Scholarship paragraph

My stay in the law school allowed me to see the value of education. I view my education here as a training ground for my pursuit of an honorable and fulfilling life and profession. After graduation, I wish to take bar review courses at our Law School and subsequently take the NY State’s Bar Exam. As we know, bar review courses are costly and as an immigrant to the US experiencing extreme financial hardship, I lack the ability to finance my review courses. I would like to take this opportunity to apply for a scholarship to allow me to ease a little burden of my loans which I intend to apply for in order to cover the rest of the bar review program and which I have already taken to cover my tuition and living expenses at the Law School. I strongly believe that my prior experiences have prepared me for the challenges of practicing law in public service. In addition, I had been exposed in the workplace where I acquired different job skills in various areas such as the immigration services, broadcasting radio show on public issues, newspaper columns and magazine articles, pro-bono work at the hospital, and other voluntary works in the community and in school. Rest assured that in my legal profession and life, I will uphold the Law School Blueprint values and strong commitment to public service.

E-Government in Kazakhstan: Challenges and Its Role to Development

Public Organiz Rev (2010) 10:31–47 DOI 10. 1007/s11115-009-0087-6 E-Government in Kazakhstan: Challenges and Its Role to Development Shahjahan H. Bhuiyan Published online: 9 July 2009 # Springer Science + Business Media, LLC 2009 Abstract This paper critically examines the progress made in introducing and implementing e-government programs and policies in Kazakhstan. It argues that in order to achieve the articulated development goals, the Kazakh government has moved toward e-government paradigm to ascertain a people-centered, accountable and transparent government.Available data substantiates that the initiative faces several challenges such as political support and relationship between political institutions, bureaucracy and citizens, digital divide, widespread corruption, lack of human resources, and inadequate infrastructural development, which needs to be amputated to improve public service delivery. This study illustrates some international development experiences to und erstand the benefit of e-government. Such experiences may serve as policy guidelines to the successful implementation of e-government to ensure overall development in Kazakhstan.Keywords Development . E-government . Kazakhstan . Service delivery Introduction Electronic governance has been widely endorsed as a solution to a range of predicaments in the public sector. With promises of decreasing corruption, cutting red tape, reducing government costs, and fluctuating participatory governance, the egovernance revolution has swept most nations, capturing the imaginations of policy makers and attracting the interests of citizens and business alike (Salem 2006).Electronic government evolves swiftly through defined stages, beginning with a web presence of public agencies (â€Å"interaction†) to a means for citizens around the clock seven days a week in the convenience of their homes (â€Å"transaction†) (Netchaeva 2002). This essentially creates a new ground for public sector operation. The S. H. Bhuiyan (*) Department of Public Administration, Kazakhstan Institute of Management, Economics, and Strategic Research (KIMEP), 4 Abai Avenue, Almaty 050010, Kazakhstan e-mail: [email  protected] com 32 S. H. Bhuiyan equence of stages was depicted as inevitable, fueled by technology, citizen demand, and economic realities in the public sector (Mayer-Schonberger and Lazer 2007). The prime objective of any technological innovation is to improve the quality of human condition. This cannot be achieved by technological advances alone. First and foremost, they have to be successfully applied to human society. Such an approach is significant for governance and public administration because of its impact on a larger section of the society (Sharma 2002).To reap benefit of the information and communication technology (ICT), international development agencies are paying considerable attention to the gradual improvement of egovernment, particularly in developing countrie s. The most recent United Nations Report entitled e-Government Survey 2008: From e-Government to Connected Governance succinctly illustrates the importance of e-governance: ‘E-government can contribute significantly to the process of transformation of the government towards a leaner, more cost-effective government.It can facilitate communication and improve the coordination of authorities at different tiers of government, within organizations and even at the departmental level’ (UN 2008, p. xii). In the same vein, the 2001 Human Development Report entitled Making New Technologies Work for Human Development, commissioned by the United Nations Development Program (UNDP), clearly portrays the role of ICT for development as it stated: ‘[I]t is time for a new partnership between technology and development. Human Development Report 2001 is intended as the manifesto for that partnership’ (UNDP 2001, p. iii). Again, in the UnitedNations system, the World Bank launc hed an e-government website, and in November 2002 its Information for Development Program released The E-Government Handbook for Developing Countries. Later on, the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development convened the World Summit on the Information Society in Geneva in December 2003, and in Tunis in November 2005. Outside the UN system, many initiatives were launched. One was the Roadmap for E-Government in the Developing World, released by the Pacific Council on International Policy in April 2002 (Holliday and Yep 2005, p. 239). Kazakhstan was a part of the USSR until its collapse in 1990.During the Soviet regime, public documents were largely shelved as ‘classified’, and thus restricting people’s access. Living with such cynic norms of governmental operation for years, the Government of Kazakhstan (GoK), after independence in 1991, quickly realized the need of a transparent and accountable government. In the midst of transitional challenges, the Gov ernment has chosen the introduction of e-government for the twin objectives of providing fast and quality access to public services and of improving public services’ effectiveness through the widespread use of ICT in the public sector (World Bank 2006).In order to measure how far e-government initiatives have contributed to the improvement of relationships between politicians, bureaucrats and citizens in post-independence Kazakhstan, this paper: (i) analyzes the background to the introduction of e-government programs and policies; (ii) describes the overall development of e-government; (iii) investigates the challenges facing the implementation of e-government initiatives; and finally (iv) highlights its contribution to development.In short, the main focus of this paper is to critically examine the progress made so far in introducing and implementing e-government programs and policies in Kazakhstan. This paper concludes by presenting a road E-Government in Kazakhstan: Challen ges and Its Role to Development 33 map showing how e-governance in Kazakhstan can be utilized as an instrument of development. In reality, Kazakhstan is in transition. Of the many transitions now going on, an important one is the shift from ‘closed’ to ‘information’ society.Here lies the significance of the present study, insofar as it analyzes how this shift is being negotiated in a crucial area of development, the public sector. There is much to gain from a critical assessment of the success of e-government initiatives have so far attained in post-independence Kazakhstan, as it sheds light on the challenges it is confronted with at present, which in turn helps to identify some of the ways as to how they can effectively be overcome. The existing scholarship on e-government in Kazakhstan is less than satisfactory.This paper is intended to make a contribution to the steadily emerging area of study focused on e-government in a local as well as global context. Methodology This paper is based primarily on secondary sources. Three sources in particular have been explored and analyzed: first, published academic journal and newspaper articles on e-government; second, reports published by the international organizations; and finally, review of websites of both public and private agencies in Kazakhstan and elsewhere.The latter contributes to our understanding regarding the contents and services they provide to citizens. What is E-government? E-government was introduced in the field of public administration in the late 1990s, though it has not been clearly defined and understood by scholars and practitioners of public administration (Moon 2002).The term e-government arises by analogy to the concepts and practices of electronic commerce applied to the public sector, referring to the delivery of government services to the public ‘on-line’ (typically over the Internet) or to the technological infrastructure required to deliver those s ervices (Brown 2005, p. 242). E-government denotes the strategic, coordinated use of ICT in public administration and policy decision-making (Haldenwang 2004).Similarly, by e-government, Tandon (2005) refers to the provision of efficient, convenient and transparent services by government departments and agencies to citizens and businesses. The Global study of E-government, a joint research initiative for global egovernment by the United Nations (UN) and the American Society for Public Administration (ASPA), provides a comprehensive definition of e-government: Broadly defined, e-government includes the use of all information and communication technologies, from fax machines to wireless palm pilots, to facilitate the daily administration of government.However, like e-commerce, the popular interpretation of e-government is one that defines it exclusively as an Internet driven activity†¦to which it may be added â€Å"that improves citizen access to government information, services and expertise to ensure citizen 34 S. H. Bhuiyan participation in, and satisfaction with the government process†¦it is permanent commitment by government to improving the relationship between private citizen and the public through enhanced, cost-effective and efficient delivery of services, information and knowledge. It is the practical realization of the best that government has to offer. † (UN and ASPA 2002, p. 1)According to World Bank, e-government means to governmental use of information technologies (such as Wide Area Networks, the Internet, and mobile computing) that have ability to transform relations with citizens, businesses, and other agencies of government (cited in Sharma 2002, p. 607). The World Bank definition indicates the areas of operation of the concept and also lays down the broad benefits accruing out of this utilization of ICT to the field of governance, namely, to promote citizen empowerment, improve service delivery, strengthen accountability, inc rease transparency, or improve government efficiency (cited in Tandon 2005, p. ). This paper takes a wider view of e-government by adopting the application of ICT tools to the improvement of governance through building public-private partnership to achieve development. In this article, ‘e-government’ and ‘egovernance’, despite their subtle conceptual differences, are interchangeably used. Kazakhstan: context The Republic of Kazakhstan is located in Central Asia bounded in the West by the Caspian Sea, in the North by Russia, in the East by China, and in the South by Uzbekistan and Kyrgyzstan (see Box 1 for summary information).Extending over a territory of 2,725,000 square kilometer (Makhmutova 2001), it is the second largest country of the former Soviet Republics with a population of 15. 48 million in 2007 (World Bank 2008), of whom 4. 5 million are ethnic Russians (Wilson et al. 2002), and population density 5. 7 per square kilometer (Agency of Statistics of Kazakhstan website: www. eng. stat. kz). Kazakhstan continues to negotiate the enormous challenges inherent in any transition from a planned to a market economy and, in the last decade, has experienced plummeting production levels (Wilson et al. 002) and two-digit (now 11%) inflation continues to grow. In recent days, Kazakhstan makes considerable progress in almost all aspects of life. Although, critics expressed concern about the limit of the country’s democratic development and the lack of its commitment to hold free and fair elections. For example, the most recent Presidential elections were held in December 2005 when President Nazarbayev won a third term with more than 90% of the vote.The elections gained negative commentary from the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE), which claimed they had not met international standard, citing campaign restrictions, interference in polling stations, multiple voting, pressure on voters, media bias and restric tion on freedom of expression (Keesing 2005 cited in Knox 2008, p. 478). In the same vein, in 2001, another scholar also observed: â€Å"It is as yet too early to herald the dawn of real democracy in Kazakhstan† (Robinson 2001).Kazakhstan’s economy has gone through stages of decline, stagnation, and high economic growth after independence in 1990. The period from 1990 to 1997 was the E-Government in Kazakhstan: Challenges and Its Role to Development 35 period of negative economic growth, or at best stagnation (in 1995–1997, economic growth was close to zero) due to transformation in economic arrangements. It was only from 1998 that Kazakhstan entered the phase of strong and sustained growth (Agarwal 2008). In the first nine months of 2007, Kazakhstan’s GDP grew by 9. % (ESCAP, 2008). In 2007, GDP per capita was US$ 7,857 (UNDP 2007). However, GDP growth is projected to fall to 5% in 2008, and a modest increase to 6. 