Blog comments

I made my comments in the following blogs: Lina Gaviria, Laura de Bedout, Juliana Aldana, Paulina Patiño and Carolina Jaramillo.

Preserving the Environment

The biggest Oil Brazilian Company “Petrobras” is a multinational recognized for its performing in exploration and production; downstream; trade, transportation and petrochemicals; derivative distribution; natural gas; biofuels, and electric energy. In the same way, Petrobras is also directed to propel development and ensure the future of the society showing that is possible to produce oil without forgetting the environment and acting in obedience to competency, ethics and respect for diversity.

Socio-environmental responsibility is a keyword that belongs to Petrobras´mission and vision caring about a sustainable future of the planet and next generations. It is worried to preserve natural resources and construct socio-environmental consciousness in the community. To accomplish these objectives the Organization uses a rational quantity of water in its operations, generates the least residues and gas emissions trying always to reduce the environmental impact and to reinforce their commitment.

Since 2003 Petrobras has been developing and supporting some environmental projects and programs investing high amounts of money. In 2008 the investments surpassed the 557 millions of Brazilian Real not only in environmental projects but also in the social, cultural and sporting ambits. The initiatives are carried out by commissions mainly represented in the civil society, the government and some professionals that compose the Petrobras personnel.

This activities and projects should be taken as clear models to follow up by all companies around the world. It is necessary that the society as a whole adopt a solidarity attitude in order to protect the place we live in and assure at the same time a proper space for our children.

What can different organizations & the Private sector do to avoid the abuse of minorities?

Abuse of minorities is a social and cultural problem that has been affecting the communities of many countries around the World. For this reason plenty of organizations and programs have been created in order to avoid or diminish the effect of those forms of exclusion and abuse of minorities. However, because the efforts of some governments to fight against this problem have not been enough and the outcomes are not the awaited, it is necessary to implement some strategies that allow a satisfactory solution. Both the organizations and the private sector have to make a serious commitment in this area, they have to adopt projects and programs of action that engage the society as a whole and assure a community cohesion and effective equality.

As a primary tool there is the education which can be used to sensitize people about the importance of diversity and the inclusion of minorities into the society. This can be achieved also through campaigns of communication that promote the protection against any form of discrimination and reduce race inequalities. Political and community leaders could represent an important key developing a great labor in this educational activity.

Finally, in order to assure the well functioning of all this campaigns and programs some committees or groups of work should be created. They would be charge of supervising the development of all the activities, control the labors of the people involved and correct the anomalies that could obstruct the progress of the mission.

Trade Unions

Trade Unions in Europe could be classified into the European Trade Union Confederation (ETUC) that was founded in 1973 to promote the interests of working people at the European level and to participate in the EU institutions. The ETUC speaks at a single voice on behalf of 82 trade union organizations in 36 European countries, plus 12 industry-based federations.

The ETUC`s prime objective is to work for the development of a united Europe of peace and stability and to foster European Social Model assuring full human and civil rights. This social model embodies a society that combines a sustainable economic growth with living and working standards, full employment, social inclusion and protection, equal opportunities and democratic policy-making processes. The ETUC also believes that workers’ consultation, collective bargaining, social dialogue and good working conditions are key factors to promote innovation, productivity, competitiveness and growth in Europe.

In the Latin American side there exist as well some Trade Unions that are representatives of workers in several industries tending to be concentrated in some specific areas, especially the public sector, with the purpose of improving their economic standards and working conditions through collective bargaining with employers. Despite of the objectives that are quite similar in both contexts, Labor Unions in Latin America do not work in the same way than the European Unions do. Because the State constantly figures in defining the union´s effective environment, their relationships with the state and political leaders sometimes becomes more relevant than their dealings with the employees they represent.

Enlace de Interés

http://mundoporlibre.com/

Islamic Law

The Islamic Law or “Sharia” is defined as the set of laws and principles that establishes the way Muslims should live or the path they must follow. This law also emphasizes moral and ethical values in all dealings of life and covers many aspects including economics, politics, business, banking, family and social issues.

The Electronic Commerce is a matter that is also analyzed in the frame of this set of rules generating a controversial debate in turn of its legality and accomplishment of Islamic principles in conducting businesses. This new process of selling and buying goods electronically has to be examine taking into account the rights of privacy, consumer data protection, rights to know the detailed of the products and other aspects. In this order of ideas, Muslims catalogue E-commerce as a short selling business with absence of concrete delivery, uncertainty and with juridical authentication´s problems.

I consider that E-Commerce should be worldwide accepted as a new way of technology that gives the benefit of facilitating economic transactions between producers and consumers. Despite of the contradictions that could emerge in this affair, E-Commerce should be taken as a tool and not as a threat against the Islamic Law. The principles that composed this ruling could be more flexible taking into account that it is very difficult to control a strict fulfillment of all requirements. The Law can require a minimum of conditions such as clarity and continuity in the communication, clearly defined products and conformity between the contracting parties.

Japanese-Korean-Colombian Management Styles

Tiananmen Square Massacre

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/d/d8/Tianasquare.jpg

(1989)The Tiananmen massacre was the result of a manifestation and protest series carried out by thousand of students, intellectuals and workers in the Popular Republic of China. The revolution was sparked by the death of Hu Yaobang, an anti-corruption and pro-democracy retired official and it was directed to the government´s repression and corruption as well as to the excessive economic reforms that were causing high rates of inflation and unemployment. The protest was suppressed by force trough the using of hundreds of tanks and army infantry that left as a result 400-800 civil deaths and 7000-10000 of wounded people.

