Customer Perception Towards Mobile Banking

CUSTOMER PERCEPTION TOWARDS MOBILE BANKING WITH SPECIAL REFERENCE TO INDIAPurpose: The objective of this paper is to study customer perception towards mobile banking and finding important factors in India. Design/Methodology/Approach: The research methodology is largely based on extensive literature review and is based on exploratory research followed by descriptive analysis. The data collected thorough questionnaire, which is based on both open ended and closed ended questions. The questionnaire is based on Likert scale. The data is analyzed through Factor analysis. Findings: The important factors that affect the perception of customers towards mobile banking are convenience, security, faith on traditional banking and awareness. Research limitation/implications: This study is based on the data collected form major metro cities of India. The study is based on customers availing the mobile banking services. The findings of the paper cannot be generalized, as the sampling technique is non-probability sampling. Practical implications: The results of this paper will encourage mobile banking service providers to strengthen the security policy and provide augmented services to attract new customers. Paper Type: Research Paper Key Words: Mobile Banking; Customer Perception; Factor Analysis; India INTRODUCTION In recent years, the technological developments in information technology have lead to the evolution of a new concept in Banking Industry i. e. Mobile banking. Mobile banking is defined as the â€Å"type of execution of financial services in the course of which – within an electronic procedure – the customer uses mobile communication techniques in conjunction with mobile devices† (Pousttchi and Schurig 2004). Moreover, it is defined as â€Å"a channel hereby the customer interacts with a bank via a mobile device, such as a mobile phone or personal digital assistant† (Barnes and Corbitt 2003, Scornavacca and Barnes 2004). The evolution of Mobile banking has fundamentally transformed the way banks traditionally conduct their businesses and the ways consumers perform their banking However the success of Mobile banking is not going smoothly, its full of problems. Firstly the adoption of Mobile banking has not kept pace with that of mobile devices like mobile phones, PDA’S etc. This gap is attributed to the lack of trust among bank customers, particularly between Internet and mobile device users in the age group of 45 and greater than 55. Secondly, customers still have faith on face-to-face interaction while concerned with their money due to reasons such as fear of the online environment and lack of trust in the Internet and mobile devices systems. Recent literature on Mobile banking showed that the formation of trust can help reduce the impact of key inhibiting factors such as fears about using the online service among non Mobile banking customers. The customer perception towards Mobile banking is controlled by variety of factors, few within the firm’s control and few beyond the control of the firm. These days Mobile banking has facilitated the customers to avail any services just by the click of the buttons of mobile phones or PDA’S. But at the same time the customers are concerned about the security of their transactions and other personal information. As more and more customers are making increasing use of Mobile banking services it becomes imperative to examine the factors that affect customer expectation and satisfaction.LITERATURE REVIEWElectronic banking is regarded as on of the most successful business to consumer applications in electronic commerce (Pousttchi and Schuring, 2004). The mobile phone is one of the most integral parts of customers’ lives and its use is growing in the world. The mobile banking offers various kind of services like to request the account balance, latest transactions of the account, transfer fund between accounts, to make buy and sell orders for the stock exchange and to receive portfolio and price information. Various studies indicate that perceived financial cost (Luarn and Lin, 2005) and perceived complexity (Lee et al. , 2003) inhibits he use and adoption of mobile banking services. Security aspects are argued as an important concerns in the adoption of mobile banking (Brown et al. , 2003, Luarn and Lin, 2005). Contrary to previous findings, some studies have argued that security issues are not perceived by customer to be major obstacles in mobile banking transactions (Sournata, 2003; Laukkanen and Lauronen, 2005). These studies state that, mobile baking was found a secure way to conduct banking transactions by the users. However, Suranta (2003) found that mobile services were nit used since they were perceived as impractical and not sufficiently diversified. Gonzalez (2008) stated that M-commerce has many advantages over conventional banking system as it has reduced geographical boundaries and has enabled the customers to avail the services 24*7 hours just by clicking the buttons of their mobile phones and other mobile devices. It enables the users to access their account, get their account information, do transactions and avail other facilities without much delay and efforts. As per prediction of Broadie (2007) the Mobile banking is leading to a paradigm shift in marketing practices resulting in high performance in the banking industry. Delivery of service in banking can be provided efficiently only when the background operations are efficient. An efficient background operation can be conducted only when it is integrated by an electronic system. The components like data, hardware, software, network and people are the essential elements of the system. Banking customers get satisfied with the system when it provides them maximum convenience and comfort while transacting with the bank. Internet enabled electronic system facilitate the operation to fetch these result. But it is very important to maintain the security aspect while customers avail services via mobile devices or wireless network because the customers are very sensitive with their personal information’s and other transaction details, hence the service provider must ensure effective security checks to ensure error free service and safe transactions.PURPOSE OF THE STUDYThe objective of this paper is to study the customer perception towards Mobile banking and finding important factors affecting customer perception in India.ANALYSIS AND DISCUSSIONDemographic analysis is done to know the perception of mobile banking various age group of people with different occupation (Refer Table. 1). This analysis shows that there is significance difference in the usage of mobile banking between male and female. Age group of 35-45 uses this service quite often. The KMO and Bartlett’s Test indicates the suita bility of the data for factor analysis. Kaiser-Meyer-Olkin Measure of Sampling Adequacy’s value (Refer Table. 2) is 0. 755 which is greater than 0. 5. This indicates that a factor analysis will be useful with our data. From the above table, we can interpret that there is no error in 75. 5% of the sample and in the remaining 24. 5%, there may occur some sort of error. The value of significance level is 0. 000 that is less than 0. 05. So there is a significant relationship among the variables. About 66. 185% of the total variance in the 16 variables is attributable to the first four components. (Refer Table. 3). It can be seen that Component 1 explains a variance of 6. 230, which is 38. 934% of total variance; Component 2 explains a variance of 1. 718, which is 10. 735% of total variance; Component 3 explains a variance of 1. 23, which is 8. 894% of total variance and Component 4 explains a variance of 1. 220, which is 7. 622% of total variance. From this table we can make the following factor matrix. The rotated component matrix helps to determine what the components represent (Refer Table. 4). The first factor i. e. CONVENIENCE is most highly correlated with V1, V6, V8, V10, V11, V12 and V15. The second factor i. e. SECURITY is most highly correlated with V3, V7, V14 and V15. The third factor i. e. TRADITIONAL BANKINGS is most highly correlated with V2and V16. The fourth factor i. e. AWARENESS is most highly correlated with V4, V5 and V9. Factor Matrix |Factor No. | |Eigen Value | | | | |Factor Name | |Items |Items Loading | | | |Total |% of Variance | | | |1 |CONVENIENCE |6. 230 |38. 934 |Easy to Use |0. 93 | | | | | |Location Free Access to services |0. 785 | | | | | |Real Time Excess to Information |0. 776 | | | | | |Save Time |0. 764 | | | | | |Save Transaction Cost |0. 79 | | | | | |Easy Third Party Transactions |0. 651 | | | | | |Online Bill Payments |0. 489 | |2 |SECURITY |1. 718 |10. 735 |Personal Information Safe |0. 803 | | | | | |Reliable Services |0. 95 | | | | | |Error Free Transactions |0. 644 | | | | | |Cashless Banking |0. 519 | |3 |TRADITIONAL BANKING |1. 220 |8. 894 |On sight Transaction |0. 555 | | | | | |Availability of Mobile banking Services |0. 19 | |4 |AWARENESS |1. 423 |7. 622 |Point Of Presence |0. 874 | | | | | |Advertisements By Banks |0. 772 | | | | | |SMS/Messages Related Mobile banking Services |0. 671 | The above four factors have been explained as under: FACTOR-1: CONVENIENCE | |V10- E asy to Use. | |V8- Location Free Access to services. | |V6- Real Time Excess to Information. | |V1- Save Time. | |V11- Save Transaction Cost. | |V12- Easy Third Party Transactions. | |V13- Online Bill Payments. | |FACTOR-2: SECURITY | |V3- Personal Information Safe. | |V7- Reliable Services. | |V14- Error Free Transaction. | |V15- Cashless Banking. |FACTOR-3: TRADITONAL BANKING | |V2- On sight Transaction. | |V16- Availability of Mobile banking Services. | |FACTOR-4: AWARENESS | |V4- Point Of Presence. | |V5- Advertisements By Banks. | |V9- SMS/Messages Related Mobile banking Services. | CONCLUSION This study was undertaken to know the perception of mobile banking in India. Mobile banking is in very nascent stage in India and very few banks are providing this kind of facility to the customer. The detailed research and field study was carried out with usage of SPSS 16 software. A confirmatory factor analysis was performed on this software. Convenience, security, traditional banking and awareness are factors that measure the perception of mobile banking. The demographic study indicates that the people of greater than 45 years age are not comfortable with the mobile banking this is because of either their faith on onsite transaction and not easily accept the newer technology because of lack of awareness and its advantages. The results of this study suggest that there would be greater challenges for banks and mobile manufacturers to gain the trust among the all age of the people. Proper integration between banks and mobile manufacturers would gain trust by ensuring excellent security through advance reliable technology. This would augment the usage of the mobile banking in India In order to get maximum advantage of the mobile banking following suggestions can utilize to attract bank customers to use mobile banking in the future:First banks should realize the advantage of the mobile banking and provide this services to the customer. The positive belief can be made in the mind of customers by providing sufficient information on the benefits of mobile banking. In order to achieve this objective, banks should provide user manual that contains details on mobile banking, including usefulness and ease of use. This can also be achieved by establishing counter for mobile banking that gives all the information re garding mobile banking. This will influence customers’ decision to use mobile banking.Banks should ensure greater safety by adopting advance newer technology and should give more importance of confidentiality of personal identification number. Banks can organize workshops on mobile commerce applications to increase customers’ familiarity and understanding of mobile banking.LIMITATIONS OF THE STUDYThis study cannot be generalized as the sample has been taken form the major metro cities of India. Mobile banking user’s perception is measured in this paper. So further research can be carried out considering mobile baking user and non-user to get better picture of perception towards mobile banking in India.REFERENCES1. Barnes, S. J. & Corbitt, B. (2003). Mobile banking: concept and potential. International Journal of Mobile Communications, 1 (3), 273-288. 2. Brodie, H Winklhofer. 2007). Is e-marketing Coming of Age? An Examination of the Penetration of e- marketing a nd Firm Performance. J. Innterac. Market, 21:2-21. 3. Brown, I. , Cajee, Z. , Davies, D. , Stroebel, S. (2003), â€Å"Cell phone banking: predictors of adoption in South Africa – an exploratory study†, International Journal of Information Management, Vol. 23 No. 5, pp. 381-94. 4. Gonzalez, M. E. (2008). An Alternative Approach in Service Quality: An E-Banking Case Study. Quality Manage, 15: 41-48. 5. Laukkanen, T. , Lauronen, J. (2005), â€Å"Consumer value creation in mobile banking services†, International Journal of Mobile Communications, Vol. No. 4, pp. 325-38. 6. Lee, M. S. Y. , McGoldrick, P. F. , Keeling, K. A. , Doherty, J. (2003), â€Å"Using ZMET to explore barriers to the adoption of 3G mobile banking services†, International Journal of Retail & Distribution Management, Vol. 31 No. 6, pp. 340-8. 7. Luarn, P. , Lin, H. H. (2005), â€Å"Toward an understanding of the behavioral intention to use mobile banking†, Computers in Human Behavior, Vol. 21 No. 6, pp. 873-91. 8. Pousttchi, K. & Schurig, M. (2004). Assessment of today’s mobile banking applications from the view of customer requirements. Proceedings of the 37th Hawaii International Conference on System Sciences, Big Island, Hawaii. 9. Scornavacca, E. & Barnes, S. J. (2004). Mobile banking services in Japan: a strategic perspective. International Journal of Mobile Communications, 2 (1), 51-66. 10. Suoranta, M. (2003), â€Å"Adoption of mobile banking in Finland†, Jyvaskyla, Finland, doctoral thesis. ANNEXURE I Table:1 Percentage of Respondents on the basis of Age and Occupation |Age —-> |18-25 |25-35 |35-45 |45-55 |

