Linking projects and Development an overview (Matilda)

Projects play a vital role in management of development. Projects provide principal means which can change our world through providing immediate solutions to problems. Projects also gauge the success or failure of any programme as well as act as a rational way of allocating resources and also facilitate tangible results .Projects can also allow development agencies to focus resources and attention or effort on well defined sets of activities in order to achieve specific objectives being on specific location. Grittinger (2001) note that projects are cutting age of development .However projects can only be useful to further development if they are implemented correctly and being the rightful solution to a problem .The gist of this paper is to analyse the role of projects and see if they deliver the goals as in given examples as well analysing why some projects fail to deliver the required outcomes as the vital part of projects.

According to John Clark (1991) projects are temporary organisational units to identify long term improvements by temporary efforts, based on a high degree of freedom. Hirschman alluded that a project is a specified kind of investment which connotes purposefulness, some minimum size, specific location, introducing something qualitatively new and the expectation that the sequence of further development moves will set in motion. Akroyd (2003) describes a project as a discrete or independent package of investment designed to remove or alleviate low development contraits or development opportunities. UNDP(2004)define a project as a temporary and ever undertaken to create a unique product or service .A project has a definite end and must have unique features and non-repeated. Projects also differ in size, duration, geographical coverage as well as in complexity .A project can form a programme.

 Projects are also a rational way of allocating resources. World Bank (2004) recognizes the link between poverty and lack of social organization and empowerment (social capital), participation and voice (political capital) and environmental degradation (natural capital) and it is trying to address these issues through its financing activities. Participation of poor people at all stages of the project cycle is one major concern of the organisation, which uses special tools, such as the Participatory Poverty Assessments and the Poverty Reduction Strategy Papers, to ensure participation of the poor in decision making which is vital to development. However if the participation of the poor in such projects  is not done the project will be in vain or it will benefit the wrong people thereby reducing the purpose of a project as a rational way of allocating resources.

Projects allow agencies to focus resources and attention or effort on well defined sets of activities in order to achieve specific objectives being on a specific location. For example World Bank (2004) has also adopted another intriguing initiative called “Justice for the Poor”, which is funded by the Australian Government (AusAID) with the collaboration of other donors. This program seeks to provide both Bank project teams and client countries with support to address justice issues in development projects. It is housed in the Legal VPU which provides advisory services and disseminates knowledge through publications, a website and training courses for Bank staff. This initiative particularly focuses on the marginalized and the poor aiming at promoting access to justice and protecting their rights. This nature of projects is also transforming societies into human rights development thereby became more valuable in the management of development.

 Further, projects also provide immediate solutions to problems. For example World Vision is committed to enhancing access by the poor, especially women, to productive assets such as properties and credit; supporting commercialization of agriculture in a way that will benefit the poor; developing rural infrastructure; assisting in generating employment and fighting seasonal poverty and to encourage the participation of the poor in designing programs and projects that will benefit them. It is also committed to supporting educational, health and nutritional projects for poor and vulnerable people (Chambers 1994). By doing this a project can be said that it is eliminating poverty and provide immediate solution hence playing a vital role in management of development. However such projects may be affected by corruption and diversion of funds which may reduce the role of projects. Proper monitoring and implementation may facilitate the success of projects to deliver their role in the management of development.

 If one project is successful it gains external attention and increases expectations which are necessary in processes of development. Other projects are, then, more likely to be introduced, what makes the social network grow. In that way the technology is being tested in different environments and scales, lessons learned by the trial and error technique enhance the technology, what makes the expectations grow again (Lusting 2000). For example irrigation projects in Masvingo province specifically Mushandike and Bhuka contribute to expansion of irrigations in the province and people are benefiting much .The project is also contributing more to the development of Zimbabwe through irrigation schemes which are giving incomes to people and also supplement household food. This type of project also acts as a measure of development to different countries.

Projects facilitate tangible results which are a good measure of managing the processes of development and provide clear picture for planners and policy makers. This can be witnessed in Kenya where World Bank conducted a project of renewable energy which produces vital tangible results to the villagers. Small scale renewable energy projects in Kenya greatly improve the quality of life of the local population. Lighting alone creates benefits such as increased study time, extended hours for small businesses, and greater security (World Bank 2003, Foster 2000). Also in sector of health there was introduction of cleaner energy, income generating activities are in the form of jobs and stimulation of entrepreneurship that lead to poverty reduction, savings were made through the introduction of more efficient energy sources, and the daily productivity increased by extending working hours beyond daylight time and by lowering the time spend on collection of traditional fuels such as firewood. Indirectly, spinoffs such as for instance increased knowledge enhanced local development as well.

