Wednesday, October 30, 2019

Management coursework Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Management coursework - Essay Example The mission statement of the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation reflects that â€Å"all lives have equal value† (Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation). The organization maintains a well designed professional website under the name ‘Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation’ that illustrates various programs and policies of the foundation. By the end of 2009, it was estimated that the organization had an endowment of US433.5 billion (Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation). As per the organization’s norms, the foundation must donate at least 5% of its assets each year in order to maintain its status as a charitable institution. Therefore, it is obvious that the organization would donate over US$1.5 billion each year. In order to improve the efficiency of its operations, the foundation was organized into four divisions in 2006 under the Chief Operating Officer Cheryl Scott. The organization became well known as it designed three grant-making programs such as ‘Global Hea lth Program, Global Development Program, and United States Program’ (Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation).

Monday, October 28, 2019

Practice Question for Phl264 Essay Example for Free

Practice Question for Phl264 Essay Info- the test is 90 mins, you must answer 5 questions, and at least 1 from each section. (That’s 18 mins for each question) There is 1 question from each week’s material. It’s a good idea to practise writing by hand so you know how much you can write in 18 mins. Section A 1 What, according to Peter singer, is an ultimate choice? How do ultimate choices conflict with other choices? How do you think we should choose when faced with an ultimate choice? 2 What is the distinction between top down, bottom up and reflective equilibrium reasoning? What do you think is the most appropriate form of reasoning and why? 3 Do you agree with Milton Friedman that a manager’s primary obligation is to increase profits in accordance with the law (firstly, explain Friedman’s view) 4. According to the stakeholder view of business ethics, managers have a broad set of obligations to different stakeholder groups. Explain and evaluate this view. Section B 1 Does advertising violate autonomy? (For a question like this, it is best to firstly discuss the views of theorists in class, e. g. Arrington and/or Lippke, then discuss what you think in a critical way) 2 Do business have responsibilities to protect the environment? (same as above, regarding Des Jardins, Bullard etc. ) 3 What is affirmative action, and is it a type of reverse discrimination? Can AA and/or reverse discrimination be justified? 4 How do corporations influence the government? Is such influence justified? Section C 1 Pogge argues that we are obligated to help the poor in 3rd world countries because we are partially responsible for their plight. Explain and evaluate this view (Note- the 2 topic this week are globalisation and sweatshop labour- the question could be on either of these topics) 2. What are some of the moral problems of gift giving in the pharmaceutical industry? Do you think give giving need to be restricted? Why and in what way? 3 Kultgen argues that professional codes unfairly elevate the status of the professions to afford professionals higher social status, pay and power. Do you agree? 4 In what situations is whistleblowing morally justified? Is whistle blowing ever morally obligatory?

Saturday, October 26, 2019

One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich :: One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich Essays

One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich: Deeper into the Character When Alexander Solzhenitsyn wrote One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich in 1962, he crossed political barriers in his explanation of the Siberian prison camp. Through his character Ivan Denisovich, Solzhenitsyn shows us a normal day in the camp. The book has no chapters, so it is like the reader is spending the day with Ivan. Through this day, he tells of the people, the life conditions, what things are to be done and what things are not to be done. One Day. . . takes us from the wake up call to lights out, with only meals and work between. Nevertheless, because this is only one day, it is hard to really know and understand the characters. Yet, Solzhenitsyn uses flashbacks to show the different sides to his character Ivan Denisovich. Solzhenitsyn uses quite a few major flash backs to show the history of the characters; yet, there were two distinct examples he uses to show Ivans feelings. These two flashbacks help us to understand his humanity and optimism. When he is at his first work camp, he receives many letters and packages from his wife. These letters talk of things happening at home while the packages contain food and tobacco. Yet, every time he receives a package, only a small portion gets to Ivan after all of the appropriate people take their cuts. Therefore, despite his need for food, he writes to his wife and tells her to stop sending the packages. He wants her to save the bread for their children. Even though he asks her to not send any more packages, he still longs for someone to run up to him and say "Shukhov (Ivan) what are you waiting for? You've got a package!" (P.160). No one ever does, nor does he expect them to. As much as he wants the package, he doesn't want his family to suffer on his account. This situation shows the reader the caring and compassionate side of Ivan. It shows the reader of his capacity to give up his own food on behalf of his family. Ivan is a very loving father, yet, without this example, the reader would lose an important aspect of his character. Only through this flashback are we able to see this side of him.

Thursday, October 24, 2019

Case Studies Essay

Case Study Number One: The Case of Confusion 1. The subfield of psychology that will be of greatest relevance is the behavioral perspective. This perspective has made contributions in diverse areas such as: treating mental disorders, curbing aggression, resolving sexual problems, and ending drug addiction. 2. The cognitive perspective would be most helpful. The focus of this perspective is how people think, understand, and know about the world. 3. Personally, I think Alexis surfing the web and looking at self-help books is a bad idea, she could be looking into all the wrong things and make herself believe she’s worse than she really is, she could end up self-diagnosing. The dangers of this approach are making herself believe she’s worse than she really is. 4. The advice I’d give to Alexis is that she needs to see a therapist and talking things out so she doesn’t get angry anymore. If she saw a therapist, she could be put on medicine and it would control he r moods. Case Study Number Two: The Case of the Cautious Pilot 1. Captain Mueller and his co-pilot sat in the dark cockpit to get their eyes adjusted to the night time before they took off for flight to Dallas from Boston. Case Study Number Three: The Case of the Manager Who Doubled Productivity 1. He gave them positive reinforcements when they met their goals at the end of the week, and when he saw them being busy he gave them extra break time. 2. When you punish undesirable behavior, that’s all you’ll get because negative reinforcement ruins a person’s moral and will ruin their confidence to do something good. If you use punishment and positive reinforcements will effectively control behavior. 3. He complimented them frequently whenever he saw that they did a good job, Friday afternoons, if they met their daily and weekly goals he bought them lunch. If he found them hard at work they got extra break time. He set daily and weekly production goals and over the next three months his staffs’ production nearly doubled. 4. He could use a lot of positive reinforcement and encouragement to get them to learn the new complex task. 5. Cliff could focus on the internal thoughts and ex pectations of his staff, that would help improve the productivity. Case Study Number Four: The Case of Rob Steere, the Man Who Knew Too Much 1. Yes, because it’s a newer computer based system and it’s eliminated the need to sort things topically. 2. The earlier filing system and the location of various archived records are organized in his memory because of his declarative memory which stores factual information like names, faces and dates. 3. Yes, because they are used to bottom-up processing which consists of the progression of recognizing and processing information from individual parts of a stimulus. The new computer system would require them to think using top-down processing. 4. He’s having so much difficulty finding those records because he’s used to filing them topically and not having a computer to do it for him. He developed this problem because he’s used to using his memory to place every file. 5. The advice I would give Rob for making the adjustment would be to go slow and understand the way the filing system worked, it might take a while but it would pay off in the end, unless he found a new job somewhere else. Case Study Number Five: The Case of Mike and Marty Scanlon, the Unlikely Twins 1. A rational personality bases actions on logic and experience. Not on sentiments or things not amenable to reason. Rational personalities are largely dependent on evidence and proof. 2. Mike is very open to experiences, but he’s very unfriendly and boisterous and unruly. While on the other hand, Marty is very quiet, organized and would rather keep to himself. 3. The differences in their personalities are very noticeable, Marty is quiet and well-behaved when Mike is unruly, and indifferent to authority. Temperament is defiantly a key in these brothers different behaviors, Mike didn’t get the basic, innate disposition that comes about in early life, while Marty did. 4. Marty is the brother achieving self-actualization, because he’s reaching his own highest potential by having a great job and having two children. 5. They do have different levels of intelligence, Marty finished high scho ol and went to college to get where he is today. While Mike dropped out of high school to become an oil-change technician.