Element & Performance Criteria Essay

1. What documentation could you expect to receive when you are asked to undertake a project? Apart from the written documentation, you might need to obtain additional information. What could this be? Why is it important to get all this information before you start your project? Your Answer: You could expect to receive a copy of the contract or agreement, the project brief and project plans. You will also need to know who your stakeholders are and what outcomes are expected, the reporting requirements, inclusions and exclusions, timeframe for milestones, quality standards and resources available to you. You need to understand completely what is expected, what time frame and the resources available and ensure nothing has been left out as you may not be able to ask for extra time or resources once the project has commenced. 2. Why is it important to check out the relationship of your project to both your organisation’s objectives and to other projects? What could be the outcomes if you don’t check these out? Your Answer: You need to ensure your project is in line with your company’s overall objectives to ensure other departments you are working with have ample time to respond to any requests from your team and ensure less disruption to work flow. As you may have some part time staff on your team you also need to ensure project work does not take away them away from their daily duties. You need to make sure that anything you develop works into the established procedures and can easily be adapted to work straight away. Your project wouldn’t be successful if you cannot integrate the end product easily into the company functions. QUESTION 2 0 Satisfactory 0 Not Yet Satisfactory Element & Performance Criteria1.2 1. In any project, there are the direct or formal stakeholders as well as informal stakeholders. How would you go about determining these? Why would you need to know who the informal stakeholders are? Your Answer: You are undertaking a project on behalf of stakeholders so you need to be aware of who they are. You must remember the project mantra is â€Å"satisfying the stakeholders†. Depending on the project you need to work out if it is being undertaken for a customer, a department, funding body, management, sponsor or key personnel to establish their vested interest and better understand the outcomes required for them. As you will need to supply progress reports, you will need to understand who the stakeholder is and what information you can be disclosed to them. Knowing who your stakeholders are can also work in your favour as you can use their vested interest to gain the assets you need. QUESTION 3 0 Satisfactory 0 Not Yet Satisfactory Element & Performance Criteria1.3, 1.6 1. When you are asked to take on a project, you need to know the project brief, but there are many other details you need to have, including items such as legislative requirements, risks, resources and so on. What items should be on your checklist to make sure you are clear on the project, its parameters and the resources available to you? Your Answer: You will need to know the following: Legislative and quality standards – government regulations Physical, human and technical resources available – full / part time staff and how much of their time is available to you. Procurement requirements – limits of authority for sign off and purchase regulations Risks – Physical, financial, technological – a full risk assessment should be undertaken prior to commencement and a comprehensive budget developed. Reporting requirements – who to report to, what needs to be covered and how often reports are expected. How the project integrates into the company QUESTION 4 0 Satisfactory 0 Not Yet Satisfactory Element & Performance Criteria2.1, 2.3 1. If you are setting up a detailed project plan for your project, why must you also set up a risk management plan? How would you go about making sure your two plans are synchronised? Your Answer: Your project plan should work around any identified risks. You should undertake a risk assessment before beginning the project and identify any acceptable risks, ways to avoid or mitigate these risks and if necessary transfer the risk to a third party. You need to work the results from your risk assessment into your project plan eg outsourcing some of the risk or changing strategies to lessen the risks to the project. 2. As you set up your project plan, one of the key components is your timeline. What factors must you consider when determining the timeline? Your Answer: It is best to use a software package for accurate setup. Decide on a schedule that covers from the beginning to the end of the project and list all tasks involved. Sort which tasks can be done in parallel with others and include tasks by outside resources like subcontractors, vendors and other departments. Work out how long each task may take by using past experiences or work out how long it would take you to undertake the task and add 20% for any unseen problems. Be sure to include time for meetings, reports and documentation development. Look at the manpower available for completing the project and schedule times for part time members who also perform work for other departments. This document needs to be flexible with some slack time built into the schedule at various points. QUESTION 5 0 Satisfactory 0 Not Yet Satisfactory Element & Performance Criteria2.2 1.There are many project management tools available to you. Choose five  from the following list and describe the pros and cons of each of the five: †¢cost schedule control system †¢Critical Path Method †¢Gantt and bar charts †¢life cycle cost analysis †¢logistics support analysis †¢PERT charts †¢project management software †¢spreadsheets †¢WHS management system tools Your Answer: Project Management Software Helps schedule the project Assigns tasks Finds the critical path Tracks progress against the time line plan Creates you Gnatt charts for you and automatically updates these charts with adjustments in your plan Gnatt & Bar Charts Shows scheduling information about a project Shows tasks that are part of the critical path Identifies who tasks are assigned to and which tasks are to be completed by people outside of your team Shows the current status of tasks Spreadsheets These are useful for charts of data that need to be created Charts can be created in word processing documents Preforms calculations on data inserted into a document Embedded formulas allows calculations to be in real time and adjusts to any changes made Logistics Support Analysis Shows an analysis of all logistical elements required for each activity Integrates the logistics and supply chain into a seamless operation Reduces costs Increases responsiveness Life Cycle Cost Analysis This is a system of cost evaluation Shows costs throughout the expected life Used to make cost determinations between different systems proposed for a particular need QUESTION 6 0 Satisfactory 0 Not Yet Satisfactory Element & Performance Criteria2.5, 3.1, 3.2 1. What are the advantages of consulting your team members when setting up your project plan? What are the risks if you do not consult them? Your Answer: You can use the expertise of your team to develop a list of tasks, estimate the time needed to undertake these tasks and develop a list of equipment & materials required. As you finalise the project plan communicate with your team members their part in the project and present your plan to them prior to presentation to management. Let them help identify potential problems and suggest any solutions. If your members feel they are part of creating the plan then they will have a greater commitment to completing the project on time and within budget. Involving your staff will get them to buy into the project and will eliminate the idea that it is your plan and giving them an excuse for not meeting timelines or budgets. You want your team to work as a team with enthusiasm to the project for a successful outcome. 2.Describe the techniques you could use to make sure: †¢at the beginning of your project that team members are clear about their responsibilities †¢as the project progresses that all team members continue to be clear about their responsibilities Your Answer: Ensure each team member understands clearly the scope of the project and their individual responsibility. If you have involved the team in the planning and setting up  of the project plan they will understand the aims of the project and what you require from them and the time constraints in place. To keep them on track whilst the project progresses, be proactive and display posters reminding them of the project scope and goals, have weekly status meetings and get everyone to give an update, send a weekly project update email or motivational email and talk to your team members to see where they are up to and help them to get around any obstacles they encounter. Follow up with your team and help guide them in the right direction. You need to have your finger on the pulse a nd know what each member is doing to ensure they stay on track. 3.Some suggested techniques for supporting your project team members are: †¢encouragement †¢feedback †¢learning and development †¢regular project team meetings †¢supervision, mentoring and coaching What are at least five of the key activities you would consider when undertaking these techniques and supporting your project team members? Explain why you would choose these particular five. What communication skills would each activity require? Your Answer: Encouragement – Support your team members and recognise them for their contributions to the project. Help them to get the necessary assistance and guidance to ensure they can perform their tasks. Listening, empathy, understanding are the communication skills required. Provide feedback to members to show what tasks have been achieved and where the budget and timelines are being achieved or missed. Discussion, reporting and presenting of reports and charts to show achievements Provide learning and development opportunities to team members. Get help and guidance from outside the team to help members to get past any problems or road blocks. Coordination, discussion, problem solving and team work would be required in this instance. Conduct regular team meetings and discuss where each member is up to with their required tasks and reward and recognise high performing team members with simple gifts and acknowledgment. Presentation, coordination and discussion will be required during meetings. Supervise,  mentor and coach your team. Your job is to manage the team not do all the work. Your team are the experts in each area and you just need to support them and help them to make everything come together Mentoring, watching, looking and talking would be required when mentoring your team. QUESTION 7 0 Satisfactory 0 Not Yet Satisfactory Element & Performance Criteria1.5, 3.4 1. Projects often start to run over budget, milestones slip, resources don’t reach you on schedule or a key person gets ill. What do you need to have in place to manage these problems? Who might you consult when you hit a problem that you are having difficulty resolving? Your Answer: You need to have identified the potential risks at the project planning stage and factored in some time to deal with these obstacles. You need to deal with each target that is not achieved and establish a plan that can be implemented to get the project back on track. Resources need to be looked at that can be added to the project team or new ways to undertake work need to be thought of. To think outside the box is necessary to establish better ways to achieve outcomes as the traditional company way may be to time consuming when working on a project. The usual company way could be used when full production is undertaken but isn’t necessary during a project. You can approach the stakeholders when you are hit with a problem you can’t easily resolve. They have a vested interest in the outcome and may be able to assist with extra resources or ideas on where items can be procured or sub-contractors that could be engaged. QUESTION 8 0 Satisfactory 0 Not Yet Satisfactory Element & Performance Criteria5.1 1. It is the nature of most projects that there will be mistakes, problems with resources or people, changes in both the internal or external  environments, or even changes in the project scope or brief. Understanding how these happened and how they were managed can become learning experiences, but if they are not documented in some way, they become lost. How could you go about making sure the lessons learnt are not lost? Your: Accurate notes and documentation will ensure lessons learnt are not lost and can be used by future project teams who can learn from your successes and mistakes. Identifying problems encountered and the process used to find a solution and accurate documentation of the solution and the techniques or methods tried is important to have for the company to use in future work or trials. Accurately record what problems occurred, its effects, what you did to rectify the problem and the impact of the changes you made. This will help in the future to improve processes or procedures of the company and may assist future project managers when faced with obstacles.

