Raising money and funding Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Raising money and funding - Assignment Example Financial steps to reduce chances of business failure include ensuring that the business maintains ploughed back profits, good relations with creditors and suppliers, as well as improving entrepreneurial skills (Feinleib, 2011). The factors outlined guard the new business from problems related to inadequate finances and expertise. In addition, a business plan may help foresee potential failure in business. A business plan is a statement that stipulates the business goals, an evaluation of internal and external business environments, and a plan on the means of attaining goals. The core elements of a complete business plan include the goals of the firm, its background information, means of achieving the goals, financial analysis, opportunities, and threats facing the firm, and the exit strategy (Feinleib, 2011). Sources of funding for business owners include personal savings, donations from family and friends, bank loans, as well as venture capital. The sources are mainly essential for new businesses as a preventive measure against failure. Because banks may not offer unsecured loans, effective strategies of securing funding include using equity funding where the firm offers to sell part of its value to investors who become shareholders to the firm. In addition, venture capital is preferred, in which case the venture capitalist firm owns part of the firm and shares in its profits upon providing startup

The rise of Single Parenthood in Contemporary Britain Essay Example for Free

The rise of Single Parenthood in Contemporary Britain Essay Sociology has given us insights into our understanding of the rise in single parenthood in Contemporary Britain. Single-parent families have become increasingly common in Britain. According to government statistics, in 1961, 2 per cent of the population lived in households consisting of a lone parent with dependent children, but by 1998 this had more than tripled to 7 per cent.  According to Hantrais and Letablier (1996), Britain has the second highest rate of lone parenthood in Europe, and is exceeded only by Denmark, and rates in countries such as France, Greece and Portugal are much lower than those of Britain are. Children may start their life living in a single-parent family. However, the single parent may well find a new partner and marry them or cohabit with them. The child will then end up living with two parents.  It should also be noted that many children who live in a single-parent household do see and spend time with their other parent. Further more even in two-parent families, one parent (usually the mother) might be responsible for the vast majority of the childcare. There are many reasons why lone parenthood can come about. People who are married can become lone parents by divorce, separation or death of a spouse. Lone parents who have never been married may have been living with the parent of the child when the child was born, but they subsequently stopped living together. They may not have been living with the parent of the child when they were born. Official statistics give some indication of the frequency of the different paths to lone-parenthood, but do not provide a complete picture. Official figures for Britain shows that the largest proportion of female lone parents in 1995-7 were single, with about a third being divorced and just under a quarter separated. The figures for those who were single do not differentiate between those who were cohabiting when the child was conceived and those who were not. These proportions have changed over time. Clearly the rise in lone motherhood is closely related to increases in the divorce rate and tot he increase in births outside marriage. The increase in single lone mothers may partly result from a reduction in the number of shotgun weddings. Marriages that resulted from pregnancy were often unstable and could end up in producing lone motherhood through an eventual divorce or separation. Now, the partners may chose to cohabit rather than marry and, if their relationship breaks up, they end up appearing in the statistics as a single, never married, parent. The absence of cohabitation does not necessarily imply that the parents do not have a close relationship some writers see the rise of single parenthood as a symptom of increased tolerance of diverse family forms.  There are a number of reasons for supposing that the welfare state is not responsible for the increases. Some commentators dont believe that lone parenthood gives advantages to those seeking local authority housing. In 1993 John Perry, policy director of the Institute of Housing, said Ive not been able to find a single housing authority which discriminates in favour of single parents over couples with children. The homeless get priority, but there is no suggestion that a homeless single parent gets priority over a homeless couple. Single parents who are reliant upon benefits tend to live in poor housing conditions and to have low standards of living. There is little material incentive to become a single parent. There is evidence that a large majority of single parents do not wish to be reliant on state benefits. They would prefer to work for a living but find it impractical to do so. Single parenthood has increasingly become a contentious issue, with some arguing that it has become a serious problem for society.  A vast majority of the population would still agree, I think, that the normal family is an influence for good in society and that one-parent families are bad news. Since not many single parents can both earn a living and give children the love and care they need, society has to support them; the children suffer through lacking of one parent While most commentators agree that single parenthood can create problems for individual parents, many sociologists do not see it a s a social problem, and some see that it is a sign of social progress.  Some view the mother only family as an indicator of social disorganisation, signalling the demise of the family. Others regard it as an alternative family form consistent with the emerging economic independence of women. More controversial that the low average living standard of lone parents is the question of the psychological and social effects on children raised in such families. Findings of a number of American studies, which seem to indicate that children are harmed by single parenthood. These studies have claimed that such children have lower earnings and experience more poverty as adults; children of mother-only families are more likely to become lone parents themselves; and they are more likely to become delinquent and engaged in drug abuse. The findings of such studies must be treated with caution. In a review of research in lone parenthood, Louise Burghess notes that some research in the relationship between educational attainment and divorce suggests that children in families where the parents divorce start to do more poorly in education before the divorce takes place.  David Morgan does believe that the evidence suggests that the children of single parents fare less well than those from two-parent households. He qualifies this by saying that we still do not know enough about what causes these differences; as with the effects of financial hardship, the children would be affected by the stigma attached to coming from a single-parent family.  It is very difficult to disentangle the direct and indirect effects on children of being brought up in a single-parent household and therefore dangerous to make generalisations about such effects.

speech from FDR in our perspective :: essays research papers

F.D.R. Speech Announcer: We interrupt you regular broadcasting, for an urgent word from your president. F.D.R.: Good evening fellow Americans. I speak to you tonight about an urgent issue. I have recently met with my council and advisors on the events in Europe. Japan, Germany and Italy have become axis powers, in the fight to defeat our ally, Great Britain. Together the axis powers have over-thrown much of Western Europe. We have passed the "cash-and-carry" on order to help Great Britain, by supplying when with weapon and such needed for their win. Recently, Britain has run out of cash to pay for our supplies. I have been informed that it may not be possibly for America to remain neutral in this war. In case of the axis powers defeating Great Britain; it is possibly that they may not stop there. There is a chance that Germany, Japan and Italy will extend their fight to the western hemisphere, capturing the US into their power and over-throwing democracy. We, the American people can not sit back and watch these three nations over-power this continent or the continent of Europe. We must fight for our people. We must fight for democracy. These axis powers are three powerful armies combined, and it is our belief that Great Britain can not defeat them single-handedly. We have tried to remain neutral and only supply Britain with supplies, as long as they pay cash and carry it home on their own ships. Now, this is not longer possible. German U-boats are constantly attacking Britain's supply ships, preventing supplies from getting there. Also, Britain no longer has the money to pay for these supplies. In entering this war, we could help Great Britain defeat these three powerful nations, and prevent the Untied States from future threat. In current meetings with advisors a plan has been made to ease the US into this war. Over a year ago, a selective training and service act was signed, established a peacetime draft, in preparation for this time. Germany has conquered many countries in Western Europe, including: Norway, Denmark, Belgium, Holland and France. Soon after Italy joined Germany in the fight to take over Europe, Romania, Greece and Yugoslavia fell into the hands of Hitler and Missolini. In January of this year, the Lend-Lease Act was passed. This allows the United States the right to sell or lend war materials to countries fighting Germany, Japan and Italy.

Power of Religion in John Steinbecks The Grapes of Wrath Essay

The Power of Religion in John Steinbeck's The Grapes of Wrath John Steinbeck's epic novel, The Grapes of Wrath, chronicles the struggles of the Joads as they join the thousands of fellow "Okies" in a mass migration westward. The Joads reluctantly leave behind their Oklahoma farm in search of work and food in California. While Steinbeck writes profoundly and emotionally about the political problems of the Great Depression, his characters also show evidence of a deep concern with spirituality. When they feel hopeless and are uncertain about their immediate future, their concentration on religion dwindles. On the other hand, when they leave their home, the Joads regain spiritual faith; they have something to live for: California. Once they arrive and find only more difficulties, they lose their sense that better things are ahead of them and gravitate back towards thinking politically. However, they finally return to the source of their original faith--religion-- at their most desperate time.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   One of the first characters Steinbeck introduces (after Tom Joad) is the former preacher Jim Casy, who questions his own faith in his initial conversation with Tom: "Ain't got the call [to preach] no more. Got a lot of sinful idears-but they seem kinda sensibleThe sperit's strong in me, on'y it ain't the sameHere I got the sperit sometimes an' nothin' to preach about. I got the call to lead the people, an' no place to lead 'em" (Steinbeck 20-21). His skepticism precludes him from preaching. He still recognizes the importance of his religion, but he is no longer sure of its role in the times of hopelessness. Casy could not preach when neither he nor those to whom he preached had a purpose. When guided by a goal, though, he pro... ...gles with their own faith in the midst of hunger, poverty, homelessness and loss of family are enlightening, and can inspire people who are not in that terrible situation to reconsider themselves. Work Cited Steinbeck, John. The Grapes of Wrath. New York: Penguin Books, 1998. Works Consulted Conder, John J. "Steinbeck and Nature's Self: The Grapes of Wrath." John Steinbeck, Modern Critical Views. New York: Chelsea House Publishers, 1987. 125-140. French, Warren. John Steinbeck. Boston: Twayne Publishers, 1975. Levant, Howard. "The Fully Matured Art: The Grapes of Wrath." John Steinbeck, Modern Critical Views. New York: Chelsea House Publishers, 1987. 35-62. Lojek, Helen. "Jim Casy: Politico of the New Jerusalem." Steinbeck Quarterly, Winter-Spring 1982. 30-37. The New American Bible, Gospel of John. 23:34. New York: The Catholic Press, 1976.