Wednesday, October 23, 2019

Whaling: A Narrow Vision of the Future

Whaling is a controversial issue today. Thousands of ecological organisations vote for an international ban on whaling to give whale populations a chance for a rebound. The current paper discusses the pros and cons of an international ban on whaling. The paper seeks to prove that there should be no international ban on whaling, as long as whaling benefits economies and medical research. The paper tries to deny an assumption that a moratorium on whaling can give whales a chance to rebound sufficiently and, instead, promotes an idea that legalisation of whaling will facilitate monitoring and managing whaling operations all over the world. TABLE OF CONTENTS Introduction 4 Whaling: A Brief Insight 4 An International Ban On Whaling: The Benefits of Legalisation 6 Whaling: A Never Ending Debate? 8 Conclusion 10 Recommendations 10 References 11 WHALING: A NARROW VISION OF THE FUTURE Introduction Whaling is a controversial issue today. Thousands of scientists and ecological organisations argue for an international ban on whaling and view such a ban as the only way to restore whale populations in global marine ecosystems. Thousands of others are confident that an international ban on whaling will not benefit animals: the decreasing number of whales is the reflection of the natural processes which no ban can stop. The history of whaling dates back thousands years ago. People hunted whales as long as they had boats and could sail. Today, whaling has become a convenient object of speculations and no one has been able to justify the need for an international ban so far. Objectively, there should be no international ban on whaling because whaling benefits economies and medical research, and legalisation of whaling will facilitate monitoring and managing the number of whales hunted and killed for commercial purposes. Whaling: A Brief Insight Whaling is a controversial issue today. Thousands of ecological and animal rights organisations argue that an international ban on whaling is necessary to give whales a chance to restore their populations. The estimated number of Blue Whales today is less than 3500; in 1931 alone, almost 30,000 Blue Whales were killed for commercial purposes. The current population of Blue Whales represents less than 1% of the total number of whales killed between 1910 and 1969. However, it was not before 1966 that an official moratorium on commercial whaling was provided, to afford a good beginning on the long journey to recovery. Whaling dates back to the times when humans started to build boats – thousands of years ago, whaling was one of the most widely used forms of hunting. For thousands of years, whales had served excellent sources of food, wax, and oil. Hunters valued them even more for their size and the quantity of various resources they could provide at once. Only by the middle of the 1870s did whale oil products give place to oil products based on petroleum and since then, whales have been mostly used for meat. Today, Japan and Norway are considered as the biggest threat to whales – these countries, plus Iceland, seek to lift the ban on whaling by all possible means. More importantly, these countries continue hunting whales despite the moratorium on whaling brought in in 1986. Norway is hunting whales in the North Atlantic; American Eskimos and Russian northern aboriginals are allowed to hunt whales in small quantities to meet their needs for food. Japan actively engages in whaling, to pursue the needs and goals of medical research. Notwithstanding the potential benefits of the ban on whaling, this ban is likely to cause serious economic difficulties. Today, no international ban on whaling should exist, because whaling is associated with significant economic benefits, because whales serve the needs of medical research and, finally, because legal whaling will facilitate monitoring the number of whales hunted and killed for commercial purposes. An International Ban on Whaling: The Benefits of Legalisation That whaling is the source of both direct and indirect economic benefits is difficult to deny, and there should be no international ban on whaling, to let different countries meet their economic needs. The inner markets for whale products are too small to support the countries like Norway and Iceland. The latter continue hunting whales, according to the quotas that had been set by the International Whaling Commission. Japan and Norway fail to meet their sales targets and lose significant financial resources due to the small quotas and the lack of hunting opportunities. In 2008 alone, Japan lost more than $20 million â€Å"whaling† dollars, which could have been directed to support various economic social programmes; in the similar fashion, Norway is experiencing difficulties with its whale product markets. Given the difficult economic situation, whaling could become an excellent opportunity for countries like Norway and Japan to generate additional jobs and to use whale products as an extremely valuable export item. Before the moratorium on whaling in 1986, the share of whale products in Norwegian exports accounted for 2 percent of all marine products and, simultaneously, for more than 70 percent of the total merchandise products on average. There should be no international ban on whaling, because it limits economic opportunities of sea countries and does not give them a chance to improve their economic situation. Whaling is the source of numerous indirect advantages. Indirect benefits of whaling arise from the link between commercial whaling, the size of natural whale populations, and the size of fish stocks. Because whales are the largest consumers of fish stock in the North Atlantic, they threaten the stability of numerous other fish stocks, including krill and cod. Although the relationships between whales and other fish populations are increasingly complex, scientists assume that whale stocks around Iceland could lead to the 10 percent decline in other fish stocks, including cod stocks. Given that the annual sustainable yield of the cod stock is no less than 350 thousand tons, a ban on whaling could cost Iceland 35 thousand tons of cod stock every year – a number too significant for a small country like Iceland. There should be no international ban on whaling, based on the premise that whales were and remain an important object of medical research. Whales are equally important for human and animal research, and it would be fair to say that an international ban on whaling will significantly reduce the existing medical research opportunities. As a result, an international ban on whaling will wane the hopes of those who seek a cure for the most difficult diseases. Since the middle of the 20th century, whales had been hunted and used for their hypophyses. The number of whale hypophyses dropped with time and their popularity declined, but they made a profound contribution to the development of medical research and pharmacology. Whales’ pancreases were extensively used in the production of insulin. Whales used to be an effective source of growth hormones for people; the hormones were extracted from whales’ thymus glands. Today, the world must think twice before an international ban on whaling becomes a reality. The world must avoid banning whaling activity in the future, to give medical researchers sufficient opportunities to pursue their research goals. Although the topic of animal research is increasingly controversial, it is not within the scope of this paper to discuss the pros and cons of such research. Simultaneously, it is clear that despite all limitations, researchers will continue to apply to the benefits of animal research, to enhance the efficiency of their research operations. In the current state of medical knowledge, whales present a valuable opportunity to help people with complex diagnoses. In general terms, any ban on whaling is likely to result in significant negative changes and serious losses, both economic and scientific. Nevertheless, ecological and animal rights organisations continue asserting that such a ban is necessary to restore the number of whales in natural marine ecosystems. Whaling and Nature: A Never Ending Debate? That whale populations decline and need a chance to restore their number is the central argument ecological organisations use to support the need on an international ban on whaling. Needless to say, whale populations do decline but whether whaling is the direct cause of ecological problems is difficult to define. The current state of research provides compelling evidence that the decline in the number of living whales is natural, and no ban can change it. The argument in favor of an international ban on whaling exemplifies a recurrent conflict between perception and rhetoric, and while more and more scientists vote for an international ban on whaling, even more scientists and organisations come to recognise the irrelevance of such a ban. The fact is in that scientists lack scientific evidence to prove that whale populations, including Atlantic humpbacks, can rebound sufficiently due to an international ban on whaling. Another question is in whether an international ban on whaling and, as a result, the growing number of whales is likely to misbalance the global marine ecosystem. Throughout the last centuries, the number of whales had been constantly declining. Whether more whales work for the better or the worse of the ecological system is still the issue of the major concern. The historical data regarding the number of whales that lived in the international ecosystems and were hunted throughout the last two-three centuries implies that whales living in super-abundance do not benefit ecological systems but, on the contrary, can â€Å"eat out the oceans as fast as they can go†. Scientific assumptions about potential extermination of whales are based on numbers – scientists believe that the rapidly declining number of whales during the last two centuries indicates the threat which whaling poses to the stability of whale and other fish populations in various marine ecosystems. However, before an international ban on whaling becomes a reality, scientists must decide what natural effects it will produce and whether it is worth banning whaling for the sake of insignificant changes in whale populations. Moreover, it would be fair to assume that even in case of such a ban, countries will continue their whaling activities; and not a ban but legalisation of whaling will give ecological organisations better opportunities to manage and monitor various whaling activities. Murray (2010) is correct, saying that the resumption of limited legal whaling will help organisations reign control of the practice and will, ultimately, save the lives of almost 18,000 whales every year. If ecologists seek effective means to restore whale populations, there is no way for them better than making whaling legal, acceptable, and widely spread. Conclusion Whaling is a controversial issue today. Thousands of ecological organisations vote for an international ban on whaling, to give whales a chance to restore their populations. There should be no international ban on whaling. Whaling is the source of significant economic benefits. Whaling benefits economies through more jobs and higher export profits. Indirect benefits of whaling imply an opportunity to preserve numerous fish stocks, including krill and cod, which whales consume in thousands. Whales benefit medical research and give a hope to cure the most complex human diseases. That the number of whales gradually declines is not necessarily the result of whaling but a natural process which no ban can stop. Legalisation of whaling will facilitate monitoring and managing whaling operations, and if ecologists seek effective means to control whale population there is no way for them better than to make whaling legal and acceptable. Recommendations Whaling should be legalised. Governments and ecological organisations must develop a system of quotas and limits to the annual number of whales available for hunting. A system of monitoring must be developed to control the number of whales killed for commercial purposes and the changes in whale populations in various ecosystems.

Tuesday, October 22, 2019

The Bully

The Bully The Bully I am better than you. Of course, if you really look at yourself closely, you'll completely agree. It's common knowledge everyone wants to look like me, talk like me; BE me. To be me, is to be the best. My power is beyond your limited capacities. I am able to incite fear from the depths of your soul. A mere glare can make you cower and squirm, I thrive on your intimidation and fear. And I am the root of your fear. I am the one-sided argument , that you cannot win and the creator of the utter helplessness that overwhelms you in my presence. So you can understand that my presence in this world is undisputably important.I am better than you because I can do anything I please and get anything I want. That thought brings me back to my early childhood. It was a beautiful Spring day, not just any day, today was the day the swings were to be hung in the park after hibernating in the city shanty for the winter.The End of Fear

Monday, October 21, 2019

A Tale Of 2 Citys Essays - Literature, English-language Films, Film

A Tale Of 2 Citys Essays - Literature, English-language Films, Film A Tale Of 2 Citys THE NEW AMERICAN, INC. Published in the year 1960 354 PAGES Guillermo Chiu Social Studies Period / G Summary of Novel A Tale of Two Cities is written by Charles Dickens and it takes place in France and England during the troubled times of the French Revolution. The characters travels to both country but most of the story happens in Paris, France. The hot spot of the French revolutionists, mostly takes place in a wineshop in Paris, because the wineshop owner is Ernest Defarge and his wife, Madame Defarge are the key leaders and officials of the revolution. The action in the book takes place in many parts of Paris, such as the Bastille, Tellsons Bank, the home of the Manettes and largely in the streets of Paris. This places help introduce many characters into the story. One of the main characters, Madame Theresa Defrage, is a major antagonist who seeks revenge. She is a very tense and unforgiving woman who seeks revenge on the Evermonde family. Through out the story, she weave shrouds for the intended victims of the revolution. Charles Darnay, one of whom Mrs. Defarge is seeking revenge, is constantly being put on the stand and wants no part of his own lineage. He is languid protagonist and has a tendency to get arrested and must be bailed out several times during the story. Dr. Alexander Manette, a veteran prisoner of the Bastille and moderate protagonist, cannot escape the memory of being held and sometimes fall back to cobbling shoes, he plays a very significant part in the story. His daughter , Lucie Manette, a positive protagonist, is loved by many and marries Charles Darnay. She is a quiet, emotional person and discriminating protagonist in the story. One who never forgot the love of Lucie, was Sydney Carton, who starts off as a frustrated, immature alcoholic, but in the end, he made the ultimate sacrifice for a good friend. This are the characters that gives the interesting and dramatic plot to the story. Carton was deeply in love with Lucie and is always telling her that he loves her so much that he would do anything for her but Lucie ends up marring Darnay, a few days after their marriage when they were on their honeymoon, Dr. Manette has a fall back and cobbles shoes for nine straight days. Frances citizens arm themselves for a revolutoin led by the Defarges and starts the revolution by riding to Bastille. Shortly before they start the revolution, the Marquis runs over a child in the street of Paris. The childs father, Gaspard who is part of the revolution murders Marquis. Three years later Darnay is called back to Paris to help his friend Gabelle, when Darnay was walking on the street of Paris he got arrested for being an enemy of the country. Lucie and her father Dr. Manette goes to Paris to see if they can be of any help to Darnay. Darnay is release from prison but the same day he is re-arrested on charges set forth by the Defrages and one other unknown person. The next day Darnay sent to trial and is convicted and sentence to death. Here is when the heroe comes and with spy contacts finds out in which prison he is encarcelated, he goes and drugs Darnay, while Darnay was drug, Carton switches place with Darnay. Lucie, Charles Darnay and their daughter leaves Paris safely while Sydney Carton makes his final sacrifice and is taking to the guillotine in place of Darnay. Summary of the Standard Historical Source The French Revolution is a cataclysmic political and social upheaval, extending from 1789 to1799. The revolution resulted, among other things, in the overthrow of the Bourdon monarchy in France and in the establishment of the First Republic. It was generated by a vast complex of causes, the most important of which were the inability of the ruling classes of nobility, divine, and bourgeoisie to come to grips with the problems of the state, the indecisive nature of the monarch, extortionate taxation of the peasantry. Another cause was the accession of Louis XVI in 1774 which lasted for a century, the French government had undergone periodic economic crises, resulting from the long wars waged during the reign of Louis XIV. The rebellion continued the challenge of royal decrees and the mutinous mood of the royal army forced the king to capitulate. On June 27 he ordered the refractory nobility and clergy to join the unicameral legislature, which then designated itself the National Constituent Assembly. Yielding to pressure from the queen and the dArtois. At the same time, Necker,