Marketing of Liability Products of Bank Essay

There are number of Liabilty products, some of the liability products are listed below * Savings Account * Fixed Deposit Account * Recurring Deposit * Current Account * NRI Account Etc†¦. These products are the basic products of bank which are taking new dimensions in the banking world as the competition is tougher. The products which are mentioned above are the products of Retail Banking. Wholesale banking is another big segment of bank which deals with the SME and Corporate clients. WholeSale Banking Though Internet banking as a concept has not caught the fancy of a majority of customers as yet-even the small percentage that does use it, makes a difference to the overall cost. Almost all leading banks in India are hoping that just as ATMs saw a period of inaction before they were accepted by Indian masses, Internet banking too would be adopted once customers are comfortable with the technology. For instance, in 1998 India had just 500 ATMs today it has close to 7,500. Advertising Boards; According to the case study which we have done in the Bhubaneswar city from Rabi Talkies to Janapath. The Advertising Boards are very rarely used , we found only one Hoarding that belongs to Bank of Baroda in Bapuji Nagar and that too was removed after a week from our survey. The other advertisement which is given in the bus stand by HDFC in Lewis Road. Analysis; Bank’s believe less on this strategy of advertisement. The Case study was done in a very short distance so this might or might not be the actual situation. Social Media Marketing Strategy * Bank Adverts on certain Websites * Social media in business allows anyone and everyone to express and share * Social networking sites act as word of mouth. (For example Facebook, Twitter, Google+ etc†¦) * Professional Sites like Linkedin * â€Å"retweet† or â€Å"repost†-repeating the message * Sharing videos through â€Å"Youtube† They advertise the bank products through different finance related, business related etc websites. As we can see in the above screen shots from different websites we could understand that Banks rely on Social Media Marketing too to advertise and publicize their products. Conclusion We have analysed different strategies of the bank from Marketing Mix to Technology Based Marketing. From analysing in all aspects the only strategy which is helping and which will help the bank to be successful is Product Innovation. High Interest or discounts are not going to help the bank anymore because the customers are expecting the high quality service not the interest from the bank. People have become Quality conscious in the recent past so the new products and the service of that particular product in a appropriate way will help the banks to reach greater Heights.

Is the government justified in using capital punishment Research Paper

Is the government justified in using capital punishment - Research Paper Example The work that follows aims at showing that the government is not justified in using capital punishment to execute justice to offenders, though at some time it is necessary. Capital punishment is not the best method of dispensing justice to offenders. This is because it denies individuals of their constitutional rights. Various countries show their opposition to capital punishment and instead support a life sentence. A recent example is one portrayed by a number of Americans at Santa Cruz who voted against death penalty for a bombing suspect, Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, against whom the authorities issued a death penalty (Rankin 1). The opponents, according to Russ Rankin in the Washington Times said that it is an outdated, ineffective and wasteful method of dispensing justice. In 1972, the United States suspended the use of capital punishment following a decision by the Supreme Court. This is an indication that it is not the best method of dispensing justice to offenders. Although the state r e-established death penalty, its popularity and implementation is decreasing, with only a few exceptions (Rankin 4). The method, as Rankin points has not proofed to be the best method to deter crime. On the contrary, it costs taxpayers in a state more to execute death punishment than life sentence (Rankin 5). The government is not justified to issue capital punishment because many of them may go against the rights of those convicted. For example, Lindsey Bever reporting in ‘the guardian’ talks of a 62-year old man, Graham, wrongfully sentenced to death but escapes through being shipped to a prison in California. After the US criminal justice system reinstated capital punishment since 1976, many people have lost their lives. As Bever points, it is hard to know the exact number of people who died for crimes they did not commit. As Graham reveals, discrimination reins in the American criminal justice system where people with little crimes would face execution while others with brutal offenses would be spared. In most cases, those accused of capital punishment are poor and cannot afford to fight for their rights. This happens because the people cannot hire a lawyer for themselves unless there is a counsel provision for them and most of them fight for their rights without legal documents. This is why there is a lot of discrimination in handling these cases given that those unable to pay for the cost fail to get justice. It makes it hard to justify government’s issuance of capital punishment as there is no justice rendered to those convicted. Most of the governments practicing capital punishments go against the rights of the individuals as provided in the constitution. Every individual, even those convicted to an offense have a right to life and it is against the constitution for the government to issue a capital punishment against them. However, there are circumstances under which capital punishment may seem the best method to implement justice. Depending on the weight of the offense, a government or a court may choose to execute capital punishment on the offender. For example, following the Delhi gang rape several factors made the court term the rape worthy for capital punishment. First, the court argued that those who committed the offense did it in an extremely brutal and revolting manner which raised an intense and extreme annoyance to the society (Baxi 3). The court directly links this brutal nature of the violence to the quantum of annoyance on the society.

Tesco - Reflective Journal - Managing Change Essay

Tesco - Reflective Journal - Managing Change - Essay Example Changes were felt immediately as Tesco’s shares fell on the stock market immediately following the announcement of Leahy’s retirement. In addition, Tesco’s announced that Leahy’s office would be filled by Phillip Clarke, the then head of Tesco’s international operations and was especially connected to Tesco in Europe and Asia (English, 2010). It was immediately speculated that Tesco would focus on its overseas operations with Leahy’s exit (English, 2010). In reality, Clarke, with significant international experience took over Tesco’s domestic operations once he took office. Upon his assumption of responsibilities, Richard Brasher who was head of domestic operations and took much of the blame for a drop in sales at Tesco’s domestic locations, announced that he would be leaving. In addition, Tesco’s public relations department announced that a shake-up would follow to restore Tesco’s profit margins (Brown & Jefferies, 2012). Changes commenced once Clarke took office and Clarke announced a 2 billion pound plan to restore the profits, that Tesco had a long and comfortable history of generating. Clarke announced that the company would hire 8,000 new employees and would work toward improving quality and reducing prices so that they were consistent with the income of the average household. Clarke also announced that Tesco would open more stores, make them larger and focus on the acquisition and sale of fresh foods (Cunliffe, 2013). In changing the organizational culture, a number of experts in managing different departments and operations such as multichannel managers, former managers from Sainsbury’s and Marks and Spencer and an executive from Facebook were hired. In addition, 50 current managers from Tesco’s headquarters and offices were let go (Butler, 2013). In other words, since 2010, Tesco has undergone significant changes in management for the purpose of turning the business around. The changes that Tesco have experienced and is currently experienced will be analysed by reference to change management theory as reported in the literature. Schneider, B.; Brief, A.P. and Guzzo, R.A. Spring 1996. ‘Creating a Climate and Culture for Sustainable Organizational Change.’ Organizational Dynamics, 7-19. Schneider, Brief and Guzzo (1996) discuss total organizational change (TOC), what it means and how it should be implemented for optimal results. More importantly, Schneider, et al.(1996) compare TOC with the silver bullet approach. The latter appears to be the approach taken by Tesco. The article also provides valuable insights on why change in an organization is important and how and why organizational change can become complicated exercises and can be poorly implementing, setting the organization back. In general, Schneider, et al. (1996) caution that organizations typically fail to implement organizational change successfully because they are ill-prepared for resistance from workers to organizational change. In addition, when there is a failure to properly contemplate the consequences of changes made, managers find themselves making more changes which only complicates the change process (Schneider, et al., 1996). It would appear that in Tesco’s case, changes in the organization have occurred at the top in that two high ranking mangers resigned from the organization within a year and a year later 50 managers were

