Political Economy an Example of the Topic Economics Essays by

Political Economy by Expert Prof J.F | 23 Dec 2016 Safety concerns about good produced in China topped the world news in 2007, with two-thirds of the recalls the United Stated Product Safety Commission issued in January to June tied to Chinese made products. In many cases the Chinese cried foul at the recall and even began to issue warnings of its own against American goods, mostly food stuffs, being imported into China. But it all adds up to an international political economy question that must be resolved by more stringent actions than single product recalls and a pissing match between two of the globes nuclear powers. To understand the resolution to the conflict and even the depth of what it means to the worlds economy, we must first understand what happened and try to identify why and how it happened. Need essay sample on "Political Economy" topic? We will write a custom essay sample specifically for you Proceed For most Americans, the issue of Chinese imports came to the forefront in February and March of 2007 when virtually every type of wet cat and dog food on the market and several dry varieties were recalled. At the beginning of the recall, the Product Safety Commission was even sure what was wrong with the product, except that it was causing high incidents of kidney failure in household pets. Eventually, the problem was linked to melamine, a form of plastic, in the rice gluten imported from China to make pet food (AMVA, 2007). Soon thereafter there was a recall on Chinese toothpaste contaminated with the chemicals that make anti-freeze poisonous, a ton of toys recalled for use of lead paint and just recently, a toy recalled because it contained a chemical similar to the date-rape drug GHP(greentimes.org, 2007). The underlying cause of all these recalls is unequal capitalism throughout the world. At the turn of the 20th century in the United States, Upton Sinclair wrote a Pulitizer Prize winning novel called The Jungle which outlined the horrors of the food-packing industry. Though more recent research shows that some meat-packing plants are still far from sanitary, The Jungle forced a sort of mandated correction on the American factory system. Then, with the addition of the Occupational Safety and Health Administration to protect workers and the increase in union strength leading up to World War II, Americans demanded that their government protect the workers and the consumer from potentially dangerous items. The very litigious nature of the American society may have contributed somewhat to the development, but the short version was that American companies developed a form of self-policing believing that capitalism with government regulation worked. But then in the last decade or so, the world became more interdependent and American companies began to send work to other areas, areas without a history of free enterprise and legal battles over product liability. They thought that specifying in a contract that toys could not be painted with lead-based paint would make it so. And, they thought that they could get all the protections which are built into the American factory system for a fraction of the price. They were wrong. Further complicating things is that America companies misunderstood the world. They assumed that all people would have the same values and belief systems as they did. No one ever took into consideration the sociology of the place that they were doing business with. In Communist China, workers who got a little sick, or even died from their toothpaste, would not be filing multi-million dollar lawsuits over the affair. And, certainly no one would be think they should be compensated because the dog or cat food killed a pet. Lead paint was the cheapest, so of course they would use it on their products, who wouldnt? In the consumer-driven American society, companies could not imagine anyone being so careless with the health of their customers as to poison something that is designed to be put in the mouth or add plastic to pet food. The complete disparity of the social equation then leads to a compounding of the political differences between the two countries. From the perspective of the American public, the Chinese has created products that: Portable baby swings that entrap youngsters, resulting in 60 reports of cuts, bruises and abrasions; Swimming pool ladders that break, resulting in 127 reports of injuries, including leg lacerations requiring up to 21 stitches, five reports of bone fractures, two back injuries, two reports of torn ligaments and eight sprained ankles; Faulty baby carriers that result in babies falling out and getting bruised, getting skulls cracked and hospitalizations; Easy-Bake Ovens that trap children's fingers in openings, resulting in burns; Oscillating tower fans whose faulty wiring results in fires, burns and smoke inhalation injuries; Exploding air pumps that have resulted in 13 lacerations including six facial injuries and one to the eye; Bargain-priced oil-filled electric heaters, selling for less than $50, that burn down homes; Notebook computer batteries that burn up computers, cause other property damage and burn users; Circular saws with faulty blade guards that result in cutting users, not wood From the Chinese perspective, American consumers were spoiled and overreacting. To some, it appeared that the Americans were subjecting everything to stringent standards that they would not hold themselves to. And, the Chinese government reacted by inspecting and rejecting American imports headed for China, claiming that food was contaminated with ants and that soybeans were laced with mold (China rejects, 2007). And, aside from the few hundred people worldwide affected by the product recalls, the real victim in the entire mess is the trade balance between the United States and China and the impact that the recalls have on consumer confidence in the United States. China has been granted most favored nation status by the United States, meaning that there are few tariffs on goods imported from China. And, china has a favorable balance of trade with the United States meaning they export more to the U.S. than they import from it, a good place for them to be in terms of world economies. But having millions or even billions of dollars of products returned because of product safety recalls. The only to keep the Communist government happy is to minimize imports during the time that the exports are curtailed. And, then you have two ideologically different government in a grand argument over whose products are more tainted. The only winner in that scenario is a nation that is uninvolved. The first people who suffer are those who lose out because of the lost imports. For the American consumer, the first Christmas season without Chinese toys will probably be met with a sigh of relief and the mistaken belief that they are avoiding the safety issues of the Chinese imports. But as prices rise and the basic costs of living increase, the loss of the international imports will hurt the American economy. On the other end, the loss of the American imports will hurt the Chinese populace much more rapidly. Most of the