Issues In Managed Care Health And Social Care Essay

Issues In Managed Care Health And Social Care Essay Managed Care has increasingly become prevalent in the United States. Overtime, it has continued to evoke strong ethical concerns regarding its applicability in our contemporary society. Such instances have been exemplified by the issue of efficacy; provision of a product or service with minimum input in terms of resources. Efficacy, as postulated, conjures more pressure on the medical practitioner to increase his/her productivity with minimized incentives. Moreover, Managed Care has been associated with capitation of contracts by Health Maintenance Organizations (HMOs) where medical officers are paid not to attend to patients. However, a clear understanding of this practice would be essential if we were to term it as ethical or unethical. The history of Managed Care can be traced back to early 19th century, when a number of healthcare structures and systems emerged to provide subsidized health services for impoverished communities. These structures appeared in different communities across the United States with the aim of helping a few selected groups access medical care. This initiative was mainly meant for rural and marginalized communities in mining, lumbering, and railroad areas. Locals were asked to pay a small amount of the fee so that they could conveniently get access to medical care. However, in urbanized societies, charitable institutions settled the fee for marginalized communities. It is believed that Health Maintenance Organizations evolved from these practices and thus later came to be known as Managed Care (Wolff Schlesinger, 2002). Nonetheless, with the different faces that Managed Care has adapted over the years, criticism for such practices has been heightened. Inasmuch as many communities have benefitted from this initiative, medical practitioners and professionals have sounded an alarm over the continued adoption of this practice. Health standards have been lowered due to the subsidized medical services. Physicians have been forced to offer their professional services at lowered prices thereby rendering poor services. This is one of the most notable ethical concern that has been associated with Managed Care. Moreover, a number of misconceptions have also been insinuated that try to render Managed Care inappropriate. However, there is need for clarifying some of these ethical concerns by determining whether they have impacted negatively on the society and as to whether its continued practice would compromise societal ethical norms. In this regard, this paper will define the social understanding of Managed Care, identify more instances where it has been associated with unethical practices, clarify such instances and describe its positive contributions towards the development in the faculty of medicine. Some of the issues to be discussed will include: efficacy in medical practice; capitation of contracts; quality in medical care and exploitation of these services. Furthermore, positive attributes such as cost-effectiveness; guarantee of medical attention; provision of preventive services and care coordination will also be evaluated thereby elucidating clear perceptions on Managed Care Plans. Therefore, the purpose of this paper will be to outline past, present and future trends in Managed Care. Furthermore, it will acknowledge the contribution made by Managed Care towards general health sustainability and clarify some of the social misunderstanding associated with it. It shall also seek to clearly distinguish between negative and positive attributes of Managed Care, thereby reducing fallacious thinking regarding universal and social approval of this practice. Lastly, it will provide a schema for further research on this subject by determining some of the areas that need further research. Conclusion Through Literary review, we have observed a number of past trends and issues in Managed Care as well as discovered present and future trends that will continue to affect Managed Care systems. Such trends include the collapse in relationships between a patient and a doctor. This has been attributed to the fact that, through Managed Care, patients are restricted to a particular doctor under a companys payroll. If a patient opted to visit a doctor that is not necessarily linked with the organization, he/she either accommodates the demands of the extra service or the company contributes just a small percentage (Wolff Schlesinger, 2002). This affects doctor-patient relationship. Moreover, patients cannot develop lasting bonds with their doctors since the company may decide to terminate the services of a particular physician or seize to be identified with a specific medical group. It is in such a case that Managed Care impacts negative in the medical field. Secondly, through capitation, some forms of Managed Care have created the provision through which doctors can now spend very little time on a particular patient. This trend has been observed in the Preferred Provider Arrangement system where for a physician to compensate for the little incentives he received, he would make sure he sees many patients. For him to see many patients, it would mean that he would spend the minimum time possible on a particular patient. Consequently, this also affects the patient-doctor bonding process, exploration of available treatment options for the patient and does not guarantee exhaustive analysis of the patients problem. Furthermore, the doctor may end up making the wrong diagnosis hence put the life of the patient in danger (Bierman, A. S., Haffer, S. C., Hwang, Y. T., 2001). There have been cases where patients have been diagnosed with the wrong illness and thus ended up succumbing due to wrong prescription or treatment. Mental care plans have been greatly discriminated by