What were the specific program themes to uncomplicated various issues.
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Business Environment
Case Studies
CASE STUDY (20Marks)
Measuring the Results of Donor
Supported Business Registration and Licensing – The case of Minas Gerais in
Brazil Minas Geraisis one of Brazil’s 26 states. It is the fourth largest state
in the country and the second most populous. The state’s capital and
largestcity, Belo Horizonte, is a major urban and finance centre in Latin
America and is the sixth largest urban agglomeration in Brazil. The government
Descomplicar initiative, meaning “uncomplicate”, was launched in 2007 to
promote a policy environment that is conducive to economic development. The
program had four goals: Improve relationship between state and private sector;
Simplify
regulation and reduce bureaucracy;
Encourage firm formalization; and Promote economic development. The
Descomplicar initiative established a series of working groups around specific
program themes: 1. Information campaign: This theme sought to promote the
importance of business registration through education campaigns and the
distribution of booklets to informal business owners. The media campaign also
involved direct work in schools and universities. 2. Bureaucracy reduction:
This theme sought to simplify the procedures for starting, maintaining and
closing a business, with an emphasis on small and medium enterprises. It
included support to all the municipalities in Minas Gerais in the creation of a
synchronized business database. 3. Tax guidelines: This theme developed
material that described the different conditions for the small and medium
enterprises, showing the benefits that businesses receive from government and
serves as an enticement to formalization. Government considered it especially
important to disclose information on the origin and destination of taxes
collected and to create awareness among entrepreneurs of their importance to
society. 4. Increased surveillance: Attention was given to educating informal
employers about their extralegal status. State and local governments improved
their surveillance of the informal sector and distributed the abovementioned
booklets on the importance of formalization and its benefits for the business
and for society. 5. Financial barriers reduction: Attention was also given to
facilitating access to government supported credit lines in an attempt to
improve access to credit. Given high levels of informality among firms, a goal
of Descomplicar was to encourage firm formalization. To this end, the program
conducted a survey of informal firms to obtain information on the barriers to
formality from the firm perspective. The most frequently reported barriers
identified through this survey were: High tax burden; Too much bureaucracy;
High costs of firms registration; Lack of financing; and Lack of information
about benefits of being formal. One of the first reforms was to simplify
business registration through the creation of a one stop shop for completing
municipal, state, and federal registration procedures at the same time and at
the same place (known as “Minas Fácil”). Different layers of government mean
municipal inspectors don’t enforce state and federal registration. Thus, firms
can be partially formal, i.e., complying with local laws, but not state or
federal laws. However, through the one stop shop, firms automatically obtain
state and federal registration when they obtain a municipal operating license.
However, despite this initiative, many firms remained informal. Investigations
found that many informal firms were not aware of the simplified process and
that there was very little information on the benefits of formalization. Impact
evaluation In response, the World Bank and the State of Minas Gerais undertook
an impact evaluation from 2010 to 2012 to build knowledge on what works and
what doesn't when fostering the formalization of firms, and to use this knowledge
to refine policies intended to facilitate formalization among firms in Minas
Gerais. This project used a randomized experiment to evaluate the impact of the
policies implemented under Descomplicar. The impact evaluation would help
refine Descomplicar policies. The evaluation sought to measure which of the
following three interventions is most effective at encouraging firm
formalization: Intervention
1: Information Brochure: Providing
information on the costs and benefits of formalization, financing sources, as
well as on the simplified registration process. Intervention
2: Information Brochure and Free
Registration: Providing the information above as well as paying registration
fees for firms.
Intervention
3: Stepping up tax inspections and
enforcements. If firms formalize as a results of these interventions, it was
also possible to measure the impact of formalization on firm performance. In
January and February 2011 the study first conducted an exercise to obtain a
list of informal firms located in 605 city blocks. Then, in April 2011, it
randomly assigned these blocks into
three groups based on the three options
described above. Control groups of firms that did not receive any of the three
possible interventions were also formed. This allowed for the measurement of
spillover effects within blocks by comparing control firms in intervention
blocks to firms in control blocks.
Answer
the following question.
Q1.
What was Descomplicar initiative? Explain
Q2.
What were the specific program themes to uncomplicated various issues.
Q3.
What were the most frequently reported barriers identified through the survey.
Q4.
Explain the interventions chosen for encouraging firm formalization.