Does the term 'risk society' capture important features of recent Essay

Does the term 'risk society' capture important features of recent social changes - Essay Example al pollution, and new terrorism which shape the social changes such as increased social accountability, availability of information and most importantly a general paranoia within the society. ‘Risk can be defined in the risk society as a systematic way of dealing with hazards and insecurities induced and introduced by modernization itself’ (Beck 1992: 21). The most palpable point about risk is the main difference between risk and disaster. Risk does not necessarily mean disaster. Risk is actually the anticipation of disaster. Therefore it can be said that risks exist in an everlasting state of virtuality, and only become ‘relevant’ to the degree that they are likely. Risks are not ‘real’; they are in fact ‘becoming real’. ‘As soon as risks become real say an act of terrorism destroying the financial heart of New York - they cease to be risks and become catastrophes. Risks have already moved elsewhere: to the anticipation of further attacks, economic decline, or worldwide war.’ (Loon 2002) There has been a transformation in the awareness of risk by society. We have evolved to a society’ where what is significant is not whether the number or nature of risks have increased in their gravity, but that people feel that this is so and react accordingly. Obsessive worrying about ‘risk’ in contemporary social life has little to do with the actual frequency of life-threatening dangers. On the level of a single lifetime, i.e. in terms of life expectancy and level of freedom from grave disease, people in the modern societies are in a much more privileged position than were most in bygone eras. An imposing list follows of the ways in which the material security has been improved in modern societies; even so it is balanced by a list of fresh risks: terrorism, motor accidents, drugs, environmental pollution, etc. Both can be seen as results of the modernization. In terms of basic life security, nonetheless, the risk-reducing elements seem

Singapore - Recruitment and selection Assignment

Singapore - Recruitment and selection - Assignment Example Starbucks makes an effort to recruit the best candidates who can be groomed to take up different strategic positions in the organization. The company also uses the strategy of internship to nurture talent among the people still at college. Starbucks America and Singapore are not very different since they have the same vision and they operate using the same business principles and models. Both shops strive to be equal opportunity employers and they accommodate people from diverse backgrounds to work in their shops. There are different recruitment firms and agencies in Singapore and they use their websites to headhunt for talented employees for different placements. According to BlueSteps, the Association of Executive Search Consultants (AESC) has 20 member executive search firms that operate in Singapore. This association specializes in executive recruiting across a diverse group of industrial sectors. Particular attention is paid on senior management roles and regional leaders. Firms intending to hire executive employees can use the services offered by these firms. There are also other employment agencies that offer services related to external recruitment to different organizations in Singapore. These professional recruitment firms are privately owned. ... According to HRM Asia, companies should make an effort to give first preference to locals in terms of recruitment. However, Americans can find it a bit easy to get work permits if they are going to work in American companies in Singapore. The main reason is that the Singaporean companies seek to recruit and attract the best talent from the expatriates going to work in this country. People with work permits can also apply for permits of their dependents so that they can also stay together in Singapore. The Strait Times is the best newspaper to advertise for a job or to search for different types of work available. This paper is very popular in Singapore and the employers and recruiters alike often use it to place advertisements for different jobs. It is comprised of a jobs section and it covers different types of jobs from ordinary to executive posts. The paper also uses online advertisements for different jobs in Singapore. The internet is widely used by the recruiters to search for suitably qualified candidates to fill different vacancies in various organizations. There are also websites such as jobs.com that are used by employers to recruit suitably qualified employees to join their companies. Basically, the structures of advertisements in Singapore and America are not very different. They contain similar information which is basic about a particular job being advertised. For instance, each advertisement has information like job position, tasks to be performed by the incumbent person qualifications as well as experience. The advertisements also have information such as contact details that can be used by the potential candidates to respond to. The advertisements in these two countries are designed in such as way that they are easy to

Critically assess what reprehensible behaviour means in section 112 Essay

Critically assess what reprehensible behaviour means in section 112 Criminal Justice Act 2003 - Essay Example Prior to this law, the courts were following complex systems. The 2003 Act was aimed at supplanting these complex systems by establishing a new set of rules. Legislative reforms involve several lacunae, and the new Act is no exception2. It has been observed that the Criminal Justice Act 2003 lacks certainty in various aspects. The chief drawback with this statute is the obscurity that plagues several of its more important principles. This Act states that evidence of reprehensible behaviour is bad character evidence, in the context of criminal proceedings. This definition has been criticised by several legal commentators, who contend that this definition is obscure and uncertain3. The UK’s Parliament had initiated some changes to its criminal justice system. As part of this initiative, it enacted the Criminal Justice Act 2003. This Act was aimed at completely changing the systems established, in respect of criminal convictions4. It made vast and far reaching changes to the admissibility of prior convictions and bad behaviour, as evidence in criminal trials. Before the enactment of the Act, the Courts were reluctant to admit evidence of a defendant’s previous convictions and reprehensible behaviour. This was beneficial to the criminal, whilst being prejudicial to the interests of the victim5. Consequently, Parliament made this legislation, in order to restore justice to the victims, while ensuring fair treatment of defendants. This shift in policy had generated new problems, and there has been widespread criticism against the Act, by many legal scholars. They have contended that this Act reflected the intention of the government to systematically destroy the justice system in the country, in a step by step manner. These debates raise a number of questions, regarding the viability of this new Act, and whether it aims to drastically change the justice system6. Considerable apprehension has also been expressed, as to whether the Act

CEO Paper Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

CEO Paper - Essay Example Iacocca had adequately displayed through his actions that he is a fair but firm manager; that he assumes full responsibility for his actions; that he is an optimist who seeks opportunities in the face of overwhelming problems; that he goads his managers into maintained discipline by requiring them to face the problem and make tough decisions; and finally that he is a leader as well as a manager. Iacocca admits to some shortcomings, such as giving in to the pressure of union demands in fear of bankruptcy, but there is no perfect executive. For all intents and purposes, Iacocca has demonstrated that he embodies the tenets of Henman, Drucker, Kotter, and Heifetz and Laurie. The theories are therefore validated, in so far as concerns the leadership style of Lee Iacocca. ... Iacocca was known for discontinuing certain models in favor of what turned out to be best sellers, namely the Mustang, the minivan, the Jeep Grand Cherokee, and the convertible Le Baron (Nulty & De Llosa, 1993; Taylor & Schonfeld, 1992). The following discussion explores the leadership style of Lee Iacocca, and how he manifests the leadership principles described by Henman, Drucker, Kotter, Heifetz and Laurie. F2 Leadership (Linda Henman, 2011) F2 is short for ‘firm but fair’ leadership, meaning that the executive treads the middle ground between relationship behavior on the one hand, and task accomplishment on the other (Strategy Driven, 2011). Evidence of Iacocca’s sense of fairness is his pronouncement when he first took over Chrysler that he would accept only $1 as his salary which the company was in distress, until such time as Chrysler would have recovered and been stewarded back to a firmly stable growth path. Iacocca admitted that as chairman, he was persu aded to give in a bit too much to the unions, and it showed weakness on his part. â€Å"I was part of that (giveaways to union contracts). You always knuckled under because if you took a 2-week strike in the old days, it could bankrupt you†¦But they really had you.. You can’t pay a janitor $50 or $60 an hour to sweep the floor. That’s a little wacko’ (Iacocca, quoted by Smith, 2006). However, when tough decisions had to be made, the Chrysler CEO did not balk. In order to save Chrysler from bankruptcy, Iacocca had persuaded the Federal government to extend to it a $1.5 billion loan guarantee in 1980. In 1983, seven years before its deadline, the company had fully paid off all federally backed loans. How Iacocca did this was by making some very difficult

