Competitive and internal information Essay

Write an essay on the typical main sources of business information generated both internally and externally for public companies. How is such information used to establish a company’s place in the market? Illustrate your answer with examples from one or more business sectors of your choice. INTRODUCTION Information consists of data that have been retrieved, processed, or used for informative purposes, argument or as a basis for forecasting or decision making. Without information, a business cannot survive. A recipe for a good decision is 90 percent information and 10 percent inspiration. Information is the catalyst of management and the ingredient that coalesces the managerial functions of planning, operating controlling. Managers depend on information for making decisions. Any organization is held together by the possession of means for the acquisition, use, retention and transmission of information. The purpose of management system is to develop plans for achieving objectives, to organize for implementing plan and to control performance so that plans and actions occur on schedule. The place of information in performing these three basis processes is shown in the following. MANAGEMENT PROCESS AND INFORMATION NEED 1) Performance against plan 2) Environmental, Competitive and internal information concurring problem and opportunities. Evaluation of 1 and 2 in order to Make a prediction of estimate of Alternative courses of action Alternative source. Prediction of results for alternative Courses of action. Communicate details of plan and Control standards. Performance against PK In the above figure for information needs 1) In the the first step, recognition of problem or an opportunity is prompted by information from the control process concerning a deviation from standard or by search and evaluation of those system (environmental, competitive, Internal) 2) Definition of problem, determination and evaluation of alternative course of action. 3) Once a decision is made, it is necessary to implement and control a solution. Among the above steps, planning information needs of an organization can be classified into three broad types. 1) Environmental 2) Competitive 3) Internal 1) Environmental information It can be classified as (A) Political and Government consideration Some information on political stability is important for forecasting plans. (B) Demographic and Social trends Some information is necessary to forecast the Social Trends and consumer buying behavior for both the long and short run. (C) Economic Trends. Employment, Productivity and numerals other economic indicators provide valuable planning information for the firms whose output is a function of these important variables (D) Technological environment Some information is necessary to forecast the technological changes in their industry and probable effect on the firm. (2) Competitive information. Information concerning factors that affects the operation of the firm within an industry includes data concerning industry and firm demand as well as the data on the competitors. The information can be classified into three types. They are (a) Industry Demand. Information is needed for forecasting the demand for the Sale and the corresponding level of operation of a single firm. (b) Firm Demand The demand for products of an individual firm is a function of the Industry demand and the capabilities and activities of the individual firm relative to the capabilities and action of competing firms. (c) Competition Data on competing firms are very important for forecasting the individual demand and making decisions and plans to achieve the forecast. (3) Internal information They are vital for subsidiary planning at all levels in the organization. Internal data are aimed at an identification of the organization’s strength and weakness.. The types of internal information are (A) Sales forecast: Some information is necessary for forecasting the Sales. (B) The financial plan It is the system that links all activities of the company together. (C) Policies Some information is necessary to frame the basis policies for long run purpose. Data and information come from many sources – both internal (inside the business) and external. This revision note summarizes the main sources: Business data and information comes from multiple sources. The challenge for a business is to capture and use information that is relevant and reliable. The main sources are: INTERNAL INFORMATION Accounting records are a prime source of internal information. They detail the transactions of the business in the past – which may be used as the basis for planning for the future (e. g. preparing a financial budget or forecast). The accounting records are primarily used to record what happens to the financial resources of a business. For example, how cash is obtained and spent; what assets are acquired; what profits or losses are made on the activities of the business. However, accounting records can provide much more than financial information. For example, details of the products manufactured and delivered from a factory can provide useful information about whether quality standards are being met. Data analyzed from customer sales invoices provides a profile of what and to whom products are being sold. A lot of internal information is connected to accounting systems – but is not directly part of them. For example: – Records of the people employed by the business (personal details; what they get paid; skills and experience; training records) – Data on the costs associated with business processes (e. g. costings for contracts entered into by the business) – Data from the production department (e. g. number of machines; capacity; repair record) – Data from activities in direct contact with the customer (e. g. analysis of calls received and missed in a call centre) A lot of internal information is also provided informally. For example, regular meetings of staff and management will result in the communication of relevant information. SAMPLE SOURCES OF INTERNAL INFORMATION: Balance Sheet of ICICI PERIOD ENDING 31-Mar-00 Assets Current Assets Cash And Cash Equivalents 1,479,000 Short Term Investments – Net Receivables 194,000 Inventory – Other Current Assets – Total Current Assets – Long Term Investments 1,185,000 Property Plant and Equipment 48,000 Goodwill – Intangible Assets – Accumulated Amortization – Other Assets 81,000 Deferred Long Term Asset Charges – Total Assets 2,987,000 Liabilities Current Liabilities Accounts Payable – Short/Current Long Term Debt – Other Current Liabilities 2,454,000 Total Current Liabilities – Long Term Debt 57,000 Other Liabilities 215,000 Deferred Long Term Liability Charges – Minority Interest – Negative Goodwill – Total Liabilities 2,726,000 Stockholders’ Equity Misc Stocks Options Warrants – Redeemable Preferred Stock – Preferred Stock – Common Stock 45,000 Retained Earnings 44,000 Treasury Stock – Capital Surplus 171,000 Other Stockholder Equity 1,000 Total Stockholder Equity 261,000 Net Tangible Assets $261,000 Source: Yahoo Finance Stock movement of I-Flex solutions Series Date Prev Close Open Price High Price Low Price Last Price Close Price Total Traded Quantity Turnover in Lacs EQ 03-Mar-2008 1,078. 95 1,037. 00 1,080. 00 1,020. 00 1,029. 90 1,042. 55 17954 190. 31 EQ 04-Mar-2008 1,042. 55 1,020. 00 1,075. 00 1,017. 00 1,047. 65 1,048. 25 36723 382. 44 EQ 05-Mar-2008 1,048. 25 1,070. 00 1,070. 00 1,030. 15 1,045. 00 1,039. 20 22219 231. 63 EQ 07-Mar-2008 1,039. 20 1,021. 00 1,032. 00 983. 00 1,004. 95 1,001. 50 22103 220. 45 EQ 10-Mar-2008 1,001. 50 955. 00 1,040. 00 946. 40 1,005. 00 1,015. 50 19099 192. 55 EQ 11-Mar-2008 1,015. 50 992. 50 1,065. 00 992. 50 1,045. 00 1,054. 65 21805 226. 22 EQ 12-Mar-2008 1,054. 65 1,100. 00 1,100. 00 1,000. 00 1,004. 00 1,007. 45 13398 139. 14 EQ 13-Mar-2008 1,007. 45 987. 05 1,010. 00 952. 00 954. 00 959. 10 15931 155. 65 EQ 14-Mar-2008 959. 10 962. 00 992. 00 920. 00 990. 00 983. 15 21685 210. 01 EQ 17-Mar-2008 983. 15 925. 00 970. 00 925. 00 965. 00 942. 95 12307 116. 99 EQ 18-Mar-2008 942. 95 931. 00 958. 50 925. 10 927. 00 936. 50 21230 200. 13 EQ 19-Mar-2008 936. 50 970. 00 978. 00 922. 00 925. 00 925. 55 21245 199. 40 EQ 24-Mar-2008 925. 55 948. 00 950. 00 895. 00 905. 00 908. 25 21626 197. 55 EQ 25-Mar-2008 908. 25 913. 50 1,008. 00 913. 50 990. 10 992. 55 58576 571. 10 EQ 26-Mar-2008 992. 55 988. 90 1,027. 00 974. 00 974. 00 986. 85 33402 335. 28 EQ 27-Mar-2008 986. 85 975. 00 1,003. 00 935. 00 951. 05 947. 10 118566 1,140. 60 EQ 28-Mar-2008 947. 10 970. 00 994. 00 956. 00 976. 00 984. 40 21658 210. 89 EQ 31-Mar-2008 984. 40 970. 25 985. 00 935. 00 948. 20 941. 10 39622 376. 60 Source: NSEINDIA EXTERNAL INFORMATION As the term implies, this is information that is obtained from outside the business. There are several categories of external information: – Information relating to way a business should undertake its activities E. g. businesses need to keep records so that they can collect taxes on behalf of the government. So a business needs to obtain regular information about the taxation system (e. g. PAYE, VAT, Corporation Tax) and what actions it needs to take. Increasingly this kind of information (and the return forms a business needs to send) is provided in digital format. Similarly, a business needs to be aware of key legal areas (e. g. environmental legislation; health & safety regulation; employment law). There is a whole publishing industry devoted to selling this kind of information to businesses. – Information about the markets in which a business operates This kind of external information is critically important to a business. It is often referred to as â€Å"market† or â€Å"competitive intelligence†. Most of the external information that a business needs can be obtained from marketing research. Marketing research can help a business do one or more of the following: 1. Gain a more detailed understanding of consumers’ needs – marketing research can help firms to discover consumers’ opinions on a huge range of issues, e. g. , views on products’ prices, packaging, recent advertising campaigns 2. Reduce the risk of product/business failure – there is no guarantee that any new idea will be a commercial success, but accurate and up-to-date information on the market can help a business make informed decisions, hopefully leading to products that consumers want in sufficient numbers to achieve commercial success. 3. Forecast future trends – marketing research can not only provide information regarding the current state of the market but it can also be used to anticipate customer needs future customer needs. Firms can then make the necessary adjustments to their product portfolios and levels of output in order to remain successful. The information for marketing research tends to come from three main sources: Internal Company Information – e. g. sales, orders, customer profiles, stocks, customer service reports Marketing intelligence – this is a catch-all term to include all the everyday information about developments in the market that helps a business prepare and adjust its marketing plans. It can be obtained from many sources, including suppliers, customers and distributors. It is also possible to buy intelligence information from outside suppliers (e. g. Mintel, Dun and Bradstreet) who will produce commercial intelligence reports that can be sold profitably to any interested organization. Market Research – existing data from internal sources may not provide sufficient detail. Similarly, published reports from market intelligence organizations cannot always be relied upon to provide the up-to-date, relevant information required. In these circumstances, a business may need to commission specific studies in order to acquire the data required to support their marketing strategy. – http://tutor2u. net/business/ict/intro_information_sources. htm SOURCES OF BUSINESS INFORMATION Details of following types of organizations are required to be maintained by NCTI for guiding entrepreneurs/exporters to approach to the right organization for getting the desired information, assistance and help. †¢ Foreign Embassies/High Commissions/Consulate in India †¢ Indian Missions/Consulate abroad †¢ Chambers of Commerce & Industry †¢ Trade Promotion /Import Promotion Organizations †¢ Export Inspection Agencies †¢ Export Processing Zones in India and Abroad Details of these organizations are readily available with NCTI. – http://archives. nic. in/ncti/ncti8. htm SAMPLE SOURCES OF EXTERNAL INFORMATION: AMR Research Releases ERP Market Report Showing Overall Market Growth of 14% in 2004, Tuesday, June 14, 2005, Kevin Reilly As Market Consolidation Continues, Top 5 ERP Vendors Account for 72% of Revenue Today, AMR Research released its annual report on the state of the Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) market. The Market Analytix Report: Enterprise Resource Planning, 2004-2009 revealed that ERP market revenues increased 14% in 2004. The report indicates that approximately one-third of the growth in the overall market was due to fluctuations in currency exchange rates. While the ERP market has grown in revenue, consolidation continues to change the industry. In 1999, the top five vendors (J. D. Edwards, Baan, Oracle, PeopleSoft, and SAP) in the ERP market accounted for 59% of the industry’s revenue. AMR Research expects the top five vendors in 2005 (SAP, Oracle, Sage Group, Microsoft, and SSA Global) to account for 72% of ERP vendors’ total revenue. â€Å"The ERP market showed solid organic growth in 2004 as IT spending improved,† says Jim Shepherd, vice president of research at AMR Research. â€Å"The market was also affected by consolidation within the segment, as well as ERP vendors acquiring best-of-breed players to broaden their portfolios. † While many ERP vendors struggled in 2004, SAP AG increased overall revenues by 17% and license revenues by 20% – without any acquisitions. SAP’s ERP market share increased to more than 40%. Oracle nearly doubled the size of its application business through the acquisition of PeopleSoft, but AMR Research expects SAP to finish 2005 with more than twice the revenue and market share of the combined Oracle-PeopleSoft. Report Findings and Analysis The report delivers revenue and growth rates for the top ERP players as well as growth forecasts through 2009. ERP vendors ranked by 2004 ERP license revenue can be seen in the chart below. The top ten ERP vendors by revenue include the following companies: The report revealed several trends that affected the ERP market in 2004, including: The ERP market is entering another major technology transition phase. Service Oriented Architectures (SOA) may have the same disruptive effect that other technologies have had on the market, such as the emergence of client-server systems had in the 1990’s. The pace of acquisitions shows no sign of slowing down. Oracle’s purchase of Retek and vendors like Sage Group, SSA Global, Infor Global Solutions, and Epicor have all been very active in the M&A space and have grown more rapidly than the overall ERP market. The midrange ($50M – $1B in annual revenue) and SMB (less than $50M in annual revenue) markets continue to be a major focus area for many of the ERP vendors. Midrange solutions and channels are critically important for penetrating China, India, Eastern Europe, and Latin America. ERP buyers have moved away from large, upfront purchases. Now most tend to license user seats and functional ERP modules incrementally as they deploy a product. Along with widespread discounting, this has led to smaller average deal sizes. BANK’S REPORT BY FDIC Dollar Amounts in Billions Fourth Quarter 2007 All Insured Institutions Commercial Banks Savings Institutions Credit Card Lenders Mortgage Lenders Number of FDIC-Insured 8,533 7,282 1,251 27 786 Number of FDIC-Supervised 5,197 4,772 425 10 317 Total Assets $ 13,039 11,176 1,863 479 1,334 Total Loans $ 7,906 6,626 1,280 369 944 Domestic Deposits $ 6,912 5,807 1,105 142 737 Net Income (QTR) $ 5. 816 10. 540 -4. 724 3. 027 -3. 230 Percent Profitable (QTR) % 82. 3 83. 2 77. 0 88. 9 79. 1 Average Return on Assets (QTR) % 0. 18 0. 38 -1. 00 2. 61 -0. 94 Average Return on Equity (QTR) % 1. 74 3. 76 -8. 70 11. 96 -10. 51 Net Interest Margin (QTR) % 3. 30 3. 38 2. 86 8. 97 2. 52 Equity to Assets % 10. 37 10. 24 11. 17 21. 26 8. 61 Noncurrent Loan Rate – Total Loans * % 1. 39 1. 30 1. 86 2. 00 1. 87 Real Estate Loans % 1. 71 1. 62 2. 01 1. 81 1. 94 C&I Loans % 0. 66 0. 64 0. 92 2. 21 0. 88 Consumer Loans % 1. 43 1. 48 0. 98 2. 10 0. 96 Coverage Ratio ** % 92. 54 102. 84 55. 35 207. 47 45. 74 Net Charge-Off Rate – All Loans (QTR) % 0. 83 0. 86 0. 68 4. 23 0. 66 Real Estate Loans (QTR) % 0. 44 0. 43 0. 49 2. 61 0. 54 C&I Loans (QTR) % 0. 87 0. 85 1. 24 5. 13 1. 35 Consumer Loans (QTR) % 2. 75 2. 77 2. 54 4. 39 3. 16 Source: http://www. fdic. gov/bank/statistical/stats/2007dec/industry. html REFERENCES ? James O’ Brien, Management Information system, Tata Mcgraw Hill, 2007, Pg. 245-267. ? AMR Research Releases ERP Market Report Showing Overall Market Growth of 14% in 2004, Tuesday, June 14, 2005 Kevin Reilly ? Yahoo Finance ? www. nseindia. com ? http://archives. nic. in/ncti/ncti8. htm ? http://tutor2u. net/business/ict/intro_information_sources. htm http://www. fdic. gov/bank/statistical/stats/2007dec/industry. html

