Mexico's PRI Has No Monopoly on Corruption (int'l edition)

In ''So close to a vote, so far from stability'' (Latin America, June 19), you imply that unlawful and unfair manipulations of the ballot seem to be the exclusive preserve of the Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI).

There are now more than a half-dozen state governors and hundreds of municipal presidents (roughly equivalent to U.S. mayors) belonging to both opposition parties--National Action Party and Party of the Democratic Revolution--who enjoy the backing of strong party organizations. It seems naive to think that each of them is squeaky clean and incapable of resorting to shady tactics at the polls.

William Bernard
Mexico City

Sony May Just Be Biding Its Time (int'l edition)

At this moment it would appear that there is indeed a slump at Sony (''Sony slides into a slump,'' Asian Business, June 5). However, I believe that Sony is waiting for the right time before launching ''eSony.'' You say Nobuyuki Idei trumpeted his plans to move into Internet services; I have seen that Sony has already bought or invested in life insurance, stockbrokers, e-banks, etc. Sony may be waiting for high-speed and broadband network infrastructure preparation in Japan. Some people might see this waiting as the slump you cite.

In addition, America might support eSony by pushing Nippon Telegraph & Telephone Corp.'s Internet connection fee reduction. The Japanese government said that the reduction was not good for Japan in negotiations with the U.S. This is not true. The government is only trying to protect its own and NTT's interests. The Japanese welcome and are waiting for a reduction in NTT's connection fee and broadband networks.

Even if there are a few problem areas at Sony, eSony may improve Japanese society. And when the company comes out of its slump, I will support eSony and happily watch Sony stock increase in value.

Kouichi Kimura
Hamamatsu, Japan

Why Is Budapest Hoarding Funds? (int'l edition)

Happy though I was that a Hungarian made it to your list (''The stars of Europe,'' European Edition Special Report, June 12), and not questioning the positive developments in Budapest over the past decade, I was strongly disturbed, to read that Gabor Demszky, mayor of Budapest, is sitting on $500 million in reserves. Yes, establishing reserves is important, of course. But as a citizen of Budapest, I experience every day that an enormous number of opportunities, or rather necessities for improvement, still exist here that cannot be categorized as ''nonsense.''

Next time, I hope to read how that $500 million was spent for the benefit of Budapest, its citizens, and its visitors.

Balazs Zsida
Budapest

A German Orientation May Be What's Sapping SAP (int'l edition)

As is clear throughout ''Can SAP swim with the swiftest?'' (Information Technology, June 26), national characteristics play a vital role in business culture. German bureaucracy and a penchant for the large is the reason for the origin as well as the decline of software giant SAP. The German philosophical orientation, with emphasis on finding the laws of the universe, is at the root of SAP's integrated software. But this nature, which gave SAP an advantage for many years, has led to its immobility and slow pace of change today.

Moreover, in its heyday, SAP looked little into the future. Even when the Internet was rising on one side, on the other side SAP was busy resizing its package for mid-range industries. Also, because of its huge size, as a result of comprehensive modules, it could not adapt swiftly to to Net technology.

In an age in which B2B and B2C applications became important for the survival of a company, as well as its profitability, SAP has no powerful answer to these issues. With the concept of supply-change management coming to the fore, it seems SAP will continue lagging behind. SAP can redeem itself only by converting its huge battleship into small speedboats of research and development.


D. Paparao
Hyderabad, India

Microsoft's Monopoly Is a Result of Excellence (int'l edition)

Everybody knows that the power of competition depends on the level of the friction in the flow of information (The great antitrust debate,'' American News, June 26). Less friction, larger market. Larger market, stronger competition. But stronger competition implies more need of imagination, talent, innovation, investment, and risk-taking to survive

If friction disappears, market size tends to reach the whole world as a unit, and competition tends to be strongest. In that scenario, survival requires being the smartest, the most innovative. And the consequence of that is mergers or the defeat of competitors.

This new economic model can be named ''the competitive monopoly.'' ''Monopoly'' because, at an extreme, the consequence of strong competition is the tendency to be a monopolist. Being a monopoly also means facing strong potential competition permanently.

In this context, if you become a monopolist, your behavior is like a competitor. This is true because potential competition generates the same force as real competition. The possibility of competition stimulates the same attitude as the real thing.

The 21st century makes Adam Smith's Golden Dream a reality: the competitive monopoly model, powered by the Internet. Microsoft is not a monopoly by law or because of supernaturals forces. It is a monopolist by competition, because of its excellence.

Judge Jackson's decision ordering the split of the company is the natural resistance to accepting that we are experiencing the beginning of a new economic model. In a few years, our children will study the Microsoft case as the turning point in the birth of the competitive-monopoly era.

Hernan Carminatti
Buenos Aires