Pizza! the Best Party Food Essay

Ding! Dong! â€Å"The pizza’s here everybody†. What do you mostly always eat when there is a party? What do you expect to eat at a party? That’s right! It’s pizza. A party without pizza is like a store without anything to sell. Some reasons that it is the best party food is that everybody eats it and is easy to get. Another reason is that everyone loves it. So why not get pizza the next time you decide to throw a party. First of all, lactose intolerant people aside, who doesn’t love when the pizza guy arrives at the door with, boxes of that deliciousness. Also it is the easiest thing to get for a party is pizza. Its so hard to cook for anywhere from 50-100 people. That would take hours of work and make the house smell bad. Why not just spend 60 dollars and get about seven whole boxes of Pizza Hut, Domino’s, DiGiorno’s, or anything else. Its saves so much time and the trouble of cooking. Also who knows if they will honestly even like the food you cook. When getting pizza you know everybody will eat it because the hosts of parties know people love pizza. Do you want to be remembered as a good host or party thrower? Then go buy pizza. You will probably spend that much on whatever you are cooking any way. So take the easy way out, and also the smart way. Next, everyone enjoys pizza, name one person that just doesn’t enjoy pizza. The perfect blend of cheese, tomato, and bread gets everyone’s mouths watering. Everyone just can’t resist from taking a slice. On the other hand it also tastes very good with drinks such as sodas. You can have all the wings and breadsticks you want but no matter what it won’t be a party without pizza. If I ever met someone who doesn’t like pizza I would interrogate him with questions. Did you ever even try it? Are you crazy? What’s wrong with you? What planet have you come from? Good thing I have never met anyone like that. Pizza is also rated the peoples’ most favorite food worldwide. So at a party you know it’s pretty demanding. If people don’t get pizza then it will make the guests unhappy and unsatisfied in their stomach. Overall there is no way around it. Pizza is the king of the party. It is the stomach filler. It is the most essential ingredient to making a successful party.

Sarcasm in News

North Korea, one of the most modern country in the world and well know of their great military power to protect their own country per their own claim. The government has spent huge amount of money in development of their weapon technology : from nuclear bomb to missiles. The citizens of North Korea are too proud of having such a wise government to allocate all their resources on weapon development instead of economics. They have been living peacefully. This Just mirrored a quote from Steve Jobs : stay hungry, stay happy ( originally Is stay hungry, ATA foolish).A Democratic Presidential Election? As they want to be a member In the democratic world. , recently, they conducted a presidential election. What they believe Is this mechanism can serve a tool to shake hand with the western and express their democratic culture. The voting system Is designed as below: the voter will be given a choice. The ballot paper contained two boxes: one In which to vote for the party , and another where anyone who doesn't support the ruling party could write their name and address.As you can see, the voting process is widely open without anonymous vote. Isn't that wonderful? No need to be anonymous, just let everyone know who's your best choice. Eventually, the election is fair, open and peaceful. What percentage of the vote do you think: 52%, 63% or 85%? The answer is 100%. According to the official report, it said that 99. 97% of all registered voters across the country participated in the election, and 100% of them voted for the candidates were elected. The outcome equally expresses the absolute support and rust of all voters in the country.After the election, they have received congratulation letter from Iran : they described my election as â€Å"overjoyed to see that the hearts of the Korean people are fully behind their glorious chairman. † The U. S. President Obama is busy with his golf game and can not response this immediately. The only candidate and the final winne r Kim Gong-UN encourages him to comment this election result on his Face Book. The greet leader is willing to offer the successful experience to America.Sarcasm in News By Minnie eroded a quote from Steve Jobs : stay hungry, stay happy ( originally is stay hungry, stay foolish). A Democratic Presidential Election? As they want to be a member in the believe is this mechanism can serve a tool to shake hand with the western and express their democratic culture. The voting system is designed as below: the voter will be given a choice. The ballot paper contained two boxes: one in which to vote for the party , and another where anyone who doesn't support the ruling party could without anonymous vote. Isn't that wonderful? No need to be anonymous, Just let