American imports being turned away were food products and with 1.3 billion people, China needs to import for its people. Food production was up this year in other parts of the world, but the American breadbasket does feed large hunks of the world. If American soybeans are turned away, china has to look elsewhere for its food. Even more worrisome from an economic standpoint is the affect that the recall has on purchasing patterns and economies. In October, 2007, the American Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson said that consumer fear over the recalls is causing serious problems with the American economy (CNN, 2007). Paulson then called on both governments to work together to allay fears and avoid international financial repercussions related to the recall. In essence, Paulson is the only one involved in the entire process who seems to understand the political economy of the event and its ramifications. His comments clearly show the need for cooperation and understanding between the two economic giants. What remains to be seen is whether they can set aside the huge ideological problems at the national level and deal with the ideological different in how they operate businesses. For example, the American government will have to explain that the 300 million Americans expect a certain level of safety in the things that they buy and will have to make the necessary financial concessions needed to improve the safety levels and the quality of raw materials in Chinese factories. American corporations will have to quit looking at China as a source of cheap labor and begin to make an investment into those factories if they expect them to meet American quality control standards. Furthermore, both sides will need to negotiate more clear contracts so that corporations can meet standards without a several month delay in discovering issues. Unfortunately, the reality is that the two economies are already interdependent because of the global economy. But if American corporations continue to treat China as nothing more than a source of cheap labor, they will continue to have recall after recall that destroys corporate profits and undermines consumer confidence. Part of the requirement of a global economy is the development of global standards of production. No longer can we argue that lead paint is okay for the rest of the world, but not good enough for Americans. We have to be able to view people as citizens of the world and treat all its citizens equally. The nature of economics is to always look for a way to increase profits, but in macroeconomics it is also necessary to look at the human costs and the environmental costs as well as the financial costs. If we are not willing to acknowledge that laissez faire capitalism is a thing of the past and that government regulation are an expected cost of producing goods, we will continue to have economic upheavals around the globe. The only other alternative, from an American perspective, is to return to an isolationist policy and buy American goods only. That is a completely unrealistic solution, but it is the only one that will work if the world governments cannot step beyond their ideologies to discuss economics based on real world needs and not outmoded theories. WORKS CITED China rejects U.S. imports, citing sanitary code, MSNBC, June 9, 2007, http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/19113689/> November 15, 2007 Comprehensive List of Recalled Food Lists, AMVA, November 15, 2007. Farah, Joseph. China products choke, burn, drown, drop, trap Americans, Washington's consumer safety recalls overwhelmingly hit imports from WorldNetDaily.com June 11, 2007. Paulson: Chinese Recalls Causing Fear In US, October 23, 2007. CNN.com November 15, 2007.

5 Types of Parallel-Structure Errors

5 Types of Parallel-Structure Errors 5 Types of Parallel-Structure Errors 5 Types of Parallel-Structure Errors By Mark Nichol Writers often have difficulty constructing sentences so that comparisons, contrasts, and lists, as well as parenthetical elements, are logically arranged. The following five sentences demonstrate various syntactical miscalculations; discussions and revisions follow each example. 1. Technology is transforming virtually every industry, changing not only how firms operate internally and engage their customers, but also challenging the underlying business models of entire industries. When a single verb applies to both elements in a statement that employs a â€Å"not only . . . but also† construction, it must precede â€Å"not only.† Here, however, technology changes one thing and challenges another, so the two verbs are parceled out individually to â€Å"not only† and â€Å"but also† and must therefore follow those respective phrases: â€Å"Technology is transforming virtually every industry, not only changing how firms operate internally and engage their customers but also challenging the underlying business models of entire industries.† 2. He wasn’t aiming for realism but drama. Here, a similar construction is necessary to convey a contrast. The conclusion in this sentence of â€Å"but drama† is an awkward, incomplete addition, and to be parallel, the negating adverb not must follow the verb phrase â€Å"was aiming† and the for preceding one noun must be matched by a duplicate before the other noun: â€Å"He was aiming not for realism but for drama.† 3. Like other social media companies, it uses a variety of tools, including spam-fighting technology, automatic identification as well as reports from users, to help combat abuse. â€Å"As well as† is not a substitute for and as a link between the penultimate and final items in a list; it signals a transition from a list to a dependent clause (or, in this case, opens a parenthetical phrase, which is merely an interruptive dependent clause): â€Å"Like other social media companies, it uses a variety of tools, including spam-fighting technology and automatic identification, as well as reports from users, to help combat abuse.† 4. He made his mark both as a professional athlete and also as a philanthropist. In this sentence (and in any sentence), and and also are redundant: â€Å"He made his mark both as a professional athlete and as a philanthropist.† (Both is not necessarily required, but it emphasizes the juxtaposition of a professional athlete also being a philanthropist.) 5. He’s kidnapped by a masked stranger, drugged, and awakes in an unknown facility. For this sentence’s structure to be parallel, the matching verbs kidnapped and drugged must each have a helping verb (a form of â€Å"to be†- in this case, the contracted form of is), or and must replace the comma preceding drugged to indicate that it shares the helping verb with kidnapped: â€Å"He’s kidnapped by a masked stranger and drugged and awakes in an unknown facility.† Note that the second comma has also been omitted; the phrase that begins with awakes- which, because it is in present tense, needs no helping verb- has no subject and is therefore not an independent clause, so no punctuation is required. (The grammatical rule against punctuating in such cases could be relaxed to imply a pause.) Want to improve your English in five minutes a day? Get a subscription and start receiving our writing tips and exercises daily! Keep learning! Browse the Grammar category, check our popular posts, or choose a related post below:Using "a" and "an" Before WordsAt Your DisposalContinue and "Continue on"

