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Sunday, May 21, 2006
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posted by Globalisation at 8:09 AM
Saturday, May 20, 2006
Outsourcing a route to lower expenditure
One of the main characteristics of modern large corporation is the method it functions, one of which being out sourcing. Outsourcing is defined as the management and/or day-to-day execution of an entire business function by a third party service provider. Outsourcing and out-tasking involve transferring a significant amount of management control to the supplier. The world is being shrinked down because of effective communication and infrastructure porvided by nations. This makes all the work much more effection.
In many modern establishments, this method has been very popular as it not only strengthen ties between nations, it also prove to be a cheaper alternative of labour. Unlike in previous post which I have mentioned shortage of labour hinder economic growth, this method can be seen as lack direct solution to lack of labour within the nation and employing foreign help. However the only difference is that the foreign help does not have to live in the nation itself. This is a win-win situation. Company in country A pays small administration fee to company under same/different branch in country B and have all their work done. Furthermore country B can benefit from the branch company from taxation and all because workers in the company is of that nationality. Workers thrive, company profit, country prosper, world economy is boosted. One such case could be the
Although this may seem like big corporation are trying to take advantage of low cost abroad, you may have to reconsider, if foreign money is not pumped into countries, is it still possible for a nation to grow? This can all be seen as another form of trade I would say, except in this case, it is country-corporate relationship but no country-country relationship. Nonetheless, this helps to promote ties between nations as well as often big corporations represent countries as well as they are sometimes seen as symbols of different nations.
R.B.Wong
posted by Globalisation at 7:48 AM
Friday, May 19, 2006
Environmental Effects caused by globalisation (water pollution)
Let me just continue from where I have stop last time about the pollutions that are caused by industries and factories…
Another pollution that is caused by the factories is water pollution. This happens especially when the waste products are not cleaned and are directly thrown or released into the sea. Not only will this action cause water pollution which will affect us humans indirectly, it will affect the marine life in the particular location. Therefore, the effects of water pollution are not only devastating to people, but they can kill animals, fish, and birds. Hence, try to do your part and don’t cause water pollution! What I have below are the descriptions of the different aspects of water pollution.
Harmful Effects of Oil Pollution
When oil is spilled into the water, the effects on the marine life and its components are overwhelming. Some animals, such as birds, mammals, and fish may and can be killed if they take in oil. However, most deaths are caused by eating oil contaminated prey. Birds may die if the oil coats their feathers as they can neither fly nor stay warm. Furthermore, when oil coats the feathers they can become sick and die. In addition, oil can cause the water to have a bad smell and leave a sticky layer on the surface of water that kills fish or in fact every animal.
Effects of Factory Pollution
Many factories have pipes that drain chemicals or unwanted waste into rivers or streams. These chemicals and waste products can damage marine life as they are carried downstream and affect a large area in the place. Furthermore, the added chemicals can warm the river, which decreases the amount of oxygen that the fish need to live. In short, it will disrupt the whole marine life and it will take a lot of effort just to improve the condition.
Effects of Garbage from Private Offices and Homes
In some countries, people dump their garbage into streams, lakes, rivers, and oceans that is near their homes. Aluminum cans, paper, furniture, and other household products are common garbage that are thrown and dump into waters. When people dump unwanted waste into the waters, they are destroying and endangering the ecosystem and disrupting marine life in the process. Take for an example, when plastic is dumped in lakes; ducks are at risk because they might be. In addition, aluminum cans can cut the animals and fish which may cost their lives or injure them.
Effects of Eutrophication
Eutrophication: over-enrichment of a water body with nutrients, resulting in excessive growth of organisms and depletion of oxygen concentration. The usual cause of eutrophication is the runoff of chemical fertilizers from fields and farms that uses chemical fertilizers. Some effects of eutrophication are bad tastes and odors as well as green scum algae. In addition, as the growth of rooted plants increases, the amount of oxygen in the deepest waters of the lake decreases and this will result in the lack of oxygen for the animals like fish. Eutrophication can also cause some lakes to be totally lifeless.
jia he
posted by Globalisation at 7:10 AM
Thursday, May 18, 2006
globalization and health (part2)- SYAKIRAH
How is globalisation linked to health?
Humans have lived with continual change since the migration of Homo erectus out of Africa a million years ago. Globalisation, in this sense, has gone hand in hand with the evolution of human societies but our current phase of globalisation is distinctive in its unprecedented intensity and extent of change.
