Tuesday, December 24, 2019

Othello Essay, Appearance vs Reality - 1175 Words

Throughout history there has been a general understanding that appearances can be deceiving. A person may go through life without anyone understanding the true reality of their character. William Shakespeare, one of the greatest writers of all time, understood the relationship between appearance and reality and often gave characters two sides to their personality. One of the most fundamental questions in philosophy is the one of appearance vs. reality. We find ourselves asking the question of what is genuinely â€Å"real,† and what is viewed merely as just an â€Å"appearance,† and not real? It becomes difficult when we assume there is a difference in the two to determine which is which. Generally, what we label as â€Å"real† is regarded as external†¦show more content†¦In each case, Iago manipulates Othello into seeing and believing what he wants him to, rather than the reality of what is actually happening. In this way, Iago becomes a kind of ‘director’. This character made up by Shakespeare is a villain mastermind hiding under the appearance of a military veteran from Venice. His attempt to manipulate and deceive the other characters in this play revolves around his obsessive, relentless, bold and ingenious personality. In various points in the play, he claims to be motivated by different reasons. Some of the reasons are: resentment that Othello passed him over a promotion in favour of Michael Cassio and he thinks Othello and Cassio both slept with his wife Emilia. We are introduced to the antagonist, Iago and another character that shares hate for Othello also because he loves Desdemona in Act 1 Scene 1. The first line in Act 1 Scene 1 states Tush, never tell me! I take it much unkindly. That thou, iago, whon hast had my purse. As if the strings were thine, shouldst know of this In translation ‘All this time I’ve thought you were such a good friend that I’ve let you spend my money as if it was yours’. 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Monday, December 16, 2019

A Comparison of the American and the Japanese Health Care Systems Free Essays

string(69) " for by private insurance \(American Hospital Association 2005, 6\)\." Both the United States and Japan are part of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD, an organization composed of industrialized countries) and as such both countries are under the pressure to live up to a certain median when it comes to the quality of health care. Apart from the median created by OECD countries, the US and Japan are also equally pressured by such organizations as the World Health Organization (WHO) that sets up checklists for good health care systems. In a report last 2000 on the health care systems of 191 countries, WHO set some goals for a health care system. We will write a custom essay sample on A Comparison of the American and the Japanese Health Care Systems or any similar topic only for you Order Now These goals are the following: good health, responsiveness, and fairness in financing (WHO in Bureau of Labor Education of the University of Maine 2001, 1). By â€Å"good health† WHO refers to the good health status of the entire population although out the human being’s life cycle. â€Å"Responsiveness,† on the other hand, refers to â€Å"the extent to which caregivers are responsive to the client/patient expectations with regard to non-health areas such as being treated with dignity and respect† (Bureau of Labor and Education o the University of Maine 2001, 6). Fairness in financing generally refers to the progressiveness of the health care system wherein those who have less are also to spend less on medical care. These goals shall be utilized to evaluate and compare the Japanese and the American health care systems. But before an effective evaluation and comparison could be done, it will be important to individually describe the health care systems of these two countries. As such, this paper shall consist o the following parts: a description of the American health care system; a description of the Japanese health care system; an evaluation and the comparison of the two health care systems. The American Health Care System A. The Framework of the American Health Care System The American Health Care System could best be illustrated using figure 1. In figure 1, it could be noted that there are two insurance systems in America, public and private. Public insurance system refers to Medicare, Medicaid, the State Children’s Health Insurance Program (S-CHIP), and the Veteran’s Administration (VA). Private insurance system, on the other hand, refers to either employer-sponsored insurance or private non-group insurance. We shall discuss each of these types. Medicare is a federal program that insures seniors aged 65 and above as well as some disabled individuals (Chua 2006, 2). This is a single-payer, government-administered program that covers hospital services, physician services, as well as prescription drug services (Chua 2006, 2). Medicare is financed three ways: federal income taxes, payroll tax (paid both by employers and employees), and individual enrollee premiums (Chua 2006, 2). There are individual enrollee premiums because even if Medicare provides the above-mentioned services, there are still important services that are not covered without the premium coverage. These premium services include nursing facilities; preventive care coverage; and coverage for dental, hearing, or vision care. This means that the elderly who are covered by Medicare would many times still need to avail of premium services and as such, they contribute a total of 22% of their income for the cost of health care (Chua 2006, 