Progressive Movement and the New Deal Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Progressive Movement and the New Deal - Essay Example Social and economic change was not only necessary but vital towards the success of America itself as the government was extremely ambitious to implement these reforms. While recession continued to haunt countries worldwide, the progressive movement and the new deal established a solid ground for fundamental change. The progressive movement and new deal were similar because they introduced new programs, embedded reform and paved the way for greatness for the nation. The progressive movement and the new deal in essence were similar in many ways. First and foremost was the fact that it halted the progress of rebellion that was about to up heal during the industrial era. The progressive movement introduced new economic programs partly due to the fact that the muckrakers quest to address the ills of the society that were ruining the nation. The effort to improve society was a major push that was new to the nation as key issues such as reforming working conditions and assisting the mentall y ill people challenged the whole notion of old traditions. The era of progressivism movement can be Progressivism at its best aimed to remove corruption by imposing child labor laws, addressing lynching based on racism, and removing politicians that were involved in illegal business practices. At the local level, progressivism continued to display brilliant signs of reform as the construction of schools was pushed, political machines were dissolved, and politics was addressed in an efficient manner. Similarly, the new deal, was a focal point of domestic reform. Roosevelt’s New Deal was considered of two phases that were planned to recovery and relief. The first phase concentrated on to heal society from Great Depression through different channels. Acts such as the Agricultural Adjust Administration clearly boosted agriculture reform. Bank reform occurred in Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC), which installed a limit and tightened finance regulations.  

Skin put Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Skin put - Assignment Example The basic reason behind this research analysis was to take the opinion of the public about the product. The results of the research study are showing the concerns of the people regarding the skinput technology. Most of the young people are supporting it whereas some other critics are also augmenting on the sensitivity of the skinput technology. Mostly people are of the opinion that this gadget is useful and easy to use for giving commands etc. The level of creativity and innovation is very high in this Microsoft product Skinput. Despite all such advantages people argue that the price of the technology is high. They may not be able to afford it. The cost aspect is very important from both sides, i.e. customer and the company (Beirut 1). Many of the critics also argue that the health issues related to the technology. Initially the mobile phone technology also faced many argument regarding harmful rays and signals, which may disturb the natural audible sense of a person. It is the case with this Microsoft’s skinput technology. People are very much concerned that either it would harm the body or not. Obviously when the device is directly connected to the human body, the people may get suspicious about its effects. Some people also argue on the small size of the skinput device. The small size of the device may reduce the function ability of the product. The skinput device as compare to other digital devices, which are larger and thus provide a wide space for the viewers, may irritate people. In order to make the product more popular and famous in the public the marketing managers must focus on the advertising and promotion of the technology. The product will be successful when people will replace their existing mobile phones with this skinput technology. A true advertising campaign actually gives benefit when people perceive the specific product as the necessary item of their

Statistical Process Control Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Statistical Process Control - Research Paper Example Statistical scholars and researchers have established that statistical process control constitutes the testing of a random sample of any output from a procedure to establish whether the exercise produces variables within a range that is preselected. In week two, obstacles were identified during the morning preparation routine. The bottlenecks were found to be as a result of lack of technology and automation in the process. Specifically, a bottleneck was created at three main points, the time spent waiting on reports to generate, reviewing the reports and then auditing completed work. This is to say that the longer the amount of time spent in such duties, the shorter is the time allocated for the actual work on files. One of the open options to overcome this challenge is to allocate overtime hours every day so that the tasks can be undertaken with some time allowance to absorb the expected lag time. A more realistic and cost effective solution to the bottleneck would be to implement t echnology and automation to make the work more streamlined and eliminate the waiting period created in the current system. Some constraints’ theorists like Goldratt, argues that the best remedial measure against a problem dependent on problem solving skills. The techniques provide a layout of procedure that helps in identification of the constraints, eliminating them and seeking out other feasible alternatives (Persse, 2008). In other words, once the time taken to review data is shortened, then the next target is to reduce the time. of carrying out the morning routine duties. It is imperative that the significance of statistical tools in solving real life challenges like the one in question are taken into consideration (Mesbah, at al. 2002). Some of the measures of central tendency and dispersion that are vital in computing the tabulated data to establish a solution include mean and standard deviation. Data Summary for the two weeks in hours Week One Day Creating daily workloads (Minutes) Reviewing progress/completion (Min) Monday 38 37 Tuesday 38 30 Wednesday 41 34 Thursday 30 29 Friday 26 37 During the first week, the data was collected for five days covering from Monday to Friday. During the week, the data collected was based on the duration of time required to prepare the daily workloads as well as to audit the progress/completion of the daily workloads. Over the five days, the duration taken in preparing the workloads for each of the five days range from 26 minutes to a maximum of 41 minutes. This gives the range of 15 minutes as the spread of the workload creation time. On the other hand, during the same week, the manager had to spend some time reviewing the completion and the progress of the daily accounts.

