How does the shareholder model of corporate governance impact in the Essay

How does the shareholder model of corporate governance impact in the management of labour - Essay Example According to Peterson (2005), transparency, from the shareholder perspective, allows for an opportunity to judge performance of a corporation (p. 59). Because there are measurable differences between the goals of managers and shareholders, corporate governance structures are put into place to ensure that appropriate needs are met. Because the shareholder model of corporate governance is restricted towards the goals of only the investors, most businesses will eventually evolve into a stakeholder form of governance. In this model, all parties that have an interest in the business are taken into consideration. This would identify investors, managers, suppliers, customers, employees, the government and the community all as partners within the goals of the corporation. This type of structure acknowledges that the function of a corporation extends beyond the boundaries of the interests of the investors. Without this acknowledgement and governance that takes the needs of all parties into consideration, a company will not always have the mechanisms in place to sufficiently satisfy the needs of all the interested parties, thus ultimately impacting the needs of the investors. The shareholder model of corporate governance, therefore, impacts the way in which labour is managed because it does not have the interests of employees as stakeholders as part of the structure. According to Hoffman (2007), the shareholder model is a predominate corporate structure in both the U.S. and U.K., where the stakeholder model is more predominant in the rest of Europe and Japan (p. 29). Companies that are designed with the shareholder model of corporate governance are more oriented towards short-term goals. Achieving short term goals and increasing immediate profits dominate the structure of the businesses. Short term oriented decisions and market strategies that involve higher yields in a shorter time frame are more prevalent than long term

An Analysis Of Glocalization And Social Welfare Politics Essay

An Analysis Of Glocalization And Social Welfare Politics Essay This term paper is on the topic Glocalization and Social Welfare. In this paper, the focus is what glocal means and how it works in the delivery or upholding social welfare. The term Glocal basically refers to the merging or blending of local and global forces: global in local or local in global: either way it refers to the forces of global and local acting together. By social welfare it is understood that it means something affecting the society, public goods as in something that the society needs or is affected by it. In the context of glocalization; social welfare is understood as how local and global actors or forces come together to uphold social welfare aspects like health, the people, the ecology, women and working class, specifically aiming towards the third world countries. This paper takes into account glocal forces as actors like NGOs and other organizations formed with the initiative of local and global forces to counter the ill effects of globalization on society and uph old social welfare from the local and in the global context. INTRODUCTION: To understand the concept of Glocalization, an understanding of globalization as a process is to be gained. Since glocalization has basically two positions, both defined by the concept of globalization. The two statuses of Glocalization are: Firstly, glocalization can be seen as a result of and an alternative to globalization, and secondly, it may also be referred to as an opposition to globalization. Since most of the scholars involved in explaining glocalization, has often taken the understanding that it emerged because of the grave problems and the negative impacts or consequences of the globalization process. Globalization as a process of integration and interconnectedness in terms of economic, social and political forces has led to various outcome. It has led to greater interaction among states and also led to the increase of non-state actors like transnational corporations and multinational corporations in the economic sector all around the world. And it also brought a decrease in the role of the state and led to the emergence and proliferation of a number of NGOs (non-governmental organizations) and non-state actors in the economic, political and social sectors which operated and had implications on the global and the local arena. Such interaction of the global and local forces is termed as glocalization, the interaction of local-level government with the state and the interaction of this state and its representation in the international/global arena is what glocalization captures. Glocalization basically refers to the interaction or a blending of the local forces with the global forces, or vice-versa, impacting and influencing the other sector. Glocalization in terms of the social aspect basically refers to the impact of globalization on social aspects such as culture, and also in terms of social welfare it relates to the forces involved in the matters of rights, education, women and children and also the ecology. Insecurity is what its based on; earlier insecurity existed only in military terms; of one country going into war with the other; however the concept of security and insecurity now deals with other sectors i.e. the non-traditional security relating to the environment and others. Globalization increa sing the interaction among nations and bringing about a homogeneous notion of culture, security and economy has now led to a proliferation in matters of insecurities. It has added more problems to the world today. Globalization and increasing economic interconnectedness was supposed to be directed towards the entire world contributing to world economy in order for everyone to be well off, however such economic accomplishments have only been diverted mostly towards the developed or the rich countries, thereby it is felt that globalization has increased the level of poverty mostly in the already poor developing or underdeveloped or undeveloped countries, especially the third world countries. When the arguments of the hyper globalists are taken we see that globalization was intended on creating one world, a homogeneous entity. Homogeneous in terms of economy, political and socio cultural aspects, glocalization on the other hand has been seen to emphasize heterogeneity; mainly in terms of culture the term associated would be Creolizaiton- referring to the evoking of cultural fusion and the emergence of new cultures across the globe. Other synonyms for glocalization of culture, and creolization would be mixture or hybridization. On cultural terms we see glocalization to stand contrary to what globalization advocates. One definition of glocalization to be noted is; Glocalization can be defined as an interpretation of the global and the local, resulting in unique outcomes of different geographic areas, it emphasizes global heterogeneity and tends to reject the idea of the West/ Americanization. The concept of glocalization is seen to be contrary to Modernization Theory, which dealt with issues of central concern in the West and the rest of the world to blindly follow the West. Tony