...A corporate lifetime ago policies and procedures were a nuisance put in place by management as a way to standardize business practices and attempt to use a single set of rules for everything everywhere they did business. And it was a drag. I have clear memories of my formative years on Wall Street with a seemingly endless row of binders on my cubicle shelf that appeared best suited to gather dust rather than provide anyone direction because in the end, well, all they did was gather dust. So the irony isn’t lost on me that here I am a decade or two later standing on my soapbox explaining why having things documented is a good thing. Twenty years ago there really weren’t enforceable regulatory standards such as SOX or GLBA. Frameworks and assessment guidelines such as CobIT and NIST and ISO 17799 were either in their infancy or not yet developed. And so outside of a very few pockets of industry there wasn’t a whole lot of good reason to have to put down on paper what you did, why you did it and how you got it done. Sure there were the auditors that came around every now and again but things were simpler in those days and much of what they needed could either be found in the occasional dusty binder or grabbed from the data center operations library. Today we live in a different world. There are a seemingly endless number of regulations in place that are tested monthly, quarterly, semi-annually and annually. There are rules as to how you must configure your network, your...
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...Advocacy In my care support class we learnt a lot about advocating for a patient. Advocacy – a person who relays the wants/needs of an individual who for reasons cannot speak for themselves. Advocacy commences when a person represents the interests of another person. This requires complete loyalty of the person acting as an advocate, who represents the wishes, needs and interests of the patient as if it was your own needs, and what advocacy means: the one that pleads, defends or supports the cause or interest of the patient for whatever reason they cannot speak for themselves or on behalf of someone in their best interest, e.g. someone who has not got a voice/confidents or cannot be heard, e.g. children, elderly, dementia patients. There are different forms of advocacy: Self-advocacy: is the ability to speak up for yourself and the things that are very important to you, self-advocacy means you are able to ask for what you need and tell other people about your thoughts and feelings. Self-Advocacy means you know your rights and responsibilities, and you are able to make choices and decisions that affect your life. It is important to learn self-advocacy skills because it helps you decide what you want and what to expect. When you have good self-advocacy skills you can have more control and make the life decisions that are best for you. (advocacy.com) Legal advocacy: involves solicitors protecting their client’s rights and interests in a court of law. i.e. a person’s will or their...
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...Prompt: “The knower’s perspective is essential in the pursuit of knowledge.” To what extent do you agree? Imagine, if you will, that you are sitting at a local café in France and happen to overhear the man sitting behind you say “He did it in cold blood.” As an American, the uneasy feeling of apprehension shoots through your body while waiting to sequentially overhear the dark deed belonging to this mysterious “he” the man behind you speaks of. Now, imagine that you are the friend to whom the Frenchman is confiding who also hears the same “Il l’a fait dans le sang froid.” As a Frenchman, your calm but curious ears wait to hear what the mysterious “he” has done with such grace. For though it may be the same idiomatic expression, “cold blood” takes on two drastically different meanings depending on the language and thus perspective of the person hearing it, consequently altering the tone of the subject entirely. To an American, a deed done in “cold blood” is a vicious deed done without empathy, however, to a Frenchman, a deed done in “le sang froid” is one done with self-control. The variation in the two languages is what causes the American to interpret negatively the words the Frenchman says in good spirit with the knowledge of his own language. Their two perspectives changed the meaning of the sentence entirely and it is for this reason why I would agree wholeheartedly that the knower’s perspective is essential in the pursuit of knowledge. The challenges of understanding...
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...1.Non-state actors especially businesses are more vocal in the design of policies that impact on the global economics. Businesses have the power to influence policies adopted that relate to engaging in trading around the globe ( Fusch, p2). The discursive power enables businesses to exert influence both in the public and in private sectors. Businesses can tailor their discursive powers to achieve diverse objectives relating to policy formulation (Fusch, p26) There are enormous changes in the global intellectual property regime that give the businesses a leeway to actively engage in international economics negotiations. The liberalization of knowledge through relaxed protection of the intellectual property works to the advantage of the businesses (Morin p3). The economic and political changes taking place around the world occasioned changes in the political roles. There is an evident decline in the roles of states in the international policing. The business enterprises are increasing taking over from governments in participating in the international economic policing (Fusch, p5). 2. A classic instance of collaboration among businesses was the formation of Basel II. Several bankers from different countries came together to influence the policies formulated around that time. The bankers came from the states that formed G10 at the time (Young, 2012, p665) The rise of academic communities successfully managed to advocate for the scrapping of the monopoly initially exhibited...
