Social: 6. Allure of the zero

Women around the world avidly pursue the glamour quotient, for which thinness is an important criterion.  Many women that obsesses over appearance in terror of being perceived dumpy, suffer extreme health issues. However, society more than the women themselves seems caught with the visual effect, signalling at large that the intellectual quality of the feminine gender is unimportant even today.

 

Ostler writes:

…the fact is that when a woman is feted for her fashion sense, the more pressure she will feel to show off those dresses to their best advantage — which means being super-slim. Fashion doesn’t favour natural curves or, indeed, shapeliness of any kind …

Hounded by the social expectations, style icons seem to ride merry-go-rounds they cannot get off of. Beauty salons cash in on the style craze to offer programmes that recreate their attractive body parts in those women not so favoured. Increases in fashion sense  are generally concommitant with their decreasing body weights.

Women in show-business starve themselves to appear more appealing.  They may not eat most foods because weight gains could result in contract terminations. Hence they must hit the gym regularly, and depend on a diet pills to deaden hunger pangs. Other women do their best to emulate them in looks, dress and lifestyle.

Over the last century or so, romantic novels have encouraged escapism their vast feminine readership. Women begin to identify with their heroines and behave in like manner. The push is to choose romanticism over rationality. Medical journals have recently implicated these literature as causing marital breakdowns, adulterous affairs and unwanted pregnancies. In the conscious or unconscious idealization of men, women may abandon their own moral codes, sexual health and competition at work.

The corporate industry realizes that sex sells. Various billboards and glossy publications bombard consumers with stylized feminine perfection. Their aggressive marketing glamourizes sexuality in product advertisements that may otherwise look mundane. The association with the words hot and sexy for women is that more beautiful, more thin, and more revealing in dress attract more popular attention.

Toys and clothes for children under-10 sexualize gender, like with Lolita beds and playboy logos on t-shirts, creating unrealistic aspirations in impressionable minds.  They are surrounded by the imagery of standards that may be personally unachievable – thin, beautiful, and popular. Thus the body dissatisfaction takes root from childhood.

A young teenager, Milly, for example, was a confident, happy-go-lucky child in her parents’ eyes. She was abducted, and only afterwards did they realize that she in fact, hated herself for her looks and yearned for cosmetic surgery.

Carey reports:

… it now transpires Milly had already had a go at slicing into her wrists with a dinner knife because she’d been teased at school…At the age of just 13, Milly was already counting herself a loser in the popularity and beauty contests of life. For girls today, the two are inextricably linked … looks also determine whether or not you belong.

The youthful feminine gender thence begins to associate popularity with the size zero waistline, and gargantuan breasts – just like Barbie, the stylish, iconic doll. The assumption is that otherwise they must fail in society. And society in the minds of the women probably represents the men they have been brought up to look up to for approval.

Barbie dolls that have been beloved companions for girl children for decades, have now been made multicultural. They however, probably perpetrate the social learning of gender stereotypes. Girl children in cultures around the world learn by association to feel disadvantaged to be growing up different from the hot and sexy ideals.

A life-sized model constructed along the famous doll’s proportions showed how dangerous for women’s health the dimensions are in real life. Abraham writes:

Galia Slayen, who made the model, revealed that a real woman with the same dimensions would weigh just 110lb, giving her a BMI of 16.24 - a figure associated with eating disorders … 'If Barbie were an actual woman, she would be 5ft 9in tall, have a 39in bust, an 18in waist, 33in hips and a size 3 shoe.  She likely would not menstruate... she'd have to walk on all fours due to her proportions.'

Women further away from the stereotypical ideal tend to become sensitive about appearance. An email sent to the sales team of a company by their manager may say: If you have a FAT FAT face then you do not need to read this. Now, this jibe could be directed at anybody in the organization, but the feminine gender would quickly assume being singled out for indignity. Men also learn to push the buttons of low self-esteem.

Perhaps a part of the preoccupation with appearance stems from the fear of loneliness in later life, since ageing men reputedly prefer trophy wives decades younger. A survey conducted on online dating patterns, showed that the majority of mature women believe that men of their own or older age groups are uninterested in them, because they are no longer svelte.

McVeigh writes:

…eight out of 10 women over 50 think they have become invisible to men. Seven out of 10 women in the study felt overlooked by the fashion industry, while three-quarters of women in their 60s believed they had lost their identity by being labelled as a "mum"… Because of its 'anything is possible', 'sweet-shop' appeal, online dating just encourages men to cherry-pick their ideal – usually younger – mate.

Male suitors on a dating reality show, for example, joked that the bachelorette in question was an ugly duckling, and needed boob fund contributions.  Similar taunts about puppy fat at school drive many young girls into unhealthy lifestyles that continue in later life. Women are not born with body issues, but develop them over time following unrealistic goals of social desirability. 

Anorexia and bulimia are eating disorders commonly associated with them. In both cases, the very thought of putting on weight repels to the extent that life itself becomes a burden. Essentially, the health consequences of these disorders are severe organ failure and death. Anorexics minimize food intake to almost stop eating altogether. Bulimics alternate between bingeing and forced vomiting. They develop because of the women’s inability to confront reality. 