Blair, Globalization as a process has been termed as an irreversible and an inevitable process: Bill Clinton, Globalization is not a policy choice, it is a fact. This shows that the west had too much faith in the process of globalization and its impacts. Therefore, it is here that glocalization provides for a critique and an alternative to the globalization, since globalization now is taken as an important process and many have ignored the problems caused by it, glocalization theorists point out to these problems and therefore formulate their idea of the concept that developed. Economically, glocalization would mean the local control of the economy and fair distribution locally. Technology and Information to be encouraged to flow when and where they could strengthen the local economies. The problems of globalization, first would be that with its idea of liberalization, increases the integration of markets and also increases interference. Colin Hines mentions that this leads to reduction of democratic controls over economic affairs, international competition leads to increases interference and therefore leads to erosion of social welfare standards and an environmental regulation with regard to international trade is lost. The burden basically falls on the third world developing countries. In this context what Hines suggests is localization, that is the seen as an alternative to the problems created by globalization, by localization, Hines means which reverses the trend of globalization by favoring the local. Why the critique of globalization emerged, was because with the principles of integration and interconnectedness globalization was to provide an overall development, that is development of countries all over the world, a global process of development was to foster growth in the economic, political and social sector of the entire nation states. However this was not so, instead it has been pointed out that there was a global rise in inequality, declining social and environmental conditions and a loss of power by the sovereign state, local governments and citizens and the major beneficiaries of these processes were the Transnational Corporations (TNCs) and the multinational corporations (MNCs), there was a sharp increase in underdevelopment and underpayment. In the 1 960s the income of the richest fifth of the worlds population were 30 times greater than that of the poorest fifth, and in 1991 it was over sixty times and the 1998 report by United Nations, it was seventy-eight times high. In the 1990s the International Labor Organization reported that one third of the worlds population were underemployed. The 1990 report by the International Labor Organization mentioned that one-third of the worlds population were underemployed.1 Globalization therefore was seen to have negative impacts on nation states, the gap between the rich and the poor were widening. Globalization stands for delocalizaiton i.e. displacement of activities which were local and turning it into a world-wide activities. Globalization stood for the lifting of social activities out of the local knowledge and placing them in networks in which they are conditioned by and condition world-wide events. The process of globalization stands for homogenization, where the processes around the world become one and the same for all the countries. Global actors or institutions like the TNCs engage themselves in different countries, however they do not totally bring about homogenization, certain companies do get involved and adapt to local conditions to maximize local demand for products and service and to minimize their chance of being discriminated against by trade and investment. This is known as Glocalization, defined as a companys attempt to become acc epted as a local citizen in a different trade bloc and little control is given to the area of strategic concern. On economic matters, due to globalization the delocalization gaps between the rich and the poor countries are widening. GLOCALIZATION AS A PROCESS: Glocalization involves the blending of the global and local forces. Its evolution was based on a Japanese term Dochakuka which meant the adoption of farming technique to ones local condition. In the business world the term actually mean global localization, according to Wordspy, glocalization refered to the creation of the products or services intended for the global market, but customized to serve the local cultures, in social sciences the term used or a synonym for glocalization is indigenization. 2 Ronald Robertson has been an important figure in the study of globalization. For him, globalization was not a recent phenomenon, it has existed as a part of the modernization theory, with its emphasis on convergence and homogenization (basically westernization), and he mentioned globalization as the interpenetration of the universalization of the particularization and the particularization of universalism. Globalization and glocalization was to be thought of as interdependent processes, Robertson argued that local and global instead of constituting analytical opposites locality can be regarded, with certain reservations, as an aspect of globalization. 3 Hines, Colin. 2000. Localization: A Global Manifesto, London: Earthscan. Khondker, Habibul.H. Glocalization as Globalization: Evolution of a Sociological Concept, Bangladesh e-journal of Sociology, Vol.1, No.2. July 2004. Eade, John. Living the global City: Globalization as a local process, Routledge Publ. Robertson mentions glocalization to be an accurate term to describe the global/local relationship. There exits the globalization of the locality and the localization of what is global. As such the processes are that of macro localization and micro globalization. Habib in his work Glocalization as Globalization: Evolution of a Sociological Concept, cites examples of such micro globalization and macro localization. For the former he cites the example of social movements like the feminist and the ecological movements which start in small local spaces and then gets expanded to a larger area, also a global arena. Contrary to this view of globalization and glocalization being interdependent processes is the view of the likes of Midgley, who view globalization to be harmful for local economies, as they undermine the role of the sovereign states and uphold the roles of corporations and also create unemployment and poverty in various parts of the world. They believe that globalization leads to a lack of accountability in the new emerging era and as increased economic forces and complex international relations make it difficult to identify the source of the problem, as such so assigning of little responsibility to nation state or companies for any harm that maybe inflicted upon society as a whole and therefore scholars prefer glocalization to enhance the social welfare of citizens. In the era of globalization the role of the state in the social arena is decreased and therefore glocalization here presents a potential to create new social actors and structures that are essentially local in spirit and global in character capable of responding to local social problems brought on by neglect of welfare state in a format backed by global insight and power. Philip Hong and In Han Song suggested development of a globalized social policy assisted by and international organization