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...Chapter 3: Standard Setting Review Questions: 8-If the standard-setting process should achieve better information, what criteria would identify better information? The relevance and reliability are the two main criteria that would identify better information since this would result useful and trustful information. 9-Is the setting of accounting standards desirable for society? If so, who should set standards? Yes, the setting of accounting standard is desirable for society because it provides investors with relevant information. There are a variety of standards that each depends on its setter for example the “Public Interest Theory” aims to satisfy the needs of the Tax authority. Also the standard setters of ”The social Contract Theory” must reflect w composition of society affected by the standard and by the environment they apply. 10-How does good financial reporting add value to organization? Good financial reporting results on accurate information which enhances the image of the organization consequently motivate investors, accountability with creditors and help manager to evaluate the performance of the company. 13-In your opinion, do the benefits from regulating accounting information outweigh the costs? Justify your answer. The benefits resulting from the regulating accounting information are: * Increased efficiency in allocating capital. * Cheaper production of accounting information. * Check on perquisites. * Public confidence. * Standardisation...
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...erode and eventually completely eradicate entire civilizations such as the rural Ecuadoreans seen in this powerful documentary. Since these peoples are primarily indigenous and have little to no voice as to what a powerful destructive corporation can and will do to them, in order to counteract rampant negligence by corporations in their globalized quest for maximized profit, it is crucial that the growth and evolution of transnational advocacy networks give the people who matter a venue to be heard on a large scale. People all over the world, both nationally and internationally are often silenced or disregarded because as many say, “money talks”, however this all changes when these individuals or small groups of people create coalitions, whether they are near each other, or simply someone on the other side of the planet who is trying to help them and make a difference. It all starts with one person and once the movement gains momentum, it is much harder for corporations and money to stifle and silence. The key to creating these transnational advocacy networks, as seen in Crude, is the presence and backing of a Non-Governmental Organization, or NGO, as Steven R. Donziger (the American Lawyer seen in the case) helped get the popularly called “Amazonian Chernobyl” into the headlines and eventual coverage support by Vanity...
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...parents in advocating for proposed school regulation Background of this idea ABC’s mission is to advocate for the rights of people with disabilities. In the past few years, we have been concerned about how to best advocate for young parents with children who have disabilities—especially since a recently proposed school regulation will have a huge impact on their lives. To sufficiently influence policy makers, these parents need to be educated on the issues and involved in advocating for the new regulation. Their involvement will give ABC’s advocacy work the necessary visible support of young families. However, few young parents participate in ABC’s advocacy programs, preferring to join XYZ for their relevant information and support groups or LMN for their help in addressing problems in the school system. ABC recognizes that young parents have a limited amount of free time and wants to make it easy for them to participate in its advocacy efforts. In addition, ABC needs to be a good steward of its resources and not compete for clients with other organizations that are providing excellent complementary services. Purpose of the alliance The purpose of this alliance is to • Share information about the proposed school regulation • Recruit young parents into the project • Provide training to young parents so that they can assist in revising the proposed school regulation • Defray the costs of parent involvement in the project Outcomes An alliance of ABC, XYZ, and LMN (and perhaps...
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...conducted through a survey of policymakers, the media, and registered lobbyists for nonprofit and for-profit interest groups in Massachusetts. The results of the survey indicate that the majority of nonprofit advocates do not use the media as a tactic to influence policymakers primarily because they do not believe policymakers are very influenced by the media. The results also found that policymakers would view nonprofit advocates as being more influential if they frequently obtained media coverage of the issues important to them. The paper posits that the nonprofit sector’s degree of influence in the policymaking process would be significantly enhanced through greater use of the media for this purpose. BACKGROUND Political advocacy on the part of nonprofit organizations is regarded by some historians as being a vital part of the fabric of what makes nonprofits the “independent sector.” To this end, nonprofit organizations are...