3% is penciled in for 2009 (ADB 2008). Over the period 1998–2004, the population living below the poverty line in Kazakhstan declined significantly from 39% in 1998, to 20% in 2004 (Agarwal 2008). The measures being taken by GoK to raise the living standards of the population have cut poverty levels by 1. 7% in 2006 by comparison with 2005 (to 18. %), and the figures for 2007 indicate that poverty levels have fallen to 12. 7% (UNESC 2008). The long-term development strategy ‘Kazakhstan 2030: Prosperity, security and improved living standards for all Kazakhs’ was adopted in 1997. It identified seven priorities for the country’s development: (i) National security, (ii) domestic stability and social cohesion, (iii) economic growth, (iv) health, education and welfare for the citizens of Kazakhstan, (v) energy resources, (vi) infrastructure, transport and communications, and (vii) a professional state.Since 1998 all the programs adopted in the country are being developed in accordance with the noted development strategy of the country, which aimed at improving the quality of life for the population by reducing social exclusion and raising the quality of social services, improving the environment, and involving civil society in development (UNESC 2008, p. 6). Box 1: Kazakhstan: summary information Head of State President Nursultan Nazarbayev, first elected in December 1991 and re-elected in 1999 and 2005. National Legislature Bicameral: 77-seat lower house (Majlis), 39-seat pper house (Senate). Language Kazakh is the state language. Russian is most widely spoken. Currency Tenge Exchange rate 2007 average US$ 1 ? 120 Tenge Unemployment rate 8. 8 (2003) Adult literacy rate (% ages 15 and older) 99. 5 (2005) Life expectancy at birth (both genders) 65. 9 years (2005) GDP 104 billion US$ Internet users (per 100 people) 12 Time required to start a business (days) 21 Sources: Agarwal 2008; UNDP 2007; Wilson et al. 2002; World Bank 2008. The development initiatives of GoK have contribu ted to improving human development index (HDI).In 2007/8, the HDI for Kazakhstan is 0. 794, which gives the country a rank of 73rd out of 177 countries (UNDP 2007). In the contrary, the 36 S. H. Bhuiyan ongoing mammoth development activities also encouraged, it would seem, widespread corruption in the country. As a result, during the years, Kazakhstan consistently gained poor corruption perception index (CPI). A 2008 Global Country Report on the state of corruption launched by the Transparency International ranks the country 145th among 180 countries with a CPI 2. (Transparency International 2008). Admittedly, the backdrop painted a landscape that suggests the critical importance of implementation of e-government scheme in Kazakhstan with an aim to quick and quality access to public services, improving its effectiveness, combating corruption, poverty reduction through income generation, and thus building a breeding ground for development. The state of E-government in Kazakhstan Over all situation: benchmarking Kazakhstan has envisioned joining 50 most competitive countries in the world by 2030.In achieving this goal, ICT plays a critical role by readying the country for entry into the forum of competitive world. In doing so, Kazakhstan’s accomplishments in fostering e-government include (World Bank 2006): & & & & & Recognition of e-government as a priority at the highest political level and the elaboration of an e-government strategy; Establishment of the Agency for Informatization and Communications (AIC) as an independent regulatory authority empowered to implement state ICT policy; Creation of government agency Web sites (32 out of 42 government agencies have their own Web sites);Development of a number of corporate networks and databases (e. g. , integrated taxation, customs, pension information systems) by individual government agencies; and Enacting important legislations such as the laws on e-documents and esignatures. Kazakhstan has made substant ial progress in introducing ICT in public sector. In terms of e-readiness, the United Nations Report on the e-Governance Survey 2008 recognizes Kazakhstan as the leader of Central Asia, while the region has regressed the most since the 2005 survey.This global survey report has ranked the country 81 among 189 countries with an index value 0. 4743 as compared with 65 among 179 in 2005 (UN 2008, pp. 31–32). Table 1 shows e-government readiness in Central Asian countries. The table indicates that the countries in the region had a lower e-government readiness index than in 2005. In spite of government’s efforts, Kazakhstan slips from its 2005 position partly because 2008’s Survey had more focus on the interactive and transactional stages which largely remain unachievable, and thus the scores were lower (UN 2008).Another potential reason is its weak telecommunications facility. A 2004 International Telecommunication Union (ITU) data shows that effective teledensity in the country was quite low, 16. 23 (ITU 2004). However, this number continues to improve. In 2000, the main telephone lines per 100 people were 12. 3 E-Government in Kazakhstan: Challenges and Its Role to Development 37 Table 1 E-government readiness for Central Asia Country 2008 Index 2005 Index 2008 Ranking 2005 Ranking Kazakhstan 0. 4743 Kyrgyzstan 0. 4195 0. 4813 81 65 0. 4417 102 Uzbekistan 0. 4057 76 0. 114 109 Turkmenistan 0. 3262 79 128 †¦ Tajikistan 0. 3150 0. 3346 Region 0. 3881 0. 4173 132 117 World 0. 4514 0. 4267 †¦ Source: UN 2008, p. 32 which increased to 19. 1 in 2006, while in the same period mobile cellular subscriber increased from 1. 3 to 51. 2 (World Bank 2006). The e-Government Survey 2008 data shows that both mainline telephone and cellular user further increased to 19. 77 and 52. 86 respectively (UN 2008). E-government program objectives and implementation Kazakhstan’s e-government program incorporates a three-stage approach (World Bank 2006) : & & & st stage: creation of the basic components of e-government infrastructure, such as the governmental portal, a â€Å"payment gateway† providing a linkage with the banking system, national identification system, government-wide ICT network backbone infrastructure, creation of cross-agency information systems, provision of mainly informational and transactional e-government services, promoting Internet use among the citizens and bridging the digital divide. 2nd stage: expansion of the scope and depth of e-government services (predominantly of transactional nature) and comprehensive ICT-enabled reengineering of government administrative procedures. rd stage: ICT-based transformation of government agencies’ operation, building a fully-fledged information society, provision of e-health, e-education, e-culture, e-democracy and other services. Some tasks related to the first stage were implemented in 2006. On the April 12, 2006, e-government web-portal (www. e. gov. kz ) was launched which provides more than 900 information services (egov magazine 2007). This portal is tri-lingual: Kazakh, Russian and English. Laws ‘On Informatization’ and ‘On Amending Certain Legal acts of the Republic of Kazakhstan in the Sphere of Informatization’ were developed and enacted.Interagency electronic workflow with digital signature has been implemented in 39 state bodies. A pilot model of National Authentication Center for physical and legal entities has been developed, and a pilot project on integrated transportation medium of state bodies has been implemented in Astana, the capital of Kazakhstan. In an interview with the egov magazine in July 2007, Kuanishbek Esekeev, the Chairman of AIC, reported that GoK had implemented, on 38 S. H. Bhuiyan an experimental basis, government databases on ‘Physical Bodies’ and ‘Legal Entities’, in six oblasts (regions).Moreover, 15 interactive services such as land register and address register software were developed and tested in pilot zones: Citizens’ Service Centers (CSC) of Almatinskiy and Saryarkinskiy regions, Astana (egov magazine 2007). To connect citizens with the web, till 2006, 460 public access points kicked off. Eleven classrooms for providing computer literacy were opened in several regions as a part of capacity development of public sector employees, where more than 1,500 civil servants have been trained (egov magazine 2007).In 1997, a state program was adopted to incorporate information technology (IT) into the general education system, so as to create IT network within the international education space. In 2007, the provision of computers to schools had reached one computer for every 21 pupils compared with one for every 62 in 2001 (UNESC 2008, p. 15). Besides, online instruction has been introduced into the teaching process, comparing a set of five subject schemas, and work has been progressing to connect the education system to t he Internet (UNESC 2008).The AIC is currently working to develop interactive services delivery through national e-government portal. In recent days, the Agency has been successful to deliver limited e-services. For example, it is possible to submit tax statements to the authorities as well as to clear mutual payments with the state budget through electronic channels in real time using digital signatures, which distinguishes Kazakhstan from other CIS countries (World Bank 2006, p. 10). In March 2006, a service has been launched, which enables citizens to submit applications to five ministries (e. . , Ministry of Economic Affairs and Budget Planning) and get an answer to his or her question in 3 to 5 working days. Almost all Akimats (city government) and ministries opened their virtual reception rooms. Visitors can download reference-document; get acquainted with legal base and search addresses of various offices (AIC website: www. aic. gov. kz). Future plans The transactional phase o f e-government development will allow citizens to pay for using public services via governmental portal.AIC is in the process to implement a payment scheme based on existing electronic transactional (payment) system of second-tier banks. GoK is committed to build a transparent information society that presupposes gradual increase of the portal users in number. It means this will eventually transfer public services delivery only in electronic form. As a move to this, AIC plans to provide 900 different kinds of services that are to be exhibited on the portal in 2009 (egov magazine 2007). The challengesIn 2005, the United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs has estimated that more than 60% of e-government projects in developing countries fail (Salem 2006). Likewise, Kazakhstan confronts with multifaceted challenges to the introduction of e-government, and some of them are described here. E-Government in Kazakhstan: Challenges and Its Role to Development 39 Political suppo rt and relationship between political institutions, bureaucracy and citizens Kazakhstan e-government program receives strong support from the President and his office.AIC has been given a mandate to coordinate and lead the effort (World Bank 2006). But problem arises due to the government’s tendency to monopolize political power (Perlman and Gleason 2007), dodging the established norms of multi-party politics. As a consequence, in the August 2007 elections, the President’s political party â€Å"Nur Otan† (father land) received 88. 41% of vote and captured all seats, and thus became the only party in the parliament when none of the parties were able to meet 7% threshold required to obtain parliamentary seats (Bakenova 2008, p. 4; Iqbal 2007). It is corroborated that political elitism is compounded by the fact that Kazakh opposition political parties are in disarray and fractured, offering no real alternative to the voting public (Knox 2008, p. 487). Kazakhstan is dominated by a formal political elite and a highly centralized and power base comprising the Administration of the President of Kazakhstan and key stakeholders therein: the State Secretary, Head of Administration and Security Council Secretary (Knox 2008).Cummings (2005, cited in Knox 2008) argued that the elite system is a compelling factor behind the emergence and maintenance of authoritarianism in Kazakhstan. Given disintegrated political context, it is clear that political communication develops in line with one’s party affiliation, which limits the general trust in government. As a result, the nature of relationship existing between the party in power and opposition signals low quality of political development in Kazakhstan. The lack of political participation, however, compartmentalizes the development of e-governance.On the other hand, a major means through which interaction between citizens and politicians occurs is the parliamentary website, which is supposed to fac ilitate the top-down flow of information from the legislature to citizens, allow a bottom-up channel for feedback from citizens to the elected members, increase transparency by providing detailed information about legislative procedures and activities, expand the number of avenues for greater public scrutiny of the nature and processes of public policies and thus enhance the accountability of these elected politicians to their constituencies (Norris 2001, cited in Haque 2002, p. 38). To this point, Kazakh Parliament maintains a website (www. parlan. kz) and provides a list of basic information such as parliamentary activities, legislative acts, constitution, and list of parliamentary groups. It also provides an option to the website visitors to contact parliamentary secretariat to inform their