Cosmopolitanism Must Be Left as an Individual Choice Essay

Cosmopolitanism Must Be Left as an Individual Choice - Essay Example New York, Hong Kong, Singapore, and Los Angeles as well as London are basic examples of "cosmopolitanized" cities around the globe embracing an eclectic mix of people with various cultures and traditions in a seemingly harmonious way. But this does not mean that there are no concerns being raised. In fact, elsewhere, discrimination still permeates even in highly cosmopolitan cities like New York where "cosmopolitan" lifestyle has been a trademark as against "other" cities. There exists a stark idiosyncrasy on perception of being a "cosmopolitan". Either one has embraced and integrated the word to one's own lifestyle or "tolerate" the existence of this culture, if it may be considered as such. The United States, for one, in trying to protect and allow all the Constitutional privileges of its citizens, which at present vary in their "origin" or nationalities has its scholars and thinkers argue on which must come first: the individual which is associated with liberal rights, or the group which also exercises their rights to organize as provided for by their liberal rights. Barry (2002) aptly argued in his "Culture and Equality: An Egalitarian Critique of Multiculturalism" book that "What we might find out by experience is that institutionalizing group representation offers opportunities and incentives for political entrepreneurs to whip up intragroup solidarity and intergroup hostility in the pursuit of power. And indeed this has happened all over the world virtually every time group representation has been introduced." Backed with empirical case studies as well as theories that made his presentation and argument not only convincing but powerful, his insights explored in depth religious and educational issues such as the case of Sikhs in Britain, Amish, and Quebec separatism. Without neglecting the rights of the members of minority groups, he calls to attention the reader to the concept of universal rights as "(universal) rules define a choice set which is the same for everybody; within that choice set people pick a particular course of action by deciding what is best calculated to satisfy their underlying preferences for outcomes uniform rules create identical choice sets, then opportunities are equal," (Barry, 2002). This goes to say that individual rights come first before group or collective choices. He implied that "rule and exception" approaches to public policy must encompass a universality that is applied equally among all citizens to remove the danger of protectionism and that the best way to help the least advantaged is by avoiding politics of difference and guaranteeing the full benefits of citizenship. Barry went on to add that "within a liberal state all groups are free to deploy their energies and recourses in pursuit of culturally derived objectives on the same terms." Likewise, The Wilson Quarterly (1995) quoted Dr. Samuel Johnson, who famously said "Patriotism is the last refuge of a scoundrel." Liberals were hailed to have gone further by embracing "all humankind " scoring on patriotic pride as "both morally dangerous and, ultimately subversive of

Managing Change in the Urology Department of a National Health Service Essay

Managing Change in the Urology Department of a National Health Service Hospital in England - Essay Example It is clear from the discussion that the events that caused the need for change in the hospital were the combined financial crisis and the newly introduced regulations on the number of working hours for hospital personnel. Improving the situation will require the application of effective strategies and techniques that would change the current situation. The strategies and techniques require efficient processes and procedures. The hospital should be prepared to apply efficient change initiatives that are inclusive and address the needs of all the stakeholders. Otherwise, resistance will arise among the stakeholders. The three crucial areas that require the change include stakeholder/employee relationships, management of technological change, and worker motivation. This report begins with the summary of the organization that paves way for discussion on the issues that require close attention. The mission of the National Health Service Hospital in England is to sustain continuous improv ement in the delivery of health care services. The management seeks to ensure a healthy working environment for the employees as well as other stakeholders. The Department of Urology is struggling to respond to external pressures for change that have threatened its ability to offer efficient medical care. The hospital works with five consultant surgeons, a few middle-grade and junior doctors, a range of nurses and other clinical personnel. The hospital infrastructure is not efficient enough to offer competitive and efficient health care services. The events that triggered a need for change in the hospital were the combined financial crisis and the newly introduced regulations on the number of working hours for the hospital personnel. The introduced regulations on treatment duration made the hospital sub-contract some of the treatments to a private hospital, leading to financial losses. The factor that contributed to the shortage of medical staff is the conflict in the regulations in volving the working hours. The management of the crisis is loaded with many challenges such as the tension between managers and clinicians and failure to agree on the staff capacity, allocation of extra beds, and operating theater. Others include information overload, ineffective problem solving, disagreement on the number and qualifications of new entrants, and inefficient data collection. The current challenges facing the Urology Department of the National Health Service Hospital in England are related to the incompetence of the stakeholders in managing the changes facing the health care industry. Change Management Change management is a structured process designed to deal intentionally and directly with human