Determinants Of Health Care Utilization Health And Social Care Essay

Determinants Of Health Care Utilization Health And Social Care Essay All people around the world could not access to health care service as there is a significant unmet need for health care. In order to improve the quality of human life, the health care providers and policy makers should have a better understanding of why people utilize or not utilize the health care services. In the changing of global environment such as population growth, increased health problems, higher demand for medical care and advanced medical technologies, health care expenditure is increasing in every country around the world. As health care expenditure has been escalating, financing for health care is becoming one of the challenges for governments especially in low and middle income countries. In many developing countries, the financial source for health care is dominated by private sector as house-hold out of pocket payment. However health insurance schemes are becoming an increasingly recognized tool in recent decades to finance low and middle income countries. As one of the poorest countries in South-East Asia, Myanmar health care financing mainly relies on private financing source in a form of out-of pocket payment. According to (NHA 2008-2009), 85% of total health expenditure comes from private household. In Myanmar, there are some financial schemes initiated by the government in order to protect the financial lost and impoverishment of the people. Among those health financing schemes, Social Security Scheme (SSS) plays a role to pool the risk of financial burden among insured workers. Myanmar government started the social health insurance in 1956 to provide social assistances and health care services to the insured workers. Regardless of the long period of implementation, the coverage of social health insurance is only 0.97% of total population and 1.96% of working population. There are 93 clinics in 110 townships to provide health care services to insured workers (Social Security Board 2012). The clinic time is from 8:00 am to 4:00pm which is during working hours of insured workers (Social Security Board 2012). The social security clinics locations are mostly not closed with the work places. The director of Social Security Board (SSB) mentioned about health care services in the news interview that, The current health care system is not enough for workers as the social security clinics cannot provide 24-hour service. Social security clinics cannot be found all over the country so workers in areas where there are no social security clinics can face difficulties.(The Myanmar Times, April 16-22, 2012). Apart from the difficulty in accessibility, the insured workers have to bear travelling cost and time cost to access health services from social security clinics. Moreover, there is very limited in equipments, medicines and facilities to provide enough health services to the insured workers. So some insured workers dont visit to social security clinics and get the medical care from nearby clinics and treat with traditional medicines. One of the SSB member expressed her experience from a boards clinic in Yangon as not be pleasant. She mentioned, There was a long queue of patients and I was particularly upset by the poor service from the doctors and nurses and I really dont trust them they dont have specialists, they have only general practitioners. I only went there to claim the cost of my medicines.(The Myanmar Times, April 16-22, 2012). Because of difficulties for workers to visit the clinics, health care teams from clinics have been trying to provide health care services in work places; however the very limited number of vehicle and cost of patrol are the big challenging issue for the health care providers. Despite of monthly contribution from their salary, because of hardly to access health care facility from social security, the insured workers could not get their benefit from social security board. However, Myanmar has been opening a new chapter of reform after 2010 general election and adopting democratic system in the country. As the country opening up, there are many reforms have been doing in order to move along with the ASEAN and global community. Myanmar SSS has been reformed to extend its coverage not only in formal but also to informal sectors. A new Social Security Law has been enacted in 2012 and will be implemented in 2013. Currently, the board has been preparing to introduce the new law for the insured workers. Along with the reform process, understanding the behaviors and factors affecting health care utilization is very important for the policy makers to improve the quality of services in order to attract the private workers to enroll in the scheme. By studying determinant health care utilization among insured private workers, we could observe that who pay for and who get benefit from the scheme. Apart from this we could also determine the most influencing factors which hinder and encourage the insured workers to utilize health care services from social security scheme. RESEARCH QUESTIONS General research questions What are the determinants of health care utilization among insured private workers under Social Security Scheme in Hlaing Thayar Township, Yangon, Myanmar in 2012? Specific research questions What are the barriers to access health care services for insured private workers under Social Security Scheme in Hlaing Thayar Township, Yangon, Myanmar in 2012? Research Objectives To identity the determinants of health care utilization among insured private workers under Social Security Scheme in Hlaing Thayar Township, Yangon, Myanmar in 2012 To identify the barriers for insured private workers to access health services from Social Security Scheme in Hlaing Thaya Township, Yangon, Myanmar in 2012 Scope of the study This study will be focused on insured private workers under the Social Security Scheme in Hlaing Thayar industrial zone, Hlaing Thayar Township, Yangon, Myanmar. The insured workers with the age of over 18 years and currently employed by private owned factories and firms will be included in this study. The cross-sectional data will be collected in February and March 2013. Hypothesis The age, gender, marital status, number of children, ethnicity, religion, educational