that together can establish and advocate a common set of solutions to increase global pressures and create opportunities for investing more in such things as education, employment and vital public services. Through this top-down approach of global forces acting at local levels, authors argue that glocalization of social work might offer a means for advancing local welfare and contribute the strength needed to comfort increasing complex global social problems more pronounced into the future. Glocalization and social welfare can be assessed through the analysis of civil society organizations and the Non-governmental Organizations (NGOs). Glocalization for social welfare through NGOs etc. means pressing for certain rights, protecting the local globally/from global to local/going local. Local government officials have been the most useful when they have supported local problem solvers. What Hines suggested was localization which mean de-globalization i.e. the reversal of the process of globalization, turning back everything under local control and local management, which now seems quite possible since globalization has been an age old phenomenon and has brought about innumerable changes which cannot be reversed, as it is difficult to reverse or its removal or reversal is undesirable since globalization has not only had negative effects but positive ones too. As such its reversal would not really be feasible. So glocalization serves as a suitable policy process, since it doe s not demand for a reversal of the globalized process but emphasizes the combined functioning of both the local and the global forces, neither complete globalization nor completes localization, it serves as a neutral policy, gaining from both aspects. It is said that glocalization provides for a blend of local and global forces and in the name of such a blend an example that can be cited is that of the United Nations (UN). The UN being an international/ global organization comprised of member countries from all over the world provides policies for social welfare sectors like that of health, education, environment, rights, the question of women and children and culture. The impact of UN policies are great, it looks into matters which have effect on local levels as well, citing example of the Millennium Development Goals(MDGs), formulated in terms of eradicating poverty, promoting proper health and education, ecological protection and others have been adopted by member nations and these MDGs have also been taken up on state level. According to Scholte, glocalization involves the formulations of certain rules and regulatory institutions for better governance of local agendas with respect to global matters. It is argued that the global governance institutions lack the kinds of formal accountability that national and local governments can provide. World bodies like Commonwealth, the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria (GFATM) and the World Bank, they all lack popularly elected executive and therefore this hampers accountability. Insufficient accountability compromises most problems like poverty, inequality, environmental defense, disease and violence are not effectively addressed or eradicated. Therefore through civil society organizations help could be provided, however the sceptics argued such civil society organizations run by elites would further increase the problem of accountability. Contemporary society operates through global frames alongside social spaces. Along with local NGOs there also exists inter-regional associations like the European Union, Southern Common Market (MERCOSUR), ASEAN ( Association of South East Asian Nations), Asia-Europe Meeting (ASEM) which has been termed as the most developed interregional arrangement. Along with this there exists trans-localism, with groups like UCLG- United Cities and Local Governments, ICLEI, local governments for sustainability. Therefore global governance involves international institutes, inter-regional institutes and trans-local institutes, and good governance in this respect means that these institutes as actors are answerable for its action to the beneficiary for whom they are acting. Glocalization brings out the best in dealing with the local problems with tis reference to global issues though civil society. Such CSOs as human collectivity, people relate to one another on the basis of openness, tolerance, respect, trust and non-violence. Secondly, also a political space where citizens congregate to deliberate upon actual and prospective circumstances of their collective life. The qualities of civil society initiatives like peace movements, human rights advocates, advanced dignity of disabled persons, indigenous populations, outcasts, people of color, sexual minorities and women, citizen campaigns for animal rights and ecological integrity. Certain NGO staff members have represented several small island states in multilateral negotiations on climate change- in china and parts of Africa the relationship between civic groups and the state has sometimes been so close that the associations in question have been dubbed as GONGOs-Government organized NGOs. Some environmental organizations have held observer status in the body that oversees implementation of 1987 Montreal Protocol on substances that Deplete the Ozone Layer, the Codex Alimentarius Commission- a Rome based supra-state agency on world food standards and the International Organization have consulted global companies in the process of setting norms. Each country, the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child- has always received an alternative report from civic groups. By 1990, most major UN organs had established a special division for liaison with NGOs. Marrakesh Agreement establishing WTO provided for appropriate arrangements for consultation and cooperation with NGOS. Suggestions for proposals regarding a Peoples Assembly or chamber of companies to be created in the UN alongside General Assembly of States have been made. NGO forums exercised notable influence on declarations and programs of action at various UN sponsored global issue conferences of 1990s. New politics emerged when several civic groups channel important part of their efforts to shape official policy though supra-state agencies as through governments. This has been apparent in environmental regeneration, autonomy of indigenous people, position of women, opportunities for the disabled and world peace. E.g. Movement for the survival of the Ogoni people (MOSOP) created in 1990. MOSOP used support of trans-border environmental, religious, human rights organizations. In other words, it is possible in contemporary politics for grassroots groups to advance their causes though coalitions with NGOs, global governance agencies and even global companies. Two private sector policy makers have been influential in influencing many programs at low levels, these are namely: Ford Foundation and World Economic Forum. Ford Foundation established in 1936 to fund social programs in Michigan. Its funds and grants were to go to NGOs and were to be free from the scrutiny of the state governments. 