Sunday, October 20, 2019

The 11 Best Sites to Find Summer Internship

The 11 Best Sites to Find Summer Internship Summer is just around the corner, and that means it’s time to buckle down and think about what you’re going to do with your semester off. While you could spend it drinking beer and playing ping-pong, you could turn this summer into career crack by applying for the perfect internship for your future. Don’t know where to start? No worries. We’ve outlined the best free websites that will help you spend your summer wisely. #1 Way Up This site boasts a network of more than 250 universities and business partners, from Stanford to Nestle. The elaborate matching process ensures that you are fitted to the right company for your career goals. #2 Intern Queen This free site allows students to apply for high-profile internships in â€Å"the hippest cities† around the world. It also has an area for completing online internships in addition to internships abroad and with companies like Oprah Magazine. #3 Internships.com This site takes the basic idea of an internship search and brings it to the next level. Their â€Å"Internship Predictor† can help you pick the perfect internship based on your personality type and work style preference. #4 AAMC Summer Research Program For students who are pursuing medical education, a summer internship is vital to being accepted into the top medical schools. The Association of American Medical Colleges Summer Research Programs offers this great search option to match you up with a mentor in your chosen field to complete research between semesters. #5 Idealist For students who know that non-profit work is where they want to spend their time, there is no better place for job searching than this site. Idealist is all about helping students find the perfect paid or unpaid internship in a non-profit organization. #6 US Department of Justice Legal Internships Students preparing to enter into the legal field also need a top-notch internship to set them apart. Fortunately, the US Dept. of Justice provides this site to help you get hands-on experience with some of the most high-profile legal teams working today. #7 Media Bistro Students that are interested in careers in design, art, media, or production, Media Bistro is the perfect place to find a summer internship. This site collects internship opportunities from across the US for stations like PBS, CBS, and The Weather Channel. #8 Linkedin Internship Search For sheer volume of opportunities, no one can beat the LinkedIn Internship Search. The patented connection algorithms of LinkedIn also default to show you the most likely search results first – internships offered by people you know or their close friends. #9 FindSpark If you know that you want to spend your summer in NYC, FindSpark is the choice for you! This site is completely dedicated to internships and entry-level positions available in the City that Never Sleeps. Also, you can filter by the type of internship you want (paid, unpaid, college credit only). #10 Cool Works For the adventurous students, Cool Works is the perfect place to get great hands-on experience in the most unlikely of places. This site has both paid and unpaid internships in places like Alaska, the Adirondacks, and even on a Norwegian cruise vessel! # 11 Intern Jobs This site offers worldwide opportunities in almost every field of study. In addition, they provide a great Internship Guide to help you decide which internship will be the best for your career goals. Their Career Tools section also includes lots of great resources.

Saturday, October 19, 2019

Policy advice Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Policy advice - Research Paper Example East Asia countries and other western countries had established a course towards progressive development, amongst them Japan, Italy, West Germany and France (Zakaria 49). It should be noted that after the fall of the Bretton Woods system in 1970s, occasioned by the growing international trade, the stock market crash of 1973-1974 and monetary economics, countries that emerged later focused on strong economic policies. The rise of BRICs especially China was therefore a progressive and steady economic growth having learnt from the various depressions. It appears that such economies thrived on protective policies. The US may consider analyzing such foreign policies to unravel their contributions to economic growth and see whether they may be applicable for the US case (Masters 1). Emerging economies such as China, Russia, and India have established competitive economic policies. India has a steadily rising economy, which is poised to be very competitive in the next decade. China’s economic rise in the global market has boomed in what appears to be a plan that was awaiting implementation. China is has practically overtaken the US and other western countries on the African continent and other areas. It has steadily rising middle class. The US should not sit back and watch or accept that global economics have changed, but conduct an assessment aimed at reclaiming her position on global economic front. It may take time to recover but it will certainly reverse the US economic trend (Zakaria 98). In the meantime, the US should formulate policies aimed at short-term recovery of micro-economy of the small states as leader negotiates a fair global competition for goods and patent rights of all countries. Should countries realize real global integration, it would still be wise to formulate acceptable rules of economic engagement for equitable benefit to enable all countries realize benefits of economic integration. The US may consider treating developing countries as

Friday, October 18, 2019

Article Writing about FingerID Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Writing about FingerID - Article Example echanism of authentication also compels the user to remember different passwords for multiple accounts since it is very dangerous to maintain the same password for all accounts. A new authentication mechanism has been proposed that will save the user from the hassle of remembering multiple passwords and provide effective security for the web services- FingerID. FingerID authenticates the users on the basis of their registered finger prints and provide single sign-in to multiple accounts. The advancement in the internet technology has enabled thousands of companies to offer their services online. The availability of the services attracts the users to utilize them but compels the users to make online accounts. This results in the presence of user’s personal information at different domains and organizations on the internet and multiple login credentials for the user. Every organization might not be following reliable security measures to safeguard the user information thereby creating security and privacy threats for the users. Some organizations deploy security measures for the storage of their data but fail to concentrate on the security mechanisms handling the exchange of data from one source to the other. The user’s information might be used for malicious purposes and result in identity thefts. The distributed nature of information increases the chances of inappropriate usage. Another issue that is faced with the existing web services is the lack of usability and accessibility. Usability makes the web experience more convenient for the user and accessibility introduces features and functionalities for users with disabilities. Most of the web services do not follow the standards that are meant to ensure the availability of accessibility and usability on the websites. These standards help the developers and designers evaluate their websites with respect to the usability and accessibility aspects and to ensure that their users do not face any difficulty in

Constractivisim Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Constractivisim - Essay Example The practice of constructing knowledge from experiences and ideas best describes constructivism. On the same note, assimilation and accommodation enhances the extent to which knowledge is constructed. It is important to note that different people have different internal representations that build diverse understanding of the world. In this respect, frameworks inform the understanding of the world differ from one person to another. The importance of this observation is that learn to create new experiences without altering their framework of understanding. This allows an individual to assimilate emerging experiences while capitalizing on what they already know. In addition, accommodation in the context of constructivism helps align reframed mental frameworks with new experiences and/or ideas (Fosnot, 2013). In so doing, individuals learn to construct knowledge from emerging trends in the world. Constructivism theory is an integral part of technological development. For example, programming languages are always changing. Such changes are subject to the influence of diverse and dynamic factors, but the common denominator is that they produce relevant knowledge that enhances the understanding of the world. Programming is notably an experience and the expression of an idea. On the same note, programming gives rise to new experiences and ideas that people choose to assimilate and/or accommodate. A key example in that regard is the use of Logo programming language, which Duffy and Jonassen (2013) essentially associate with constructivism. Most importantly, technology is a key tool in today’s instructional strategies. More and more academic institutions are increasingly embracing the use of educational technology. This shows that technology is an important factor in the construction of knowledge. Additionally, individual experiences and ideas, with assimilation and accommo dation, construct knowledge

Thursday, October 17, 2019

Object Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Object - Essay Example The cup seemed to follow three geometrical figures, of a cone, a circle and a triangle. The main portion of the cup reminded me of an inverted cone though unfinished towards the cup’s base, thanks to the circular shape that is needed to balance its weight. The handle of the cup stood out from usual designs, by its triangular shape. The size of the cup made me apprehensive of its practical use, of holding it filled with tea, as it was just 10 centimeters tall and 7 centimeters in diameter. However, I was willing to buy it even as a showpiece, and the prize was not exorbitant. I just made sure in the shop that my two fingers can be inserted in the handle and that the cup does not tilt when I hold it. When I reached home, I tried using it as a teacup and was glad to find out that even with tea filled to its rim, the cup does not tilt, and the shape of the handle distanced my fingers from direct contact with the surface of the cup immediately near the hot content inside. The design is proportionate and pragmatic. The small base and expanding mouth of the cup is complemented by its triangular handle, expanding with the shape of the cup towards the tip. The color design is also in accordance with the shape of the cup. The predominant color, yellow, makes the cup look bigger than it is and the circles among the yellow surface and the border at the top in bright red color gives it the grand look that can be achieved only with the judicious bland of colors and shapes. To emphasize the handle, the yellow and red combination does not apply to its base and is instead painted white. The outer portion of the handle is yellow in color, while its inner portion is white. The bright red border extends to a very small portion of the inner surface of the cup, decorating its rim. The inner portion is a pure, spotless white. One functional aspect that I discovered about the extension of the red border

MBTI Preferences Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

MBTI Preferences - Essay Example While it was believed that the results would reflect the friendly and interactive nature, they pointed at a preference towards looking within and share significant events with a few close people rather than many acquaintances. The score on this variable is not very strong, and it could be situational factors that affected this factor. There are examples from the workplace as well as from personal experiences that underline the friendly nature and comfort in interacting with even unknown persons. The comfort in being in a position at work that involves interacting with people and keeping negotiations in good humour is itself an indicator of extraverted nature. Thus, it is difficult to accept the test’s result that claim Introversion over personal understanding and experiences that verify Extraversion. The second variable of Sensing – Intuition defines the primary means of conducting an analysis on information available. Both the test results and the hypothesized score fa ll in the same direction – i.e. – Sensing. Individuals high on Sensing will typically rely more on information that is gathered through senses than on inductive reasoning. They also process information deductively. There is a distinct inclination to base decisions and opinions on the basis of verifiable facts and not on assumptions.

Wednesday, October 16, 2019

Object Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Object - Essay Example The cup seemed to follow three geometrical figures, of a cone, a circle and a triangle. The main portion of the cup reminded me of an inverted cone though unfinished towards the cup’s base, thanks to the circular shape that is needed to balance its weight. The handle of the cup stood out from usual designs, by its triangular shape. The size of the cup made me apprehensive of its practical use, of holding it filled with tea, as it was just 10 centimeters tall and 7 centimeters in diameter. However, I was willing to buy it even as a showpiece, and the prize was not exorbitant. I just made sure in the shop that my two fingers can be inserted in the handle and that the cup does not tilt when I hold it. When I reached home, I tried using it as a teacup and was glad to find out that even with tea filled to its rim, the cup does not tilt, and the shape of the handle distanced my fingers from direct contact with the surface of the cup immediately near the hot content inside. The design is proportionate and pragmatic. The small base and expanding mouth of the cup is complemented by its triangular handle, expanding with the shape of the cup towards the tip. The color design is also in accordance with the shape of the cup. The predominant color, yellow, makes the cup look bigger than it is and the circles among the yellow surface and the border at the top in bright red color gives it the grand look that can be achieved only with the judicious bland of colors and shapes. To emphasize the handle, the yellow and red combination does not apply to its base and is instead painted white. The outer portion of the handle is yellow in color, while its inner portion is white. The bright red border extends to a very small portion of the inner surface of the cup, decorating its rim. The inner portion is a pure, spotless white. One functional aspect that I discovered about the extension of the red border

Tuesday, October 15, 2019

VALS SURVEY Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

VALS SURVEY - Essay Example After identifying the innovators and experiencers as the VALS for this particular product, a proper decision should be made on exactly how to appeal to them (Christensen, 2011). First, to appeal to the innovators, I would like to recommend that the marketer should ensure that the commodity is made to be innovative and attractive. As self-actualized consumers, the experiences can only be lured to purchase the iPad if they are convinced that it is fine and appeal to their eyes. This is the only way through which they can perceive it as a product worth spending their money on (Kerin, 2012). On the other hand, to appeal to the experiencers, the marketer should ensure that the iPad is made to represent a creative, fashionable and novel product that depicts a self-expression idea. If it possesses such features, these consumers will consider it as the preferred commodity to purchase (Kotler & Keller, 2009). Experiencers are young consumers who heavily spend on fashionable products like iPad that suit their insatiable tastes for