queries and comments. The emergence of e-governance has significantly changed the nature of the relationship between citizens and public servants (Haque 2002). A 2002 World Bank survey made an assessment of Kazakhstan’s governance and service delivery.The survey suggests that general areas where Government can work on to improve the quality of public services through e-government. For example, the results of the survey indicated that households were not satisfied with their interactions with public officials (World Bank 2002). To improve this perception, ICT can be utilized for the reduction in the time that citizens and businesses have to spend to complete transactions with public bodies can be set as one of the performance indicators. If the transactions can 40 S. H. Bhuiyan e completed online, citizens do not have to spend the time to visit and wait at a public office, as long as they have an Internet connection (World Bank 2006, p. 20). Corruption In April 2005, the President of Kazakhstan signed a decree ‘On Measures to Step up the Fight against Corruption’ to strengthen discipline in the activities of state bodies and officials (Transparency Int ernational 2006, p. 185). Against this backdrop, petty corruption in the various form of bribe taking is a fixture of daily life (Gleason 1997, p. 379). High profile corruptions are also rampant.For example, the President of the state-owned Kazakh Telecom joint-stock company was sacked by Security Council when it was revealed that his monthly wage was $365,000 (Knox 2008, p. 487). Similarly, in 2007, Kazakh Anti-corruption Agency (financial police) filed charges against the selection committee of â€Å"Bolashak† (future) program, a presidential scholarship scheme that enables talented young Kazakhs to study in developed countries. The charges stated that many scholarships have been actually purchased through the corrupt jury decisions (Bakenova 2008, p. 94).It is widely believed that e-governance is promised to reduce corruption, which displeases corrupt political executives and bureaucrats, who, in turn, create building blocks to the implementation of e-government programs. Digital divide ‘Digital divide’—exclusion of groups within the population to get access to a computer—is another challenge that has received government attention. It reveals that only 12% of the population in Kazakhstan has skills to use PCs and half of them can use computer without being helped (egov magazine 2007), and only 12% are Internet users (World Bank 2008).To bridge the gap, the government is implementing Digital Inclusion Program for years 2007–2009. This program aims to increase number of ITC educated people by 15% and prepare the country to the transition from the industrial to information society (AIC website: www. aic. gov. kz/? mod=static&Ing=rus&id=22, accessed November 22, 2008). Many governments across the world have taken up measures to lessen the magnitude of the problem. Philippines and Hong Kong, for example, have facilitated this partly by providing free or subsidized access to computers and Internet) in designated public pla ces (Holliday 2002). Telecommunications infrastructure is relatively problematic, although there are examples of significant public intervention. To this effect, several municipal governments in Germany have facilitated the development of high-speed network cables, fiber optics, and public access to improve digital economy (Hasse 2002). Infrastructural development E-government operation requires strong technological infrastructure such as computing and telecommunications. A great deal of financial resources is involved to develop structure.In Kazakhstan, it is more burdensome due to its vastness and unique geographical structure. The government has so far (2005–2007) allocated E-Government in Kazakhstan: Challenges and Its Role to Development 41 approximately US$380 million (World Bank 2006) for the purpose of e-government implementation. Let alone government fund is inadequate to meet required expenses, which warranted a partnership among public, private and donor agencies f or the accumulation of investments. Kazakhstan’s poor infrastructural readiness for egovernment also reflected in the e-Government Readiness Survey 2008 where it scored 0. 306 on infrastructure index (UN 2008). Human resources There is no denial that in most of the developing countries e-government programs suffer due to the lack of quality human resources. Kazakhstan is no exception. A 2006 World Bank report points out that even AIC, the lead organization to implement e-government, is struggling with the shortage of professional staff, leaving only 12–15 for the ‘informatization’ task (World Bank 2006). To overcome the challenge, GoK provides continuous training and education to develop professionals in this field.However, given the low public sector compensation packages, it is unclear whether the shortage of professionals will ever be overcome. Admittedly, Kazakh public administration suffers from migration of knowledgeable employees to its growing priv ate sector due to attractive emoluments. This will essentially constrain country’s journey toward e-government development. Poverty Given the gradual decline of the population living below the poverty line, the reduction of poverty is still an important policy goal for Kazakhstan (Agarwal 2008).However, a Gini coefficient (a measure of income inequality, with higher values denoting more unequal incomes) increased from 25. 74 in 1988 to 33. 85 in 2003 (ESCAP 2008). Income inequality is on the rise and took a defiant shape due to onslaught global economic meltdown, which also affects Kazakh economy. Consequently, rates of rural poverty continue to grow, and the economic necessity force migration from rural areas to the towns, which contributes to increase urban poverty too.According to UNDP, nearly 16% of the total population lives on less than US$2 per day (Euromonitor International, www. euromonitor. com/pdf/indonesia. pdf, accessed November 22, 2008). In this context, it is argued that a large population is unable to buy PCs (price of a PC ranges between 40,000–60,000 Tenge) and be connected with Internet (initial connection fee and deposit amount to nearly 20,000 Tenge even with the state-owned Kazakh Telecom). Apart from the above, there are disparities in the distribution of basic services in Kazakhstan (Gleason 1997).For example, a study shows that due to ageing Soviet transmission and distribution lines, electricity losses average 15%, reaching 30% to remote areas (cited in Cochran 2008, p. 1), which causes frequent power cut1 mainly in rural settlements and thus upset the prospect of their social and economic life. This poverty-ridden environment is often not receptive to adopt technological innovations, like e-government. 1 Kazakhstan produced 76. 3 billion kilowatt-hours (kWh) of electricity in 2007 and consumed just over that amount, 76. 4 billion kWh (Cochran 2008, p. 1). 42 S. H. Bhuiyan Harnessing privacyRapid adoption of global netw orks and technological innovations has raised many outstanding concerns from civil society over the protection of their privacy and personal data and has brought into focus the possibility of the rise of ‘Big Brother ’ (cited in Bhuiyan 2006, p. 114). In a similar vein, referring to Korea, Jho (2005) illustrates that the Korean government has faced fierce public opposition and suffered major setbacks in pursuing some of its ICT projects. This symptom worries yet growing civil society of Kazakhstan and effective dialogue with the government can reduce tension over the issue.E-government in the context of development New ICTs can make a significant contribution to the achievement of good governance goals (Heeks 2001). The e-governance permeates the four domains of government: its role in fostering economic growth and social cohesion, its relationship with the governed, its internal administration, and its relationship with the international environment (Brown 2005, p. 251 ). In each of these areas developing countries are faced with limitations on institutional capacity and infrastructure, financial resources and civil service skills that characterize—and prolong—lower levels of development (Brown 2005).Against this backdrop, efforts have been made for implementing e-governance in many developing countries and some of them were successful. The outcomes of those practices have shown improved government functioning, better service delivery, and triumph over many socio-economic, political and administrative ills. Among them, three cases are presented below to help us to understand the usefulness of using e-government to achieve development goals. Lessons learned from the cases have immense value to reorganize Kazakh public administration in line with e-government mandate.Case 1. Brazil: house of representatives e-participation The Brazilian House of Representatives website allows citizens to talk to their representatives and to participate in debates directly through the Internet. The Government of Brazil also provides an e-participation platform that permits Members of Parliament and citizens to communicate through chat rooms, discussion forums and the service â€Å"Falm com Deputado† or â€Å"Talk to the MP†. This form of eparticipation has enhanced the interaction between citizens and Members of parliament.In a country as vast as Brazil and with a geographically dispersed population, online participation has provided citizens with a greater voice in the creation of policies and laws. (UN 2008, p. 31) Case 2. Health service in Malta The Malta Health Ministry is an excellent example of providing customer service online. The portal allows citizens to apply for the European Health Insurance Card online. It has an electronic patient library provided through a partnership with a E-Government in Kazakhstan: Challenges and Its Role to Development 3 private firm, which provides citizens with a medical encyclo pedia, information on surgeries and procedures, and has animated lessons. The portal also provides its citizens with a list of local pharmacies. (Source: http://www. ehealth. gov. mt/article. aspx? art=90 cited in UN 2008, p. 60) Case 3. E-seva program in Andra Pradesh, India The Government of Andra Pradesh has a clear vision to create a knowledge society by using IT in all aspects of development and governance (www. esevaonline. com, last accessed November 24, 2008).Consequently, E-Seva (electronic service) program was launched to effectively deliver public and social services to the citizens. This program offers services of multiple central, state and local government agencies as well as some private sector organizations. The salient features of E-Seva include the following: & & & & & & & 46 e-Seva centers (with 400 service counters) spread over the Twin Cities and Ranga Reddy District. All service counters are facilitated with an electronic queuing system. Operating from 8:00 a. m. to 8:00 p. m. , on all working days and 9:00 a. m. to 3:00 p. m. n holidays (Second Saturdays and Sundays). ‘One-stop-shop’ for over 66 government-to-consumer (G2C) and business-toconsumer (B2C). No jurisdiction limits- any citizen in the twin cities can avail of the services at any of the 46 e-Seva service centers. Online services: eForms, eFiling, ePayments. Payments by cash/cheque/DD/credit card/Internet. The Government of India data shows that e-Seva centers offer the total of 132 G2C services from 16 government departments, and 15 B2C services from 10 business firms. Services include, among others, online transaction processing of payments, issuance of certificates, and licenses.The number of transactions at e-Seva centers was initially under 5,000/month (August 2001). It quickly gained popularity and the number surpassed a million in July 2003. As of May 2004, the level of transaction is above 1. 