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...DIFFERENT FORMS OF ADVOCACY IN MODERN SOCIETY: Advocacy is defined as public support for or recommendation of a particular cause or policy. It is also defined as the profession or work of a legal advocate whose responsibility is to plead or argue in favour of a course, idea, or policy. There are three forms of advocacies namely case advocacy, self advocacy, peer advocacy, paid independent advocacy, citizen advocacy and statutory advocacy. Case advocacy This at times is referred to as crisis or short-term advocacy. The advocacy focuses on one issue or set of issues which are not intended to have long-term objectives. It may be provided alongside peer, citizen, or self-advocacy to give extra support in dealing with a particular problem due to a break down in an advocacy partnership, or because of issues requiring special expertise e.g. in law, child protection, education, housing, employment, and financial matters. Self advocacy This is when people come together to speak up for themselves. This is the norm for most of the population especially when people feel empowered. It takes the form of societies or special interest groups. People with disabilities tend to be introverts hence find it hard to express their challenges to the rest of the community; Self advocacy is the best way to address these vice. The advocacy groups are run by thee vulnerable themselves with the support of other members of the society. Self advocacy groups comprise of people with sharing common locally;...
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...INTRODUCTION Grassroots-based advocacy movements are not new and continue to be politically contentious. However, since the mid-1990s there has been an increasing interest in advocacy on the part of both NGOs and Northern donor agencies. Firstly, influencing macro-level policy and regulatory frameworks is now seen as essential to increasing opportunities and removing constraints at the micro-level for both enterprise programmes and entrepreneurs themselves. Secondly, multilateral and bilateral donor agencies have increasingly emphasised civil society development and democratisation as a means of effecting this macro-level change. Underpinning both these trends are related debates about rights-based approaches to development and pro-poor growth. Advocacy organizations have also used advances in communications and information technology to increase global as well as national visibility and influence. Impact assessment has had a two-fold role in these trends: • • Firstly action research and impact assessments of the effects of macro-level policies, legislation and regulatory environments have been used to support advocacy campaigns. Secondly donors, NGOs and advocates themselves have been concerned to assess the impacts of their advocacy strategies either to justify funding them and/or to improve future strategies and campaigns. There are now a number of manuals by NGOs and donors presenting models, tools and frameworks for both advocacy itself and advocacy impact assessment.1 There...
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...Steven Vega Professor: Edward J. Romano Course: Business, Government, and Regulation February 4, 2013 “Public Interest” In this article, the special interest group, known as the National Riffle Associates (NRA) is regarded by its critics as a lobbying force. “NRA and bad law block a way to catch killers.” (Amitai) The criticism the NRA receives in the article is warranted. The special interests group was known to have been vitally involved with activities that could have immediate impacts on universal “public interest” for the safety of our family and children. The platform the NRA takes for its activities is most alarming. Technology historically has been largely credited to changing our way of life. ”. As outlined by the article, “micro stamping” is a technology that would identify a single bullet or gun at the point of sale. (Amitai) Technology is a familiar game changer; this would certainly be a step in the direction of suppressing gun crime. However, this would change the landscape of the arms industry; NRA represents the special interest of a certain people, and that people is not “public Interest”. Technology has a strong presence today. Businesses are more efficient, operating with more capital, and expanding internationally. As individuals, we are enjoying a greater quality of life, and almost limitless in our pursuits to happiness. Technological innovation in the realm of gun control can bring confidence to societies, and legitimacy to the industry. (Zandi) ...