Bus 557 Assignment Essay Example for Free

Bus 557 Assignment Essay Ethics behavioral aspect of accounting is a special area of accounting that is developed to address such aspect of human information processing behavior, judgment quality, accounting problems created by users and providers of accounting information as well as their decision making skills. Secondly, paper will describe the organization, the accounting ethical breach and the impact to the organization related to ethical breach. Thirdly, this paper will determine how the organizational ethical issue was detected and how management failed to create an ethical environment. In some cases, some company pledged its own stock to ensure that partnerships would be able to borrow money. And when Enron stock started plummeting, the whole thing fell apart. Fourthly, this paper will analyze the accounts impacted and or accounting guidelines violated and the resulting impact to the business operation. They operated as the masterminds behind the system to defraud investors. The banks, by offering fake, illegal and not approved by regulators deals, played a significant role in helping Enron falsify company financial statements and mislead investors. Finally, the paper will discuss as a CFO which measures could have been taken to prevent this ethical breach and how each measure should be implemented in the future. First of all, there should be analysis of culture within the organization including norms of behavior, standards of conduct, values, perspective of attitudes, perceptions, there seems to be pressure to commit misconduct, communications, risks and vulnerabilities Review of Accounting Ethics Page 3 Given the corporate ethical breaches in recent times, assess whether or not you believe that the current business and regulatory environment is more conducive to ethical behavior. Provide support for your answer. Ethics behavioral aspect of accounting is a special area of accounting that is developed to address such aspect of human information processing behavior, judgment quality, accounting problems created by users and providers of accounting information as well as their decision making skills (Ponema, 2009). Existing businesses and regulatory environment is more conductive behavior because some companies and managers feel as though they can get away with it. The unpredictable increase and collapse of the Enron Company set off a long-burning fire under the American social conscience. From every crevasse and corner, voices rose demanding increased accountability, demanding tighter regulation, and demanding that the unethical be brought to justice. Clearly, in such estimation, those at fault should have been punished business. Many transformations in the business environment have taken place, including immoral conducts and the tendency for corruption. Unethical accounting behavior is also included as a consequence. (Sims, 1992). So the government has been forced to increase regulations and inspect actions taken in business, most especially after the Enron, Tyco, WorldCom and other unethical accounting scandals. As a result of the mentioned scandals, the government then passed the Sarbanes-Oxley Act in 2002 providing regulatory requirements for better precision in business action, accountability and assurance of ethical accounting behavior by publicly held companies and accounting firms. According to White (2000), the total number of boards of directors who set ethical codes of conduct within organizations has increased from 41 percent in 1991 to 78 percent. Review of Accounting Ethics Page 4 According to the Wall Street Journal about 79 percent of youth in the United States do not believe in the presence of moral principles in business. There should be a business foundation, especially in accounting which should provide society with adequate information about companies and industry. Accounting is more and more involved in consulting, so it requires high ethical standards to built trust between clients and companies (White, 2000). Even if society does not believe in the honesty in any business, I think that ethics and ethical behavior are very high priorities for companies today and this is proofed by the increasing number of companies currently applying ethical codes of conducts. Codes of ethics are arrangements that are frequently used as a force to promote ethical behavior. There are many ways that a business could operate ethically. They can impose legal actions and fines. This could then remove destruction to any firm’s reputation, and protect and / or increase the capital of any shareholder. Paying special attention to Shareholder value, cost control, creating a competitive advantage and avoiding internal corruption would also be a help. A firm’s unethical behavior could also contribute to the organization’s productivity level being lower over time. Because of all these aspects I believe that the current business and regulatory environment is more conducive to ethical behavior. Based on your research, describe the organization, the accounting ethical breach and the impact to the organization related to ethical breach. Enron Corp. was an energy company born from a mildly innovative 1985 deal that combined two boring businesses: an Omaha-based natural-gas-pipeline company named InterNorth and a similar Texas company called Houston Natural Gas. Instead of just delivering gas to customers at a modest profit, Enron decided to use newly deregulated pipelines to match other buyers and Review of Accounting Ethics Page 5 sellers in the energy industry. Enron became a gas trader, which would be much more exciting than just building pipes and transporting gas. Moreover, Enron was managing its own employee pension funds. This should not happen because it allowed the company to use these funds for the advantage of the company only, without taking care of their employees. Besides, Enron should have a code of ethics that prohibits managers and executives from being involved in another business entity that does business with their own company. Usually, codes of ethics are voluntary, but the board of directors should set them up as the important restriction of company. According to the Markkula Center for Applied Ethics (2002), legal and regulatory structures would trigger Enron’s bankruptcy. Initially, Arthur Andersen LLP would provide consulting and the audited reporting services noting the financial results of their consulting activities. This occurred because it was allowed by current law and regulations imposed by the Securities Exchange Commission (SEC). I see this as fault of within the legal structure and an evident conflict of interest. Additionally, another conflict of interest occurred in Enron by hiring and paying its own auditors. It is understandable that the auditors did not issue an adverse report on the company that was paying them. The conclusion coming from this situation is that private companies should not be allowed to pay for their own auditors.. Moreover, Enron would also expand into other business areas, including water, fiber optics, newsprint, and telecommunications (Halbert T Ingulli, E. (2009). Legal structure permits managers to enter these arrangements, which constitute a conflict of interest. The managers and executives should take care of the best interest of the company and its shareholders because the law leaves them with freedom, to choose what it is the best interest of the company. There are no doubts that Enron’s officers did not act within the scope of their Review of Accounting Ethics Page 6 authorities. A few days before the outstanding loss of Enron was made public, workers who audited the company books for Arthur Andersen had been given an extraordinary directive to damage all audit material, except for the most basic work papers. Even if, there are no rules for how long company should keep its documents, it was illegal. (Halbert T. Ingulli, E. (2009). Determine how the organizational ethical issue was detected and how management failed to create an ethical environment. Enron Corporation is a classic example of organizational-level corruption. Halbert T Ingulli E. (2009). Enron debacle is not just the story of a company that failed; it is the story of a system that failed. And the system didnt fail through carelessness or laziness; it was corrupted. â€Å" According to Report of Investigation by the Special Investigative Committee of the Board of Directors of Enron Corp (2002), Enron employees involved in the partnerships were enriched, in the aggregate, by tens of millions of dollars they should never have receivedFarrow by at least $30 million, Hooper by at least $10 million, two others by $1 million each. Any of these employees, except Farrow, did not obtain the permission required by Enrons Code of Conduct of Business Affairs to own interest in the partnerships. Moreover, many Enron transactions were designed to accomplish favorable financial statement results. These examples show that Enron’s officers put their own interest ahead of their obligations to Enron. The company allowed chief financial officer Farrow to set up partnerships that enabled Enron to report pretty much whatever numbers it needed to keep Wall Street happy. In some cases, the company pledged its own stock to ensure that partnerships would be able to borrow money. And when Enron stock started plummeting, the whole thing fell apart. (Farrow made off with millions of dollars for himself, but his depredations played no significant role in Enrons fall. ) . When Review of Accounting Ethics Page 7 forensic accountants finally got a look at Enrons books in late 2001, they discovered that the company had been reporting incorrect numbers for at least five years. Analyze the accounts impacted and / or accounting guidelines violated and the resulting impact to the business operation. Perhaps Enron could have been somewhat successful by branching out into the commodities business creating an international, privatized water market. Enron’s leaders in 1998 set up a subsidiary called Azurix with a major water concession in England, but British regulators cut the firms rates-and Enrons style was significantly cramped. Azurixs expansion into Brazil also worked out badly due to local politics. Enron hid the mounting debts in an off-the-balance-sheet partnership. This became a common Enron technique and led to the kind of debt load that became unsustainable when investors lost confidence in Enrons numbers (Snider, 2006), according to Snider (2006), Farrow, the former Enron chief financial officer, said that Enron’s banks played important role in the corporation fraud. They operated as the masterminds behind the system to defraud investors. The banks, by offering fake, illegal and not approved by regulators deals, played a significant role in helping Enron falsify company financial statements and mislead investors. It was the banks that instructed Enron how to deal with the company’s significant financial challenges. If stated, dividend targets could not be met by Enron, and the company would have had to generate more cash flow to maintain its credit ratings. The banks assisted to design the fake and deceptive deals. The banks helped Enron to hide the debt which was not showing up on the books by replacing bad assets through creation shell companies. These shell companies, run by Enron executives who profited richly from them, allowed Enron to keep hundreds of millions of dollars in debt off its books. Also, loan transactions were reported as cash flow instead of debt. These finances were not shown in the financial statements. Review of Accounting Ethics Page 8 This action would lead the company’s stock and hurt most of investors across the country (Halbert T. Ingulli, E. (2009). As a CFO, recommend which measures could have been taken to prevent this ethical breach and how each measure should be implemented in the future. Enron was liable for the action of its agents and employees, because most taken actions, which lead Enron into bankruptcy, were taken inside the corporation. Enron officers and managers repaid the banks by access to special deals; premium payments and insider access to future beneficial transactions (Maximizing Business Performance, 2007). In order to avoid situation that took place in Enron Corp. there are some actions that should be taken within an organization. First of all, there should be analysis of culture within the organization including norms of behavior, standards of conduct, values, perspective of attitudes, perceptions, pressures to commit misconduct, communications, risks and vulnerabilities. The Code of Ethics should be complied by Board Members and Senior Executives as well as by all employees. Measures they recommend should include staff training, evaluations of compliance systems, appropriate funding and staffing of the corporate ethics office. An organization has to make sure that consulting and auditing are separated while financing auditing has its independence with integrity. Moreover, managing proper communication regarding expectations, requirements, goals and roles at all levels is significant to constitute ethical behavior within an organization. Establishing an Ethics Committee helps to focus on ethical conduct and empower employees to make decisions according to organization’s values. Enron and other corporations need better financial disclosure mechanisms. The Financial Accounting Standards Board, responsible for rule making in the area, has to create regulations and standards that are more Review of Accounting Ethics Page 9 forth right and understandable to ordinary people. In addition, corporations need more responsible public servants, instead of creating more laws. We need to teach people to be responsible for what they have done, just as we have held the business people to accountability. Conclusion Since the objective of accounting is to provide relevant, timely information for user decision making, therefore, Accountants must behave in an ethical manner so that the information they provide will be trustworthy and, thus, useful for decision making. The purpose of ethics in accounting is to direct accountants to abide by the code of conduct that facilitates and encourage public confidence in their services. Ethics are moral principles that guide the conduct of individuals but unfortunately, some accountants sometimes behave in an unethical manner. These ethical violations led to fines, firings, and lawsuits. In some cases, accountants were criminally prosecuted, convicted, and sent to prison. References Snider, D. (2006, September 26). University of California, San Francisco. UC Says Farrow Implicated Banks in Enron Fraud. Retrieved April 27, 2013 from http://ucsf. edu/ stories/uc-says-farrow-implicated-banks-in-enron-fraud Halbert T Ingulli, E. (2009). Law Ethics in the Business Environment: 2010 custom edition (6th ed. ). Mason, OH: South-Western Cengage Learning White J. (2000). Ethics in Business. Retrieved April 27, 2013, from http://www. pro2net. com Sims, R. R. (1992). Journal of Business Ethics, 11: 651–662. Committee of the Board of Directors of Enron Corp. Retrieved April 27, 2013, from http://fl1. findlaw. com/news. findlaw. com/wp/docs/enron/specinv020102rpt1. pdf