status, occupation, income, distance from work place to health facilities, perceived travelling cost, hospitality of the health care personnel, satisfaction to the services, number of health facilities other than social security health facilities in the area, perceived health status and presence of underlying illness or disabilities influence the health care utilization among insured private workers under Social Security Scheme in Yangon, Myanmar. Myanmar Health care system Myanmar health care system is pluralistic with the mix of public and private providers. As the countrys administrative system has been changed, the key providers in health care services also have changed. However, ministry of health is still the major provider of the health care services through public health facilities while other ministries also provide some health care services (Ministry of Health, 2012). Ministry of Health is taking responsible to implement holistic health care including preventive, curative and rehabilitative care to the people according to social objectives of the country laid down by National Health Committee. There are 7 departments under Ministry of Health and Department of Health is one of the departments to provide comprehensive health care to all citizens. Apart from Ministry of Health, other ministries such as Ministry of Defense, Railway, Mine, Industry, Energy, Home and Transportation also provide health care to their employees. Ministry of Labor, Employment and Social Security established Social Security Board with 3 general hospitals and 93 clinics across the country to take care of insured workers under Social Security Scheme. Myanmar Pharmaceutical Factory which is under the Ministry of Industry supplies medicine and therapeutic agents for domestic market. One thing special for Myanmar health care system is that there is traditional medicine along allo pathic or modern medicine. Apart from public health facilities, local NGO such as Myanmar Maternal and Child Welfare Association and Myanmar Red Cross Society and international donors are also provide some fragments of health services to fill up the gap in the community (Ministry of Health 2012). Financing of health care services are from three main sources; government as general taxation, private household contribution as out-of pocket payment, social security system and community contribution. External donation in form of assistances is also play a role in Myanmar health care financing. Community Cost Sharing Scheme Community Cost Sharing (CCS) scheme is established in 1992. It is simply a user fees system with the intention to charge curative cost for health care services from the rich and provide exemption to those who could not effort for their health care expenditure. According to SSC scheme, the cost for laboratory, radio imaging, private room, drug and medical equipments are asked to pay for those who can effort. The revenue from CCS scheme is broken down into three portions 1) 50 percent is for government revenue, 2) 15 percent go for purchasing medicine and medical equipments and 3) the last 15 percent use for maintenance. However, there are no clear criteria for the poor to provide exemption and many challenges are coming up in the implementation level.(Aye et al.) Revolving Drug Fund Revolving Drug Fund was introduced in 1990 by Myanmar Essential Drug Program. The program started in 9 townships as pilot project and then extended into 100 townships in 1995. The fund is started by WHO, UNICEF, Sasakawa Foundation and the fund is used as a seed grant.(Aye et al.) Trust Fund Trust Fund is another finance source for health care and the objective is to finance to poor patient who cannot pay the cost of health care at public hospitals. The policy for Trust Fund is ONE BED ONE LAKH; and it is raised 100,000 Kyat per bed to hospital by the donation from community. Trust fund are normally kept as saving count at bank and the annual interest from that is utilized according to trust fund management committee or hospital management committee(Aye et al.). Social Security Scheme Social Security Scheme (SSS) is the solely health insurance scheme in Myanmar. It was introduced in 1956 according to 1954 Social Security Act. The SSS is implemented by SSB under the Ministry of Labor which has recently transformed into Ministry of Labor, Employment and Social Security. The objectives of SSB are; to improve the health of the insured workers, to enhance their working ability and to boost productivity, to provide effective benefit in times of social contingencies such as sickness, maternity and employment injury, unemployment, old-age, and death etc, to support the insured workers and family members for living when the formers are unable to work and to make the social security scheme concern the entire population. In order to achieve these objectives, social security board is carrying its duty and functions by ensuring workers enjoy rights and protection granted under the various labor laws, providing social services for the workers, promoting higher productivity of l abors and participating in international labor affair ( Social Security Board, 2012). The premium for Social Security Scheme is mandatory contribution from employee and employer. The contribution is based on tripartite contribution by 2.5 % of the workers salary from employer, 1.5% from the employee and government supports the capital investments as necessary. The contribution is collected according to 15 wage classes. The coverage groups are state enterprise employees, temporary and permanent employees of public or private firms with five or more employees in certain establishments such as railways, ports, mines and oilfields. The employment with less than five employees, construction workers, agricultural workers and fishermen are excluded from the coverage of social security scheme (Social Security Board, 2012). At first, it is started from the cities and then extended into other towns gradually. One 250 bedded workers hospital in Yangon, one 150 bedded hospital in Mandalay and one 100 bedded TB hospital and 93 clinics have being run under the Social Security Board in order to provide health care services to insured workers.