Introduction to the Development of Travel + Tourism

1. Changing Socio-Economic Circumstances:- The first changes in socio-economic circumstances were when the industrial revolution took place. People were moving from the rural countryside into the bigger towns and cities to find regular employment in the factories, mills and mines. All over England work places were shutting down for a week (wakes week this was called). They were taking a paid holiday which was the first big break for most of the working population. People suddenly had an increase in leisure time to do more things with their family and friends; this is because the working hours in a week were dramatically cut from around 45+ to sometimes below 40. The raise in wages meant that more people could do things and go places further a field. They took weekend breaks and short holidays more often as well and also they had budgeting for a week's holiday which they could plan ahead for and get the time off through their employers. By the 1960's there was a huge rise in teen holidays, these holidays were very popular with people between the ages of 18-30. It became part of culture for young people to go off abroad on new package deal holidays. They would go out drinking and after a night in a pub or bar they would go back to their hotel rooms with a young girl and have ‘no-strings attached' sex. They would usually go on holiday for the sole reason of drinking and having sex all week. 2. Technological Developments Public transport was vital part in how and where people took their holidays. Mainly in the 1940's and early 50's, people used the railway to get to holiday resorts like Blackpool, they would travel mainly from places of work like Manchester, Liverpool, Blackburn etc. By the mid 1950's the car was becoming more of a major role in public transport and many people took to driving further away than the original holiday resorts of Blackpool, Scarborough, Brighton etc. They travelled to places like Cornwall and Dorset. Some people even braved going abroad to places like Belgium, Holland and France which was unheard of in those days. They drove to big ports like Dover or Ramsgate and caught a ferry across to Europe. The invention of the jet engine then came along and people discovered holidays in the Mediterranean where the weather was always guaranteed to be hot and sunny. People took to going abroad a lot more because of the jet engine and its power to travel further than anything before that. Lastly and most recently became the use of electronic booking and air traffic control so more planes can come and go from an airport more frequently than ever before. The internet is now the easiest, fastest and sometimes cheapest place to book holidays from. It can be done in a matter of minutes. 3. Product Development and Innovation People in Britain only started going on holiday in the 1860's. The only place they could go to was holiday resorts by the sea like Blackpool, Scarborough etc. If it rained they had to try and entertain their children outside somewhere because they weren't allowed back to there holiday flats until the evening. A great innovation was brought into light in the 1950's by a man called Billy Butlin. It was a holiday camp where there was entertainment all week whether indoors because of the rain or outdoors in the sun. Everyone went there year in year out and thousands of people enjoyed a great time every week it was open. Package holidays were the next big thing to come along. Holidays abroad were all fully paid for including flights. When you got there you didn't have to do anything but relax and enjoy the weather. The hotel cooked food and laid on meals for you and did everything. This was why it's called a ‘package holiday'. 4. Changing Needs, Expectation and Fashions Annual holidays became fashion throughout Briton. Everyone had to take a holiday as the holiday pay act came into use it was far more acceptable for people to go away. It became a culture and it still is a culture for most people in Britain. People often go on more than one holiday a year now, to places further abroad than the Mediterranean. Some people enjoy actually taking a year out of work or education to go and explore the traditions of places in Europe. Whereas most people like just relaxing, enjoying the sunshine and having a good time.