A Report On Managing Across Cultures Management Essay

A Report On Managing Across Cultures Management Essay The new wave of internationalisation and globalisation demands that businesses operate across the globe promoting the exchange of trade investment emigrations and the like. To remain competitive businesses must be equipped to operate across the globe which invariably means across different cultures. Consequently, adequate measures creating the right environment to conduct business successfully across the different cultures of the world in this new age is definitely imperative. The following report briefly attempts to address these recurrent inadequacies that often derail lucrative global business endeavours by trying to highlight a simple structure of initial planning, followed up by proper positioning and the final execution that can serve to assist in the management of the people that are the driving force that engineer businesses across the different cultures of the world. The methodology employed in collating this report from introduction to conclusion was via research into provided materials to decipher the required data and information that could allow the required findings emerge to shed light on more information on managing across cultures with a view contribute to this predominate predicament. INTRODUCTION Managing, it can be stated, is simply the process of directing, organising or controlling in a desired way, while culture, in very broad term is the way of life of people characterized by, amongst others things, their behaviour, beliefs and traits. The aim of this report on à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã…“Managing Across Culturesà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚  is to identify and explain some best practices that can be applied by managers in business when managing cross-cultural staff. It is by no means an exhaustive account of all the practices that can be applied when dealing with cross-cultural staff. The term cross-cultural staffs, simply implies staff that come from different cultural backgrounds. In this report three key stages will be used to signify the vital processes required in managing across cultures. These stages are as follows: (1) Innovation, (2) Preparation and (3) Implementation. These stages follow each other sequentially in the management of cross cultural staff and there is an attempt to show a correlation between all three stages whilst discussing the guiding principles involved in each stage. The research is sourced from renowned online academic books, journals, blogs and newspaper articles provided by the resident librarian at the university of Bedfordshire Luton park square campus Peter Godwin. Finally due to adherence to strict word limitation set for the report the explanations at each stage of the key guiding principles and application of given theories are reasonably concise but still effective. FINDINGS 1. Innovation The original convention that all management ideas and principles being generated from the core albeit suggestions from all other parts that make up the entire management chain is now proving less tenable when it comes to managing cross cultural staff successfully. Morden day practices now call for contributions from different parts of the management chain to put together ideologies that will apply adequately to cross cultural staff. There are two forms of management ideologies: Cultural control and Bureaucratic control, practiced by multinational businesses that manage cross cultural staff on a regular basis, with the cultural control being more successful than the bureaucratic control (Berry et al, p. 381). The former, on the one hand, involves the use of trained managers sent from the headquarters of the business to different locations to manage staff with policies modified to suit the local cultures of these locations. A good illustration of this managing ideology is presenting the text of company policy in the local language or languages where the company is located. For example, an English or American multinational company located in France will present the text of the company policy and all other correspondence to staff in French language though the original communiquÃÆ' © to the manager may be sent in English language. The latter, on the other hand, involves issuing guidelines for all aspect of staff a ctivities from the headquarters to all the branches of the business at different locations where managers are expected to manage staff with policies based on these guidelines. However, it should be noted that from surveys conducted, although the bureaucratic control model is more cost effective than the cultural control model in the short term, the latter will stand the company in good stead in terms of productivity, profits and staffs turn over in the long term (Berry et al, p. 381). There are other management ideologies that stem from propositions of convergence, divergence and the culture specific theories (Vecchi and Brennan 2009, p. 151). The convergence proposition supports the position that in a global age managers of cross-cultural staff adopt successful practices of their colleagues that manage other cross cultural staff to attain a high level of quality management, a practice that will work positively for cross cultural management in conjunction with the cultural control pattern of management. The divergent proposition that stands negatively against cross cultural management being more akin to bureaucratic control pattern seeks to support the position that maintaining one basic national management practice as prescribed from the central controlling body thereby disregarding the inputs of local cultures. The culture specific proposition serves to illustrate the significant influence of culture on management practices when managing cross-cultural staff. When this proposition is applied using Geert Hofstede (1980) five cultural dimensions as a comparative index, it is revealed that managers are able to appreciate the different responses of cross cultural staff based on the nature of the cultural frame work that could be either power distance, individualist, masculine, uncertainty avoidance or long term orientation. Accordingly, based on the above principle an analogy of staff from a culture with a comparatively higher power distance index may share a less cordial relationship with the manager than staff from lower levels of this cultural dimension (Vecchi and Brennan p.151). Staff from an individualist culture may tend to work better alone on most tasks while those from collectivist cultures may tend to perform better in a group. Masculine cultures may produce staffs that are target focused while feminine cultures may produce staffs that are customer centred. Those from cultures with high uncertainty avoidance will tend to be more emotional and structured in their actions while those from low uncertainty avoidance may tend to be more spontaneous and adapt quickly to change. The staff from cultures with long term orientation may tend to be tenacious and prudent while those from short term orientation may tend to be more retentive of habitual values and commitments. 2. Preparation The preparation process that is borne out of the management innovations comprises of cross cultural training. This practice follows naturally as the second step when operating a management ideology of cultural control with a convergence type attitude taking cognisance of the cultural framework of your cross cultural staff. The training is required for every employee to prepare them for their future cross cultural environments. The training of the staff can be conducted through a computer based interactive programme that each staff is mandated to take individually, a successful scheme that Accenture have conducted with relative success (Murray, 1985). Also, the training can take the form of re-enactments of actual culturally sensitive scenarios that have occurred in the work place by professional artists to heighten their effect with a view to correcting what ever misconstrued notions, attitudes and behaviours that the employees may have developed as a result of this cultural misunderstanding. This training pattern was successfully conducted by Lehman Brothers (Murray, 1985). There are other patterns of training involving, spontaneous on the spot addressing of cross cultural incidents born out of cultural misunderstanding that occur within the work environment. This training solution has been successfully deplored by a London based inter-cultural training consultancy, Future Considerations (Murray 1985). The training of managers to apply western styled management techniques to others cultures and vice versa (Berry et al, p. 383). The personal and impersonal domain patterns of leadership techniques include technocratic and charismatic leadership and participative leadership, team work and reward schemes respectively. The personal domain will be easily appreciated by cultures that are of low power distance index, uncertainty avoidance and long term orientation but are individualist and masculine, while the impersonal domain will appeal more to cultures that are of the reverse. 3. Implementation The implementation process of actualizing the foregoing stages also follows naturally from the preparation stage. At this stage, all employees,à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢ managers and staff inclusive are encouraged to put the training brought about by the ideologies into practice to reflect the desired management direction. The idea of cultural collaboration, it has now been discovered, to be the end result of innovative management ideologies reinforced through inter cultural training. A simple illustration can be drawn from an exercise where an anthropologist observing staff of a company with cross cultural staff who regularly meet in a designated section of their office that was scheduled for reorganisation that would relocate certain furniture that the staff had cause to deliberated over thereby individually expressing their ideas on work related issues borne out of their cultural background that usually led to positive results arrived at harmoniously. Based on the advice of the anthropolo gist, the furniture was not relocated instead more designated sections were created in other sections of the company to promote cultural collaboration amongst cross cultural staff (Marrewijk, 2009). The idea of cultural collaboration as a positive tool in management across cultures cannot be over emphasised because it creates a harmonious environment where acceptance of cultural diversity can thrive without reprove. CONCLUTION In this report, the focus has been on an attempt to present key stages that are by no means exhaustive or independently distinctive, involved in the process of managing across cultures in a concise and effective way. As a result, three stages: innovation, preparation and implementation were identified. The innovation stage is where the ideologies on cross-cultural management are formulated, the preparation stage is where these ideologies are developed and the implementation stage is where these developed ideologies are manifested. In sum, innovation leads to developed ideologies and the result: desired better successful management across cultures and of cross-cultural staff.