(Social Security Board, 2012). In benefit package, it is divided into cash sickness benefit, maternal benefit, and medical benefit. For cash sickness benefit, 50% of the insured workers average earning will be included from the first day of illness up to 26 weeks for one illness. Benefit of temporary and permanent disability and survival benefits are also included in cash benefit. As funeral grant, 40,000 (Kyat) is paid to the deceaseds surviving spouse and child. The maternal cash benefit includes 66% of insured workers average earning for 12 weeks (6 weeks before and 6 weeks after delivery). For medical benefit, free medical services are directly provided by Social Security Boards clinics. Medical services include the medical care at the clinic, emergency home care, specialist and laboratory services at diagnostic center, necessary hospitalization, maternity care and medicine(Social Security Program Throughout the World : Asia and the Pacific 2010, 2011). Literature review The literature review for this study will be broken down into empirical studies on health care utilization and determinants of health care utilization. Health Care Utilization A study in Canada(Curtis MacMinn, 2008) about health care utilization in twenty-five years of evidence to identify the relationship between the socio-economic status and utilization, controlling and demographic characteristics. The study describes pattern of health care utilization under public health insurance scheme. They investigated about physician, specialist and hospital care utilization between 1978 and 2003. The data from Canada Health Survey (1978), General Social Survey (1991), and Canadian Community Health Survey (2001 and 2003) were extracted to analyze the different in utilization over 25 years period. It shows that health care utilization is growing through time. The populations with lower level socio-economic status (income, education, or employment) have on average less likelihood of visiting physician than those with middle socio-economic status. Individuals with lower levels socio-economic status have lower utilization of specialist care than those with higher econ omic status. For hospitalization, poorer individuals have slightly longer stay than with middle and higher income groups. The results also shows that health care utilization of publicly insured individual have strongly related with the health status of them. A Vietnamese scholar(Nguyen, 2012) analyzed the impact voluntary health insurance on health care utilization in Vietnam by using a descriptive and modeling study with secondary data. He looked at the trend of voluntary health insurance members, categories, revenues and expenditures and health care utilization in the whole country for 5 years period (1993-1997). The study shows that the trend of health care utilization is increasing during 5 year period but the number of hospital visit of voluntary health insurance members is lower than those paying by out-of pocket payment. The results of the study only can predict the utilization rate based on the macro factors and could not include other factors that could affect health care utilization among insured individuals. Health insurance does effect the health care utilization and it is revealed in a study from Burkina Faso by (Gnawali et al., 2009). They investigated the impact of community-based health insurance on health care utilization in rural Burkina Fuso. The results show that the individuals who insured under community-based health insurance scheme utilized out- patient services 40% more than those who are not insured however in-patient utilization rate is not significantly changed. Moreover, the study explains that low income groups are less likely to enroll in the scheme and even though they are once insured, health care services utilization is still lower than middle and higher income groups. Health insurance has a statistically significant effect on utilization of health care. In Sri Lanka, (Priyanjith H. 2008) studied the factors affecting health care utilization with three common diseases; Bronchial Asthma, Ischemic Heart Disease, Viral Fever. He has conducted cross-sectional descriptive survey and the respondents were selected randomly. The results demonstrate that patients age, health care expenditure and household monthly income, number of dependents in the family and religion have significant relationship with utilization of health care facilities. Age, family income level, perception and religion (Buddhist and Sinhala) have positive influence on health service utilization while health care expenditure, distance to access health facilities, number of family members and dependents in the family negatively correlated with health care utilization. Determinants of health care utilization Socio-demographic Factors Age A study in Ethiopia by (Girma, Jira, Girma, 2011) shows that children the age under five-year old used health facilities 3.5 times than those above the age of 65. A study in Nigeria by (Aigbe Osariemen, 2011) concluded that maternal age is the main predisposing factor to utilize antenatal care service. The women with age of 15-19, 40-44 and 45 years old utilized unorthodox source (traditional birth attendants, home assistance and church) 63.6 %, 65% and 55.6% respectively and the middle age pregnant women with the age of 20-39 used unorthodox source between 30 to 40.5%. The middle age pregnant women have significantly lower rate of using unorthodox sources for antenatal care. The individuals older than 24 years old were significantly more likely to utilize health care services than younger age (Hu Podhisita, 2008). A study in New Mexico counties, USA by (Anderson, 1973) shows that age has negative effect on hospital admission rate. Gender In Nepal, when holding other variables constant, boys have 43% more likelihood to seek external health care given illness than girls (Pokhrel et al., 2005). Men were 0.46 times tendency to utilize health care services than women(Girma, Jira, Girma, 2011). In Myanmar culture, women are usually given equal chance and not regarded as socially inferior. There is strong relationship between gender and using health care facilities and women visited health services more than men among Myanmar migrant workers in Ranong, Thailand (Aung, 2008). Marital Status In Ethiopia, married individual were 8.1 times more likely to visit health facilities than those unmarried