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Saturday, December 28, 2019

Human Rights as an Imperial Corporate Responsibility - Free Essay Example

Sample details Pages: 10 Words: 2986 Downloads: 5 Date added: 2017/06/26 Category Law Essay Type Narrative essay Tags: Human Rights Essay Did you like this example? Human Rights as an Imperial Corporate Responsibility It has been argued, time and again, that human rights have the potential to function as the new tool of civilization that they are motivated by international political and economic aims. I attempt to synthesize and visualize these critiques in the context of the human rights industry à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â‚¬Å" an institutionalized market that seeks to capitalize on the plight of the suffering. The rhetoric of corporate social responsibility campaigns bears a striking resemblance, both in conception and language, to the burden of the civilizing imperial. Don’t waste time! Our writers will create an original "Human Rights as an Imperial Corporate Responsibility" essay for you Create order That far from serving as a real emancipatory tool, these campaigns (the à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‹Å"responsibility of corporatesà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢) have become a standard part of the justification of the neo-liberal project. They deviate attention from the evident harms of the market economy to pose the hegemonic framework as a saviour of the downtrodden. With such an understanding, I conclude that the hegemony of the neo-liberal system has firmly established itself as the inevitable and the saviour, serving numerous concealed objectives at the same time. In this sense, the human rights campaign, driven by the glamour of sympathy evoking rhetoric, will march on. The word à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‹Å"campaignà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢ has an interesting etymology. It comes from an early French usage campagne used to describe à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã…“a tract of open countryà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ . Stretches of bucolic terrain were often used by armies to prepare, manoeuvre and fight. Gradually, this practice became semantically sy nonymous with the topology it referred to. The space became no different from the purpose for which it was occupied: military operation. Further in time, the militaristic connotation of the word takes the meaning of establishing a set of political goals with a system. From à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‹Å"taking the fieldà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢, it set its sights on a normative shaping of the field it has taken. Closer to today, the word is most closely associated with the ubiquitous à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‹Å"ad campaignà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢, the corporate-controlled, media-propelled vehicle of presenting particularistic desires as emancipatory wants, predicates of happiness. In many ways, the military occupation, political configuration and consolidation through consumptive desire that is implicit in the history of the word à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‹Å"campaignà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢ is also implicit in the history of campaigns within the human rights industry. The human rights campaign is the tainted smile of the Empire. The desire to à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‹Å"make the world a better placeà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢ through the diversionary mission of corporate social responsibility, has proven to be a lucrative space to be occupied, configured and consolidated. In the paper I argue, albeit rhetorically, that the emancipatory countenance of human rights campaigns are avatars of transnational economic hegemony. Costas Douzinas argued that the sovereign was established on the basis of unlimited individual desire but by assuming the function of the party, the class or nation, it could turn its desire into a murderous rage and a denial of all right.[1] He further argued that when the sovereign is devised according to the characteristics of the desiring self, it had the ability, to empirically deny individuals and frustrate all human desire and surrender people to the horrors it was made to protect them from. In this paper, sovereign will be construed to mean an à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‹Å"industry ´ whose desire is to promote certain right s for its own propaganda, thereby systematically denying access to all rights, except the ones this industry promulgates. This paper will be broadly divided into three parts. First, I will ground the premise of a human rights industry in theory. Second, I attempt to explain the necessity of that industry to capitalize on emancipatory desire, and the role of the human rights campaign and neo-liberalization therein. Third, I explore how the à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‹Å"Corporate Social Responsibilityà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢ campaign, by selectively invoking images of suffering and calling for intercession converts à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‹Å"voicelessnessà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢ into a discursive space to be occupied, configured and consolidated. The Human Rights Industry Article 28 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights which states, à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã…“Everyone is entitled to a social and international order in which the rights and freedoms set forth in this Declaration can be fully realizedà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ , is the quintessential ambition that the human rights campaign in the 21st century strives to achieve, i.e. to be acultural and ahistorical. But despite its totalizing claims of universality, this system did not always exist as undisturbed, unchallenged as it seems today. The geopolitical history of how western liberal capitalism was won is rooted in the invasion of territory through bloody conquest, colonial dehumanization, forced religious conversion, destruction of indigenous economies, and so on in a list longer than one of all the rights one can possibly compile. In other words, à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã…“to argue that human rights has a standing which is universal in character is to contradict historical realityà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ [2] Given this track record, it becomes imperative for the neoliberal economic system to obscure the history and consolidate the future. The neoliberal corporate order, as Pierre Bourdieu puts it, devotes à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã…“as much time to concealing the reality of economic acts as it spends in carrying them outà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ .[3] The system of corporate social responsibility is thus preoccupied with appearances to cover up its own rapacity, to cover up the impossible irony of declaring everyone equal when it feasts on inequality. Within this paradoxical space, the marketization of human rights becomes a venture that is not merely useful, but integral to keeping appearances while maintaining profits: the human right industry.[4] The idea of a market, in Anthony Cartyà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s threefold legal phenomena, becomes pertinent here.[5] He claims that western language about human rights favours a voluntarist understanding of these rights, i.e. rights are a matter of statements of personal preference. The market is then the legitimacy of personal preference and the satisfaction of desire, confirmed through the institution of contract. Anthony Carty affirms that this contradiction between moral claim and economic reality is the discursive space from whence the modern human rights project becomes the face of the neoliberal order.[6] The language and symbolism of human rights, presumed to be universal, becomes an immensely valuable commodity in the perpetuation of à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã…“the materialist-hedonist culture that requires a militarized control of the planet to ensure its continued expansion.à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ [7] Public opinion itself becomes a commodity. Opinion polls exist somewhere beyond any social production of opinion. They rebound incessantly in their own images: the representation of the masses is merely a simulation, as the response to a referendum. In this Janus-faced order, it becomes a primary impulse to contract away the responsibility for human life by declaring allegiance to the à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‹Å"human rights campaignà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢. Similarly, Baudrillard speaks of human rights campaign as commodity par excellence- its circulation has become all but indistinguishable from the circulation of c apital.[8] In this context, it may not be difficult to reimagine the semantic economy of the human rights campaign through the à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã…“messianic ethosà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚  of the transnational human rights industry.[9] The appearance of saviour is necessary for hegemonic stability which is in turn contingent on there being a victim to save: but save cost-effectively i.e. profitably. Of course, as discussed, the neoliberal propensity to conquer, configure and consolidate is the only way to maintain profits. This situation presents a macabre, but ingenious opportunity: proactively use the neoliberal vehicle to spread the good emancipatory news of human rights. This potential to disaggregate and recombine the semiotics of universal human rights becomes a perfect space for the fusion of modern hegemonic corporate interests with emancipatory desire. An infamous example of this effortless synthesis is Lucky Strikeà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‹Å"Torches of Freedomà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ ž ¢ campaign of 1929. Looking to expand its clientele for Lucky Strike cigarettes to include women, for whom smoking in public was a social taboo, the American Tobacco Company sought the help of Edward Bernays, the so-called à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‹Å"father of public relationsà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢. Bernays, in turn was advised to advertise the act of smoking as symbolic of womenà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s equality and emancipation.[10] He paid young debutants to walk down the streets of New York smoking Lucky Strike cigarettes by then dubbed à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‹Å"torches of freedomà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢. The campaign was met with instant adulation from notable feminists such as Ruth Haley who encouraged American women to à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã…“Light another torch of freedom! Fight another sex taboo!à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ [11] This is exemplary of how consumption and emancipation merge under corporate commission to form the modern human rights campaign. The post-Cold War consolidation phase, if we go by Vasuki Nesiahà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬ â„ ¢s idea of intervention, it can be interpreted as the outcome of the grotesque fusion of imperial hegemonic power and human rights activism. She speaks of an almost physical transfusion of humanitarian NGOs with wealthy, hegemonic donors in this period.[12] The NGOà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s openly engaged with the political fervour involved in their activism, although within the terms of liberal internationalism. à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã…“Humanitarian work in the field was shaped by an intricate interplay of changes in how human rights and humanitarian institutions were funded and how their projects were defined.à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ [13] This phase, I argue sees the emergence of a renewed human rights campaign: impossibly powerful, swathed in the garb of human emancipation, drunk on neoliberal idealism and of course, swimming in profit. Neo-Liberalization Human Rights: Capitalizing on Emancipatory Desires The human rights campaign speaks self-referentially and articulates its mission as tempo rally different from geopolitical history, for example, military intervention in Afghanistan becomes a campaign for the rights of women à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â‚¬Å" as Laura Bush told the American people, à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã…“Because of our recent military gains in Afghanistan, women are no longer imprisoned in their homes.