Monday, October 14, 2019

State and Federal Aid Essay Example for Free

State and Federal Aid Essay There are many past and rising issues involving public school finance. The public schools system is funded through federal, state and local taxes. Each state has different formulas to distribute funding from state and local taxes. Federal funding does contribute to the rising cost of education for each state. State and local taxes is allocated to cover the majority of educational costs. Student achievement depends upon the available funding allotted to each district. This author will attempt to discuss equalization of federal, state and local funding. Also, this author will attempt to describe fair, equitable and adequate tax systems. Federal, state and local funding are all important to the funding formula for public education in Texas. A large chunk of funding for Texas schools comes from sales tax. Every item that is purchased, with the exception of food, has a sales tax added on. Ultimately, all consumers contribute to the public education system. Every other week in the news, there are stories covering the rising costs of oil and gas. Every time we fill our gas tanks, we are paying taxes that go towards local funding of education. Many districts in Texas are filled with low economic status students, and are Title I campuses. Title I campuses provide free and reduced breakfast and lunch for students. These free and reduced meals are provided each school day. Title I campuses in Texas receive federal funding for the free and reduced lunch program. Each parent, every school year, is encouraged to complete paperwork for each student to qualify for the program. Throughout the history of public education the big question has been, â€Å"How can the funding of public education be equal and equitable?† Each state receives federal funding with the intent of the federal government to provide equal and equitable education to all children. The federal funding received by each state is allocated towards the basic necessities that are needed for education. Additional funding is needed for the many resources and developmental trainings that are also needed to provide adequate education. This is when state and local funding are important and added to the equation. This is also the reason given by many school districts on the importance of increasing state and local taxes. Each year school districts receive reports on accountability from the state. With these reports school boards have decisions to make. These decisions all deal with what is needed  to improve and increase accountability. In turn, discussions of where funding should be allocated and how to generate more funding. To increase local taxes would be a source of increased funding. Then, parents as well as community members would have to vote on the decision to increase taxes. Usually, members of the community are not eager to support a vote of increased taxes. The rising cost of education is not something that general community members are concerned with. There are also parents of students in the public education system that are not aware of the increasing cost of quality education. The task of increasing the funding for public education becomes harder each school year. One alternative to increasing taxes to gain more educational funding would be to enlist the support of local and state corporations. Local corporations could be included when sponsoring extracurricular school events. These extracurricular events should not be designated to only sporting events. Corporate support should be solicited to sponsor fine arts, sporting, community as well as back to school events. Corporations could use these opportunities as advertising and a source of generating revenue. In turn, these corporations would have relative concern for the success of the district’s students. This relationship would also generate funds to support equitable and adequate public education. There have been attempts made to change the way education in Texas is funded. Previous proposals included increasing sales tax instead of including property taxes. This proposal was rejected because citizens desire more local control. While this proposal would hand over more control of public education to the state. As stated by Lavine (2007), by allowing the state to provide more funding, the link between local taxpayers and public schools would be broken. Community members have more stake in school districts when their tax monies fund local schools. A fair, equitable and adequate tax system would share the wealth of local taxes. Is it possible to have a fair distribution of funding for public education? Each year when income taxes are filed and people pay taxes on wages earned and property owned. There is a standard tax bracket that is followed to determine the amount of taxes paid by each citizen. Public education funding and our students would benefit from a similar bracket. The bracket should be utilized by the state. The districts with the higher numbers of economically disadvantaged students should receive more funding from the state. This method would provide equal  funding from the state. Local funding would allow for continued support from community members and businesses. Another alternative method of generating funds for education would be to re-establish district zones. Some may argue that in re-establishing district lines, some districts may lose funding while others would gain. The re-establishment of lines would support the equality of education that is described in No Child Left Behind. As stated by McCown (2006), consolidating smaller districts is not the problem but more financially supported, larger districts should be re-zoned. By re-establishing district lines, the wealth and funding for public education would be shared. If federal, state and local funding was equal for every district; would that be equal and fair funding for education? Conclusion Our public school system in Texas is operated through the use of federal, state and local funding. Local funding is generated from property taxes levied from commercial and public property. Educational funding from the state is generated from taxes such as oil, gas and also sales taxes. Federal funding is specifically allocated towards free and reduced breakfast and lunch programs, bilingual and special education and also technology. The education system of today requires more funding than what was needed fifty years ago. The funding generated from federal, state and local governments is not adequate enough to support the changing system of education. The idea that public education I both equitable and adequate is becoming harder to believe. There is a need to increase local funding but community members are not in support of tax increase. We need to enlist the use of alternative methods to generate funds for public education. Children of Texas depend on the public education system to provide them with opportunities to create better futures and successful citizens. Every child should have access to equitable and adequate education. As described by Thompson (1972), adult success is not the difference, but improving a child’s life for the better. References McCown, F. Scott., 2006. The Texas public education challenge Texas trilogy on public education and taxes, Center for Public Policy Priorities. Thompson, Marjorie., 1972. Paying for our schools: is there a better way, National Center for Educational Communication. Lavine, Dick, 2007. Replacing property taxes with sales taxes would be bad for Texas businesses, families and public education. Center for Public Policy Priorities.

Sunday, October 13, 2019

The Transformational Process Model

The Transformational Process Model The Transformational Process Model A contrast of the transformational process model as it applies to the manufacturing (car manufacturing) and service (advertising) industries. Slack et al provide a model which assists in understanding the transformational process. Their model looks at the transformation of inputs into outputs of goods and services and the range of activities and operations that an organisation undertakes as part of this process. Slack et al’s transformational process model is robust enough to apply to both manufacturing and service industries and it is perhaps in contrasting these two areas that one is best able to understand the usefulness of their model. In simple terms, Slack et al’s the transformational process model deals with the process involved in transforming an input resource into an output good or service (Slack et al, 2001, p.9). A generic transformational process model can be set out as follows (Slack et al, 2001, p.10): The above generic input-transformation-output model applies to the operations of most organisations. However, as with any generic model, it fails to sufficiently differentiate between subtleties. As such, when considering differences between different types of operations (ie manufacturing and services) and then considering further differences within those different types (ie different types of manufacturing operations), it is necessary to expand on the generic input-transformation-output model set out above. In terms of the generic transformational process model set out above, it is important to note that inputs to the process will either be â€Å"transformed† or â€Å"transforming† resources. Slack et al define â€Å"transformed† resources as being â€Å"the resources that are treated, transformed or converted† (for example, materials, information and customers) and â€Å"transforming† resources as being â€Å"the resources that act upon the transformed resources† (for example facilities and staff) (Slack et al, 2001, pp.10-11). Slack et al note that in most cases, one of the transformed resources takes precedence over the other two. So for instance they note that while a bank devotes some of its time to processing materials and customers, its main focus is on processing information (Slack et al, 2001, p.11). However, it should be noted that in a modern, inter-dependant economy, it is unlikely that any organisation is able to operate without touching on each of the transformed resources and as such, the issue becomes one of the extent to which the other transformed resources are touched upon rather than whether or not an organisation’s operations touch on them at all. With respect to transforming resources, Slack et al refer to two types which form the â€Å"building blocks of all operations†. These are â€Å"facilities†, â€Å"the buildings, equipment, plant and process technology of the operation† and â€Å"staff†, â€Å"those who operate, maintain, plan and manage the operation† (Slack et al, 2001, p.11). Slack et al note that the transformation process is closely connected to the nature of the input resources which are being transformed. The three predominant types of operation processors are material processors, information processors and customer processors. Material processors predominantly transform the physical properties of the input resources, but may also change their location, their possession or store the materials. Information processors transform the informational properties of the input resources, the possession of the information, store the information or change the location of the information. Customer processing operations may change the physical properties of the input resource, store the resource, change the location, change their physiological state or their psychological state (Slack et al, 2001, pp.12-13). However, it is important to note that each macro organisational process also consists of numerous micro organisational processes (eg marketing and sales, set and props manufacture, engineering, production units and finance and costing) each of which contribute to what Slack et al (2001, p.19) refer to as the â€Å"end to end business process†. The flow of information, materials and/or customers throughout this end to end business process is often extremely complex. In terms of operations management, understanding that the transformational process model applies both at the macro level and at a micro level allows an organisation’s management to ensure that managers at all levels within the organisation understand that to a certain extent they are all involved in ensuring that their operation involves a transformational process and that it is only where the transformational processes of all these micro operations operate smoothly that the macro transformational process can be successful. It should also be noted that in many cases, organisations seek assistance from external organisations with respect to those micro processes. Thus for instance, an advertising agency provides a service which a large car manufacturing company may process internally. Or for instance Nike, which is thought of as a shoe manufacturer, is in fact a marketing processor specialising in shoes (the manufacturing of the shoes is, while done to Nike’s specifications, performed by external contractors with Nike concentrating on developing and maintaining their brand image). Slack et al (2001, pp. 18-19) refer to three core functions as transformation process operations. These are â€Å"product/services development function†, â€Å"operations function† and â€Å"marketing function†. The product/services development function involves â€Å"designers design software -> producing effective new products and services -> appropriate designs as promised and to budget†. The operations function involves â€Å"transformed/transforming resources -> producing service value for customers -> products and services†. The marketing function involves â€Å"sales people marketers market information -> producing sales and market plans -> orders marketing plans as promised and to budget†. As noted above, different types of operations (ie manufacturing and services) will involve different types of inputs, a different transformational process and result in different types of outputs. In order to compare how these differences are covered by Slack et als transformational process model, it is perhaps best to compare and contrast two specific examples. In this case, it is intended to compare and contrast differences between the transformational process of a car manufacturing operation (manufacturing) and an advertising agency (service). In terms of the basic input-transformation-output process, a car manufacturing and advertising agency’s operations can be described as follows: Operation Input resources Transformation process Outputs Car manufacturing Steel/plastic/other materials Car manufacturing equipment Machine operating staff Car manufacturing plant Design and procurement Fabrication Assembly Testing Distribution Cars Advertising agency Creative staff Admin staff Computer systems Information Customers Offices Client solicitation and pitching Creative production Delivery Account management Advertisements Increased sales One of the fundamental differences between the transformational process of a car manufacturing operation and an advertising agency is balance between facilities and staff resources. The car manufacturing operation will have much of its investment in physical facilities with the focus of operations managers in such an organisation being on ensuring that those facilities are operating smoothly. The transformational process for a car manufacturing plant is a technical/mechanical process which should run exactly the same every time. While there is creativity involved in the initial design stage of the vehicles and parts, the fabrication stage should involve no creativity and will essentially follow a set process which is repeated hundreds, if not thousands, of times each week with the purpose being to lower costs by automating the same repeated tasks. While staff in a car manufacturing operation remain important, their importance is secondary to the operation of the facilities themselves (ie should there be a problem with the operation of the facilities, the staff are not in a position to continue assembling the cars on their own – ie their effectiveness is directly linked to the effectiveness of the facilities themselves). Conversely, the importance of facilities to an advertising agency is entirely secondary to the importance of the staff that it employs. Preparing an advertising campaign is a largely creative process which varies from client to client and which does not therefore lend itself to automation. Due to the creative nature of an advertising agency’s work, should the facilities of an advertising agency for some reason become temporarily unavailable, it should be able to continue its operations using the same staff. Naturally, the importance of the less important transforming resource should not be underestimated and it is not the case that either of these two operations can continue without both transforming resources. Rather, it is that one of these transforming resources is more fundamentally important than the other. For instance, while an advertising agency’s staff should be able to continue with their transformational work even where the facilities they have been using are temporarily unavailable, it is highly likely that their transformational work will be less effective especially where the unavailability of facilities involves not only office space, but more importantly, informational resources such as computer systems, market research information, etc. Likewise, while a car manufacturing operation can replace staff that for instance, go on strike, the efficiency and effectiveness of newly employed staff will be lower than those who have experience working with the machinery and the organisation’s operational process. The point is that the balance for a car manufacturing and an advertising agency are different between facilities and staff and so too are therefore each organisation’s operations management concerns (Slack et al, 2001, p.12). With respect to the transformational process, a car manufacturing operation is predominantly a materials processor while an advertising agency is predominantly an information processor. A car manufacturing operation transforms the physical properties of the input resources involving the input of steel, plastic, and other materials the nature or which are then physically transformed into cars. An advertising agency on the other hand deals with information as its input resource (for instance, market research, demographic data, previous advertising campaign effectiveness, customer aims, etc) and transforms these into advertising campaigns the goal of which is to increase its customers’ sales. The operational outputs also differ substantially as between a car manufacturing operation and an advertising agency. Perhaps the most profound difference is that the outputs of a car manufacturing operation are an actual tangible product while for the advertising agency it is an intangible service. The difference between these two types of outputs affects such considerations such as storability, transportability, simultaneity, customer contact and quality (Slack et al, 2001, pp.13-14). Clearly a car has a degree of tangibility that an advertising campaign does not. This means that a car is able to be stored and transported. Likewise, the car manufacturing process involves production well before the customer ever sees it while with an advertising campaign, the psychological aspects occur simultaneously with its execution. As most customers will purchase a new car from a manufacturer’s own branded car yard, there is some contact between customer and manufacturer (more so than with other types of manufacturers such as for example household appliances where the manufactured good is sold via a third party retailer with no relationship with the manufacturer). The integrated supply chain for car manufacturers also affects the quality in that whereas with other manufactured products, the relationship between manufacturer and customer is more distant, the integrated supply chain for car manufacturers means that the customer is more likely to judge the quality of the operation from the quality of the product (although still not to the same extent that they would for a pure service such as a hair cut). Slack et al (2001, p.15-16) note that all operations fall somewhere within the spectrum between pure goods producers and pure service producers, with most operations producing a mixture of both products and services. They propose that each producer has a predominant type of output and that any peripheral output for that producer is referred to as a â€Å"facilitating† output. That is, for a goods producer, any services produced shall be â€Å"facilitating services† (eg technical advice) while for a services producer which produces peripheral goods (eg report and documents) these represent â€Å"facilitating goods†. This is perhaps a dated view of such operations which Slack et al acknowledge when noting that the distinction between services and products is becoming increasingly difficult to define. Perhaps a more accurate distinction is between the types of processors (ie materials, information and customer) rather than simply between goods and services. In reality, many service operations (especially information processors) do produce a tangible output which can be stored (for instance a travel agency will produce a booking which is reflected in a physical itinerary, a law firm will produce legal documents, a bank will produce bank statements, etc). It is generally customer processors (such as theme parks, theatres, public transport, airlines and hotels) which do not produce a tangible output which can be stored. In many ways, with the advent of the information revolution, the outputs of information operations have come to more closely resemble to outputs of traditional manufacturing operations more than traditional service operations. In general, a distinction needs to be made between services which produce a tangible output and those services which are consumed at the same time as they are produced. While both these operations fall within the overall heading of â€Å"services†, their natures are entirely different. The main difference between an information processor service and both material processors and customer processors are that an information processor’s output is not unique. That is, an information processor’s output is generally able to be copied at no additional cost. This can be contrasted to a material processor’s output such as a car or a customer processor’s output such as a haircut. Neither a car nor a haircut can be reproduced without additional inputs being used and the transformational process starting again at substantial cost. An informational output on the other hand, such as a legal document or a song can be reproduced an unlimited number of times at minim al cost and without the need for the original transformational process to be repeated (although large scale copying may require an additional transformational process eg producing CDs and DVDs). With respect to a car manufacturing operation and an advertising agency, both produce an output which is (arguably in the case of the advertising agency) tangible (ie cars and an advertising campaign respectively) although one is clearly much more tangible than the other. However, both the manufactured car and the advertising campaign loose relevance as time progresses and as such, the intention for both operations is to transfer the finalised output from the organisation responsible for processing the input onto the customer. The longer this transfer from processing operation to ultimate customer takes, the less relevant within the marketplace their outputs become (this statement will clearly not apply in certain cases for instance prestige cars which may increase in value the longer they are stored). The fundamental differences between a car manufacturing operation and an advertising agency have important implications on an organisation’s operations management. Both the advertising agency and car manufacturing consist of transforming resources facilities and staff. The difference is in the input of transformed resources as the car manufacturing is predominantly a material process and the advertising agency an information processor. The transformation process in operations is closely connected with the nature of its transformed input resources. Outputs from the transformation process are goods and services with the main difference being that an advertising agency provides a service while a car manufacturer produces a good. The difference in tangibility of the outputs also has an affect on storability, transportability, simultaneity, customer contact and quality. BIBLIOGRAPHY Slack, N., Chambers, S. Johnston, R. (2001), Operations Management, 3rd ed., Prentice Hall, Harlow, England

