Round Table International Business Journal

Winter 2010

Be sure to check out our newly added discussion board here!

The Round Table is an entirely student run publication at New York University’s Leonard N. Stern School of Business. 


Our mission is to promote greater awareness of global affairs within, but not limited to, the field of commerce; to provide a channel of expression for students in an effort to promote understanding and debate within the context of an increasingly globalized world.

 iPad..revolution or failure? by Jim Cheng

Apple's new product seems to be getting a lot of criticism. The future of apple may look grim. Or does it?

Emerging Markets and Investment Reports

     Indonesia 

By Michelle Chin, Ryan Johnston, ShihFeng Wang, Hermawan Wijaya, Jessie Yoh and Anthony Kit

In the aftermath of the global crisis, Indonesia has emerged as a strong candidate for foreign investment. With a sizable domestic market, diversified natural resources, and a competitive labor force, Indonesia is poised for astounding growth in the coming years that has led to many an economist to call for the  inclusion of Indonesia into “BRIIC”. The country‘s resilience to the global crisis demonstrates the strong  fundamentals of its domestic economy.  We believe that Indonesia will be where the growth is at while other economies are only recovering from the global economic meltdown of 2008. 

     Turkey

By Aditya Bothra, Dana Fennessey, Shashin Khanna, Marc Baudry, Demetri Karagas, Prerna Sarda

Despite turmoil caused by the global financial crisis during 2008, we believe Turkey presents several attractive avenues for investment today. Overall, the Turkish economy is well positioned to benefit from an improved macroeconomic picture and growth fundamentals in the coming years. The companies that we have selected allow investors to directly be on Turkey's long-term growth story. 

 Pakistan

By Rooman Burana, Roselle Calvo, Arvindh Rao, Meghana Reddy, Josh Shvartsman, Ran Sun

Over the last decade, the Pakistani economy has proved unexpectedly resilient in the face of multiple adverse events concentrated into a four year (1998-2002) period. Despite these adverse events, the Pakistan economy continued to grow. This resilience has led to a change in the perceptions of the economy, with leading international institutions such as the IMF praising Pakistan's performance in the face of adversity. By October 2007, Pakistan was able to raise its foreign reserves back to $16.4 billion after they had fallen during difficult times. 

Czech Republic

By Amanda Chen, Edwin Cho, Rin Hur, Kevin Gonzales, Diana Shen, Monica Zheng

With the worst of the global economic crisis behind us, we believe emerging countries will soon regain their previous position as the premier markets most sought after by investors looking for phenomenal returns . Achieving such success requires investment insights that we at SharpSight Capital Management can provide. What sets us apart from our competitors is our unique integration of our top-down research methodology and due diligence. This combined with our extraordinary local market knowledge and understanding of business practices places us as a top tier emerging markets investment firm. With intensive research we have found the Czech Republic to show great potential in becoming the next rising star within the global investment landscape. 

iPad...Revolution or Failure?

“The last time there was this much excitement about a tablet, it had some commandments written on it,” declared the Wall Street Journal. Such was the effusive buzz surrounding Apple’s recent announcement of its newest product: the iPad. Indeed, Apple has enjoyed a long string of great successes in the mobile electronics market. In the last decade alone, it has revolutionized the mobile music and phone industries with its ever evolving iterations of the iPod and iPhone. This time, however, Apple faces a much bigger challenge. Whereas the iPod, the iPhone, and even the Mac had merely been reinterpretations of existing products with established markets, the iPad seeks to create a brand new one. Slotted between the iPhone and the iMac, the iPad’s challenge is to convince the markets that it is worth an additional 500 to 1000 dollars when most potential buyers probably already own one of the others. 

When Apple CEO Steve Jobs finally unveiled the iPad in January of 2010, critics professional and amateur alike immediately lashed out at the product. Late show host David Letterman joked that a “one billion dollar research grant was set aside to find out what the hell the iPad does.” Many criticized it for looking exactly like an iPhone or for having a stupid name. More significant gripes centered upon its lack of features. Most notably, the iPad does not have a camera or USB drives, and it cannot multitask. What’s the point of buying an iPad if you can’t drag files from an external hard drive directly onto your iPad, or if you can’t listen to Pandora while writing a document at the same time?

Yet many industries are already looking towards the iPad for their future. The print media, having been pummeled by the rise of the internet, is now salivating at a chance to sell their products on the iPad. Apple has already gathered a collection of blue chip publishers including Penguin and Simon and Schuster, who have pledged to publish their books on the tablet. More importantly, the iPad will allow for advertisements, on which many media companies depend. Many Software developers are likewise hoping to take advantage of Apple’s expansive Apps Store and its glossy, 10 inch screen to lure gamers and businessmen alike.

Of course, when Apple revolutionizes a market, competitors are quick to follow. Rumors of rival tablets from Sony, Samsung, and HP have sprung up across the web. Amazon’s Kindle has created its own app store in anticipation of the iPad’s arrival. But history has proven Apple’s potency in the market place. Given time, it will likely add missing features and enable multitasking in its iPad. Just as the iPod and iPhone continue to dominate their respective markets today, the iPad might soon join its brethren as a ubiquitous sight around campuses, airports, and cafes around the world.