à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ [14] The contemporary human rights campaign has evolved into a dealer in the world of à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‹Å"emancipation is human rightsà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢. By relying on the symbolic value of emancipation, the human rights campaign decides to apply its own standards of right and wrong to benefit hegemonic expansion. In other words, à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã…“save the girl-child, save the worldà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚  becomes the call to arms of an economically-propelled endgame. Naomi Klein orients a different thought process on the interrelation of human rights, morality and politics.[15] The problem, as she assesses, is depoliticisation à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â‚¬Å" the transformation into moral panics of phenomena that are rooted in the political economy of contemporary capitalism. She argues that governments, financial institutions and other powerful economic agents are à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‹Å"looting with the lights on, as if there were nothing at all to hideà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢.[16] Klein characterizes neoliberalism as a holy trinity à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â‚¬Å" privatization, deregulation and cuts to social spending à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â‚¬Å" in which governments dismantle trade barriers, abandon public ownership, reduce taxes, eliminate minimum wage, cut health and welfare spending and privatize education. She calls the means of achieving this goal à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã…“disaster capitalismà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚  and describes how it has resulted in a worldwide redistribution of income and wealth to the already rich at the expense of economic solvency for the middle and lower classes. While Moyn advances the claim that human rights is a relatively new phenomenon than is generally assumed. For Moyn, the revol utionary charters following the Universal Declaration of Human Rights bear little relation to human rights, which are concerned with rights against the State, not popular sovereignty. It was in the 1970à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s that human rights became a movement, a mode of activism and a language of claim, aspiration and justification that would be heard throughout the world. On the other hand, Klein believes that part of the context for the consolidation of neo-liberalism itself was the emergence of the human rights movement, with its non-political creed. Moyn contends that in recent years things have begun to change.[17] From alternatives to political utopias, today the agenda for human rights is much larger. They are called upon to address not just repression and violence, but humanitarian concerns about suffering in all forms. But what he omits to mention, is highlighted by Klein who states, that the interrelation between human rights and neo-liberal version is now of private capital ism, with familiar policy prescription of privatization, deregulation and state retreat from social provision.[18] In a presumably similar vein, Stephen Hopgood notes that à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã…“as with power and money, the creed now apparently on its deathbed becomes a mean to the end of globalizing neoliberal democracyà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ .[19] Selective Voices and the idea of Corporate Social Responsibility Lastly, the idea of corporate social responsibility at once invokes the desire to enlist or at least pay homage to the noble venture of the visibly underprivileged yet smiling à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‹Å"othersà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢ on the campaign banners. On August 19, 2013, Vedanta, as part of its à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã…“Khushià ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚  initiative, launched the à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‹Å"Our Girls, Our Prideà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢ campaign in association with NDTV.[20] Its aim? Alleviate the plight of undernourished, unhealthy, undereducated and vulnerable young girls in India. In NDTVà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s press relea se video[21] of the campaign-launch, images of visibly underprivileged yet smiling young girls embellish a banner that backdrops a choice gathering of members of civil society, NGOs, government and of course, corporations. à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‹Å"Our Girls, Our Prideà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢ by the à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢Khushià ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢ initiative- the semantic barrage of crippling joy in pain, vicarious ownership, personal responsibility and hope of salvation all at once invokes the desire to enlist or at least pay homage to the noble venture. à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‹Å"Stakeholdersà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢, concerned citizens from à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‹Å"all walks of lifeà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢ have come together in solidarity, all in one place, all for one cause (1:20); surely this has to be democracy if there ever was. The emancipatory appetite is whet and the insignia of unity is drawn as à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‹Å"the poor girl childà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢. Now, the visual celebration of poor-but-happy on the banners start to makes se nse. The images now fit perfectly without qualm in the luxurious hall of The Leela, Chanakyapuri, a hotel estimated by Forbes to have cost 391 million USD to build.