1960s, ford foundation played a major role in educating development economists, promoting Green Revolution in agriculture, sponsoring population control programs and linking environment and development policies. World Economic Forum, was launched in 1971 was instrumental in launching the Uruguay Round of World Trade negotiations and helped forge links between local and global capital in China, India, Latin America and Russia and post-apartheid South Africa. World Economic Forum also addressed inter-state conflicts with conciliation attempts in affairs as the Arab-Israeli and Greeco-Turkish disputes. Non-official initiatives in environmental regulation are the Ford, Packard and Rockefeller foundation supported major conservation programs. In 1980, World Conservation union (IUCN) and WWF collaborated with UNEP to launch a World Conservation Strategy that developed guidelines for states. World Resources Institute (WRI) formulated the Tropical Forestry Action Plan in 1980 jointly with the UN Food and Agricultural Organization (FAO) and UNDP. International Council of Science Union plays an advisory role to the World Meteorological Organization and UNEP in setting up and Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change in 1988. The Secretariat for the Convention on International Trade in endangered species of wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) has worked in close cooperation with the IUCN and the WWF. IUCN, WRI and UNEP jointly organized the Bio-Diversity Conservation Strategy Program. NGOS and emancipatory new social movements provide a progressive way forward to more effective and just regulation. Lena Dominelli mentions that initiatives have to be taken to engage in mutual exchanges between local and global players. Locality specific versions of social work was directed to be a resistance to the homogenizing trends embedded in social relations driven by profit motives and the desire of entrepreneurs to appropriate other peoples labor, material resources, geographic spaces and intellectual property. Human, social and environmental degradation is increasing and despite government rhetoric about equal opportunity, elimination of poverty particularly among children within the UK, and on a global scale of twenty-eight billion people expressed and agreed at World Summit for Social Development in Copenhagen in 1995 and Millennium Development Goals pronounced at the UN. The roles of associations like the IASSW International Association of Schools of Social Work, International Council on Social Work (ICSW) and the International Federation of Social Workers (IFSW), promoting cross border solidarity in matters of this kind. The benefits of globalization have been contested by anti-globalization movements which demanded economic growth should sustain human beings and the environment in which they live rather than gathering profits for the few. International organizations include such as the Red-Cross OXFAM, and the Save the Children are NGOs that practice on issues like poverty, disasters and health matters, mostly associated with aid and relief. The American New Deal under Franklin D. Roosevelt was nearest the USA could come to guaranteeing provision for families with dependent children and for older people. The concerns with extreme levels of deprivation and threat of social disorder and devastation by second world war especially Europe were picked by Roosevelt and other at United Nations and led to an agreement around Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR). UDHR covered civil, political and social rights including the right to welfare. In addition to the organizations of the UN system and the Washington-based financial institutions, such as the international non-governmental organizations (NGOs) like the Human Rights Watch and CARE, such transnational corporations as Shell and Citibank, and global media like the BBC and CNN exerted a growing influence on state policies, and also brought to a large extent the proliferation in the number of NGOs. The involvements of such actors are basically a part of the good governance agenda. They help especially in the Third World and Eastern Europe to bring about changes, certain scholars have been critical of the World Bank intervention in these countries, and mentioned that instead of good governance, what World Bank policies have led to is bad governance. As such, UN commentary on good governance has led to certain ideas namely, the universal protection of Human Rights; non-discriminatory laws; efficient, impartial and rapid judicial processes; transparent public agencies; ac countability for decisions by public officials; devolution of resources and decision making to local levels from the capital and meaningful participation by citizens in debating public policies and choices.4 A report from UNDPs Regional Bureau for Europe and the Commonwealth of Independent States emphasized the prerequisites for equity, legitimacy and efficiency: A legitimately strong government can be described as one that commands sufficient confidence in its legitimacy to allow for a strong civil society, and for a network of non-governmental institutions and regulations that ensure the development of a well-functioning economic system, the strengthening of democratic procedures and a widespread participation by people in public life. Giving the state a role to play in the domestic arena may lead to capacity building; in such a way there may be more effective partnerships and institutions internationally and at home, emphasized by the World Development Report 1997. UNDP has since the early 1990s shifted from traditional public sector management to addressing sensitive issues of governance as the human rights etc. And thus emphasized on capacity building; with this emphasis on capacity building for civil Weiss, Thomas.G. Governance, Good Governance and Global Governance: Conceptual and Actual Challenges, Third World Quarterly, Vol. 21. No.5. (Oct.2000).pp. 795-814. society and the private sector has mean that the UN system has a comparative advantage in many of the developing countries. Good governance entails the working of state and civil society actors closely together, Mahbub ul Haq has given the concept of good governance as to be directed towards the notion of human development and thereby leading to Humane Governance. This humane governance has also been emphasized by J.A. Scholte in his book Globalization: a critical introduction, he has mentioned the various issues as insecurities, basically as a result of globalization. Such insecurities are not that of traditional security in terms of the military security and defense but this includes that of Ecological integrity, Health, Poverty, Employment, Working conditions and identity and local knowledge. We can make out from these various insecurities that Scholte talked in aspect of social welfare. The emphasis is on the negative impacts of contemporary globalization on human security. ECOLOGY INTERGRITY: The global environmental issues have become a very critical source of insecurity, global capitalism or global races for capital and development have been particularly harmful for the ecology. Such race have particularly been harmful for the countries of the South, since most ministries have abandoned the environmental projects and policies in an effort to achieve the fiscal targets connected with globally sponsored structural adjustment programmes. Environmental issues are a very good example of how local and global forces interact with each other or affect