Managed Care plans. Mental problems are far much financially demanding as compared to other illnesses. Therefore, many health management organizations have tried to avoid the inclusion of this package in their Managed Care system. The gravity of this issue prompted the drafting of a number of legislations which were presented to Congress for deliberation. For instance, the watered-down parity law, which was effected in 1998, prohibited companies from defining the maximum financial limit for mentally ill patients. Currently, many insurers are championing against this law by weakening it in a bid to render it inapplicable. In this regard, Managed Care programs seem to have failed in establishing parity in all health related illnesses. This is a huge shortcoming for Managed Care practices as it exhibits aspects of biasness. Lastly, one striking trend that will pose a great challenge to Managed Care structures in the future is the issue of Medical practitioners in Medical schools influencing their students thinking towards Managed Care. Presently, it has been established that most medical students across the United States are anti-Managed Care. This is attributed to the fact that most lecturers, who are health practitioners outside lecture rooms, are influencing their students thinking towards this practice. With this trend, physicians who are in the making will ravage this practice in the future thus hurl impoverished communities back to their medical poverty. Therefore, the imparting of negative ideological mindsets by lecturers and faculty members in medical schools should be stopped before it spills out of control. We need to safeguard the much we have achieved and work towards providing more that we could provide. However, Managed Cares influence on the issues outlined below has shown its positive c ontribution towards general health sustenance. Positive conclusions can be drawn hence act as an advocate for the maintenance of this practice. Throughout history, people have struggled to gain adequate medical assistance and this has been linked to lack of financial stability. Managed Care has created a cost-effective working environment where patients, regardless of demographic, racial or cultural background can get convenient healthcare. Structural cost-effectiveness has been realized with incentive impacted cost and inter-group negotiations being simplified. The task of negotiating the price for medical services has been left for the employer and the physician thereby offloading some of the financial burden from the patient, (Bierman et al., 2001). Moreover, in extreme circumstances, patients are able to get access to professional medical care, with modern equipment, medication and follow-up activities that would guarantee a patients full recovery. This is one of the most significant achievements realized through the application of Medical Care. Quality medical practices can be defined in terms of customer satisfaction and medical outcomes, or both. Studies have indicated that Managed Care has heightened responsiveness in creating value products thereby broadening provider networks. Furthermore, it has enhanced corporative relationships among providers and consumers. Utilization controls have also been loosened as compared to fee-for-service systems. A more notable finding postulated that there was not much, if any, difference in terms of quality of services offered between Managed care and fee-for-service schemes. Moreover, a tremendous increase in quality of medical services has also been observed in marginalized areas where such services were minimal. This growth has reduced health vulnerabilities in such areas thus augmenting the general quality of health in the area. Counter claims have been made imploring whether the quality of healthcare has been lowered or raised. Nevertheless, with a reflection on the customer satis faction model and medical outcomes, most communities have acknowledged a tremendous positive growth. Lastly, perhaps the most significant contribution of Managed Care is the ease of access to medical services. Medical practitioners defined access to medical care as the ease of patient entrà ©e to medical providers and procedures. We can all affirm that the initial aim of Managed Care, which was to provide access to medical facilities, especially for impoverished populations, has been achieved. Insured and uninsured company staffs are legible for Managed Care as long as their affiliate company has provisions for Managed Care (Bierman et al., 2001). Initially, most employees opted to have their own health insurance programs which locked out those who could not afford an insurer. However, Managed Care, with some minimum fee, each employee becomes technically insured. Therefore, Managed Care has eased the way in which people get access to medical care thus achieved its primary goal. In conclusion, having critically looked at the trend that is affecting Managed Care today and which may as well pose a great challenge in the future, we are still left with one question that remains unanswered. What criterion could be used by employers and medical practitioners in selecting viable Managed Care systems? Managed Care is prone to exploitation by both employers and physicians. Moreover, while physicians are crying foul, they should have an opportunity of drafting their demands, which are reasonable and considerable, especially for the poor man, hence stop providing poor services on the pretext of underpayment. Therefore, a study should be carried out that would seek to find a neutral way of assigning medical affiliations. Patients, employers and physicians interests should be evaluated and generate a possible strategy that would be less controversial in Managed Care. This research, therefore, will also offer recommendations for proper legislation of its implementation.