Pancras Churchyard in London Essay

Frankenstein was written by Mary Shelly. We can tell by Mary Shelly’s back ground, were she has incorporated some of her social experiences in to her novel. Mary was the daughter of an anarchist father (William Godwin) and a feminist mother (Mary Wollstonecraft). In today’s terms this could be thought as a ‘wild upbringing’. Mary grew up in an environment that suggested she needed to question the way society was being run. Mary’s mother died ten days after giving birth to her, an act that Mary’s father was never quick to forgive; in fact he blamed Mary for his wife’s death and this often forced Mary to attempt to take her place. This was often in the form of sitting on literary discussions and meeting her father’s estranged guests. At the age of 17 Mary would often write at her mother’s grave side at St Pancras Churchyard in London; where the couple had married. Mary includes her fascination with death into Frankenstein. An example is, in chapter 24 pages 217 Victor says â€Å"as night approached, I found myself at the entrance to the cemetery. † His random wonderings have led him to be with his dead family, where he feels alone and maybe wants to join them. It was through Mary’s fascination with the cemetery that she met her soon to be husband, the poet Percy Bysshe Shelly. He followed her there upon her father’s instruction and declared his love for her; it was to become their meeting place. In the novel Mary uses the cemeteries a few times, when Victor goes to the cemetery to collect dead bodies to create his monster. There are clearly some important dates in the life of Mary Shelly that no doubt influence the subject matter of the novel. In 1805 there was the Napoleonic Wars lasting until 1815 causing great hardship and social upheaval. In 1811 Britain witnessed similar unrest and feelings of revolution. In 1814 Mary elopes with shelly and travels into France and Switzerland, this could have given her the ideas in chapter 9 where the scenery is mountainous and beautiful. Also in the novel, the monster goes exploring in Switzerland. In 1816 Mary and Shelly go to Switzerland and this is where the Novel is begun. Suicides of Fanny Imlay, Mary Wollstonecraft’s daughter by a previous liaison, as well as Percy Shelley’s wife Harriet allowing Mary and Percy to marry. This could be linked to when Victor is wondering weather to commit suicide in chapter 9 by jumping into the silent lake. Mary Shelly was somewhat of a celebrity of her time and was friends with all of the famous writers and poets, and a lot of those people influenced and helped her in the writing of Frankenstein. Not only was Mary Shelly influenced by the poets around her but by classic Greek mythology and in particular the tale of Prometheus.

Online Shopping Essay

It won’t be a wrong thing to say that the present world is a digital world where the world is shrinking day by day on the screen of the Smartphone. People spend a lot more time on internet for fun and work and even now prefer to shop online. But there is a group which prefers to shop from the physical stores. What is your view? Is shopping online a better idea in today’s world? Read more:  Online Shopping Disadvantages Yes:- †¢ It is a boon for working people who hardly find any time from the busy schedule to go out and visit the physical outlets for shopping. †¢ It is just not about buying the luxuries online but now it is a platform where people look to order for groceries and other essential products required in daily life. †¢ There is a great flexibility to compare the prices when you shop online. You can visit the different websites and can then choose the best deal. †¢ There is no time restriction when it comes to shopping online. No matter where you are at the home or in office, you can buy from anywhere and anytime. †¢ When you shop online you can go through the customer reviews to get the idea about the utility and quality of the product. †¢ There is no headache to deal with the sales people who stay after you and pressurize you to buy products in the physical stores. †¢ With the help of online shopping it has becomes easier for the people to buy gifts and flowers and send them to their loved ones on special occasions. No :- †¢ The first problem definitely is of quality. You cannot touch and see the products before you buy them. †¢ Online shopping always comes with the risk of insecure online payment and the fraudulent sites claiming to sell genuine products. †¢ When you buy anything online then there is the compulsion to wait for the products for some days. You cannot get the delivery at the same time. †¢ The greatest headache in online shopping is of return policies. The return policies are not at all buyer’s friendly. Moreover it is a long and complex procedure. †¢ People are getting addicted to internet for their each and every need. If they won’t step out of the home for the simple thing like shopping also then they are at a higher risk of confining themselves to the virtual world. †¢ When you shop online then you have to pay extra as shipping costs. Sometimes the cost of the product is less than the shipping costs. Conclusion:- The coin has two sides head and tail, life has two phases good and bad, everything has its own sets of advantages and disadvantages. The only thing is that be sensible in whatever mode of shopping you use. If you do then online or physical, all are fine.

