An economical analysis of the car market in Saudi Arabia Essay

An economical analysis of the car market in Saudi Arabia - Essay Example The region has been affected by the Arab uprising causing many economies to strain. The move by the government of Saudi Arabia to inject US$37 billion into the economic social initiatives is likely to improve the consumer purchasing power (Hutchison and Davies 42). This has increased the sales and revenues in the motor vehicle sector. Most retailers and importers in the country have started dealership expansion programs. This paper gives an economic analysis of the car market in Saudi Arabia. The car market in the country has been bent towards high-end models. However, there is a propensity towards purchases in the lower-priced family cars. The cars to small and their running cost are economical. The demand for family cars is expected to rise with increase in population (IMF, 2008). In 2010, the market for ultra-luxury cars grew by 39 percent. Porsche and Lexus have opened high-end servicing centers in anticipation for rising demand. Commercial vehicles are responsible for 20 percent of the demand for auto mobile products in Saudi Arabia. The increasing spending in government infrastructure and the demand created by visiting pilgrims continues to be a major boost in the sector. Literature review Saudi Arabia remains the largest importer of vehicles in Middle East (Hutchison and Davies 42). ... This has affected the car industry positively (IMF, 2008). In 2009, about 600,000 units were purchased. This represented a sales rise of 1 percent. However, the demand for vehicles grew by 12 percent in the following year (Ahmed, 103). The flood situation in Thailand and the tsunami in Japan affected the supply chains in the Saudi market (Hutchison and Davies 42). This resulted to 0.7 percent decline. The growth in demand for private vehicles was inversely proportional to the commercial vehicles in 2011 (IMF, 2008). The automobile industry is dominated by Japanese brands (Abushakra, 19). This accounts for over 60 percent. Increased competition from Korean brands is making the automobile industry favorable to the customers (Hutchison and Davies 42). The Korean brands are low priced and offer improved quality (Abushakra, 19). The trends in the automobile market share are changing as new market entrants gain momentum in the local market (Hutchison and Davies 42). The young generation is getting draw to small cars causing a shift of preference. The expansion in the private sector is responsible for the surge in demand for small cars (Hakes, 51). The automotive sector in the Saudi market is expected to grow by about 7 percent in the next two years. The imports are might grow to over one million cars (IMF, 2008). The financial support for the importation of cars is on the increase as banks offer increased credit to support supply levels (Hakes, 51). The oil revenues continue to support the fiscal position of the government. Increased spending on the infrastructure is causing the demand for vehicles to remain high (Ahmed, 103). The modernizing of transport facilities in the kingdom will result in sustainable development (Hutchison and Davies 42). The

Is there a conflict between the new public management and ethics Essay

Is there a conflict between the new public management and ethics - Essay Example A minimum ethical standard is expected from the behaviour of public servants and this has become a major issue for every government. NPM involves maintaining proper allocation of responsibilities for public servants, managing budgetary constraints and implementing innovations in public services. In this era of globalization, where almost every country is participating in the international trade of goods and services, it has become even more vital that public services be conducted in ethical manner to enhance international economic relations. For conduct management of public servants, it is necessary that an efficient management system be in place. The principles that are to be used by any government should comply with the socioeconomic structure of its country. These principles can be used by political leaders to assess how efficiently ethic management regulations are followed and how well ethics is maintained at every operational level of the government. The Basics of New Public Man agement The overall success of NPM and its businesslike approach depends on further development of management principles to ensure that NPM is effective in sustaining ethical efficiency in public sector. The purpose is to manage integrity in public services within the framework of NPM. ... The three aspects are virtues that need to be developed, rules that need to be duly followed, and focus should be on getting positive results. In order to work within the framework of the triangle, certain drawbacks of public services need to be avoided like overstating the advantages of any proposal, hiding errors, not making maximum usage of established systems, practicing favoritism, not accepting responsibilities for a mistake, etc. In order to do maximum good to the maximum number of people in a community, emphasis should be on doing the right thing according to the set rules (Bowman, et al., 2010, pp.78-79). The principle of NPM includes various elements like consistent increase in efficiency, use of recently developed technologies, public servants with the goal to maintain discipline in their activities, proper implementation of professional management role, and managers being given liberty in performing their tasks (Kolthoff et al., 2007, p.400). However, in spite of the abov e mentioned elements, the businesslike approach of public administration can have a serious negative impact on democracy because such technique is faced by a consistent accountability problem. Even the strong advocators of public entrepreneurship policies in democratic governance cannot ignore the questions of accountability. The elements attached to public entrepreneurs like promoting own virtues, tendency towards non-compliance with rules and regulations, striving for power, taking risks, all these conflict with the democratic theory (Terry, 1998, pp.197-198). Ethics is often defined as acting in accordance with one’s â€Å"good personal conscience† (Somerville, 2004, p.284). This is not always right as doing ethics is a long and complicated process. One aspect of public