Fair & Lovely

in newspapers or on the Web that are used by families to arrange suitable alliances, and you will see that most potential grooms and their families are looking for â€Å"fair† brides; some even are progressive enough to invite responses from women belonging to a different caste. These ads, hundreds of which appear in India’s daily newspapers, re? ect attempts to solicit individuals with the appropriate religion, caste, regional ancestry, professional and educational quali? cations, and, frequently, skin color. Even in the growing numbers of ads that announce â€Å"caste no bar,† the adjective â€Å"fair† regularly precedes professional quali? ations. In everyday conversation, the ultimate compliment on someone’s looks is to say someone is gora (fair). â€Å"I have no problem with people wanting to be lighter,† said a Delhi beauty parlor owner, Saroj Nath. â€Å"It doesn’t make you racist, any more than trying to make yourself look you nger makes you ageist. † Bollywood (India’s Hollywood) glori? es conventions on beauty by always casting a fair-skinned actress in the role of heroine, surrounded by the darkest extras. Women want to use whiteners because it is â€Å"aspirational, like losing weight. Even the gods supposedly lament their dark complexion— Krishna sings plaintively, â€Å"Radha kyoon gori, main kyoon kala? (Why is Radha so fair when I’m dark? ). † A skin de? cient in melanin (the pigment that determines the skin’s brown color) is an ancient predilection. More than 3,500 years ago, Charaka, the famous sage, wrote about herbs that could help make the skin fair. Indian dermatologists maintain that fairness products cannot truly work as they reach only the upper layers of the skin and so do not affect melanin production. Nevertheless, for some, Fair & Lovely is a â€Å"miracle worker. A user gushes that â€Å"The last time I went to my parents’ home, I go t compliments on my fair skin from everyone. † For others, there is only disappointment. One 26-year-old working woman has been a regular user for the past eight years but to no avail. â€Å"I should have turned into Snow White by now but my skin is still the same wheatish color. † As an owner of a public relations ? rm commented, â€Å"My maid has been using Fair and Lovely for years and I still can’t see her in the dark . . .. But she goes on using it. Hope springs eternal, I suppose. † The number of Indians who think lighter skin is more beautiful may be shrinking. Sumit Isralni, a 22-year-old hair designer in his father’s salon, thinks things have changed in the last two years, at least in India’s most cosmopolitan cities, Delhi, Mumbai, and Bangalore. Women now â€Å"prefer their own complexion, their natural way† Isralni says; he prefers a more â€Å"Indian beauty† himself: â€Å"I won’t judge my wife on how fair her complexion is. † Sunita Gupta, a beautician in the same salon, is more critical. â€Å"It’s just foolishness! † she exclaimed. The premise of the ads that women could not become airline attendants if they are dark-skinned was wrong, she said. Nowadays people like black beauty. † It is a truism that women, especially in the tropics, desire to be a shade fairer, no matter what their skin color. Yet, unlike the approach used in India, advertisements elsewhere usually show how to use the product and how it works. Cultural Norms, Fair & Lovely, and Advertising CASE 2? 2 Fa ir & Lovely, a branded product of Hindustan Lever Ltd. (HLL), is touted as a cosmetic that lightens skin color. On its Web site (www. hll. com), the company calls its product â€Å"the miracle worker,† â€Å"proven to deliver one to three shades of change. While tanning is the rage in Western countries, skin lightening treatments are popular in Asia. According to industry sources, the top-selling skin lightening cream in India is Fair & Lovely from Hindustan Lever Ltd. (HLL), followed by CavinKare’s Fairever brand. HLL’s Fair & Lovely brand dominated the market with a 90 percent share until CavinKare Ltd. (CKL) launched Fairever. In just two years, the Fairever brand gained an impressive 15 percent market share. HLL’s share of market for the Fair & Lovely line generates about $60 million annually. The product sells for about 23 rupees ($0. 9) for a 25-gram tube of cream. The rapid growth of CavinKare’s Fairever (www. cavinkare .com) brand prompted HLL to increase its advertising effort and to launch a series of ads depicting a â€Å"fairer girl gets the boy theme. † One advertisement featured a ? nancially strapped father lamenting his fate, saying, â€Å"If only I had a son,† while his dark-skinned daughter looks on, helpless and demoralized because she can’t bear the ? – nancial responsibility of her family. Fast-forward and plain Jane has been transformed into a gorgeous light-skinned woman through the use of a â€Å"fairness cream,† Fair & Lovely. Now clad in a miniskirt, the woman is a successful ? ight attendant and can take her father to dine at a ? ve-star hotel. She’s happy and so is her father. In another ad, two attractive young women are sitting in a bedroom; one has a boyfriend and, consequently, is happy. The darkerskinned woman, lacking a boyfriend, is not happy. Her friend’s advice—Use a bar of soap to wash away the dark skin that’s keeping men from ? ocking to her. HLL’s series of ads provoked CavinKare Ltd. to counter with an ad that takes a dig at HLL’s Fair & Lovely ad. CavinKare’s ad has a father–daughter duo as the protagonists, with the father shown encouraging the daughter to be an achiever irrespective of her complexion. CavinKare maintained that the objective of its new commercial is not to take a dig at Fair & Lovely but to â€Å"reinforce Fairever’s positioning. † Skin color is a powerful theme in India, and much of Asia, where a lighter color represents a higher status. While Americans and Europeans ? ock to tanning salons, many