The war in Iraq, the threat of terrorism and the Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) epidemic have made international business activities increasingly difficult and risky. The worldwide economic downturn and slow growth in domestic markets are forcing companies to depend more than ever on overseas trade. SARS emerged in China in November 2002 and has spread to 26 countries. The SARS epidemic has caused the most severe economic crisis in Southeast Asia since the wave of bank failures and currency devaluations that swept the region five years ago. The SARS epidemic has prompted health officials to implement travel advisories and restrictions, in order to defer nonessential travel to regions of Asia with large numbers of SARS cases. They are enforcing quarantine and isolation measures in major cities to try and limit the spread of SARS. The President of the United States has signed an executive order adding SARS to the list of communicable diseases that can be quarantined. A major disruption in China could paralyze just‐in‐time supply chains and cause an economic crisis for retailers and other businesses worldwide. The SARS epidemic has caused many economists to drastically reduce their economic‐growth forecasts for Asia. New infectious diseases, such as SARS, can emerge and easily travel around the globe, infecting less‐resilient hosts and mutating because of the influence of viruses and bacteria in their new environment. Health officials are even more concerned about the pandemic disaster that hasn’t happened, but may still. However, the SARS epidemic has created positive economic benefits for some companies.

<span style="font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: small;"> </span><p style="margin: 0in 0.5in 0pt; text-align: justify; mso-pagination: none;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: black; font-size: 10pt; mso-themecolor: text1; mso-bidi-font-style: italic;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman;">In this study, the researchers investigate the contribution of each component of the leadership competency construct through constructing a model incorporating secondary order confirmatory factor analysis and extrapolated to the Kingdom of Thailand. Developed by Eyde et al (1999) in 1998 this leadership competency model is extrapolated to Thailand and examined for fit.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Structural equation modeling (SEM) was used to test the research hypotheses framed for this investigation. The findings support the notion that leadership bears a significant relationship with the competencies of leading change, results driven, leading people, building coalitions/communication and business acumen. The good leader should be able to display these competencies as a coherent ensemble.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Thus, it can be said that this study provides excellent guidance to human resource managers, teachers, other educators, researchers and managers striving to develop a competitive firm and organization in the current global business environment.</span></span></p><span style="font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: small;"> </span>

Ab stractEpidemiologists are con cerned the next deadly global cog ni tion will be a new kind of deadly flu which hu mans have no re sis tance. Since the 1960s, their alarm has been fo cused on a bird (avian) vi rus (H5N1). This vi rus is gen er ally harm less in its host spe cies, but it is ex tremely deadly when contracted by hu mans. H5N1 mu tates quickly and tends to pick up genes from flu vi ruses that af fect other spe cies. The flu is far more con ta gious and harder to con tain than the SARS (se vere acute re spi ra tory syn drome) vi rus. It is pro jected that 30-40% of the pop u la tion would be in fected in a H5N1 flu pan demic, and as many as one-third would die. The 1918 Span ish flu caused 20 to 50 mil lion deaths world wide. One sci en tist ob served that the 1918 Span ish flu pan demic could have caused civili sa tion to dis ap pear within a few weeks. Cur rently, more than 50 mil lion chick ens have been slaugh tered in eight Asian coun tries in ef forts to curb the spread of avian in flu enza. This ar ti cle ex am ines the roots and dan gers of the po ten tial avian in flu enza pandemic, ex am in ing the busi ness and so cial ram i fi ca tions that could en sue if the worst case sce nario oc curs. In tro duc tionDo not worry about Ebola, mad cow dis ease, small pox, chol era or the measles. Epidemiologists be lieve that the next plague is most likely to be the flu. Stim u lated by the 1997 out break of bird flu in Hong Kong, re search ers study ing in fec tious dis eases are is su ing new warn ings about in flu enza, an ill ness most peo ple re gard as no more than a win ter nui sance. Most years in the United States, in flu enza kills around 20,000 peo ple (Tangley and Brophy, 1998).Health of fi cials have long been wor ried that the next deadly global ep i demic would be a new kind of deadly flu, for which hu mans have no re -

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Within the last two decades over 60 million people have been infected with HIV/AIDS. In the U.S. AIDS is the leading cause of death between the age of 25 and 44 years old. At the end of 2001, the United Nations estimated that 40 million people around the globe live with HIV/AIDS and 5 million people were infected during 2001. AIDS is affecting the global economy equal to the entire economy of Australia or India. The only avoidance of HIV/AIDS impact is prevention. Organizations must take an active role in the education of populations if the impact is to be reduced.