[22] The violence of the contrast is erased. The spectral presence of the subaltern is ritualistically invoked. And then begins the ventriloquism of the human rights  © campaign: A video-clip is projected on screen. More poor-but-happy girls are presented, statistical information is brought to notice, à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‹Å"Nirbhayaà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢, the infamously anonymized Delhi gang-rape victim, is mentioned (3:05), and the video ends with poor-but-happy girls singing a vernacular rendition of à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã…“We Shall Overcomeà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚  (3:33). Celebrity, Priyanka Chopra, then addresses the gathering in her capacity as UNICEFà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s Goodwill Ambassador for India and newly appointed à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‹Å"brand ambassadorà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢ of the campaign. The delegates then exchange views and reaffirm the decision that the campaign will make a change, bring happiness. The assimilative tendency of the human rights campaign is showcased here. Not only are images of structural disenfranchisement displayed as objects of consumption, the recent outrage against violence fresh in memory, the Nirbhaya protests, is captured in a few moments, stripped of voice and repackaged as an à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‹Å"eventà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢. As the song of emancipation is sung, the images on screen are replaced with the image of the celebrity on stage. Revealing her à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‹Å"human sideà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢, she speaks of colonial discovery. She speaks of how she, at a young age, came to notice à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã…“the mind-set that people have towards the girl-childà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚  (05:07). She determines that it is à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‹Å"usà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢ who must change it. The invocation of the self-other paradigm is especially apt here as the camera focuses on the impeccably dressed, visibly wealthy audience (5:45). Coincidentally, it is clear who à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‹Å"usà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢ refers to here- those who have the social capital to be aggrandized from the hegemonic power structure. Only they have the power to à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‹Å"bring a changeà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢ to the pitiable, alien world the à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‹Å"otherà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢ inhabits. Recall here the propulsion of emancipatory desire of the French mission civilisatrice in West Africa through the hegemonic colonial vehicle. The occupied space must be consecrated in the language of changing a savage culture by setting it to human rights. The pretext of this à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‹Å"mega-eventà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢ of change serves to simultaneously exonerate and justify any traces of irony that may be associated with a vicious mining corporation backed by media-conglomerate and UNICEF and government and local activists initiating a mission in the name of human rights. Even as the video plays and right now, Vedantaà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s crimes, its attemp ted siege of the Niyamgiri hills in Orissa, its record of displacing hundreds of Dongria Kondh, its destruction of forests, poisoning of water and pollution of air, are being erased.[23] Appearances and hegemonic power are consolidated simultaneously through the semantic force of the human rights campaign. On November 25, 2013, Vedanta announced its plans to invest 3 billion USD into its oil and gas campaign in India and acquire bauxite in Orissa.[24] The newspaper article relates Vedantaà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s statement that the denial of their mining project in the Niyamgiri hills in 2012 is à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã…“no setback to the groupà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ . Plans to expand operations to Punjab are disclosed. The article ends with the announcement that Vedanta plans to start the à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‹Å"Khushià ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢ initiative in Punjab soon.[25] The campaign marches on. [1] Costas Douzinas, The End of Human Rights: Critical Legal Thought at the Turn of the Century 374 (Hart Publishing Oxford 2000) [2] Peter Schwab, Human Rights: A Western Construct with Limited Applicability in Human Rights: Cultural and Ideological Perspectives (1980) [3] As explained in: Vanessa Smith, Intimate Strangers: Friendship, Exchange and Pacific Encounters 112 (2010) [4] Anthony Carty, The Philosophy of International Law 193-197 (2007) [5] Anthony Carty, Legalisation of Human Rights Discourse in a Coercive Legal Order 1 [6] Ibid. [7] Id at 196. [8] Jean Baudrillard, Power Inferno 63-83 (2002). [9] Makau Mutua, Human Rights: A Political and Cultural Critique 215 (2001). [10] Larry Tye,The Father of Spin: Edward L. Bernays and the Birth of Public Relations(1998). [11] Allan Brandt, The Cigarette Century 84-85 (2007). [12] Vasuki Nesiah, From Berlin to Bonn to Baghdad: A Space for Infinite Justice, 17HHRJ (2004). [13] Id. [14] Id. [15] Susan Marks, Four Human Right Myths, London School of Economics Working Papers 10/2012 [16] Naomi Klein, à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‹Å"Looting with the lights onà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢, The Guardian, (August 2011). [17] This debate was discussed in: Samuel Moyn, Human Rights and à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã…“Neoliberalismà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚  (Nov. 29, 2014, 7:00 PM), https://hhr.hypotheses.org/215 [18] Ronnie Steinberg, The Shock Doctrine Review (Nov. 29, 2014, 7:00 PM), https://www.naomiklein.org/reviews/ms-magazine-review-shock-doctrine [19] Stephen Hopgood, The Endtimes of Human Rights, (Cornell University Press 2013) [20] Priyanka Chopra names Campaign Ambassador for à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‹Å"NDTV-Vedanta Our Girls Our Prideà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢, NDTV, Aug. 19, 2013, https://www.ndtv.com/article/india/priyanka-chopra-named-campaign-ambassador-for-ndtv-vedanta-our-girls-our-pride-407688. [21] Video available on the top-left side of the webpage at: https://www.ndtv.com/article/india/priyanka-chopra-named- campaign-ambassador-for-ndtv-vedanta-our-girls-our-pride-407688. [22] Modern Day Splendor in New Delhi: The Leela Palace Hotel, Forbes, Jan. 10, 2012, https://www.forbes.com/sites/annabel/2012/10/01/modern-day-indian-splendor-in-new-delhi-the-leela-palace-hotel/. [23] Survival International provides a consolidated list of government documents relating to Vedantaà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s activities at: https://www.survivalinternational.org/behindthelies/vedanta. [24] Newspaper article available at: https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/business/india-business/Vedanta-Plc-to-invest-3-billion-in-India-in-3-years/articleshow/26374817.cms. [25] Id.

