Downsizing has both positive and negative aspects. In most cases Ibelieve that the business benefits most.
When downsizing occurs a companyis able to cut costs and reorganize, in essence becoming more efficient. This newfound efficiency in the long run benefits everyone becausecompanies are able to provide quality products at lower prices due tolowered production expenses. Certainly the employees who are dismissed in the process ofdownsizing do not immediately (if ever) benefit from the process. Havingyour employer view you as expendable is a tough blow to take, both to theego and to the pocketbook. Being laid off as a result of downsizing canhave its benefits, however. I always try to view things from an optimisticperspective.
A door closing can be sign that a person should look inanother direction, because most likely another opportunity is awaiting. This is not always the case, as we saw in the events that occurred inconjunction with GM’s off-shoring jobs from Flint, Michigan to Mexico. People in Flint were left with seemingly no options toward which to turn. The decision to downsize would be an extremely difficult one. Circumstancessurrounding the company would be vital considerations, as downsizing shouldnot be taken lightly.
Many people are affected, and proper steps should betaken to ensure as seamless of a transition as possible. I agree withpoints brought up in chapter three of The Heroic Enterprise, one being thatservices should be provided to newly unemployed people to help them stay ontheir feet. Morale of remaining employees must also be maintained,providing assistance with what could possibly be additional workloads andresponsibilities due to the department downsizing. Private business can and does have a role in public education.
It isdefinitely in the best interest of private companies to get involved withschool systems, as this will provide better qualified human capital forthem in the future. If people get the education and training they needwhile in school, companies will have less training to worry about (and payfor themselves) in the future. Private schools must obtain their own funding since it is notprovided by the state, as in the case of public schools. It does not makesense, however, for companies to only contribute to these private sectors.
Only focusing on private schools severely limits the potential labor poolthat will exist when these children grow into working (at least hopefullyworking) adults. We know there is a great discrepancy between theeducations provided to students in most private schools, versus those inpublic school. As we saw in the PBS special about Ohio public schools,however, there are also drastic differences between public schools. These extremes need to be lessened. It would not be appropriate totake away from those children who are exposed to great possibilities, greattools and a plethora of available activities in their school environments.
There must be something done to bring the bottom level schools up to par,though. Children in poor schools, exposed to decrepit buildings and measlymaterials are being shorted in terms of their education. This in term has adetrimental effect on their future possibilities. Children who begin withgreat potential learn that they are not valued enough to be well educatedin poor school systems.
The big question here is funding. In most cases the dollars spent perpupil in suburban schools are much greater than the spending per pupil ininner city or rural schools. The American way implies that all people arecreated equal, so how can this be? Why does one child deserve less thananother because of where they live? The answer is that they do not, thatall children deserve the same treatment and opportunities. Unfortunately,making policy to solve this problem seems to be a difficult task.
One final issue raises questions in my mind as well. What do we dowhen spending is increased and the results still do not follow? This may bethe case in looking at Columbus public schools. Funding has been increasedand graduation rates are still much lower than desired. The problem may bebigger than funding. Money in education is extremely important but otherequally, if not more, important factors play into the situation.
It takeseveryone to educate a child: parents, teachers and administrators. I am notsaying that good parents, teachers and administrators are not present inthe poorer school districts, but I do think that the best qualifiedcandidates for these jobs are going to be drawn to better equipped areas. It is a double-edged sword of a problem. Business is concerned with health and safety. The question is, towhat extent are they willing to go to promote it? When do other businessinterests intervene and become more important? The health and safety of acompany’s employees should be a top priority, for without them, business ofany kind certainly could not succeed.
One positive, showing that business does care about health andwellness, is the statistic from chapter six of The Heroic Enterprise that”fully 90 percent of useful drugs come from corporate research. ” Themajority of the drugs, therapies and medical devices that alleviate painand suffering in the world are a direct result of business funding. Privateindustry is the largest source of funding for medical research (more thanhalf) and this says a lot about the intentions of these businesses. Withthe costs of health care and medications rising so, however, it is hard forindividuals and families to see and appreciate the role of privatebusinesses in the field of health.
Good benefit packages can be hard to come by. Some people can’t findaccessible providers in their area. A procedure deemed necessary by manymay be rejected by insurance companies as non-necessary. In light ofproblems like this it is hard to appreciate the efforts that privatebusinesses make to support the health of American citizens. There are anumber of progressive corporations that put the health and well-being oftheir employees at the forefront of the priority list. Providingopportunities for employees to be healthier takes the willingness of theemployer to take risks in the market.
I think it is wonderful that sociallyresponsible corporations are making strides to better society as a whole. The pharmaceutical industry, for example, many times gets a bad wrap. It seems to the general public that exorbitant profits are made on drugsthat barely cost a penny per pill. When you think about it though, researchthat develops new life-saving drugs is outrageously expensive as well. Pharmaceutical companies are not non-profit organizations, and it takesquite a bit to recoup research and development costs.
I for one am willingto pay a bit more at the drugstore if it means that there may be a newcancer fighting drug on the market in twenty or thirty years. If my dollarscould in any way help find a cure, then I am for it. The issue of health insurers, investor-owned hospitals and privatemanaged-care companies seeking profits at the expense of patient care wasdiscussed in The Heroic Enterprise as well. This debate may be very valid,but my experiences with for-profit facilities has been nothing butwonderful.
My husband recently had surgery at a for-profit surgery centerand I was awed at the care we both received. Not only was he taken care of,but throughout the process I really was too. It was a much differentatmosphere than my experiences with traditional hospitals. I do not intendto imply that care there was bad, but it just was not as comprehensive. Theworkers, although nice and competent, always seem overworked. This was notthe case at the surgical center, and it seemed to me that much good iscoming from the profits of that company.