1 million. (Source: http://www. esevaonline. com/ cited in World Bank 2006, p. 42) The first case makes it clear that interaction between MPs and citizens through Internet helps the former to better understand citizens’ opinions, grievances, and demands, while the latter participates in scrutinizing public policies and laws.Kazakhstan government needs to implement the practice, contextualizing it to the local conditions, to boost up contact between parliament members and citizens, a pre-requisite for ensuring good governance. The second case is focused on electronic delivery of customer services related to healthcare in an EU country, Malta. The dismal performance of healthcare sector in Kazakhstan (Iqbal 2007) warrants a major overhaul. As a part of perceived reform, GoK may experiment with the transferability of Malta’s practice in public healthcare outlets.The third example illustrates the significance of providing public services through public-private partnership (PPP) in Andra Pradesh, an Indian state. PPP is now a common stra nd of ‘third way’ government policy, with better efficiency promised 44 S. H. Bhuiyan from the private funding of public infrastructure through the transfer of risks to private concerns. In this perspective, GoK may consider to build PPPs as a potential strategy to deliver effective and efficient services to the citizens. Over and again, control of corruption and poverty reduction are two important development challenges that are being facilitated through e-government.These issues are in some detail discussed here. Corruption Heeks (1998) points out that the level of corruption in the public sector sharply decreases in countries where e-government exists. A survey in India has revealed that, in the states where e-government has been established even partially, the corruption rate has substantially fallen. The survey has found that in Kolkata and Mumbai, two Indian cities, due to implementation of e-governance in some public sector, corruption rate has declined to 19% an d 18% compared to 51% and 38% respectively in 2000 (Kabir 2008).Similarly, in Bangladesh, one may observe that due to computerization of Railway Reservation System, the number of black-marketers has decreased considerably. Elimination of the middle-men in citizen-government interaction, in fact, is the major factor eradicating corruption (Kabir 2008). Poverty reduction Admittedly, the Nobel Peace Prize winning Grameen Bank has made a significant contribution to the development of ICT in Bangladesh. During the years, Grameen philosophy has proved that ICT can be very useful to uplift the rural and disadvantaged communities in Bangladesh and beyond (cited in Hossain 2005).According to the founder of the Bank and Nobel Laureate Professor Muhammad Yunus identified three key areas ICT can play an immediate role in helping the poor (Yunus 2004, cited in Hossain 2005) are: 1. Integrating the poor into the mainstream economy by expanding their market, eliminating the middle-men in their bus iness, and creating international job opportunities through service out-sourcing; 2. Bringing information, educational programs, skill training, and healthcare services, etc, all in a very user friendly way, even to the most remote villages; 3.Empowering the poor, particularly poor women, with a stronger voice that can be heard behind the borders of their villages, better access to information, and improvement in the democratic process. The study by Aminuzzaman et al. (2003) found a positive correlation between the uses of ICT and poverty reduction in Bangladesh. According to the findings, at the individual level, the Village Phone (VP) of Grameen Bank has contributed significantly to income generation of rural women (popularly known as phone ladies).Socially, it has given a new status and image to those women who are getting Bank’s support to start this venture both at the family and community levels. Moreover, at the community level, it has narrowed gaps between cities and villages by enhancing frequent communication between family members. Economically, it has increased business transactions and dissemination of information (Aminuzzaman E-Government in Kazakhstan: Challenges and Its Role to Development 45 et al. 2003, p. 327). In an earlier but similar study by Bayes et al. 1999) also evaluated the role of VP (of Grameen Bank) within the context of rural development in general and of poverty reduction in particular. They came up with two basic conclusions: first, pursuance of pragmatic policies can turn telephones into production goods, especially through lowering transaction cost, and second, the services originating from telephones in villages are likely to deliver significant benefits to the poor in Bangladesh (Bayes et al. 1999). Kazakhstan suffers from rampant corruption and poverty.As a means to control corruption and eradicate poverty, the government can evaluate the suitability of the noted (or similarly designed) initiatives for implementati on in Kazakhstan. Conclusion The paradigm of e-government emphasizes coordinated network building, external collaboration, and one-stop customer services to facilitate efficient service delivery to citizens, and, thus, contrasts sharply with the traditional bureaucratic paradigm, which stresses standardization, departmentalization, and division of labor (Ho 2002).In order to keep pace with the articulated development goals, particularly to achieve Kazakhstan 2030, the GoK has started to move toward e-government paradigm to establish a citizen-centered, accountable and transparent government. Kazakhstan’s past political history was linked to the long-standing legacies of monopolism, clanocracy, and cynicism of the Soviet period (Gleason 1997, p. 379). In the new Kazakhstan, situation has not improved to the extent many had expected. The country is still marked by widespread corruption, abject poverty, digital divide, lack of infrastructural development and human resources.In t his context, egovernment offers opportunities, though rudimentary at the present stage, to the government to improve service delivery across the country. The international development experiences clearly portray the benefit of egovernment. Such experiences may serve as policy guidelines to the implementation of e-government in Kazakhstan, after careful evaluations to their acceptability in Kazakh society. An important challenge to e-government implementation in developing countries is the lack of financial resources. The case of Kazakhstan is very much the same.The honeymoon period of booming Kazakh oil economy is under stress. To continue the systematic implementation of e-government even during the sluggish economy, public-private partnership is a necessary strategy for the avoidance of huge initial investment costs. The successful implementation of the program will surely change the public administration landscape and enable the government to deliver services to a transparent, ac countable, and client-focused environment. References ADB (Asian Development Bank). (2008) Asian development outlook 2008 [Kazakhstan]. Available at: http://www. db. org/Documents/Books/ADO/2008/KAZ. pdf, last accessed December 5, 2008. 46 S. H. Bhuiyan Agarwal, P. (2008). Economic growth and poverty reduction: evidence from Kazakhstan. Asian Development Review, 24(2), 90–115. Aminuzzaman, S. , Baldersheim, H. , & Jamil, I. (2003). Talking back! empowerment and mobile phones in rural Bangladesh: a study of the village phone scheme of Grameen Bank. Contemporary South Asia, 12(3), 327–348. Bakenova, S. (2008). Civil service in Kazakhstan: Deja Vu? International Journal of Public Administration in Central and Eastern Europe, 1, 89–96. Bayes, A.Braun, J. V. , & Akhter, R. (1999). Village pay phones and poverty reduction: insights from a Grameen bank initiatives in Bangladesh. ZEF Discussion Papers on Development Policy. No. 8. Bonn: ZEF, University of Bonn. Bhuiyan, S. H. (2006). E-government in Bangladesh: prospects and challenges. Journal of Politics & Administration, 1(1), 105–118. Brown, D. (2005). Electronic government and public administration. International Review of Administrative Sciences, 71(2), 241–254. Cochran, J. (2008). Kazakhstan’s potential for wind and concentrated solar power. KIMEP Working Paper. No. . Almaty: College of Social Sciences, KIMEP. Cummings, S. (2005). Kazakhstan: Power and elite. London: I. B. Tauris. egov magazine. (2007). Interview with Kuanishbek Esekeev, Chairman, Agency for Informatization and Communications. Retrieved from: http://www. egovonline. net/interview/print. asp? interviewid=184, last accessed March 27, 2008. ESCAP. (2008). Economic and social survey of Asia and the Pacific. Retrieved from: www. kazakhemb. org. il, last accessed November 18, 2008. Gleason, G. (1997). Prospects for Kazakhstan’s asian liberalism. Democratization, 5(3), 376–385.Haldenwang, C. (200 4). Electronic Government (E-Government) and development. The European Journal of Development Research, 16(2), 417–432. Haque, M. S. (2002). E-Governance in India: its impact on relations among citizens, politicians and public servants. International Review of Administrative Sciences, 68, 231–250. Hasse, D. (2002). E-Government: The future of federal and municipal institution. An unpublished Master’s thesis. Magdeburg: University of Magdeburg. Heeks, R. 2001. Understanding e-governance for development. i-Government Working Paper Series. Paper No. 11.Manchester: IDPM, University of Manchester. Heeks, R. (1998). Information technology and public sector corruption. Information System and Public Sector Management Working Paper Series. No. 4. Manchester: University of Manchester. Ho, A. T. -K. (2002). Reinventing local governments and the E-government initiative. Public Administration Review, 62(4), 434–443. Holliday, I. (2002). Building e-government in East a nd Southeast Asia: regional rhetoric and national (In) action. Public Administration and Development, 22, 323–335. Holliday, I. , & Yep, R. (2005). E-Government in China.Public Administration and Development, 25, 239– 249. Hossain, F. (2005). E-governance initiatives in developing countries: helping the rich? or, creating opportunities for the poor? Asian Affairs, 27(4), 5–23. Iqbal, H. (2007). Democracy and Central Asian states. Regional Studies, 4, 66–95. ITU (International Telecommunication Union). (2004). ITU Data. Available at: http://www. itu. int/ITU-D/ ict/statistics/at_glance/main04. pdf, last accessed November 5, 2008. Jho, W. (2005). Challenges for e-governance: protests from civil society on the protection of privacy in egovernment in Korea.International Review of Administrative Sciences, 71(1), 151–166. Kabir, A. (2008). Discourse on e-governance: Bottomline. The Daily Star. November 14. Retrieved from: http://www. thedailystar. net/pf _story. php? nid=63243, last accessed November 14, 2008. Keesing Record of World Events. (2005). Kazakhstan presidential elections. December. Knox, C. (2008). Kazakhstan: modernizing government in the context of political inertia. International Review of Administrative Sciences, 74(3), 477–496. Makhmutova, M. (2001). Local government in Kazakhstan. In Igor Munteanu & Popa Victor (Eds. . Developing new rules in the old environment: Local government in Eastern Europe, in the Caucasus and in the Central Asia. Available at: http://lgi. osi. hu/publication/2001/842ch8-kz. pdf, last accessed October 7, 2008. Mayer-Schonberger, V. , & Lazer, D. (2007). From Electronic Government to Information Society. In V. Mayer-Schonberger & D. Lazer (Eds. ), Governance and information technology: From electronic government to information government. Massachusetts and London: MIT. E-Government in Kazakhstan: Challenges and Its Role to Development 47 Moon, M. J. (2002).The evolution of e-governmen t among municipalities: rhetoric or reality? Public Administration Review, 62(4), 424–433. Netchaeva, I. (2002). E-government and E-democracy. The International Communication Gazette, 64(5), 467–477. Norris, P. (2001). Digital divide? civic engagement, information poverty and the internet in the democratic societies. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Perlman, B. J. , & Gleason, G. (2007). Cultural determinism versus administrative logic: Asian values and administrative reform in Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan. International Journal of Public Administration, 30(12), 1327–1342.Robinson, A. (2001). Geopolitics and oil focus the spotlight on Central Asia. Financial Times Survey. December 17. Salem, F. (2006). Exploring e-government barriers in the Arab States. Policy Brief. No. 2. Dubai: Dubai School of Government. Sharma, T. (2002). E-governance: process reengineering approach. Indian Journal of Public Administration, XLVIII(4), 606–616. Tandon, H. (2005). e -governance: an Indian perspective. Policy & Society, 24(3), 1–28. Transparency International. (2008). Corruption perception index 1999–2008 (Kazakhstan). Available at: http://www. transparencykazakhstan. rg/eng/content/8. html, last accessed January 7, 2009. Transparency International. (2006). Global country report, 2006 [Kazakhstan], pp. 184–188. Available at: www. transparency. org/publications, last accessed November 18, 2008. UN (United Nations). (2008). United Nations e-government survey 2008: From e-government to connected governance. NY: United Nations. United Nations/American Society for Public Administration [UN/ASPA]. (2002). Benchmarking egovernment: A global perspective: Assessing the progress of the UN member states. NY: UN/ASPA. UNDP (United Nations Development Program). 2007). Human development report 2007/2008 [Kazakhstan]. Available at: http://hdrstat. undp. org/countries/country_fact_sheets/cty_fs_KAZ. html, last accessed November 13, 2008. UN DP. (2001). Human development report 2001: Making new technologies work for human development. NY: Oxford University Press. UNESC (United Nations Economic and Social Council). (2008). National report on the achievement of Kazakhstan’s strategic priorities to 2030 in the light of the millennium development goals. Available at: apps01. un. org/nvpcms, last accessed November 20, 2008. Wilson, J. , Gardner, D. Kurganbaeva, G. , & Sakharchuk, E. (2002). The changing role of local government managers in a transitional economy: evidence from the Republic of Kazakhstan. International Journal of Public Sector Management, 15(4/5), 399–411. The World Bank. (2008). Kazakhstan: Data and statistics. Available at: http://www. worldbank. org. kz/ website/external/countries/ecaext/kazakhstan, last accessed November 13, 2008. The World Bank. (2006). Kazakhstan e-government program and the road ahead. Washington, DC: World Bank (a joint economic research program with the Government of Ka zakhstan).The World Bank. (2002). Kazakhstan governance and service delivery: A diagnostic report. Poverty Reduction and Economic Management Unit, Europe and Central Asia Region. Yunus, M. (2004). Petersburg Prize 2004- acceptance speech delivered by Professor Muhammad Yunus in the Prize giving ceremony on June 27, 2004, at the Development Gateway Forum 2004, held at Petersburg Conference Center, Kongiswinter, Germany Shahjahan H. Bhuiyan is Associate Professor and Chair of the Department of Public Administration at Kazakhstan Institute of Management, Economics, and Strategic Research (KIMEP), Almaty.He earned a Ph. D. in Development Studies from the University of Bonn, Germany. His research interests are in governance, public policy and administration, public management, organization theory and behavior, culture, knowledge and development. Copyright of Public Organization Review is the property of Springer Science & Business Media B. V. and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use.