Friday, December 20, 2019

Health Promotion Targets And Evidence - 1574 Words

STEPHEN LWERANGO: M00459732 PHC3610:- Health Promotion: Targets and Evidence. Formative Assignment. A Health Promotion Initiative: Chosen Case Study: School Initiative to Prevent risk Factors for Poor Oral Health Abstract The normal oral health education we get from home is neither effective nor proving to be making a much more needed result. Very often oral health initiatives are implemented as stand alone and as such miss out the benefits from other health programmes. As a consequence best intended actions are wasted and/or duplicated and at worst the wrong signals set out for public consumption. Oral health programmes should be a multifaceted approach rather than aiming at individual changes in practices and behaviour but should indeed take on board the broader aspects of determinants of health. The socioeconomic factors greatly influence general health as we know. Taking a leaf from established the principles of promoting health; this essay will seek to focus on different perspectives of oral health promotion and policy. The approach this essay will take to address the oral health will be inline with the well known risk factors associated with chronic illnesses in the wider sphere of the social environment .There are several determinants of oral health ranging from smoking, hygiene, use of alcohol, poor diet and trauma including stress. Since these aggravatingShow MoreRelatedMental Health : An Integral Part Of Health And Well Being Of Human Being1342 Words   |  6 PagesMental health is an integral part of health and well-being of human being, as reflected in the definition of health in the constitution of the World Health Organization (2015), the Health is a state of complete physical, mental and social well-being and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity. 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Thursday, December 12, 2019

Providian Trust free essay sample

Providian trust head quartered in New York, delivered financial and fiduciary services through a network of 216 branches. In 1994, this company managed $49. 4 billion in trust asset with a staff of 840 full time employees. Sixty percent of company’s fee income and 9% of gross earnings generated by its fiduciary business that year. Though they had a huge team working on the front and back office handling and record keeping and settling activities, there was always a chance for error and it was easy for everyone point finger at others when it occurs. Based in the facts presented in this case, LeBlanc wanted to convert the trust division’s outdated information into a more efficient system through which they can keep the date organized and respond to client request more effectively on time, and also generate and send the monthly statements on time with more accurate reports. Though the clients are happy about the statements that they have been receiving, they are not happy about the turnaround time that it takes for them to receive the reports. We will write a custom essay sample on Providian Trust or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page Ultimately as we can see in this case, they is considerable level of resistance to automate the process and system as the employees feared about their job security. When Michael Walsh took over the responsibility, we have to note that two third of the $18million budget allocated for this conversion project already been spent. Project Justification Analysis LeBlanc justified that by having this conversion project successfully implemented with a budget of $18 million, they can earn more trust from the customers, and have the efficient data handling and as a result of this reengineering process, they can get $9.2 million profit, while reducing the work force from 840 to 660. Cost Estimate Overall Project Budget: $18 million Expected Profit annually: $9. 2 million Payback Analysis SWOT Analysis As in all projects, this effort taken by LeBlanc of Providian Trust Company, this has several threats and opportunities and its own strengths and weaknesses. Here’ my SWOT analysis of Providian Trust. Strengths Major support from the top management Financial stability to make an investment into technological advancement Workforce that can leverage previous experience and knowledge to support the conversion process Weakness Computer illiteracy among the current FTE Opportunities Earn customer trust More efficient record management and improved business process Provide timely, efficient and accurate monthly reports and statements to their clients Expand their customer base as the automation process can help providing services to more clients Threats Confusions among the current employees Threat of subject matter experts leaving the company during the conversion process Fear of failure Resistance to change Resistance to change Fear of failure among the employees Has cost benefits Timely response to clients on reporting Accuracy in reports and statements Threat of failure as no previous experience Computer literacy Threat of Losing most experienced finance officers and professionals Risk Analysis Apart from the 18 risks identified by Peter Storey, I would think the major risk involved in this whole conversion process are as follows: 1. Improperly defined decision making authority and employees structure 2. Delaying to provide training to the subject matter experts in advance might trigger job insecurity among them 3. Missing to identify mitigation plans for risks and creating proper project management reserve. 4. Failure to realize the profit as forecasted . Future expenses keeping up with the technology as Access *Plus upgrades their system into latest technologies 6. Efficiency and subject knowledge of new hires Planning Phase â€Å"Go† or â€Å"No Go† Decision – Based on My Assumptions To put first things first, I would like to consider the face that Providian Trust current close competitors have their system automated and are able to provide faster and accurate reports and services to their clients. While having such heavy competition, and in this fast growing technological advancement, it is surely not a viable option to have such a huge system being handled manually. Providian had over 10,000 clients with billions of dollars invested. So, In order to stay competitive, it is an ultimate need for Providian to automate their outdated trust processing and records management system. So, my vote is surely â€Å"Go† for it. Apart from having the fact that they can increase their profit by $9. 2 million a year, I look at the customer satisfaction and the trust that Providian can earn by delivering the timely reports and statements and having the increased ability to answer client calls with more accurate up to date information quickly. That is more important as it will generate good will among the customers and will create possibilities for attracting more customers into the business. Though this effort has lot of risks including the threat of losing most experienced subject matter experts, and the fear of failure among the employees, and the anxiety of FTEs about learning new computerized systems, this project has a lot more advantages. Providian should come up with a strong mitigation plan to meet the unexpected unpleasant surprises in terms of losing SMEs, failure and bugs in the newly implemented software system, etc.