Projects can also gauge the success and failure of a programme or policy, for example the case of the Solar Entrepreneur project on Madagaskar, a cheaper source of lighting is offered to the poor. The baseline analysis shows that the lamps are rented out against the same price of a candle. Therefore, this does unfortunately not decrease the costs for lighting for a household, and thus it cannot contribute to reduction of extreme poverty in that manner(Valadez and Bamberge 2000). In this case failure of the project provides a gauge which calls for another measure to be implemented in order to enhance development.

More so projects are also a means of channelling resources to specific beneficiaries for example income distribution. World Vision and Care International supports indigenous women because it realizes the great untapped capacity for sustainable development intrinsic in indigenous spirituality and cosmogony. Indigenous women have a significant potential role as ‘stewards’ of national and global natural resources and biodiversity. Indigenous women are also repositories of varied and locally rooted knowledge systems that make an important contribution to the world’s heritage. They are also rich in cultural diversity, a valuable quality. Significantly, indigenous women have a key role to play in peace brokering and

conflict mitigation (Rogers etal 2001). By supporting women such projects are a means of channelling resources as well as empowering women which is a vital step in management of development. However in most developing countries such women projects are also used to manipulate women and to gain political support rather than benefiting them hence reducing the role of projects towards development.

 Another great example of project used as income distribution is in Madagaskar were the twin objectives of that project is raising the incomes of indigenous families in the hills (such as Tamang, Danuwar, Praja, Magar and Majhi) who live below the poverty line and contributing to improving the ecology of the hills – were achieved by granting blocks of degraded forest to groups of poor households through a 40 year-lease agreement. Through the training programme, most women have acquired basic literacy skills, and the group members are much more aware of their legal rights and the importance of education and adequate health, sanitation and nutrition for themselves and their families. With the acquisition of leasehold land, many women have started cultivating mulberries and vegetables for sale. The income generated by this activity is used for children’s school expenses, medicine, food, clothing and group savings (Riely etal 1995). This indicates that projects can help in income distribution and resources which is vital for development.

Projects are also a means or instrument through which policies, plans and programmes are implemented. (Rodrick 2001).For example the Women Empowerment Policy of Zimbabwe was implemented through projects such as Small to medium scale business enterprises where woman were funded to start businesses. The successfulness of such projects were not clearly seen since the projects were highly politicised which hinder projects to act as a measure of development. Also the Youth Empowerment Policy of Zimbabwe was implemented through government loans to youth. This act also failed to materialise due to lack of supervision and politics. However, projects if correctly implemented they can lead to implementation of good policies and programmes which are vital for management of development.

Projects are policy expedience, way of experimenting a policy. For example South Africa Black Empowerment Policy comes with a variety of projects for black people to participate in the economy of South Africa. Projects include loans for business start up and portions of land to develop but this was not fruitful since the benefiters showed less interest therefore led to the formation of another policy. In this case projects tested the successfulness of the policy as well as experimented the policy.(World Bank 2003)

However, projects can be used in building political capital. More recently, projects have become part of the debate on donor harmonization, alignment, and use of country systems in project implementation. A paper released in October 2004 by UNDP states that the isolation of projects from government systems as required by external funding agencies limits the positive impact of development assistance to the individual projects.(World development report 2004) In such a scenario projects can also create dependency syndrome which is not clear to measure the rate of development. Some projects are also used to manipulate people by political parties which give no room for such projects to be useful in management of development.

Projects are also privileged particles of development. They play a great role as figures of development. (World Bank 2003) For instance construction of bridges and roads are just particles of development. For example CBZ and FBC banks are building houses for people for mortgages. Such types of projects are particles of development which can also be used as a measure of development in any country.