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...Special Interest Shavonne Holman Professor Steven Holeman, Sr. POL110 March 2, 2013 Define an interest group, with examples. An interest group is an organization whose members share common concerns and try to influence government policies affecting these concerns. Interest groups are also known as lobbies; lobbying is one of the ways interest groups shape legislation and bring the views of their constituents to the attention of decision-makers. A great example of an interest group would be The American Association of Retired Persons (AARP) which has about 32 million members. Interest groups are organizations that seek to influence the decisions of government. According to Truman, interest groups can be defined as groups that, based on one or more shared attitudes, engage in influencing political decision-making, in order to successfully implement certain political goals or values (Truman, 1993). They usually, but not always, are formally organized. The relation between interest groups and government and society is an affirmative one, although groups may at times employ destructive methods in order to accomplish their goals. The existing social order is accepted by interest groups, and governmental power and its institutions are utilized to attain advantages, protect members and to fight political opponents (Truman, 1993). Two kinds of organizations: Institutional Interest and Membership Interest. Institutional Interest are individuals or organizations representing...
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...Critical Thinking Assignments Chapter 7 1. What If . . . Lobbying were abolished? (Page 220) If lobbying were abolished, then I believe that some people would be happy by this. Lobbying is not favorable to most people because they don’t seek out the best interest of all. Lobbyists tend to represent special interests more often than the interest of the average American. Lobbying being abolished would save a lot of money and would free up funds in corporate America. This would also force businesses to spend this money on advertising and media relations in order to get or persuade people to vote for the candidate they feel would most benefit them. Although some see lobbying as a bad thing, it could help out if all people were represented and not just the ones with the most cash. Chapter 8 1. What If . . . Parties Were Supported Solely by Public Funding? (Page 250) It would be hard to determine what level of funding would be appropriate because both major parties spend millions on campaigning and other activities to support the election. If the amount of funding was reduced then the campaigning might not be as effective. This would also help make the nonparty groups be more important. One of the main problems with this method is that the public funding will be provided by the taxpayers’ dollars. This could also make public funding available to all political parties and not just the major two. This could result in dozens of political parties which would make...
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...Lobbying and Interest Groups Lobbyists can have both beneficial and negative effects when it comes to influencing government legislation for the sake of their respective interest groups. A lobbyist is someone who gets paid to speak on behalf of an interest group’s goals. These lobbyists can be former state legislators, legislative aides, and gubernatorial aides who try to educate congressmen and women, as well as a governors, legislators, or aides on the position of the interest group they represent. Currently, there are 1,666 lobbyists in Texas. In addition, one must register, by law, as a lobbyist if they make more than $1,000 on behalf of their interest group per yearly quarter or spend $500 or more influencing government decision makers. Some of the theoretical costs of lobbying are that since not all interest groups have as much money as others, they can not take as elaborate of steps to try to influence government decision makers, such as paying for things like entertainment, “educational” trips, etc. Some of these benefits for the wealthier interest groups (ie: business interest groups) can lead to misconstrued information and possibly seem to appear unethical to the average citizen, even if no laws are broken. After all, the interest groups that can, will take advantage of loopholes. On the flipside, the benefits are that these government decision makers will become educated, aware, and more understanding as to what a certain interest group’s goals are. So in conclusion...
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...[pic] Published on GreenBiz.com (http://www.greenbiz.com) [pic] Why CSR is Essential in the Real World of Business By Thomas Lyon Created 2010-09-20 03:30 In a recent op-ed piece in The Wall Street Journal, my colleague Professor Aneel Karnani explained why he thinks corporate social responsibility (CSR) is at best irrelevant and probably socially damaging. The heart of his argument lies in the assumption of a neat separation between markets and politics. In this idealized world, politics can be counted on to deliver the regulations needed to rein in corporate greed and malfeasance. Then corporations can safely be left in the hands of managers whose sole interest is maximizing profits. I have a lot of sympathy for this perspective. If politics really worked as advertised, it would make perfect sense to leave social issues to the deliberation of our elected officials. The problem with this perspective is that government failure is just as common as market failure. Certainly markets can fail because there are too few firms, consumers have inadequate information, or because pollution affects innocent bystanders who do not even buy the product that is polluting their air or water. But government can fail, too, sometimes because it is just too big and bloated to deliver what it promises. Often, government fails because of the vigorous lobbying efforts of special interest groups. Sometimes these groups extract special favors that protect them from foreign competition...
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