Wednesday, December 4, 2019

Economic stability free essay sample

Q1. Economic stability implies avoiding fluctuations in economic activities. It is important to avoid the economic and financial crisis. The challenge is to minimize the instability without affecting productivity, efficiency, employment. Find out the instruments to face the challenges and to maintain an economic stability. Ans. Promoting economic stability is partly a matter of avoiding economic and financial crisis. A dynamic market economy necessarily involves some degree of instability, as well as gradual structural change. The challenge for policy makers is to minimize this instability without reducing the ability of the economic system to raise living standards through increasing productivity, efficiency and employment. Economic stability is fostered by robust economic and financial institutions and regulatory frameworks. Instruments to maintain economic stability: 1. Monetary Policy- Monetary policy deals with the total money supply and its management in an economy. It is essentially a program of action undertaken by the monetary authorities, generally the central bank, to control and regulate the supply of money with the public, and the flow of credit with a view to achieving economic stability and certain predetermined macroeconomic goals. We will write a custom essay sample on Economic stability or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page Monetary policy basically deals with total supply of legal tender money, i. e. , currency notes and coins, total amount of credit money, level of interest rates, exchange rate policy and general liquidity position of the country. 2. Fiscal Policy- The term â€Å"fisc† in English language means â€Å"treasury†, and the policy related to treasury or government exchequer is known as fiscal policy. Fiscal policy is a package of economic measures of the Government regarding public expenditure, public revenue, public debt or public borrowings. It concerns itself with the aggregate effects of government expenditure and taxation on income, production and employment. In short, it refers to the budgetary policy of the government. Fiscal policy is concerned with the manner in which all the different elements of public finance, while still primarily concerned with carrying out their own duties (as the first duty of a tax is to raise revenue), may collectively be geared to forward the aims of economic policy. † 3. Physical Policy or Direct Controls- Government interference with the forces of demand and supply in the market, and state regulation of prices of commodities are common features in these days. Thus, when monetary and fiscal measures are inadequate to control prices, government resorts to direct control. During wars, when inflationary forces are strong, price control involves imposing ceilings in respect of certain prices and prices are to be stopped from rising too high. In a planned economy, the objective of price control is to bring about allocation of resources in accordance with the objects of plan. Price control normally involves some control of supply or demand or both. These are done by control of distribution of commodities through rationing. Q2. Explain any eight macroeconomic ratios. Ans. Definition of Macroeconomics: Macroeconomics is that branch of economics, which deals with the study of aggregative or average behavior of the entire economy. In macroeconomics, we study the collective functioning of the whole economy. It deals with the gross aggregates of the economic system rather than with individual parts of it. It is the study of the entire forest rather than the study of individual trees. Hence, it is called as â€Å"Aggregative Economics. † Macroeconomic ratios are: 1. Consumption income ratio- Y= C + S. Out of a given income (Y); people can either spend or save (S), or they can consume (C) their entire income. Hence, C = Y – S. The consumption income ratio explains the relationship between two variables, i. e. , the amount of income and the amount of consumption. 2. Saving income ratio- Excess of income over expenditure is saving. The saving function can be easily derived by subtracting spending from income. Hence, S = Y – C where S = saving, Y = income and C = consumption. It is a function of income. S = f [Y]. It implies that there is a direct relationship between the two. Higher the income, higher would be the savings and vice-versa. The saving-income ratio indicates the amount of savings made out of a given level of income. 3. Capital output ratio- The concept of capital output ratio explains the relationship between the value of capital investment and the value of output. It is a ratio of increase in output or real income to an increase in capital. It refers to the amount of capital required to produce a unit of output. 4. Capital labor ratio- This ratio indicates the proportion of two factor inputs. It tells us the ratio between the numbers of laborers required for a given amount of capital invested in any business. This ratio is useful to work out the least cost combination by substituting one factor input to another. 5. Output-labor ratio- Output labor ratio expresses the relationship between the quantity of output produced and the number of laborers employed for a specific time period. It indicates productivity of labor. 6. Input- output ratio- This ratio explains the relationship between two variables of inputs and outputs. Input-output ratio indicates the quantity of inputs employed and the quantity of outputs obtained. It is also called as production function in economics. Production is purely physical in nature and as such, the ratio between inputs and outputs is determined by technology, availability of equipments, labor, materials, etc. 7. Value added output ratio- Value added output is the difference between the value of output produced and the value of inputs employed. In other words, it is a ratio of increase in the quantity of inputs employed and the corresponding increase in the output obtained. 