Also projects can be used to speed up the rate of development processes through speeding up the processes of development .For example projects must seen as means to achieve larger ends. South Africa is now the number one leading nation in development and this was facilitated through projects like dams, bridges, roads construction as well as construction of infrastructure. These projects promote not only economic development but political and social development. In Malawi the government engaged in draining of swamps to clear land for agriculture which speed up the Agricultural policy of 2004 as well as contributing to its success.(world Development report 2004)

Projects are also a way of mobilising development funds. For example irrigation schemes can produce money for another development programmes .For example Gezira irrigation scheme is benefiting the country by inducing 10 percent of its profits to health sector in the country. Again projects like milling projects, cattle fattening or any manufacturing project mobilise developments funds which is vital in the management of development. (IFAD 2000)

Projects also enable the target groups to gain the knowledge necessary to solve problems as far as possible on their own / to get access to services. This can be achieved through proper management and proper implementation of such projects (Riely etal 1995). For example the Indigenisation policy of Zimbabwe was implemented through projects of which most of them are not successful because of biased implementation especially on political grounds on the funds which were given to youth and women to start up projects.

Locally adjusted solutions are identified and tested in cooperation with target groups and co-operating agencies through projects .For example dam construction in Zimbabwe offer income generation to people as well as paving way for road construction which network the country .Though the project failed to deliver the exact necessities of people, it manage to create a way of income and indicate the rate of development Zimbabwe is going through.

People (especially the poor) are in a position to make appropriate use of their resources and to get access to required services through projects. Successfully tested solutions are disseminated on all relevant subjects through projects (Rodrick 2001). However because of corruption and diversion of funds most projects are half done and they are not very effective in most countries around the globe. Levels and implementing agencies have the knowledge to implement the identified solutions but reduced their participation due to political biases that some areas are neglected because of political background which makes it hard to measure the usefulness of projects.

Projects can also deliver regular well established services if managed properly (Clay 1997). For example dam construction projects which was carried on in Zimbabwe around 1990s was suppose to offer services to the people but the constructions were half done with little supervision which failed to offer the targeted services to the people hence becomes so difficult to use projects to measure development or to establish services to the people.

An intersectional co-ordinated programme system is established and functioning through projects. (IFAD 2004) This indicates that projects give guidance and direction to management of development in an area. Successfully implemented projects  like water projects by Action firm in Zimbabwe  (Gutu district) is giving guidance to their goal of WASH .This implies that small projects are being used to achieve a goal and offer management of development as a goal.

For projects to be fruitful there should be proper monitoring and implementation. Projects must also be vital for a planned purpose and must save a purpose as well as offer guidance and solutions to a problem. However projects need to be a way of creating a road for development as well as a necessity which can be measured in the management of development.

 In conclusion projects play a vital role in the management of development. Projects are a way of channelling resources to the people, they can also be used to raise funds for development as well as offer guidance in management of development among others .To a greater extent projects are necessary in the management of development if they are well coordinated.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Administrative Committee on Coordination Sub-Committee on Nutrition. 1993

BAOBAB: Handbook on Development Design- Roles of projects.

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Chambers, R. The origins and practice of participatory rural appraisal, Oxford ,Oxford university,1994

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ESCOR No. R5911. London: 1997.

 Determinants of Household Food Security in Honduras. A report on the National Household International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD). 1998.

Food composition table. The Netherlands: Wageningen Agricultural University, Department of Human Nutrition. Development Administration Report 2007

Hills Leasehold Forestry and Forage Development Project, Draft Evaluation Report, IFAD 2003

Human Stories of Rural Poor, IFAD 2000

 Lustig N and N. Stern “Broadening the agenda for poverty reduction: opportunity, empowerment, security”,  IMF Finance and Development, 2000

Management of Natural Resources in the Southern Highlands Project, External Evaluation Report, IFAD,2008

Riely, F., N. Mock, B. Cogill, L. Bailey, and E. Kenefick. Food security indicators and framework for use in the monitoring and evaluation of food aid programs. IMPACT: Food security and nutrition monitoring project, Arlington, Va., U.S.A.1995.

Rogers, B. L., A. J. Swindale, and P. Ohri-Vachaspati,Roles of projects in implementing programmes,New York. 1996.

 Rodrik D, “Development strategies for the next century” Cambridge, Cambridge University Press, 2001.

Third Report on the World Nutrition Situation. Geneva:unicef 2009

United Naitons ACC/SCNCTA/ECSA (Technical Centre for Agricultural and Rural Cooperation/East,Central, and Southern Africa Food and Nutrition Cooperation). 1987. United Nations General Assembly  “Legal Empowerment of the poor and eradication of poverty” 2009. 

Valadez, J, and M. Bamberger. Monitoring and evaluating social programs in developing countries. Washington, D.C.: World Bank 2000.