Motivation Analysis Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Motivation Analysis - Essay Example Google expects its employees to be determined and innovative. With a casual environment in Googolplex, the organization expects employees to deliver its best and work effectively. Google Inc was founded in the year 1998 by Sergey Brin and Larry Page, which focuses on delivering the best search experience on WWW, the World Wide Web. Google with its technology and series of innovation helps its users to find information about any possible thing that the users search for with accuracy, ease and relevancy. Google offers search in multi language and offers new products and services such as advertising and web application. The products and services offered by Google include services such as Google Ad words editor which is a desktop application which is used to handle accounts of Google ad words. Google chrome a web browser and can be run in Windows XP, Vista, 7, Linux, Gun and OS X. Google Desktop, Google earth, Gmail, Google Picasa, Google photo screen saver, Google sketch, Google calendar, Google maps and others (Google-a, n.d). Google founder Sergey Brin and Larry Page had bought Google into life in 1998 and since then the company has grown immensely and today it has about 20,000 employees worldwide and its management team which represents the most experienced professionals (Google-b, n.d). The observable components of Google’s motivational strategy and methods that influences the effort and quality of work of employees are compensation which includes pay, bonuses, raises, company expenses accounts and other incentives. Google has been regarded as the best company by employees to work for and this because Google tends to offers all the compensation to its employees. Google provides a decent pay package for its employees and as per reports Google has increased salary by 10% and $1000 cash bonus as a part of its competitive compensation plan (Dorian, 2011). Google has come up with new incentives to reward employees who perform outstandingly. The award to be

From Literate to Electronic Communication Essay

From Literate to Electronic Communication - Essay Example Lorimer, et al. (2012, p 39) explains that there exists interpersonal and mass media in activities of media as it tries to define various aspects of the society. Interpersonal media links the sender to the receiver of information while mass media de-links the two. Apart from thee two categories of media, there has emerged a third one; network media. Its uniqueness is that it combines the other two. It can create a geographical network for sharing information where everyone in the internet is both sender and receiver of information depending on the circumstance one is in. Examples of network media in use include teleconferencing, the World Wide Web and email. Networking media has brought into perspective the overlapping nature of the other two such that we can not precisely define the boundary between interpersonal and mass media. This is because even the interpersonal media such as telephone can be used to reach most people through broadcasting. Today, media has recreated itself and as such, is categorized based on mode of operations which include: the channel of communication such as print or electronic, the sense of experience of the media whether visual or aural, economic modality such as direct cost, indirect cost and pay per usage costs. The ever changing nature of media has led to considerations to categorize media material based on the institutions that produce and distribute them. Technology level involved in the production of the media is also used to classify them. Availability of information on the World Wide Web through the internet has met great criticism and opposition from authorities in the society such as parents as well as the government and organizational administrators. People access... From Literate to Electronic Communication Evolution of communication Lorimer, et al (2012 p 26) suggests that the evolution from literate to electronic communication can be dated back to the discovery of the printing press which ultimately changed the landscape as the society switched from the overreliance on monks for information to typed and stored literary materials. Ultimately, the authority of controlling writing and translation moved from the church to secular world leading to the development of secular society and knowledge as opposed to the previous existing religious knowledge. The battle the ensued between the church and the secular writers and this was the jump pad towards information independence. The ability to retrieve, through scanning, such written materials enabled people to do critical analysis of information and point out inconsistencies. This was not possible with the spoken word which was considered highly perishable and could not be stored. Writing provided a form of interpersonal media other than mass media as people could communicate personally and individually through written messages. Media has transformed to become the identity of reality since it is through the media that truth is passed to the targeted audience. As such, there is the ambiguous concept of ‘mediamaking’ where as the media defines the direction of the world, the world also shapes the media to become what it should people. Media passes information while the people receiving the information improve the media to serve them best.