across Asia seek ways to have â€Å"fair† complexions. Culturally, fair skin is associated with positive values that relate to class and beauty. One Indian lady commented that when she was growing up, her mother forbade her to go outdoors. She was not trying to keep her daughter out of trouble but was trying to keep her skin from getting dark. Brahmins, the priestly caste at the top of the social hierarchy, are considered fair because they traditionally stayed inside, poring over books. The undercaste at the bottom of the ladder are regarded as the darkest people because they customarily worked in the searing sun. Ancient Hindu scriptures and modern poetry eulogize women endowed with skin made of white marble. Skin color is closely identi? ed with caste and is laden with symbolism. Pursue any of the â€Å"grooms† and â€Å"brides wanted† ads cat2994X_case2_019-046. indd 25 cat2994X_case2_019-046. indd 25 8/27/10 2:05 PM 8/27/10 2:05 PM Part 6 Supplementary Material three-month Home Healthcare Nursing Assistant course catering to young women between the ages of 18 and 30 years. According to HLL, the Fair & Lovely Academy for Home Care Nursing Assistants offers a unique training opportunity for young women who possess no entry-level skills and therefore are not employable in the new economy job market. The Fair & Lovely Foundation plans to serve as a catalyst for the economic empowerment for women across India. The Fair & Lovely Foundation will showcase the achievements of these women not only to honor them but also to set an example for other women to follow. AIDWA’s campaign against ads that convey the message, â€Å"if she is not fair in color, she won’t get married or won’t get promoted,† also has resulted in some adjustment to fairness cream ads. In revised versions of the fairness cream ads, the â€Å"get fair to attract a groom† theme is being reworked with â€Å"enhance your selfcon? ence† so that a potential groom himself begs for attention. It is an attempt at typifying the modern Indian woman, who has more than just marriage on her mind. Advertising focus is now on the message that lighter skin enables women to obtain jobs conventionally held by men. She is career-oriented, has high aspirations, and, at the same time, wants to lo ok good. AIDWA concedes that the current crop of television ads for fairness creams are â€Å"not as demeaning† as ones in the past. However, it remains against the product; as the president of AIDWA stated, â€Å"It is downright racist to denigrate dark skin. † Although AIWDA’s campaign against fairness creams seems to have had a modest impact on changing the advertising message, it has not slowed the demand for fairness creams. Sales of Fair & Lovely, for example, have been growing 15 to 20 percent year over year, and the $318 million market for skin care has grown by 42. 7 percent in the last three years. Says Euromonitor International, a research ? rm: â€Å"Half of the skin care market in India is fairness creams and 60 to 65 percent of Indian women use these products daily. † Recently, several Indian companies were extending their marketing of fairness creams beyond urban and rural markets. CavinKare’s launch of Fairever, a fairness cream in a small sachet pack priced at Rs 5, aimed at rural markets where some 320 million Indians reside. Most marketers have found rural markets impossible to penetrate pro? tably due to low income levels and inadequate distribution systems, among other problems. However, HLL is approaching the market through Project Shakti, a rural initiative that targets small villages with populations of 2,000 people or less. It empowers underprivileged rural women by providing income-generating opportunities to sell small, lower priced packets of its brands in villages. Special packaging for the rural market was designed to provide single-use sachet packets at 50 paise for a sachet of shampoo to Rs 5 for a fairness cream (for a week’s usage). The aim is to have 100,000 â€Å"Shakti Ammas,† as they are called, spread across 500,000 villages in India by year end. CavinKare is growing at 25 percent in rural areas compared with 15 percent in urban centers. In addition to expanding market effort into rural markets, an unexpected market arose when a research study revealed Indian men were applying girlie fairness potions in droves—but on the sly. It was estimated that 40 percent of boyfriends/husbands of girlfriends/wives were applying white magic solutions that came in little tubes. Indian companies spotted a business opportunity, and Fair & Handsome, Menz Active, Fair One Man, and a male bleach called Saka were introduced to the male market. The sector expanded dramatically when Shah Rukh Khan, a highly acclaimed Commenting on the cultural bias toward fair skin, one critic states, â€Å"There are attractive people who go through life feeling inferior to their fairer sisters. And all because of charming grandmothers and aunts who do not hesitate to make un? attering comparisons. Kalee Kalooti is an oft-heard comment about women who happen to have darker skin. They get humiliated and morti? ed over the color of their skin, a fact over which they have no control. Are societal values responsible? Or advertising campaigns? Advertising moguls claim they only re? ect prevailing attitudes in India. This is possibly true but what about ethics in advertising? Is it correct to make advertisements that openly denigrate a majority of Indian people—the dark-skinned populace? The advertising is blatant in their strategy. Mock anyone who is not the right color and shoot down their self-image. † A dermatologist comments, â€Å"Fairness obtained with the help of creams is short-lived. The main reason being, most of these creams contain a certain amount of bleaching agent, which whitens facial hair, and not the skin, which leads people to believe that the cream