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Role of Multinational Corporations in Development by Cynthia Hove

This presentation focuses on MNC’s as they have greatly influenced the development path of many nations. It seeks to expose how they have positively and negatively impacted host countries as they are considered key agents of change when it comes to development. This change can be facilitated by various players, the government , NGO’s and non-profit organisations, Faith based Organisations and Multi National Corporations.   

Former UN Secretary General Kofi Annan emphasized in one of his speeches: “The UN once dealt with only governments. By now we know that peace and prosperity cannot be achieved without partnerships involving governments, international organizations, the business community and civil society. In today’s world we depend on each other.” (Gell-Redman, Micah and Kang, Caren, 2006)

What then are MNC’s?

 A Multi-National corporation (also sometimes known as a multi-national-enterprise) is a corporation or an enterprise that manages production or delivers services in more than one country. MNC’s may also be referred to as international corporations. The International Labour Organisation has defined an MNC as a corporation that has its management headquarters in one country, known as the home country and operates in several others known as host countries.

Some multinational corporations are very big, with budgets that exceed some nations' GDP’s Multinational corporations can have a powerful influence in local economies, and even the world economy, and play an important role in international relations and globalization

According to Anderson and Cavanagh, among the largest 100 economies in the world, 51 are multinational corporations (MNCs), whereas only 49 are countries. The analysis is based on a comparison of the corporate sales of MNCs and the GDPs of the countries. The study further shows that, out of the 200 largest economies of the world, 144 are MNCs. The combined sales of the top 200 corporations are bigger than the combined economies of all the countries of the world, minus the largest 10. The income of MNCs is 18 times higher than the combined annual income of the 1.2 billion people of poor countries (24 percent of the total world population). The study has found that the growth of sales of top 200 corporations is faster than overall global economic activity. Between 1983 and 1999, their profits grew by 362 percent whereas their combined sales grew from 25 percent to 27.5 percent of the world GDP.

Anderson and Cavanagh (2000), further reveal that the US dominates the top 200 corporations, accounting for 82, i.e. 41 percent of the total. Japan is second, with 41 corporations, Germany comes in third, with 20, followed by France and UK, which account for 17 and 11 corporations, respectively.

According to the UN Committee on Trade and Development (UNCTAD), MNCs account for 70 percent of the total world foreign trade, which is US $7 trillion.

Most of these MNCs belong to the rich countries; therefore, it is natural that MNCs and their respective countries should safeguard their mutual economic, political, and cultural interests under the cloak of globalization. Economies are the catalysts of the globalization process, and they are represented by MNCs and transnational corporations (TNCs), which maintain the highest stakes and stand to gain the maximum benefits.

I have mentioned TNC there so I will elaborate

A Transnational Corporation (TNC) differs from a traditional MNC in that it does not identify itself with one national home. Whilst traditional MNCs are national companies with foreign subsidiaries, Druker, P (1997) The Global economy and the Nation State . TNCs spread out their operations in many countries sustaining high levels of local responsiveness. An example of a TNC is Nestlé who employ senior executives from many countries and try to make decisions from a global perspective rather than from one centralised headquarters. Schemerhom J (2009) Exploring management  However, the terms TNC and MNC are often used interchangeably.

Multinational corporations because of their enormous size, enjoy massive economic and political power which enables them to dictate terms to the under-developed countries. They are able to manipulate prices and profits and restrict the entry of potential competitors through their dominant influences over new technology, special skills, ability to spend enormous fund on advertising etc.

MNCs organize this operation in different countries through any of the following five alternatives:

1.      Branches 2. Subsidiaries 3. joint venture company 4. Franchise holders 5. turn-key projects

Through these various methods of operations, MNCs carry their technology to the developing countries. If MNCs set up a branch or a subsidiary company, it is claimed that there is a direct injection of foreign experience and expertise in the developing country. The branch or the subsidiary company can provide a channel for the transmission of the latest improvements from the developed to the underdeveloped countries. In the words of A.K. Cairecross, There is a no question that the branch factory is a highly effective way of improvement technology. It usually provides, along with the technical expertise, the capital that is not easily mobilized in underdeveloped countries for new industrial countries for new industrial ventures and the managerial experience that can so rarely be supplied by them.

The modus operandi of the multinationals in spreading there is very interesting. Like the East India Company which came to India as a trading company and then spread its net throughout the country to become politically dominant, these multinationals first start their activities in extractive industries or control raw materials in the host countries and then slowly enter the manufacturing and service sectors.