2). Medicaid is a state-administered health insurance program that provides coverage to low income citizens and disabled; specifically, this insurance â€Å"covers very poor pregnant women, children, disabled, and parents† (Chua 2006, 2). As for its administration, Medicaid is paid for by the state and the federal government. At the very least, the federal government pays $1 for every dollar that the state pays for (Chua 2006, 2). Unlike Medicare, Medicaid offers a more comprehensive health benefits. S-CHIP is like Medicaid as regards administration but it is specifically for children whose parents do not qualify for Medicaid due to their income but still do not make enough money to provide insurance for their children. VA is a state-sponsored health insurance service for the veterans of the military. This insurance provides comprehensive health benefits that make the veteran spend almost nothing for health care. Employer-sponsored insurance refers to private health insurance services the premium of which are largely paid for by employers. Under this system are the many organizations that offer health maintenance (HMOs). This is where corporations like Aetna and Kaiser Permanente fall. The coverage offered as well as the degree of co-sharing by the different HMOs differ also (Chua 2006, 3). Private non-group health insurance is the sort of insurance availed by those who are self-employed and those that could not avail of employer-sponsored insurance. This sort of insurance allows the insurance company to impose rules regarding pre-existing conditions. Usually, pre-existing conditions are not covered by the insurance. This sort of insurance is fully administered by the HMOs and the benefits vary widely as well. B. Characteristics and Problems of the American Health Care System The American Health Care System is mostly a combination and interaction of public and private entities. This is most exemplified by the two general types of health insurance services: the public and the private. This fact could be demonstrated by a 2003 statistics on Health Insurance Coverage of the nonelderly (in Chua 2006, 1). This statistics shows that 62% of nonelderly Americans receive private employer-sponsored insurance, while 5% purchase their insurance in the market (Chua 2006, 1). 18% of these nonelderly individuals are in public insurance like Medicaid or Medicare, while the remaining 15% are uninsured (Chua 2006, 1). Elderly Americans aged 65 years and above are mostly insured through Medicaid (Chua 2006, 1). Or, better yet, we might as well look at statistics from the Centers of Medicare and Medicaid represented as a pie graph in figure 2(American Hospital Association 2005, 6). In the 2003 statistics on the â€Å"Distribution of US Health Care Expenditures by Payer Source,† of the total $1. 7 trillion expenditures on health care, more than half are paid for by private entities. The lion’s share goes to private insurance. In this statistics, 35. 8% are paid for by private insurance (American Hospital Association 2005, 6). You read "A Comparison of the American and the Japanese Health Care Systems" in category "Papers" Consumer’s out-of-pocket spending on health care account for 13. 7% of the 2003 health care expenditure, while other private expenditure account for 4. 8% of the expenditure. Medicare, a government health insurance system, pays for 17% of health care expenses, while Medicaid, another government health insurance system, shoulders 16% of the expenditure. The remaining 12. 7% of expenditure is paid for by other government systems like the S-CHIP and VA (Centers American Hospital Association 2005, 6; Chua 2006, 2). As such, we could see that the American Health Care System’s expenditure is more than 50% private. In spite of the big percentage in the budget that the federal government allots to health care, probably the biggest budget allotment in the OECD countries, a big percentage of health expenditures is handled by private entities. It is worth mentioning that America is spending on the average 15% of its GDP on health care when the average on OECD countries is only 8. 6% (Chua 2006, 5). This also means that America has the highest per capita spending on health care compared to other OECD Countries. It was documented that almost 10 years ago, the US was already the biggest per capita spender among its OECD colleagues. It spent $4,178 per capita while Switzerland, then second to the US on per capita spending, spent only $2794 per capita on health care. In spite of the big role of private entities and the high percentage in budget that health care system has, a big percentage of non-elderly adults are uninsured (15% are uninsured as we saw above). This means that millions of adults in the working age have to spend their own money for health services. This also means that probably America is the only developed country that does not provide health services to all its citizens (Bureau of Labor Education in the University of Maine 2001, 3). Another problem is the fact that the United States has a high infant mortality rate compared to the other OECD counties. In fact, the United States ranked 26th in infant mortality rate among the industrialized countries (Bureau of Labor Education in the University of Maine 2001, 5). Neither did America rank well in disability-adjusted life expectancy ranking 24th among OECD countries (Bureau of Labor Education in the University of Maine 2001, 5). This means that a number of Americans expect to live parts of their lives in disability which probably is a consequence of not having access to health care (as a big percentage of nonelderly are uninsured). Aside from these problems, American health care is also characterized