one. (Girma, Jira, Girma, 2011). Ethnicity A study by (Anderson, 1973) conclude that ethnicity is one of predisposing factors for health care utilization. Hospital bed-population ratios are higher in the counties with larger ethnic minority group. However (Hu Podhisita, 2008) reveals that if the ethnic groups have the same opportunities(predisposing, enabling factors), health care utilization will be likely similar. Educational status In Nigeria, the choice of antenatal care sources between orthodox and unorthodox is associated with the education of mother. They pointed out that the usage of unorthodox sources of antenatal care is 83% among with primary education level. The choice for orthodox source is 53% among the mother with secondary education and which is tripled with those of primary education(Aigbe Osariemen, 2011). In Curacao, Netherland, educational level is strongly related with utilization of dentist and physiotherapist. The results indicates that people with the highest educational level in the study utilized dental service a year almost five times than those with the lowest educational level(Alberts, J, Eimers, Den, 1997). Income Annual household income is associated with the level of utilization of health care services. Low income group was 0.26 times likely to use health care facilities (Girma, Jira, Girma, 2011) Accessibility to Health Care Services Distance to the health facilities A study by (Nemet Bailey, 2000) shows the relationship between distance and utilization that as the distance increase, health care utilization is reduced. Another study in Nigeria by (Aigbe Osariemen, 2011) concludes that distance to health facility from their residence is important factors for women to seek ante natal care. They found out that majority of women (76%) utilized the nearby health center which takes less than 30 minute with vehicular transportation from their residence while only 5.9% of women travelled to access health care services from facilities that need more than 45 minute to arrived. In Ethiopia, distance to the nearest health facilities is one of important factors on utilization of health facilities, the study concluded that the individuals who live in 10 kilometers or less to the nearby institution were 1.5 time more likely to use health facilities. Waiting time at health facilities Almost two-third (62.8%) of pregnant women who visited primary health care or private hospitals for antenatal care is for the reason of promptness of the services (Aigbe Osariemen, 2011). Perceived travelling cost In comparison, among the individuals who perceived travelling cost as cheap ,the health services utilization were 2.5 times likely to be higher than those perceived it as expensive. Need Factors Perceived health status A study in Ethiopia by (Girma et al., 2011) revealed health care utilization was associated with individuals perceived health status. They mentioned that in compared to individuals with good health status, those with poor and very poor health status, utilized 11.7 and 13.1 times more respectively. A study by (Fernandez-Olano et al., 2006) shows that perceived health status affected the health care utilization pattern among elderly people. It can be concluded that 36% of elderly users and 60.2% of non-users graded their health status as good and they reported their health status as fair 46% and 29% respectively. Presence of underlying disease or disability The individuals with disability are 3.3 times likely to use health care services and those who had health problems utilized health care 28 times(Girma et al., 2011). (Liu, Tian, Yao, 2012) studied the effects of health profile on health care services utilization in Taiwan. Health profiles were divided into 4 groups: Relatively Healthy, High Co morbidity, Frail Group and Functional Impairment and they found that, High Co morbidity group had more likely to utilize health care services heavily than Frail Group and Functional Impairment while Relatively Healthy regarded as a reference group. A study in Philippine shows that the need factors have strongly associated with the hospital stay. The patients with intensive cases stayed at hospital longer than ordinary cases(Loquias, Kittisopee, Sakulbamrungsil, 2006) Summary The literature review shows some variables influence the health care utilization of individuals. This study will be included the variables that could possibly affect health care utilization decision of insured workers under Social Security Scheme. RESEARCHMethodology Conceptual Framework The conceptual framework for this study is based on the Andersons Behavior Model for health care utilization. Many studies on health care utilization have been done based on Adersen Behavior Model. The model composes of three main factors; predisposing, enabling and need factors. Predisposing factors are the individuals tendency to utilize health care which include demographic characteristics (age, sex, marital status) and social structure (occupation, education, ethnicity, religion). Enabling factors refers to the ability of an individual to make use health services; they include the family and community resources that can affect health care utilization. Need factors is the individuals need for health care by representing perceived health status and present of chronic disease and disability. Predisposing Factors (Socio-demographic) Age Gender Marital status Ethnicity Religion Education status Occupation Enabling Factors Community Resources Distance to health facilities Waiting Time at the clinic Perceived Travelling cost Hospitality of health care personal Satisfaction to the service No. of other hospitals/ clinics near workplace Family Resources Income No. of children (family size) Health Care Utilization Go to social security health facilities Go to private health facilities Go to public health facilities Buy drug from drug store Need Factors Perceived health status Present underlying disease or disabilities Study Design Cross- sectional descriptive quantitative design will be used for this study in order to explore health care utilization pattern among insured private workers under Social Security Scheme in tow industrial zones ( Hlaing Thaya and South Dagon) in Yangon, Myanamr. Study Area Yangon is the largest city and formal capital of Myanmar with population approximately 6 million