Wal-Mart v. Dukes Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Wal-Mart v. Dukes - Research Paper Example The case passed through the district court, ninth Circuit, ninth Circuit en banc and finally to the US Supreme Court in which the Supreme Court reversed the decision of the ninth Circuit en banc on numerous grounds which attracts vehement support on my part. 1. Arguments in favor of the Supreme Court decision There are numerous reasons for the correctness of the decision of the Supreme Court, which may be found on the judgment itself as passed by the Supreme Court, and summed up as follows: I) There must be a common mode of exercising discretion which should be present throughout the company and the respondents in this case were unable to show it. It was unbelievable to conclude by the justices that all the managers would exercise discretion in a common way without any common direction. (Wal Mart 15-16). II) The statistical evidence which was provided by the respondents was insufficient to prove their theory on a class wide basis even if it is taken that they were correct prima facie (Wal Mart 16). III) As per Rule 23(a) (2), it was to find out whether even a single common question existed between the class in order to determine commonality for a class action and found by the court that as the respondents could not provide any convincing evidence to show that a companywide discriminatory and promotion policy existed, the existence of any common question is not established (Wal Mart 19). IV) The respondents also provided anecdotal evidence in support. Respondents submitted about 120 affidavits, which is equivalent to 1 for every 12,500 members in this case. Half of the reports are concentrated only on six states and half of all the States have only one or two cases of sexual discrimination. 14 States have no anecdotes. Even if all the accounts are taken to be true it does not show that the whole company operates under a common policy of discrimination (Wal Mart 18). V) If the plea for monetary relief of the respondent under Rule 23 (b)(2) Civil Procedure is take n into consideration ,it was not correct as Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 23(b)(2) is for injunctive or declaratory relief and not for monetary relief (Wal Mart 20). VI) Commonality requires more than an alleged common violation of the same law (Hyman). The mere claim that they have suffered a Title VII injury won’t be enough to give rise to class action; they must have some common contention in addition (Wal Mart 9). As such the respondent’s action under Rule 23 was not proper. 2) Impact of the decision on future cases Despite the legal accuracy and justification of the Supreme Court decision the decision may have some bad impact so far future cases on the same issue are concerned. The impact may be summed up as follows: I) The court’s decision of reversing the case can harm the enforcement of civil rights and employment discrimination laws. The Supreme Court’s decision of decertifying the Dukes class action may make it hard for other plaintiffs to bri ng class actions depending on the court’s reasoning (Wal Mart v. Dukes 10). II) The fact is that in the instant case the Supreme did not rule on merits of the plaintiffs claims and this may be the reason that Wal Mart may face thousands of individual or multiple-plaintiff lawsuits alleging that a particular manager had discriminated against women (Murray 2). III) It will be difficult for the plaintiffs to obtain class certification in all cases. After the decision on this case, it

Assignment (fleet replacement) Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

(fleet replacement) - Assignment Example try of the values and corresponding correct calculations, the template will automatically analyze and calculate the net present values of each fleet as well as the cost per available seat mile (CASM) of each fleet. From the analysis, it is clear that the purchase price of MD-80 is estimated at $4,000,000 while its sales price after 16 years is estimated to be $100,000. This is different from the purchase price of A-320 which is estimated to be $60,000,000 while its sales price after 16 years is $25,000,000. Alone, from these figures, it can be seen that MD-80 is cheaper than A-320. The discount factors for both fleets is assumed to remain equal at 20% per annum. This is one of the major assumptions taken into consideration while carrying out the analysis. The other assumption will be that the two fleets will be purchasing fuel at the same prices yearly, this is important to enable us compare their cost of fuel usage. Since economic factors must also apply, it is assumed that the fuel costs per gallon will also be increasing each year due to factors such as inflation. This is the reason why the forecasted fuel amounts are increasing per gallon every year. As it will be difficult to estimate mai ntenance costs per year, it is also assumed in the analysis that it will remain constant every year from the first year in each case. The total annual operating costs per fleet is expected to increase every year since the fuel costs are also increasing per year. From a general criterion, it is expected that the aircraft with the lowest net present CASM should be the most efficient in using its finances. This will imply that, from the analysis, the aircraft that will be of best financial choice must be one with the lowest net present CASM. As can be seen evidently from the analysis on the Excel template, MD-80 has a net present value of $56,752,036 while A-320 has $113,457,899. Looking at the Net Present CASM, MD-80 has 0.03116 while A-320 has 0.04471. From these results, it