These disease conditions have been linked to female style-consciousness. Fashion institutions have begun to realize the dangers to social health with underweight models. Some retailers are banning marketing excesses in their stores. Some clothes houses also have now started a new trend of healthier models as a campaign against the potentially fatal eating disorders that generally afflict women, including a host of celebrity role-models. 

However, researchers at the University of Bologna, Italy argue that introducing plus sizes as the ideal would tip the balance the other way. In the industrialized nations, the average already is overweight. In changing the policy on thinness, the average eating habits would also reset towards obesity.

On the other hand, health reform advocates say that the issue of concern is not whether people are fat or thin, but the political incorrectness of both media and industry on the subject. The media blitz of corporate advertising that glamourizes unhealthy standards of beauty and sexuality, sets stage for the exploitation of gender. 

I should think women themselves need to develop a stable identity to make responsible choices, resisting the allure of the zero. Fact is women have been swayed by aggressive marketing tactics, forgetting that there is a lot more to them than just their bodies. They have been unable to identify the strong strand of patriarchal beliefs entrenched in social attitudes that accord mere lip service to gender equality. 

Women demean their own intellectual capabilities, basing social approval on visual appearances. Despite modernity, the age-old patterns persist, of submitting to dominance and awaiting rescue. They need to rethink their concepts, because in narrow definitions of belongingness they set themselves up as no more than receptacles of masculine favours. Women need to wake up to the reality that self-esteem depends not on the external world, but on their own identity.

References for this post:

1. Abraham, Tamara “Former anorexic’s life-sized Barbie reveals doll’s dangerous proportions” dailymail.com. Mail Online. 22nd April 2011. 
2. Abraham, Tamara. “'I wanted to be no one, to not be recognised': Allegra Versace on shunning the limelight after battle with anorexia” 7th June 2011. 
3. Carey, Tanith. “The secret self-hatred of confident Milly shows how little we know of our children's inner lives” thedailymail.co.uk. Mail Online.  26th May 2011. 
4. De Rossi, Portia. “Hollywood actress Portia de Rossi on the disorder that drove her to the edge” thedailymail.co.uk. Mail Online.   8th July 2011.  
5. Hickman, Martin. “Retailers ban 'sexy' underwear for children under 12” independent.co.uk.  Home News. The Independent. 6 June 2011. 
6. “'I'm a great catch!': The Bachelorette's Ashley Hebert puts cruel body taunts behind her for bikini shoot”. Daily Mail Reporter thedailymail.co.uk. Mail Online.  23rd June 2011.  
7. McVeigh, Tracy. “Online dating leaves middle-aged women in 'single wilderness'” guardian.co.uk. The Guardian. 10 July 2011.  
8. Ostler, Catherine. “A waist that made Nicole Kidman look dumpy and why Kate      deserves to be more than just a clothes horse” thedailymail.co.uk. Mail Online.  12th July 2011. 
9.  Rawi, Maya. “Vogue uses three plus-size models for cover in bid to 'battle against anorexia'” thedailymail.co.uk. Mail Online.   3^rd  June 2011. 
10. “Sales manager 'put female colleague over his knee and spanked her' A sales manager chased a female colleague around the office before he put her across his knee and spanked her, a tribunal heard.” Retail and consumer news telegraph.co.uk. The Telegraph. 21 Jun 2011. 
11. Singh, Anita. “Mills and Boon 'cause marital breakdown'” telegraph.co.uk. The Telegraph. 07 Jul 2011 
12. Smith-Squire, Alison. “I was a secret bulimic for 15 years” mirror.co.uk. Daily Mirror. 6/07/2011. 
13. Whitelocks, Sadie. “Forget chubby, keep it slim! Says a new controversial report supporting size zero” thedailymail.co.uk. Mail Online.   21^st April 2011.  
14. Whittaker, Marianne. “The agony of having an anorexic mother” thedailymail.co.uk. Mail Online. 12th May 2011.

Accidents: The human factors

Synopsis: Contributing factors exist not just in the person but also in the dynamic, sometimes unknown surroundings.


Both novices and experienced personnel contribute to the human error causing 70 percent of accidents.

Levels of failure

Reporting systems are usually ineffective in identifying these human failures. Hence, while engineering or mechanical failures have significantly been reduced, human error ratios over four decades remain the same.

Researchers say that they actually occurs at four different levels that need appropriate analysis:

• Unsafe acts of operators, like errors or violations by aircrew.
• Preconditions for unsafe acts like physical, mental or psychological health of operators or crew resource mismanagement.
• Unsafe supervision, like inadequacy or violations of supervision, poorly planned operations, and failure to correct known problems.
• Organizational influences like resources management, organizational climate or operational processes.
  

Personality?

A study in 2001 held that a quarter of ‘human error’ accidents are attributable to personality. High or low scores on certain traits correlate with the ability to avoid accidents or be prone to them:

• Dependability – conscientious and socially responsible
• Agreeableness – not aggressive or self-centred
• Openness – learning from experience and accepting suggestions from others.
  

High scores on the first two and low scores on the last decrease the likelihood of accidents. Low scores on first two causes competitiveness, and non-compliance with safety regulations. High score on the last leaves people dreamy and increases accident risk.