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Business plan for mobile tea sexy dolly trolley - Thesis Example However, it is assumed that any extra risk associated will be taken into account beforehand and the market research, legal and civil requirements; financial planning will be adjusted accordingly to accommodate the risk. The catering business is already a popular option for entrepreneurs with owners shifting from standardized fares and themes to more novel ones to gain competitive advantage (Pace, 2011). For Mobile Tea Sexy Dolly Trolley the risque image will help them stand apart from other competitors. The business will be established as a partnership with all management activities carried out by the partners, while the staff will be there to provide the actual services. The partners have both have had previous experience in the service and food industry but this will be there first venture as entrepreneurs. 2.0 Business Description The first thing which will catch the consumers and the stake holder’s eye is the name of the business itself; the name Mobile Tea Sexy Dolly Trol ley has been decided as it immediately informs that the business is in fact a themed catering service with some very unusual components. It is the catering service with will make heads turn and create a stir where ever it visits. As the name suggests the ‘Mobile Tea Sexy Dolly Trolley’ catering will be limited exclusively to provision of Tea and tea variants, served from old-style Dolly Trolleys by glamorous and attractive staff. Along with the tea will be suitable snacks such as dainty sandwiches and quaint biscuits- but no other types of food will be included. The focus will be on the experience that customers will get, enjoying the pampering attentions of our staff as the tea and snacks are prepared or set in front of them. The business will be unabashed and direct in declaration of its main attraction: the staff. The business aims to cater to mainly an adult and mature audience who can appreciate the experience and not dismiss it as something improper or a throwaway fad. Premium charges will be taken for the services of our staff and the aesthetic quality they will bring to any event. It will be a novel experience for anyone to watch and enjoy the condiments served by the highly efficient, polite and charming men and women working for us and even though it may not be considered as a regular service to hire, they will want to indulge in the experience a few more times. The core target groups for our services will be adult parties, dinners, corporate team building activities, and office catering. We understand the need of the corporations and businesses nowadays to keep their employees interested and motivated in the workplace. The lunch hour is a necessary right for the worker; it provides the time to relax, take nourishment, socialize or even work to clear that backlog (Tahmincioglu, 2012). For management who want to provide some revitalizing entertainment for their employees along with the extra food choices, Mobile Tea Sexy Dolly Trolley can be the business to hire. Our staff will create a buzz in the office, give everyone plenty to talk about in the coming days and provide nourishing and comforting tea right at the desks of the workers. The mobility is one of our biggest strengths, as the products can be carried everywhere easily