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

Exercise - Essay Example Marketing department-headed by a marketing manager, this department will handle the process of moving the produced goods from the firm to the customers. The department will have six employees, divided into two groups, each headed by a supervisor. Finance department -handling all the financial operations in the organization, this department will have three employees, headed by the head of finance. He will handle the duties of a supervisor. Human resource department- handling all the duties of hiring, placement, and promotional recommendations as well as addressing all employees’ needs, this department will have two employees, headed by a personnel officer. The recruitment process Skills are an important element for the success and growth of our subsidiary. In the highly competitive business environment, offering our clients with the best quality products is paramount for Intel. Despite the Chinese market providing cheap labor, we will settle for the most qualified individuals i n the market. While identifying the most qualified individuals to hire, the plant will go through a recruitment process. However, internal recruitment sources will provide the required expertise on the Intel operations in the new subsidiary. Starting a new subsidiary requires logistical information. Every organization, despite operating in the same industry, has unique operational culture and processes from other firms. This necessitates shipping of part of our most qualified personnel from our main branch to the Chinese subsidiary. Among the most competitive departmental managers, production managers and supervisors, five will receive promotion to head the Chinese plant. Through performance evaluation and the records of accomplishment of the identified candidates, the highest scoring individual will take over as the branch manager of the Chinese firm. Specifically, they will ensure that quality and accountability culture in serving our customers remain a priority. External sourcing will however involve consultancy firms and recruitment bureaus. By extensively using referrals, we hope to have the most qualified individuals in the Chinese market. Purposively, part of the recruited staff will come from Chinese firms in the same industry like Intel. Training After external sourcing of labor, the team will undertake training of the staff to provide them with the best skills and knowledge to work for Intel. Subsequently, they will place them in their most qualified departments by matching their skills and expertise with the organizational departments. Training involves instilling the required skills and knowledge to a taskforce in order to achieve organizational goals and objectives (Welsch 2005, p. 35). Achieving our mission will involve the use of intensive and extensive training of the recruited staff. Extensively, training will cover on the various elements of production, as well as Intel culture. Intensively however, we will focus on training newly hired emplo yees on the aspects of their jobs according to departments. This will ensure high levels of productivity from our staff. Providing them with intensive training ensures minimal errors in our work, saving the organization reproduction costs and time. Additionally, we will ensure to provide them with induction training in order to orient them with our organizational mission, objectives and culture.

Finance and Accounting Concepts Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Finance and Accounting Concepts - Essay Example It consists of financial activities which include collecting, recording, analyzing and communicating the financial information to others. The financial data is a collection of facts which is expressed in numerical symbols and characters. The major task of the accountant is to records the financial transactions and converts data into financial information. The study will deal with the various accounting concepts that have helped the accountants in dissemination of financial information. Accurate financial presentation helps in the systematic recording of the financial transactions and also helps in identification of errors in the accounting procedure. The author of the study will able to give an insight into the basic accounting concepts and its impact on the business activities. Finally, the study will conclude with the various accounting concepts and its practical applications. Accounting Concepts & Procedures Accounting is definitely concerned with the recording of transactions tha t affect the business activities and is also related to preparation of income statement and the balance sheet. As per the AICPA committee of terminology accounting is regarded as a process of recording, classifying, summarizing and in systematic and significant manner. It is called an information system which helps in the identification, measuring, and communication of economic financial information which permits rationale and judgmental information among users. 1) Art of recording the business transactions: The systematic method of recording financial transactions in the books of accounts which helps in the fulfilment of the objective of the user and the accountant. 2) Systematic Process: Recording financial transactions is regular in nature and is done in methodical and chronological manners. Accounting is done through the application of various rules, regulations, principles and expertise. 3) Measurable in terms of money: The accounting transactions are measurable in terms of mon ey and need to be recorded in the books of accounts. These accounting events are measurable in terms of money. The events which are not measurable in terms of money are not recorded 4) Information Systems: It is information systems that measures the accounting process and communicates about the financial information through an economic entity. It also supplies financial information to the decision makers. 5) Medium: It is also regarded as an important medium for communicating the financial information and their interpretations. The main objective of the financial accounting would be to provide the necessary information to the user in a systematic process. There are various branches of accounting; cost, managerial and financial accounting procedures. It helps in ascertaining the results of the business transactions and also assessing the true financial position of the company. The major functions would be to identify and record the financial transaction of the organization which can be measurable in terms of money, grouping transactions that are similar in nature of a particular place which is done in ledger, summarizing the financial transactions which involve the preparation of income statement, trial balance and balance sheet and interpretation of financial statements by ascertaining the financial position of the company. Some of the major objectives of accounting would be to ascertain the results of a business organization within a particular time period ascertain the true financial position of a business organization and provide the necessary financial information to the users. The different types of users of accounting wo

E-Commerce Service Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 4000 words

E-Commerce Service - Essay Example Beyond the real world, the Internet has created the new world called as sixth continent or virtual network. In business, e-commerce has made prosperous circulation system. E-commerce has enabled to achieve the fast, reliable and better economical results as compared to traditional business. E-commerce permeates the every profile including media, logistics, finance, enterprises, governments and traditional agriculture.Aim behind this paper is to see the changes brought by adoption of E-commerce for enterprises. What advantages and disadvantages have been produced from E-commerce to business? What are factors involved in buying attention of customers from E-commerce as well as traditional buying?Introduction to E-commerce E-commerce is commonly used term in the era of Internet age. E-commerce simply means the putting up the website for service and product information along with the email contacts from where customers can place order for buying the products. E-commerce is a system to co nduct the business activities via the usage of internet and related technologies. This internet usage refers to computer network to conduct the business. In also includes the selling and buying online, transferring the electronic funds, business communication and associated activities with the selling and buying of services and goods online (Qin et al., 2014). Business to Consumers (B2C) as a category of e-commerce deals with the direct business between the business companies and consumers.