Saturday, October 12, 2019

Italian Unification :: Italy History

Italian unification 1) There were a number of reasons as to the fact that Italian unification seemed so far away in the early 1850s, and reasons why nobody felt that Italy as one state would ever be possible. There had been a number of attempted uprisings between 1948 and 49, however all of these had been unsuccessful. The area that is now Italy was still separate parts, each part with their own culture and traditions. Around ninety percent of the population were uneducated and many did not even know the term Italy, many of these people did not have any concerns over who ruled them, and just wished to be ruled well. Austria was still very much the dominant power in Italy, and a dominant power in Europe, at the time it seemed impossible that they could ever be removed from Italy. 2) Cavour saw Mazzini’s ideas as negative, and idealistic, Cavour wanted Piedmontease expansion while Mazzini and his followers wanted a united Italy. Cavour detested Mazzini because of his extremist views, the opposite to Cavour’s middle of the road politics. As well as this Mazzini’s practical record had been one of complete failure, and many young revolutionaries died to no effect. Cavour believed that Mazzini was in fact a help to his cause, and so looked for support from different areas. 4) At Plombieres an agreement was signed in which the French under Napoleon the third agreed to help Piedmont eject the Austrians from states in the northern part of Italy, the meeting was vital because Cavour knew that he had no chance of removing the Austrians without outside support, which France agreed to give at the meeting at Plombieres. However they agreed only to do this on the condition that Austria were seen as the aggressors. To ensure that this was the case Cavour had troops mobilise inside piedmont which then resulted in Austria attacking, this gave France the excuse they needed to attack Austria and take many of the northern states. However fear of intervention by the Germanic states and fear of troubles at home lead Napoleon to him pulling out and not fulfilling the agreements made at Plombieres, and therefore not gaining niece and Savoy. When Cavour wished to continue the battle against the Austrians he was prevented from doing so by Victor Emanuel, and consequently resigned. 6) Cavour was a very skilled politician who wished Piedmont to be seen as a force in Europe, and to achieve this he did a number of things, firstly he involved himself in the Crimean war in which both Britain and France had a great interest in.