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The pragmatic views of Abraham Lincoln Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 4000 words

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And Analysis of Business Problems in AMR Corporation - Research Paper Example In our project, we begin by identifying the position of the company that we are studying. In this, we use mainly the vision, mission, core values, and the stakeholders of this organization. This has been actually necessary since it helped us to understanding the decision-making framework of this company that we later used in the problem identification and problem finding. We also identified the decision making model used by this company and some of the human factors that affects the decision making process in this organization. After this, we later identified the problems that are faced by this company and analyze their importance, severity, and urgency to help us in the prioritization of those problems. After prioritization, we identify the one that requires to be addressed first and we go on in identifying the possible alternatives to this problem. We later analyze our alternatives to obtain the solution to our problem and thus decide the implementation process we will undertake. W e later analysis the implementation process using feasibility analysis, cost/benefit analysis and ethical screening to determine whether the implementation process is worth undertaking. ... However, in this research I did not include the budget of the implementation process and the actual cost that the company might expect to incur during the project undertaking. I thus would like to propose that a small research on the materials and equipment needed and their costs be done before implementation to give the company the actual cost of undertaking this problem solution. Position AMR Corporation is a group of companies operating in the aviation sector.This corporation has two airline subsidiaries, which are American Airlines and AMR Eagle Holding Corporation. These two subsidiaries have various divisions. The key person in this Corporation is Thomas W. Horton who is both the president and the CEO. AMR Corporation is a public companythat offers transportation services majoring in airline services. It has very high operating cost and net income that results to high total income. It has a property in London as well as other places.Previously it has acquired several certificat ed airline holdings to expand its operations. Moreover, being a public organization it has several stakeholders like employees, shareholder, passengers, NGOs and government bodies (American Airline 2012). Vision Statement The Vision of AMR Corporation is to have a sustainable future where it could minimize its operation cost, while maintaining high quality and reliable services to its customers and at the same time offer good working environment for employees. Mission statement Providing exceptional services and amenities in order to provide an enjoyable, comfortable and convenient experience on our airline (American Airline 2012) Mission statement of

Effect of Geology on Road Transport Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Effect of Geology on Road Transport - Essay Example Effect of Geology on Road Transport Geological rocks cover most parts of the region, which makes it impossible for trucks to pass through for delivering sand and gravel. Poor drainage is another factor that contributes to the fact that trucks cannot be used to transport the products from Salt Ste. Marie to Ontario. Lakes and forests occupy a considerable part of the southern Ontario with widespread bogs. The shield of Canada appears flat in nature, but the south part is characterized by highlands elevated at a height of 2,275 feet. This makes it extremely costly to design roads that would facilitate access of Southern Ontario by trucks. The lowland of St. Lawrence located South east, comprises two sections that are St. Lawrence River valley and peninsular part located between Huron, Lakes Ontario and Erie. The Canadian Shield extension joins with the Adirondack Mountains in New York City. This makes it impossible to construct a road through where the trucks delivering sands would use. In addition, numerous rolling land levels characterize the lowland in southern Ontario where a number of escarpments exist along with steep hills. The Hudson Bay part of the southern Ontario lowland is plain and on the lower parts, that fringes James and Hudson bays northwards. The surface of this region is characterized by marshy and flat areas and comprises of marine deposits, which are elevated above the level of sea during geological period. Scrubby forests enclose most of the region with vegetation such as lichens, mosses vegetation, tundra, and other shrubs. Consequently, the terrain, surface structure, and forest in this region make it exceedingly hard for transportation of sand and gravel by trucks to the Southern Ontario, despite the high cost expected for the products in the region. The operators in Sault Ste. Marie overrule the transportation of sand and gravel to the Southern region because of the easy transportation of the products by trucks within the region of production. Climate is a crucial factor i n road transport. The southern Ontario is characterized by short summers and temperatures in the month of July averages from 55Â ° F in the Northern part to 70Â ° F in the extensive South. Humidity increase as one move to south, ranging from 380mm every year near Hudson Bay to 1010mm in southeast. Snowfall is substantial throughout the settled areas that average 71 to 121 inches annually. Consequently, trucks cannot travel in such a region because of the ice rocks and humidity. Security is a factor is considered while transporting products by road. The geology of southern Ontario region does not offer security to road transport due to the dangers exposed in travelling through forests by trucks. This is because 40% of the land is covered with forests. Most of the forests are a potential source of timber, but only the accessible forests are beneficial. Part B There are conditions that can facilitate routine transportation of sand from Salt Ste. Marie to Southern Ontario. Poor draina ge, in the southern Ontario, led to the emergence of Canadian Shield and the Great lakes; hence, water occupies a percentage of 20% of the region adequate to facilitate water transportation. The drainage in the Southern Ontario part is formed by rivers, flowing in the St. Lawrence region that includes Moose-Mattagami, Albany, Seven, and Attawapiskat. The plenty of rivers

Health Policy Analysis Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3750 words

Health Policy Analysis - Assignment Example Patient navigators and navigator programs therefore became necessary in terms of providing the much needed connection between patient populations and providers with an aim of improving healthcare outcomes. Patient navigator and outreach services dates back to the year 1971 when then US President Richard Nixon ratified the National Cancer Act. Since then there have been significant improvements in healthcare outcomes in terms of reducing cancer related mortality. This can be attributed to better measures at preventing, screening and diagnosing cancer as well as the use of better treatments for the same. However, poor persons, those without any medical insurance and those without sufficient insurances covers have continued to show low 5-year survival and high rates of mortality. Disconnects still exist between discovery and delivery enterprises and also between what is known and what is applied to all people. Disparities arise when medical interventions meant for all are not equally distributed. Disparities are also occasioned by a combination of economic, cultural and social issues (Freeman and Rodriguez, 2011). Poverty is a very important cause of healthcare disparities when it comes to the management of cancer and other chronic illnesses. Poverty is a complex problem associated with other issues such as lower levels of educational achievement, squalid living conditions, total lack or insufficient social assistance, lack of employment, risky lifestyles and reduced healthcare service access. As per the 2010 national census, 14.3% of the US population representing a whooping 43.6 million persons was poor the year 2009 alone. In the same year 16.7% (50.7 million) of American citizens did not have any health insurance cover. Furthermore statistics have shown a huge gap in terms of the five year survival rates for cancers between the poor and the rich; survival is ten percent lower among the poor Americans compared to the rich. An emerging

Purely Competitive Vs Monopoly in two industries Essay Example for Free

Purely Competitive Vs Monopoly in two industries Essay There are two types of industry wherein a businessman could put his cash on: the monopoly and the purely competitive one. This paper explains the case if a worker in a purely competitive industry and a worker in a monopoly industry returns the same or different marginal revenues on the case that the labor market is purely competitive if they have exactly the same marginal product and their product price is the same. Citing the difference between the types of industry will give us an idea to decide with the case given: Differences between Monopoly and Competition (Hartcourt, 2001) Monopoly   The only producer of the goods The demand curve has a downward slope. â€Å" price maker†   Lowers the price to increase sales Competition Competes with companies producing the same products The demand curve is horizontal â€Å"price taker† Sells as much or as little at same price. Marginal revenue is described as the extra revenue that an excess product unit will bring to the industry (Schenk, 2002). Whether a worker is in either a purely competitive or a monopoly, and considering the case stated on the previous paragraph, both workers will return the same marginal product return since their marginal products, as well as the product price are the same. MPR = total revenue/quantity of units sold ( Hartcourt, 2001) If we think not that critically, the prices introduced by the workers from different industries are the same, and the number of units to be sold is also the same, the MPR will be the same. But from the bulleted descriptions of monopoly and competitive industry, the demands are different. For the monopoly, the demand is sloping downward; but form the competitive, the demand is the same as represented by the horizontal curve. For a competitive industry, the MPR is directly proportional to the price, but in a monopoly industry, the demand is decreasing, so the MPR will decrease also, leaving us the conclusion that the MPR’s for the two are different. References Hartcourt, Inc. (2001). Monopoly. Retrieved April 22, 2008, from http://www.wcc.hawaii.edu/facstaff/briggs-p/Microeconomics/Chap_15.pdf Schenk, Robert. (2002). Cybereconomics. From Elasticity to Marginal Revenue. Retrieved April 22, 2008 from Cybereconomics.