Literature review of Globalization in India Essay

Literature review of Globalization in India - Essay Example Therefore, in the present situation, it tends to keep its doors wide open to opportunities which would help her progress. The Indian administration is taking steps by conducting a lot of surveys in its different states to facilitate and elicit people’s responses to globalization, so that they would take appropriate steps to curb illiteracy, poverty, unemployment, social status and under development. Many causes contribute to globalization in India. Though Kerala can boast of a literacy rate of 92%, it is not the same for the other regions. The urban areas in India have a 80.30% literacy level, the rural areas have only 59.40%. Another fact that poses a problem is that though there are buffer stocks, yet a quarter of the world’s poor that are in India go hungry. (Editorial, Fall 2006, vol.2, no. 2) Another factor that contributes to globalization is the fact that there is great disparity between social policies and the needs of the people. While the government of India frames these policies, it takes ages before it materializes to help the poor and down- trodden people. Other factors that contribute to globalization in India would be because it has a politically driven agenda and faces misappropriation and mismanagement of funds set aside for the upliftment of the low strata of people. Corruption and inefficiency run rampant in the wake of implementation of schemes. â€Å"If there was a Gandhi in the consciousness of the Indian polity today, we would not be where we are†. ( Aruna Roy, social activist and Magasaysay Award winner 2000) Freedom can be fulfilling as well as problematic when doesn’t know where to stop. Amartya Sen, a social activist who is committed to rectifying gender inequality feels that human capabilities and freedom should be enhanced. (Amartya Sen, A Gender Perspective.)Every successive administration form