Friday, October 11, 2019

Mobile Banking

Introduction Many banks have established presence on the Internet and many others are in the process of doing so. Using telecommunication systems and networks, a bank can reach out to customers and provide them with not only general information about its services but also the opportunity of performing interactive banking transactions. In electronic banking, bank customers can request information and carry out most banking services (e. g. balance reporting, inter-account transfers, and bill payment) via a telecommunication network without the need to go at the bank’s branch offices.Electronic banking comprises all electronic channels customers use to access their accounts, including the Internet and recently mobile phones (WAP- Wireless Application protocol, SMS- Short Message Service, SIM Toolkit, PDAs-Personal Digital Assistants). The cell phone handset can be used as a terminal in much the same way as an ATM (Automatic Teller Machine). Currently, almost everyone in the devel oped countries carries a mobile phone.So, customers can access their bank accounts through the bank’s website using not only a computer but also mobile devices. M-banking is not only another channel for banking services, but there is the possibility for becoming the primary channel. What is Mobile Banking? Mobile banking is a Banking process without bank branch, which provides financial services to unbanked communities efficiently and at affordable cost. To provide banking and financial services through mobile technology device by mobile phone is called Mobile banking.Mobile banking (also known as M-Banking, mbanking, SMS Banking) is a term used for performing balance checks, account transactions, payments, credit applications and other banking transactions through a mobile device such as a mobile phone or Personal Digital Assistant (PDA). The earliest mobile banking services were offered over SMS. With the introduction of the first primitive smart phones with WAP support ena bling the use of the mobile web in 1999, the first European banks started to offer mobile banking on this platform to their customers. A mobile banking conceptual model Mobile Banking refers to provision and availment of banking- and financial services with the help of mobile telecommunication devices. The scope of offered services may include facilities to conduct bank and stock market transactions, to administer accounts and to access customized information†. According to this model Mobile Banking can be said to consist of three inter-related concepts: * Mobile Accounting * Mobile Brokerage * Mobile Financial Information Services Most services in the categories designated Accounting and Brokerage are transaction-based.The non-transaction-based services of an informational nature are however essential for conducting transactions – for instance, balance inquiries might be needed before committing a money remittance. The accounting and brokerage services are therefore of fered invariably in combination with information services. Information services, on the other hand, may be offered as an independent module. Trends in mobile banking The advent of the Internet has enabled new ways to conduct banking business, resulting in the creation of new institutions, such as online banks, online brokers and wealth managers.Such institutions still account for a tiny percentage of the industry. Over the last few years, the mobile and wireless market has been one of the fastest growing markets in the world and it is still growing at a rapid pace. According to the GSM Association and Ovum, the number of mobile subscribers exceeded 2 billion in September 2005, and now (2009) exceeds 2. 5 billion (of which more than 2 billion are GSM). According to a study by financial consultancy Celent, 35% of online banking households will be using mobile banking by 2010, up from less than 1% today.Upwards of 70% of bank center call volume is projected to come from mobile phones. Mobile banking will eventually allow users to make payments at the physical point of sale. â€Å"Mobile contactless payments† will make up 10% of the contactless market by 2010. Another study from 2010 by Berg Insight forecasts that the number of mobile banking users in the US will grow from 12 million in 2009 to 86 million in 2015. The same study also predicts that the European market will grow from 7 million mobile banking users in 2009 to 115 million users in 2015.Many believe that mobile users have just started to fully utilize the data capabilities in their mobile phones. In Asian countries like India, China, Bangladesh, Indonesia and Philippines, where mobile infrastructure is comparatively better than the fixed-line infrastructure, and in European countries, where mobile phone penetration is very high (at least 80% of consumers use a mobile phone), mobile banking is likely to appeal even more. Mobile banking business models A wide spectrum of Mobile/branchless banking models is evolving.However, no matter what business model, if mobile banking is being used to attract low-income populations in often rural locations, the business model will depend on banking agents, retail or postal outlets that process financial transactions on behalf telcos or banks. The banking agent is an important part of the mobile banking business model since customer care, service quality, and cash management will depend on them. Many telcos will work through their local airtime resellers. However, banks in Colombia, Brazil, Peru, and other markets use pharmacies, bakeries, etc.These models differ primarily on the question that who will establish the relationship (account opening, deposit taking, lending etc. ) to the end customer, the Bank or the Non-Bank/Telecommunication Company (Telco). Another difference lies in the nature of agency agreement between bank and the Non-Bank. Models of branchless banking can be classified into three broad categories – Bank Focused , Bank-Led and Nonbank-Led. Bank-focused model The bank-focused model emerges when a traditional bank uses non-traditional low-cost delivery channels to provide banking services to its existing customers.Examples range from use of Automatic Teller Machines (ATMs) to internet banking or mobile phone banking to provide certain limited banking services to banks’ customers. This model is additive in nature and may be seen as a modest extension of conventional branch-based banking. Bank-led model The bank-led model offers a distinct alternative to conventional branch-based banking in that customer conducts financial transactions at a whole range of retail agents (or through mobile phone) instead of at bank branches or through bank employees.This model promises the potential to substantially increase the financial services outreach by using a different delivery channel (retailers/ mobile phones), a different trade partner (telco/chain store) having experience and target market dist inct from traditional banks, and may be significantly cheaper than the bank-based alternatives. The bank-led model may be implemented by either using correspondent arrangements or by creating a JV between Bank and Telco/non-bank Non-bank-led model The non-bank-led model is where a bank has a limited role in the day-to-day account management.Typically its role in this model is limited to safe-keeping of funds. Account management functions are conducted by a non-bank (e. g. Telco) who has direct contact with individual customers. Mobile banking services Mobile banking can offer services such as the following: Account information * Mini-statements and checking of account history * Alerts on account activity or passing of set thresholds * Monitoring of term deposits * Access to loan statements * Access to card statements * Mutual funds / equity statements * Insurance policy management Pension plan management * Status on cheque, stop payment on cheque * Ordering cheque books * Balance ch ecking in the account * Recent transactions * Due date of payment (functionality for stop, change and deleting of payments) * PIN provision, Change of PIN and reminder over the Internet * Blocking of (lost, stolen) cards Payments, deposits, withdrawals, and transfers * Domestic and international fund transfers * Micro-payment handling * Mobile recharging * Commercial payment processing * Bill payment processing * Peer to Peer payments Withdrawal at banking agent * Deposit at banking agent A specific sequence of SMS messages will enable the system to verify if the client has sufficient funds in his or her wallet and authorize a deposit or withdrawal transaction at the agent. When depositing money, the merchant receives cash and the system credits the client's bank account or mobile wallet. In the same way the client can also withdraw money at the merchant: through exchanging SMS to provide authorization, the merchant hands the client cash and debits the merchant's account.Kenya's M-P ESA mobile banking service, for example, allows customers of the mobile phone operator Safaricom to hold cash balances which are recorded on their SIM cards. Cash may be deposited or withdrawn from M-PESA accounts at Safaricom retail outlets located throughout the country, and may be transferred electronically from person to person as well as used to pay bills to companies. One of the most innovative applications of mobile banking technology is Zidisha, a US-based nonprofit microlending platform that allows residents of developing countries to raise small business loans from web users worldwide.Zidisha uses mobile banking for loan disbursements and repayments, transferring funds from lenders in the United States to the borrowers in rural Africa using nothing but the internet and mobile phones. Investments * Portfolio management services * Real-time stock quotes * Personalized alerts and notifications on security prices Support * Status of requests for credit, including mortgage appr oval, and insurance coverage * Check (cheque) book and card requests * Exchange of data messages and email, including complaint submission and tracking * ATM location.Content services * General information such as weather updates, news * Loyalty-related offers * Location-based services Based on a survey conducted by Forrester, mobile banking will be attractive mainly to the younger, more â€Å"tech-savvy† customer segment. A third of mobile phone users say that they may consider performing some kind of financial transaction through their mobile phone. But most of the users are interested in performing basic transactions such as querying for account balance and making bill payment. Benefits of Mobile Banking * Real time on-line banking Available anytime, anywhere throughout the country * It is convenient, affordable and secure * It is much more effective in developing savings habits * It will make access to banking and advanced payment transactions at affordable cost * It is m uch safer, specify and safeguard against fraudulent transactions. Process of Mobile Banking: The concept is different from SMS Banking which was discussed previously. The architecture is based on the specific requirement that the facility is provided through GRPS, GSM, CDMA, EDGE, 3G and CSD enabled mobile phones.With Mobile banking, the following services can be availed of, but is not restricted to, * Viewing A/C statement * Viewing Cheque Status * Stopping Cheque Payment * Cheque Book Request * Fixed Deposit Enquiry * Bill Payment * Shopping/ Purchasing items The services can be provided to customers directly by the bank or through a 3rd party vendor; and explanations for both are followed. Architecture 1: When the bank provides the service directly to the customer The setup will have a web server, application server and the database at the ank’s premises. We shall call this the mobile banking server for ease of understanding. The application will ensure what services are t o be provided to the customer. Based on the banking services provided to the customer, the security of the infrastructure has to be built in. The database can be the same as the Core banking database, having another table for mobile banking users. The customer uses his/her mobile phones to transact through the mobile network.The Mobile banking server in turn talks to the Core banking systems of the bank for user authentication, processing transactions, authorization, etc. Architecture 2: When banks outsource this facility to 3rd party vendors This is the more popular architecture as Banks can quickly roll out their mobile banking solutions by connecting to a 3rd party. This is also the architecture with more security issues as interconnection with a 3rd party is involved. In this architecture, the mobile banking servers are located at the 3rd party vendor’s data centre.These servers will talk to the Core Banking servers of the bank through a secured channel (dedicated or shar ed link) for authentication, authorization and transaction processing. Pre requisites to using this facility The customer has to first register with the Bank for using Mobile banking facility by linking the user’s mobile number with the account number. Application functionality The mobile banking facility can be provided to mobile phone users through a client or a web based access. Using the client or web browser, the necessary security features are to be built.Customer performs banking transactions based the services like check account balance, fund transfer, bill payment, shopping, etc provided by the bank. User requesting a transaction * The user selects the service he wants to perform like check account balance, bill payment, etc. * The mobile banking server asks for re-authentication for critical transactions. a) Re-authentication with the mobile banking sever ensures that critical transactions are verified and mapped to the user. b) The re-authentication can be estricte d with the vendor only; the user need not authenticate with the bank every time a transaction is performed. Again this depends on the role played by the vendor. * User re-enters the credentials. * Server authenticates the mobile user and forwards the data to the bank on how to process the mobile user’s service request. For e. g. , checking the account balance service, the mobile banking server will contact the bank’s server on how to process the request. Bank processing the transaction * The bank server will ask for details required to service the user request. Taking the above example, the bank will ask for cheque number and this is forwarded by the mobile banking server to the end user. * The end user enters the details and sends it to the mobile banking server. * The server again asks for authentication. Once authenticated, the mobile banking server will forward the cheque number to the bank’s server. * This can be an optional check based on the criticality o f the service requested. For e. g. , if the bank provides fund transfer service, then it may be a good idea to again check for the user’s credentials.Again this is purely based on the criticality of the service provided * The bank’s server will check the status of the cheque and provide the details to the mobile user via the mobile banking server. Finally, this is just an example to show how the application should process requests from the mobile user. Based on the services provided by the bank, the security of the application can be built-in. For e. g. , if the application allows fund transfer or bill payment, then the required security threats should be identified and mitigated.Future functionalities in mobile banking Based on the ‘International Review of Business Research Papers' from World business Institute, Australia, following are the key functional trends possible in world of Mobile Banking. With the advent of technology and increasing use of smartphone a nd tablet based devices, the use of Mobile Banking functionality would enable customer connect across entire customer life cycle much comprehensively than before. With this scenario, current mobile banking objectives of say building relationships, reducing cost, chieving new revenue stream will transform to enable new objectives targeting higher level goals such as building brand of the