each other. Various movements at the local level for environmental protection have been raised against the global forces which push countries towards the process of development which are harmful to the ecology of the country. To cite an example would be the Narmada Bachao Andolan (NBA) in India. A fight a dam Sardar Sarovar Dam to be built on the river Narmada in Central India, this NBA consisted mostly of peasants and tribals, le d by people like Baba Amte and also later activists like Medha Patkar were successful in fighting against the project which was to be funded by the World Bank. They were successful in stopping the Bank from funding the project and thereby got the project banned. This NBA was able to succeed in their efforts since they were able to well-establish links with environmental groups overseas. The Japanese environmentalists persuaded their government not to advance money for the Narmada Valley Project and also US groups were sympathetic to the cause and were also able to persuade their government to do the same. Support from environmentalist from both these countries also helped to persuade the World Bank to give up on the project.5 Environmental issues in industrialized countries had to do with the quality of life, whereas in Africa, Asia and Latin America it mostly was based on survival, the rights to live and work in a healthy environment, the responsibility to protect habitats, livelihoods and systems of life support from contamination, depletion (extraction), and destruction, and also the determination to restore or rehabilitate what has already been harmed. These are the issues that the countries of the South face in terms of ecology, and more sensitive to this issue have been women, ecofeminism as can been referred to. There are inter-linkages in the experience of grassroots environmental movements worldwide namely: the struggle to save old growth forests in Europe, womens initiatives to secure Rangarajan, Mahesh. Environmental Issues in India, Chap.22. Dorling Kindersley (India) Pvt. Ltd. safe food supplies in the industrial core of Poland, community efforts in Spain to fight toxic waste dumping, womens movements to retain access to land and forest resources in Kenya, and womens participation in the struggles of the rubber tappers union to protect their forest homes and work places in the Brazilian Amazon.6 Women carry a disproportionate share of responsibilities for resource procurement and environmental maintenance however they have very limited rights to determine the future of resource availability and environmental quality. Women have been at the forefront of emerging grassroots groups, social movements and local political organizations engaged in environmental, socio economic and political struggles. These phenomena are not localized; it is taking place around the world. Sound environmental policies and practice are required in order to achieve sustainable development. In this respect there are certain assumptions that are given: firstly that the involvement of women in collective action around the world, there are critical linkages between global environmental and economic processes and the recent surge in womens participation in public for a, particularly in relation to ecological and economic concern. This surge in womens activism is a response to actual changes in local enviro nmental conditions as well as to discursive shifts toward sustainable development in national and international political circles. Secondly, relates to women are beginning to define their identities and the meaning of gender through expressions of human agency and collective action emphasizing struggles, resistance and cooperation, and also have now included womens knowledge, experience and interests as a worldwide phenomenon, and that the process and results in any one place reflect historical, social and geographical specificity. There are various victories claimed by womens participation in environmental protection at local levels; namely the widespread planting of tress by the Womens Green Belt movement of Kenya, the protection of the Himalayan forests from timber concessionaries by the Chipko Movement in India, in North America grassroots movements led by women have prevented the disposal of toxic wastes. International level organizations that bridge the gap between local and the global have been Womens Congress for a Healthy Planet, WEDO- Women, Environment and Development Organization; WEDNET- Women, Environment and Development Network; and Worldwide Network for women all bring concerns of these locally based movements to national and international policy fora. Global Governance of ecological matters has made notable advances, even though the UN Charter of 1945 did not mention environment, but UN-

Although the authors us fictitious characters and events, novels are :: English Literature

Although the authors us fictitious characters and events, novels are often surprisingly accurate portraits of their time Although the authors us fictitious characters and events, novels are often surprisingly accurate portraits of their time. To what extent do you think The Great Gatsby is a novel of this type? The Great Gatsby, written in the early 1920’s, by F. Scott Fitzgerald portrays the type of high class life the rich were living during this time. Extravagance was the key to everything, parties, drinking, cars, relationships, and life. Everybody seemed to have money. This time was known as â€Å"The Roaring 20’s†, or â€Å"The Golden 20’s.† We see this type of culture in its extremity in The Great Gatsby. We can also assume that it was this type of life that Fitzgerald himself led. He was born into a fairly well-to-do family. In 1896 he attended, but never graduated from, Princeton University. It was here he mingled with the moneyed classes from the Eastern Seaboard who created an obsession for the rest of his life. In 1917 he was drafted into the army, but he never saw active service abroad. He married the beautiful Zelda Sayre and together they embarked on a rich life of endless parties. Dividing their time between America and fashionable resorts in Europe, the Fitzgerald’s’ became as famous for their lifestyle as for the novels he wrote. â€Å"Sometimes I don't know whether Zelda and I are real or whether we are characters in one of my novels†, which he wrote to pay for his extravagant lifestyle. We can see just how similar Gatsby and Fitzgerald are. Gatsby, unlike Fitzgerald was born into a fairly poor family, but soon met Dan Cody and Daisy, who, both very rich led him to the obsession to also become rich. I believe it was mainly the influence of daisy for this. He was desperately in love with her, but stood no chance all the while he had no money. †She only married you because I was poor and she was tired of waiting for me.† Also like Fitzgerald, Gatsby went to University and never finished. â€Å"It was in nineteen – nineteen, I only stayed five months. That’s why I can’t really call myself an Oxford man.† Gatsby was also in the army during the war, â€Å"Why yes, I was in the twenty – eighth infantry.† The only major difference we can see between the two men is that Gatsby never married the â€Å"beautiful† Daisy. He never made it to marriage, this could possibly be because he never had money, unlike Fitzgerald, who made his money, and then met Zelda.