by a deficit in resources as most emergency departments in hospitals report of being â€Å"at† or â€Å"over† capacity (American Hospital Association 2005, 25). In figure 3, we could see a bar graph showing how some hospitals (especially teaching hospitals) could be at 43% beyond capacity. Such a lack could be accounted for largely by the lack of critical care beds, and not necessarily by overcrowding, in these emergency departments (American Hospital Association 2005, 27). This would mean that a number of hospitals, both in their emergency departments and intensive care units, would need to spend time on diversion (American Hospital Association 2005, 26). These are all ironical problems in a country that is supposed to be most advanced in economy and technology. The Japanese Health Care System A. The Framework of the Japanese Health Care System The Japanese Health Care System, in contrast to the American system, offers coverage for all the citizens. This system offers services that are fairly comprehensive. Currently, the Japanese Health Care System provides â€Å"a basic package of benefits (including medical consultation, drugs, and other materials; medical treatment, surgery, and other services; home care treatment and nursing; and hospitalization and nursing at medical institutions) and they may offer additional benefits (e. g. , funeral benefits, maternity allowances) under the collective scheme† (Ward and Piccolo 2004). This system is best illustrated by figure 4. Health services are paid for in four ways: health insurance contributions, by patient co-payments, by taxes, and by out-of-pocket payments (Jeong and Hurst 2001, 10). Health services are given by providers which could be categorized according to the following: hospitals, doctors’ clinics, health centers, and pharmacies. Most hospitals are categorized as general hospitals which mean that beds are allocated for long term care. These hospitals are closed to doctors who have clinics, these clinics being capable of minimum bed capacity of 12 (Jeong and Hurst 2001, 11) and may have the latest medical devices needed for diagnosis. Pharmacies may have their own doctors who may dispense their own prognoses and prescriptions. Nursing services are also considered as health providers. The insurance services, though provided by more or less 5,000 HMOs, are largely non-autonomous non-governmental bodies (Jeong and Hurst 2001, 13). These HMOs are basically in charge of operating the compulsory national health insurance system (Jeong and Hurst 2001, 13). These HMOs experience control by the national and local governments. In fact, even doctors’ fees as well as other health services fees are standardized. The Japanese Health Care System may be categorized into two big divisions: the Social Insurance System (SIS) and the National Health Insurance (NHI) (Ward and Piccolo 2004). People are assigned to a health insurance such that those who are working in a company or office are assigned in the SIS, while everyone else who cannot be classified as working in a company or office (including self-employed professionals) should fall under the NHI (Ward and Piccolo 2004). 63% of the population is insured under the SIS. Under the SIS, employers pay 50 to 80% of the premium while employees, depending on their income, pay around 8. 5% of their income for health insurance premium. In this system, the insured and their dependents pay 20-30% of in-patient and out-patient costs, at the same time act as co-payers in prescription drugs (Ward and Piccolo 2004). The NIH system, on the other hand, covers the remaining 37% of the population. Premiums paid by the insured depend on incomes and assets. The insured as well as their dependents are required to be co-payers of 30% of the cost. In spite of the requirement for co-payment, Japan offers a co-payment cap: â€Å"The cap is at ? 63,600 (US$600) per month, with the average monthly disposable income being ? 561,000 (US$5,300)† (Ward and Piccolo 2004). In addition, those who are elderly may benefit from long-term insurance which covers 90% of long-term maintenance costs. B. Problems with the Japanese Health Care System The Japanese Health Care System boasts of having state-of-the-art equipment accessible to its citizens. In fact, Japan has the highest CT and MRI scanners per capita among all countries. Japan also has low infant mortality rate in spite of lower GDP spending (7. 6%) for health care, well within the OECD median (Ward and Piccolo 2004). Japan is also able to provide co-payment cap though like the United States, Japan’s health system is also highly paid for by private entities: â€Å"Japan spent ? 29. 8 trillion (US$280 billion) on healthcare, of which 53% was covered by insurance, 32. 3% by the government, and 14. 8% by patients’ co-payments† (Ward and Piccolo 2004). Nevertheless, the Japanese Health Care System has its own share of problems. For one, unlike in most Western countries, specialization does not matter as much as in America. What matters is where a doctor is affiliated, thus making the distinction between a general practitioner and a specialist blurred. This makes having a â€Å"family doctor† difficult to have and standardization difficult to come by (Jeong and Hurst 2001, 13). Also, Japan has 2 to 3 times longer hospitalization time compared to other countries which means that Japan would need more beds to accommodate patients (National Coalition on Health Care, 3). Probably the biggest problem that the system is facing is the increasing number of elderly population which would obviously strain (National Coalition on Health Care, 3). There is also the problem of weak preventive care as well as low public awareness on â€Å"taboo† illnesses