Does Welfare Reform in New York City Work Essay

Does Welfare Reform in New York City Work - Essay Example It stretched from accommodating few natives to a large influx of immigrants from Latin America and other parts of the world. The city had not come up with a long term strategy to include all these new members. So the welfare system was overburdened and after some years (forty years), it started becoming inefficient. In the nineties, employees working for the welfare system in the City felt unsafe and started reinforcing their offices to protect themselves. Clients on welfare had to waste most of their day waiting for welfare workers who could not even deliver upon meeting the clients. Client files started getting lost; welfare workers did not complete cases and kept jumping from client to client so there was no case of continuity. This made most clients angry and they vented out their frustrations on social workers forcing security guards to intervene. This meant that people on welfare could not make time for other productive activities because they spent most of their time trying to chase for benefits and looking for child care. 'Mass confusion' are the perhaps the most appropriate words to use when describing the city's welfare prior to 1995. The New York welfare system underwent a rapid change between 1995 and 2001 or we could say that reforms were introduced. These reforms occurred during Rudolph Giuliani's term as New York mayor. Some of the changes that the welfare system saw were the decline in number of people on welfare; from one point one million to about six hundred. The welfare system's method of approach also changed. Instead of giving checks to clients, they were given jobs; it became employment based instead of issuing handouts. However, there is another side to this reform. Jobs were not just dished out from all directions. Welfare clients had to prove that they were compliant. This implied that the so called 'difficult clients' were not considered this included drug addicts and the like. Besides, this there were problems in system management and all these will be looked at in the subsequent sections in detail. Welfare reforms were not 'the knight on a white horse' for the residents of the City of New York. (Mead, 1992) 2.0 Literature review There are a number of changes that were observed during Giuliani's regime. There is no doubt that the general approach was work oriented. From the 1995 to 1999, most of the policies imposed sanctions and mainly dealt with work requirements. Clients were required to meet a certain criteria and if they were did not comply, then they were met by sanctions. During this time, New York saw the rejection of about a large number of adults. Cases of sanctioning increased from eight percent to fourteen percent. Besides these, the system was characterized by compulsory workfare jobs. This implied that there were a number of adults that were involved in work experience program jobs. These were more of assignments than actual jobs. However in the last years of Giuliani's regime (99-01) emphasis on workfare started diminishing and some emphasis was now being placed on training for jobs. This involved the three plus two model. Welfare adults were required to attend three days of workfare and they were also supposed to dedicate the remaining two days of the week to a training program such as education or job readiness service. There were also a number of programs that focused on special groups.

BMWs Launch of its Mini Brand in US Case Study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3250 words

BMWs Launch of its Mini Brand in US - Case Study Example The company hosts three important brands as part of its production, they being BMW, MINI and Rolls-Royce Motor Cars. Since the inception of its brands in the global market the company has always focused on one most important thing i.e. none other than providing sheer driving pleasure to its customers. BMW's MINI - The MINI brand of the BMW is a wonderful creation of the company which wins many hearts and turns many heads. This brand of the company is something extraordinary and also refreshingly different. The brand was basically targeted at the younger generation and the brand undoubtedly became a cult brand in the market within very few days of its launch in the market. Since its launch in the market, the brand has lost none of its youthful charm. MINI is part of a lifestyle that is cosmopolitan and confident, ready for everythingiii. The global automobile industry is the industry and area of commerce in which automobile models are planned, designed, manufactured, and marketed. The automobile industry is concerned with profits and competition; with consumer demands for styling, safety, and efficiency; and with labor relations and manufacturing efficiency. From the 1970s the automotive industry has been dominated by the United States, Western Europe and Japan, three geographical areas known collectively as the Triad. Such domination served to intensify the degree of competition that already existed as firms sought to achieve a global presence in markets that were becoming increasingly fragmented as consumer tastes diversified. From its inception until 1978, the U.S. automotive industry showed a steady expansion, with the exception of the years during World War II when its plants were converted to the production of war materials. In 1978, motor vehicle production reached an all-time high of 12.9 million units, including about 9.2 million cars; since then production has fluctuated. In the early 1980s the industry was in a recession, producing fewer cars in 1982 than in any year since 1958. From 1990 to 1992 the industry experienced another recession. In 1996, U.S. motor vehicle production totaled 11.8 million, including 6.1 million cars and 5.7 million trucks; North American motor vehicle production, including all vehicles made by domestic and foreign companies in the U.S., Canada, and Mexico, reached more than 15.4 million-8.2 million cars and 7.3 million trucks. In the mid-1990s, the U.S. auto industry showed signs of recoveryiv. To try to improve their global positions in terms of output and market share almost all of the major firms in the industry embarked on a period of consolidation in the 1980s and continued this in the 1990s. Ford acquired Aston Martin, Mazda, Jaguar, Land Rover and Volvo. Volkswagen gained Skoda and Seat. General Motors took major interests Saab, Suzuki, Isuzu and Daewoo. Finally, Renault merged with Nissan, Dacia and Samsung. The most salient point arising for the purposes of this paper is the firms which bought firms in economies where they had little previous presence as part of their strategy of going global. Essentially then DaimlerChrysler was