Online Financial Services Essay Example

Online Financial Services Essay Example Online Financial Services Essay Online Financial Services Essay Introduction Services What are services? They are defines as concerned with performing tasks in and around households, business firms and institutions. Services industries are those domestic establishments which are providing some kind of services to businesses, governments and other organizations. FIRE, business and health services are the largest service industries. Business services include activities such as consulting, advertising, marketing and information processing. Categorizing service industries With these service industry groups, companies can be further categorized into those that involve transaction broking and those than involve a ‘hands on’ service. For instance, one type of financial service involves stockbrokers who act as the middle person in a transaction between buyers and sellers. Online mortgage companies refer customers to mortgage companies that actually issue the mortgage. In contrast, legal, medical and accounting industries perform specific hands on activities for their customers. In order to provide their service, these professionals need to interact directly and personally with their client. In this the opportunities for ecommerce are somewhat different. Currently doctors and scientists cannot treat patients over the internet but internet can at least assist their services by providing consumers with information, knowledge and communication. Features of service industries Knowledge and information intensity – With some exceptions such as providers of physical services such as cleaning, gardening and so on, and the most important feature of service industries is that they are knowledge and information intense. They process a great deal of information and employ people with the requisite skill and expertise. For example lawyers for legal services. However, financial services sector is not so knowledge intensive, but it requires much larger investments in information processing just to keep track of transactions and investments. In fact the financial services sector is the largest investor in information technology, with over 80% of their invested capital going to information technology equipment and services. For this reason, many ecommerce services are suited to ecommerce applications and strengths of the internet to collect, store and disseminate information and provide reliable and fast communication. Personalization and customization – Services differ in the amount of personalization and customization required in them to be delivered but still all types of services involve some amount of it. Services like legal, medical and accounting require extensive personalization – the adjustment of a service to the precise needs of a single individual or object. Others allow individual some personalization to choose from a restricted as in case of financial services. The ability of internet and ecommerce technology personalize and customize service or components of service is a major underlying the extremely rapid growth of ecommerce services. Further the amount of customization also depends on the ability of ecommerce or internet to do so. Online Financial Services The online financial services sector is a shinning example of an ecommerce success story. With the innovative, pure online firms have been instrumental in transforming the brokerage industry, the impacts of ecommerce have been somewhat less powerful in banking, insurance and real estate where customers are more likely to use the web for research, but conduct research for traditional suppliers. In addition, pure online financial firms are not yet profitable. The costs of marketing and technology have far exceeded the early estimates of experts. As in the retail marketplace, it is the multichannel financial firms who are showing the fastest growth and strongest prospects of long term revival. Online Banking and Brokerage Online baking was pioneered in the US by NetBank and Wingspan in 1996 and 1997 respectively. Traditional banks had developed earlier versions of telephone banking but did not use online services until 1998. Although late by a year or two, the established brand name banks have taken a significant lead in market share as measured by number of unique visitors. Same goes as true for the brokerage firms as well Early innovators such as E*Trade and Ameritrade had been displaced from their leadership positions by the financial industry giant Fidelity and discount broker pioneer Charles Schwab. Merrill Lynch, The largest brokerage firm in the United States did not develop an online presence until 2000, but it rapidly added new clients after going online. Online Banking Behavior and Preferences Any belief {or maybe even wishful thinking) that the Internet is just a passing fad seems to be laid to rest by a new survey from CashEdge in New York. The survey polled more than 400 consumers nationwide who use online banking. Eighty-five percent of the survey participants said they would bank only with an institution that offered online banking capabilities. In addition, 82 percent said they would use more online capabilities if offered to them. Other survey findings noted that 87 percent of respondents have more than one institution where they keep their money. Along those same lines, 71 percent said they would prefer not to have to use checks or cash, but would rather use online funds transfers. Online usage has also created more of a demand for speedier service. Seventy-four percent of those polled said they expect a new bank account to be available for use the same day that they sign up for it. The popularity of online banking has been based on both speed and convenience. A majority (66 percent) of those surveyed considered having to go to a branch to be a chore. At the same time, 88 percent said they tried to cut down on their visits to the bank while 75 percent said that if they could, they would never go for a branch and would instead do all their banking online. Granted, these are online banking customers being polled, so the results may be somewhat biased. Still, the numbers do show a growing reliance on the Internet as a means for banking. Finally, customers polled said they do have concerns regarding online banking. Close to 50 percent cited security as a main concern about conducting banking transactions over the Internet. In addition, 14 percent said the issue of security keeps them from banking online. Online Mortgage and Lending Online mortgage lending is a growing field that is starting to seriously compete with traditional ‘person lenders’. The process is relatively easy. The important thing to remember is to make sure your know the ins and outs of any and all online home mortgage loans prior to submitting your personal information. In some cases, youll find fees can be much cheaper than traditional in person lenders. Further, you may discover a greater range of mortgage loan programs available. Among the highlights of these programs may be lower rates of interest and flexible repayment terms. Also, borrowers with a bad credit history may find online mortgage lending to be the answer to their prayers. In most cases, web-based lenders offer more alternatives to those with less than desirable credit ratings. Finally, it can shave a ton of time off of the traditional in person route and having to wait (what might be several days) to be approved. The bonus here is if you dont get approved the first time, you can apply to another lender right away and like the first time; youll get your answer quick. Its important to realize that not all online mortgage lenders have representation in all states. Before taking the time to apply online, its in your best interest to make sure that the lender in question is represented in the state in which you reside. A big negative is unfortunately accountability. Its your job as the potential borrower to do your homework and keep on top of your application. Its wise to check out the company to make sure theyre legit and will be able to fulfill any promises they make regarding terms and interest rates. Unfortunately with both traditional and online mortgage lending, the mortgage loan programs offered may be more in lenders best interest than in yours. Again, its so very important that you do some research and comparison shopping. Just like with traditional in person lenders you want to make sure that it is in your best interest not theirs. Another possible negative is the fact that some lenders will charge you a fee prior to you learning whether or not your application has been successful. Please note that some traditional lenders also ask for a fee upfront. Borrowers beware there are many legitimate traditional and online lenders than dont insist on such a fee. Unlike any negative dealings you may have with traditional mortgage lenders, online mortgage lending isnt regulated by a governing organization in which you can complain to. The bottom line is that while online mortgage lending may be the way of the future, its also important to research the lender and ask the right questions. And, while applying for a mortgage loan online may seem like a great idea, dont discount the value of getting a comparison quote from a traditional in person lender. Financial portals A website that provides a variety of financial data and information, acting as an information hub for clients who are individual investors requiring timely financial news and data to make their investment decisions. Financial portals are intended to give clients all the finance-related information they need. Often, the portals themselves will provide visitors with quotes, research, articles, analyst recommendations, etc. Financial portals may also provide links to various relevant sites that offer this kind of information. In addition, many financial portals provide email accounts, chat rooms and web forums. They provide their comparison with comparison shopping services, independent financial advice and planning. On the contrary, independent portal do not themselves offer financial services but act as steering mechanisms to online providers. They generate revenue from advertising, referral fees and subscription. Financial portals are a major source of visitors to major established financial services sites. For instance, about one third of visitors to Wells Fargo began their sessions at a financial portal. About 20% of visitors to established sites exit to portal sites. These have become so important to established online service firms that some providers like Charles Schwab and Citibank went ahead and have developed their own portals myschwab. com and myciti. om respectively, which permits users to personalize their financial web pages and provide account aggregation services. In general, financial portals do not offer financial services but instead they make their money from advertising and add to the existing online price competition in the industry. They are also a counter strategy of the large banking institutions to ensnare consumers into a single branded financial institution system with a single account and high s witching costs. Financial Portals are Hot, but for Whom? Suddenly-even by Internet time-the long sought one-stop financial portal has arrived. E-banking watchers are predicting that very soon, most big banks and some smaller ones will be sporting websites where customers can come to handle all of their financial affairs. Whats been missing until now is the ability to aggregate information and perform transactions that involve a customers accounts at rival institutions. Rich payoffs await the bank that can field a full-service financial portal. Its customers will likely visit he site more often, stay longer, and use more services. An early-adopting bank has the chance to become its best customers primary bank, where all financial information is consolidated into always-available net worth statements. For high-net worth customers, basic banking will likely evolve into online versions of what is now being called wealth management. Financial services industry trends The financial services industry provides four different types of services: sto rage and access to funds, protection of assets, means to grow assets, and movement of funds. These have been traditionally provided by separate firms. However, changing the institutional structure of the financial services industry has direct consequence for the online financial services. The trend contributing towards this cause is the industry consolidation or in other words movement towards integration financials services. Unlike in the traditional times, when banks were not allowed to operate in more than one area and industries like banking, insurance, brokerage were prohibited to from having significant financial interests in one another. Due to this concept only, some very small banks emerged in US in the past and it was also once called the most over-banked country in the world at that time. But this has long back faded into oblivion. Today the concept which is fast catching up is integration of financial services under one umbrella. Industry Consolidation and Integrated Financial Services Financial supermarket Most of the big online stockbrokers offer basic banking services like check-writing, automatic deposit, online bill payment and even A. T. M. cards. Now some companies are pulling out all the stops to convince customers to combine all their financial accounts with them, instead of keeping money at an assortment of institutions. This is called a financial supermarket. First, Bank of America announced that customers with at least $25,000 in traditional bank accounts - like checking, savings, money markets and certificates of deposit - could trade stocks free on the company’s brokerage Web site. Now some online brokers have sharply raised the interest rates they pay on checking accounts. Some time back, E*Trade Financial, based in New York, raised its top rate for checking to 3. 25 percent from 0. 8 percent. In late April, Charles Schwab bolstered its top checking rate to 4. 25 percent, from 2. 58 percent. Consumers have often preferred choosing their financial services a la carte - picking an interest-bearing checking account here, and a stock-trading site there. But financial services companies clearly have something else in mind. But there is dark side to it as well. Consumers should think carefully before combining their financial accounts with one company. The flip side to the convenience may be a decrease in investor privacy and data security. If a hacker broke into a company’s computers, then potentially they will know all of your sensitive information. People who combine their checking and brokerage accounts with one company should be prepared for cross-selling, the industry’s term for marketing many different financial products and services to customers. It is advised that customers should shop around before buying additional financial products, like mortgages and certificates of deposit, and not just to accept the rate at a company where they already have an account. Mortgages are a great example because the difference in cost over the life of a mortgage can be truly astronomical. The promise of internet and ecommerce technologies in the long rum would be to take the financial supermarket model one step further by providing a truly personalized, customized and integrated offering to customers based on their complete understanding in terms of his financial behavior, life cycle status, and unique needs. It will take time to accomplish this thing and also develop the technical infrastructure and consumer behavior toward a much deeper relationship with online financial service institutions. Online Financial Supermarkets. Dont bet on them. Big brokers would love nothing better, but consumers arent likely to bite At E*Trades Web site, you can buy shares in initial public offerings, do your banking, and get a 5% discount on a bottle of Le Parfum de Golf. At the American Express Co. site, you can pay your charge-card bill, trade stock, and book a flight to Kiev or Kuala Lumpur. Merrill Lynch Co. s ML. com will soon have $29. 95 stock trades, videos featuring Merrill market mavens, and an auction for diamond earrings. The Web sure is hip. But does anyone really want all this from a stockbroker? Financial-services companies have long wanted to create giant financial super markets. And financial services companies on the Web are no different. The goal has been to offer consumers banking, investments, insurance, loans, and financial planning in one convenient place. The strategy has failed for decades, and it will fail again online unless financial-services firms radically change the way they sell their products and learn to compete on price. The core difficulty for such would-be supermarkets is that they face a constant barrage of competition from companies pitching better products or services at lower prices. Just as online brokers squeeze commissions down to an average of $15 a trade, American Express offers free buy orders for customers with balances of at least $25,000. Just as portal Yahoo! Inc. popularizes a Visa card featuring 5% discounts for online purchases, startup NextCard Inc. offers similar shopping bargains plus a choice of cards with various rates and terms. And you can design the picture on your card yourself. For free. Funneling The truth is, it probably doesnt hurt to offer sideshows such as earring auctions and perfume discounts. The problem for the one-stop shops comes when they try to funnel online customers into high-priced, proprietary products, which may well alienate Netizens accustomed to saving money online. Those potential customers will click through and be on their way, and its not hard for them to find a better deal. At E-Loan Inc. , you can compare low-rate mortgages from countless lenders. At least a dozen sites offer insurance shopping services. And new firms such as VerticalOne Corp. and a host of others let you maintain multiple online financial accounts from different companies at one Web site. Internet or not, people dont want to be tied downsomething online brokers know all too well. Many customers use online trading as a mere adjunct to their primary accounts at full-service brokers. And if they arent satisfied with one online broker, theyll switch to anotherand complain about their problems on message boards for all to see. A Forrester Research study found that only 16% of consumers are willing to keep their assets in a single institution. And theyre not eager to give up choice, especially when new financial products and services pop up online all the time. The Web is a world where consumers are in charge, and they can move money in an almost frictionless environment, says Forrester analyst James Punishill. Its easy to understand why the financial industry is rushing to develop large-scale financial Web sites. Consumers want to consolidate their financial lives on the Webbut not with just one firm. Successful online companies wont try to pigeonhole customers into the same old proprietary