I consider this event as a huge attempt to human rights. Thousand of people died just because they were expressing their feelings of unfairness and wanted to acquire better live conditions. I really believe that the Communist Party of China did not act in the best appropriate way; this brutal suppression of demonstrators was not the manner of controlling or stopping those manifestations and it just constitutes a matter of embarrassment. This horrible massacre could not be a fact to feel proud about and a demonstration of this is that thousand of Chinese people does not even know about what really happen that 4 of June of 1989 because of the big repression and strict constraints that the Chinese government has over all the media and academic material. The Chinese mandatary order not to talk about this event and even today it is considered a politic taboo that shows itself as inappropriate and risky.

In this order of ideas, it is also important to mention the agreement made in 2006 between the Chinese government and the internet searcher Google (Google.cn). The result of the negotiation was the censoring internet and local restrictions imposed to the production, development and dissemination of “improper” or “harmful” information (this includes material concerning the Tiananmen Massacre, The Falun Gong spiritual movement and the Tibetan independentism).

Migrants vs. Expatriates

The main difference between migrants and expatriates is that the first group decides to go to another country because of socio-economic reasons; they are tempted by more attractive living conditions and better opportunities for earning money. Generally, migrants are low skill people without a stable employment that see the migration process as a way of success and personal development. In the second case, expatriates are defined as specialized professionals and academics that belong to a company and accept the proposal of going abroad in order to advance their careers, access to better wages and achieve more benefits. This group is characterized for seeking high professional and abilities development, improvements in their job positions and acquire new knowledge basis appropriate for the success of their employer company.

Immigration Opportunities

I consider immigration as a great instrument of progress and success when you do not have enough access to opportunities in your country of origin. Sometimes it is necessary to look for other alternatives in order to achieve personal, familiar and professional goals. In the first case (personal achievement), a person can obtain better experiences in another country with different traditions and cultures and at the same time, can explore new environments that facilitates the development of itself as an individual. In the second case, there are situations in which become better to go outside of our country with the motivation of giving life quality to our families and sometimes start a new live from zero. This is the case of some groups that are obliged to leave because of the pressure generated by the violence and unemployment or because they were displaced of their own homes. Finally, in the ambit of the professional development, immigration appear as a good way of acquire new knowledge, access to job opportunities and learn techniques for the ulterior implementation in the country of origin.

Additionally, it is important to say that immigration does not imply the impossibility of return; a person or a group of individuals can decide to go abroad just for a period of time, take advantage of the opportunity that this new place offers and then go back to the place of birth. In this process, governments should play an active role establishing adequate policies that allow and integrate the new people getting into their societies.

Immigration

Verbeeten, D. (2007). The Past and Future of Immigration to Canada. Int. Migration & Integration DOI 10.1007/s12134-007-0005-0

The Past and Future of Immigration to Canada.

Main Argument

Initially (C.XIX) Canada was not a country of immigrants, it was not considered as an ideal place to immigrate because of the perception that the country was too cold, too remote and too backward. But in the XX century this impression changed and Canada became one of the most favorite places for immigrants of diverse regions of the world and at the same time, it began to accept those varied demographic contours until appropriate them as celebrated aspects of its national identity.


Supportive arguments

- In the 1960s, explicit discrimination on the basis of race or religion was eliminated, to be replaced by criteria (1962) and then a “points system” (1967) which emphasized the skills, education, and training of the independent immigrant, rather than his or her ethnic or confessional background.

- The preference changed for immigrants able to meet the demands of an increasingly urban, post-industrial, and service-sector economy, rather than a rural and agricultural one. The “liberalization” of Canadian immigration policy was, in part, the result of the country’s greater post-Holocaust commitment to equality and human rights.

- After 1930, Canada shut its doors to many potential immigrants, often Jewish refugees, more tightly than did the US. By the end of the decade, around 150,000 immigrants were entering Canada each year, many from Germany and Eastern Europe. The regions from which Canada may in the future seek to recruit more immigrants are mainly represented in Africa, Latin America, and the Middle East because they are considered “growth areas”.

The role of corporations

I think today´s video is a very interesting one because sometimes we do not analyze what is behind corporations and the group of people that compose them. The most of the time we just see organizations as a mere group of individuals working together in order to accomplish a specific objective or goal that is oriented to satisfy consumer needs. But in sequence of this, it is also fundamental to take into account the role that companies represent in a society as a part and constructive actor of it. Nowadays, corporations are forgetting to effectively practice this role and are only focusing on a primary interest: PROFITABILITY. They do not have a conscience of moral and human values and do not care either about individuals or about the damages they could cause to the society as a whole; what only matters is the economic power and the strategies that are going to be formulated to achieve the goals.

Fortunately, there exist some members of the society that already noticed this fact and have decided to respond for the consequences that their actions generate. I am referring to the social responsibility as a new tendency that is being adopted by some companies interested in generates confidence, preserves the environment and contributes with the life quality and the society´s well-being.

Organizational Culture vs. Culture

The Organizational culture is a set of values, beliefs, norms, procedures and experiences that configures an organization and acts as the “container” or regulator of all the conducts carried out between its members and the environment. The organizational culture is what identifies and differentiates a company from others as well as the one that determines the way that corporation should behave, think and operate going beyond its structural frame. Additionally, the organizational culture is not considered static or fixed; it changes constantly in order to adapt itself to the external environment and can also represent an important source of social construction inside the company.

In the other side, Culture is the integration of practices, traditions, social habits, values, religion and norms through which the society regulates the conduct of its members. At the same time it is important to say that culture is a way of life and is not equal in every society, it can varies from one community to another and it gives identity to an individual. In comparison with the organizational culture, the culture in its simple form is the one that is in charge of control the society as a whole while the first one works inside a specific group relating cultural variables to organizational ones (strategies, structures, management, personnel) in order to follow the course of the company and achieve the accomplishment of goals.