle East, North Africa spur look at corporate risk disclosures globally, 2011, Westlaw Business). For companies in the Middle East, the recent Arab Spring and a series of regime changes are causes of concern because they "could lead to civil wars; regime changes resulting in governments that are hostile to the US and/or Israel" (Protests, 2011, Westlaw). Middle Eastern volatility can also cause unstable crude oil prices which, although significant for the entire world economy, would have a particularly negative impact on the region. In terms of securing investment capital, "capital market reassessment of risk" can make necessary funds scarcer to find (Protests, 2011, Westlaw). For companies wishing to build a base of customers in the area, economic and political instability can result in a sharp downturn in demand and can also threaten supplies of essential raw goods.
Of course, the persistent security concerns related to terrorism as well as internal domestic disputes means "security concerns for evacuation of personnel" as well as potential "loss of property and business interruption" (Protests, 2011, Westlaw). Foreign companies and foreigners are likely to be targets. In the Middle East, women and
Even in the most subliminal of forms, geopolitics has the capacity to impede the income generation ability of an organization. According to Munoz (2013), the essence of organizations to be consistently cognizant of geopolitics hinges on the need to mitigate the risks inherent to the operating environment. In line with this understanding, it is apparent that the implementation of effective risk management measures enables an organization to address the challenges attributed to geopolitics. Ford Motor Company has experienced some potentially negative aspects of geopolitics. In the recent presidential debate, the organization faced
Of the four major loci of terrorist hot spots in the world today—the global presence of Al Qaida, Iraq, North Korea, and Iran (with considerable thought given to Syria, the Caucuses, and lone wolves)—which do you believe represents the greatest threat to the United States?
Al Qaeda is a global organization founded by Osama Bin Laden. It is one of the most powerful and rich terrorist organizations in the world. The group is responsible for major attacks such as September 11th and many other bombings. Through the years Al Qaeda has transformed from a terrorist organization into a fighting group. It is now something known as jihadist networks. These networks of Al Qaeda are so powerful and can be seen as a global threat because of their worldwide supporters, financial means and their access to weapons.
The risk is sometimes referred to as sovereign risk. Primarily, political risks affectvarious aspects of an international business that hinders its growth. The political instability in acountry may make it difficult for multinational businesses to operate efficiently. This comes as aresult of the negative publicity that the political leaders create in the country. Political differences
Throughout history, terrorists have struck fear in the eyes of many people by using threats and violence to further political beliefs. Terrorism can be shown in many different ways; however, there are only two main types of terrorism: international and domestic. International terrorism usually occurs outside the jurisdiction, or boundaries, of the United States. Domestic terrorism is the exact opposite, occurring mostly within the jurisdiction of the United States.
A risk assessment happens to be a crucial element in recognizing mitigation measures. It comprise of evaluating capability, cause, chance, and targeting. Assessing threats accurately is a challenge for many countries. In most instances, attaching concerns to tangible and prospective threats to a country security that is mostly open to policy makers remains a problem. Even agencies that are generously and of highly, superior intelligence struggles to plan logical and well-timed threat assessments across the security scale.
The climate of doing business is constantly in flux. There are new opportunities in the global economy; however there are risks that are associated. The interdependence between governments, regulations, and companies play an important role in leadership; unexpected events like terrorism and natural disasters can send political and economic shocks in the energy market. This interdependence can often times make good business sense as parties can use their experience and technologies towards projects’ efficiencies, but because there differential expertise at work, there tends be disconnect between the parties mitigating risks and those effected by risks (Industry Report Energy, 2011). These relationships and indicators play a pivotal role in politics and prices. The performance of the global economy centers on the energy sector, and long term energy security are key to global risk. Global risks have a huge impact on the energy sector and the broader economy (ExxonMobil, 2013). Traditional risk management have placed more focus on operational, financial, and hazard risks; however there are other risks that can be more targeting depending on the company’s business model (Hoffman & Orr, n.d.).
Over the course of this paper Middle-Eastern and African Terrorist Movements will be examined with different organizations and networks used as source material. How states sponsor terrorism in different parts of the world and trends that influence violence in these parts of the world.
The politics of our country effect businesses is many ways but the mostly effect the business in terms of risk factors. For example: Due to the rumours of the arrest of our finance minister, Pravin Gordhan our rand depreciated at a rapid rate in such a short space of time. The rand depreciated to its weakest level against the dollar in two months. This affected businesses like TFG because due to our political instability there was a drop in overseas investor
The UAE has become one of the most important models of political stability when there are some nations in the region are suffering from unrest even when there is a presence of a large foreign community in the country. This political stability helped the BMW company to grow with minimal political tension and not having that much of risks in the market. (Opportunities)
Beginning with political risk, it can be described as a type of risk that has the potential for occurring due to unfavorable changes that may occur either in an organization’s home country or the foreign country in which they are or may decide to operate within in the future (Daniels et al., 2011). For instance, if Subway were to extend its operations to countries such as Colombia or Indonesia, the company may be subjected to extortion or property damage (Daniels et al., 2011). Extortion might become a reality for Subway if the region it expands to has group that oppose its operations in the region and have enough influence to cause the organization to pay a type of protection money in order to operate there, which could cause the organization to see reduced profits either through the payment of that protection money or through disruptions in operations that result from not paying (Daniels et al., 2011). In addition, the non-payment of that protection money could motivate certain groups within those regions or countries to resort to destroying Subway property among other Subway assets in order to get
The company could damage its image in market if any delay occurs due to political unrest in these parts of the world.
When it comes to evaluating whether or not a country, individual, or business should invest their capital in another country, they should take into account the Political Risks associated with that investment. These can range from a country potentially taking part in a war, to many different types of bribery and extortion efforts by the countries government.
Political risk: This risk is the risk to the political arguments and policies made within a country that might turn out to be an loss to the company. While economic risk is said to be a country 's ability to reimburse its dues. Even if a country 's economy is strong, if the political climate is unstable or unreliable to outside investors, the country where the investment is taking place may not be a good place for investment.
One of the significant difficulties standing up to Africa today is the means by which to agreeable or opposite the tide of terrorism clearing over the landmass. There is a solid conviction among policymakers that terrorism in Africa is to a great extent the result of financial hardship, poverty, unemployment, absence of education, defilement, distance and monetary, social and political minimization and dispossession of the masses. The poverty, unemployment and ignorance that drive African adolescents to grasp terrorism in Nigeria, Niger, Mali, Sudan, Egypt, Algeria, Kenya, Somalia, Tanzania and Mauritania among others are the result of an alternate issue.