The economic role of multinational corporations (MNCs) is simply to channel physical and financial capital to countries with capital shortages. As a consequence, wealth is created, which yields new jobs directly and through “crowding-in” effects. In addition, new tax revenues arise from MNC generated income, allowing developing countries to improve their infrastructures and to strengthen their human capital. By improving the efficiency of capital flows, MNCs reduce world poverty levels and provide a positive externality that is consistent with the United Nations’ (UN) mission — countries are encouraged to cooperate and to seek peaceful solutions to external and internal conflicts.

Strategies used by MNC’s

Lobbying: Given their huge capital resources and production capacities, MNCs are able to dictate their own terms in economic dealings. For the sale of their enormous production, MNCs require access to large markets; tariff issues, access restrictions and similar “barriers to trade” are hurdles in this access. What MNCs need is a global system for the free flow of their goods. They therefore use their sheer economic weight to influence international trade rules. With their huge resources, they employ lobbyists with the highest expertise and influence at international trade organizations. The rich West, influenced by such lobbying, makes decisions in favor of the MNCs, irrespective of the economic, social or cultural consequences for the poor of the world. This lobbying power is what MNC’s should be using to development rural areas at home and in the developing world

Entry in Host Countries: Having poor economic infrastructure and little capital, developing countries very easily agree to host MNCs. At times, their weak regulatory positions are subsequently exploited by MNCs.

Pushing Local Producers Out: MNCs either buy out the local companies of the host countries or push them out of the markets by offering cheaper and better quality goods for some time. Where aggressive marketing is needed, MNCs can, in the initial phase, even provide their products free of cost to coax the public into developing appropriate consumption habits. An example as highlighted in an article on MNC’s in Pakistan is An interesting example is the advertisement of the global beverage brand, Pepsi, which openly ridicules indigenous drinks such as Rooh Afza and Jam-e-Sheereen

Benefits of MNC’s to host countries
When MNCs enter host societies, there are some benefits, which are outlined below:

Financial and Technological Resources and Expertise: MNCs provide immense resources and investments, technology, innovation and expertise to the host societies. A culture of research and development is encouraged and human resources are developed, at least within the organization. MNCs also contribute significantly to the national exchequer by paying taxes.

Good Business Practices: Good governance, organizational transparency, clear command structures, and performance-based evaluation and incentives programs for employees encourage the merit system. MNCs introduce a professional working environment and culture for local organizations to emulate, thereby promoting sound management and business education.  

Comforts of Life: In some cases, large-scale economies, quality control and a healthy competition lead to price cuts and other benefits for the end-user. People have more access to the comforts of life with a large variety of choices.

Infrastructure Improvement: Many MNCs help in improving the infrastructure and provision of basic needs in their specific areas of operation. They either do so directly or provide funds for this purpose to civil society organizations. This also improves business conditions within and in the vicinity of the areas where they are operating. A simple example in the case of Pakistan is that of petrol pumps, which used to be filthy and inhospitable places but are now not only clean and aesthetically laid out, but also offer many facilities for travelers. These improvements have been a result of the moving in of Shell

Pluralism: MNCs help boost cross-boundary interaction among people. Even education, particularly, business education, has taken on a global perspective. The global perspectives and opportunities for cross-cultural understanding increase the adaptability of students to alien environments. This leads to the mixing of cultures and practices and encourages pluralism as well as competition.

Nevertheless, MNCs can also pose problems for host societies in the spheres of social and economic development and cultural diversity. How this happens is outlined below.

Cultural Changes: MNCs use, develop and continually refine their marketing tactics to create consumers’ need for their products. They use social marketing and stars from the worlds of sports and show business to project their products, especially affecting the youth, women and children as they are generally attracted to glamour. Special events, festivals and campaigns are organized to create hype. In this atmosphere, ethical and moral considerations have no place, and corporate interests start determining what is to be celebrated and how.

With the spread of MNCs’ operations in a society, the importance of foreign languages increases because these firms mostly operate among the classes equipped with foreign language skills and hire and promote the people from the same groups. Culture in such a space is eroded, Matunhu J (2011) posits that, in the process of mordenising Africa, the people of the continent lost their identity and development path. This is not to say cultural diversity is bad but development for Africa must be embroiled in African values. As the world moves towards becoming a universal village, it must maintain its cultural diversity, which is the beauty of life and an asset of all mankind. Any effort by a dominant group to impose a particular culture on the rest of the world will create problems globally. To be just and fruitful, globalization must always have a human face.