It would be overly simplistic and inaccurate to describe globalisation as either "good" or "bad" for health. For example, spatial change is leading to increased migration of people throughout the world. For high-income countries, the debate surrounding globalisation and health tends to focus on the perceived threat, from low- and middle-income countries, of acquiring certain acute and epidemic infections, such as HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis, plague and, more recently, severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS). Richer countries also fear the potential financial burden of unhealthy populations migrating from the developing world. What are less appreciated are the risks that high-income countries may export to other parts of the world through products such as tobacco and fast food and, more indirectly, macroeconomic policies affecting foreign direct investment and debt burdens. There is also a tendency to overlook the benefits to high-income countries from population mobility - the migration of health professionals from poorer countries offers benefits to understaffed health systems in high-income countries (but at the expense of capacity in the developing world). In other words, the increased movement of people and other items creates a complex equation of pluses and minuses for each society.
Similarly, temporal change affects the spread of disease. The speed of modern transportation systems means that infections can potentially move around the world within a few hours (as illustrated by the SARS outbreak in 2002-03). On the other hand, modern technology potentially enables the health community to respond more quickly to such emergencies. For example, an international network of institutions coordinated by the World Health Organization (WHO) via global telecommunications can readily detect and rapidly respond to changes in the influenza virus - such a capacity was unavailable after the First World War, when an estimated 20 million people died of influenza worldwide.
Finally, cognitive changes brought about by advertising and marketing Western consumer goods have facilitated the global spread of so-called "lifestyle" diseases (eg, obesity) in certain populations within low- and middle-income countries. The shift in the tobacco pandemic to the developing world has been clearly driven by the tobacco industry. It is estimated that, by 2030, 70% of all tobacco-related deaths (7 million annually) will occur in developing countries. The spread of health sector reform can also be seen as a form of cognitive globalisation in transferring policies about health service provision and financing across the world. National health systems thus face the challenge of sifting through and adapting these policies to local contexts. Global consciousness is also leading to the increased sharing of principles, ethical values and standards that underpin decision making about health. Examples of this are the 1964 Helsinki declaration on ethical principles for medical research involving human subjects, the International code on the marketing of breast-milk substitutes adopted by the WHO and the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) in 1981, and the Framework convention on tobacco control adopted by the WHO in 2003.
- SYAKIRAH
posted by Globalisation at 4:25 AM
Wednesday, May 17, 2006
Environmental Effects caused by globalisation (air pollution)
Now, I shall do on the environmental effects of globalization (thanks to syakirah who did some on technological effects) Let me get started now…
As we progress and advance, more factories are built and inevitably air pollution occurs as more pollutants are emitted. Let me first define what air pollution is. Air pollution: The presence in the atmosphere of one or more contaminants in such quality and for such duration as is injurious, or tends to be injurious, to human health or welfare, animal or plant life. Some major factors responsible for air pollution includes industries, vehicles, increase in the population, and urbanization.
Basically, the pollutants include carbon monoxide (CO), carbon dioxide (CO2), Chloroflorocarbons (CFC), lead, ozone Nitrogen oxide, suspended particulate matter (SPM) and sulphur dioxide (SO2). These pollutants not only play a part in the happening of air pollution, they also result in serious consequences like acid rain, smog and health problems.
Health problems
The magnitude of the London fog of 1952, which affected such a large number of people, was the first incident that made people aware of the damage done to the atmosphere due to industrialization. The SPM levels increased manifold and resulted in over 4000 deaths.
Furthermore, according to the National Resources Defense Council, some 64,000 people in the USA die faster each year from causes linked to air pollution. This link was made when the National Resources Defense Council applied findings from a 1995 study by the American Cancer Society and the Harvard Medical School. Air pollution from coal-fired power plants accounts for about 30,000 premature deaths in the USA each year. It is estimated that in the most polluted cities, lives are shortened by an average of one to two years. In addition, other effects like permanent alteration of lung tissues and nerve and skin damage. From this we can see the harmful effects that air pollution has on us humans and how globalization has cause these environmental problems.
Smog
Smog is created by burning coal and heavy oil that contain sulfur impurities in power plants and industrial plants. The smog consists mostly of a mix of sulfur dioxide and fog. Suspended droplets of sulfuric acid are formed from some of the sulfur dioxide, and a mixture of suspended solid particles. This kind of smog is common during the winter in cities such as London, Chicago, and Pittsburgh. Large-scale problems were witnessed (large number of people being affected) when these cities burned large amounts of coal and heavy oil without control of the output. But today, coal and heavy oil are burned only in large boilers and with reasonably good control so that this kind of smog is less of a problem nowadays. However, there are still some countries like China, Poland, Czechoslovakia, and some other eastern European countries, still burn large quantities of coal without using adequate controls.
So how can we reduce air pollution so that our lives will be cleaner and problem-free?