products they sold pre-Internet. Theyll offer a broad selection, use the power of the Web to facilitate comparison shopping, and explain why a premium is justified for higher-priced products. In financial services, the Net has changed the rules. Account aggregation Account aggregation is a method that involves compiling information from different accounts, which may include bank accounts, credit card accounts, investment accounts, and other consumer or business accounts, into a single place. This may include a database or may be provided through screen scraping where a user provides the requisite account-access information for an automated system to gather and compile the information into a single page. Usually this database resides in a web-based application or in client-side software. While such services are primarily designed to aggregate financial information, they sometimes also display other things such as the contents of e-mail boxes and news headlines. One of the first major account aggregation services was Citibanks My Accounts service, though this service ended in late 2005 without explanation from Citibank. Much has been said in the financial services and banking industry as to the benefits of account aggregation principally the customer and web site loyalty it might generate for providers but the lack of responsibility and commitment by the providers is one reason for skepticism about committing to those same providers. The service helps users to manage their money on the Internet (typical desktop alternatives include Microsoft Money, Intuit Quicken etc) in an easy to use manner wherein they get functionalities like single password, one-click access to current account data, total net worth and expense analysis etc. Multiple U. S. financial institutions and credit unions are providing the service, however most of the time a vendor, such as Yodlee or Vertical One, is the technology solutions provider. Both these are the leading account aggregators. They use the screen scrapping technology and software tools to pull information from upto one thousand different financial sites. A smart mapping technology is also used sometimes so that if the underlying websites change, the scrapping software can adapt and still find the relevant information. Account aggregation has evolved with single sign-on at most major banks such as Bank of America. With SSO (usually implemented via SAML) major financial institutions are now expanding their aggregation services into new areas. Rich Presentment (getting all the information about a bill that you owe) is a service that uses Aggregation extensively, and can be seen at AOL, using AOL Bill Pay. Aggregation also powers applications such as Funds Transfer, New Account Openings, Card Based Bill Pay and so on. Independent Financial Advisors are another group that account aggregators are beginning to focus their attention. Having seen increasing competition from the wirehouses and breakaway brokers, positioning themselves as their clients primary advisor is not as easy as it once was. Account Aggregation should be able to help many of these advisors gain the competitive edge by providing a look into their clients held-away and non-managed accounts. Aggregators such as Advisor Exchange and CashEdge specialize in working with the advisor industry and provide historical, transaction level data that is normalized and reconciliation ready The main consumer and regulatory issues generated by account aggregation services include: Disclosure including disclosure about the risk of using an aggregation service; Liability for unauthorised transactions it is important to determine for losses caused by unauthorised transactions. For example, under the current regime, a consumer who discloses their password or PIN to an aggregation service may lose the protection offered by the EFT Code if an unauthorised transaction occurs; Liability for other losses for example, losses caused by misrepresentations, inaccurate information, poor quality of the service, downloading software, interruption of the service, etc; Privacy – e. g. ho has access to personal information, and what will the information be used for; Security especially the security of any location where account information is stored by the aggregator; consumer education; Complaints and dispute resolution most aggregation services surveyed do not appear to provide internal or external complaints resolution processes; Cost of aggregation services, and debt recovery; Cross-jurisdictional issues for example, what are the implications if the ggregator is based in another jurisdiction; Regulation of aggregators should they be subject to the same pru dential supervision framework and other regulations that apply to deposit-taking institutions and/or other financial institutions? ; The implications of the Financial Transaction Reports Act, which is designed to deter money laundering and tax evasion. Security Understanding Consumer Preferences for Authentication Methods Would online banking increase if financial institutions provided their customers with ways to enhance security? A new survey TriCipher Consumer Online Banking Study, suggests that may well be the case. Conducted by Javelin Strategy Research, the survey found that 31 million U. S. consumers would begin banking online and another 39 million consumers would increase their online banking activity if offered free identity protection software by their banks. In fact, this authentication method was chosen by 53 percent of respondents. The second most popular authentication method- chosen by 33 percent of survey respondents- was biometrics, which uses a dedicated hardware device to verify such physical characteristics as a fingerprint. The survey also tracked consumers preferences of the following authentication methods. E-mail or SMS One Time Password (21 percent): An e-mail or text message is sent with a random second password. OTP Token (20 percent): A small electronic device provides a constantly changing password. Out-of-Band (16 percent): A call is made to a registered phone number, requesting that a user enter his or her password over the phone, Peripheral Device Recognition (15 percent): Connection of a removable device (e. g. iPod, cell phone) owned by the consumer Scratch-off Card (11 percent): A card containing several PINS that are scratched off one at a time Exploring the Electronic Vault With electronically signed documents growing in popularity, especially for processing mortgages, banks are facing the question of how to protect and manage them. Banks must provide airtight security, yet at the same time make the documents accessible to a broad range of personnel. Electronic vaults can solve the problem, according to ‘Advanced Electronic Vaulting Solutions. A white paper from eOriginal, a Baltimore based provider of electronic document solutions. An electronic vault, as defined in the companys white paper, manages the legally binding. Authoritative Copy of an electronically signed contract or other document, and possibly its related transaction documents, in a secure location where it is held and transitioned during the entirety of its lifecycle, Electronically signed documents have been legally viable since 2000, when President Clinton signed the Electronic Signatures in Global and National Commerce (E-SIGN) Act into law. When an electronic vault is in place, once a document has been e-signed, a final copy is immediately sent to an electronic vault, where access can be controlled. From then on, a log will keep track of anyone who accesses the document, including such functions as printing or copying. An electronic vault can provide additional benefits beyond chose of security and access. For example, using electronic vaults can demonstrate that an institution has an original, untampered document, which enhances the integrity of the document. In addition, the secondary market requires that documents be stored in a secure, closed system, and electronic vaults fit the bill. An effective vault system can even indicate the new owner of a loan document, without tampering with the original document in any way. When judging the effectiveness of an electronic vault system, financial institutions should consider several requirements: 1. All documents should be protected, encrypted and time-stamped. 2. Privileged access rights to the documents should be maintained and enforced. . A complete audit trail should be kept for each document, including document access and transfer of ownership. 4. The document should be tested on a regular basis to determine whether any alterations have been made. 5. A vault system must be able to destroy an electronic original in the case where a paper copy becomes the legal version. Financial industry requirements for better authentication The success of this Web-based channel has bred new problems, pri marily in the orm of new types of online fraud, online versions of traditional fraud, or offline fraud that leverages vulnerabilities in online services. So far, the financial industry has been remarkably effective at controlling this fraud,1 but financial institutions cannot assume that current fraud-control measures will always be effective, and in any case the public visibility of fraud schemes such as phishing is eroding consumer confidence in the safety of on-line financial services, which troubles both financial institutions and their industry regulators. One fundamental issue is authentication. Consumers are not as sure as they should be of the legitimacy of the Web sites they interact with, while the ability of financial institutions to authenticate their customers is being undermined by phishing schemes and other attacks aimed at stealing passwords and other sensitive information. The net effect is that people are losing confidence in the safety of conducting their financial business on the Web, which will have a negative impact on the growth and adoption of online financial services no matter how effective the financial industry is in controlling actual fraud losses. Government regulators, of course, are also concerned about this trend. With these concerns in mind, the Financial Services Technology Consortium (FSTC) last year initiated a project aimed at defining â€Å"Better Mutual Authentication† practices for online delivery of retail financial services. This project has brought together major financial institutions from the banking and securities sectors, along with leading technology vendors, industry associations and observers from government agencies. New insights have emerged from this Project regarding the nature of authentication in a Web/Internet context, including the conviction that- although the necessary technology is largely available in theory- current Web authentication practices must be substantially improved if customer confidence is to be restored. FSTC’s BMA Project encourages and supports efforts by W3C to coordinate broad-based initiatives to improve Web authentication, and Project participants are likely to contribute to, or leverage, W3C’s initiatives. From the FSTC BMA Project’s perspective, requirements need to be addressed in the following eight areas: 1. Usability 2. Mutuality 3. Credibility2 4. Scalability 5. Availability 6. Interoperability 7. Flexibility 8. Adaptability For financial services, the first three- usability, mutuality, and credibility- are the core requirements. Usability is vital. Embedded in the hardware, operating system, browser, and internet services available today in the average computer is a truly impressive array of security technology, but it’s nearly impossible for the average consumer to make effective use of it, or even to determine if it is working correctly. Customer confidence in financial services can only be achieved if customers are able to confirm through trustworthy user interfaces that their Web interactions are safe. At the same time, customer safety depends on protection from impostors who may attempt to impersonate either the customer to the financial service, or the financial service to the customer; hence, the need for mutual authentication. Credibility2 of authentication requires that both customer and financial institution confirm the authenticity of the other party using something better than just passwords or other shared secrets. Beyond these core requirements, no authentication solution can be effective for retail financial services unless it can scale to support the entire consumer population. And consumers will resist adopting any new measures that impact availability of services, or that are too likely to break. Given the diversity of consumer needs, various authentication techniques will be required, and so interoperability is essential. Evolving consumer requirements indicate that flexibility is necessary to allow consumers to utilize multiple platforms in an anywhere, anytime online context. And, emerging threats and ever more sophisticated attacks from increasingly organized adversaries implies that viable solutions must be adaptable to a range of new threat scenarios. FSTC’s BMA Project participants recognize that the problems of Web authentication cannot be addressed by any one organization, or even by an entire industry acting alone. Instead, a coordinated approach is required involving: Operating System (OS) developers Providers of end-user computing platforms- e. g. PCs, mobile devices Browser developers/vendors Web server software vendors Vendors of authentication techniques PKI service providers Web content providers- e. g. , financial institutions Internet Service Providers (ISPs) Standards-setting organizations Industry associations Government agencies End users- e. g. , consumers, citizens W3C is well positioned to bring together many of these players to establish common objectives and align their respective strategies. Financial Industry Re commendations Leverage PKI More Effectively – PKI alone, as currently implemented, does not allow a user to distinguish between a financial institution Web site and one that, although belonging to an impostor, has nevertheless obtained some sort of certificate and supports https sessions One possible approach would be for the financial industry to establish new guidelines for a restricted subset of the existing certification hierarchy that would issue certificates only to financial institutions, and then to add new indicators to the browser â€Å"chrome† that would let the user know whether a site’s certificate is certified by this â€Å"strong† certification hierarchy. Engage End Users in Mutual Authentication Perhaps the greatest concern with current Web authentication practices is that end users- the customers of financial nstitutions- are severely handicapped in their ability to know if the Web site they are viewing is legitimate or an impostor. The financial industry would like to see new approaches to Web authentication that actively engage the user in authenticating Web sites (financial services) as well as providing stronger evidence of the user’s authenticity. This will require active, two-way communications with users that provide consistent, understandable interfaces into the complete authentication process. However, user engagement should not become an additional burden or hurdle to be overcome. Instead, users should, at the very least, be given a dashboard they can trust and that provides the information they need when they need it, including useful alerts or warnings. Achieve Synergies with Alternative Authentication Techniques The financial industry recognizes that reliance on passwords alone is no longer adequate, given the current threat levels. Furthermore, the industry must address new regulatory guidance3,4 that calls for use of alternative authentication techniques that protect consumers from password theft and abuse. Multi-factor authentication is widely viewed as one of the more effective alternatives available to financial services providers. However, there are significant challenges with rolling out new authentication techniques that will adequately scale up to the many millions of consumers that already use online financial services. In particular, consumer adoption is a major concern. Improve Techniques for Managing Passwords No matter what new authentication techniques get deployed, the financial industry will continue to utilize passwords and other shared secrets that can be exchanged bi-directionally between customers and Web sites. Browsers already provide password management tools for users, and increasingly serve as the preferred â€Å"password vault† for end users. Unfortunately, this concession to user convenience also heightens exposure to potential abuses, and financial institutions are increasingly concerned about the mounting threats to their financial services and customer interests. Browsers also provide various means for end users to enter passwords through special-purpose dialogs, though all of these mechanisms are considered deficient in one way or another. The financial industry would like to see new password entry procedures incorporated into browsers that require prior establishment of TLS (SSL) sessions and that enforce effective security practices for use of passwords. Growing importance Small-biz adoption of online banking to surpass 50% More than half of U. S. small businesses will have adopted online banking by the end of 2007, according to a new research report. Small-business use of online banking grew dramatically from 1998 to 2007, and Tower Group, a Boston-area research firm focused on the financial-services industry, estimates a further 10-percent penetration by 2010. Despite the growth and revenue potential of small-business online banking many financial institutions continue to under-serve this vital market, Tower Group says its research shows. While 95 percent of banks in the U. S. offer a dedicated small business online-banking product. Many banks simply provide a re-branded version of consumer online offerings - rather than creating more advanced features that meet the unique needs of small businesses, the research firm contends. Small-business owners straddle the line between consumer banking and corporate cash management. They appreciate the simplicity of retail online banking, yet value the features such as multiple user access and electronic payments found in corporate online banking, Tower Group contends. Banks, credit unions and emerging non-bank competitors of all sizes are chasing the small business market in an effort to capture a share of this expanding segment, said Patricia Hines. senior analyst in the Wholesale Banking practice at Tower Group and author of the research. Highlights of the research include: In order lo retain existing small business customers, banks offering minimal features must expand online capabilities. Tower Group research found that less than 50 percent of banks include electronic payments in their small business online banking offering. At the upper end of the feature set, Tower Group expects banks to increase integration with other high-value online services such as employee payroll, merchant services, and investment management.