8. Cash reserve ratio- The percentage of total deposits which the bank is required to hold in the form of cash reserves for meeting the depositors’ demand for cash is called cash reserve ratio. Thus, CRR indicates the ratio between the liquid cash with that of the total deposits of the bank. Q3. Define Inflation and explain the types of inflation. Ans. Inflation is commonly understood as a situation of substantial and rapid increase in the level of prices and consequent deterioration in the value of money over a period of time. It refers to the average rise in the general level of prices and fall in the value of money. Inflation is statistically measured in terms of percentage increase in the price index, as a rate (percent) per unit of time- usually a year or a month. The trend of price indices reveals the course of inflation in the economy. Usually, the Wholesale Price Index (WPI) numbers are used to measure inflation. Types of Inflation: Creeping inflation – When the rise in prices is very slow (less than 3%) like that of a snail or creeper it is called creeping inflation. Walking inflation – When the rise in prices is moderate (in the range of 3 to 7%) and the annual inflation rate is of single digit it is called walking inflation. It is a warning signal for the government to control it before it turns into running inflation. Running inflation – When the prices rise rapidly at a rate of 10 to 20% per annum it is called running inflation. Such inflation affects the poor and middle classes adversely. Its control requires strong monetary and fiscal measures; otherwise, it can lead to hyperinflation. Hyperinflation – Hyperinflation is also called by various names like jumping, runaway, or galloping inflation. During this period, prices rise very fast (double or triple digit rates) at a rate of more than 20 to 100% per annum and become absolutely uncontrollable. Such a situation brings a total collapse of the monetary system because of the continuous fall in the purchasing power of money. Demand-pull Inflation – The total monetary demand persistently exceeds the total supply of goods and services at current prices so that prices are pulled upwards by the continuous upward shift of the aggregate demand function. It arises as a result of an excessive aggregate effective demand over aggregate supply of goods and services in a slowly growing economy. Cost-push inflation – Prices rise on account of increasing cost of production. Thus, in this case, rise in price is initiated by growing factor costs. Hence, such a price rise is termed as ‘cost-push’ inflation as prices are being pushed up by rising factor costs. A number of factors contribute to the increase in cost of production. Q4. Define Fiscal Policy and the instruments of Fiscal policy. Ans. The term â€Å"fisc† in English language means â€Å"treasury†, and the policy related to treasury or government exchequer is known as fiscal policy. Fiscal policy is a package of economic measures of the Government regarding public expenditure, public revenue, public debt or public borrowings. It concerns itself with the aggregate effects of government expenditure and taxation on income, production and employment. In short, it refers to the budgetary policy of the government. Fiscal policy is concerned with the manner in which all the different elements of public finance, while still primarily concerned with carrying out their own duties (as the first duty of a tax is to raise revenue), may collectively be geared to forward the aims of economic policy. † Instruments of Fiscal Policy: 1. Public revenue: It refers to the income or receipts of public authorities. It is classified into two parts tax-revenue and non-tax revenue. Taxes are the main source of revenue to a government. There are two types of taxes. They are direct taxes such as personal and corporate income tax, property tax, expenditure tax, and indirect taxes such as customs duties, excise duties, sales tax (now called VAT). 2. Public expenditure policy: It refers to the expenditure incurred by the public authorities like central, state and local governments. It is of two kinds: development or plan expenditure and non-development or non plan expenditure. 3. Public debt or public borrowing policy: All loans taken by the government constitutes public debt. It refers to the borrowings made by the government to meet the ever-rising expenditure. It is of two types, internal borrowings and external borrowings. 4. Deficit financing: It is an extraordinary technique of financing the deficits in the budgets. It implies printing of fresh and new currency notes by the government by running down the cash balances with the central bank. The amount of new money printed by the government depends on the absorption capacity of the economy. 