An analysis on leaderships’ effect on culture Essay Example for Free

An analysis on leaderships’ effect on culture Essay Facts ConnectCo is an outbound call center in Toronto, Ontario and is the Canadian Subsidiary of a U.S. marketing and sales consulting practice. The parent company has provided services to Fortune 500 companies over its five years of operations and employs approximately 75 people. ConnectCo has annual revenues of $29.4 million, with Symbol Office Solution as their biggest account at $20 million annually, for a contract length of three years. This contract awarded ConnectCo net profits as high as 35% of sales. What ConnectCo offers to clients is the convenience and cost savings of removing a costly field sales force and replaces them with a more cost efficient outbound call center. These call centers help customers with technical problems, provide new equipment updates, and disseminates knowledge about new technologies or equipment. The Symbol account, as previously mentioned, provides a significant sum of ConnectCo`s total revenue and was first negotiated by Charlie Gallagher, the vice-president of Canadian operations, and is managed by Chad Macdonald. Joe Davis is a passionate and experienced consultant that has worked closely with clients to identify and implement solutions to very specific problems. He joined ConnectCo hoping to learn from the pool of experience that he saw within the organization, with the majority of them being former Xerox employees with considerable knowledge in increasing sales. His role in the organization was to ensure that the level of service that ConnectCo provided met or surpassed the needs of clients. As per his position within the company he was the first to notice the discrepancy within the Symbol account. The contract that was signed between ConnectCo and Symbol required that there be a certain number of Inside Account Executives (IAE) that be trained at all times and at a phone making calls in the client`s interests. The recent decline in the IAE pool has left several seats open, with no calls being placed on behalf of Symbol, however they were still billing the customer as if the seats where all operating at full capacity while they should only be billing them for filled operators. The amount of the discrepancy totals $81000. The terms of the contract have been modified several times over its effective term with the first being an extension of the contract and the notice of intent to develop mutually agreed to service levels. Service level targets were never established. Symptoms The four factoring symptoms are communication, trust, accountability, responsibility and integrity. These symptoms are the leading cause for Connectco’s inability to run operations smoothly and effectively. The lack of communication within Connectco is causing headaches for Davis as information continues to be blocked by â€Å"noise† within the company. The communication is next to nonexistent from the top of the hierarchy to the department managers within the company. The lack of trust throughout the company is not helping their cause when trying to create an effective and demanded product for fortune 500 companies. There is little trust betwee the top managers and employees that they will complete their respected jobs at hand with the level of trust level between employees and managers decaying over time and as the situation worsens. Accountability is near nonexistent within the organization. Davis is not able to hold his manager accountable because of his past record in doing so. Accountability is crucial in order for Connectco to run smoothly in the future. Conflict frequently causes employees to look to offload their work onto others to not be responsible for failure, as in the case of Chad Macdonald passing the role of dealing with the Symbol account off to Joe Davis. Finally, there is little integrity. Dealing with the account neither Chad nor Charlie believe that the best solution would be to deal with the problem and would both prefer to make a decision that would go against the main values of the corporation that includes trustworthiness. There is a valid case of values incongruence within ConnectCo. These four main symptoms are major attributes to the problems faced within Connectco and are the four elements that may be the solutions to solving Connectco’s organizational problems in the near future. Problem Statement ConnectCo`s current situation is the direct result of the poor corporate culture as evidenced by the symptoms that are present. This culture stems from the leadership`s poor ethics and lack of values and has cascaded to the rest of the organization. Joe Davis, the new manager of the Planning and Reporting department for ConnectCo, began his new job about a month ago finds himself in the uncomfortable situation of questioning the morals of his coworkers that has led to the jeopardized relationship between ConnectCo and their largest client: Symbol Office Solutions. Joe must decide how to approach this conflicting situation as a new member of the company without compromising his own morals and values. Analysis In evaluating the relevant models to address the problem statement there is one model in particular that effectively incorporates several of the models needed to perform an analysis of the corporate culture at ConnectCo; Edgar H. Scheins Model of Organizational Culture. Schein’s model is the most relevant to identify the reason for the symptoms and problems currently facing ConnectCo. The incorporation of the many different aspects to identify the culture of an organization including atifacts, shared values, and shared assumptions enables a thorough review of the culture present at ConnectCo. The following analysis will break down Schein’s model and evaluate each section with the following relevant analysis to get a better understanding of the situation. It will be presented in the following order; artifacts, shared values, shared assumptions. Artifacts Communication within the ConnectCo organization does not represent the ideal scenario for a well-run organization. This lack of proper communication and clarity is unfortunately spilling over into its business dealings with clients. Both represent one of the most evident aspects of the artifacts of the company, the cultural norms that are evident to others and neither is impressive. To begin, this analysis will focus on internal communication and then shift focus to the external communication with other organizations. â€Å"Davis opened up a new message and types a simple e-mail, in case Gallagher picked it up with his Blackberry†. This is but one example of the many e-mail conversations that take place within the ConnectCo organization. The situation that ConnectCo finds themselves in is extremely complicated, owing a client a credit for $81000, yet the medium with which Joe Davis chose to use to relay his message was e-mail. A quick analysis of the