worked. † Furthermore, â€Å"In India the popularity of a product depends totally on the success of its advertising. HLL launched its television ad campaign to promote Fair & Lovely but withdrew it after four months amid severe criticism for its portrayal of women. Activists argued that one of the messages the company sends through its â€Å"air hostess† ads demonstrating the preference for a son who would be able to take on the ? nancial responsibility for his parents is especially harmful in a country such as India where gender discrimination is rampant. Another offense is perpet uating a culture of discrimination in a society where â€Å"fair† is synonymous with â€Å"beautiful. AIDWA (All India Women’s Democratic Association) lodged a complaint at the time with HLL about their offensive ads, but Hindustan Lever failed to respond. The women’s association then appealed to the National Human Rights Commission alleging that the ad demeaned women. AIDWA objected to three things: (1) the ads were racist, (2) they were promoting son preference, and (3) they were insulting to working women. â€Å"The way they portrayed the young woman who, after using Fair & Lovely, became attractive and therefore lands a job suggested that the main quali? ation for a woman to get a job is the way she looks. † The Human Rights Commission passed AIDWA’s complaints on to the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, which said the campaign violated the Cable and Television Network Act of 1995—provisions in the act state that no advertisemen t shall be permitted which â€Å"derides any race, caste, color, creed and nationality† and that â€Å"Women must not be portrayed in a manner that emphasized passive, submissive qualities and encourages them to play a subordinate secondary role in the family and society. † The government issued notices of the complaints to HLL. After a year-long campaign led by the AIDWA, Hindustan Lever Limited discontinued two of its television advertisements for Fair & Lovely fairness cold cream. Shortly after pulling its ads off the air, HLL launched its Fair & Lovely Foundation, vowing to â€Å"encourage economic empowerment of women across India† by providing resources in education and business to millions of women â€Å"who, though immensely talented and capable, need a guiding hand to help them take the leap forward,† presumably into a fairer future. HLL sponsored career fairs in over 20 cities across the country offering counseling in as many as 110 careers. It supported 100 rural scholarships for women students passing their 10th grade, a professional course for aspiring beauticians, and a cat2994X_case2_019-046. indd 26 cat2994X_case2_019-046. indd 26 8/27/10 2:05 PM 8/27/10 2:05 PM Cases 2 The Cultural Environment of Global Marketing 2. Is it ethical to exploit cultural norms and values to promote a product? Discuss. 3. Is the advertising of Fair & Lovely demeaning to women, or is it promoting the fairness cream in a way not too dissimilar from how most cosmetics are promoted? 4. Will HLL’s Fair & Lovely Foundation be enough to counter charges made by AIDWA? Discuss. 5. In light of AIDWA’s charges, how would you suggest Fair & Lovely promote its product? Discuss. Would your response be different if Fairever continued to use â€Å"fairness† as a theme of its promotion? Discuss. 6. Propose a promotion/marketing program that will counter all the arguments and charges against Fair & Lovely and be an effective program. 7. Now that a male market for fairness cream exists, is the strength of AIDWA’s argument weakened? 8. Comment on using â€Å"Shakti Ammas† to introduce â€Å"fairness cream for the masses† in light of AIDWA’s charges. Sources: Nicole Leistikow, â€Å"Indian Women Criticize ‘Fair and Lovely’ Ideal,† Women’s eNews , April 28, 2003; Arundhati Parmar, â€Å"Objections to Indian Ad Not Taken Lightly,† Marketing News , June 9, 2003, p. 4; â€Å"Fair & Lovely Launches Foundation to Promote Economic Empowerment of Women,† press release, Fair & Lovely Foundation, http:// www. hll. com (search for foundation), March 11, 2003; Rina Chandran, â€Å"All for SelfControl,† Business Line (The Hindu), April 24, 2003; Khozem Merchant and Edward Luce, â€Å"Not So Fair and Lovely,† Financial Times , March 19, 2003; â€Å"Fair & Lovely Rede? es Fairness with Multivitamin Total Fairness Cream,† press release, Hindustan Lever Ltd. , May 3, 2005; Dr. Deepa Kanchankoti, â€Å"Do You Think Fairness Creams Work? † http://www. mid-day. com/metro, July 13, 2005; †CavinKare Launches Small Sachet Packs,† Business India , December 7, 2006; â€Å"A nalysis of Skin Care Advertising on TV During January–August 2006,† Indiantelevision. com Media, Advertising, Marketing Watch, October 17, 2006; â€Å"Women Power Gets Full Play in CavinKare’s Brand Strategy. The Economic Times (New Delhi, India), December 8, 2006; Heather Timmons, â€Å"Telling India’s Modern Women They Have Power, Even Over Their Skin Tone,† The New York Times , May 30, 2007; â€Å"The Year We Almost Lost Tall (or Short or Medium-Height), Dark and Handsome,† The Hindustan Times , December 29, 2007; â€Å"India’s Hue and Cry Over Paler Skin,† The Sunday Telegraph (London), July 1, 2007; â€Å"Fair and Lovely? † University Wire , June 4, 2007; â€Å"The Race to Keep up with Modern India,† Media, June 29, 2007; Aneel Karnani, â€Å"Doing Well by Doing Good—Case Study: ‘Fair & Lovely’ Whitening Cream,† Strategic Management Journal 28, no. 3 (2007), pp. 1351–57. Boll ywood actor likened to an Indian Tom Cruise, decided to endorse Fair & Handsome. Euromonitor International forecasts that in the next ? ve years, spending on men’s grooming products will rise 24 percent to 14. 