Profiles

Studies on pilot profiles however, failed to find a typical personality type. Important traits are intelligence, self-confidence, emotional maturity, adaptability, extraversion, and action orientation with desire for challenge and success. Combat pilots score highly on abstract thinking, stress tolerance, decisiveness and resilience.

Essentially operators in hazardous jobs need to be practical, sober and dependable. But a point with jet pilots appears to be a close relationship with their fathers. Also of the first 23 US astronauts in space flight, 21 were ‘first-born’.

Regarding gender, men in aviation score higher in competitiveness but lower in expressivity and striving for achievements. Women pilots appear to be more extraverted, agreeable and conscientious, having less openness and neuroticism than their male counterparts.

The surroundings

But some say labels merely enable people to blame their mistakes on their personality type. The point is factors exist not just in the person but also in the dynamic, sometimes unknown surroundings represented by:

• Technology
• Procedures
• Physical and non-physical environment
• Other people
  

People generally don’t go out with intention of causing accidents, but how they react to situations is important. That means interactions between the individual and objects or people around them are just as important.

The dynamics

Researchers believe that tests homogenize groups and the resulting average obtained becomes the ‘right stuff’. This obscures variability, and actual motivations for the job, because training and operational performances tend to differ.

Operations brings into focus adaptability, coping with stress, and a more crucial aspect to success – teamwork. Rising environmental pressures can cause personality conflicts, with operators either internalizing negativity or projecting it on others. This interferes with interpersonal relationships and individual contributions to team effort.

Comments/opinions, anyone??

References for “Accidents” blogposts:

All 155 Survive as Pilot Ditches Plane in Hudson

A human error analysis

Are you accident prone? (twmacademy.com)

Identifying the accident prone

Personality studies in air crew

Accidents: Deviations from plan

Synopsis: A combination of random factors contributes to disaster happening - or being averted.


We tend to believe that forces beyond us control disasters. They happen following Murphy’s Law that everything that can go wrong, does. And, the people affected survive only by luck or chance.

Unexpected events

Disasters grow out of unexpected events interrupting or interfering with routine proceedings. They precipitate deviations from planned behaviour that invoke risks.

For example, the now-famous American Airways airliner 15(4)9 took off on a routine flight from La Guardia Airport, with about 156 people on board.

The flight path, however, crossed that of migratory birds. The plane collided with a flock of geese, within minutes of take off. Bird-hits are said to cost the American aviation industry up to 600 million USD annually.


Water rescue

The event caused both engines of the plane cut out, preventing its return to land. Using the icy waters as the only accessible runway, the captain ditched the plane into the Hudson River.

The most impact passengers suffered were being thrown against the seat ahead. The plane also stayed intact and level in the water, so they could clamber out onto the wings and floating door.

But experts say even five minutes’ exposure in those freezing temperatures would still have caused severe hypothermia if not fatalities.

Responders speeded up the rescue process, even driving an inflatable boat onto the plane’s wing. Paramedics found one passenger had broken legs and others with less serious injuries. Everybody, including an infant, survived the ordeal.

Random factors

The bird-hit damage raised the potential of disaster. But the skill and presence of mind of the aircrew and first responders on the ground made it a miraculous escape instead.

Not one isolated event, but a combination of random error factors contributes to disaster happening - or being averted. These include:

• Situational factors like atmospheric conditions
• Individual factors like perception, cognition and physiological responses of people
• Specific personal factors like vision, age, experience, perceptual style and perceptual-motor relationships
• Psychological qualities of the people involved

The Hudson miracle wasn’t all due to providence. While situational factors were the driving forces for disaster, the human factors - individual, personal and psychological - of key people withstood their power.

Processing state

The pilot, an airways safety consultant, former fighter pilot and commercial pilot for nearly three decades, also had extensive glider experience. He glided the plane onto water so it didn’t break up on impact. Since 9/11, ground rescue workers have trained long and hard at disaster management in different scenarios. Their combined competencies ensured that all aboard the ill-fated liner disembarked safely.

Every industry invests in safety, putting precautionary barriers especially in hazardous job situations. But the mere presence of procedures doesn’t guarantee safety. Each procedure also has inherent weaknesses or ‘blind spots’ whereby it only works under certain conditions, or up to a point.

Bridging the gap between the plan and reality needs creative thinking. It also depends upon individual ‘processing state’ – functioning at full alert to expect the unexpected, or multitasking on autopilot with attention divided.

Cont’d 2…The human factors

Monopoly: The drive for expansion

Synopsis: Gazprom appears a step ahead in the monopoly game, preparing now to play continents against one another.


What enables one energy company to flout consumer service norms?

State polity

Gazprom holds monopoly. It was privatized in the ’90s, with the government retaining a stake - now about fifty percent. The Russian government therefore is aware of, and supports, Gazprom objectives.

The business issue turned political. Prime Ministers Putin and Timoshenko of Russia and Ukraine respectively, carried on marathon talks to resolve the dispute on behalf of the rival energy companies.


Actually, business and politics in Russia is indistinguishable. Many officials hold dual positions - one foot in government, the other in the company. Like, Gazprom’s former chairman is now the country’s President.