banking organization. Emerging technology and functionalities would enable to create new ways of lead generation, prospecting as well as developing deep customer relationship and mobile banking world would achieve superior customer experience with bi-directional communications. Illustration of objective based functionality enrichment In Mobile Banking * Communication enrichment: – Video Interaction with agents, advisors. Pervasive Transactions capabilities: – Comprehensive â€Å"Mobile wallet† * Customer Education: – â€Å"Test drive† for demos of banking services * Connect with new customer segment: – Connect with Gen Y – Gen Z using games and social network ambushed to surrogate bank’s offerings * Content monetization: – Micro level revenue themes such as music, e-book download * Vertical positioning: – Positioning offerings over mobile banking specific industries * Horizontal positioning: – Positioning offerings over mobile banking across all the industries * Personalization of corporate banking services: – Personalization experience for multiple roles and hierarchies in corporate banking as against the vanilla based segment based enhancements in the current context. * Build Brand: – Built the bank’s brand while enhancing the â€Å"Mobile real estate†. Challenges for a mobile banking solution Key challenges in developing a sophisticated mobile banking application are: Handset operability There are a large number of different mobile phone devices and it is a big challenge for banks to offer mobile banking solution on any type of device. Some of these devices support Java ME and others support SIM Application Toolkit, a WAP browser, or only SMS.Initial interoperability issues however have been localized, with countries like India using portals like R-World to enable the limitations of low end java based phones, while focus on areas such as South Africa have defaulted to the USSD as a basis of communication achievable with any phone. The desire for interoperability is largely dependent on the banks themselves, where installed applications (Java based or native) provide better security, are easier to use and allow development of more complex capabilities similar to those of internet banking while SMS can provide the basics but becomes difficult to operate with more complex transactions. There is a myth that there is a challenge of interoperability between mobile banking applications due to perceived lack of common technology standards for mobile banking .In practice it is too early in the service lifecycle for interoperability to be addressed within an individual country, as very few countries have more than one mobile banking service provider. In practice, banking interfaces are well defined and money movements between banks follow the IS0-8583 standard. As mobile banking matures, money movements between service providers will naturally adopt the same standards as in the banking world. On January 2009, Mobile Marketing Association (MMA) Banking Sub-Committee, chaired by Cell Trust and VeriSign Inc. , published the Mobile Banking Overview for financial institutions in which it discussed the advantages and disadvantages of Mobile Channel Platforms such as Short Message Services (SMS), Mobile Web, Mobile Client Applications, SMS with Mobile Web and Secure SMS. SecuritySecurity of financial transactions, being executed from some remote location and transmission of financial information over the air, are the most complicated challenges that need to be addressed jointly by mobile application developers, wireless network service providers and the banks' IT departments. The following aspects need to be addressed to offer a secure infrastructure for financial transaction over wireless network: 1. Physical part of the hand-held device. If the bank is offering smart-card based security, the physical security of the device is more important. 2. Security of any thick-client application running on the device. In case the device is stolen, the hacker should require at least an ID/Password to access the application. 3. Authentication of the device with service provider before initiating a transaction. This would ensure that unauthorized devices are not connected to perform financial transactions. 4.User ID / Password authentication of bank’s customer. 5. Encryption of the data being transmitted over the air. 6. Encryption of the data that will be stored in device for later / off-line analysis by the customer. One-tim e password (OTPs) are the latest tool used by financial and banking service providers in the fight against cyber fraud. Instead of relying on traditional memorized passwords, OTPs are requested by consumers each time they want to perform transactions using the online or mobile banking interface. When the request is received the password is sent to the consumer’s phone via SMS. The password is expired once it has been used or once its scheduled life-cycle has expired.Because of the concerns made explicit above, it is extremely important that SMS gateway providers can provide a decent quality of service for banks and financial institutions in regards to SMS services. Therefore, the provision of service level agreements (SLAs) is a requirement for this industry; it is necessary to give the bank customer delivery guarantees of all messages, as well as measurements on the speed of delivery, throughput, etc. SLAs give the service parameters in which a messaging solution is guarante ed to perform. Scalability and reliability Another challenge for the CIOs and CTOs of the banks is to scale-up the mobile banking infrastructure to handle exponential growth of the customer base.With mobile banking, the customer may be sitting in any part of the world (true anytime, anywhere banking) and hence banks need to ensure that the systems are up and running in a true 24 x 7 fashion. As customers will find mobile banking more and more useful, their expectations from the solution will increase. Banks unable to meet the performance and reliability expectations may lose customer confidence. There are systems such as Mobile Transaction Platform which allow quick and secure mobile enabling of various banking services. Recently in India there has been a phenomenal growth in the use of Mobile Banking applications, with leading banks adopting Mobile Transaction Platform and the Central Bank publishing guidelines for mobile banking operations. Application distributionDue to the natur e of the connectivity between bank and its customers, it would be impractical to expect customers to regularly visit banks or connect to a web site for regular upgrade of their mobile banking application. It will be expected that the mobile application itself check the upgrades and updates and download necessary patches (so called â€Å"Over the Air† updates). However, there could be many issues to implement this approach such as upgrade / synchronization of other dependent components. Personalization It would be expected from the mobile application to support personalization such as: * Preferred Language * Date / Time format * Amount format Default transactions * Standard Beneficiary list * Alerts Mobile banking in the world Mobile banking is used in many parts of the world with little or no infrastructure, especially remote and rural areas. This aspect of mobile commerce is also popular in countries where most of their population is unbanked. In most of these places, banks can only be found in big cities, and customers have to travel hundreds of miles to the nearest bank. By 2012, it is estimated that there will be 1. 7 billion people with a mobile phone but not a bank account and as many as 364 million unbanked people could be reached by agent-networked banking through mobile phones.In Iran, banks such as Parsian, Tejarat, Mellat, Saderat, Sepah, Edbi, and Bankmelli offer the service. Banco Industrial provides the service in Guatemala. Citizens of Mexico can access mobile banking with Omnilife, Bancomer and MPower Venture. Kenya's Safaricom (part of the Vodafone Group) has the M-Pesa Service, which is mainly used to transfer limited amounts of money, but increasingly used to pay utility bills as well. In 2009, Zain launched their own mobile money transfer business, known as ZAP, in Kenya and other African countries. In Somalia, the many telecom companies provide mobile banking, the most prominent being Hormuud Telecom and its ZAAD service.Telenor Pak istan has also launched a mobile banking solution, in coordination with Taameer Bank, under the label Easy Paisa, which was begun in Q4 2009. Eko India Financial Services, the business correspondent of State Bank of India (SBI) and ICICI Bank, provides bank accounts, deposit, withdrawal and remittance services, micro-insurance, and micro-finance facilities to its customers (nearly 80% of whom are migrants or the unbanked section of the population) through mobile banking. In a year of 2010, mobile banking users soared over 100 percent in Kenya, China, Brazil and USA with 200 percent, 150 percent, 110 percent and 100 percent respectively. Mobile Banking in Bangladesh Starting: Mobile banking is a new technology in Bangladesh which started from 31st March 2011.Dutch Bangla Bank Limited pioneered in mobile banking services in Bangladesh. Most people heard about it but not have a clear idea. According to my survey almost 94% people heard about mobile banking and 6% haven’t heard a bout mobile banking. Interest to use: Many people heard about mobile banking. But they yet have not felt that they should use it as they are happy to use traditional banking system. Some people feel interest to use it. About 55% people feel they should use it and 45% people haven’t feel to use mobile banking according to the survey. Takes time by mobile banking than traditional banking: Mobile banking is real time on-line banking.As it is on-line banking it takes less time than traditional banking. It will make access to banking and advanced payment, transactions at affordable cost People have not to wait by standing in a long line which is happen in traditional banking system. But some people think it takes higher time and some people think it takes same time as traditional banking. According to the research only 5% people think it takes higher time, 34% people think it takes the same time and 61% people think it takes lower time than traditional banking system. Time saving: Mobile banking is available anytime, anywhere throughout the country. So it can save one’s time. But all people not think the same.About 70% respondents think that mobile banking can save their time, where as 30% think it cannot save time. Cost: It is convenient, affordable and it is much more effective in developing savings habits, it will make access to banking and advanced payment transactions at affordable cost. All people know that its cost is not higher than traditional banking. Around 56% respondents say its cost is lower, 20% say same and 24% say it is affordable than traditional banking. . A positive aspect of mobile phones is that mobile networks can reach remote areas at low cost. Trust worthy: It is much safer and safeguard against fraudulent transactions. One can trust mobile banking as traditional banking system.It has secured pin code which is known by the user, and also has a check digit without it no one can deposit money. But in Bangladesh traditional branc h-based banking remains the most widely adopted method of conducting banking transaction. The poor often have greater familiarity and trust with mobile phone companies than formal banking institutions. Furthermore a mobile handset can easily be adapted to handle banking transactions. But it is not commonly known by all. From the survey it is found that 63% respondents think mobile banking is trust worthy and 37% respondents feel it is not trust worthy. Use: It is much more effective in developing savings habits. Its using system is also easy. Anyone can use it.Poor people are often not considered viable customers by the formal financial sector as their transaction sizes are small, and many live in remote areas beyond the reach of banks branch networks. Informal banking services such as microfinance and village savings and loan associations remain limited in their reach. So, mobile banking system develops to bring poor people into banking system. 83% respondents face or heard no prob lem to use mobile banking. But 17% respondents heard or face problems to use it like-sometimes transaction do not reach at time, cannot operate it easily as traditional banking, not trust worthy. Prospect of mobile banking in Bangladesh:Mobile Banking is a Banking process without bank branch which provides financial services to unbaked communities efficiently and at affordable cost. The aim of the service is to bring more people under the umbrella of banking service. Bangladesh Bank governor Dr Atiur Rahman inaugurated the service through -Journal of Arts, Science ; Commerce  ¦ E-ISSN 2229-4686  ¦ ISSN 2231-4172 International Refereed Research Journal  ¦ www.. researchersworlld.. com  ¦ Vol. – III, Issue –1,Jan. 2012 [54] deposit and withdrawal of money from two banking outlets in the city. Government thinks it has a great prospect as it is a new technology in digital Bangladesh.But in Bangladesh many people think traditionally, because they cannot think it has any facility to use mobile banking. 69% people feel mobile banking has prospect in Bangladesh whereas 31% think it has no prospect in Bangladesh as many people will not feel interest or have belief on mobile banking. Suggestion to other to use the: 55% feel interest to use mobile banking but most people do not want to give suggestion to other to use it. As it is a new method of banking people haven’t 100% faith on it. So, people don’t want to take any risk by giving suggestion to use it. 68% respondents say they do not want to give suggestion and 32% respondents say they want to give suggestion to use mobile banking. Make life easier:Mobile banking is real time on-line banking, available anytime, anywhere throughout the country, it is convenient, affordable and secure, it is much more effective in developing savings habits, it will make access to banking and advanced payment transactions at affordable cost, it is much safer, speedy and safeguard against fraudulent tra nsactions. All of the characteristics of mobile banking make life easier. But 43% respondents feel it will not make life easier as it may not be trust worthy, but 57% respondents feel the facility which mobile banking give will make life easier. Security: In mobile banking a confidential pin code is used by the user. PIN ensures security of money and protects fraudulent transactions. So mobile banking is fully secured. It also believed by 70% respondents, but about 30% respondents say it is not secured as they cannot fully trust on online banking than traditional banking system.Speedy process: One benefit of mobile banking is a very speedy process. Transaction can be done anytime anywhere quickly in less time. So 100% people believe that it is a speedy process. Class of people: Mobile banking started with the idea to bring the poor under the umbrella of banking sector especially rural poor as there are not much bank facilities, also there savings is low so they feel shy to go to ban k. But according to my survey 38% respondents feel upper class, 21% respondents feel middle class people can use mobile banking. But 41% respondents say mobile banking can be used by all class of people. Problems encounted in collecting data:The researcher had to face the following problems in collecting data from the respondents: i. Generally most of the respondents have not enough idea about mobile banking. So it was very difficult to collect actual data. Because the information of the respondents was supplied from their idea. ii. Most of the respondents were not fully use mobile banking which caused another problem to data collection to the researcher. iii. Sometimes respondent could not answer to questions accurately and to the point. iv. The respondents were usually remaining busy with their work. So, the researcher had to visit some of them even at the work place and researcher