5 billion rupees, or US$320 million. A recent product review in www. mouthshut. com, praises Fair & Lovely fairness cream: â€Å"[Fair & Lovely] contains fairness vitamins which penetrate deep down our skin to give us radiant fairness. â€Å"I don’t know if it can change the skin color from dark to fair, but my personal experience is that it works very well, if you have a naturally fair color and want to preserve it without much headache. † â€Å"I think Riya Sen has the best skin right now in Bollywood. It appears to be really soft and tender. So, to have a soft and fair skin like her I recommend Fair & Lovely Fairness Lotion or Cream. † Yet â€Å"skin color isn’t a proof of greatness. Those with wheatish or dark skin are by no way inferio r to those who have fair skin. † Here are a few facts from Hindustan Lever Ltd. s homepage: Lever Limited is India’s largest Packaged Mass Consumption Goods Company. We are leaders in Home and Personal Care Products and Food and Beverages including such products as Ponds and Pepsodent. We seek to meet everyday needs of people everywhere—to anticipate the aspirations of our consumers and customers and to respond creatively and competitively with branded products and services which raise the quality of life. It is this purpose which inspires us to build brands. Over the past 70 years, we have introduced about 110 brands. Fair & Lovely has been specially designed and proven to eliver one to three shades of change in most people. Also its sunscreen system is specially optimized for Indian skin. Indian skin, unlike Caucasian skin, tends to â€Å"tan† rather than â€Å"burn† and, hence, requires a different combination of UVA and UVB sunscreens. You may w ant to visit HLL’s homepage (www. hhl. com) for additional information about the company. QUESTIONS 1. Is it ethical to sell a product that is, at best, only mildly effective? Discuss. cat2994X_case2_019-046. indd 27 cat2994X_case2_019-046. indd 27 8/27/10 2:05 PM 8/27/10 2:05 PM

Introduction to Export Finance Essay

Credit and finance is the life and blood of any business whether domestic or international. It is more important in the case of export transactions due to the prevalence of novel non-price competitive techniques encountered by exporters in various nations to enlarge their share of world markets. The selling techniques are no longer confined to mere quality; price or delivery schedules of the products but are extended to payment terms offered by exporters. Liberal payment terms usually score over the competitors not only of capital equipment but also of consumer goods. The payment terms however depend upon the availability of finance to exporters in relation to its quantum, cost and the period at pre-shipment and post-shipment stage. Production and manufacturing for substantial supplies for exports take time, in case finance is not available to exporter for production. They will not be in a position to book large export order if they don’t have sufficient financial funds. Even merchandise exporters require finance for obtaining products from their suppliers. This project is an attempt to throw light on the various sources of export finance available to exporters, the schemes implemented by ECGC and EXIM for export promotion and the recent developments in the form of tie-EXIM tie-ups, credit policy announced by RBI in Oct 2001 and TRIMS. Concept of Export Finance: The exporter may require short term, medium term or long term finance depending upon the types of goods to be exported and the terms of statement offered to overseas buyer. The short-term finance is required to meet â€Å"working capital† needs. The working capital is used to meet regular and recurring needs of a business firm. The regular and recurring needs of a business firm refer to purchase of raw material, payment of wages and salaries, expenses like payment of rent, advertising etc. The exporter may also require â€Å"term finance†. The term finance or term loans, which is required for medium and long term financial needs such as purchase of fixed assets and long term working capital. Export finance is short-term working capital finance allowed to an exporter. Finance and credit are available not only to help export production but also to sell to overseas customers on credit. Objectives of Export Finance: * To cover commercial & Non-commercial or political risks attendant on granting credit to a foreign buyer. * To cover natural risks like an earthquake, floods etc. An exporter may avail financial assistance from any bank, which considers the ensuing factors: a) Availability of the funds at the required time to the exporter. b) Affordability of the cost of funds. Appraisal: Appraisal means an approval of an export credit proposal of an exporter. While appraising an export credit proposal as a commercial banker, obligation to the following institutions or regulations needs to be adhered to. Obligations to the RBI under the Exchange Control Regulations are: * Appraise to be the bank’s customer. * Appraise should have the Exim code number allotted by the Director General of Foreign Trade. * Party’s name should not appear under the caution list of the RBI. Obligations to the Trade Control Authority under the EXIM policy are: * Appraise should have IEC number allotted by the DGFT. * Goods must be freely exportable i.e. not falling under the negative list. If it falls under the negative list, then a valid license should be there which allows the goods to be exported. * Country with whom the Appraise wants to trade should not be under trade barrier. Obligations to ECGC are: * Verification that Appraise is not under the Specific Approval list (SAL). * Sanction of Packing Credit Advances. Guidelines for banks dealing in Export Finance: When a commercial bank deals in export finance it is bound by the ensuing guidelines: – a) Exchange control regulations. b) Trade control regulations. c) Reserve Bank’s directives issued through IECD. d) Export Credit Guarantee Corporation guidelines. e) Guidelines of Foreign Exchange Dealers Association of India.