Its diversified acquisitions include TV stations and newspapers. Companies like Gazprom may just be instruments to execute and extend Russian political power and influence across the world.

Covert punishment

Russia assumes a “privileged sphere of influence” over sister members of the erstwhile Union. The drive to dominate is perhaps left over from the ‘iron’ heritage of their common past!

Analysts say that, in the guise of Gazprom’s energy price rise, the Russian leadership is covertly punishing her smaller neighbours for harbouring political goals out of line with her own.

For example, pro-Western Ukraine has ambitions of joining NATO and the European Union, as does Georgia. In the latter’s military conflict with Russia earlier, Belarus had provided her support. This displeased the Kremlin, and with a steep energy price rise inflicting economic hurt, Belarus was disciplined. Similarly, Ukraine is now being dominated.

Market recovery

The global meltdown has affected nations and corporations around the world. The consequent drop in oil prices worries its producers. Gazprom’s market cap reportedly fell seventy-six percent over a year.

The energy shutdown is meant perhaps to force prices up again. The monopoly status is being used to raise revenue for the company. And, since company taxes feed the national budget, also for the state.

Expansions

EU monitors in Ukraine and Russia are concerned only with the resumption of supply. Well aware that they’ve no viable alternatives to replace Gazprom, they’re careful not to embroil in dispute.

The EU energy summit in March 2008 attempted to rein in Gazprom’s global ambitions by pressing on the Russian leadership to ratify the Commission’s energy charter treaty. This would stop the monopolistic practice of suspending supplies at will, and also allow third countries, like Kazakhstan, to utilize the pipeline network to Europe’s best interests.

The Russian government wouldn’t buy into any ‘common’ energy policy for Europe. The company also seems least bothered about losing credibility. Gazprom meanwhile warned EU ambassadors against interfering in its continental expansion plans, which include bids to acquire western energy companies, like Centrica PLC, and shareholder stakes, as in BP.

Countries that expect energy needs to grow each year, look for new suppliers to break the domination. But Gazprom appears ahead in the monopoly game, preparing now to play continents against one another - whether by laying pipelines to China and America, or winning exclusive drilling rights in the African Sahara.

Comments/opinions, anyone??

Monopoly: The price of service

Synopsis: With service shutdown simply to coerce consumer compliance, millions were left in the cold in the bleak European winter.


In this coldest winter in a century in Europe, temperatures have sunk to new lows. The ‘cold war’ competitiveness in monopoly business has caused consumer service to do the same!

The price

Globalization raises awareness of other nations as potential markets. But perhaps the fixation with dominance has made holding nations to ransom over bottomline easy.

On New Year’s Day, with temperatures in some places dipping below minus ten degrees Celsius, natural gas supplies to Europe was cut by sixty percent, and despite assurances, failed to restore nearly three weeks later.

The energy cut left helpless consumer countries – like Bulgaria, Greece, Macedonia, Romania, Croatia and Turkey - on the verge of fuel crisis not of their own making. These populations are merely collateral damage in the money war between the Russian supplier company Gazprom and the Ukranian transit carrier company Naftogaz.




Gazprom

OAO Gazprom, is the largest Russian company, and the largest extractor of natural gas in the world. It’s the third largest oil producer behind Saudi Arabia and Iran.

In 1989, the reorganization of USSR’s gas industry created Gazprom. When the union of states was dissolved a few years later, Russia inherited much of this concern. It grew giant with its aggressive acquisitions forcing Western energy firms, like BP, out of their drilling tie-ups in Siberian oilfields.

The service

Gazprom serves piped natural gas fuel to a massive clientele outside Russian borders – USA, Europe, Japan and South Korea. Many of the European union are partially, majorly or wholly dependent on the company.

Gazprom also supplies energy to erstwhile members of the former Soviet Union e.g. Belarus and Ukraine, now soverign nations. Some of these are partners in the supply chain. Ukraine, for example, is a major transit nation, carrying eighty percent of the energy reaching countries in Europe.

Gazprom controls the pipeline network, as it does prices, monopolistically. Sometime ago, importers in Belarus was told to pay more for the fuel received - $200 per unit in place of $47. When they didn’t agree to the hike, supply was curtailed - until new price $100 per unit was ‘negotiated’.

The spat

A similar dispute arose with NAK Naftogaz Ukrainy earlier in January 2006, and similar dominating tactics were adopted. Gazprom reduced Ukraine’s domestic supply, while the export to Europe remained intact. Naftogaz however tapped into the export route to first bolster her domestic needs.

Bystander nations in Europe felt the effects of the spat, when supply cut off completely. The EU imports 50 percent of its energy, a quarter of it from Russian shores. Some used the experience to create their own emergency reserves thereafter, but others remained dependent on the direct service.

In 2008, Gazprom arbitrarily raised the price in Ukraine to five times the original, besides billing 1.5 billion USD for the gas “stolen” earlier. Naftogaz in turn claimed higher transit tariffs, and threatened to disrupt the European route. With consumer service shutdown simply to coerce compliance, millions were left in the cold in the bleak European winter.

Cont’d 2…the drive for expansion

Unions: Privilege before duty?

Synopsis: Trade unions fighting for rights doesn’t mean depriving the public of theirs.


