Anglo American PLC in South Africa Essay Example for Free

Anglo American PLC in South Africa Essay 1. The pros would be: a) The early adoption strategy of ART can help the company to prevent and combat the spread of the disease not only on its workforce but also the populations of surrounding communities. This early initiative can also help to prevent further loss in operating expenses and declining workers’ productivity in the company. b) Anglo American became a de facto leader in the private-sector fight against HIV/AIDS in Africa. It also became a trendsetter for other MNEs to follow suit such as Coke, Ford, and Colgate-Palmolive. c) Received positive reactions and approval from WHO, the Global Business Council on HIV/AIDS, and a host of other NGOs. d) Became a socially responsible company in the global market. This comprehensive program reflects that Anglo American has a good intention on protecting the rights of infected workers. e) The program might have a bright future, as 95% have responded well to the treatment and are working productively. f) The gradual change in the South African government’s view towards HIV/AIDS can further on help Anglo American to combat this national wide epidemic issue of the disease. The cons would be: a) The company had to bear outrageous amount of operating costs to combat this issue, with an estimated $4,000 per employee when the company typically offers $830 for wages and benefits per employee. b) There is a 15% level of non-adherence from the workers who are enrolled in the program and due to harsh working conditions make it hard for workers to take medications on time or to deal with side effects. c) Pressures and oppositions from various constituencies such as the South African government, political leaders, and CEO Brian Gillbertson of BHP Billiton who all thought that the program was not efficient. South Africa’s prime minister uttered the initative as a â€Å"vigilante† move designed to place unreasonable burdens on the government. Recommendations: Anglo American should cut down on major costs to support the program in order prevent further waste of money since it can cost 7.2% of the company’s wage bill. Provide only to those who need to be treated and who can adhere to the program. Anglo American should also seek support from WHO and other international humanitarian organizations, and the South African government with the objective of a great cause for the South Africans. Also try to cooperate with pharmaceutical companies who can sell antiretroviral drugs at a subsidized rate. All of these actions should help maintain the image of the company in the global market. 2. Since migrant workers in South Africa account for about four-fifth of the total workforce, it would not be a strategic decision to adopt the policy of not hiring migrant workers. This policy can also have negative impacts on the company’s image, since it is a pretty discriminatory policy and can cause unequal treatments to workers. Therefore, Anglo American should still hire migrant workers because there are a lot of workers needed to work in the mine site. Switching policies regarding whom to hire will only further increase operating costs. 3. Pharmaceutical companies play a big role in responding to the HIV/AIDS epidemic in South Africa. Since GlaxoSmithKline can sell antiretroviral drugs to Anglo American at 1/10th of the market price in industrialized world, other pharmaceutical companies should be able to do so in order to safe the lives of millions of people. The South African government should cooperate with these pharmaceutical companies since the government itself has started implementing National Strategic Plan for combating HIV/AIDS. This will allow pharmaceutical companies to enter in B2B deals with the government and companies who care for their employees’ health. For the poor enforcement of patent rights, Pharmaceutical companies should enter into an agreement with the South African government that these rights will be protected otherwise cooperation between parties will not take place. There should be strict policies and courses of actions to tackle infringement of patent rights. Pharmaceutical companies should also invest more in RD to create drugs for HIV/AIDS that can save the lives of people. 4. South African government should not 100% implement aggressive policies that were conducted in Brazil and Thailand mainly due to differences in political, economic, legal, cultural conditions, these policies might not work in South Africa (such as taking advantage of TRIPS agreement etc). Instead, the South African government should learn from these countries how to tackle the epidemic issues, relate the situations and implement some of the steps that might be feasible to implement in South Africa. Anglo American’s cooperation with GlaxoSmithKline purchasing life saving drugs at a reasonable price should encourage other pharmaceutical companies (especially MNEs) to join the program to fight against this epidemic disease.

Off to the Mall Essay -- essays research papers

"Let's go to the mall." This comment is one of the few statements that can be heard coming from the mouths of both sexes. While typically associated with shopping, and thus automatically, and unfairly, females, going to the mall has mutual attractions to both males and females. Since the massive increase of shopping malls in this country, the popularity of "going to the mall" has increased a thousand fold for everyone. For females the reason that "going to the mall" is so popular is very clear. Females were always taught that their rightful place is at home taking care of their families (this statement is aid without trying to sound chauvinistic). When the car made a sudden impact on the world during the middle part of the century, even more responsibility's were added to the wife's list of "to do's." The wife no longer just took care of the family. She now was able to go out and shop for food, clothes, or anything else that her family may need. In a sense the wife now had more freedom to take care of the family by being away from the home more. Today women are no different then their 1950's counterparts. While contemporary women are much more free-minded about their own place in society, there still lies the motherly instinct to go out and purchase for the family. This instinct may change in time, but until that change occurs this cause shall remain as the chief reason why women "got to the mall" or "go shopping." ...