Nursing theories Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Nursing theories - Research Paper Example The philosophical claims of this theory are based on the facts that people or individuals must always give meaning to every experience they face in life; like in our case, we have patients in intensive care units. Their families may experience anxiety, depression and even signs of post-traumatic stress as they get worried of their loved ones in the critical conditions and sense making philosophically demands that meaning be given to this (Davidson, 2010), philosophically sense making integrates aspects of identity, retrospection and enactment. Others include; the social, ongoing and extracted cues not forgetting plausibility where an individual needs to know enough to enable them make informed acceptance hence achieve relief accumulated in them by way of fear and experienced horror (Dervin, 1983). This is the main concept behind the woman Garcia who has gone to visit their husband in the hospital ICU. It talks about facilitated sense making to help the woman avoid sever psychological outcomes of the realities that may result from the fact that the husband lies in the ICU (Davidson, 2010). The assumptions of the theory include identity and these will require the woman to define who she is because of the situation she faces as well as how and what she thinks. Retrospection comes in as the second assumption and this requires the woman to learn what she thinks looking back into their stand about the same issue earlier. Then enactment of the object in terms of making something out of the situation will be required (Dervin, 1983). This is closely linked to the socialization assumption that demands that another party within the same context must have influenced whatever someone says or believed, the talking also ought to adopt the mechanism of spread across time giving it an ongoing assumption (Brenda, 1998). In addition, the assumption of extracted cues requires that it is only a small portion of the content gets derived for public consumption and lastly we have plau sibility, this will require that Garcia knows enough of the outcomes she expects out of the situation. These assumptions are much testable since they indicate the roots of all the variations and the content of the article all indicate the aspects defined (Brenda, 1998). The definition of all the concepts explained are much consistent with the theory since the theory demands that individuals must always create a common ground for an understanding to enable them land on the position of acting with principles on grounds of information. This explains the need for through research from relevant sources of information about concepts information, which is often stored for future reference (Dervin, 1983). In explaining facilitated sense making, we would apply Roy’s adaptation model, this is a model that mainly and in most cases apply to the sense making model in the nursing practice hence the choice as illness can cause several disruptions in life which requires a period of compensat ion and hence a prospect of adaptation. Based on the duration that the compensation takes, the

COMPETITIVE FORCES AND SWOT ANALYSIS Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

COMPETITIVE FORCES AND SWOT ANALYSIS - Essay Example strengths of offering wonderful services to the clients as well as its opportunities where it can harness the use of the Internet to market its products. Specially designed websites are very important in marketing the organic foods since information disseminated using the internet can reach a wide area of geographical space instantly. 1. Whole Food Market is the world’s best retail store that specializes in retailing purely organic foods and has stores in America, Canada and the United Kingdom. Thus according to Whole Foods Market, Inc. (n.d), â€Å"the organisation owns and operates a chain of natural and organic foods supermarkets and its product categories include, but are not limited to, produce, seafood, grocery, meat and poultry, bakery, prepared foods and catering, specialty (beer, wine and cheese).† It can be noted that the trends in organic foods mainly depend on consumer spending. The demand of organic foods is a matter of personal choice and it wholly depends with the needs and interests of the individual. It can be noted that no one is compelled to buy organic foods since the other traditional foods are readily available in the conventional supermarkets. People with special health related issues comprise the bulk of consumers of organic foods and these are fewer compared to those without special health cases who can consume any kind of food of their choice regardless of it being organic. Most of the organic foods are regarded as specialty foods and in most cases, these are often regarded as luxury items that have comparatively higher prices than other conventional grocery items. The fact that organic foods have a premium price can deter the customers from purchasing the products where they can resort to the other traditional, less expensive items when they have limited disposable money to spend. It can be noted from this argument that the market for organic foods is not very stable which can negatively impact on Whole Foods Market. Another

The forgotten Group Member Case Study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

The forgotten Group Member - Case Study Example The group should display better communication by informing all group members ahead of schedule when group meetings are going to be taking place. Christine failed to understand the dynamics of her group and thus was unable to bring them together in unity. Because of the stage that her group is currently in, Christine needed to educate her group members more by communicating with them in ways that she would be understood. Her inability to recognize this meant that the outcome of the group was inevitable. Part II. There are many primary and secondary problems that the group is currently facing. First of all, a primary problem is that there is not an effective leader in the group. Christine does not have a strong enough personality to take control and manage her team members in the right fashion. This is partly down to Christine’s inability to fully understand the needs of her group’s members. Because of this, Christine was not the best choice for the role of group leader s imply because she doesn’t have the skills required to perform the role effectively. The group never really went through the forming stage and, as such, did not progress beyond the storming stage. People like Mike should have been included in the group discussions and also involved in making decisions.

Current Ethical Issue in Business Paper Research

Current Ethical Issue in Business - Research Paper Example When Merrill Lynch put bad mortgages in hedge funds than sold them for a year with the promise of a return, the logic was the investors knew the risk. Lita Epstein (2007) explains: Merrill investors had no idea how bad its situation was until it finally came clean about its losses and took a $7.9 billion write-down on these risky securities, one of Wall Streets largest write-downs ever, plus another $463 million write-down of deal-related lending commitments for a total of $8.4 billion. (Epstein 2007). The result of Merrill Lynch and other hedge fund managers was Congress stepping in with new legislation. This means stricter laws and taxes in the United States and Europe. Merrill Lynch did not learn from their mistakes. Instead of operating in the United States and Europe, â€Å"Bank of America Merrill Lynch is helping to establish more than a dozen hedge funds in Asia as industry regulation grows tougher in America and Europe† (Cooper 2010). Clearly this suggests that Merrill Lynch cares more about a profit than the investor. The ground rules that manifested this situation were greed, deception, irresponsible borrowing, and portfolio importance. The hedge funds were there to make money by taking risks. The deception of transferring bad mortgages to the hedge fund created the situation. Irresponsible borrowing, a hedge fund can borrow up to thirty percent over their assets, led to defaulted mortgages. Finally the annual financial report had to meet certain goals to be acceptable to stockholders. The truth never had a chance. Merrill Lynch was guilty of defrauding their stockholders. Although after taking the write down no penalties were given, Merrill Lynch should have learned about the right way to run a hedge fund. The fact that Merrill Lynch wants to operate in Asia should make investors run. This company puts money and success over ethics and investors. This case scenario is not a good example of ethics. Investor should not trust their pennies, much

Ethics JournalJournal Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Ethics JournalJournal - Assignment Example In this case, taking care of the patient is the right thing to do. In the above situation, intentions are important in a moral life because actions are not just based on their outcomes but on the intentions. In this case, the intention of the nurse is to make the patient comfortable and treat him equally like any other human being. Although the patient will eventually die, the nurse has a duty to treat the patient without focusing on the final outcome. Therefore, intention is what guides action, not the consequence. Treating a person with respect involves recognizing his value as a human being, and treating him with a high degree of politeness and courtesy. It involves restraining from any conduct or actions that could either degrade or harm the person (Rich & Butts, 2013). This also involves respecting the ability of a person to make independent decisions about himself and his life. However, a person may not be treated with respect for purposes of restoring order and justice. This may also be done in order to punish the individual for wrongs committed. A person may not be treated with respect if there is the need to discipline such a person. Rich, K., & Butts, J. (2013). Foundations of Ethical Nursing Practice. In K. Masters,  Role Development In Professional Nursing Practice  (3rd ed., pp. 105-123). Burlington, MA: Jones & Bartlett

Profitable Brand for Hostess Brands Inc Assignment - 6

Profitable Brand for Hostess Brands Inc - Assignment Example The Hostess brand Inc. plunging into bankruptcy is due to the expensive business model that they use to operate. The company owns a large network of buildings, trucks; employees, Teamsters and the bakers union. After identifying the weakness of the Hostess Brands, Inc. Pepperidge farm Bread Company would restructure the business model and the brand would be profitable to the company. The shortcomings of Hostess Company are due to the expensive business model that it adopted. The model that Pepperidge farm Bread Company has will be able to sustain the brand. Buying the brand will not be a waste of resources but vale to the company. Pepperidge farm Bread Company business model does not allow the company to own all the assets that in the bread making the industry, but only the crucial part is handled with the company. The company, however, monitors all the proceedings that involve the sale of its products. The company has the right to terminate the contract that it might have entered in to with a distributor or any business party. The company would not distribute the brand once acquired, but use independent distributors to do the work. This would ensure that even if the workers paralyze the normal distribution, the distribution would still go on as usual. The company has set some guidelines for the awarding of contracts to distributors to protect its interests. The company uses the strategy of the distributor paying for the bread and earning from his sells. This ensures that the distributors work hard and sell the product. These will ensure that the distributors look for more customers to get more sells and earn more. These also reduce the company’s losses compared to when it is the company’s workers distributing the bread. The company has also reduced the cost of operation. The distributors are required to buy their own truck. This reduces the maintenance costs of the trucks. The strategy also ensures that only financially able distributors get the c ontracts to distribute the bread brand. Since the brand is popular within the population. The production would be in mass to satisfy the market. However, the number of bakeries required to achieve this will depend on factors as the route that the distributors are able to cover efficiently. The new establishment will only be set up in places that have a high market and the supply is insufficient to certify the market. Research is conducted before setting up new bakeries. In the meantime, Pepperidge farm Bread Company will use the bakeries accrued with the brand as it continues to study the market. The Pepperidge farm Bread Company will maintain the sole right to the formulae of making the bread and packaging. The company will also maintain the proprietorship rights but release as the distribution rights of the bread. The routes that the Pepperidge farm Bread Company own will go for bids. These routes will be sold to the highest able birder. The bidder will have to demonstrate that he can handle the route. The selling of the routes will help avoid unnecessary competition in the routes amongst the distributors. The act will also ensure that each distributor works hard in his designated route to achieve more sells.