5. Built in stabilizers or automatic stabilizers (BIS): The automatic or built-in stabilizers imply automatic changes in tax collections and transfer payments or public expenditure program so that it may reduce the destabilizing effect on aggregate effective demand. When income expands, automatic increase in taxes or reduction in transfer payments or government expenditures will tend to moderate the rise in income. On the contrary, when the income declines, tax falls automatically and transfers and government expenditure will rise and thus built-in stabilizers cushion the fall in income. Q5. Investment is a part of income which can be used for various purposes. It is necessary to create employment in an economy and to increase national income. To understand the benefits of income, study the various types of investment. Ans. Meaning of Investment: Investment, according to Keynes, refers to real investment. It implies creation of new capital assets or additions to the existing stock of productive assets. It refers to that part of the aggregate income, which is used for the creation of new structures, new capital equipments, machines, etc that help in the production of final goods and services in an economy. Creation of income – earning assets is called investment. Thus, investment must generate income in the economy. Investment also refers to an addition to capital with such investment occurring when a new house is built or a new factory is built. Investment means making an addition to the stock of goods in existence. Types of Investment: 1. Private investment- It is made by private entrepreneurs on the purchase of different capital assets like machinery, plants, construction of houses and factories, offices, shops, etc. It is influenced by MEC and interest rate. It is profit –elastic. Profit motive is the basis for private investment. Private entrepreneurs would take up only those projects which yield quick results and generally those that have a small gestation period. 2. Public investment- It is undertaken by the public authorities like central, state and local authorities. It is made on building infrastructure of the economy, public utilities and on social goods, for example, expenditure on basic industries, defense industries, construction of multipurpose river valley projects, etc. In this case, the basic criterion and motto is social net gain, social welfare and not profits. 3. Foreign investment It consists of excess of exports over the imports of a country. It depends on many factors such as propensity to export of a given country, foreigners’ capacity to import, prices of exports and imports, state trading and other factors. 4. Induced Investment- Induced investment is another name for private investment. Investment, which varies with the changes in the level of national income, is called induced investment. When national income increases, the aggregate demand and level of consumption of the community also increases. In order to meet this increased demand, investment has to be stepped up in capital goods sector which finally leads to increase in the production of consumption goods Therefore, we can say that induced investment is income – elastic i. e. , it increases as income increases and vice-versa. 5. Autonomous investment- Autonomous investment is another name for public investment. The investment, which is independent of the level of income, is called as autonomous investment. Such investments do not vary with the level of income. Therefore it is called income-inelastic. It does not depend on changes in the level of income, consumption, rate of interest or expected profit. Q6. Discuss any two laws of returns to scale with example. Ans. Laws of returns to scale The concept of returns to scale is a long run phenomenon. In this case, we study the change in output when all factor inputs are changed or made available in required quantity. An increase in scale means that all factor inputs are increased in the same proportion. In returns to scale, all the necessary factor inputs are increased or decreased to the same extent so that whatever the scale of production, the proportion among the factors remains the same. Increasing returns to scale Increasing returns to scale is said to operate when the producer is increasing the quantity of all factors [scale] in a given proportion leading to a more than proportionate increase in output. For example, when the quantity of all inputs are increased by 10%, and output increases by 15%, then we say that increasing returns to scale is operating. In order to explain the operation of this law, an equal product map has been drawn with the assumption that only two factors X and Y are required. Figure 5. 9 depicts the operation of the law of increasing returns to scale. In the figure, Factor X is represented along OX axis and factor Y is represented along OY axis. The scale line OP is a straight line passing through the origin on the iso quant map indicating the increase in scale as we move upward. The scale line OP represent different quantities of inputs where the proportion between factor X and factor Y is remains constant. When the scale is increased from A to B, the return increases the output from 100 units to 200 units. The scale line OP passing through origin is called as the â€Å"expansion path†. It is very clear that the increase in the quantities of factor X and Y [scale] is small as we go up the scale and the output is larger. The distance between each isoquant curve is progressively diminishing. It implies that in order to get an increase in output by another 100 units, a producer is employing lesser quantities of inputs and his production cost is declining. Thus, the law of increasing returns to scale is operating. Constant returns to scale Constant returns to scale is operating when all factor inputs [scale] are increased in a given proportion leading to an equi-proportional increase in output. When the quantity of all inputs is increased by 10%, and output also increases exactly by 10%, then we say that constant returns to scale are operating. Figure 5. 10 depicts a graph for constant returns to scale. In the figure, it is clear that the successive isoquant curves are equidistant from each other along the scale line OP. It indicates that as the producer increases the quantity of both factors X and Y in a given proportion, output also increases in the same proportion. Economists also describe constant returns to scale as the linear homogeneous production function. It shows that with constant returns to scale, there will be one input proportion which does not change, whatever be the level of output.