Barriers to Sustainable Tourism Development

Barriers to Sustainable Tourism Development Bagan (Myanmar) is one of the peripheral regions of Myanmar where there has only attraction for tourists. According to Oxford dictionary, peripheral nations are the third world countries those are still in the developing stage with a very low standard of living (Oxford Dictionary). According to Brown (2000), the peripheral regions rely on conventional industries and there has no or low economic growth. Bagan is one of the destinations where full with tourist’s attractions but the government does not support anything to that area for economic growth. Actually the Bagan has attractive sceneries that are valuable for tourism industry. Most of the people in peripheral regions are old people because young generations rely on technologies and migrate to other place where developed areas (urban areas). The main business of Myanmar is agriculture and the government should promote the country as a popular destination to become a developed country. Also Bagan is very interesting place. But there has so many barriers to develop the peripheral regions like Bagan, Myanmar. Some of the barriers are lack of knowledge, poor transportation system, lack of government support, lack of infrastructure and no tourism planning. In Bagan, local people are doing handicraft and most of the people are vendors and farmers so they have no knowledge about tourism. That is why the government should promote the destination (Bagan) to local tour agencies. Furthermore, there has no tour agency in Bagan. When the government promotes the place, tour agency will set up their company in destinations. And that company will provide the job and provide the trainee to local people for participating in sustainable tourism development and language section. Most of the people from peripheral region cannot speak interna tional language, English. Provide the trainee sections that provide the acknowledgement of tourism is the best solution for solving the barrier (limited knowledge). Also should provide the English language class for people who want to work in tourism and hospitality industry. Knowing about tourism can be one of the opportunities to create job as well as can increase the local people income. There can be increase the number of visitors when developing sustainable tourism and that can improve the lifestyle of local people and can increase the Gross Domestic Profit (GDP) of country as well. And another one of the main barriers is no tourism planning in that peripheral region (Bagan, Myanmar). The government should develop the tourism planning by cooperation with tour operator. Tour operator is the person or organization that can knew everything about the tourism such as what type of media should use, what kind of place can be tourist’s attraction, which type of people should we use in specific area and so on. The tourism planning is the very first step for developing sustainable tourism development. That tourism planning can address the policies, zoning and etc. The policy can make the local people happy. This is because the local people will feel upset when their place is more visitors than local people. Zoning can help not only to the natural resources but also to the local people. If the tour operator make zoning can help both tourism industry and local areas. As an example Bagan should create zone for tourists and that zone is especially for economic zone. Th is is because now Bagan is very few local people and that can affect to them if there has no zoning. Furthermore, the government should make long term plan. They should think at least ten years plan for local people. This is because there can appear many business (private companies) from around the country. If the government did not create long term plan, the local people will feel annoy to both tourists and private sectors. So government should consider for the local people because they are the main sector that can sustain tourism development in their region. According to Parlato (2004), â€Å"an altruistic attitude towards the environment, resulting in behavioral change, is more likely to occur if motivation to do so is on a personal and individual level, through one’s own beliefs as well as value system rather than if it were enforced legally or simply viewed as a social or political ideal†. There cannot be sustainable tourism develop where there has no each local (personal) involvement in planning. Also each of everyone can change their mind in within a second so the government should do make sure plan for their future. In addition, the government should consider about the local people beliefs and values. Furthermore, local people will fully support when the government consider what they beliefs and values for their life. Those beliefs and values can build trust between local people and government. And that can solve the barriers of unbelievable in government. Effective local people cooperation is hardly to get when the g overnment used power to them. According to Butler (1999), the problem for sustainable tourism development is hardly to clarify the meaning of word and also that can focus on the weakness points of destination. The meaning of sustainable tourism development is rarely to hear for local people and sometime that can be misunderstanding between local people and other stakeholders. So the tour operators should introduce the exactly meaning and accurate information to local people for preventing the conflicts. The worse results can come out for development when there has problem with local people. This is because local people are the core center that can support in sustainable development. Another barrier is the destination is lack of tourist’s facilities. Tourist’s facilities are hotel, motel, guest house for accommodation, train, car, bus for transportation, restaurant, bar for food and beverage and so on. The peripheral region like Bagan is lack of those facilities for attracting more tourists. Even there has no international accommodation such as Hilton, Marriott, etc. The government should open up the international business. This is because some tourists thinks they are so loyal while they stay at international standard as well as some tourists did not choose the place there has no international hotels. If the government wants to develop sustainable tourism, firstly they should create or open up the business for facilities. Furthermore, local hotel developers will come in and set up their business in the region. So that can be advantages for people who live in that destination. In addition, the local developer can observe knowledge from the internati onal hotel for improving the standard and attract more visitors to come. Open up economic sector is the most important thing. Sources: trading economics (2013) This graph can show how important the open up economy is. This graph shows the number of tourists’ arrivals in Myanmar and can see the differences between before and after open up economy. Also transportation is one of the most important things that we have to think for developing. There will be less tourists will come when there has poor transportation system. Having a bad tourism leaders can rain the sustain development. In peripheral region or people from developing countries have limited knowledge about tourism. Sometime they just emphasized on the short-term profits and never consider the things can happen in near future. For example, a tourism leader who has only skill that can make money or profits a lot but cannot sustain. So the tourism leader should be knowledgeable about tourism, also can motivate to people for supporting and cooperate as well. A features of good tourism leader is a person who Can able to motivate others, Can access to an extensive network both within and outside the community, Can support the values of the community and enthusiastic about the region and its tourism potential as well (Moscardo, 2005). As a summary, the tourism industry of Bagan cannot get profits as they expected because of the knowledge of tourism barriers. For solving those barriers, government should build the trust between local people also the good tourism leaders can manage all the things. In addition, the government or other stakeholders providing trainee section to local people for their lacking knowledge. As a result, that can develop a very successful stainable tourism development in peripheral region and can enter and improve the local standard to global standard of business. References Sala,S., Castellan,V. (2010). Sustainable performance index for tourism policy development. Tourism development, 31(6), 971-880. Retrieved from http://www.sciencedirect.com.elibrary.jcu.edu.au/science/article/pii/S0261517709001721# Tip, B. P. (2009). SUSTAINABLE TOURISM.International Trade Forum,(1), 21-23. Retrieved from http://search.proquest.com/docview/231383924?accountid=16285 Reid,M., Schwab,W. (2006). Barriers to Sustainable Development. Aisan and Africa Studies, 41, 20. Retrieved from http://jas.sagepub.com.elibrary.jcu.edu.au/content/41/5-6/439.full.pdf+html McIntyre, K. (2011). 2011 WEDF: SUSTAINABLE TOURISM DEVELOPMENT. International Trade Forum, (2), 9-11. Retrieved from http://search.proquest.com/docview/896731062?accountid=16285 http://www.premierwritings.com/barriers-to-sustainable-tourism-development-in-peripheral-regions/ Brown, F. (2000). Tourism In Peripheral Areas: case Studies: Aspects of Tourism, MultilingualMatters. Parlato, M. (2004). Ecotourism and the Maltese islands: A Case study. Rural Recreation and Tourism Publications of the Royal Agricultural College, Cirencester, Unpublished Master’s Dissertation Dodds, Rachel and Butler, Richard (2009): Barriers to implementing Sustainable Tourism Policy in Mass Tourism Destinations. Published in: TOURISMOS: An International Multidisciplinary Journal of Tourism, Vol. 5, No. 1 (15. April 2010): pp. 35-53 Trading Economics. (n.d.). International tourism number of arrivals in Myanmar. Retrieved from http://www.tradingeconomics.com/myanmar/international-tourism-number-of-arrivals-wb-data.html Moscardo, G. (2005) Peripheral tourism development: Challenges, issues and success factors. Tourism Recreation Research, 30(1), 27-44.

The Concept of Information :: Exploratory Research

The Concept of Information There is such a point of view that information is an abstract unit as an invariant of informational processes. Information consists of object, procedural and morphological components.We have an opportunity to consider that information consists of object and procedural components. So we have the relation-functional concept of information.Information has such attributes as syntactics, semantics and pragmatics. These attributes are relational definitions. Semantics and pragmatics are considered to be external features (characteristics) of the definite syntactics. Information may be considered as an universal property of matter (attributive concept) or as a property of self-managing (cybernetic) system (functional concept). Then we can not get a full understanding of information, universal and flexible enough. So it is necessary to widen and develop the definition of information. There are two basic ways of unification of any concept: a) abstracting, b) integration. The classical theory of information and cybernetics used the first - abstracting. It means the volume ("demanded place") expressed by the quantity of bites. It is a quantity of information. The semiotics used the second way. It means the sign system (sign), the unity of three attributes - syntactic, semantics and pragmatics. In this work integration (abstracting) concept of information is offered. For the final description, we said that information is consist of 1) object (attributive), 2) procedural (functional) and 3) morphological (structural) components. We must offer two definitions for further developing the concept of information. These are a message and a language. Language is a sign system with alphabet, vocabulary and grammar. Message is a definite construction in a definite language. Any language is an interface (means of interaction) between users (communication function) or between users and environment. Exchange of information is possible by plunge into definite surroundings - own language of this message. Any message is a set of signs without such a plunge. So information can not exist in "a pure state", without physical bearer. We also point out that information can exist as messages. Information may be extracted from messages. Thus we say object component is realized by messages, procedural component is realized by grammar, morphological is realized by material bearers. We may examine information as a unit with two components: object and procedural. Then we have a relation concept of information. It means a ratio between properties of the object, which consist of tables and charts. The second concept is a set of specific procedures. We may use a philosophical concept of information.