such as HIV and AIDS (Ward and Piccolo 2004). Comparison Between the Two Health Care Systems In the introduction, we spoke of the WHO requirement for good health, responsiveness, and fairness in financing. Let us evaluate the two systems based on these WHO goals. The American system, aside from the problems posed above, obviously lacks in its ability to provide â€Å"good health† for the entire population. For one, the American health care system does not cover the entire American population. There is just no mandate for such. The Japanese system is obviously different. Japan has a national mandate for universal coverage. This means that the Japanese system is made in such a way that all Japanese would have to fall into one of the two insurance systems. The fact that all Japanese are insured at the same time Japanese spending on health care against GNP is well within the OECD median is something that Americans would have to learn from. The very concept of a co-payment cap is a very good thing that makes health care more responsive to the call for â€Å"good health for the entire population. † As regards responsiveness, the fact that millions of Americans are uninsured automatically makes them not capable of even evaluating client/patient relations for issues such as dignity, respect, etcetera. Nevertheless, the Japanese system also has room for improvement as the existence of â€Å"taboo† sicknesses would obviously compromise the treatment of patients with dignity and respect. Lastly, as regards the requirement for fairness in financing, the Japanese system is way better than the American system. To a certain extent, the American system would make it difficult for certain parts of the population to be insured as they are not too poor to qualify for Medicaid but they are also not employed nor financially endowed enough to pay for private insurance. This is totally not a problem in the Japanese system. How to cite A Comparison of the American and the Japanese Health Care Systems, Papers

Sunday, December 8, 2019

Corporate Social Responsibility free essay sample

Q. Corporate Social Responsibility is one of the hottest issues in corporate boardrooms these days, partly because it is becoming increasingly important to employees and other stakeholders. In your opinion, why have stakeholders given CSR more attention recently? Does abiding by CSR standards potentially cause companies to have conflicting objectives with some stakeholders in some situation? Yes. It is very much true that CSR is one of the hottest and limelight issue in corporate world. Organization are striving hard to meet CSR at any cost as it build the image of the organization. An organization which spends on CSR is reflected as a good and society friendly company in the eyes of its employees, stakeholders and the outside world. Tata is one of the best example who are the founder of CSR in India. While they have started their first steel industry in 1868 they abide by CSR by developing various schools, hospitals, buildings for national interest etc. CSR There is no universally agreed statement of just what CSR means and implies, and ideas on the subject are still developing. All the same, a common body of policy has now taken shape and won general approval among those who favors the approach. According to this way of thinking, a combination of recent changes on the world scene and pressures from public opinion now requires businesses to take on a new role, a newly defined mission. They should play a leading part in achieving the shared objectives of public policy and making the world a better place. In doing so, they should embrace the notion of corporate citizenship. They should run their affairs, in close conjunction with a group of different stakeholders, to pursue the common goal of sustainable development. Sustainable development is said to have three dimensions-economic, environmental and social. Hence, companies should set objectives, measure their performance, and have that performance independently audited, in relation to all three. They should aim to meet the triple bottom line, rather than focusing narrowly on profitability and shareholder value. All this applies to privately owned businesses in general and in particular to large multinational enterprises. Only by acting in this way can companies respond to societys expectations. Making such a positive response is presented as the key to long-run commercial success for individual corporations in todays world. This is because profits depend on reputation, which in turn depends increasingly on being seen to act in a socially responsible way. Thus taking the path of CSR will in fact be good for enterprise profitability: it will bring and sustain support and custom from outside the firm, and make for greater loyalty and keenness from its employees. To embrace corporate citizenship represents enlightened self-interest on the part of business. There is also a wider dimension, going beyond the individual corporation. The adoption of CSR by businesses generally is seen as necessary to ensure continuing public support for the private enterprise system as a whole. Corporate social responsibility Corporate social responsibility is necessarily an evolving term that does not have a standard definition or a fully recognized set of specific criteria. With the understanding that businesses play a key role on job and wealth creation in society, CSR is generally understood to be the way a company achieves a balance or integration of economic, environmental and social imperatives while at the same time addressing shareholder and stakeholder expectations. CSR is generally accepted as applying to firms wherever they operate in the domestic and