Medieval Clothing and Fabrics in the Middle Ages

In medieval times, as today, both fashion and necessity dictated what people wore. And both fashion and necessity, in addition to cultural tradition and available materials, varied across the centuries of the Middle Ages and across the countries of Europe. After all, no one would expect the clothes of an eighth-century Viking to bear any resemblance to those of a 15th-century Venetian. So when you ask the question What did a man (or woman) wear in the Middle Ages? be prepared to answer some questions yourself.  Where did he live? When did he live? What was his station in life (noble, peasant, merchant, cleric)? And for what purpose might he be wearing a particular set of clothes? Types of Materials Used in Medieval Clothing The many types of synthetic and blended fabrics people wear today were simply not available in medieval times.  But this didnt mean that everyone wore heavy wool, burlap, and animal skins. Different textiles were manufactured in a range of weights and could vary greatly in quality. The more finely woven the textile was, the softer and more costly it would be. Various fabrics, such as taffeta, velvet, and damask were made from textiles like silk, cotton, and  linen using specific weaving techniques. These were not generally available in the earlier Middle Ages, and were among the more expensive fabrics for the extra time and care it took to make them. Materials available for use in medieval clothing included: Wool By far the most common fabric of the Middle Ages (and the core of the flourishing textile industry), wool was knitted or crocheted into garments, but it was more likely woven. Depending on how it was made, it could be very warm and thick, or light and airy. Wool was also felted for hats and other accessories. Linen Almost as common as wool, linen was  made from the flax plant and theoretically available to all classes. Growing flax was labor-intensive and making linen was time-consuming, however. Since the fabric wrinkled easily, it wasnt often found in garments worn by poorer folk. Fine linen was used for the veils and wimples of ladies, undergarments, and a wide variety of apparel and household furnishings.​ Silk Luxurious and costly, silk was used only by the wealthiest of classes and the Church.   Hemp Less costly than flax, hemp and nettles were used to create workaday fabrics in the Middle Ages. Though more common for such uses as sails and rope, hemp may also have been used for aprons and undergarments. Cotton Cotton doesnt grow well in cooler climes, so its use in medieval garments was less common in northern Europe than wool or linen. Still, a cotton industry existed in southern Europe in the 12th century, and cotton became an occasional alternative to linen. Leather The production of leather goes back to prehistoric times. In the Middle Ages, leather was used for shoes, belts, armor, horse tackle, furniture, and a wide assortment of everyday products. Leather could be dyed, painted, or tooled in a variety of fashions for ornamentation. Fur In early medieval Europe, fur was common, but thanks in part to the use of animal skins by Barbarian cultures, it was considered too crass to wear in public. It was, however, used to line gloves and outer garments. By the tenth century, fur came back into fashion, and everything from beaver, fox, and sable to vair (squirrel), ermine, and marten was used for warmth and status. Colors Found in Medieval Clothing Dyes came from a lot of different sources, some of them far more expensive than others.  Still, even the humble peasant could have colorful clothing. Using plants, roots, lichen, tree bark, nuts, crushed insects, mollusks, and iron oxide, virtually every color of the rainbow could be achieved. However, adding color was an extra step in the manufacturing process that raised its price, so clothing made from an undyed fabric in various shades of beige and off-white was not uncommon among the poorest folk. A dyed fabric would fade fairly quickly if it wasnt mixed with a mordant, and bolder shades required either longer dyeing times or more expensive dyes. Thus, the fabrics with the brightest and richest colors cost more and were, therefore, most often found on the nobility and the very rich. One natural dye that did not require a mordant was  woad,  a flowering plant that yielded a dark blue dye. Woad was used so extensively in both professional and home dyeing that it became known as Dyers Woad, and garments of a variety of blue shades could be found on people of virtually every level of society. Garments Worn Under Medieval Clothing Throughout much of the Middle Ages and in most societies, the undergarments worn by both men and women didnt substantially change. Basically, they consisted of a shirt or under-tunic, stockings or hose, and some kind of underpants or breeches for men. There is no evidence that women regularly wore underpants — but with a matter of such delicacy that the garments became known as unmentionables, this isn’t surprising. Women may have worn underpants, depending on their resources, the nature of their outer garments, and their personal preferences. Medieval Hats, Caps, and Head Coverings Virtually everyone wore something on their heads in the Middle Ages, to keep off the sun in hot weather, to keep their heads warm in cold weather, and to keep dirt out of their hair. Of course, as with every other type of garment, hats could indicate a persons job or their station in life and could make a fashion statement. But hats were especially important socially, and to knock someones hat off his or her head was a grave insult that, depending on the circumstances, could even be considered assault. Types of mens hats