Conflicts of Interest: MNCs are commercial organizations and their only interest is to gain maximum return on their invested capital, occupy market shares and ensure their long-term competitiveness. This leads to conflict of interests between the MNCs and host societies on issues like repatriation of profits, patents, and major operational decisions. Host countries would want MNCs to work in a manner that is harmonious with the social and political needs of their societies and communities, whereas the MNCs make their choices based purely on economic criteria. This conflict of interests leads to conflict within societies.

Increasing Materialism and Consumerism: MNCs promote a culture of conspicuous consumption, in which presentation and cosmetic changes matter the most. The product models change very fast and the older ones lose relevance in a short span of time. Consumerism has an overwhelming impact on societies. For example, departmental stores and shopping malls/plazas are mushrooming everywhere both as an outcome of and an impetus to further consumerism. Eating habits are also changing, with increasing consumption of processed, instant, fast and junk food, especially products of international brands. The emphasis is on instant access and quick relief. Many products also glamorize life in the fast lane, leading to increased consumption of faster communication products, cars, as well as stimulants such as cigarettes, and alcohol. As outward looks become central in the vision of success, a vibrant fashion industry is changing the dress and outlook of ordinary people. Spending priorities have changed.

Contrary to the conventional view, taking loans is now considered a status symbol. The availability of easy credit, consumer financing, credit cards and personal loans by the banks to the middle class is promoting a culture of people living beyond their means.

Simplicity is losing currency and people strive to live in luxury. This trend makes the disparity of resources among people, groups and even regions look wider. Previously, education was aimed at developing a balanced personality and ethical and social values and character building were emphasized. Now, however, materialism has taken over. We may then conclude that MNC’s are perpetuating Modernization in the less developed world.

Corruption and Crime: In the race for maximum profit, the MNCs deem their ends to sometimes justify the means: they use their considerable buying power to corrupt people to capture markets. For example, a report titled Milking Profits, which is based on a disclosure by a former employee of an MNC in Pakistan of the unfair tactics the company uses to increase its sales of formula milk and earn profits, compromising infants’ health. The tactics include interfering in government efforts to regulate the industry, bribing doctors with perks and persuasions such as money for signboards and free lunches as well as cost free supplies and samples. (The Network for Consumer Protection, 1999)

Healthcare Attitudes: Healthcare attitudes are changing and people expect better health services. The job is made easier by the new norm of “third party cashless payments,” where payment is made via credit cards or health insurance. The focus has now increased on preventive healthcare. Although it is good for those who can afford these facilities - and they are the targets of MNCs- yet it is extremely frustrating for those who cannot afford them. Hectic routines, targets and deadlines are resulting in stresses and pressures. A destructive lifestyle has led to a host of medical crises: sexual problems from over-performance at work, stress, mid-life crisis, ulcers, nervous disorders, hypertension, obesity, cardiac disease, diabetes etc., are all lifestyle-related ailments that are on the rise. These are problems associated with the developed world that are gradually trickling down to the developing world in the vein of MNC’s and development. For example according to Datta (2006),  In the US, Caesarian rates have hit an all-time high at 29.1 percent. In the UK, one in five births is a surgical procedure compared to less than 3 percent in the 1950s; in Brazil, a joke goes, the only way you don’t get a Caesarian in Rio De Janeiro is if your doctor gets stuck in traffic.

Brain Drain: The term “brain drain” is commonly used for the situation when talent goes out to other countries. The MNCs are involved in another kind of brain drain. Their lucrative salaries attract talent that might have contributed to the host society to work for their ‘multinational’ interests without leaving the country. The human resources that could have been actively working towards the development of their home countries rush to the big corporations and end up working to further build the corporation without necessarily contributing to the betterment of their own nations

Promotion of Non-Issues: Importantly, poor people are not the target of MNCs. They target the middle classes, who have the buying powers, and trying to change their priorities in everyday life, spending and consumption. MNCs establish close linkages with intellectuals, legislators, media and some non-government organizations (NGOs) to highlight specific issues that suit their business interests.

Negative marketing: When introducing their products, MNCs exaggerate the qualities to the level of cheating and lying. Aggressive campaigns with false claims are launched. Local products are ridiculed. Children and youth are special targets, while women are treated as commodities to project the products, affecting the existing value framework of the societies.