media richness hierarchy model shows that in this particular situation, which can be easily identified as non-routine and ambiguous, this medium carries too little data-carrying capacity. If ConnectCo is going to come up with a solution they are going to need to switch to a much richer medium such as face-to-face to get a better understanding of the issue and come up with better outcomes. A second occasion that warrants investigation is the initial email from Joe Davis to Charlie Gallagher. In this initial email he again used to wrong medium to convey the breadth of the issue that is ambiguous and non-routine. Charlie chose to respond in an email as well, with nine words. This will play a factor again in the analysis of the shared values, more specifically the espoused values that leadership (Gallagher) conveys. Communication between the organizations is also very weak, speaking to the weak cultural artifacts of the ConnectCo organization, and possibly Symbol. It has been acknowledged that they do indeed have face to face communications with their customers, Gallagher does meet with Puhl for golfing events face to face, this does not represent an ideal time, however, as the venue is much to informal to discuss business matters as public meetings contain significant noise, literally and figuratively, that may lead to the message being decoded incorrectly. The rest of the communication between the two parties, even between the account relationship manager Chad MacDonald and Steve Puhl was done either by telephone or by email. Another aspect of the artifacts of communication that deserves attention is the construction of the contract. Again, the communication process model is most relevant and one of the simplest ways to word the breakdown is that the contract contained too much noise and was not properly decoded by ConnectCo. The ambiguity of the contract comes from many revisions, some of which were not even available to the relevant employees such as Joe Davis and using words such as â€Å"notwithstanding† which was interpreted differently by Joe Davis, Chad MacDonald, and Charlie Gallagher. This occurred because the contract was not descriptive enough. Another aspect to the artifacts portion of the model of organizational culture is the ceremonies that take place within the organization. These ceremonies are used by certain employees and management to get the attention of an audience. In this particular situation the most evident are the golfing trips that Gallagher takes with clients to cement his position as the most important contact to the clients. And finally, the organizational structure, which has a great effect on culture. ConnectCo currently has a client structure, as negotiated within the contract agreement, the organization will maintain a set number of staff specifically to service that account. Espoused Values â€Å"Our values reflect what is important to us. They are a shorthand way of describing our individual and collective motivations. Together with beliefs, they are the causal factors that drive our decision-making.† (http://www.valuescentre.com/values/?sec=values_overview) The above quote reflects what should be the core of any business, the values shared by all of the different employees congruent to the plan laid out by management for the success of the organization. In Schein`s model shared or espoused values represent the second of the 3 components and the first of the invisible dynamics, as in they cannot be easily observed by others. Richard Barrett, author of Building a Values-Driven Organisation: A Whole System Approach to Cultural Transformation believes that values can be either positive or negative and each can have an equal and opposite effect on the corporations culture. The espoused values must begin as an individual value through some authority figure, such as a founder, senior management, or even an individual with significant power within an organization. These individuals` culture then influences their immediate coworkers, the teams with which they operate, then the organization as a whole. These individuals can therefore set the values for the whole organization regardless of what the dominant culture of the organization through countercultures. The culture of an organisation, or any group of individuals that share a common identity, is a reflection of the values and beliefs of the leaders. (http://www.valuescentre.com/leadership/?sec=leadership__culture) With limited information on the dominant culture of ConnectCo as established by its American head company, which include integrity and trustworthiness, it can only be assumed that the culture that prevails at Connectco is a subculture of the organization as a whole. The following analysis suggests that the counterculture present in ConnectCo is the direct result of the actions of Charlie Gallagher. As the leader in the organization Charlie has had a profound effect on the values and ethics present within the organization. His handling of the Symbol account clearly demonstrates his values and ethics. His position as leader and culture setter warrants investigation based on several components. First, the competency of his leadership will be analyzed incorporating an analysis of his personal values and the source of his power. To begin, Charlie possesses several characteristics of an effective leader. He has significant self-concept, his personality skills are high, he has the motivation to be a leader, and significant knowledge of the business. These competencies push those that work for him to have the same skills as demonstrated in Chad MacDonald; however, his low integrity has also been transmitted to other co-workers. By encouraging Davis to p lay with the numbers and do things that were out of the contract he shows his low integrity. This has led to a lack of trust that is evident from Joe Davis and several other members of the ConnectCo staff throughout the handling of the symbol account. This is not the only negative quality that has displayed. Gallagher also exhibits limited cognitive and practical intelligence. His recommendation to simply `go with the lowest cost` shows a lack of understanding of the situation (and going back to communication) the ambiguity of the situation , this has pervaded to his employees where Chad was more than willing to agree to a band aid solution going against ethical business practices. Neither fully understands the situation and Chad was more than happy to hand off the problem to Joe Davis even though he was the relationship manager on the account and dealing with clients is outside of the scope of work for Joe Davis. The reason for Gallagher`s lack of integrity can be easily explained through the Swartz values circumplex. Clearly, Gallagher is more focused on self-enhancement, his need for achievement is evidenced through the fact that everyone must know that he is the one that negotiated the Symbol account and demonstrated through