India is a founding member of the international labour organization (ILO), which holds that labour peace is essential for prosperity and progress of any nation.

The Act

The aim since 1919, is to prevent exploitation by ‘free enterprise’ and for:

• rights at work for men and women
• decent employment opportunities
• social justice, labour rights and human rights
• tripartitism between workers, employers and government

These ideals inspired the Trade Union Act in India as early as1926. But faced with the realities of colonial rule, development of social and political movements, and consequences of independence, trade unions in India have been slow to develop.

Unionism

In a labour force of about 430 million, just 8 percent is organized. The rural sector comprises 60 percent, while the urban informal sector (software and other services) is 32 percent. Still, union formations flourish, since it takes only seven members to do so. A survey in 2002 reported a total of 37,903 registered unions in the country!

A trade union is meant to be a voluntary organization formed to apply collective action to protect rights, interests and welfare within industrial concerns.

It organizes workers, white-collar employees, supervisors and managers at each level of the organization. Usually regulating relations between workmen and employers/management, its purview includes workmen-workmen, employers-employers issues, as well as the conduct of any trade or business.

Civil and political

In the early years, the 1920s, leadership came from prominent figures of national independence movement. For example, Mahatma Gandhi guided the forming of spinners’ and weavers’ unions, and turned their strike into satygraha (social non-cooperation movement) against colonial rule.

Post-independence, the working class movement became politicized. Central trade unions each became the labour arm for a particular political party - and the tradition continues. Unions today are yet to outgrow this dependence on central or state parties to politically enlarge organizational issues, and to evolve in their own right.

Presently they’re constrained to toe party lines, sometimes at the cost of the employees and the trade or business organization. In the ’60s and ’70s, crippling industrial strikes at political behest even led to closures in jute and other manufacturing industries.

The social context

The point is trade unions exist not only to cater to the demands of workers, union leaders or their political bosses. The Trade Union (Amendment) Act 2001 specifies another crucial aspect of their role - the social context. The recent strikes seemed to neglect responsibility, discipline and commitment for the organization and society at large. In a democracy, fighting for rights doesn’t mean depriving the general public of theirs. Duty comes before privilege, especially in India’s massive diversity.

Truckers’ and petroleum officers’ unions claim legitimate grievances. But, preoccupied with individual context, they lost touch with the social needs of the nation. Strikes should be last not first, in democratic options. Trade unions need to adapt to the changing reality, separating civil from political. And, in place of strategies jeopardizing social justice, evolve mature forms of collective action, such as effective tripartite negotiations and dialogue.

Comments/opinions, anyone??

References for "Unions" blogposts:

1. About the ILO
2. India truckers strike over fuel
3. India's truckers feel economic chill
4. Managing human resource: Trade unions
5. States told to handle truckers strike like Oil Officers’ stir
6. Trade Unionism in India

Unions: The right to strike

Synopsis: To make an impact, unions in India generally function as extensions of political parties.


The New Year began quite inauspiciously in India. Six million truckers went on strike this time - and officers of the petroleum public service undertaking (PSU) followed suit. Public life was in danger of being crippled. "With friends like these", commented a newscaster summing up the national mood, "who needs enemies?"

Airing grievances

The trucker unions insist their demands are legitimate. Following the global rise, oil prices in the country went up twice within months. Besides, subsidies and exemptions were removed from one metropolitan city to another. The trucks now have to pass through several highway tollbooths and state border check points that cost them more in time and money.

Banks and dealers raise payment rates, while clients refuse to pay more. Truck owners then tend to shortchange drivers to make up losses, causing more dissatisfaction. The rising costs of living have similarly led to the demand for higher wages by striking petroleum officers’ unions.

The transport halt

About seventy percent of goods are moved across the country through the roadways network. The truckers transport food and other essential commodities through the length and breadth of each state. Without them the distribution system in India falters, with goods piling up at docks, depots and godowns.

An artificial scarcity results driving prices upwards. In 2004, a similar strike that lasted a week caused economic slowdown from 8.4 percent in the previous month to 7.9. The strike by petroleum PSUs meant that the retail oil reserves would soon run dry. Every form of transport then, from cars to aeroplanes, would be halted perforce.

The cave-in

The nation, it seemed, was being held to ransom. Following the Mumbai terror attacks, there’s little sympathy for the process of hurting the public simply to air grievances. Besides with the global meltdown presently everybody suffers - many being downsized, many others accepting salary cuts just to keep their jobs. The timing of strike, in short, was poor!

The Central Government came down hard. It threatened to invoke the Essential Services Maintenance Act and even the National Security Act. The striking unions were told to go back to work or go to jail. Their leaders were arrested, and hence the worker movement lost steam. The officers’ agitation fizzled out in three days; the truckers resumed work after eight.

Why the cave in despite the democratic right to strike? Fact is unions in India don’t have much power or sustainable resources by themselves. To make an impact, they need patronage and generally function as extensions of political parties. But state and national parties opted out of driving their issues forward this time.

In the aftermath of terror attacks, popular opinion has held politicians responsible for public safety and security lacking in the country. The people’s loss of confidence displayed in new voting patterns refusing mandate to representatives perceived incompetent in nation building. With crucial general elections right around the corner, political bosses preferred not to cause a stir.