global economy. The way businesses engage/involve the shareholders, employees, customers, suppliers, governments, non-governmental organizations, international organizations, and other stakeholders is usually a key feature of the concept. While business compliance with laws and regulations on social, environmental and economic objectives set the official level of CSR performance, CSR is often understood as involving the private sector commitments and activities that extend beyond this foundation of compliance with laws. From a progressive business perspective, CSR usually involves focusing on new opportunities as a way to respond to interrelated economic, societal and environmental demands in the marketplace. Many firms believe that this focus provides a clear competitive advantage and stimulates corporate innovation. CSR is generally seen as the business contribution to sustainable development, which has been defined as development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs, and is generally understood as focusing on how to achieve the integration of economic, environmental, and social imperatives. CSR also overlaps and often is synonymous with many features of other related concepts such as corporate sustainability, corporate accountability, corporate responsibility, corporate citizenship, corporate stewardship, etc. CSR commitments and activities typically address aspects of a firms behavior (including its policies and practices) with respect to such key elements as; health and safety, environmental protection, human rights, human resource management practices, corporate governance, community development, and consumer protection, labor protection, supplier relations, business ethics, and stakeholder rights. Corporations are motivated to involve stakeholders in their decision-making and to address societal challenges because todays stakeholders are increasingly aware of the importance and impact of corporate decisions upon society and the environment. The stakeholders can reward or punish corporations. Corporations can be motivated to change their corporate behavior in response to the business case, which a CSR approach potentially promises. This includes: 1)Stronger financial performance and profitability (e. g. hrough eco- efficiency), 2)Improved accountability to and assessments from the investment community, 3)Enhanced employee commitment, 4)Decreased vulnerability through stronger relationships with communities, 5)Improved reputation and branding. Historical context The view that a business can have obligations that extend beyond economic roles is not new in many respects. Throughout recorded history, the roles of organizations producing goods and services for the marketplace were frequently linked with and include political, social, and/or military roles. For example, throughout the early evolutionary stages of company development in England (where organizations such as the Hudson Bay Company and the East India Company received broad mandates), there was a public policy understanding that corporations were to help achieve societal objectives such as the exploration of colonial territory, setting up settlements, providing transportation services, developing bank and financial services, etc.. During the nineteenth century, the corporation as a business form of organization evolved rapidly in the US. It took on a commercial form that spelled out responsibilities of the board of directors and management to shareholders (i. e. fiduciary duty). In this later evolutionary form, public policy frequently addressed specific social domains such as health and safety for workers, consumer protection, labour practices, environmental protection, etc. Thus, corporations responded to social responsibilities because they were obligated to comply with the law and public policy. They also responded voluntarily to market demands that reflected consumer morals and social tastes. By the mid-point of the twentieth century, business management experts such as Peter Drucker and being considered in business literature were discussing corporate social responsibility in the US. In 1970, economist Milton Friedmann outlined his view that the social responsibility of corporations is to make profits within the boundaries of societal morals and laws (but cautioned that socially responsible initiatives by corporations could lead to unfocused management directions, misallocations of resources, and reduced market competition, opportunity and choice). CSR emerged and continues to be a key business management, marketing, and accounting concern in the US, Europe, Canada, and other nations. In the last decade, CSR and related concepts such as corporate citizenship and corporate sustainability have expanded. This has perhaps occurred in response to new challenges such as those emanating from increased globalization on the agenda of business managers as well as for related stakeholder communities. It is now more a part of both the vocabulary and agenda of academics, professionals, non-governmental organizations, consumer groups, employees, suppliers, shareholders, and nvestors. Diversity of Perspectives The following summaries of perspectives of different organizations serve to indicate the diversity of views on CSR that exist in Canada and around the world. They reflect the challenges and opportunities for both the public and private sectors to effectively operationalize and align CSR between domestic, continental and international levels. They also indicate the challenges and opportunities to develop the most appropriate relationships between shareholders and other stakeholders as well as to use the optimal policy mix of legislative and voluntary instruments.