Terrorism Can Be Defeated If We Tackle Its Root Causes †Poverty and Injustice

In today’s world, the issue of terrorism has been prevalent. Due to the expanse and connectivity of the Internet, some believe that terrorism is now an entrepreneurial arena with the Internet as its global recruiting station. Poverty and injustice are some of the root causes of terrorism, but these are not the only factors that trigger terrorism. Hence, terrorism may be defeated or abated if we tackle other factors such as religious influence. A minority believes that tackling poverty cannot defeat terrorism. They believe that terrorist groups eschew from recruiting the poor. A high level of educational attainment is seen as signal of one’s commitment to a cause and determination, it also indicates his ability to prepare for an assignment and carry it off. Additionally, terrorist groups may offer more benefits than what one may get in reality; this may also attract more educated but unprincipled individuals into terrorism. For example, well-educated individuals may be eager to participate in terrorist groups if they think that they will assume leadership positions if they succeed. On the other hand, poverty stricken individuals may be targets for the spread of terrorism. Some these individuals are desperate to even stake their lives on immoral acts just to provide financial sustenance for their family. As a result, these individuals become easy prey for terrorist groups. Terrorists groups preach their idea of providing salvation to these troubled people, effectively convincing them to do to their bidding. They promise to reward the victim’s family with money to mitigate their situation of poverty. In most cases, the victim becomes a suicide bomber, a martyr bent on avenging his fate believing that his family will be rewarded for his act of bravery. Many believe that by alleviating poverty, terrorism can be solved. Based on an observation by Gary Becker, a professor at the University of Chicago Business School. He saw that nations or regions that are experiencing rapid growth appear to have lower incidences of terrorism. This led Becker to believe that political activism and violent activity becomes less appealing to individuals when their economic opportunities expand. People are open to more options and are less likely to resort to desperate measures. Hence, terrorism may be reduced if poverty is lessened. Some believe that getting rid of injustices cannot solve terrorism. Though the government may believe that their actions are fair and justified the public and especially extremist groups may not. These extremist groups live by their own ideology, which is seldom paralleled by the government’s actions. Take for example, The Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam. They are a separatist organization formerly based in northern Sri Lanka They sought to create an independent Tamil State in the north and east of Sri Lanka. This campaign spiraled into the Sri Lankan Civil War as the Sri Lankan government refused to agree to their demands. In this case, it is almost impossible to defeat terrorism by righting injustices. However, many argue that by righting injustices, terrorism can be reduced. In some cases, the origin of the intention of terrorism is when injustices take place. When a particular community feels that they are wrongly accused or that the law is unfair some of them take matters into their own hands. They believe that force is the only way to change biased laws. I acknowledge that it is difficult to change the mindset of extremist groups, as they are extremely demanding. However, terrorism can be reduced if we treat everyone with equality. Take for example, when pictures of American soldiers abusing prisoners in Saddam's notorious prison were released. There was a global outcry against these animalistic acts. By reducing these crimes, it reduces the hatred that people might feels towards the Americans. It also lessens the chance of normal civilians becoming terrorists. Hence, by tacking the injustices, fewer civilians would feel mistreated and terrorism can be reduced. I believe that the greatest player in terrorism is religious influence. These religious influences come in the form of extremist views on very sensitive issues. Some feel that religion is used to brainwash terrorists. An example can be seen from the case of Nidal Malik Hasan. He was an Army major and then turned into a mass murderer, fatally shooting twelve people on America’s largest military base. Many believed that Hasan’s path began to take a twist when he attended the Dar Al-Hijrah mosque in Falls Church. Coincidentally, two of the 9/11 hijackers attended this mosque too. Although there was no evidence that the mosque had preached extremist views to Hasan, many argue that he was being brainwashed. It is difficult to stamp out religious influence of this kind as evidence is weak and interference with religious places can lead to conflict. With the large network of the Internet, religious views can be spread through these media networks. There is a plethora of YouTube videos and sermons that can be downloaded from the Internet, leaving the viewer with visions of carnage dancing in their heads. These terrorist groups garner attention via the Internet. This can be seen when Al-Qaeda posted footages of roadside bombings, the decapitation of American hostage Nick Berg, and the kidnapping of Egyptian and Algerian diplomats prior to their execution. The government can be vigilant by actively banning or censoring such websites. Video-sharing such as Youtube should act responsibly and remove these inappropriate videos. By taking down such videos, the outreach of religious influence through the Internet can be tapered. Albeit terrorism is difficult to be defeated by attempting to stamp out the ramification of religious influence, acts of terrorism can be reduced through the Internet. To conclude, I believe that terrorism must be tackled not only from the aspect of injustice and poverty but also the religious aspect. Although terrorism cannot be totally defeated we can reduce the acts of terrorism by holistically solving problems such as injustice, poverty and the spread of extremist views through religious influences.

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