Sunday, February 23, 2020

Critically assess the arguments in support of and against the Essay

Critically assess the arguments in support of and against the acknowledgement of the legally binding nature of the right to wate - Essay Example This right to an adequate standard of living is in turn enshrined in a number of international human rights treaties. The rationale herein is that it would be impossible to uphold these international human rights treaties without making the right to water legally binding. As a mater of fact, water is one of the most basic needs for mankind. Some of these treaties include the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child and the International Covenant on Economic Social and Cultural Rights (ICESCR). The strength of this argument is well underscored by these treaties being binding, since they enjoy near global ratification1. In a closely related wavelength, Nordblom, Reeson and Finlayson2 observe that the rationale behind the argument in favour of the legalisation of the right to water is that this move is a landmark decision that would irrevocably bring ameliorations on the lives of billions of people who are still unable to access water and proper sanitation, with children and women being at the centre of this rationale. Particularly, it is pointed out that about 1.5 million children under the age of 5 years die of diarrhoea, annually, due to the inability to access clean water. This argument is very valid, given that it acknowledges the fact that this inability to access clean water exacerbates gender disparity. The issue of gender comes into play herein, since lack of access to clean water affects women, girls and children than men. Another rationale behind this move is that it had been ratified by major players in international relations. Particularly, according to Gunduz3, the Human Rights Council as the main body of the United Nations on human rights had furthered this move, as a resolution that had been tabled and supported by Spain, Germany, France, Britain and other member states of the UN. This move was pursuant to the July 2010 resolution of the UN General Assembly which had recognised access to water and proper sanitation as a fundamental huma n right. This move had to have legally binding obligations, in order for this observation to remain binding. Conversely, such a move in the UN General Assembly of 2010 was propounded by the rationale that despite water being an essential commodity or element in human life, yet a very significant fraction of the world’s fraction could not access it. Particularly, the UN quoted research results obtained by its Independent Experts to divulge that while 1 billion people are not able to access improved or standardised sources of water, 3 billion have no taps in their homes. The import of this is that there are billions of people consuming unsafe water. It is also important to note that the report that was tabled by the Independent Experts also helped reinforce the ideas on the legalisation of the right to water because it also aimed at ensuring quality in accessibility to water and sanitation, and not just quantity. Other scholars such as Pink4 and Kibassa5 argue that the move to make the right to water legally binding was also imperative if a larger input by other stakeholder was to be realised. Particularly, the recognition of water as a human right and a legally binding reality by the Human Rights Council set the standard for all water services providers to follow, whether these providers are in private or public ventures. The import

Friday, February 7, 2020

Balanced score card Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Balanced score card - Assignment Example While some people assert that the balanced score card is an effective method, others tend to contradict this, presenting evidence to support their claims. Among the corporations that have adopted this concept are the Boom-Bust Construction Ltd (BBCL) and The El Nino Conglomerate Group / El Dorado civil engineering Division. This study will thus analyse, interpret and evaluate the balanced score card concept and its effects on the two companies. The balanced score card Stewart, W. E 2001, ‘Balanced Scorecard for Projects’, Project Management Journal, Vol. 32, no.1, pp. 38-53. Stewart (2001), gives a holistic view about balanced scorecards. He asserts that a close look at many organizations reveals they have many things in common. First, organizations are unpredictable. Each day is unique, making it hard to determine the outcome based on the decisions made. Third, organizations are deceptive, as they try to hide outcomes if they are contrary to shareholders’ expecta tions. This not only brings more complications but also prevents the companies from making future decisions based on facts (Stewart 2001). The use of a balanced score card emerged to offer solutions concerning the progress of companies in a competitive environment. As the name implies, a balanced score card tries to balance theories of a strategy with the methods used in its execution (Nair 2004). In other words, it tries to balance the internal and external factors in order to win the competencies of tomorrow. In this regard, it tries to look at an organization from all dimensions, develop metrics and collect data for analysis in relation to all the dimensions. Four major perspectives have been identified namely; the business process perspective, the customer perspective, the financial perspective, and the learning and growth perspective. These perspectives offer an interpretation of the overall vision of the company and the approaches the organization follows to fulfil its agendas and culture (Stewart 2001). Kaplan, R. S., & Norton, D. P. 1996, ‘Using the Balances Scorecard as a Strategic Management System’, Harvard Business Review, pp. 75-85. In their article titled ‘Using the balanced scorecard as a strategic management system’, Kaplan and Norton explain how designing and implementing a balanced scorecard can be of great benefit to the organization. They agree that, balanced scorecards are different from one organization to another. This also makes their designs to be different as well as the time taken to implement them. However, there are common steps that the management needs to follow in order to design an effective balanced scorecard. Using a sample of a successful balanced scorecard, the following are the steps every company needs to follow. First, the organization needs to clarify its vision by stipulating what it wants to achieve with the scorecard. Then, the organization should communicate with middle managers on the new development. Middle managers are the best communication channels in an organization, as they link the top management and the line workers. The organization should then develop business units, which translate their strategies into their own scorecards. The other step is to review the business unit scorecards so that the management may be able to align the strategies with the organizational goals (Kaplan & Norton, 1996). Once the unit scorecards are reviewed, the organization moves forward to