in 2008. The population growth rate of Yangon division is 2.2 percent per annum in 2008 which is higher than national growth rate. The population density is 666 per square kilometer in 2008. As Yangon is logical site for export- oriented lighted manufacturing, it attracts the people from rural to immigrate and settle in the city. Yangon is located on a peninsula near the confluence of the Yangon and Bago rivers, about thirty kilometers north of the Gulf of Martaban. The city has been extended recently to the east, west, and north both for residential and industrial zones. In Yangon Division, there are 45 administrative townships and 33 of them are in Yangon city municipal and administered by Yangon City Development Committee (YCDC). The study will conducted in Hlaing Tharyar Townships in Yangon city municipal area. Study Duration The study will be conduct from February to March 2013. Study population The study will be conducted among the insured private workers under the Social Security Scheme in two industrial zones Hlaing Thaya Township Yanagon, Myanmar Sample size The sample size for this study will be calculated based on Yamane (1967: 98-99) formula. n= Nz 2 pq/Nd 2 +z2pq If we assume z =2 (1.96 for the 95% level of reliability), then n = N/ 1+Nd2 n = sample size N= population size d = precision (0.05) z = reliability coefficient p = proportion of the target population utilize health care (assuming that 50%) q =1-p (so q= 50% too) The population of insured workers in Yangon division is approximate 350,000. I calculated my sample size based on the total no. of population and I got 399.49 and 10% is added for non responded participants. So the sample size is 439.49 (340). Sampling techniques The multi-stage sampling method will be employed in this study. Hlaing Thayar industrial zone is purposively selected and the participants will be randomly selected from total study population. Including Criteria The workers from private sectors The workers who are insured under Social Security Scheme (SSS) The workers who are working in Hlaing Tharyar Industrial Zone, Yangon The workers who are over 18 years old Excluding Criteria The workers who are not employed by private factors or firms The workers who are not insured under social security scheme The insured private workers who are not willing to participate in the interview Study variables Dependent Variable The dependent variable will be multinomial variables. Health care utilization will be categorized into 4 categories; 1) go to social security health facilities 2) go to private health facilities 3) go to public health facilities 4) buy drug from drug store. Independent Variables The independent variables are: age, gender, marital status, ethnicity, religion, educational status, occupation, family size, distance from work place to health center, waiting time, perceived travelling cost, hospitality of health care personnel, perceived health status, presence of underlying disease or disability Summarized table of independent variables # Variables Abbreviation Expected Sign 11 Age ( continuous variables) age +/- 22 Gender (dummy variable male=1, female=0) gen +/- 33 Marital status (category dummy variable ms + 44 No. of children (continuous variables) child 55 Ethnicity ( dummy variable Burma=1, other ethnicity=0) eth +/- 66 Religion(dummy variable Buddhist=1, Other religion=0) rg +/- 77 Educational status( category dummy variable primary=0, secondary=1, higher =1) edu + 88 Occupation (category dummy variable. occ +/- 99 Income( continue variable) inc + 110 Distance from work place to health facilities (continue variable) dis 111 Waiting time at health facilities(continue variable) wt 112 Perceived travelling cost (dummy variable expensive=1, cheap=0) ptc 113 Hospitality of health care personnel (dummy variable yes=1, No=0) hhp + 114 Satisfaction to the services (dummy variable yes=1, No=0) sts + 115 No. of health facilities other than social securitys health facilities ( continue variable) nhnw + 116 Perceived health status (category dummy variable excellent=1, good=1, fair=0, poor=1, very poor=0) phs + 117 Presence of underlying disease (dummy variable yes=1, No=0) pud + Multinomial Logistic Regression Model Log(Pr(Y=yi)/Pr(y=0))=ÃŽÂ ²0+ÃŽÂ ²1age+ÃŽÂ ²2gen+ÃŽÂ ²3ms+ÃŽÂ ²4eth+ÃŽÂ ²5rg+ÃŽÂ ²6edu+ÃŽÂ ²7occ+ÃŽÂ ²8 ln(inc)+ ÃŽÂ ²9dis+ ÃŽÂ ²10wt+ ÃŽÂ ²11ptc+ ÃŽÂ ²12hhp+ ÃŽÂ ²13sts+ÃŽÂ ²14nhnw+ÃŽÂ ²15phs+ÃŽÂ ²16pud +ÃŽÂ µi Pilot Testing The pilot test will be conducted in one of the townships in Yangon with the similar characteristic of insured workers before actual survey. The questionnaire will be revised and adjusted based on the results from pilot testing. Data collection tools The primary data will be collected suing the structured questionnaires. About 5 interviewers will be hir

Managing Diversity Essays -- International Management

International management refers to the pursuit of organizational objectives in more than one nation. International management has evolved as a discipline of increasing importance in recent years. The underlying reason is that the corporate community is becoming more and more diverse. Improvements in transportation and communications and lower production costs in many countries around the world have made global markets more accessible. Although United States-based firms have immediate access to huge domestic markets, they have steadily increased the proportion of their foreign markets. It has been estimated that about 10 percent of all jobs in North America are dependent upon export and import trade. Other indicators, including foreign investments, profits earned overseas, and fees and royalties paid to firms abroad, point to an increase in corporate internationaliza ¬tion. Next we will look at some of the challenges facing managers who work in an international environment. CHALLENGES AND PROBLEMS FACING THE INTERNATIONAL MANAGER A host of interacting and overlapping forces create problems for the manager in an international setting that are infrequently faced by the manager who works for a company doing business in only one country. The term infrequently is chosen because some countries are so large geographically that they contain radically different subcultures within their own boundaries. We will summarize 11 factors that the international manager may have to m...