Violation of Human Rights: Exploitation of workers by large business corporations is a common phenomenon. Most workers are exposed to hazardous and inhuman conditions, overexertion and financial abuse. This happens despite the fact that many of the world’s largest business associations, including the International Chamber of Commerce, have endorsed the UN Secretary General’s “Global Compact,” a mechanism for self-regulation by business companies.

Stresses on the Family: MNCs affect the host society’s family fabric in many ways. The new cultures and lifestyles introduced by MNCs are proving harmful to the family fabric in host societies. Overspending and living beyond means eventually creates economic pressures and develops tensions and stresses within families. Various indicators also prove that women working with MNCs and other big corporations undergo extra stress when entering into marriages and bearing children. Parents have little time for their families, particularly children. One out of six women in the world opts out of natural birth, according to the World Health Organization (WHO). Earlier, this trend was specific to the developed countries but it now prevails in the least developed world too.

 The question then is how do developing countries move forward  when those bringing ‘development’ have a lot of negatives attached as well.                            
MNCs have both a positive and a negative impact on host societies, even in the developed world. MNCs have contributed a lot in the growth of developed countries and both have progressed side by side. This has been an evolutionary development and, therefore, there are now strong institutions, including legislating bodies, regulatory agencies, judicial system, and consumer societies, to check and maintain the balance from within. In the case of developing host societies, however, a rather uneven contest is taking place.

So has anything be done to monitor MNC’s?

An important role currently undertaken by the UN is the provision of a valuable and detailed assessment of the economic impact of MNCs through its publication of the World Investment Report. In addition, the UN’s publication of the Human Development Report and the World Bank’s World Development Report, provide researchers with a broad picture of trends in world welfare. These reports, however, present static measures of income inequality and are thus too limiting. The UN and World Bank should also analyze measures of mobility. Studies that focus only on income inequality, may be highly misleading because countries may have identical income distributions but far different social welfare levels due to differences in economic and social mobility.

Conclusion

At the end of the end the analysis reveals that although MNC’s bring about improvements in host countries such as infrastructure , there is a lot more that they could be doing to foster development considering their massive influence in decision making worldwide, their economic power, and their influence on world markets. It is apparent that most MNC’s are more concerned with earning profit and all their efforts in developing countries particularly are a means to an end, in all this they are doing more harm than good. According to The World Revolution Three billion of the world’s people (one-half) live in “poverty” (i.e. on less than $2 per day). Among these, 1.3 billion live in “absolute” or “extreme” poverty (i.e. on less than $1 per day). Some 800 million people lack access to basic healthcare. About 17 million people, including 11 million children, die every year from easily preventable diseases or malnutrition. In addition, 800 million people are hungry or malnourished; nearly 160 million children are malnourished worldwide, and 11 million people die every year from hunger and malnutrition. Approximately 2.4 billion people lack access to proper sanitation; 1.1 billion do not have safe drinking water. By 2025, at least 3.5 billion people or nearly two-thirds of the world’s population will face water scarcity. More than 2.2 million people, mostly children, die each year from water related diseases. Some 275 million children never attend or complete primary school education; 870 million of the world’s adults are illiterate. There is therefore a lot that still needs to be done and MNC’s may not be the answer. The MNC-led globalization currently under way emphasizes economic integration. As Nelson Mandela admitted at the “Bridging the Divide” Conclave 2006, held by India Today, “It worries me that our world is becoming a global village only for the exchange of goods and information — not as a place of shelter, livelihood, security and dignity for all who live in it.”

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Gell-Redman, Micah and Kang, Caren. 2006. ‘Plenty of “Unfinished Business”.’ The Current, Volume 10, Number 1, Fall 2006. Cornell Institute of Public Affairs

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http://www.ips.org.ik/globalisation

Gender Notes :Socialization

The social construction of gender is therefore the social making of gender through the process of gender socialization. The social institutions that are responsible for gender construction are called socialisation forces like the family, the school, the media, language, music religion among others. The people who carry out the socialization are socialisation agents like the parents, the teachers, pastors, peers and many others. Some institutions like the family are primary socialization institutions in the sense that they are the first that any child comes into contact with. Murdock in Haralambos and Holborn  says the family is the child’s first window to the world and no other gender socialisation institution rivals it in gender socialisation. Such prime gender socialisation institutions are called primary socialisation forces, while those institutions that the child comes in contact with after primary socialisation are called secondary socialisation forces like the school, the peer group, and others. Both the primary and secondary forces create, reinforce, maintain and perpetuate gender differences but the primary forces are the chief creators, while the secondary forces are the chief maintainers, reinforcers and perpetuators.