The Causes and Effects of Islamic Resurgence in Late 20th and Early Essay

The Causes and Effects of Islamic Resurgence in Late 20th and Early 21st century in the Middle East - Essay Example The growing interest in the Islamic resurgence can be traced by several factors. Ali E.Hillal Dessouki enumerated three factors: one is the increasing economic influence of oil-producing countries which are mostly Islamic; another is the concern with the security and the stability of the Persian/Arab Gulf countries; and the new wave of Islamic resurgence in almost all countries where Muslims live (page 3). These interests have been the fruit of the Muslim's search in revitalizing Islam and the Muslim community. According to John L. Esposito et al., Muslims seek to restore Islam with the experience of Muslim decline and western domination in the late 20th century (page 37). Baath Party is a political party and movement influential among Arab communities in the Middle East, especially in Syria and Iraq. From the beginning, the Baath Party was a secular Arab nationalist party. Socialism was originally the economic system of belief of the Party. Thematically, the name baath means resurrection or renaissance. This is the apparent initial movement that aims at rebuilding and encouraging the rebirth of Arab national spirit. Most of the major proponents of early Baathist contemplation had been partially influenced by education in the West. At first, the three major proponents of Baathist thought - Arsuzi, Salah, and Aflaq developed their vision of Arab nationalism to just diminutive audiences in Syria. Eventually, Salah and Aflaq joined in support the Ali al-Gailani's government in Iraq against the British presence during the 1940s. From then on, the movement evolved into a party with an approved constitution and executive committee. However, the intention and purpose of the regional Baath Party was wholly surpassed and eclipsed by the regional commands of he Baath parties of Syria and Iraq. Baath parties in Syria and Iraq each created its own national command. These two countries were the guiding force to the rest of regional commands of the Baath Party that existed in other Arab countries like Jordan, Lebanon and Yemen. They served as a subordinate of the dominant Baath Party in Syria and Iraq. A significant rebirth of Islam occurred when the Syrian Baath merged with the Arab Socialist Party of Akram al-Hurani in 1952. They jointly formed the Arab Baath Socialist Party that successfully won at the 1954 election. It was from then on that Baath members played an important role in the politics of Syria. More importantly, the Baath party were instrumental in procuring the union with Egypt that led to the official and momentary termination of the party and let down of the Baathists. B. Secularism Secularism has been the factor of the Islamic resurgence. Since the year 1979 revolution, the Shiite clergy dominated the political life in contemporary Iran. Furthermore, religious fundamentalists in Arab communities campaign for the fusion of religious authority with temporal political power. C. Nationalism In the rebirth of Islam religion, the term nationalism is greatly regarded as Arab Nationalism. It refers to both doctrines and movements emphasizing the cultural identity and the political independence, solidarity, association, or unity of Arab people and sovereign states. The Arab nationalism developed rapidly and hit its

The organizational theory of concept Essay Example for Free

The organizational theory of concept Essay â€Å"The organizational theory of concept involves the dynamic interplay amoung individuals in organizations, teams and leadership behaviors, and the organization itself.†(Hellriegel Slocum, 2004 PG. 29) The authors define a participative style of leadership as one the requires the leader to maintian two-way communication and to support followers in the use of their competencies. Ms. Winfrey leads her organization through a participative style. She shares the decision making with groups of members or on a one to one basis with competent employees. She firmly belives that she does not always have the right answers, as shown by a statement she made in reference to a sucide note written in 1981, â€Å"I cried for the women I was then† (Garson, 2004, p. 42). She is quoted as saying, â€Å"It is all about attracting good people. I have always tried to surround myself with people who are smarter in ways that I am not.† (Howard, 28 May 2006) Ms. Winfrey also encourages input from colleagues and staff. Winfrey’s book club launch in September of 1996 is a perfect example of this. She relied on the opinions of others to aide her in the selections of the featured novel. Her producers and staff members are key elements in the presenting and the selection of new show tapes, as well as, magazine content. (Howard May 2006)   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Oprah is an incredibly fasscinating person. She is full of passion, humility, and strength. She treats people with respect, much like my parents taught me to. Her parents, like mine, believed in higher education and made sure she received the best possible education, much like mine did for me. Ms. Winfrey has incerdible self-determination, as do I. For example after I had obtained a degree in accounting and worked for only a year, I completely changed careers to nursing. That in itself took incredible self-determination. I believe in Ms. Winfrey’s participative style and I use it myself in all aspects of my life. At work, I always seek the team’s input in planning care for a patient. I motivate my team to work together to achieve the level of organization that is required for patient satisfaction. On the home front, open communication and family based decision making is key. Everyone is involved in the decision making process, and family time holds us closely together. I am proud of my accomplishments as a parent, wife, and graduate student, and I encourage my children to hold people such as Oprah Winfrey in high regard. I encourage them to use her and other like her as a role model, while explaining to them that â€Å"they have to do it their way, because she did it her way†. I am continually using wisdom and empathy much like  Ã‚   Ms. Winfrey to communicate with people. I practice and ecourage other to actively listen when others are speaking, and, above all else, I always try to place myself in anothers shoes. Ms. Winfrey exerts power with charisma. She has the ability to inspire her staff, colleagues, and audiences through not only her large scale humanitarian work but also through her personal life. For eample, she created her Angel Network in 1997 to donate money to a wide variety of charities. On a more personal note, Ms Winfrey was inducted into the Hall of Fame for National Assoicosiaction for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP). She inspires trust within her oragnizations because she is a competent leader and she works to surround herself with compentent people. She is very charismatic, and extremly influential. This influence can be seen in the lack of tabliod news about Ms. Winfrey. For example, her drug use, the suicide note, and her dead child were all revealed using her talk show as the platform. These are usually fodder for the tabliods, and are usually revealed against a persons will.   While some scandals do come and go for Oprah, the general public believes in her and tends to forgive her flaws and mistakes. In reference to her her influence she is quoted as saying, â€Å"When I began my talk show I was so thrilled to have the opportunity that I never thought much about the tremendous influence TV could have. Now I feel the power and the enormous responiblity that comes with it.† (adler, 1997, p. 60) She relies on referent and reward power to express gratitude and appreciation to her staff. She pays gratitude and respect to her staff through words of admiration. She lavishly gifts them, especially arround the holidays. An example of her reward power is the first class trips to hawaii that she gave awayt o every staff member a few years ago. The trips included first class airline tickets, stays a five-star resorts and spending money for them and their families.

Physical therapy intervention with a stroke patient Essay Example for Free

Physical therapy intervention with a stroke patient Essay The clinical manifestations of neurologic disease are as varied as the disease processes themselves. Symptoms can be subtle or intense, fluctuating or permanent, an inconvenience or devastating. First clinical manifestation is Pain, it is considered an unpleasant sensory perception and emotional experience associated with actual or potential tissue damage or described in terms of such damage. Pain is therefore considered multidimensional and entirely subjective. Seizures are the result of abnormal paroxysmal discharges in the cerebral cortex, which then manifest as an alteration in sensation, behavior, movement, perception, or consciousness. The alteration may be short, as in a blank stare lasting only a second, or of longer duration, such as tonic- clonic grand mal seizure that can last several minutes. Dizziness, an abnormal sensation of imbalance or movement. It is fairly common in the elderly and one of the most common complaints encountered by health professionals. Visual Disturbances, visual defects that cause people to seek health care can range from the decreased visual acuity associated with aging to sudden blindness. Weakness, specifically muscle weakness is a common manifestation of CVA. Weakness frequently co exists with other symptoms of disease and can affect a variety of muscles, causing a wide range of disability. Weakness can be sudden and permanent, a sin stroke, or progressive, as in many neuromuscular diseases. Abnormal sensation, numbness, abnormal sensation, or loss of sensation is a manifestation of cerebrovascular accident. Altered sensation can affect small or large areas of the body. It is frequently associated with weakness or pain and is potentially disabling. Both numbness and weakness can significantly affect balance and coordination.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Assessment of cortical motor integration is carried out by asking the patient to perform a skilled act like asking a patient to throw a ball, move a chair. Successful performance requires the ability to understand the activity desired and normal motor strength. Failure signals cerebral dysfunction. Examining the Motor System, a thorough examination of the motor system includes an assessment of the muscle size, tone and strength, coordination, and balance. The patient is instructed to walk across the room while the examiner observes posture and gait. The muscles are inspected, and palpated if necessary, for their size and symmetry. Resistance and Abnormalities are documented after. Assessing the patient’s ability to flex or extend the extremities against resistance test muscle strength. Once the leg is straightened, it is exceedingly difficult for the examiner to flex the knee. Conversely, if the knee of the patient is flexed and is asked to straighten the leg against resistance, a more subtle disability can be elicited. For example, the right upper extremity is compared to the left upper extremity. In this way, subtle differences in muscle strength can be more easily detected and accurately described. Coordination in the hands and upper extremities is tested by having the patient perform rapid, alternating movements and point-to-point testing. First the patient is instructed to pat his or her thigh as fast as possible with each hand separately. Then the patient is instructed to alternately pronate and supinate the hand as rapidly as possible. The n lastly, the patient is asked to touch each of the fingers with the thumb in a consecutive motion. Speed, symmetry, and degree of difficulty are noted. Coordination in the lower extremities is tested by having the patient run the heel down the anterior surface of the tibia of the other leg. Each leg is tested in turn. The motor reflexes are involuntary contractions of muscles or muscle groups in response to abrupt stretching near the site of the muscle’s insertion. The tendon is struck directly with a reflex hammer or indirectly by striking the examiner’s thumb, which is placed firmly against the tendon. Testing these reflexes enables the examiner to assess involuntary reflex arcs that depend on the presence of afferent stretch receptors, spinal synapses, efferent motor fibers, and a variety of modifying influences from higher levels. Common reflexes that maybe tested include the deep tendon reflexes like biceps, brachioradialis, triceps, patellar, and ankle reflexes and superficial or cutaneous reflexes like abdominal reflexes and plantar or Babinski response.    References: Brunner, K., Suddarith, L. (2003) Medical- Surgical Nursing.   J. G. Ferguson Publishing Company.