Gender and Eve Returns Wall-e Essay Example

Gender and Eve Returns Wall Gender and Eve Returns Wall-e Essay Gender and Eve Returns Wall-e Essay The first half of Wall-E completely reverses Hollywood’s idea of the boy/girl romance. Wall-E and Eve each take on roles opposite their portrayed gender. Wall-E though assumed to be a lovable male displays stereotypical female characteristics and behaviours such as his weakness, his cleaning, and the longing he has for companionship. While Eve, though sleek and beautiful like our image of the â€Å"ideal woman† is much more the stereotypical male, arriving and immediately wreaking destruction, she is devoid of emotion, and displays lots of physical power. Wall-E and Eve both take on characteristics typical of the opposite sex making us question our ideas of â€Å"romance. † Wall-E opens our eyes to more possibilities; maybe romance isn’t based around so many gender stereotypes but simply by the way we feel about another person – or robot. Wall-E’s weakness and fear of Eve’s arrival is demonstrated by his shaking and hiding behind nearby garbage cans. Though Eve’s immediate destruction of anything that moves, would strike fear into the heart of any semi-intelligent being. Wall-E, having been built simply for cleaning is small, and seemingly insignificant. While Eve’s sleek form is not only efficient but built for destruction. With her convenient built-in cannons, she’s every boys dream robot, and what girl doesn’t adore Wall-E’s adorableness. Eve’s physical strength is shown time after time, when she pops bubble wrap with a machine gun like quickness. When teaching Eve to dance Wall-E is cute and certainly more elegant than Eve who is more clumsy than elegant. She jumps so hard she shakes Wall-E’s little living space and twirls so fast she breaks Wall-E’s eye. : Another example is when Wall-E tries to hold her hand after she has the plant, and just closing herself back up she slams his hand so hard it appears she may have really hurt him. Despite her outbursts of anger and her clear physical power that she holds over him, Wall-E adores her anyway. Wall-E spends his days tidying and cleaning, occasionally collecting trinkets and toys throughout the day, much like a woman taking advantage of garage sales ad bringing home multiplies of things she already owns. While Wall-E spent all of his time before Eve cleaning and collecting, Eve shows up with only 1 goal – find plant life and bring it back to the humans in space. She is goal oriented and not very interested in anything that side-tracks her, going so far as to destroy things that slow her down – such as the entire ship when she becomes attached to its magnet. Eve is quick to anger and quick to shoot anything that so much as moves without hesitation and with no concern what she leaves behind her. After she deems Wall-E no longer a threat and stops trying to blow him up, she completely ignores him following her in order to work on her mission. But being ignored does not deter Wall-E who adores her not only from a distance but enough to protect her best he can from the sandstorm. While Wall-E is lonely and longing companionship, it seems the only emotion Eve feels –when she feels any at the beginning of the movie is anger. Wall-E’s loneliness is shown when he folds his own hands together and in his silently following Eve everywhere, despite her obvious disinterest. Wall-E even records the love song and gazes at the stars before Eve’s arrival, as if asking a higher source to ease his loneliness. Eve is not even slightly interested in Wall-E’s attempt at friendship – or more in the beginning. She is quick to anger, again with the ship magnet and does not feel remorse or concern for anyone – or anything she may harm. Blowing up several things in Wall-E’s vicinity in attempt to get rid of him, she is not worried about the consequences – as she doesn’t even wait to see if he is ok or not. As if following her around and being ignored weren’t enough, when she does pay attention it is to fire at him, and being nearly blown to pieces every time he moves too quickly doesn’t seem to derail Wall-E’s adoration for Eve as he sticks around to save her from the sandstorm and tries to woo her with the trinkets and old love movies. Eventually Eve returns Wall-E’s feelings, though not as strong so early on, she does let him try to impress her. She even begins to giggle when poor Wall-E gets hurt dropping things on himself – which displays some elements of a Hollywood romance, but they both still display characteristics primarily opposite what is typical for their respective genders. Despite their differences, and their seemingly reversed gender roles, it seems we cannot stereotype romance. Wall-E is quick to fall in love with Eve even though she is much stronger, faster, braver and better equipped than him and Eve takes a little more time, but sees the charm in Wall-E’s gentle but protective nature. Wall-E and Eve are an improbable but adorable romance proving that the â€Å"cool guy† isn’t always the one who ends up with the pretty girl.

Free Essays on Why Europe Needs A Constituion

WHY EUROPE NEEDS A CONSTITUTION There is a remarkable contrast between the expectations and demands of those who pushed for European unification immediately after World War II, and those who contemplate the continuation of this project today- at the very least, a striking difference in rhetoric and ostensible aim. While the first-generation advocates of European integration did not hesitate to speak of the project they had in mind as a ‘United States of Europe’, evoking the example of the USA, current discussion has moved away from the model of a federal state, avoiding even the term ‘federation’. [1] Larry Siedentop’s recent book Democracy in Europe expresses a more cautious mood: as he puts it, ‘a great constitutional debate need not involve a prior commitment to federalism as the most desirable outcome in Europe. It may reveal that Europe is in the process of inventing a new political form, something more than a confederation but less than a federation- an association of so vereign states which pool their sovereignty only in very restricted areas to varying degrees, an association which does not seek to have the coercive power to act directly on individuals in the fashion of nation states.’ [2] Does this shift in climate reflect a sound realism, born of a learning-process of over four decades, or is it rather the sign of a mood of hesitancy, if not outright defeatism? Siedentop misses the mark when he complains of the lack of any profound or inspired constitutional debate on the fate of Europe, capable of seizing the imagination of its peoples. For our situation today is not comparable to that of either the Federalists or the delegates to the Assemblà ©e Nationale. At the end of the eighteenth century, in Philadelphia and Paris, the Founding Fathers and the French Revolutionaries were engaged in an extraordinary undertaking, without historical precedent. More than two hundred years later, we are not merely heirs t... Free Essays on Why Europe Needs A Constituion Free Essays on Why Europe Needs A Constituion WHY EUROPE NEEDS A CONSTITUTION There is a remarkable contrast between the expectations and demands of those who pushed for European unification immediately after World War II, and those who contemplate the continuation of this project today- at the very least, a striking difference in rhetoric and ostensible aim. While the first-generation advocates of European integration did not hesitate to speak of the project they had in mind as a ‘United States of Europe’, evoking the example of the USA, current discussion has moved away from the model of a federal state, avoiding even the term ‘federation’. [1] Larry Siedentop’s recent book Democracy in Europe expresses a more cautious mood: as he puts it, ‘a great constitutional debate need not involve a prior commitment to federalism as the most desirable outcome in Europe. It may reveal that Europe is in the process of inventing a new political form, something more than a confederation but less than a federation- an association of so vereign states which pool their sovereignty only in very restricted areas to varying degrees, an association which does not seek to have the coercive power to act directly on individuals in the fashion of nation states.’ [2] Does this shift in climate reflect a sound realism, born of a learning-process of over four decades, or is it rather the sign of a mood of hesitancy, if not outright defeatism? Siedentop misses the mark when he complains of the lack of any profound or inspired constitutional debate on the fate of Europe, capable of seizing the imagination of its peoples. For our situation today is not comparable to that of either the Federalists or the delegates to the Assemblà ©e Nationale. At the end of the eighteenth century, in Philadelphia and Paris, the Founding Fathers and the French Revolutionaries were engaged in an extraordinary undertaking, without historical precedent. More than two hundred years later, we are not merely heirs t...