Volleyball Essay -- essays research papers

Volleyball The sport of volleyball was created by a man named William G. Morgan of Holyoke, Massachusetts in 1895. Morgan was a physical education teacher at the YMCA and called it "mintonette". It was an indoor or outdoor pastime that had characteristics of both handball and tennis. The first rules were written down by Morgan himself. He wrote that the game called for a 6 foot 6 inch net and a court of 25x50 feet. A match composed of 9 innings and 3 serves for each team in each inning. In case of a serving error they got a second chance just like in tennis. If the ball it the net on a serve it was considered a foul and it caused a side out or a point was taken away. In 1896 after a demonstration at the YMCA in Springfield and the name "Mintonette" was replaced with the name "Volleyball". In 1900 the rules were modified and the height of the net went up to 7 feet 6 inches. Also a match length was set at 21 points. Also in 1900 Canada was the first foreign coun try to adopt the game of Volleyball. In 1906 the country of Cuba discovered volleyball thanks to Thanks to a North American army officer named Agusto York who took part in the second military intervention. In 1908 volleyball reached Japan. Hyozo Omori a graduate at Springfield college in the United States who was the first to demonstrate the rules of the game at the YMCA in Tokyo. In 1910 volleyball officially landed in China. Between 1912 and now many of the rules changed and changed again. In 1924 it was demonstrated at the Olympics in Paris under the show of American sports. In 1938 the Chzechs perfected blocking and was officially introduced to the rules. In 1942 William G. Morgan the creator of volleyball died at the age of 68. He felt no jealousy when the sport he created grew and developed. In 1945 the first volleyball postage stamp was released in Romania. In 1947 Egypt was the first Arab and African country to organize a national federation. In 1952 the first women's world championship was held in Moscow and won by the USSR. In 1960 the first World Championship for men was held outside of Europe in Brazil. In 1965 the first world cup was held in Poland and was won by the USSR. In 1973 t... ... the serving team, fails to pass through the crossing space, lands out or lands after a screen. The definition of an attack it is directing the ball toward the opponent except a serve or a block. The attack hit is completed after the ball crosses the plane of the net. An illegal service leads to a side-out and change of service. Things that lead up to this call would be a violation of the service order or messes up the toss twice. There are many restrictions to a back row player. They cannot attack and put a foot in front of the ten foot line while hitting but can land in the ten foot zone. The Refing staff usually consists of two line refs. An up Ref. And down Ref. are located at each ends of the net. Volleyball is truly one of the great All - American sports. It has grown and developed a lot since it was first made up and changes are still being made. Volleyball has not hit such a great national level as it has in other countries and is not a sports gold mine like the NBA or NFL but maybe, hopefully one day it will be just as or more popular. From 1895 to now from Mintonette to the Olympics, volleyball has improved and has been almost perfected.

Abstract Advantages and Disadvantages of Technology Essay

Statement of the Problem This study sought to identify the advantages and disadvantages of modern technology based on the perception of 2nd year BSAMT students. Specifically it answers the following questions 1. What are the reasons of the students in using modern technology? 2. What are the effects of using modern technology in the learning of students? 3. How can the students maximize the use of technology in learning? Research Design The design of this study is a survey method which refers to a descriptive approach. It has the intention to determine the correlation between subtopics. Included in this study’s sample population of hundreds respondents to ensure the validity of the estimate of the overall relationship between the variables obtained. Findings 1. The total number of respondents that comprised our data gathering is 168 2nd year BS Aircraft Maintenance Technology from different sections. 2. Most 2nd year AMT students take 1-2 hours/day of WIFI usage for Educational purposes pointing out that using technology students can lessen their time in doing their homework. Though some takes more than 3 to 5 or even more hours in using it indicating that they are mostly using the internet nowadays rather than books. 3. If WIFI was ever possible in the school the respondents mostly answered that they will use it generally for learning unlike the other respondents you answered to use it for playing and socializing. WIFI connection brings us the world wide web to the palm of  our hands it may be advantages for learning it is still open disadvantages such as gaming and socializing which is a distraction in a students learning. 4. Ever since technology incorporated applications in our mobile phones it has helped us every day from personal and school activities indicating that it is now essentials in our lifestyle since the respondents answered mostly that mobile phones and their apps is the biggest benefit of using digital media in the classroom. 5. PATTS is on the verge in improving and incorporating technology in its facilities and from the respondents they have chosen that the school should focus on mounting projectors in each classroom together with speakers to integrate audio visual learning which will benefit the students well because through the use of projectors instructors can now PowerPoint their lessons, play videos to understand complicated things like (e.g. â€Å"how a rocket works?†) 6. The school has provided its library with computers so it can help students research topics and lessons in the school with internet. Though it lacks performance in terms of the computers being used that it needs improvement as said by the respondents that the internet connection is sometimes not working and the computers performance is slow and laggy therefore reducing its worth and functionality in the school. 7. Respondents answered that projectors is neither agree nor disagree in making them more active and attentive in class. Agree because they are able to understand the lessons very well and disagree because they tend to be sleepier because some instructors just read their presentations. 8. Internet/online is better than books is neither agree nor disagree. Agree because they are a lot easier to find by simply using a computer and just copy paste and printing it. While others answered disagreeing because some online e references are opinionated therefore not good sources for getting information. 9. Taking pictures of lessons written on the board is better than writing notes is neither agree nor disagree. Agree because you don’t have to write anymore and just saved photos and just view it later and also you don’t have to bring notebooks anymore. Disagree because they don’t have high pixeled camera to take pictures from their phones or better yet they still prefer writing in notebooks. 10. Respondents answered neither agree nor disagree in taking notes by using camera, it will be difficult to remember and understand the topic discussed. Agree because they will just  lean to their picture notes therefore not reading or even studying it. Disagree because with their notes they can study them on their phones. 11. Using laptops and projectors in class make learning more efficient is neither agree nor disagree. Agree because they can use laptops to help them in their studying habits, disagree because they tend to use notebooks and just prefer to listen to their instructors. Conclusions Based on the respondents answer and the researchers findings and interpretations. The researchers has derived conclusions that would give clarity to what this thesis is seeking to answer. 1. The reasons why students use modern technology in learning because it helps them in their studying habits and even doing their homework with ease. It also is a tool in the classroom through projectors which also helps the instructors deliver their lessons clearly. Through the internet we can research information obtained from google understanding things more gaining more ideas. 2. The effects of using modern technology in learning of the students have its good and bad sides. Good because the research time span for researching will decrease and it can help in finding more information in a short time. With that we can gain more ideas about the topic to make class discussions more interesting at school. Making the student more ready for school. The bad side when it is not used properly and it is merely used for gaming and socializing rather than learning it can create may distractions for students and it can also be a cause for them to fail their classes. Therefore it is still in the students choice whether he will use it wisely. 3. Students can maximize their learning when their school technology incorporated already using modern technology in their curriculum. Like WIFI connections and computers with programs to help each and every student in their school activities. Also we have to raise awareness to students on how technology be able to aid them in their studies therefore maximizing their learning capabilities and ideas. Recommendations According to the conducted research, survey and observation by the researchers, Modern technology is neither advantage nor disadvantage but, if PATTS is willing to put money on improving its facilities it will be an advantage. 1. In order for the PATTS to cope up with schools, PATTS should incorporate modern technology in their curriculum to improve the education of its courses to have a name especially in the aviation industry. An aviation school like PATTS needs a major upgrade especially in its enrollment system school nowadays use online enrollment and they can even view their grades at home. 2. Researchers recommend that PATTS should try M-LEARNING (what is M-Learning? Is a new educational paradigm, that creates an environment in which students access to course materials, instructions and applications anytime and anywhere) taking the school’s curriculum to a technology based learning bring a lot of opportunities in one students learning for example with M-Learning a student can study anywhere as long as there is access to an internet connection, can work at own pace and can accommodate different learning styles through different activities. 3. Given the idea that 2nd year AMT students in PATTS have neither agreed nor disagreed about the advantages and disadvantages of modern technology in their learning we would like to recommend the study be conducted again. Given the changing nature of technology a series of studies, based on our model, would document improvements and thereby increase the potential that decisions regarding the composition of modern technology in learning would lessen bias and answer the question whether modern technology is a neither advantage nor disadvantage in learning.

Nursing Study Guide Essay

Health Resource Commission  provides grant funding to health departments and safety net providers who seek to provide improved access to primary care services 1. Accomplishments of some historical PHNs and Public Health leaders, See list in module one. ? Lillian Wald- founder of public health nursing , founded the Henry Street Settlement with her classmate and business partner Mary Brewster in 1893. The service began as a health promotion effort, teaching methods to prevent infectious disease, sanitation and nutrition to a group of poor immigrants ? Florence Nightingale- changed the image of nursing after the Crimean War when she reduced mortality from 77% to 2%. Nightingale also played a significant role in establishing district nursing ? Mary Brewster- acute and long term care for the sick and health promotion and disease prevention ? Lina Rogers Clara Barton- Founded red cross Ada Mayo Stewart- Occupational Health Leader Pearl Mciver- 1st nurse employed by USPHS Loretta Ford Rear Admiral Carol Romano Ruth Freeman- PH nurse, educator, and leader 2. What are the Core Functions of Public Health? * Assessment:  systematic data collection on the population, monitoring he population’s health status, and making information available about the health of the community. * Policy Development:  efforts to develop policies that support the health of the population, including a scientific knowledge base to make policy decisions. * Assurance:  making sure essential community- oriented health services are available. These services might include providing essential personal health services for those who would otherwise not receive them. Also includes making sure that a competent public health and personal care workforce is available.