Changes in family structure and modern family

Changes in family structure and modern family Due to its purchasing power, the family is believed as the most important consumers buying unit by many marketers (Dalakas Shoham, 2005). Therefore, a great number of previous studies have been done to understand how a family makes purchasing decisions over the years. As new social trends, the structure of family has changed dramatically in the past three decades in most countries in the world (Brace et al, 2008). The family is convinced as composing by parents and unmarried children in traditional mind. However, in the modern society, the definition of family has moved from only couple and children to family household. According to European Community Household Panel, a family household is a group of people who live together, share the bill and housekeeping arrangement (Askegaard et al, 2006). In view of most marketers, changes in family structures provide marketing opportunities. As the differentiation of the composition, families need and demand is diversified than before. Changes in family structure and modern family Family household types in modern society are diversified, such as single parent families, reconstituted families, unmarried cohabitation families, traditional families, couple with no children families and roommate family households. The reason of diversified family household type is that unmarried cohabitation, delayed marriage and delayed childbirth are trends for young people in the recent years. Furthermore, there have been increases in the proportion of the return of mothers to the workforce and the number of divorces and a decrease in the proportion of intact family unit (two biological parents and their dependent children). It is known that 76 per cent of UK children in 2004 lived in a family unit headed by a couple (UK Office of National Statistics, 2005). But, this official data does not differentiate families by couples who are intact or step parent. Also, it is acknowledged that 83 per cent of children in step parent families or single parent families live with their natur al mother (Brace et al, 2008). Therefore, most of single parent households are headed by females. Although the family types are diversified in the present day and age, intact families, step parent families and single parent families are three major types of composition for modern families. Haskey (1998) indicated there has been an obviously decline in the intact or traditional family household type and step families are more prevalent than single parent households. People are remarrying more often than before, and male is more likely to reconstitute a family than female. For example, step families are the fastest growing type of family in the UK (Mintel, 2005). There are totally 35 per cent British parents live as a non-traditional family unit. Concretely, 19 per cent of British parents are single parents. 16 per cent of British parents have children with ex-wife or ex-husband and now reconstitute families with new partners and the children (Mintel, 2005). Family structures have changed, which influence family decision making. Thus, some researchers argue that family communication has become more open and democratic (Belch and Willis, 2001). Particularly, the role of women has changed in the present society. The changes include education, increasing number of double-income families and the advent of career women. Further to say, these changes have impacted on family buying decisions and the role structure between family members. An increasing number of women are contributing to the incomes of their families and more women are motivated to succeed in their careers. For instance, nearly 60 per cent of women in New Zealand are employed in the workforce (Beatty Lee, 2002). This is much higher proportion than before. Some previous studies indicated that a persons power to make family purchasing decisions depends on his/her ability to satisfy his/her marriage partners needs (Beatty Lee, 2002). Therefore, the more a husband contributes to the resources of the family, the more the wife will accept the husbands buying decisions. In the same way, if the wife contributes significantly to the family income, then the wifes impact on family buying decisions would be greater than in families where the wife does not provide income to the family. It does not mean the person who contributes a dominant income to his/her family must accounts for the completely dominant position in the family buying decision making process. It is more likely that there is more equality in double-income families. Therefore, a wifes occupational status has an obviously effect on the family decision making. The prevalence of women working outside the home is not only because of the necessity to help the family in finance, but also because of the changes in social and cultural trends. Therefore, women obtain more power in some families which both family members will make decisions jointly. This type of family is more likely to be called modern family and it has a more democratic influence structure. In contrast, a traditional family has a more dictatorial husband and the decisions are made more autocratic. Family life cycle There are many factors influence family buying decisions. Despite the family type and womens role in the family, family life cycle (FLC) also significantly affects the family purchasing decisions. The family life cycle describes the changes that occur in family and family structures as they progress over time (Askegaard, 2006). The FLC shows the changes in both the family income and family composition over time. As the time passed, the needs and demands of families tend to change. Therefore, their preferences and behaviours will be changed. Families in similar stages of the life cycle share similar demographic, financial and buying characteristics. In contrast, families at different life cycle stages show different interests, needs and demands and use different communication strategies (Lee Levy, 2004). Childrens roles in family buying decisions Since 1990s, the growing awareness on childrens role is largely because of childrens steadily increasing impact on family buying decisions and increasing spending power (Caruana Vassallo, 2003; Dalakas Shoham, 2005; Fan Li, 2010). Many previous studies pointed out that children have became an extremely vital consumer group which influences family purchases of various products in many ways (Burns et al, 2007; Caruana Vassallo, 2003). Thus, many marketers recognize children as a primary market, an influencing market, and a future market. For example, children in the USA directly spent over $60 billion and influenced over $380 billion of spending by other members of their family per year (Chou Wut, 2009). In Australia, the adolescents market is estimated to be worth about $3.9 million, and in New Zealand the market size is about $800,000 (Wimalasiri, 2004). Therefore children are increasingly attractive targets for marketers. Children as independent consumer In the contemporary world, as primary market, children have increasing spending power in terms of being independent customers. They are seen as different from previous generations. Today, children are more connected, more direct and more informed. They have more personal power, more money, more impact on family decisions and attractive more attention than their parents and ancestors. Most of teenagers receive allowances from their parents or eldership. Also, a great number of adolescents have income from jobs. Past study showed 51.1 per cent of the high school students admitted that they get an allowance from family members in the USA and the median amount was $50 (Dalakas Shoham, 2003). Moreover, Chou Wut (2009) indicated children who between ages of 2 to 12 independently spent $29 billion per year by using their own money and further to say, they indirectly influence $320 billion worth of household purchase. Childrens influence on family buying decisions In addition, children are also major influencers within the family decision making unit. They attempt to and succeed in influencing family purchasing decisions. Several researches have shown that the childrens degree of influence in purchase decisions varies with the type of product (Beatty Lee, 2002). They have the most influence on buying decisions when they are the primary users of the products, for example, toys, games, and school supplies. They are also influential in purchase decisions about products which for all family members, for example, vacations, furniture, movies, and eating out. However, they have less impact on these products than in the products which they are the primary consumers. According to Dalakas Shoham (2003) reported, 34 per cent of nine to 14-year-olds acknowledged they influenced their parents purchasing decisions on videogame systems, 19 per cent affected decisions on vacation choice, 18 per cent have impact on stereo equipment, and 14 per cent particip ated the family decisions making process on computer equipment, VCRs, and televisions. Moreover, adolescents influence has been affected by the cost of the products on purchasing decisions. Their influence decreased for expensive family purchases. Furthermore, they have most influence as regards product type, colour and brand. One of the areas where children have the major impact is food purchasing decision. Food plays a vital role in family life and it is the main expenditure for most families. Children have most influence on the food and the meals which are easy to prepare. US studies have shown that in the major categories of food and drinks, playthings and clothing and TV programmes, children have an obviously influence (Chou Wut, 2009). In the UK, 84 per cent of parents said that their children decided what food to buy. 29 per cent parents admitted that their children impact on the choice of furniture. Even 20 per cent of parents said they like to listen to their childrens suggests about their own clothes when purchasing (Dalakas, Shoham, 2005). Also, through a survey, cable television networks in the USA found that children affected average of 43 per cent of total purchases which are made the decisions by parents. Further to say, mothers who shop with their kids normally spend 30 per cent more than they originally plan and fathers spend 70 per cent more (Caruana Vassallo, 2003). The ways and factors for children to affect family decisions Generally speaking, there are four different ways for children to influence family buying decisions. First, they hugely involve in affecting their parents to purchase products which they are the finally users. Second, older children buy the products which they want directly by using their own money. This money is received as allowances or salary. Third, children participated and affected their parents in family buying decisions making process for family products. Lastly, parents consult their childrens opinion for some of their own purchase. Therefore, children exert a certain influence on the overall family decisions. Children have more influence during the problem recognition and information search stage, but their influence decreases at the finally decision making stage. Their influence can be direct or indirect. Young children more tend to impact family purchases by directly asking. However, older adolescents may use various strategies to impact their parents decision making. Except the direct requests, they also take other actions like bargaining, persuasion, or using emotional strategies. A childs age is an important related factor of the childs influence on family decision making. Older children have fewer requests than younger children and their parents more tend to satisfy their request. The parents believe the older children have more experience with shopping and products, so they easily yield than before. Also, parents are convinced that their older children possess more understanding of economic concepts and have higher skills on shopping than younger children. Furthermore, childrens influence on family decisions is affected significantly by family type. Children in single parent families or one child families have more influence than others and the adolescents in modern families affect their families more obviously than adolescents in traditional families. The reasons for children influencing family decisions In the current era, family communication has become more open and democratic. Parents pay more attention to their children and spend more time to listen to their childrens opinions. These changes in family communication caused children can exert influence on family purchasing decisions making process. Furthermore, the influence of each child has increased because of the trends of smaller number of children in families. Because of the returns of women to workforce, most families economic status is in good condition. It not only means parents can afford enough money to satisfy their children request, but also pushes the children to take more responsibility for family decisions. This is because working couples have little time to make decisions and have to give their children more power. The analysis of implication for marketing There are many factors influence the children when they making purchasing decisions and shape their habits at the present. The top three influence factors are family, friends and media. All of them have outstanding impact on childrens shopping skills and behavior. In details, the family has been believed as it has the most influence on children in the purchasing process of food products, health care products and furniture. On the other hand, friends and the media play an extremely important role in affecting the discretionary purchase of the children. In fact, most of marketers consider the media as the most powerful affecting factor to impel the children to make purchasing decisions. They are convinced the television advertising is the greatest influence marketing communication tool. Moreover, previous marketing researches also suggested the companies to access the children seriously with child friendly amenities, colourful and playful displays and even credit cards (Caruana Vassal lo, 2003). In addition, it is known that most of children have low brand loyalty for most products. Because of their strong curiosity, they are easily to be attracted by original and distinct products. However, once they build the brand loyalty for one particular brand, they will be lifetime consumers for the brand. Furthermore, for the ethic thinking, the marketers ought to avoid displaying violent or pornographic pictures to children in their advertising. This is because children are not mature enough and cannot understand the meaning of this kind of advertising. Further to say, children very like to imitate what they saw. Thus, it is dangerous for children to access violent or pornographic advertising. For example, there was lots of news regarding that children did violent events after playing violent games, such as GTA, Counterstrike, or watching violent movie. An analysis of the situation of children in China Children in China have become the most significant target consumers for many marketers. This is not only because China has the largest population of children in the world, but also due to the fact that Chinese children have more economic power and influence in their families than children in other countries. Fan Li (2010) mentioned that there are 1,321.29 million people in China at the end of 2007. Among others, 19.4 per cent (about 256.60) are under the age of 14. This made China become the largest potential market. In the present China, children have more discretionary income compared with before and also exert a greater impact on family buying decision than other countries children. One couple one child has been a basic state policy in China for a long time since the early 1970s. Therefore, as the only child in the family, both parents and grandparents give most of their love and attention to the child. Even it caused a seriously problem raised in China, the Chinese children have been considered as being like Little emperors/empresses. A part of parents would like to satisfy their childrens each request as possible as they can. Due to the importance of Chinese children, marketers did many researches to seek the most relative information sources for Chinese children. Finally, they found that TV, parents, store visits and friends were ranked as the most significant sources to receive information for Chinese children (Fan Li, 2010).