Educational Opportunities for Homeless Children Essay

Educational Opportunities for Homeless Children - Essay Example In addition, in any state with a compulsory residency requirement, an attempt should be made to revise such laws. Homeless children and youth should have equal opportunity to meet the same challenging State student academic achievement standards as other students. According to Sec. 725-2 of the Act, homeless children and youth are those who do not have a regular and adequate nighttime residence or have a primary nighttime residence in a supervised public or private shelter on a temporary basis. This definition goes on to include: Homeless children should be eligible for all services offered by the local school district in which they are residing and efforts are being made at present to update the Act (U.S. Government, 2001; Federal, 2007). In this election year, it is important to be aware of the education policy of the candidates. One problem that arises in the effort to meet the needs of homeless children is finding the children who are considered homeless and bringing them into the mainstream (Harris 2002). How do homeless children come to the attention of schools According to Harris, the temporary aspect of their lifestyle makes it difficult to give these children the proper benefits. Even if they are brought into a school, it is likely they will have to move on more than once before they can take advantage of available opportunities. Another problem in some districts is the lack of keeping records and being unaware of the number of homeless children eligible for assistance. Many students, Harris notes, have difficulty enrolling in a school without an address, a birth certificate, or immunization records, even though this is not acceptable according to the Act. Also, sufficient staff to offer personal assistance to children in need is often not available. An article by online journalist Beth Hawkins (2008) notes the embarrassment homeless children feel at knowing they are different from their classmates and describes one resolution in Minneapolis where homeless children are picked up by a bus at a central location and dropped off at school just like other students. Unfortunately, Hawkins says, even though the homeless children are absorbed into the mainstream, the problem remains hidden from the general public, and several Minnesota districts have started programs aimed at doing a better job of helping homeless children without focusing undue attention on them. Why homeless One reason for homelessness is family poverty. Children cannot participate in some school projects because their family has little money and may be living in a shelter. Another reason, perhaps the main reason, according to Hawkins, is single mothers who are destitute and often lack education needed to find employment or lack childcare opportunities because they do not have a place to live. Although some are in shelters, some are on the street or living in a car. Also, migrant parents often do not have a permanent address. Some school districts are reluctant to address the needs of homeless child

BP Article Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

BP - Article Example Horton applied Bureaucratic leadership style and his major source of influence to get the organization following transformation was the need to increase the profit margins of the oil company. David Simon (1992-1995) was the successor of Horton. His major source of influence was to expand the oil company in continental Europe, Asia and South America. He was to make this possible since he spoke five languages. His main leadership style was control and direction. After Simon becoming the Chairman of the company, he was replaced by John Browne (1995- 2007). His major source of influence was to change the oil company in continuity. He was a charismatic leader (Dumas 2011). The three CEO’s of the company have the desire for the company to expand to other regions and also increase the volumes of sales and profits in the company. The main consequence of these methods of leading is that sometimes it can result to the company operating at losses (Dumas 2011). Simon’s strategy can be referred as market oriented versus resources. This is because he was able to revive the company and also the company was able to pay its debts, which it had incurred during the leadership of Horton (Dumas

Analysis of Ernest Hemingways short story Soldiers Home Research Paper

Analysis of Ernest Hemingways short story Soldiers Home - Research Paper Example This paper will first analyze the main characters of the story, then will focus on the symbolic element in the story and will analyze it, finally ending with an analysis of the setting in the story. Character Analysis Harold Krebs: He is the protagonist and the story chronicles his war experiences, and his problem in adjusting to his home place. Krebs gets enlisted in the army and moves to Europe during the First World War, where he undergoes both enlightened and at the same time traumatic experiences. Tormented by those war experiences, Krebs reenters his home town but finds it difficult to live a normal life and interact with the people there. His dejection further accentuates, when the people in the town, avoid listening to his wartime stories. Due to pressure from his mother to marry and have children, Krebs becomes further disillusioned and even decides to move out of the town. However, towards the end of the story, he understands that he cannot keep on holding on to his war exp eriences, particularly when that negatively impacts his current life. He calmly decides not to think about his past as well as future, and instead take things as they come, and goes to see his sister play a baseball game. Thus, his character undergoes various transformations, from a war hero to a depressed soul, and then finally a nonchalant person. Mrs. Harold: Harold's mother is portrayed as a very religious woman, who feels for his son’s difficulty in adjusting to the normal life in the town. She tries her best to aid her son to come out of his post-war trauma, but that did not work out favorably. However, her efforts were more of pressure to Krebs than being constructive. Without understanding the trauma her son underwent in the war, she continuously nags Krebs to discard his war experiences and start living a normal life immediately. â€Å"Krebs' small-town mother cannot comprehend her son's struggles and sufferings caused by the war.† (Imamura 102). In addition, she further pushed him to get a job, marry a girl and have children, by comparing with other boys in the community. â€Å"The boys are all settling down; they’re all determined to get somewhere†¦ Charley Simmons, who is just your age has a good job and is going to be married† (Hemmingway 115). Thus, the character of Mrs. Harold is of a mother, who although wants a good life for his son, mistakenly pressurize him. Mr. Harold: Harold's father never makes any kind of direct appearance in the story, and instead he is mainly ‘referred’ by Mrs. Harold during her conversations with Krebs. Mrs. Harold uses the character of father mainly to validate the advices she gave to Krebs to make him return to normal life. â€Å"Your father thinks you have lost your ambition, that you haven't got a definite aim in life.† (Hemingway 115). However, it seems that Krebs did not have much of a father-son relationship with Mr. Harold, with the mother being the only com municator between them. Thus, the character of Mr. Harold does not have a major role to play. However, this â€Å"non-committal† presence of the father’s character in a way reflects the mindset of Krebs. As stated by Baerdemaeker (32), â€Å"in an extra Oedipal twist, Krebs becomes exactly like his father: non-committal.† Helen Krebs: Harold's younger sister, Helen is an indoor baseball player, and although she does not have a

E-Business and its Rules Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

E-Business and its Rules - Essay Example Then PCs are assembled on customer demands and shipped-sufficed- in 5-10 days (Chopra and Meindl 2010 pp.108-111). Payments are also done online. This paper will seek to describe rules of e-commerce in light of Dell Inc and e-business current trends with their impacts on e-logistics. E-Business Rules Due to the need for companies to have wide, fast and flexible communications there has been the need to implement e-logistics. In the process of implementation of e-logistics, there are some rules of e-business that are to be followed. To illustrate these rules let us consider Dell Inc. In e-business technology is no longer just used to create and offer products but also as a means to make their business more effective in delivering services and products to their clients. Dell in its quest to implement e-logistics has redesigned its business model from the physical retail stores to the application of technology in an online supply channel. This enables it to conducts most of its transact ions with customers with the aid of their website platform where customers can order PCs (Kalakota and Robinson 2001 p.16); (Chopra and Meindl 2010 pp.108-111). ... This has been achieved after it streamlined its supply chains and started selling PCs directly to customers. This has enabled Dell to collect their customer’s preferences and needs information, thus enhancing better-personalized customer services (Kalakota and Robinson 2001 p.14); (Chopra and Meindl 2010 pp.108-111. Companies willing to implement e-logistics must create flexible grouping through integration. This will facilitate efficient customer service as well as reduce expenditures. Dell has benefited much through integrating its transactions on their website. This has led to the reduction of costs outlay in terms of inventory as through the online website they can aggregate their inventories by geographical locations. Since there are no physical retail stores the company reduced its facility and information costs (Kalakota and Robinson 2001 p.24); (Chopra and Meindl 2010 pp.108-111. Firms willing to engage in e-logistics must be willing to do away with ineffective traditi onal business models which are detrimental to their success. This calls for business managers to reorganize and plan their business models all over again to succeed in the e-business. Dell Inc. in order to successfully implement e-logistics it had to leave its old retail supply chain model where it used to assemble PCs and store them waiting to be sold. Currently, it receives orders online from customers and then assembles PCs and ship them (Kalakota and Robinson 2001 p.10); (Chopra and Meindl 2010 pp.108-111). Although Dell Inc. has succeeded in implementing e-logistics, it still experiences hindrances.This is because customers after placing their order they have to wait for 5 to 10 days to receive PCs. E-commerce Trends Change is inevitable, and