1. Encourage your family to walk to the neighbourhood market.
2. Whenever possible take your bicycle.
3. As far as possible use public forms of transport.
4. Don’t let your father drop you to school, take the school bus.
5. Encourage your family to form a car pool to office and back.
6. Reduce the use of aerosols in the household.
7. Look after the trees in your neighbourhood.
8. Begin a tree-watch group to ensure that they are well tended and cared for.
9. Switch-off all the lights and fans when not required.
10. If possible share your room with others when the airconditioner, cooler or fan is on
11. Do not burn leaves in your garden, put them in a compost pit.
12. Make sure that the pollution check for your family car is done at regular intervals
13. Cars should, as far as possible, be fitted with catalytic converters.
14. Use only unleaded petrol.
jia he
posted by Globalisation at 6:29 AM
Tuesday, May 16, 2006
Globalization and health (definition)- SYAKIRAH
Firstly, I shall now bring up on the issue regarding on how globalization has affected health matters. After researching, I have found a very interesting thing on the meaning of globalization when it comes to using it in relation to health/clinical terms. I was very shocked when this paged crossed me and so I decided to share these different definitions on globalization with the readers.
So, what is globalization?
Globalization is highly contested on many fronts and will remain so. The term "globalization" has been misused and overused. I believe it is best defined in terms of three types of changes, which have been occurring at unprecedented rates over the past few decades:
Spatial changes
Globalization affects how we perceive and experience physical or territorial space. Movement of people, other life forms, information, capital, goods and services has not only intensified across the borders of countries but, in some cases, has rendered national borders irrelevant. Trafficking of illicit drugs, cigarette smuggling, undocumented migration, money laundering and global climate change are transborder phenomena that are challenging the capacity of governments to effectively regulate them. New social geographies are being formed that redefine how individuals and populations interact with each other. Some argue that we are moving towards a "global village"; others argue that societies are fragmenting and, in some cases, imploding. Even more novel is the creation of new forms of space, such as cyberspace and virtual reality, which challenge traditional notions of a physical location.
Temporal changes
Globalization affects how we perceive and experience time. On the one hand, social interaction is speeding up through modern communication and transportation technologies. "Hooked on speed", we race through life under ever-increasing pressure to "multitask", eat fast food, obtain instant credit, and even "speed date". On the other, our lives are slowed down by other modern complexities that bring us information overload, ballooning bureaucracies, and gridlocked roads.
Cognitive changes
Globalization is profoundly influencing how we see ourselves and the world around us. The main agents of change here are the mass media, the advertising idustry, consultancy firms, research institutions, political parties, religious groups and other institutions seeking to win "hearts and minds". In the process, our cultures, wants or perceived needs, values, beliefs, knowledge and aspirations are being changed.
Therefore, with these definitions in place, I would like to, generally, refer back to these definitons when I write my upcoming reviews on health issues. :)
- SYAKIRAH
posted by Globalisation at 3:54 AM
Monday, May 15, 2006
Another Side to Free Trade
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Free_trade_controversy
In this article both pros and cons of free trade have been raised and brought up. As can be seen in this article, the points raised against free trade have been overwhelming to the extent it makes free trade seem like a monster. What has free trade got to do with globalization you may ask? Well, as mentioned in my previous post, in order for nations to progress, working and forming ties with other nations is inevitable and free trade would be a result of this.
The first contentious con brought out was international trade require more resources to distribute. Delivering food produced on the other side of the world to a supermarket has an environmental impact because it requires the use of fossil fuel in delivery from overseas, as compared to local delivery. However I do believe regardless of whether delivery is local or overseas, there is definitely a need to utilize fossil fuel. However the question is whether the fossil fuel is put to good use and efficiency. IKEA is a well-known global furniture corporation from Sweden. The method of it distributing its products all over the world can be said efficient. Due to the fact that many of its product actually needs you to D.I.Y, ‘Do it yourself’, there will not be money wasted on transporting unwanted space and air in a package, and this is part of its company’s slogan.
Another point is that free trade undermines cultural diversity. However I believe the predicted outcome of globalization is that people all over the world would be united in the aim for world peace and no more porverty. If indeed free trade undermines cultural diversity but enriches culture, it should continue. In order for a nation to prosper, culture and belief diversity is not really ideal. Similar for a global village to be possible, there must be a common belief. Therefore I would say actually it is inevitable if it was for the greater good of a global government and nation.
Therefore in conclusion, although there are both good and points to free trade, which is inevitable as globalization occurs, I would say nations should learn to embrace the idea of free trade. Although for instance Malaysia would rather have their local products prosper, it is inevitable that free trade would occur throughout the world in order to boost economy. By accepting free trade, it would also raise quality of local products so as to stay competitive and compete with foreign products.
R.B.Wong
posted by Globalisation at 7:46 AM
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