Wide Sargasso Sea and The Color Purple Essay examples -- essays resear

  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Problems, along with misery, become apart of life whether you’re willing to accept it or not. For those who have accepted such troubles, have also learned to cope with it one way or another. Antoinette’s character in â€Å"Wide Sargasso Sea† and Celie’s character in â€Å"The Color Purple† have both experienced problems with depression, loneliness, violence, inferiority, racism, and self-identity. It is important for such characters as Antoinette and Celie to express their emotions and have a method of working out there issues.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  In the novel â€Å"Wide Sargasso Sea† by Jean Rhys, the character Antoinette is left mainly to her own free will as a child with no friends and relied on herself to find out that there is a world that can be both peaceful and horrifying. In the first part of the novel, we witness Antoinette’s childhood memories. She remembers the racial tensions and disapproval of white Jamaican women because they were not like â€Å"real white people†, wearing French Caribbean fashions. The white people also feared revenge of the ex- black slaves who follow Antoinette and called her â€Å"white cockroach†. Accepted by neither white nor black society, Antoinette feels great shame and left out. Having witnessed her home burnt down by the ex-slaves, the death of her brother Pierre, and her mother falling ill and mad, Antoinette had to go through it alone and begins to talk to herself for comfort. Being rejected by her mother and every...

AIDS :: Free AIDS Essays

Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome (AIDS) is caused by the Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV). "The virus was discovered in France in 1983 and in the United States in 1984. In the United States, it was initially identified in 1981. In 1986, a second virus, now called HIV-2, was also discovered in Africa.(Bookshelves)" Female prostitutes in Africa probably spread it very quickly. AIDS became a huge crisis of major proportions in parts of Africa. It is my own strongly held opinion, and that of most medical and research community world wide, that the AIDS epidemic is a serious problem. It has become the worst plague this species has ever known. Vastly greater sums should be spent on searching for treatments and vaccines. The United States government needs to do more intensive tests and research to help curb this virus instead of waiting for other countries to do so. AIDS is transmitted in one of three ways: From intimate sexual contact without protection, from the mixing of a person’s blood with infected blood, and from an infected pregnant woman to her fetus. Infection can occur from blood transfusions of infected blood, or sharing unclean needles. (Needles already used, in this case, by an HIV positive person and not sterilized.) The HIV-2 virus also causes AIDS. AIDS was first seen as a disease limited gay males in the United States. "This was a result that gay males in this culture before AIDS had an average of 200 to 400 new sexual contacts per year. This figure was much greater than the new sexual encounters among heterosexual (straight) men or women. (Strack,5)" In addition, it turned out that rectal sex was a particularly effective way to transmit the disease. Rectal sex is a common practice among gay males. For these reasons, the disease spread in the gay male population of the United States more quickly than in other populations. It became to be thought of as a "gay disease". As the AIDS epidemic began to affect increasingly large fractions of those two populations (gay males and IV drug abusers), many of the rest of the American society looked on smugly, for both populations tended to be despised by the "mainstream" of society here. It is extremely important for scientists to find a cure for AIDS. It is important because mostly everyone in the world has sex. The safest option regarding AIDS and sex is total abstinence from all sexual contact. For those who prefer to indulge in sexual contact, this is often far too great a sacrifice. The development of a safe and effective vaccine to prevent HIV infection is among the highest priorities for the AIDS research effort. Yet, vaccine research historically has received less funding and attention than other areas of AIDS research. Although this may have been justifiable in the past, the continued spread of the HIV epidemic and recent advances in our knowledge dictate a reassessment of priorities and a

Essay --

Colin Stremlau Arntz English 9th 3rd period December 17, 2013 Abortion – Why It’s Wrong â€Å"The greatest destroyer of peace is abortion because if a mother can kill her own child, what is left for me to kill you and you to kill me? There is nothing in between.† -Mother Teresa Have you ever realized how precious life is? Have you ever wondered what it would be like if you were never born? Some babies don't get to experience life because of abortion. Abortion isn't an ethical way for abandoning a baby nor is it fair to our community, its killing innocent people. Several babies have died from abortion and more will continue to do so because people support the pro-choice movement. Pro-choice isn't ethical because it's against religion, morality, and can be emotionally damaging. Abortion doesn't benefit the baby or the woman. Some people believe that life starts after birth, but it doesn't. All unborn babies are people; we must realize this and stop murdering defenseless babies. Abortion is a selfish act and it occurs very often. There are other solutions and it's ver...

Torture in Michel Foucault’s Discipline and Punish: The Birth of the Prison

Michel Foucault was considered as a postmodernist philosopher. He was known to expose the changing nature of human institutions. In the book Discipline and Punish: The Birth of the Prison, Foucault revealed the evolution of social correction and discipline. Torture was part of this evolution and it disappeared due to the shift in the power. In the 18th century, torture was used as a punishment for criminals and the public display of violence was done in an effort to deter crime and show the power of monarchy. In the 19th century, power was shifted to the soul.As a result, changes in correctional methods were made. In Discipline and Punish: The Birth of the Prison, Michel Foucault used the issue of torture to illustrate the change in power and prove the arbitrary nature of disciplinary institutions. In the book, Foucault began his discussion on torture with the gruesome account of the execution of Damiens the regicide on March 1, 1757 (Foucault, 1977). The details given provide a horr ifying picture: the criminal, who was clothed with only a shirt, had his flesh torn with the use of pincers.After the flesh was removed, a combination of hot molten lead, oil, resin, sulfur and wax was poured on his body. Initially, it was planned that the body would be torn with the help of horses, which would be drawn apart. When this plan did not work, the executioner named Samson had to sever the joints. After the limbs were pulled away, the body was burnt to ashes (Foucault, 1977). According to Foucault, torture as punishment was a judicial ritual (Foucault, 1977). To fully understand the notion of torture, it is important to consider the historical context from which it was taken.Foucault wrote that torture had been practiced since the ancient times and was a significant part of ancient legal procedures. In the 18th century, the monarchical form of government and feudalism was prevalent (Sarup, 1993). The king possessed absolute power, and he manifested this power on his subje cts. At that point in history, the crime was perceived as similar to sacrilege. This perception was the reason why punishment became the ritual which was not created for the purpose of reform; it was made with the intention to uphold the sacredness of a law which had been broken by the criminal (Sarup, 1993).Hence, torture was ineffective as punishment because reform was not its objective. Foucault pointed out that torture was not merely a judicial ritual; it was also political in nature (Foucault, 1977). Public execution, like the case of Damiens, involved the participation of sovereign. By committing a crime, the criminal had offended the sovereignty. As a response to the offense, the sovereign would inflict harm on the body of the criminal. Torture was the means in which the offense of the criminal against the sovereign can be undone (Foucault, 1977). Torture as a method of punishment focused on the body.He explained that torture allowed the body of the criminal to reveal the tru th of the crime (Foucault, 1977). In the brutal ceremony of torture, the body of the offender would create and recreate the truth of the offense. In the context of Damiens’ execution, his torture presented the truth of the parricide he committed. The authorities relied on the effect on the body to achieve the desired outcome. They believed that the viewing public would react accordingly to the execution; they thought that the violent display will decrease the number of crimes because the audience would be overcome with fear.However, this was not the case. The public had a different reaction. The body of the criminal became the source of pity. Instead of feeling fear after witnessing the torture, they felt sympathy for the criminal. The broadsheets which documented the details of the crime and the punishment did not succeed in preventing crime; rather, it succeeded in arousing admiration from the public. The accounts depicted the object of torture as a hero as opposed to a cri minal. In addition, torture became a source of conflict between the sovereign and the people.Torture was supposed to be a manifestation of the power of the sovereign on the body; it was designed to make the people fear the sovereign. Instead, the public executions made the audience detest the sovereign’s power over them and their bodies. As a result, the public often intervened at the executions. Foucault wrote that the criminals had to be guarded from the audience and that the people often attempted to liberate the jailed convicts (Foucault, 1977). Eventually, torture as punishment was rendered obsolete because power was redirected to the soul.In the book, Foucault juxtaposed the account of Damiens’ torture in the 18th century with the schedule of prisoners in a 19th century jail (Foucault, 1977). This juxtaposition presented the dramatic difference between punishments in those time periods. According to Foucault, the transformation occurred because the penalty shifte d from body to soul. In the past, the punishment was directed towards the body. By the 19th century, torture disappeared because punishment was already directed to the soul. The executioner, who was once a relevant figure, was replaced with new figures of authority.Professionals such as doctors and psychologists took over the correctional process. Foucault claimed that those who were responsible for the transformation of correctional methods had learned to consider the humanity of the criminals; they sought to respect and reform the human body rather than diminish it. Prison life was more humane than torture, but both methods of correction were still grounded on power. A new kind of power existed for the criminals, that which resulted in impersonal method of supervision which influenced the psychology of the inmates (Foucault, 1977).Discipline and Punish: The Birth of the Prison is a postmodernist text. Michel Foucault had undermined the stability of institutions by exposing its cha nging nature through his discussion on torture. Foucault illustrated the prevalence and obsolescence of torture as a form of punishment in history. He proved that the existence of torture was due to the manifestation of power on the body. When power was manifested on the soul, it ceased to exist. Indeed, Michel Foucault had shown the arbitrariness of institutions through his discussion on torture. References Foucault, M. (1977). Discipline and Punish: The Birth of the Prison. (A. Sheridan, Trans.). New York: Vintage Books (Original work published 1975). Sarup, M. (1993). An Introductory Guide to Post-structuralism and Postmodernism (2nd ed.).