Library research guide to education: illustrated search strategy and sources Essay

Sodium supports the proper functioning of the nerves by playing its role in action potentials action potentials are electrical impulses sent when the nerve cells received signals down the length of the cells hence triggering communication with the neighboring cells. During the action potentials, sodium ions rushes out of the nerve cells to initiate electrochemical impulse (Budvytyte et al, 2014). Why is this approach relevant or useful to understanding the loss of function in neurons? This approach is useful to understand neurons loss of functions because lack of sodium in the blood hinders the communication of the nerves, hence deficiency of sodium can result to muscle cramps because of abnormal communication between the muscle fibers and the nerves (Budvytyte et al, 2014). Question 2 What is the normal concentration gradient of sodium in the nervous system (should the sodium concentration be higher or lower within the cell compared to the extracellular fluid)? For a resting neuron, there is high concentration of chlorine and sodium ions in the extracellular fluid than the intracellular fluid. However, in the intracellular fluids, there is high concentration of potassium compared to the extracellular fluid (Madelin et al, 2010). How does the change in the sodium concentration detected from MRI of the hippocampus suggest that the neurons in the hippocampus became diseased and were not functioning properly? To detect a neuron death, Sodium MRI imaging is used. The higher sodium (Na+) concentration indicate that there were dead or damaged cells. When making comparisons of the two images of the control patients and the Alzheimer brain, brighter areas are seen in the Alzheimer patent brain than the control patient. This is an indication of higher concentration levels of sodium and indicates dysfunction of neurons. Before the death of cells, the increased levels of sodium in the tissue could be as a result of sodium direct leak because if the Na/K ATPase retro-gradation or amyloid beta channels (Mellon et al, 2009). What sort of a change in the Na+ concentration gradient would you expect when neurons are damaged or malfunctioning? Only a small intracellular sodium increase would be expected to produce signal intensity change. After the death of the neurons, the space I the intracellular shrinks and the extra cellular space expands. Moreover, the extra cellular space will have a large concentration of sodium which produce a large signal intensity of sodium (Mellon et al, 2009). Question 4 The peer reviewed article on â€Å"Sodium MR imaging detection of mild Alzheimer disease† discusses how the changes in the concentration of sodium detected from the hippocampus MRI suggest that the hippocampus neuron became diseased and does not functioning properly. The article about â€Å"Action Potential Collision in Nerves† discusses the action Potential Collision in Nerves. I used the article in this assignment to understand what role sodium play in neuronal action. This article â€Å"Sodium MRI with Triple Quantum Filter and Inversion Recovery at 7T† is about the current awareness in NNR in in medicine. I used the article in understanding the differences in the relative concentrations of sodium (Na+) in the hippocampus using magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). 5. In what ways are the studies similar in their method and conclusions? All the three studies used experimental methodology in their research design. Moreover, in their conclusions, there were similarity since all of them proved their hypothesis in relation to sodium innerves. In what ways are the studies different in their method and conclusions? The three studies used different equipment in their data collection. For instance, in the study of â€Å"Sodium MR imaging detection of mild Alzheimer disease,† used 3T clinical scanner, in the study â€Å"Sodium MRI with Triple Quantum Filter and Inversion Recovery at 7T,† used 7T Whole Body Scanner and a single tuned Na head coil. Question 7 What other observations might we expect to find in cases with similar issues? The other observations expected to be found include using sodium imaging as a clinical tool in detecting neuropathologic changes that are related with Alzheimer disease What would we want to look for in the future, now that we know what this case has taught us? In future, we would want to look for the implementation of IR23NaMRI and TQR fir the human brain at 7T in vivo in order to assess the intracellular concentration of sodium. Question 8 Give your resolution of the case: What does it tell us about autopoiesis in human anatomy and physiology? My resolution is that the case is that there is a dysfunction in the neurons or cell death because of the brighter areas on the patient’s brain. Brighter areas are an indication of higher concentration levels of sodium on the neurons that have dysfunctional On a scale of 1–5, rate how confident you are in your conclusions in questions 1 and 2. I would rate my conclusions at 5 Question 9 Describe how you located the information you used in this case. To begin the search, I started with the most comprehensive data base that is Cumulative Index to Nursing and Allied Health (NINAH) (Kennedy 2009). The search then continued to search engines such as British Nursing Index, MEDLINE. Moreover PubMed and NCBI were other major search engines which assisted some of the relevant articles. These search engines were used because they contained most of the peer review articles and books. To limit and narrow down the search for articles, internal searches of the databases was used by inserting full length of texts and searching the relevant articles from the list of journals displayed. Moreover, I limited myself to the current articles of up to 5 years If you had it to do over again, what you might do differently? I would use different resources to get different information so as to make comparisons of different studies References Budvytyte, R., Gonzalez-Perez, A., Mosgaard, L., & Heimburg, T. (January 01, 2014). Action Potential Collision in Nerves. Biophysical Journal, 106, 2.)G. Madelin, N. Oesingmann, G. Johnson, A. Jerschow, and M. Inglese (2010). Sodium MRI with Triple Quantum Filter and Inversion Recovery at 7T. [ONLINE] Available at: http://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=1&ved=0CCcQFjAA&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.med.nyu.edu%2Fradiology_research%2Fassets%2F03251.pdf&ei=tTyNVJmdH9GcugS5lYCIAw&usg=AFQjCNEbJrsrWJx0NrRJ0UjQSQ7y7IPJtA&sig2=4GdWwL6yW-a0Obj6LLMEmA&bvm=bv.81828268,d.c2E. [Last Accessed 14th November 2014]. Kennedy, J. R. (2009). Library research guide to education: illustrated search strategy and sources. Ann Arbor, Mich, Pierian Press.Mellon, E. A., Pilkinton, D. T., Clark, C. M., Elliott, M. A., Witschey, W. R. ., Borthakur, A., & Reddy, R. (January 01, 2009). Sodium MR imaging detection of mild Alzheimer disease: preliminary study. Ajnr. American Journal of Neuroradiology, 30, 5, 978-84. Retrieved from http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2866317/ Source document

A Study of the Microfinance Institutions Essay