The Family

The family constructs gender through the way family members:

·       interact with and treat the child

·       talk to the child

·       dress the child,

·       the types of toys they give to the child

·       assignment of roles and the roles they give

·       accord the child benefits and opportunities and the type of benefits and opportunities they accord

·       position the child within the family

·       give the child the name and the name given and even the other pseudo names given

As can be gleaned from the above data, adults provide infants with clothes of appropriate colors and styling, according to whether they are a boy or a girl. They also equip them with an appropriate stock of toys. Such adults also act as role models and children imitate their behavior. The children are also encouraged to conform to roles and behavior appropriate to their sex through a system of rewards and punishments operated by adults eg, girls are praised for being clean, for wearing a pretty dress and their house keeping diligence and yet they are discouraged from playing soccer or participating in tyre-changing even for a bicycle. Boys are also praised for so-called masculine tasks but are regarded as odd if they like housework or playing with dolls.

In the process, children themselves begin to internalize appropriate behavioral norms and characteristics and thereby unconsciously regulate their own behavior in line with the masculine and feminine roles into which they are socialized.

Secondary socialization

1.    The School

This is a secondary socializing force and the teachers are the chief socialising agents. The school operates on two levels, that is, the intentional and official and the unintentional and none official both of which are gender differentiated (Dekker and Lemmer 2003.)Gordon (1995) says that teachers may not explicitly teach gender, but gender emerges on its own in the perspectives teachers bring to school from home and importantly in the curriculum. This shapes what the school pupils’ eyes see, what their ears hear and what their minds in turn believe in through:

·       the school management structure

·       the ways teachers talk ,organize and treat the pupils

·       the portrayal of men and women in the texts and reading books or the learning media

·       the subject allocations

·       the teachers’ teaching methodologies

·       the teachers’ attitudes and expectations

·       The extra curricula activities and the sort of carrier guidance offered among other things, imparts a gender social code on the pupils.

Therefore you see that, the exclamations ‘it’s a boy! Or it’s a girl!’ upon delivery sets a course of action that from that moment on, influences multiple facets of a person’s life. The answer ‘boy or girl’ carries significance in the child’s entire life in terms of the individual’s:

·       opportunities

·       associations and relationships

·       benefits

·       societal roles and responsibilities

·       value in society

·       social identity

·       expected behavior

The Peer Group

On reaching school age, children begin to interact more intensively outside the family, especially with others of their age (the peer group).Within the peer group, the male and female worlds are further developed.

Children’s games provide important cultural lessons. Lever cited in Macionis (1989) concluded that the peer group activities of boys and girls differ considerably, providing in each case a distinctive type of socialization. Lever found out that boys engage in team sports that involve many roles and complex rules, and clear objectives like scoring a goal. These games are almost always competitive, producing winners and losers. Such activity among boys reinforces the characteristics of masculinity, notably aggression, competition, and remaining in control.

Lever postulates that girls on the other hand, tend to play games such as jump rope in small groups, or simply sing or dance together. Such activity tends to be spontaneous, involving few simple rules. Just as important, since these games rarely have ‘victory’ as their ultimate goal, girls rarely oppose one another. However, female peer groups do serve to teach the interpersonal skills of communication and cooperation that are the basis for life within the family.

Gilligan cited in Giddens (2004), noted that boys and girls learn to use distinctive patterns of moral reasoning. Boys tend to reason according to rules and principles, that ‘rightness’ is largely a matter of ‘playing by the rules’. Girls however, understand morality more in terms of responsibility to other human beings, so that ‘rightness’ lies in maintaining close relationships with others. Clearly then, these distinctive patterns of moral reasoning are encouraged by the different kinds of peer group activity common   to boys and girls.

The Mass Media

Mass media are channels of communication directed to vast audiences within a society (Macionis, 1989).The mass media include both electronic and print media such as the television, radio, newspapers and magazines. All of these constantly present us with information of all kinds and, as a result, have an enormous effect on our attitudes and behaviour. The mass media are a powerful force in the socialization process. Films, magazines, literature and especially the television, have a significant effect on the ways we think and act.