Realism and Liberalism Essay

Introduction Realism and Liberalism are the two most prevalent ideologies in practicing and analyzing International Relations in the last two centuries. They are playing important roles in the states. They will directly affect the decision making of the governments and bring effects to the peace relations among countries. Realist mainly put a focus on state, power and national security. It was especially quite dominant in the first phase of the Cold War. On the other hand, Liberalism pays attention to people’s freedom and rights. It rose up after the World War II also the end of Cold War. From my point of view, to a large extent Realism and Liberalism are different from each other. They are quite opposite in theory. The differences between Realism and Liberalism outweigh the similarities. In this essay, I would elaborate these two ideologies in different aspects to talk about. Similarities between Realism and Liberalism Anarchy nature Firstly, for the similarities, both Realists and Liberals believe in anarchy nature of international system that it is leaderless in the world system. ‘The  major theories of international relations embrace the view that the international system is anarchic’ (Adem 2002: 19). Both admit that there is no sovereignty, rules or systems in the international system. However, these two ideologies got very different perceptions towards what they believe the states should do under this anarchic situation. The differences will be articulated below. Differences between Realism and Liberalism The views towards human nature For the differences, the first is that the Realists and the Liberals hold different beliefs towards human nature. Realists mainly are pessimistic and conservative. ‘It is essential not to have faith in human nature. Such faith is a recent heresy and a very disastrous one’ (Butterfield 149: 47). Realists believe in evil human nature. People are born with hatred and envy,  had original sin, war occurred constantly. They think that natural passion of human kind will bring out struggles among countries, ‘conflict is inevitable’ (Niebuhr 1932: xv). This can be manifest in the armament race in World War I. Every country tried to maximize their amounts of weapons and expand their armed forces at that time. Especially Britain and Germany, their relationship was worsened as there was a dreadnought building competition between them. Conflict is then occurred, paved the way to the World War I. Apart from this, during 1860s, the United States forced Japan to open its market at the threat of attack, which was beneficial for America only (Sr And Teresa 2013:16). Hence, they also perceive human are self-interested, interest is the most important thing of the state. Political action of the government is judged based on national interest (Morgenthau 1978: 4-15). Realists think that national interest is the most important thing of the state. On the contrary, Liberals mainly are optimistic and progressive. They interpret goodness exists in human nature. People are born to be kind, caring and helpful, willing to build trust with others. Apart from this, Liberals stress interdependence, believing cooperation can be enhanced in countries in order to reduce conflicts. Many intergovernmental organizations and institutions are formed in the late 19th century. They are made up of member states. For instance, European Union and World Trade Organization, they enhance political and economic cooperation among countries. Institutions enhance the economic cooperation and reducing the transactions cost among states (Keohane 1998: 82-94). Apart from this, the formation of United Nation was also a symbolic intergovernmental organization of Liberalism, providing a more understanding of human rights and reinforcing the protection of it. Therefore, witnessing the comparison above, the differences are clearly shown that the Realists and Liberals hold opposite views towards human nature. The different perspectives on ‘state’ The second difference is the way Realists and Liberals perceive ‘state’ in opposite angles. ‘State’ is the most important actor in Realism. They hold a view that sovereignty of the state indicates the independence of the  political community. Realists ‘Non-state actors such as international organizations are of use only for matters that do not concern immediate security interests’ (Harrison 2006: 21). Realists will simply ignore the other actors if the interest of the state is intervened. The most obvious of a nation’s desire is developing military and technology. The nuclear arm race between the United States and the Soviet Union during the Cold War is a significant example. Atomic bomb was invented at that time which brought a huge threat towards world peace. Realists also advocate realpolitik, securing their own country’s interest before care about others’ welfare (Rourke 2007: 21). This shows realists are totally state -centered and tend to pursue self-interest. On the other hand, Liberals is not statism as Realists do. Liberals maintain good governance between people and state. Liberalism stresses the importance of individuality and liberation of human (Sr & Teresa 2013: 18). Liberals favor values like political and civil liberties, toleration and justice. Hence, Liberals emphasize more on non-state actors, for instance, multinational corporations like the International Media and non-governmental organizations like the Red Cross and the Green Peace. As the Liberals advocate international cooperation, they pay attention to other countries’ rights and interest. The International Monetary Fund promotes free trade and enhances the welfare among states. It is also responsible in reducing poverty by subsidizing to members who have difficulties in economy. In short, from the illustration above, it is manifest that Realism is state-centered while Liberalism focuses both state and other non-state factors. The Ways to view peace Thirdly, the ways to see peace between Realism and Liberalism varies. Realists think the best way to seek peace is to have balance of power. During the cold war, the two super powers, the United States and the Soviet Union were in bipolar system which was more peaceful. It was because of the domination of the two super powers, causing restrictions for the minor powers to become strong, conflicts were then reduced. The realists view power is a very crucial element. The best way to maintain peace is to be  powerful (Rourke 2007: 22). Becoming powerful, the national security can be enhanced, and therefore this will reduce the chance from attack. China nowadays is becoming powerful in every aspect after the Reform and Opening-up Policy in 1978. She tries to strengthen herself with both hard and soft power in order to avoid the invasion of other countries. She even became one of the members in the World Trade Organization in 2001. Besides, Realists believe every state is responsible to their own survival. However, some critics even argue that realists will rarely define peace. They would like to define peace as the absence of organized violence (Mapel 1996: 57). From the Liberals point of view, there are more ways to view peace. Liberals are altruism which they emphasis on cooperation. In order to maintain world peace, many international organizations are constructed to work on it. For instance, the United Nations would like to put a halt on the violation of human rights of the states. Apart from this, The North Atlantic Treaty Organization, the military alliance, held a Science for Peace and Security programme in 2006 which aimed to promote peace and support civil science cooperation and innovation. International organizations brought contributions in maintaining world peace. Also, the Amnesty International, one of the non-governmental organizations, aimed to prevent abuse of human rights and fight for justice for those who have been violated. Liberalism also brings the idea of democratic peace. Liberals abandon wars against liberal democracies, but sometimes do not stop the war within illiberal states (Owen 1994: 93). They see illiberal states in some way dangerous and unenlightened thus they got no tolerance in them (Owen 1994: 96). In my opinion, there are quite many successful examples for Liberals in promoting peace, but still, their views toward peace are quite subjective, which brings limitations and loopholes to maintain peace in the future. In general, by the above comparisons with concrete examples, it is clearly shown that there is a huge difference between the ways Realists and Liberals view peace. Conclusion In conclusion, to large extent I think that Realism and Liberalism different from each other. The only similarity is that both of them believe that the anarchy nature is leaderless in the world system. The differences between  them are articulates with examples in various aspects. For the view towards human nature, Realists believe in evil human nature while Liberals believe in good ones. For the interpretation on ‘state’, Realists is state-centered, but Liberalists also focus on other non-state actors. For the ways they perceive peace, Realists advocate to have balance of power while Liberals enhances cooperation between nation states. It cannot be denied that Realism and Liberalism are two very distinct ideologies. From my point of view, these two concepts together with neorealism and neoliberalism will still play very important roles in the future of the International Relations. In order to secure the world peace in a sustainable way, I think the ideologies should coexist and strike a balance instead of only allowing one theory dominating the global world. Bibliography Adem, S. (2002) Anarchy, Order and Power in World Politics, Ashgate, Hampshire Art, R. and R. Jervis (2012) (eds.) International Politics: Enduring Concepts and Contemporary Issues (Eleventh edition) (London: Pearson) Baylis, J. and S. Smith and P. Owens (2013) (eds.) The Globalization of World Politics: An Introduction to International Relations (Sixth edition) (Oxford: Oxford University Press). Donnelly, J. (2000) Realism and International Relations, London: The Press Syndicate of the University Of Cambridge Dounan, M. (2011) Realist and Constructivist Approaches to Anarchy, [Online], Available: http://www.e-ir.info/2011/08/29/realist-and-constructivist-approaches-to-anarchy/ [29 Aug 2011] Harrison, T. (2006) Realism, sovereignty and international relations: An examination of power politics in the age of globalization, [Online], Available: http://scholarcommons.usf.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=3549&context=etd Jackson, R. & Sorensen, G. (2013) Introduction to International Relations: Theories and Approaches, United Kingdom: Oxford University Press Jehangir, H. (2012) Realism, Liberalism and the Possibilities of Peace [Online], Available: http://www.e-ir.info/2012/02/19/realism-liberalism-and-the-possibilities-of-peace/ [19 Feb 2012] Jumarang, B.K. (2011) Realism and Liberalism in International Relations [Online], Available: http://www.e-ir.info/2011/07/02/realism-and-liberalism-in-modern-international-relations/ [02 Jul 2011] Keohane, R.O. (1998) ‘International Institutions: Can Interdependence Work?’, Foreign Policy, issue. 110, Spring, pp.82-94. Morgenthau, H.J. (1978) Politics Among Nations: The Struggle for Power and Peace, Fifth Edition, Revised, (New York: Alfred A. Knopf), [Online], Available: https://www.mtholyoke.edu/acad/intrel/morg6.htm Owen, J.M. (1994) ‘How Liberalism Produces Democratic Peace’, International Security, vol. 19, Fall, pp. 87-125. Rourke, J.T. (2007) International Politics on the World Stage, [Online], Available: http://jeffreyfields.net/427/Site/Blog/3C90C230-B47B-4894-8E8E-F4C5078BDD88_files/Rourke-Realism,%20Liberalism,%20Constructivism.pdf Sr, I.N.M. & Teresa, E.U. (2013) ‘Liberalism and Realism: A Matrix For Political Economy’. International Journal of Business and Management Review, vol. 1, no.4, December, pp.15-25.