One factor inhibiting the attainment of development goals in less developed countries is the populace’s general inability to access factors of production, especially finance. This limits the entrepreneurial ability of the people, especially the poor. Consequently, potential employment opportunities and household prospects for creating wealth and improving income are lost. Microcredit has been one framework adopted to address this problem. Its evolution reflects acknowledgement of credit market failures especially in the formal financial sector. There has been, therefore, a shift from the formal financial sector to microfinance Micro finance practice has had a long history in Nigeria and Africa as a whole, long before economist and world financial analyst recognized it as weapon against poverty. The practice of micro finance in Nigeria is as old as man; it has been a long-term practice in our context. It is mostly practiced in less developed countries, where per capita income is very low. In the mid twentieth, theorists were concerned over the poverty and process of development with specific attention on â€Å"under developed nations† as developing countries were then tagged. According to the World Bank’s World Development Report 1999/2000: Entering the 21st century, in 1998, about 1.2 billion people 24 percent of the population in developing and transition economies lived on less than $1 a day. In 1999, 4.5 billion people of 75 percent of the world’s population lived in low-and-lower-middle income economies. Of these, 2.4 billion were from low income economies with an average annual Gross National Product (GNP) per capita of $410, while 2.1 billion lived in lower middle income economies with an average annual GNP per capital of $1,200 (World Bank, 2000/2001). W.W. Rostows, a leading proponent on state of progression or growth, noted that the critical â€Å"take off stage† recognize certain minimal rate of investment to take place, to foster development and better the standard of living of individuals. In an attempt to improve the live of the poor and to raise the standard of living in the country, the United states Agency and Implementation Development (USAID), 1995), recognizes while Government are involved in different programs because most government want to encourage the development of  business, to supplement general, policy goals that apply to business, with specific policies and programs aimed at micro and small enterprises. More also, policies that minimize the costs of licensing and registering a business, provide easy access to information about laws and regulations, and facilitates commercial codes, which establish rules to minimize the cost of doing business by defining the rights and responsibilities of all parties to a transaction. Hence the involvement of Federal Government, and other international agencies in the program of reducing the poverty level amongst Nigerians. Such programs as Directorate for Food, Roads and Rural Infrastructure (DEFRRI), Nigeria Agricultural Cooperative Bank (NACB) and Peoples Bank of Nigeria e.t.c. The aim of the program was to assist and deliver financial services and development to rural communities. The purpose of this paper is to take a cursory look at microfinance institutions and their effects on funding of small scale enterprises in Edo State. Concept of Micro Finance Micro finance can be defined as a development tool used to create access for the economically active poor to financial services at a sustainably affordable price (CBN, 2005). Eluhaiwe (2005) opined that micro finance is the provision of thrift, credit and other financial services and products in very small amounts to the poor to enable them to raise their income levels and improve their standard of living. Micro finance has also been defined as the provision of very small loans that are repaid within short period of time and is essentially used by low income individuals and households who have few assets that can be used as collateral (Ukeje, 2005). Micro finance is basically a tool designed to improve the capacities of the economically active poor to participate in the larger economy. The economically active poor are either micro entrepreneurs who operate in the informal sector (trading, farming, food catering, craftsmanship and artisanship) or people earning wages. Such poor people earn their living in either rural or urban areas; and the financial services for which access is sought are mainly savings and loans (Idolor, 2007). Micro finance is about providing financial services to the poor who are traditionally not served by the conventional financial institutions. Many features distinguish micro finance from other formal financial products. Five of these are: the smallness of loans advanced or savings collected, the absence of asset-based collateral, and simplicity of operations (Kimotha, 2005). Others are its targets as the marginalized group of borrowers, and its general employment of a group lending approach (Igbinedion and Igbatayo, 2004). The group lending approach has implication for the pressure that the members of the group bring to bear on one another to ensure loan repayment, so that the group can continue to enjoy borrowing or loan facilities. In developing countries, a majority of the population do not have access to financial services and thus constitute the group that micro finance tries to reach. Nigeria, like any other developing country, is saddled with the problem of rural urban migration, mass illiteracy, poor infrastructures, poverty and low access to formal financial services. Hence the need for the government’s micro finance policy, aimed at expanding the financial infrastructure of the country to meet the financial requirements of the Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) as well as the rural and urban poor. The policy has created a platform for the establishment of Micro Finance Banks (MFBs) geared towards enhancing the provision of diversified micro finance services on a short-term or long-term and sustainable basis for the poor and low-income groups. It would also help create a vibrant micro finance sub-sector that would be adequately integrated into the mainstream of the national financial system and provide the stimulus for poverty reduction, economic growth and development (CBN, 2005). It also has the potential of not only urban–rural but rural–rural migration as Nyberg and Rozelle (1999) noted with respect to China. Small and Medium Scale Enterprises Small and Medium Scale Enterprises are sub-sectors of the industrial sector which play crucial roles in industrial development (Ahmed S. 2006). Following the adoption of Economic reform programme in Nigeria in 1981, there have been several decisions to switch from capital intensive and large scale industrial projects which was based on the philosophy of import development to Small and Medium Scale Enterprises which have better prospects for developing domestic economy, thereby generating the required goods and services that will propel the economy of Nigeria towards development. It is base on this premise that Ojo .O. (2009), argued that one of the responses to the challenges of development in developing countries particularly, in Nigeria, is the encouragement of