CASE STUDY (20 Marks)
Asia had emerged as the destination for
medical (healthcare) tourism capitalizing on advantages of “lower cost skilled
personnel,cultural factors, natural endowments and unique forms of medicine.”
The targeted consumers were patients from developed nations where medical
treatments were expensive and the waiting lists long. By providing medical
services to foreign customers, these countries were not only generating
valuable foreign exchange, but were also creating employment opportunities.
Thailand was the leader in the region, followed by Singapore and Malaysia and
India as the preferred destinations for medical treatment The benefits
of foreign exchange, employment and
growth in national income, which extended well beyond the medical, travel and
tourism sectors attracted government interest across Asia, and efforts to
attract medical tourists added to the growth of the industry Though Asian
countries provided cheaper medical services, they were also perceived by some
as being manned by low quality doctors who provided poor quality treatment.
Pricing of the treatments and packages across the region varied. Experts opined
that the over emphasis on the foreign patients who offered higher revenue
compared to domestic patients can be detrimental to public healthcare services
in the home country. Despite the issues and challenges, the region had vast
opportunity for growth The case describes the growth and reasons of the Asian
region as a preferred destination for Medical/Healthcare Tourism and the
importance of the healthcare tourism industry in the Asian economies. The case
details the issues and challenges for the countries in servicing the patients.
The case ends on the discussion whether such emphasis on healthcare tourism was
diverting the attention and resources of the government from the domestic
healthcare needs, especially public health. With such competition and
challenges, would Asian countries be able to capitalize on the opportunity and
at the same time fulfill the social obligation of healthcare at home
Answer
the following question.
Q1.
Discuss the growth and reasons of the Asian region as a preferred destination
for Medical/Healthcare Tourism and
the
importance of the healthcare tourism industry in the Asian economies.
Q2.
Analyze the issues and challenges for the countries in servicing the medical
tourist patients
Q3.
Debate whether such emphasis on healthcare tourism was diverting the attention
and resources of the government from the domestic healthcare needs, especially
public health.
Q4.
Debate whether with such competition and challenges, Asian countries will be
able to capitalize on the opportunity and at the same time fulfill the social
obligation of healthcare at home
CASE STUDY (20 Marks)
Case Study: DELL – Energy Management
(Enterprise Solution – Minimum of 200 Desktops – Technology Innovation)
Synopsis Dell embarked on an energy efficiency program that aimed at conserving
energy and cutting expenses by reducing the power used by approximately 50,000
of its computers during non business hours. 1E’s Night Watchman® and 1E WakeUp®
were deployed to the 50,000 client computers that fully integrated with Dell’s
corporate Microsoft® Windows Server® and Microsoft Systems Management Server
(SMS) environment. As a result, Dell achieved a 40 percent reduction in energy
costs, translating into US$1.8 million in savings per year. The use of 1E Night
Watchman® is a great example of how an organization can effectively implement
energy management practices that reduce energy consumption and operating costs.
Though cost savings are more noticeable for larger corporations, 1E Night
Watchman® is just as relevant to smaller organisations with as few as 200 PCs.
Featured Organizations Dell is a multinational technology corporation that
develops, manufactures, sells and supports personal computers and other
computer related products. 1E solutions and services help automate and simplify
IT operations and reduce complexity, management cost and power consumption
costs. By providing leading edge
solutions with its expertise 1E has
earned the trust and confidence of over 15 million licensed users across 1,100
businesses in 42 countries worldwide. The Problem to be Addressed Energy
conservation is an increasingly important issue for all organizations.
Answer
the following question.
Q1.
Explain how Dell achieved a 40 percent reduction in energy costs.
Q2.
Give your views on the case.
CASE STUDY (20 Marks)
In 2003, Britain accumulated a lot of
credit. According to a Bank of England report, credit card lending formed 7.16%
of the total lending to individuals of the UK for the month of September 2003.
Along with the increase in credit card lending, credit card debts also
increased. The Bank of England revised its interest rate to keep a check on the
increasing amounts of debt and inflation. The credit card lenders are dealing
aggressively with their customers by going to the courts and also engaging
bailiffs. They are also selling the debts to the debt collection agencies.
Answer
the following question.
Q1.
Discuss how the problem of accumulating credit card debt is contributing to the
increase in the nonperforming assets of banks and creating a vicious cycle in
the economy
Q2.
Explain what steps the Bank of England can take to deal with the problem
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Project Report and Thesis contact
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