sometimes had to pay more time to meet the respondents. v.Most of the respondents did not feel comfo rtable to answer questions. So researcher had to pay more time to gain their confidence. The banks that provides mobile banking, sms banking in Bangladesh: * Dutch-Bangla Bank Ltd. * BRAC Bank Ltd. * Premier Bank Ltd. * Bank Asia Ltd. * HSBC * Dhaka Bank Ltd. * Standard Chartered Bank Ltd. * Mutual Trust Bank Ltd. * Trust Bank Ltd. * One Bank Ltd. * EXIM Bank Ltd. * IFIC Bank Ltd. * First Security Bank Ltd. * City Bank Ltd. * Islami Bank Bangladesh Ltd. * Mercantile Bank Limited. Dutch-Bangla Bank Limited (DBBL) has for the first time introduced its mobile banking service, expanding the banking service from cities to remote areas.Bangladesh Bank Governor Atiur Rahman inaugurated the service in July, 2011 by depositing Tk 2,000 and withdrawing Tk 1,500 through Banglalink and Citycell mobile networks in Motijheel area. Bangladesh Bank has already allowed 10 banks to initiate mobile banking. Of them DBBL kicked off first. â€Å"Mobile banking is an alternative to the traditional banki ng through which banking service can be reached at the doorsteps of the deprived section of the society,† the central bank governor said at an inaugural press briefing at Hotel Purbani. Atiur Rahman said through mobile banking various banking services including depositing and withdrawing money, payment of utility bills and reaching remittance to the recipient would be possible.By going to the DBBL-approved Citycell and Banglalink agents throughout the country, the subscribers can open an account provided they show the necessary papers and pay a fee of Tk 10. To use the banking service, subscribers must own a cell phone from any provider. The bank gives subscribers a four-digit PIN. By using the PIN, subscribers can use a number of banking services, including depositing and withdrawing money, while maintaining account security. Customers may hand over cash to agents in the bank's network, and agents can coordinate the transaction from their mobile phones, helping account holder s securely complete banking tasks using their PINs.Customers can deposit or withdraw money up to five times per day, up to Tk 5,000 per day. One percent of the transaction account or Tk 5, whichever is greater, will be deducted as a cash-in charge. The charge for cash-out is 2 percent of the transaction amount or Tk 10, whichever is greater. There are no fees for registration, salary or remittance disbursement services. Mobile Banking at BRAC Bank The service will enable millions of banked and unbanked people to deposit, withdraw and transfer money through mobile phones. bKash, a joint venture between BRAC Bank and US-based Money in Motion, will provide mobile banking with a fully encrypted VISA technology platform for transactions through mobile phones.Any mobile user can register and open up a bKash account and then do transactions through their mobile phones in easy, convenient and reliable way. â€Å"bKash will fundamentally change the way people now do transactions, as all tra nsactions will be possible through mobile phones in future,† said Syed Mahbubur Rahman, managing director of the bank. â€Å"Customers will not need to come to the bank; rather the bank will go to them,† he said at a press conference in Dhaka on the occasion of its 10th founding anniversary. The bank said a bKash account will act as a digital mobile wallet and anybody can take the service. â€Å"Your mobile phone will become your wallet.Customers can get financial services through phones, even by the handset that costs the lowest,† Rahman said. Under a partnership with UNDP and Local Government Division, bKash is rolling out mobile banking in 4,501 union parishads in the country. It has already signed a deal with a leading mobile operator and is in talks with others to enable all mobile users — currently around 7. 5 crore — to have individual digital wallets, said Mamdudur Rashid, deputy managing director of the bank. Recently some Bangladeshi banki ng companies and mobile network provider companies have launched mobile banking in Bangladesh. A new door of technology is opening in Bangladesh.Now people of Bangladesh can use their mobile phone as a bank account with balance transfer, payment, money upload and many more facilities at a low cost . I will give you some useful info about these services: * BKash Limited is a joint venture between BRAC Bank Ltd. , Bangladesh, and Money in Motion LLC, USA. Ensuring access to a broader range of financial services for the people of Bangladesh is the ultimate objective of bKash. It has a special focus to serve the low income people of the country and promote sustainable micro-savings to achieve broader financial inclusion by providing financial services that are convenient, affordable and reliable. * bKash is working both as an extension of BRAC Bank and as a full-scale mobile phone-based payment switch.This will highly benefit the country as 83% of the population lives under $2 a day and access to finance can help in improving their economic situation. Less than 15% of Bangladeshis are connected to the formal financial system whereas 44% of total populations are having mobile phones. Providing financial services using this mean can make the service more accessible and cost effective for the vast population of Bangladesh. How to open an account: 01. Go to any of your nearby bKash agent along with- a. Your mobile phone with active Robi number b. A copy of your Photo ID (National ID/Passport/Driving License/Other valid Photo ID) c. 2 copies of Passport size photographs 02. Upon successful registration you need to activate your wallet in following manner- Kash authorized agent will help you throughout the process and confirm registration. You will also receive a confirmation SMS in your mobile. Conclusion: Some policy Implications, Mohammad Mizanur Raman,(www. ampublisher. com) Mobile Phone Banking offers the potential to extend low cost virtual bank accounts to a larg e number of currently un-banked individuals worldwide. Change is being driven by falling costs of mobile phones including airtime, by competition and by the ability of electronic banking solutions to offer customers an enhanced range of services at a very low cost. Text-a-payment (TAP) builds upon the familiarity and comfort that people around the world have with sending text messages via their mobile phone.Instead of traveling to the bank to make their loan payment, clients can -Journal of Arts, Science & Commerce now text their loan payment directly to the bank; saving them both travel time and money. This is also beneficial for the bank, since they can increase their outreach to rural areas while reducing their costs. (Catching the Technology Wave: Mobile Phone Banking and Text-a-Payment in the Philippines, John Owens, Anna Bantug Herrera,www. bwtp. org) M-Banking technology has become one of the most familiar banking features throughout the world. Nowadays millions of inhabitant s of Bangladesh are within a network through mobile network coverage.But in the commercial sectors like banking, m-Commerce technology has not been adopted broadly yet. In context of Bangladesh where almost 95% of geographical areas including Chittagong Hill tract region is under cellular coverage and having sufficiency in Internet infrastructure in remote regions, m-Banking via mobile phones can be the right choice for the promising banking sector. Considering m-Commerce and m-Banking perspective in Bangladesh, a Push Pull services offering SMS (Short Messaging Service) based m-Banking system has been proposed which is able to provide several essential banking services only by sending SMS to bank server from any remote location. They are Broadcast, Scheduling, Event, and Enquiry and m- Commerce services.Fifteen push pull services underlying these categories are implemented in this proposed system which are most desired to customers. The proposed system not only brings banking trans action in hand’s grip but also makes it easier, robust and flexible with highest security. Moreover, modified data failover algorithm handles unexpected SMS server failure with any congestion or service request loss. At last, after evaluating each module of our proposed system a satisfactory accuracy rate 94. 95% has been obtained. Abstract The main objective of the study is to find out the problem and prospect of mobile banking in Bangladesh. For this research primary data were used. This study adopts with descriptive in nature.Total respondents were 120 within that 61 % respondents think it saves time than traditional banking, the highest number of respondents use mobile banking for ‘Air-time top-up’ service, that is 21%, out of 120 respondents 56% replied it is less costlier than traditional banking, 100% respondents did agree that it is speedy, and 38% respondents are upper class. Although this concept is new in Bangladesh but its potentiality is high. From t his research, other researchers and policy makers will get an insight about the problems and prospects of mobile banking in Bangladesh. Keywords: Problem, prospect, Mobile banking. References: * Dhaka Bank Ltd. , Banani branch. * Dutch Bangla Bank Ltd, Banani branch. * BRAC Bank Ltd, Banani branch. * www. thedailystar. net * Wikipedia * www. enterpriseinnovation. net * www. wikipedi www. marketresearch. com * www. bwtp. org * www. ampublisher. com * www. scribd. com/doc/54509127/28/MOBILE-BANKING-IN-BANGLADESH * www. researchersworld. com/vol3/Paper_05. pdf * bankinfobd. com/banks * www. dhakabankltd. com/ * www. bracbank. com/platinum_card. php * www. businessnewsbd. com/index. php? option=com_content&task=view&id=3619&Itemid=88 * www. dutchbanglabank. com/electronic_banking/PDF/MobileBankingBrochureEnglish. pdf Index: WAP – Wireless Application protocol SMS – Short Message Service PDA – Personal Digital Assistants ATM – Automatic Teller Machine M-bankin g – Mobile Banking Telco – Telecommunication Company Mobile Banking The Future of Mobile Banking by Rob Berger in Banking * Photo: BankSimple INTRODUCTION Communication is the exchange of information and feeling or ideas, which allow the majority of people to get the news of all sides. In addition, we are used the communication every day to let people know what we are doing or thinking even feeling which people are received that by voice, picture or chat. Moreover, communication technologies have made it simple to communicate to friends in the other side of the world by calling them using mobile phone, e-mailing them and writing in our web pages using social networks, such as Face book, Twitter or Messenger.Additionally, many other recourses are used by the majority of people to keep in touch with the world, which they can watch television or listen to the radio especially when they go to work. Therefore, communication technologies are considered one of the most important elements in our lives and that is why this essay is going to define the advanta ges and disadvantages of communications technology in terms of our health, education and relationships. This essay will elucidate firstly, the advantages and disadvantages of communications technology in health.Secondly, the advantages and disadvantages in education. Thirdly, the advantages and disadvantages in relationships. Finally, what scope should people be bothered about our grandchildren’s world if these technologies still run on to develops in the future? Mobile banking apps make banking and managing finances more convenient and less time consuming. They also reduce the need for working with loads upon loads of paper, like all those forms you need to fill out in brick-and-mortar banks.The most common activities performed by mobile banking app users include scanning and depositing checks, monitoring account balances and, for some, managing travel or hotel bookings. Many banks also offer online banking options for those who want an easier way to control their cash flow, pay their bills, and locate ATM stations. Some even allow person-to-person payments Mobile banking apps have actually been around for years. The first bank to ever offer their clients the convenience of doing banking-related activities on their mobile phones was Wells Fargo.Today, according to a research firm in Boston, more than 6,500 financial institutions in the US have developed mobile banking services for people who want to keep track of their finances on the go. Since more and more people rely on their smartphones (at least 70% of Americans who own smartphones use banking apps), app development is expected to increase even more. Developers will continue to come up with more innovative ideas for mobile banking. These apps will slowly change the course of regular banking. Just last January, a new kind of bank was introduced to the public.GoBank, created by prepaid reloader Green Dot, is a mobile banking app of a different kind. Unlike existing apps, GoBank is not connected to a ny brick-and-mortar bank. It is a â€Å"stand alone† app; a mobile bank in the real sense of the word. In other words, if you want to make a deposit or check your account balance, you will need to open the app on your phone. GoBank is the answer to the appeal of people who are practically glued to their mobile phones even when walking down busy streets. It can perform all basic bank functions, like paying bills and depositing checks.This development is not surprising. Developers often try to outdo each other in producing an app – or apps – that can easily catch the consumers’ fancy; especially consumers who use mobile banking every day of their lives. In the coming months and years, more apps like GoBank will be spotlighted in the market, and people will continue to want more. At this point, though, developers should also work on coming up with better security features for mobile banking. Security is the main reason why a good number of smartphone users d o not yet use mobile banking facilities on their device.So before anything else, this should be prioritized. Mobile Deposits Already available with many banks, users can deposit a check by taking a picture of it with their smartphone. I’ve used the feature now with Capital One 360 and absolutely love it. Called mobile remote deposit capture (RDC), my daughter uses this feature to deposit her paychecks into her Money account with Capital One 260. And I use it to deposit the occasional checks we receive. It’s a snap (pun intended). While not all banks offer this feature, yet, they will. Mobile Bill PayAs the person who pays all the bills in my family, this feature is really exciting. Imagine taking a paper bill you receive in the mail and paying it by taking a picture of it. Similar to RDC, Mobile Photo Bill Pay is on the way. U. S. Bank is already testing this functionality. There’s a hidden benefit to mobile bill pay–it will make switching banks easier. R ather than having to re-enter all your payee information and automatic payments, you can just snap a picture of each of your bills. Security The security risks of mobile banking are minimal.Mobile banking apps do not work with third party programs, as they deal directly with you and the bank they are linked to. Your banking privacy is not compromised or shared with anyone else. In addition, banks also require their mobile clients to provide the right username and password before performing any kind of transaction. Since apps are becoming more and more complicated and technologically advanced, however, security measures will need to keep pace. Leading the example is Wells Fargo, which is already working on using voice and speech recognition for carrying out banking transactions.This is an interesting development because it offers not only convenience, but also added security. Smartphone as Your Wallet Eventually, we’ll pull out our Smartphone to pay for things rather than our wallet. This is already a reality to a limited extent. Individual retailers like Starbucks offer apps that allow you to pay for products. And Google Wallet has made some progress. But overall we are still a long way from cutting up our cash and plastic. Rob Berger. The Future of Mobile Banking. March 10, 2013.