entrepreneurial development scheme. Despite the abundant natural resources, the country still finds it very difficult to discover her developmental bearing since independence. Quality and adequate infrastructural provision has remained a night-mare, the real sector among others have witnessed downward performance while unemployment rate is on the increase. Most of the poor and unemployed Nigerians in order to better their lots have resorted to the establishment of their own businesses. Consequently, Entrepreneurship is fast becoming a household name in Nigeria. This is as a result of the fact that the so called white collar jobs that people clamour for are no longer there. Even, the touted sectors (Banks and companies) known to be the largest employer of labour are on the down-turn following the consolidation crisis and fraudulent practices of the high and mighty in the banking sector. The companies of course are folding up as a result of erratic power supply, insecurity and persistent increase in interest rate which has lead to high cost of production and undermines profit making potentials of companies operating in Nigeria. As a result of banking sector practices and continuous folding up of companies, a lot of Nigerians are thrown into unemployment which inevitably detriment the economic situation of the country. Since the office jobs that people desire are no longer there for the teeming population, and the few ones that succeeded in getting the jobs are thrown out as a result of the factors identified above, the need for the government and the people to have a rethink on the way-out of this mess became imperative. Hence, the need for Small and Medium Scale Enterprises (SMEs) became a reality as a means of ensuring self independent, employment creation, import  substitution, effective and efficient utilization of local raw materials and contribution to the economic development of our dear nation (Nigeria). All the aforestated benefits of Small and Medium Scale Enterprises cannot be achieved without the direct intervention of the government and financial  institutions. Over the years a number of policies have been formulated by the government with a view to developing Small and Medium Scale Enterprises. The Nigerian government under the then leadership of Chief Olusegun Obasajo promulgated micro-finance policy and other regulatory and supervisory frame work in 2005. Funding of Small Scale Enterprises Through the Microfinance Institutions in Edo State Among the economically active population of Edo State, there is a strong demand for small scale financial services. Micro finance institutions try to bridge the gap by accessing credit to low income people to improve household and enterprise management, increase productivity, smooth income flows and  consumption costs, enlarge and diversify their micro businesses, and increase their incomes. Using LAPO Microfinance Bank as a reference point, the challenges hitherto faced by most small scale business owners in accessing finance in the state have reduced drastically. Before, most small scale business found it extremely difficult to expand principally due to the lack of access to loans from financial institutions. This inability is mainly as a result of the stringent conditions attached to such loans. One of the conditions demanded by financial institutions before loans are granted is the provision of the necessary collaterals. The inability of small investment owners to provide such collaterals has often led to the nonexpansion of their businesses. With the establishment of microfinance institutions in the state, all that challenges in accessing needed funds for businesses have been reduced to the bearest minimum. This is so because these various microfinance institutions in the state have been able to provide small and medium scale entrepreneurs with more funds for their business ventures. METHODOLOGY In writing this paper the researchers principally used existing literatures and record relevant to the subject matter of this paper. Using deductive approach, the researchers were able to draw conclusion having critically reviewed salient issues in existing literatures and records. This method was adopted because time would not permit the use of questionnaire which ordinarily has to be administered to a sizeable number of small and medium scale Enterprises, as well as micro finance banks across the state. However, reviewing related works by other researchers gave a deeper insight to the researchers which  enabled us to draw reasonable conclusion. CONCLUSION There is absolutely no doubt that small and medium scale Enterprises contribute tremendously to the nation’s economic development. Small and Medium Scale Enterprises constitute essential ingredients in the lubrication and development of any economy. In Edo State, the story makes  no remarkable difference as Small and Medium Scale Enterprises dominate the economy. Though access to funds by small business owners in the state is still poor, the various microfinance institutions, vis-à  -vis, microfinance banks have been able to provide easy access to the needed funds to small scale enterprises. The mainstream Banks which are suppose to complement and  implement government policies on the development of small scale enterprises also clamour for huge collaterals which prospective poor borrowers usually do not have even borrowers who could afford to provide benefiting collateral are further discouraged by continuous increase in interest rate which make borrowers vulnerable to the risk of continuous indebtedness to rich lenders. REFERENCES CBN (2005), Micro Finance Policy, Regulatory and Supervisory Framework for Nigeria. Abuja: Central Bank of Nigeria. Eluhaiwe, P. N. (2005), â€Å"Poverty Reduction Through Micro Financing: The Case of India†. CBN Bullion, Vol. 30, No. 3, pp. 42-51. Idolor, E. J. (2007), â€Å"Micro Financing in Nigeria: Challenges and Prospects†. Nigerian Journal of Business Administration, Vol. 9, No. l&2, pp. 134144. Igbinedion, O. J. and A. S. Igbatayo (2004), â€Å"Micro Credit and Poverty Reduction in Sub-Saharan Africa: Challenges and Policy Framework in Nigeria†. Nigeria Journal of Business Administration, Vol. 6, No. 2, pp. 15-35. Kimotha, M. (2005), National Micro Finance Policy Framework and its Expected Impact on the Micro Finance Market in Nigeria. CBN Seminar to Mark the International Year of Micro Credit in Nigeria, 15-16 December, Abuja. Nyberg, A. and S. Rozelle (1999), Accelerating China’s Rural Transformation. Washington, D.C.: World Bank. Ukeje, E. U. (2 005), â€Å"Poverty Reduction Through Micro Financing: The Case of Uganda†. CBN Bullion, Vol. 30, No. 3, pp. 52-63. Ahmed S. A.(2006), the role of SMEs in developing economy, Abuja, Omotayo and co. ltd. Ojo O. (2009), Impact of Micro Finance on Entrepreneurial Development: A case of Nigeria. A paper presented at the International Conference on economic and administration, organized by the faculty of Administration and Business, University of Bucharest, Romania, 14th 15th November, 2009. 2000, World Development Report 1999/2000; Entering the 21st Century. New York: Oxford University Press, 2001, World Development Report 2000/2001; Attacking poverty. New York; Oxford University Press.