Next…duty before privilege

India: The ability to make change

Synopsis: The Indian majority now calls for change. Politicians realize unrest is a potential threat. The collaborative learning that lasted civilizations should be re-discovered.


The shock waves of the Mumbai attacks ignited outrage and anger around the country. Shaking off apathy, the Indian majority calls for change.

Verdict

With over a quarter below the poverty line, only 61 percent literacy, and security non-existent for the common person, their cup of tolerance brims over.




In recent state elections, defying bribery, intimidation and violence, people turned out in greater numbers for their verdict on performance. Representatives focusing on long-term development are being returned to office.

Unrest

The socioeconomic scenario causes concern. Over 63 percent of the population is aged 15-64, and paid employment isn’t growing fast enough to meet their needs.
About half the current workforce is self-employed. Policy makers assume India’s ‘vibrant economy’ creates their productive opportunities.

But in reality, highly skilled professionals categories may have high remunerations. Self-employment otherwise is intensive labour but low productivity, with both opportunity and income being uncertain.

Politicians realize unrest, potentially, is a threat to their own survival. In a country of limited resources, the leadership’s role is to create resources.

Empower and include

Governments can’t make the nation’s progress, but they can facilitate a collective participation by innovative means - empowering people, encouraging corporate inclusive growth, etc.

For example, the micro-credit system was pioneered in Bangladesh. The most needy, especially women were enabled to start up small businesses without collateral. Rather than await doles and handouts, they look forward to self-reliance, thus contributing to progress.

The corporate industry tends to ignore critical societal issues. Their focus on profitability has widened the gap between haves and have-nots, which leads to more unrest.

Some global companies have adopted social issues of education or HIV. But in a country as large as India, every Indian institution needs to buy in to social development.

Fact is the corporate is in business because of society and not in spite of it. They hold the social responsibility for its inclusion in their growth plans.

Sense of belonging

Non-governmental organizations are effective conduits to reach with economic help, education and vocational guidance to the grassroots. They initiate the informal movement that diffuses change into the social fabric.

The older age groups can be proactive in people development. For instance, retirees are storehouses of knowledge and experience, but retirement is considered a dead end in India. Mentorship brings them a new lease of life, their inputs being invaluable to growing youth in search of perspective and purpose.

The collaborative learning of ancient times has lasted civilizations in India. People need to re-discover their strong cultural roots in collectivism, cooperation, creativity, and non-violence. The sense of belonging thus nurtured has preserved national integrity against destabilizing influences.

Terrorist front organizations capitalize on unrest to lure people to pathways of hate. A people united by self-belief, and realizing their ability to make change by democratic means, can raise up to defeat the sinister designs of terrorism.

Comments/opinions, anyone??

India: Raising tactical levels

Synopsis: Forces trained for conventional warfare don’t expect war zones in metropolitan cities. Terror groups have changed the nature of combat today.


Indian armed forces protect the country from external aggression.

Community services

Trained for conventional warfare, they know the rules of engagement, and expect to fight accordingly.

Within the country, they provide community services like relief and rescue operations during natural calamities, earthquakes, floods and so on.

In a stable democracy, war zones in the heart of metropolitan cities aren’t imagined, so public security is left to the police.

Guerrilla tactics

But in Mumbai, the enemy playing outside rules, struck with audacity and strategic sophistication almost unbelievable. In small teams carrying small arms, the fidayeen fanned into landmark locations of the urban city.

The guerrilla tactics enabled just ten young fanatics to wreck havoc over three days - killing, wounding, and destroying.

Combat units

Terror groups have raised their tactical levels from suicide bombings. The more dangerous objective of each small team dispersed amongst populations is to heap the body count before ammunition, or their life, runs out.

It’s changed the nature of combat today. Experts say that to counter urban terrorism, the ideal close combat unit is the swift and agile 4-men fire team, highly skilled in fighting dispersed mini-battles.

These security units are networked, mutually supporting and semi-autonomous. Their weapons and tactical expertise enable them to operate individually to secure endangered streets, courtyards and houses.

Canes in crisis

The first responders in Mumbai, the police, were ill equipped to contain war crisis. They were in the fray with bamboo canes, and service revolvers against AK-47s and grenades.

State and central ministers too, were clueless about assessing the danger or coping with it. Slow responses raised the toll.

Interventions by elite commandos and army contingents finally halted the mayhem.

Inadequate

Public security and crisis management networks in India thus proved abysmal in quantity and quality. A few measures are planned like an NSG plane and 500 more commandos.

These aren’t nearly enough. A widespread national security network should link all security personnel, including policemen now lowest on the rung.

The first responders need experience with modern equipment and regular training in close fighting strategies to be effective against the unexpected - or even to recognize it.

Most importantly, security personnel duty bound to constantly lay their lives on the line to protect others, should receive far better salaries, benefits and insurance than that available to them at present.

Grassroots support

Terrorism’s success is in their front organizations focusing on connecting with people at the grassroots.

In poverty stricken areas, they build schools, hospitals, and so on. Their humane face wins the minds and hearts of people forgotten by their governments.

This creates for them a strong social support base. It also allows the training camps to flourish, ensuring the flow of fanatical fervour.