included wide-brimmed straw hats, close-fitting coifs of linen or hemp that tied under the chin like a bonnet, and a wide variety of felt, cloth or knitted caps. Women wore veils and wimples. Among the fashion-conscious nobility of the High Middle Ages, some fairly complex hats and head rolls for men and women were in vogue. Both men and women wore hoods, often attached to capes or jackets but sometimes standing alone. Some of the more complicated mens hats were actually hoods with a long strip of fabric in the back that could be wound around the head. A common accouterment for men of the working classes was a hood attached to a short cape that covered just the shoulders. Medieval Nightwear You may have heard that in the Middle Ages, everyone slept naked. Like most generalizations, this cant be perfectly accurate — and in cold weather, it is so unlikely it becomes painfully ridiculous. Illuminations, woodcuts, and other period artwork illustrate medieval people in bed in different attire. Some are unclothed, but just as many are wearing simple gowns or shirts, some with sleeves. Though we have virtually no documentation regarding what people wore to bed, from these images we can glean that those who wore nightdress could have been clad in an under-tunic (possibly the same one theyd worn during the day) or even in a lightweight gown made especially for sleeping, depending on their financial status. As it is true today, what people wore to bed depended on their resources, the climate, family custom, and their own personal preferences. Sumptuary Laws Clothing was the quickest and easiest way to identify someones status and station in life. The monk in his cassock, the servant in his livery, the peasant in his simple tunic were all instantly recognizable, as was the knight in armor or the lady in her fine gown. Whenever members of the lower strata of society blurred the lines of social distinction by wearing clothing ordinarily found only among the upper classes, people found it unsettling, and some saw it as downright offensive. Throughout the medieval era, but especially in the later Middle Ages, laws were passed to regulate what could and could not be worn by members of different social classes. These laws, known as sumptuary laws, not only attempted to maintain the separation of the classes, they also addressed excessive expenditures on all sorts of items. The clergy and more pious secular leaders had concerns about the conspicuous consumption the nobility was prone to, and sumptuary laws were an attempt to reign in what some found to be distastefully ostentatious displays of wealth. Although there are known cases of prosecution under sumptuary laws, they seldom worked. It was difficult to police everyones purchases. Since the punishment for breaking the law was usually a fine, the very rich could still acquire whatever they pleased and pay the price with hardly a second thought. Still, the passage of sumptuary laws persisted through the Middle Ages. The Evidence There are exceedingly few garments surviving from the Middle Ages. The exceptions are the apparel found with the bog bodies, most of whom died before the medieval period, and a handful of rare and costly items preserved through extraordinary good fortune. Textiles simply cannot withstand the elements, and unless they are buried with metal, they will deteriorate in the grave without a trace. How, then, do we really know what people wore? Traditionally, costumers and historians of material culture have turned to period artwork. Statues, paintings, illuminated manuscripts, tomb effigies, even the extraordinary Bayeux Tapestry all depict contemporaries in medieval dress. But great care must be taken when evaluating these representations. Often contemporary for the artist was a generation or two too late for the subject. Sometimes, there was no attempt at all to represent a historical figure in clothing appropriate to the figures time period. And unfortunately, most of the picture books and magazine series produced in the 19th century, from which a large percentage of modern histories are drawn, are based on misleading period artwork. Many of them further mislead with inappropriate colors and the casual addition of anachronistic garments. Matters are further complicated by the fact that terminology is not consistent from one source to the next. There are no period documentary sources fully describing garments and providing their names. The historian must pick up these bits of scattered data from a wide range of sources — including wills, account books, and letters — and interpret exactly what is meant by each item mentioned. There is nothing straightforward about medieval clothing history. The truth is, the study of medieval clothing is in its infancy. With any luck, future historians will break open the treasure trove of facts about medieval clothing and share its riches with the rest of us. Until then, we amateurs and non-specialists must take our best guess based on what little weve learned. Sources Dickson, Brandy. Cotton is Period? Really? Brandy Dickson, 2004-2008. Houston, Mary G. Medieval Costume in England and France: The 13th, 14th and 15th Centuries. Dover Fashion and Costumes, Kindle Edition, Dover Publications, August 28, 2012. Jenkins, David (Editor). The Cambridge History of Western Textiles 2 Volume Hardback Boxed Set. Hardcover, Cambridge University Press; Slp edition, September 29, 2003. Kà ¶hler, Carl. A History of Costume. Dover Fashion and Costumes, Kindle Edition, Dover Publications, May 11, 2012. Mahe, Yvette, Ph.D. History of Fur in Fashion 10th to 19th Century. Fashion Time, February 19, 2012. Medieval Veils, Wimples and Gorgets. 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