Sample content for either a book or magazine of your invention plus an Essay

Sample content for either a book or magazine of your invention plus an indicative publishing plan and a critical reflection - Essay Example R. (2003 is first ensuring that data stored in the computer is safely stored and only accessible to the people who have been authorized. This can be done by ensuring that your computer is locked with a not only a password but a strong password. A strong password is a password that is at least eight characters long. It should include a mixture of numeric, alphanumeric and symbols. Alphanumeric should include both uppercase and lowercase letters (Caldwell, 2003). The second thing to ensuring that your computer is safe is employing the use of an anti-virus. The anti-virus will according to Kaspersky lab, ensure that your computer is safe from viruses, worms, malicious codes and any suspicious software that are likely to affect the normal functioning of your computer (Caldwell, 2003). The anti-virus is capable of removing the malicious software from your computer. Not only should you ensure that you have an anti-virus, but also ensure that the anti-virus you choose to incorporate in your system in compatible with the computer programs installed. You should ensure also that the anti-virus’ performance is capable of reaching up to your personal needs and specifications. Ensuring that your computer programs and the operating system are up to date is also another way of ensuring that your computer stays safe. By keeping your operating system up to date for example, this will have the effect of ensuring that the security flaws that were present in the previous version are patched up. One should also ensure that their anti-virus software are up to date. This will give the computer users the confidence that their system will be free from any emerging viruses in the internet (Caldwell, 2003). In order for one to ensure security on-line, (Shneiderman, 2000) they have to ensure that their firewalls are turned on. A firewall is software that controls the traffic being received and being transmitted by a computer. It will help the user in

E-Business and its Rules Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

E-Business and its Rules - Essay Example Then PCs are assembled on customer demands and shipped-sufficed- in 5-10 days (Chopra and Meindl 2010 pp.108-111). Payments are also done online. This paper will seek to describe rules of e-commerce in light of Dell Inc and e-business current trends with their impacts on e-logistics. E-Business Rules Due to the need for companies to have wide, fast and flexible communications there has been the need to implement e-logistics. In the process of implementation of e-logistics, there are some rules of e-business that are to be followed. To illustrate these rules let us consider Dell Inc. In e-business technology is no longer just used to create and offer products but also as a means to make their business more effective in delivering services and products to their clients. Dell in its quest to implement e-logistics has redesigned its business model from the physical retail stores to the application of technology in an online supply channel. This enables it to conducts most of its transact ions with customers with the aid of their website platform where customers can order PCs (Kalakota and Robinson 2001 p.16); (Chopra and Meindl 2010 pp.108-111). ... This has been achieved after it streamlined its supply chains and started selling PCs directly to customers. This has enabled Dell to collect their customer’s preferences and needs information, thus enhancing better-personalized customer services (Kalakota and Robinson 2001 p.14); (Chopra and Meindl 2010 pp.108-111. Companies willing to implement e-logistics must create flexible grouping through integration. This will facilitate efficient customer service as well as reduce expenditures. Dell has benefited much through integrating its transactions on their website. This has led to the reduction of costs outlay in terms of inventory as through the online website they can aggregate their inventories by geographical locations. Since there are no physical retail stores the company reduced its facility and information costs (Kalakota and Robinson 2001 p.24); (Chopra and Meindl 2010 pp.108-111. Firms willing to engage in e-logistics must be willing to do away with ineffective traditi onal business models which are detrimental to their success. This calls for business managers to reorganize and plan their business models all over again to succeed in the e-business. Dell Inc. in order to successfully implement e-logistics it had to leave its old retail supply chain model where it used to assemble PCs and store them waiting to be sold. Currently, it receives orders online from customers and then assembles PCs and ship them (Kalakota and Robinson 2001 p.10); (Chopra and Meindl 2010 pp.108-111). Although Dell Inc. has succeeded in implementing e-logistics, it still experiences hindrances.This is because customers after placing their order they have to wait for 5 to 10 days to receive PCs. E-commerce Trends Change is inevitable, and

Scientific Research Skills - Project Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Scientific Research Skills - Project - Essay Example Social media has immensely influenced individuals and their behaviors. The recent researchers claim that the excessive social media is becoming a major issue and leading to addictive behaviors and negative impacts on cognitive development and mental health among adult and children. O’Keeffe and Pearson in their study analyze the impacts of social media on individuals. The main objective of the research is to determine the impacts of social media on mental health of individuals. The findings of the research show that the excessive use of social media is leading to unhealthy and addictive behaviors among individuals, such as sexing, alcohol, pornography etc. In addition, the findings show that excessive use of social media is casting negative impacts on the cognitive development and academic performance of individual (OKeeffe & Pearson, 2011). In the similar fashion, Kuss & Griffith (2011) in their study cliam that the use of excessive social networking (facebook) is leading to negative impact on the academic performance of individuals as well as leading to variety of activities that have potential addictive behavior (Kuss & Griffiths, 2011). Some of the researcher claims that the media content on the social websites is creating anxiety among individuals as social media portray a different aspect of the live. Fischer et al (2011) in the study determine quantity of media contents that is leading to risk-taking behaviors among individuals, such as extreme sports, violence and drinking. In order to conduct the study quantities research approach. Meta analysis was connected to determine the relationship between the media contents and its impact on individual behaviors. The findings of the study highlights that there is strong relation between media content and risk taking behaviors of individuals (Fischer, Greitemeyer, Kastenmà ¼ller, Vogrincic, & Sauer, 2011). Villanti et al (2011) in the study focuses on

Cleaning Humans Mess In The Waters Essay Example for Free

Cleaning Humans Mess In The Waters Essay One can not perfectly estimate how long it will actually take to clean up the oceans polluted by oil. It always depends on the techniques used, the efficiency of the people working on it, how often workers clean the oceans and the budget alloted for the clean-up. Cleaning the ocean is the less difficult part, but expects the recovery to take more than 15 years. If cleaning is the only issue, then 15 to 20 years will definitely be enough, given that all procedures are effective, all workers are responsible and serious with what they are doing and all alloted budgets are used directly to fund the oil spill clean up. The Exxon Valdez Oil Spill into the Limelight We can take the Exxon Valdez oil spill as an example. On March 24, 1989, one of the most shocking and seemingly-unrecoverable environmental disasters happened in Prince William Sound, Alaska, United States. This occurrence is said to be among the worlds largest oil spills when it comes to how much oil spill is released to the waters. Prince William Sounds is a place which isnt easy to access. Because of its remote location, cleaning it was difficult. Workers who need to clean the waters had to ride in boats and helicopters to reach the place (Chandler and Streissguth, p. 5). What needed to be cleaned was 11,000 square miles of ocean or 28,000 square kilometers of water. There were 40. 9 million liters of oil, or 10. 8 million U. S gallons of Prudhoe Bay crude oil spilled into the sea. Cleaning up seemed impossible and people were hopeless, but there were bigger things at stake like lives of millions of seabirds, seals, sea otters and salmon which belonged to the sea and depended on such habitat for survival (Chandler and Streissguth, p. 6). There were indeed a lot of delaying tactics in terms of cleaning up the Exxon Valdez oil spill since it was the first time America was confronted with such a big disaster. No one was at least prepared for it. The responses to cleaning up were slow and generally inadequate. The shoreline of the waters was definitely destroyed. There was a dramatic decline in the microbial population. What were needed to start the cleanup were challenged by response management, but was in time attended by 85 aircrafts, 1,400 vessels and 11,000 personnel. Having been armed with all these, the clean up of the Exxon Valdez oil spill was started in April 1989 (Wells, Butler and Hughes, p. 217). Cleaning up oil spill can indeed be cleaned up within 15 to 20 years because considering the volume of oil spilled into the ocean by Exxon Valdez, five months was enough to partially clean the ocean and let the government stop the people from cleaning the oceans up. If cleaning up continued, the health of the workers will definitely be jeopardized. What Alaska did was to stop the cleaning in September (which was started in April of the same year) and waited for winter instead. Responses resumed in the next two years, where cleaning up was at its height during the summers. Winters were skipped because the weather was sure to help with the clean up, too. Alaska is known for more than frequent winter storms. This time, winter storms are a blessing in disguise because these were capable of removing the oil which accumulated in the shorelines. Even sub-surface oils were removed from the ocean, too. By summer, cleaning up with personnel and procedures resumed (Wells, Butler and Hughes, p. 218). Human efforts and the help from the environment was enough to clean the Exxon Valdez oil spill in approximately three years. After the efforts and responses from women, it becomes the turn of the environment. This actually happened when 378 of the 587 segments of shorelines were treated through the application of bioremediation alone. It didnt take too long a time until cleaning the oil spill only required simpler techniques like bioremediation (as mentioned earlier), manual clean up and limited use of equipment (Wells, Butler and Hughes, p. 316). If this is how long it takes for a great disaster to be cleaned up, then how can one say that 15 to 20 years is not enough? Let it be a Lesson Learned It wont necessarily take 15 to 20 years to clean up the ocean. It may reach that long enough, though, if cleaning up is still done irresponsibly. Clean-up attempts are dangerous. In fact, cleaning up may even be more destructive than the oil spill itself because physical methods and chemicals are needed to eradicate the oil from the waters. If the amount is incorrect or the physical method is done improperly, then further damage can be caused, thereby delaying the cleaning up process and recovery (Alvord and Alvord, p. 77). Oil penetrated deeply into the sea. The spilled oil stays fresh for a couple of years. In no time, it returns back to the surface. Before it even reaches the surface, the oil should be taken away from the ocean bed because it can kill nearly animals once it reaches the waters surface. This is a concern of the people who work in cleaning up the oceans, which is why the response in oil spills is relatively fast since the Exxon Valdez caused trauma to a lot of people (Alvord and Alvord, p. 77). Because of the effects of oil on marine life and the quality of sea water, people are alerted – from government, be it local or national, to local residents near the shorelines of oceans. This alert alone is enough to warn everybody about the adverse effects of oil spill. The Exxon Valdez serves as a living example to help people stop the harmful things they do to the environment. The elimination of harmful acts will surely help in reducing the required clean-up years. Whatever it is that takes 15 to 20 years is not the cleaning procedures at all, but the long-term effects of the spilled oil. Millions of marine creatures are killed and it will take decades before reproduction is active and healthy again. The food we get from the water becomes questionable while tourism and economic depression is experienced.