Dawn of the (Evil & Symbolic) Dead Essay Example for Free

Dawn of the (Evil Symbolic) Dead Essay Over the past decade, interest in zombies in pop culture has sky rocketed. There have been over 100 games and movies featuring the living dead. George Romero’s 1978 film Dawn of the Dead, sequel to Night of the Living Dead, gives its audience insight into these evil symbolic structures known today as zombies. In this film, there are four survivors that take refuge in a huge shopping mall, sealing the doors and creating a zombie-free hideout. This movie is often referred to as one the best horror films of its time and a door way to today’s interest in zombies. Throughout the film, the four survivors deal with hundreds of zombies and at the climax are also having to deal with a biker gang. Although not all four of these characters survived, the mall was a perfect spot for the movie to take place according to a review done by the Spinning Image Company. â€Å"The mall is a brilliant location, not just for the satirical possibilities it offers Romero, but also for creating some clever, unsettling imagery,† said Daniel Auty in his review. Auty is speaking of the several times throughout the film where Romero would cut to a scene of just zombies roaming random parts of the mall. These zombies were different than what we see today however. â€Å"[The zombies] look silly, they fall over a lot, and Romero mostly shoots them in either broad daylight or the stark fluorescence of the mall† (Auty). The zombies in Dawn of the Dead appeared from the first minute without Romero giving any sort of insight on how it happened. So in order to understand the body in its monstrous state, one must know the origins of the zombie. Many scholars agree that the term zombie originated from the voodoo religion in Haiti. In â€Å"Slaves, Cannibals, and Infected Hyper-Whites: The Race and Religion of Zombies†, writer Elizabeth McCalister discusses these origins in great detail. â€Å"The word zonbi appears in writing as far back as colonial Saint- Domingue, glossed by travel writer Moreau de Saint-Mà ©ry as the slaves’ belief in a returned soul, a revenant†(3). The Haitians still heavily believe that this is a part of the spiritual world. They say that these entities separate the body and the soul and compel one to work without the other, in this case the body without the soul. Over the years, however, these origins have begun to vanish due to new forms of the zombies. In the early 20th Century, films began to show Eurocentric ideas that created African-Americans to be viewed as these zombie creatures. Films such as White Zombie (1932) and I walked with a Zombie (1943) â€Å"invariably cast black sorcerers plotting for conquest of and control over white women, and blackness is unmistakably linked with primitive menace, superstition, and the diabolical† (5). These views began to change by the time Romero’s films came out. Now this monstrous creature is as simple as â€Å"a ghoul who lumbers around trying to eat people.† Today’s society is used to seeing these ghouls in pop culture. Because of the more than 100 shows, movies and video games on the market now, people are more accepting of this idea of a â€Å"zombie apocalypse.† In many places, they have held events, such as 5K races and obstacle courses, that center around a zombie theme. In Muskegon, Michigan they held a zombie apocalypse day where civilians dressed as zombies and chased after those that were dressed as civilians. â€Å"Zombie participants got creative and tore up and stained their clothing. They also added scars and bloody makeup,† said an article in the Muskegon Chronicle. This goes to show how immune today’s society has become to the idea of these flesh-eating monsters. Not everyone is taking it lightly though as some have plans set in stone for when the apocalypse may happen. The CDC, Center of Disease Control, has its own website dedicated to a zombie outbreak. The blog includes a brief history of the creatures, a list of survival tools for a kit and their own plan for survival if it would ever happen. â€Å"If zombies did start roaming the streets, CDC would conduct an investigation much like any other disease outbreak.† The CDC tells us that it would be taken just as seriously as any other disease, and thanks pop culture and today’s society in helping to prepare for that day. Christopher Moreman takes a look past the plan in his book Zombies Are Us: Essays on the Humanity of the Walking Dead. The author looks into a world that is already ruled by the dead and sees how society would have to live to survive. He speaks for society as a whole through one line by referencing the graphic novel The Walking Dead: â€Å"In a world ruled by the dead, we are forced to finally start living† (5). The creatures in Romero’s Dawn of the Dead may not be the scariest or deadliest of monsters, but it is when they are in large numbers that they can cause havoc. It is hard to deal with hundreds of flesh eating monsters at once no matter how fast or intelligent they may be. Much of the films’ audience saw Romero’s zombie as a symbolic structure of other things that could take down America. McCalister analyzes all of Romero’s films on the living dead and the time frame that they were made. â€Å"Night of the Living Dead attacks the nuclear American family, patriarchy, and racism; Dawn of the Dead fastens its attention on the deadening effects of rampant consumerism; and Day of the Dead offers an indictment of militarism and American misuse of science and technology† (17). These things were on the minds of Americans in the time the movies were made. Now they can be related to something different such as the events going on in the Middle East. Stephen Asma takes a look into the torturing of Iraqi soldiers and how the Americans may be the ones viewed as the evil creatures. In his book On Monsters, Asma references Dr. Philip Zimbardo and his theory called The Lucifer Effect. This idea helps to explain how good people can become evil in specific ways. He focuses on the torture of Iraqi soldiers. â€Å"The fact that seemingly normal American soldiers engaged in torture and degradation techniques on Iraqi detainees offers more evidence, Zimbardo thinks, for his view t hat abuse and aggression are not the results of inner character flaws† (Asma 413). He goes on to explain how Zimbardo believes these soldiers were not just a case of just one spoiled apple, but a bad barrel that spoiled anything put into it. In the case of the zombies, one can make the case that everyone on this planet will eventually fall to the disease and it is not because of the one zombie who started it all, but because everyone is infected to begin. These kinds of ideas are what bring the monstrous view of zombies into society. Kyle Bishop writes in his book American Zombie Gothic about how the use of the zombies in Dawn of the Dead creates a connection with the audience. He says that because the zombies look very similar to just another regular human being, it can make the audience feel terrified of the creatures. However, the way that the zombies act can tell the audience obvious differences between one that is still human and one that has turned. â€Å"Romero’s monsters are primarily ‘othered’ creatures, possessing virtually no subject ive, human qualities and encouraging almost no psychological suture with the audience† (Bishop 159). The comparison of zombies to human qualities can go on forever. Asma continues to analyze the psyche of the monstrous through the Id. â€Å"Rage is a powerful force that, along with other socially deleterious impulses, lives like a frustrated virus in the dark cellars of the Id† (354). The Id is the part of the personality that can make decisions unconsciously based off of desire and instinct. In the case of the zombies, all they want and need is food and in this case, the flesh of the protagonists. The zombies in Romero’s film were often times the ones being killed, whether it is a gunshot to the head, a bat to the head, a car hood to the head or a screwdriver through the ear. However, Romero kept scenes where humans were eaten by these creatures to give the audience a clear understanding of what to expect from the movie and who would be the good guys. In David Gilmore’s Monsters, the author discusses of ways on how to approach the monster. â€Å"Mythologistsâ € ¦ have written much about the theme of the Epic Hero who goes out to fight monsters in order to rescue maidens or to save society as a whole† (12). The monster is obvious in film but no Epic Hero is there to save the day. Taken this perspective into Dawn of the Dead, the audience can tell that it is society as a whole trying to fight the monsters to save the world from the dead. There are several ways to see why Romero’s Dawn of the Dead was up for awards. Much of it was not based off the effects and acting but what thought and background was put into the project. The study behind the zombies was thorough and began giving more meaning to the story. The symbolism of these creatures and how the good human being became an evil, flesh-seeking monster were just two of the things to write about. When all is said and done, the zombies may never come, but if they do, it is because of films like this that could help with survival. Works Cited Asma, Stephen T. On Monsters: An Unnatural History of Our Worst Fears. Oxford: Oxford UP, 2009. Print. Auty, Daniel. Dawn of the Dead. Rev. of Dawn of the Dead. n.d.: n. pag. The Spinning Image. Web. Bishop, Kyle William. American Zombie Gothic: The Rise and Fall (and Rise) of the Walking Dead in Popular Culture. Jefferson, NC: McFarland , 2010. Print. Gilmore, David D. Monsters: Evil Beings, Mythical Beasts, and All Manner of Imaginary Terrors. Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania, 2003. Print. Haiti and the Truth about Zombies. Www.umich.edu. N.p., n.d. Web. http://www.umich.edu/~uncanny/zombies.html. McCalister, Elizabeth. Slaves, Cannibals, and Infected Hyper-Whites: The Race and Religion of Zombies. Anthropological Quarterly 85.2 (n.d.): 457-86. Web. Public Health Matters Blog. Public Health Matters Blog RSS. N.p., n.d. Web. 30 Nov. 2012. http://blogs.cdc.gov/publichealthmatters/2011/05/preparedness-101-zombie-apocalypse/.