For example, the Taliban is quietly growing influence in Afghanistan. Now reportedly, it has a presence in 72 percent of the country...surely a lesson lies therein.

Cont’d 4…ability to make change

India: Focus of the hotbed

Synopsis: The Asian subcontinent is the ‘troubled corner’ of the world. Young men in Pakistan sign up to export terrorism so their untimely deaths help their families survive.


In the independence movement, generations sacrificed their present for a future free from oppression.

Democracy

Post-partition, democracy became the way forward for India and Pakistan.

The aim was majority rule, whereby the people hold power under a free electoral system. Votes decide which party earns the mandate to form government.

It often leads to groupism. The party hierarchy holds actual power. Individuals or small groups at the pyramidal apex call the shots.

This leadership may override judgement calls of even the government in office. Loyalty demands following party diktats unquestioningly, or else!

Sibling rivalry

Groupism is far more complicated and uncompromising in Pakistan, where several parallel powers enter the equation - the military, the intelligence agencies, and the clergy.

India-Pakistan ties remain emotionally charged with sibling rivalry. Wounds of the partition affected six decades ago, still bleed negativity for many. It’s made the region the ‘troubled corner’ of the world.

Communal prejudices passed on to future generations, thus carry forward, as on the Kashmir dispute. Political posturing, and vested interests in the global arena, ensure the mutual tension and distrust are alive, even virulent.

New ideology

Depleted resources inherited post-independence stretched thin with increasing populations in both nations. The plight of the general public already traumatized by the losses of family members and family fortunes in the partition, worsened.

Pakistan suffered further setback with the breakaway of the eastern province (now Bangladesh). The resulting socioeconomic problems wouldn’t resolve by magic, so those in power sought to hide their own incompetence by inflaming the already seething passions.

It’s led eventually to the new ideology of death. Pakistan’s generally named the hotbed of terror training, where young men sign up at suicide squad camps focused on exporting terrorism, hoping their untimely deaths will help their families survive.



Dying in vain

But the impressionable youth die in vain, committing themselves to visions of an impossible future. They’re sent on one-way ‘missions’ to accomplish objectives that relate little with them personally.

No leader of the terrorist movement ever leads from the front. They remain unidentifiable shadows, profiting most from thus wiping out generations of youth.

The urgent need

The question is how terrorism may be combated:

• Should India cut relationships with Pakistan until the most wanted terror mongers are extradited?


• Should Indian strike forces decimate training camps in Pakistan?

Truth is the Pakistani public is held hostage in its own home. The civilian government can’t deliver on promises – the alternate power centres ensure that it isn’t really in charge.

Besides terrorism is self-regenerating, like the mythological poison snakes on Medusa’s head. From each camp or organization shut down, others arise, morphing identity.

For India, the urgent need is to first address weaknesses exposed within the nation. It makes more sense to develop internal security, than to use up resources chasing shadows outside.

Cont’d 3…raising tactical levels

India: The drag of apathy

Synopsis: India, aspiring Asian ‘superpower’ and soft target for terror strikes, is too tolerant of incompetence.


India, the aspiring Asian ‘superpower’, repeatedly suffers acts of terrorism. The half dozen incidents this year were topped by the horrific Mumbai attacks.

This too can become habit.

Soft target

Indians are proud to belong to the largest democracy. But in the eyes of the global community, India is soft target.

The devastation confirms the vulnerability of a country with millions below the poverty line. It exposes the nation’s doddering infrastructure and inept governance.

Surviving

Through five thousand years of her civilization, India’s nationhood has survived oppression, including invasions, conquests, colonizations and partitions.

Consequently, Indians developed resilience, the ability to cope with new realities. Perhaps history inspires their raising to new levels their cultural strengths of adaptability - and tolerance.

History repeats

History continues to repeat, because security consciousness for the majority isn’t a lesson learned from the past. Conditioned to oppression, the people may accept it as their way of life today.

Gun-toting bodyguards surround celebrities and politicians, while the average taxpayer and the poor fend for themselves against natural and man-made calamities, still.

Their experiences strengthen faith in the Almighty, because when God preserves, who on earth can destroy?

Internalizing

Preoccupied with just surviving even in a democracy, they don’t confront those meant to protect them leaving them defenceless. They take it all in as karma, internalizing the oppression.

Fact is repeated trauma encourages apathy, especially in the mind. People tend to lose initiative, to passively await change if and when, like the seasons, it should come.

Apathy

If political apathy is the main reason for the repeated terror strikes, it’s the public apathy that as repeatedly, puts incompetence into positions of leadership, and thereby letting oppression through.

People may vote it in unthinkingly, or with no vote, cause its default selection. The generalized apathy allows the world’s largest democracy being perceived easy prey.

Superpower?

To achieve 'superpower' status, the inertia to excellence in every field needs to be overcome. The billion head count needs to surge forward in synch.

Burdened by burgeoning population and entrenched corruption, India advances one step and slides back two. The present rate of progress hardly gets past the ‘third world’ label.

Despite the Indian presence in the exclusive space club, the drag of apathy may ensure that the superpower aspiration won’t realize – unless oppression is halted.