Strategy Planning and Implementation

Strategy Planning and Implementation Task 1a) The organisation of my choicce in discussing the Strategy Planning and Implementation assignment would be Pantaloon Retail India Limited. The reason behind choosing this organisation as matter of discussion can be mentioned as follows: i) I am an ex-employee of Panataloon Retail India Limited being on the rolls of the company for nearly 4 years overseeing comapanys Marketing Business Operations in the state of Gujarat, India encompassing 5 Pantaloon Retail Lifestyle stores in the cities of Ahmedabad, Baroda, Surat Rajkot in Gujarat. ii) Organised retailing is emerging in Indian sub-continent with Pantaloon Retail India Limited being the forerunner. iii) Started from a humble begiining in late 20th century with single outlet operation today it is Rs.10 billion turnover, with a presence over 30 cities with combination of 500 mega stores, super stores and lifestyle stores with over 20,000 employees. Task 1b) Stakeholders are the persons or a community(group of people) who are directly or indirectly associated with an organisation for attaining its objectives and are directly or indirectly affected by the actions, decisions and policies made by the organisation. Stakeholders of the company are its Directors, Employees, Creditors, Customers, Vendors, Government Agencies, Owners and Shareholders. Hence, in other words all the human entities directly or indirectly associated with the organisation are the stake holders of the organisation. In particular, the major stakeholders of my chosen organisation are the Employees, Customers and Vendors. Retail is man intensive industry and hence the role and importance of team work is the essence of providing international standard experience of shopping to its customers. Customers are king of the retail business. Custmers are listened, obliged, serviced and are given the primary importance in Pantaloon Retail India Limited. It is believed here that if Customers are happy then the company will survive. The company follows the M.K.Gandhis famous qoute, A customer is the most important visitor on our premises, he is not dependent on us. We are dependent on him. He is not an interruption in our work. He is the purpose of it. He is not an outsider in our business. He is part of it. We are not doing him a favor by serving him. He is doing us a favor by giving us an opportunity to do so. Vendors are the blood line of the organisation. Vendors provide the organisation with the right product win desired quantity. The also support the organisation in terms of payback period giving an edge to maintain healthy cash flows for development. Hence, we observe that these stake holders are of considerable importance to the organisation growth and to combat fierce competition and to meet customer satisfaction. The specific considerations that the company has for these stakeholders are as follows: Employees: The employees should be suitably compensated in terms of monetary and other intangible benefits so that the high level of enthusiasm towards work and customer focus is maintained. The happiness and retention of customers can be ensured only with satisfied employees. Customers: As mentioned above, Customer is the key focal point of Pantaloon, hence all the business persepective should be should be suitable oriented towards customer needs and wants. The company consideration would be providing Value for Money experience to its customers and reaching them the products wherever and whenver they want. Vendors: The company considers Vendors as partner for growth. The company has taken measurable steps towards assessing them, procuring procedure, payments and to deal with the grievance. The company has further taken a step ahead by incorporating electronic touch points to minimise the lengthy procedure and ensure time saving. Task 1c)Organised retail is agressive and is becoming challenging every moment. All the strategies formulated in Retail have been centered around the most important entity The Customer. The company has always focussed towards attracting customers, retaining the existing customers and giving customers an experience which would enable to come back again and again. The crieteria that Pantaloon focussed are: 1.Cost: The most challenging factor in todays business. A good earnings to cost ratio would only decide the fate of the retail business. No matter what top-line or bottom line a company desires, Pantaloon has always focussed on Cost Strategy to offer maximum benefit to its Customers. 2. Market Penetration: After opening its various retail formats in the metro cities in India, the company has decided the Cluster Development Strategy viz. 8 city strategy for market penetration. By doing this the company will focus towards only cluster of cities for market reach in step wise manner. 3. New Product Strategy: The company strategy has always been+ based on Ideas to give their customers something new and unique. The company looks to achieve a healthy share of each Rupee spent by the customers. Thus company started from garments retailing has moved into Food Retail, Fast Food and Speciality cuisine, Gaming, Hyper market segment, home products, e-shopping and insurance sector. 4. Square foot sales : The strategic objective of the company is to seek healthy square foot sales in order to maintain good profit margin in terms of attaining healthy top line. 5. Private Brands: One of the most important criteria for attaining strategic management objective is introducing Private Label Brands which would ensure gaining a healthy bottom-line margin. 6. Vendor Strategy: Touch screen single point operation for vendor slection, product identification and payment procedure. The company believes vendors or manufacturers are partners to the business and hence venodr management is key importance to the company. Task 1d) Pantaloon Retail India Limited was formed to deliver organised garment retailing in India. The company wanted to blend fashion with affordability. Due to its fast expansion and growth the garment trader and the dictribution channel(middle man) has also earned huge margins. They are the trader who used to source the material from the manufacturers and used to store and supply the merchandise to Pantloon. There was a sudden demand in raising the margin of the merchandise by the intermediary channel. Pantaloon used to source 80% of their merchandise of reputed brands from these channels. This sudden raise could not have direct implication on the customers as increase in price to the final product would mean losing business. Hence company initially bear this loss. After sometime the comapny wanted to discuss with these intermediate channels for price renegotiation, failing which the supply of the goods were stopped creating a vacuum in the supply. This was affected by poor merchandise and customer complaints which continued for several months till the time the company had done renegotiation with new set of Intermediary channel including contacting the manufacturers directly. Bu this, the company felt the necessity of having their own private brands including manufacturing and aquiring manufacturing set up of few other companies. The company took around 6 months for consolidation exercis e and thereafter Pantaloon relaunched its Retail Stores with nearly 80% of private manufactured merchandise. Task 2) Develop Vision, Mission, Objectives Measures a. For your chosen organisation, list down its ethical, cultural, environmental, social and business objectives. How are these influenced by the current business and economic climate? Pantaloon Retail India Limited with its multi-retail business in various sectors has consolidated its operations under the umbrella concern of Future Group. The company has laid down and oberve the following values to cover its ethical, cultural, environmental, social and business objectives. The values are as below: Ethical i) Respect Humility: Respect for every individual associated in business and be humble to all. This value entails the core people function. The company pays utmost respect, listen and act accordingly to its Customers, Employees and Vendors through various channels. The Senior Management evaluates and acts accordingly on any grievance, comments and suggestions made by Customers, Employees and Vendors. ii) Openness: To be open and receptive for new ideas, knowledge and information. The company has various platform of communication with its people and analyse all the ideas or comments and shares its opinion with the Stakeholders. E.g. the company has Share With Us Book placed in all the retail stores through which a Customer can communicate with the Senior Management. Cultural i) Valuing Nurturing Relationships: To build long-term relationships. Business particularly retail business is strategic in nature. It has complete reliance on Relationship building and nurturing the emotions.It is observed that it requires more money to attract new customers rather that retaining and satisfying new customers. ii) Simplicity Positivity: Simplicity in thought, business and actions. Thinking simple yet positive render positive vibrations in the economy and earn respect from its stakeholders. Environmental i) Flow: To respect and understand universal laws of nature. The company follows the natural way of business and respect and adheres to the rules and policies laid down from time to time. It also acts accordingly keeping in mind the current economic condition and takes steps relevant in order to satisfy needs of its stake holders. Social i) Indianness : Confidence within ourselves and amongst our product. The company respects Indian culture and offer the products that suits Indian households. ii) Adaptability: To be adaptive and flexible to meet new challenges.The only thing that is constant in the Universe is Change. Hence the company is always open to change and modify accordingly its product lines as per the need and demand of the present market. Business Objectives i) Intropsection: Leading to purposeful thinking. The company from time to time does meaningful invigoration of its entire process in order to audit and take any corrective action if any. Based on the outcome the company re-strategise any of its process or function. ii) Leadership: Leadership in thought and idea and its application in business. The comany belives to be Number 1 in whatever business they are and work hard to retain its position. (Source:Pantaloon Retail India Limited website id http://www.pantaloon.com/corporate_state.asp,Dated October 26, 2009) Based on the above, it is clearly observed that Pantaloon Retail India Limited is equipped with broad range of measures to handle stressfull business environment and economic changes that may occur. Specifically, particular change in any macro economic policies are treated with utmost sincerety and needed change is implemented to overcome it. Thus more recently the economic crises has very little effect on Pantaloon, as the company could envisage the problem and taken specific measures to overcome this. The percentage of leased out premises to its its total retail outlet was nearly 65% towards the beginning of year 2008. The companys outflow in rental expenditure was a large sum of money. The company could oversee the challenge of offereing competitive pricing during the era of economic meltdown. Based on the same company started having its own premises by creating a special vehicle Future Capital Holdings which is 100% subsidiary of Pantaloon Retail India Limited. This has brought d own not only the rental outflow but also ensured better offering to customers in terms of competitive pricing as compared to its competitors.