Cheque Truncation System

Lawyersclubindia Article : Cheque truncation in the Indian Scenario Page 1 of 3 Cheque truncation in the Indian Scenario During the last two decades or so the attitude and lifestyle of the consumers of banking service have been influenced by the advancement in technology. In tune with technological changes the banksaâ‚ ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢ delivery system has to undergo tremendous transformation. The financial reforms process has enabled many competitors to enter the financial services market with a higher degree of efficiency and customer friendly behaviour. The public sector banks although reacted promptly to the new challenges, have not kept pace with the new entrants in the arena because of their inherent limitations. Under the impact of technology, the banks have been trying to innovate newer products and services to become more competitive in the ever demanding customer driven market. The technology has made it possible for the banks to come to terms with the demands of customers. The system of cheque truncation is prevalent in several foreign countries. Denmark and Belgium are the pioneers in the truncation system. They adopted complete cheque truncation system more than two decades ago. Sweden is the typical example for having achieved complete truncation where all the cheques can be presented and encashed at any branch; irrespective of the bank on which they are drawn. The process of cheque truncation is not only quick but also meets the requirements of future electronic transactions. In India the collection and payment of cheques is governed by the provisions of the Negotiable Instruments Act, 1881 which requires that the instruments must be in writing and have to be physically presented for payment in due course (before the amendment in the Negotiable Instruments Act). In view of this requirement the time taken for the processing of cheques, etc. was long particularly for the outstation cheques. In a country like India, the time taken for collection of outstation cheques is rather tiring for the customers. With the advent of technology, the Government of India and Reserve Bank of India took initiative to improve the customer service. The working group constituted in 1982 to consider the feasibility of introduction of MICR/OCR technology for cheque processing recommended that India should join SWIFT (Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunication) Network for the transmission and reception of international financial messages as well as instil electronic forms of monetary transaction in the Indian economic transactions. The term aâ‚ ¬? hequeaâ‚ ¬ has been defined in Section 6 of the Negotiable Instruments Act as aâ‚ ¬? bill of exchange drawn on a specified banker and not expressed to be payable otherwise than on demandaâ‚ ¬ . As per definition it is essential that cheque should be presented for payment. But in truncation, the physical cheque is not presented but only its image shall be transmitted to the paying branch. ** In common parlance the word aâ‚ ¬? tru ncatedaâ‚ ¬ means deformed, disfigured, mutilated, etc. As per the Negotiable Instruments Act, the truncated cheque means a cheque which is truncated during the course of a clearing cycle. The process of truncation requires the banker to convert the cheque data into electronic form for the purpose of safe keeping or to return the cheques at the request of the banker or to provide information on cheques as and when requested. The cheque in the electronic form means a cheque which contains the exact mirror image of a paper cheque and is generated, written and signed in a secure system ensuring minimum safety standards with the use of digital signatures (with or without biometric signature) and http://www. lawyersclubindia. com/articles/print_this_page. asp? rticle_id=250 7/24/2011 Lawyersclubindia Article : Cheque truncation in the Indian Scenario Page 2 of 3 asymmetric crypto system. Features of truncated cheque system With the advent of technology and cyber era, security of the system has acquired prime importance. No doubt, the financial institutions have started providing fast services than ever before. But the technology has brought in its trail security problem als o. Under the cheque truncation system, therefore, the image of the cheque is captured at the point of deposit where it is sealed and encrypted before its transmission. This renders it tamper proof. This is done strictly as per international standards. The transmission between the presenting, paying and payee bank is authenticated by a certificate authority as part of the public key infrastructure. The process of image certification at the banks is certified by an independent auditor to ensure that it conforms to the requirements of the laws of evidence of that country. Under the cheque truncation system all cheques are transmitted electronically. The original cheques are retained by the collecting banker. Indian scenario Truncation of cheques can be done by the clearing house or the bank which collects the truncated version of the cheque. As per Section 81 of the Negotiable Instruments Act, the banker who receives the payment, is also supposed to retain the copy of the cheque even after payment has been done. Section 89 of the Negotiable Instruments Act says that any distinction between the original cheque and the truncated image should be construed as material alteration. In such cases it is obligatory on the part of the clearing house or the bank to ensure the correctness of the truncated image while transmitting the image. An explanation has been added to Section 131 of the Negotiable Instruments Act vide the Negotiable Instruments (Amendment and Miscellaneous Provisions) Act, 2002. It says that it shall be the duty of the banker who receives payment based on an electronic image of a truncated cheque to ensure that there is no fraud, forgery or tampering apparent on the face of the instrument. It would be seen that after the amendment the responsibility of the collecting bank has increased manifold. Earlier it was the position that if he collects any instrument in good faith and without negligence he was not liable for any fraud, etc. But after the amendment it is obligatory upon the collecting bank to verify the genuineness of the cheque with greater degree i. e. due diligence. Hence the cheque truncation system has burdened the collecting banker with a greater degree of responsibility. As per sub section (2) of Section 64 of the Negotiable Instruments Act, where an electronic image of a truncated cheque is presented for payment, the drawee bank is entitled to demand any further information regarding the truncated cheque from the bank holding the truncated cheque in case of any reasonable suspicion. Two new sub-sections have been added to Section 89. As per these sub sections any difference in apparent tenor of electronic image and the truncated cheque shall be a material alteration and it shall be the duty of the bank or the clearing ouse, as the case may be, to ensure the exactness of the apparent tenor of electronic image of the truncated cheque while truncating and transmitting the image. In spite of the advantages, the truncation system has its own drawbacks. The truncated cheques are vulnerable to fraudsters who can hack into this system and change the contents of the cheques. So the security of the system must be ensured. RBI has taken upon itself setting up of a safe, secure and http://www. lawyersclubindia. com/articles/print_this_page. asp? article_id=250 7/24/2011 Lawyersclubindia Article : Cheque truncation in the Indian Scenario Page 3 of 3 efficient communication network for the exclusive use of the banking sector known as INFINET (Indian Financial Network). This network is already being used by a large number of banks for transfer of funds. INFINET uses the latest technology and security called PKI (Public Key Infrastructure) which is within the legal requirements of the Information Technology Act, 2000. Source : – http://www. ebc-india. com/practicallawyer/index. php? option=com_content&task=view&id=8047&Itemid=54 http://www. lawyersclubindia. com/articles/print_this_page. asp? article_id=250 7/24/2011

Historical accounts Essay

Historical accounts that support the role of globalization in poverty reduction are observed especially during peace time and pro-globalization among countries. There is at least eighty percent of the world population that lived at an inflation-adjusted $1 per day at the onset of wartime in the early nineteenth century (Srinivasan and Wallack 2003). Half century by half century, this level is consistently lowered with drastic improvement in post-war period. However, up to this day, debates continued at the gates of international organizations such as WTO, WB, IMF, etc. Most of the protagonists are still in doubt not on how globalization contributed to economic growth but more importantly how it impacted the poor. These debates are inconsistent with historical accounts that proved globalization as solution to poverty. The impact of globalization on poverty is a matter of time to give way for trickle effects, institutional adjustments and change of perception on traditional beliefs. And so, in the long run, there are fewer questions about the benefits that poor may have from globalization. In this view, protagonists are highly concern on the distance between the deliveries of poverty effects of globalization to the grass root people which are normally the poor with economic growth serving as intermediary. They are primarily concern on how unequal the amount that is delivered and how unfair the delay of those amount. Thus, economic growth is criticized to prioritize the welfare of the well-off sector rather than the welfare of the poor. The preceding statement is especially true when the risks of well-off people are compared with the risks of the poor. The former have ease in searching for employment, has enough liquidity for the delay in the welfare delivery and thus in the position to be doubly happy. On the other hand, the latter is in reverse situation aggravated by subsistence living and exposure to physical hazards and capitalist exploitation making them in absolute despair by lengthy wait for delivery of minimal welfare. A good example is the inequitable income distribution. As industries expand business due to increasing inflow of direct and portfolio capital from abroad, well-off people are prioritized to jobs that are created due to formal education. If they are terminated or walk out of the office in their voluntary preference, they are still on-demand from expanding businesses. In contrast, the poor with little knowledge of how the sector works and little options would feel inferior and thus is willing to take whatever salary, conditions of work and other dictates of their employer. Both their mobility and freedom are taken away. There are several empirical studies that suggest globalization is pro-poor. Besley and Burgess (2003) found that there is a negative relationship between the poverty and income per capita. In monitoring GDP growth and poverty on a twenty-year frame from 1980 to 2000, Deaton (2001) concluded that economic growth is responsible to poverty reduction in India. China, which is referred to as an economic giant awaken by foreign direct investments, is quoted by Park and Wang (2001) to have drastically eradicated rural poverty since 1998. To evidence that the role of globalization is not only limited to income aspect, poor nations in Africa showed high levels of lowered poverty during the 1990s elevated by consequently addressing issues of mortality, education and AIDS epidemic. According to Besley and Burgess (2003), economic growth is only possible when three resources are present; namely, physical capital, human capital and technological change. This is illustrated in many ways. As the poor gain equal knowledge as the well-off, the former salary will increase and thus get both of them in equal footing in terms of income. As newer technologies primarily in agriculture increase the yield of the poor, their incomes as well as capitalist tendencies will simultaneously benefit. There is even a surplus harvest to attend their nutritional demands and less risk that a natural calamity will make this positive situation short-lived. As road infrastructure takes over the rural and farm areas, access to larger markets and faster economic activity will further improve the situation of the poor. These three sources of economic growth can be done minimally by the national and local government due to the vicious cycle of being a poor nation. With globalization, deficient funding will not be a hindrance to provide sources of economic growth due to inflow of capital. Accepting the argument that economic growth is indeed a good middleman to improve the welfare of the poor from globalization, the global community must have an average annual economic growth of 3. 8% by 2015 with lowest demand growth from Eastern Europe and Central Asia and highest demand growth from Sub-Saharan Africa (Besley and Burgess 2003). Eminent in the work of Srinivasan and Wallack (2003) is that globalization must be coupled with redistribution such as price support and public services to the poor. On the other hand, Besley and Burgess (2003) specifically defined their preference on the term redistribution through income distribution. They argued that the volatility of income distribution among developing countries is very minimal. Thus, the impact of globalization on the poor sector is loomed by increasing the average income of the population. In the study of Dollar and Kraay (2001), it is found that globalizing large economies of the developing world are characterized by large rise in trade and large fall in tariff barriers starting in 1980s. Economic growth compared to 1970s is higher for the following decade through 1990s. However, even with this figures, non-globalizing developing countries that are small did not gain the same success of their large economy counterparts. On the positive side, the welfare of the poor in respect to level of income is argued to have regression relevance with the level of trade. This study supported the role of globalization to poverty reduction and the effectiveness of economic growth to deliver the necessary benefits to industries, sectors and public at large. Still, the minority of small countries that may not have the sufficient market as well as institutional backbone to exploit large foreign capital inflows are hoping for the miracles of globalization. Conclusion Would I support Globalization in terms of growth? The answer is relative and as much as we would like to place straightforward answer we cannot. It is hard to generalize the behavior of developed countries towards transition economies. The overlapping issue is that the former is offering the latter with the chance to achieve the former economic status without going through historical hardships which can include war. This is an offer that is hard to give away especially that most governments of transition economies are administered by older people. In addition, inability to integrate relations to world affairs at least partially would make the transitional country weak against global shocks, external feud and addressing of internal objectives. To this view, globalization is for growth since it encourages transitional economies to join the globalization wave to improve national economy. On the flip side, it is rational for the leaders of transitional economies to make a well-prepared and if not rigid bilateral and multilateral agreements with trading partners. This is true especially when its internal resources are vulnerable to adverse spill-over effects of globalization. It is a conservative but helpful to view these treaties as anti-growth particularly on quality of life, history and well-being of the nation’s identity. Internal resources do not only include people, places and things but also intangible resources like ideologies and memories. Globalization serves as intervening if not modifying mechanisms to status quo of these components. As a result, to be able to protect the non-economic growth of several national treasures and resources, seeing globalization as anti-growth to internal well-being is valid. References Besley, Timothy J, & Burgess, Robin (2003). Halving global poverty. Journal of economic perspectives, 17(3), 3-22. David Dollar, Aart Kraay (2004) Trade, Growth, and Poverty* The Economic Journal 114 (493), F22–F49 Deaton, Angus. (2001a), â€Å"Counting the World’s Poor’s Problems and Possible Solutions,† World Bank Research Observer, 16(2), 125-47. Park, A. and S. Wang (2001), â€Å"China’s Poverty Statistics,† China Economic Review, 23, 384-95. Srinivasan, T. N.? Wallack, J. S. ,â€Å"Globalization,Growthandthe Poor†,in De Economist, 152 (2), 2004, p. 251