Citizen roles

Betterment of India is a collective responsibility. But ordinary people haven’t learned to question being forced to make do with almost nothing, while many of their representatives, forgetting role commitments, live the high life.

The silent multitudes have got used to being mutely tolerant. They scarcely remember their constitutional shareholder role, and the power to break the dysfunctional loop of oppression.

In the democratic setup, their task is to elect representatives most competent to rule, concomitantly dismissing the oppression of greed and self-aggrandizement. It’s time for the citizen majority to demand value for vote in astute governance.

Cont’d 2…focus of the hotbed

Costs: coping with ambiguity

Summary: [You might care to view the post “Costs: beyond preventive power” before this.] The job in the complex new global reality may well have become ambiguous, limitless and stressful. Balancing between various challenges isn’t easy.

Ultimately the company’s total performance is important. So knowing what and how of business processes isn’t with intent to interfere with them.

Short and long terms

This means understanding the contributions of various functions, business units, business managers, suppliers and so on. Their individual strengths and weaknesses have to be identified, and current performance explained.

The objective is to improve the collective performance. For instance, in the short-term, influencing efforts to create accountability, and stimulate better performance in specific units or departments.

Or they could also facilitate developing a long-term strategy for the company’s future survival, through the changing of processes or systems.

A well-functioning unit

With the hard facts at their fingertips, finance people are able to argue the point in current and day-to-day business needs, as well as facilitate the activity of the management think-tank in enterprise-wide or future initiatives.

This needs nurturing an atmosphere of mutual respect and trust. Active listening helps, besides a personal relationship built with each of the company’s department and business unit heads.

It also means recruiting and managing a highly skilled backup staff to analyze and collate data collected from the length and breadth of the system to produce meaningful information.

So Finance must be a well-functioning unit getting accurate data feeds in all situations, organizational forms or IT processes. Their credibility depends on it.

Limitless ambiguity

Some Heads of finance of earlier times appeared to be glued to an armchair out on the back porch, not to be disturbed!

Not any more. Their job in the complex new global reality of mergers, acquisitions, and regulatory scrutiny of conduct and compliance, may well have become ambiguous and limitless.

Keeping balance

Experienced CFOs have some advice on coping with on-the-job stress –

• Spend time to gain trust and credibility
• Prioritize consistently
• Listen before you act

Keeping a balance between the various challenges is not at all easy. On the job stress is mounting – a turnover of about 13 percent for Fortune 500 companies showed in 2006.

Adapt and perform

We begin to empathize with the human element! For people immersed in the numbers and unused to being pleasant and friendly, perhaps the best way to cope is to first find a mentor - and learn the art of communicating freely.

It’s a lonely job, they say. But if the company is to adapt and perform in the face of challenges, so must its key people.

Comments/opinions anyone??

Costs: beyond preventive power

Summary: The role of finance evolves beyond conserving resources. Now they have critical responsibilities for company performances.


Crashing Asian stock markets, rising oil prices and inflation, and a slowing of global economy, put costs foremost in people’s minds.

Conserving resources?

Organizationally, more than ever before Finance is the most important department.

I’d the impression that they considered their sole task to be conserving resources - wielding preventive power to hack down people’s budgetary requests and their creativity!

Perhaps finance people also need to better understand their role because no, their job isn’t only cutting costs, it seems.

The role evolves

As the world becomes increasingly complex the finance role is meant to evolve. Their task is less conserving resources and more ensuring that the system can perform, and long survive environmental challenges.

The job covers a wide range of activities from enterprise-wide initiatives to day-to-day business issues that need time, involvement and careful management.

Enhancing gains

Finance needs to fully understand each complicated process of the company’s business outlook, its competitive advantages, the returns on invested capital - money, as well as intellectual capital and commitment.

The first consideration is how much the company might gain from each of them. Second, how contributions of key process drivers may be enhanced, e.g., through sources of growth, better operations or changes in the business model.

Master information

Clearly, they can’t afford to be poor data processors or poor communicators.

Finance has to collect the data, master information that is available, value audit and help create a viable company strategy. That means they need to be far more visible than just the name on the door that people tiptoe past!

Various departmental heads, professional service providers, investors and customers, are stakeholders sharing markets or product lines – and all need financial services. But within the system and outside of it, differing needs, values, and perspectives exist.

Where company is going

They might recommend the cuts, downsizing or restructuring organizational form. But at the same time, they have to ensure the company’s not left poorer as a result. Their reassurances still investor panic.

The CFO have to keep close track of what’s happening in the company and where it’s headed. They’re the ones to break the news - especially when it’s bad!

Shareholders responsibility

Their focus, derived from the value audit, also speaks for the shareholders, to whom they are directly accountable.

Shareholders, this ‘sleeping giant’ of earlier times, have evolved too. Companies now have to contend with their savvy activism and growing expectations.

Leading consensus

Finance is like the company conscious, active in the decisional process facilitating group consensus to give shape to the company’s agenda.

They bring the objectivity to the table, counsel what can or can’t be done and at what expense – that is, lead the leaders, to achieve organizational goals.

The finance role has clearly moved beyond cutting costs at whim, toting the numbers, and closing the quarter on time. Now they have critical responsibilities for company performances.

Cont’d 2…coping with ambiguity