Job satisfaction and employer employee relations

Job satisfaction and employer employee relations Job satisfaction is an integral component of organization environment and important element in management -employee relationship. It is the important subject for the success of business in other words, effect directly or indirectly to the company and customers. Job satisfaction is directly related with improving of company and efficiency of employee. Are the employees happy with his/her present job? This is the main question whose answer has great significance in professional life. If they are happy with their job then there is no problem in company and their daily life. If they were not happy with their job, thats the main problem. And how to solve that problem? What are the causes of job dissatisfaction? Job satisfaction plays main role in defining the employee efficiency and productivity. According to Moorhead and Griffin (2010 p.69) Job satisfaction is the extent to which a person is gratified or fulfilled by his or her work. McDonalds is the worlds biggest chain of the fast food restaurant, it serves food nearly 47 million customers daily through more than 31000 restaurants in 119 countries. McDonalds sells different types of fast food like burger, fries, salad and soft drinks. Mc Donald is being popular because of serving food to customers within a minute, served over the counters, products are standard, customers are really attractive because of low price, cleaned place higher standard, hygienic and consistent food quality, comfortable restaurant environment, quality service and it focused on all level of customers those people who have less purchasing power. Most of the customers are really satisfied with the service of McDonald there was no negative response from the customer. It is true customers are really satisfied but the question comes out to employee who serves to customer. Are the employees of McDonald is satisfied with their job? In which environment they are working? Are there minimum level of facilities are provided by company in the work place? This is very important on the working time. Because of bad working environment sometimes employee says bad words. A word of mouth can do a lot of harm to an organization; this is the causes of employee job dissatisfaction. Employee learning and job satisfaction are two assets that could be tracked on the part of the value creation net.( B. Throsten ,2006). The whole fast food restaurant business depends on the employee to achieve this goal: Hence an employee is one of the key element in fast food restaurant ( wang, 2004). Problem of statement In todays context McDonald has been popular day by day in the fast food restaurant name. According to McDonald website the employee of McDonalds are fully satisfied with their job and customers also. But there is high employee turnover ratio. If the old employees are really satisfied why they leaved their job? And why new employees are attract in McDonald? Are the environment of McDonald is really good? What factors directly influence in the staff turnover and absenteeism on organization? The organizational environment is significance related to the employee job satisfaction but same little affects on employee job performance. Organization that have goals to achieve requires satisfied and happy staff.(ashagbemi,2000). When the employees see that his expectations are not met in the job environment, the job dissatisfaction emerges. It leads to decrease in work efficiency, organization commitment and commitment to the job increase in the rate of optional dissatisfaction of the job.(Sant happaraj, Srini and ling 2005; Payne and Morrision,2002;Redfern,2005;denizer,2008;Gellatly 2005and Sagie,2002) The relation between job satisfaction and organizational climate and arrested that people were the heart of any enterprises because their ideas, attitudes and effort key causes of organization success (Rice.C,1982). Individual in the organization have certain expectation and fulfilment of these depends upon their perception whether organizational climate suits according to their needs or not.( Butt, Bhutto and Abbes,2011). In the fast food restaurant, employees job satisfaction directly affect on the quality of food service, which means the effect on customer satisfaction when the employees are satisfied they works hard and try to give best service for customer.(ling Qin,2004) According to Dunn (2008) The chains annual employee turnover at 700000-or nearly 44% of the companys 1.6 million employees worldwide. A high employee-turnover rate has been perennial problem for the fast food restaurant. Which grows to 130% (john.s, 2007) Organizations managers must know how to manage the workers in organisation but the human nature is difference. So, their thinking depends on their nature and their demand will be difference which cannot refer by company which effect on employee satisfaction. Job satisfaction directly related with the organizational environments like job performance of employee, employee motivation, and customers satisfaction. The factors which effects on job satisfaction is wages, promotion, supervision, facilities etc. Aim of Research To identify the factors, which improve the satisfaction level of employee? To predict the value of job satisfaction and objectives workplace variables such as absenteeism, employee turnover and productivity. To ensure what happens when the employee dissatisfaction? Objectives of Research To identify the factors which are most likely to influence job satisfaction on McDonalds To assess the job satisfaction level on McDonald. To know employee satisfaction towards the facilities. To offer valuable suggestion to improve the satisfaction level of employee. To ensure what happens when the employee dissatisfaction? To evaluate critically relevant theoretical research into job satisfaction. To gain the knowledge of job characteristics and variance model of job satisfaction. To explore what is known of the relation between job satisfaction and other variables such as gender, age, personality.. Why employee job satisfaction is compulsory? And Gaining the knowledge of relation between job and general life satisfaction. To analyze the causes of satisfaction and dissatisfaction among employees in nature of their work and area of dissatisfaction. To identify the practices of motivation among employees and their job satisfaction in industry and the   individual measures for better motivational practices to encourage employees. Conclude the  suggestions on the basis of the research finding. Conclude the  suggestions on the basis of the research finding. Significance of study Improving the relationship between the employee and the organizational climate at work time. Improving the employee efficiency to qualitative and quantities product. Try to understand employees felling and respect their job which effort to organization. Key Issues to be considered Structure of industry Work environment management Employee Involvement Pay system Job  secure Relation between employer-employee and among partners Recognition for good work  and work environment Development and  Career opportunity Literature review Job satisfaction us the feeling of happy by the worker what he/she worked. An attitude which results from a balancing and summation of many specific likes and dislikes experienced in connection with the job. It is the employees judgement of how well the job on the whole satisfying his various needs. Job satisfaction focus on all feeling that an individual has about his/ her job. However what makes a job satisfaction or dissatisfaction does not depends only on the job, but also on the expectations that that individuals have of what their jobs should provide.(Lu, while Bariball, 2004). According to Oxford Dictionary job satisfaction is an application of effort to a purpose, force in action, doing of something a task for materials to be operated on doing as experiences of specified kind employment especially as a means of earning money, a thing done or made, a product or manifestation. .Robbins, Odendaal and Roodt (2003) state there have been to approaches to the study of job satisfaction the global approach and the fact approach. The global approach explains job satisfaction as a single, overall feelings towards a job while the facet approach suggests that there are different facets or different aspects of jobs such as rewards (pay or funds benefits) other people on the job (supervisor) job conditions, communication, security, promotion opportunities, and the nature of the work itself. Lockes (1976) says job satisfaction depends upon the nature of a persons values and needs as well as upon the nature of job. Is this approach really matched for all employment? It is believed that the job facet approach permits a more complete picture of job satisfaction and an individual naturally has different levels of satisfaction with view to the various facets. I think this approach is not equivalent for all types of employees. FW Taylor. (1911) job satisfaction based on a most pragmatic essentially pessimistic philosophy that man is motivation by money alone. Taylor is the father of the management he focus the job satisfied fulfilled by money which is the most essential for whole life. S.K Srivastav (2005) suggested job satisfaction is general attitude which is the result of many specific attitudes in three areas-(a) specific job factor. (b) Individual characteristics (c) group relationship outside the job. And Pestoyee (1991) states job satisfaction can be taken as a summation of employees feelings in four important areas. (a) job nature of work, (b) management (c) social relations (d) personal adjustment. OECD research (2000) investigated job satisfaction of employee depends on the employee status, gender and hours, the self-employed tend to indicate grater satisfaction with their jobs then employees. There are some salient differences in the pattern of job satisfaction by gender. Male employees to be likely to report interesting job satisfaction with lengthening hours of work. While female employees does not. Man and women own account workers the pattern difference in both case the peak satisfaction occurs in job of around 40hr has week. Both authors are in same way but Pestoyee added about the management which is the most important part of the organizational climate. The entire environment depends on management level. So, if higher level manager want the can do everything for employees satisfaction I am argue with this report all the employees want to sufficient wages for expenses in their daily life.non of the employees are satisfied if they have not sufficient money to use in daily life. This is the cause of weekly 40hrs work. Job satisfaction is a collection of numerous attitudes towards various aspects of the job and represents a general attitude, performance of specific task, such as preparing a particular monthly report cant necessary be predicted a particular monthly report cant necessary be predicted on the basis of general attitude. (S.W. John, 2007) Job satisfaction is important for many reasons. Because satisfaction represents an outcome of the work experience, high level of dissatisfaction helps to identity organization problem that need attention. Job satisfaction helps to strongly linked to absenteeism turnover and physical and mental health problems. Job satisfaction refers to the attitude and feelings people have about their work positive and favourable attitudes towards the job indicate job satisfaction. Negative and unfavourable attitudes towards the job indicate job dissatisfaction. (A.Michael, 2006). As same Dunnette, Campbell Hakel, (1967) said that both intrinsic and extrinsic factor appeared to be associated with both job satisfaction job dissatisfaction depending on what was important to the individual. In this case everyone is trying to getting positive attitude and likes to show higher performance for promotion. If the level of job satisfaction is affected by intrinsic and extrinsic motivating factors. The quality of supervision, social relationships with the work group and the degree to which individuals succeed or fail in their work. Litwin and stringr (1968) developed the general measure of organizational climate is the organizational Climate quaternaries (OCQ) the studies have investigation the characteristic of the OCQ (e.g. factor structure) and the relationship of the OCQ to other organisational behaviour constructs. putti and bhun (1988) investigated the relationship between the OCQ and job description index as well. They also concluded that job satisfaction is highly correlated with organizational climate. Organizational climate and the job satisfaction are really linked together. For the employee satisfaction better environment is compulsory but it does not means to hi-fi.it means appropriate which depends on work. Job satisfaction related with personal characteristic employees value and job expectation, ability to attend, situation attendance and pressure to attend.( Steers Rhodeds ,1978). Numerous studies have shown that dissatisfied employees are more likely to quit their jobs or be absent than satisfied employee (Hackett and guion, 1985: hulin, ruznowski, and hacliya, 1985 kohler and mathiu, 1993) job satisfaction shows correlation with turnover and absenteeism in the-25range job dissatisfaction also appears to be related to other withdrawal behaviour including lateness, unionizations grievances drug abuse and decision to retire. The employees who are satisfied with their jobs they want to stay long time in an organization and dissatisfied employee try to be turnover and like to absenteeism. The state job security is the one of most important things for job satisfaction. Social life is more challenging for every employee. So they want to more benefits from organization. Like high payment. Opportunities to use kills and abilities and feeling sat in the work environment. (Kathy ,2010)