Turkey does not speak English
Güven Sak, PhD
06 May 2011
English proficiency is an indicator of the quality of the skills set of the citizens of a country. Education First (EF) is a private English training course established in 1965. Each year it ranks countries by their proficiency in English to form a proficiency index. The English Proficiency Index of 2011 recently was published. According to this, Turkey is the forty-third among forty-four countries. It appears that we have passed only Kazakhstan in English proficiency. To check the EF's results, I referred to a more comprehensive list: TOEFL score rankings. But I think they were correct. Let us admit: Turkey does not speak English! Is this bad? Yes, indeed. In what sense? In the sense that Turkey cannot become the tenth biggest economy of the world unless it solves this problem. Let me tel
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I sincerely congratulate the Honorable President of the ÖSYM
Güven Sak, PhD
03 May 2011
The period of change is hard work. It must be directed carefully. You will be making a mistake if you do not see that the accumulation of 37 years is Turkey's accumulation. In the first version of the commentary, the title was "ÖSYM, What the Hell!" But while I was writing, I came to a much better understanding of the meaning of the scope of incompetence demonstrated by the Student Selection and Placement Center (ÖSYM), headed by Ali Demir. I believe that there is a great story of success (!) behind making a big mess out of every stage of the duty assigned to him. No one has gone so far before. Moreover, I read the understatement of the year by the Honorable Prime Minister, highlighted in the media with the theme, "The ÖSYM President failed to manage the process well." Yes, Mr.
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Bad management comes with a cost
Güven Sak, PhD
29 April 2011
Turkey can benefit from the global attention to be paid to countries with large domestic markets. The rate of mergers and acquisitions can increase dramatically. Dunder Mifflin is the paper and office supplies company in the TV series "The Office." We used to watch "Yes, Prime Minister"; now, we watch "The Office." Also, I occasionally watch the 1970s series "Fawlty Towers," starring John Cleese, over and over. The theme is always the same: Managers are very important. The skills of the manager can make or break a company, or a country. For some time now I have been sharing my views about the overall managerial capacity in Turkey. Soon, I will tell you what I think about the gloomy project disclosed two days ago. But today, let me tell you why I think that the lack of managerial skills f
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Why is Turkey not in the 3G?
Güven Sak, PhD
26 April 2011
I do not remember hearing of any completed reform related to the EU accession since 2006 except the ban on smoking. My last commentary concluded that "Countries can be grouped in two categories, those dealing mainly with the issues of the current century, and those unable to let go of the issues of the previous generations." I stated that global firms now follow good customers, not solely cheap labor. Therefore, more mergers and acquisitions can be expected to take place among Turkish firms. But I underlined that it is quite difficult for Turkey, which has failed to overcome the nineteenth century agenda, to become a target country for global firms. In my last commentary I simply asked, "Is Turkey ready for this? Not exactly." Today let me continue.
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We are living the nineteenth century in the twenty-first century
Güven Sak, PhD
22 April 2011
The performance of global firms have undergone major changes. They now follow good customers, not cheap labor. Countries can be grouped in two categories, those dealing mainly with the issues of the current century, and those unable to let go of the issues of the previous generations. Turkey, unfortunately, has not been able to quit the second group. The world is living in the twenty-first century while Turkey is dealing with the issues of the nineteenth. The Kurdish issue is just one among these. We do not even know how to handle an issue, let alone solve it. When exactly? Halfway through the first quarter of the twenty-first century. We are surrounded by chaos. The Election Board, based on an amendment to Article 13/A of the penal code as introduced in 2006 during the term of the govern
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With this constitution, presidential elections will only bring political crisis
Güven Sak, PhD
19 April 2011
Presidential elections held as per the current constitutional framework will bring structural instability. The way we debate the issues here in Turkey is weird. We raise all issues upside down. We proceed backwards to forward. In the end, the debate fails to advance on a normal course. We keep talking, but we make no headway. Take the presidential system debates, for instance. I believe that a presidential system issue exists with which Turkey has to deal independent of the particular people who seek to become president. However, we pretend that it does not. How can we make the debate about the presidential system stand on its own feet? I think herein lies today's billion-dollar question about stability. This question also is associated closely with the maintenance political and economic s
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Korea banned the import of Apple's iPad for approximately nine months
Güven Sak, PhD
15 April 2011
In the 1970s, Turkey and Korea were similar. Today, however, Korea is a much more advanced industrial country than Turkey. Yesterday I stated that countries can be grouped in two categories, "undistinguished economies that have the means to produce only ordinary products" and "economies with high potential that can produce unique products." Remember? I said the more undistinguished an economy was, the lower its per capita income. At the same time, the countries that succeeded in developing the capacity to produce unique products make fewer mistakes in administering the university entrance examinations, for instance. The capacity of a country in one sector is an indication of its capacity in another sector. The capacity of hospitals indicates the capacity of the post offices. However skill
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Why does the Gao Kao’s system work but not that of the OSYM?
Güven Sak, PhD
12 April 2011
This is Turkey. This is why the Gao Kao can offer the university entrance test to 9.5 million students while the OSYM fails to offer sound services to only 1.5 million. World economies can be grouped in two categories: undistinguished economies that have the means to produce only ordinary products and economies with high potential that can produce unique products. The more undistinguished an economy is, the lower its per capita income. Turkey's economy has become increasingly undistinguished as its export markets have diversified. But this has not been the case with China. Not only did China's Gao Kao, the National Higher Education Entrance Examination, not mess up the university entrance examinations as the OSYM, the Student Selection and Placement Center, did in Turkey, but also China
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The world’s center of gravity shifts from Izmir to Diyarbakır
Güven Sak, PhD
08 April 2011
While we are dealing with the Kurdish opening or the knee-deep scandals about the university placement exam, the world around us is changing at the speed of light. The center of gravity of the world's economy shifts continuously. It is near Izmir these days. But, wait, it will shift to Diyarbakır by 2016. The economic center of attraction of the world is not shifting towards Turkey because something is happening here; and when it settles in Turkey, it will not be because of something unique to Turkey. While we are dealing with the Kurdish opening or the knee-deep scandals about the university placement exam, the world around us is changing at the speed of light. But we keep on listening to fairy tales. Today, I want to start my commentary by saying that the economic crisis in the European
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The silver medal is not won; you lose the gold medal by a hair’s breadth
Güven Sak, PhD
05 April 2011
In 2009, Turkey's economy contracted like a developed country's economy that had suffered the effects of a banking crisis. And in 2010, Turkey's economy recovered like a developing country's economy. It appears that the remarkable recovery of Turkey's economy in 2010 will be discussed at length even in the future. If you see the economic growth process as a sports contest, you will tend to assess the issue as "let's see in which fields we rank first." I believe this is almost inevitable on the eve of elections. Indeed, Honorable Prime Minister Erdoğan could not help himself and declared, "Turkey ranks first among the OECD countries." So today, let me announce my rankings. If you are curious about these, please read on.
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