his golf business trips, as well as his refusal to accept responsibility for poorly negotiating a contract and failing to adhere and communicate the contents of the contracts that he signed. He is also a leader that craves power and prefers significant power distance, as proven by his screening of his employees’ calls and not showing up to the meeting with Joe Davis and Chad MacDonald to clarify the contract for them. Both of these values compromise his integrity and unfortunately those values are only two that his leadership has caused the rest of the organization to adopt, the need for security security being another. Gallagher`s aforementioned need for power is also affecting the culture of the organization. His handling of the Symbol account and the contract shows that he uses a wheel formation of information control to maintain power within the organization. By him going golfing with the big shots at Symbol rather than relationship manager Chad, shows that he needs to maintain that control of information which in turn gives him control over Chad and the account. This is combined with Joe Davis` perception of an upward appeal within the organization that made him rethink his ability to go to the higher ups with the information because he believes that the management will take the side of Gallagher given that they are both MBA graduates. Fear is an influence tactic that Gallagher has wielded to maintain order and obedience from his employees through his connection with the president. The effect on culture is that because employees cannot contact upper management the values that he imposes on the organization will be the ones that dictate how operations are carried out. Indirectly, this is what has causes the problem with ConnectCo and Symbol. Gallagher controlling the information has prevented Chad from acting in the best interest of the company to ensure the contract is followed and that there are no issues. It also means that now since the contract has not been followed the persons involves will use the cultural aspects of poor integrity and dodging that he has used with his employees as Chad demonstrated by dodging Steve Puhl and pushing the problem onto Joe Davis. Shared Assumptions and Values Analysing the shared assumptions of ConnectCo with the Schwartz’s Values Circumplex, we notice that the company talks about wanting to keep their most important client Symbol satisfied by valuing self-transcendence and conservation however their actions and dealing of the contract with Symbol do not reflect those values. The appropriate way to describe the values that ConnectCo tend to go by is self-enhancing. They are working for the client to provide them with everything listed in the contract, in this case a sufficient amount of IAEs, but are hiding information from Symbol to protect their own well-being. This seems to be enforced by Charlie Gallagher as he is telling Joe Davis that they should not have to pay any penalty fees to Symbol for empty seats at the IAE position if there are current individuals in training for that position. Now we will look at the ethical values and behaviour the moral intensity of ConnectCo, more specifically Charlie Gallagher’s ethical s ensitivity to the issue. The degree to which they should be applying ethical principles should be is high because Symbol is their biggest client and has trusted ConnectCo for a few years. However, the intensity being put forth is minimal as they are trying to get out of paying money to Symbol for not having staffed enough IAE’s and they are forcing Joe Davis to go against his values and follow suit. This shows how little Charlie Gallagher cares about ethically conducting operations with clients and co-workers, as Joe Davis is being pressured into complying with Charlie’s demand because he does not want to risk losing his job even though what Charlie is telling him to do is illegal. Taking a look at the conflict process model we find our sources of conflict between, Gallagher, Davis and Steve Puhl from Symbol. The most obvious source is the communication between Gallagher and Puhl. First of all the contract between the two is too vague and open for interpretation as the service level targets have not been defined for almost two years. Charlie is also not communicating the issue of his understanding of the contract, as he is just assuming that they should not have to pay Symbol credit for not having the specified amount of IAE’s because he is claiming that during those times they had individuals in training to fill those positions. Another issue is that even if what Gallagher interpreted was true, he does not have any data to prove that he had employees in training because he failed to communicate to Chad MacDonald, Joe Davis and to Carole Lam the exact details of the contract. This puts Joe in a uncomfortable situation when he receives a call from Steve Puhl and is unsure what the contract requirements. Another source of conflict is the incompatible goals and differentiation between Charlie and Joe. Joe is simply trying to do the right thing because he is new to the company and wants to make a good impression by doing things ethically however Charlie is trying to make it seem like he is fulfilling the terms of the contract by making assumptions of the contract to get away with not having to pay Symbol their deserved credit. Another source of conflict is the scarcity of important resources. As mentioned previously Carole Lam the analyst was never told to keep data on the amount of days and which days that employees were in training. Joe needed this data to complete his work but obviously was unable to retrieve complete and accurate data on employee training. The way that Charlie seems to be handling this conflict is by avoiding communication with clients and co-workers. He is notorious for screening calls, he failed to show up to a meeting with Chad MacDonald and Joe Davis, and when asked how to calculate the credit owed to Symbol he simply tells Davis to use the lowest cost to save ConnectCo money and make himself look good. He also does not seem to be of much help to Joe Davis as Gallagher is the one who began this lack of communication which has led to faulty handling of Symbol’s credit account, and seems to be avoiding Joe Davis. This is causing the rest of the employees to obey his ideas beca use they have no idea what the contract actually calls for and even if they did know, would likely be unwilling to challenge his decisions because he is higher up in the company. Alternatives Alternative #1: Bring these numbers and issues to the President and CEO Pros| Cons| * Issues dealing with the Symbol account get addressed * Issues with the culture of the organization get addressed * Issues are addressed to an authority that can fix these problems and remove the negative counterculture * Keeps the organization from committing accounting fraud like other companies (Enron) * Brings to light all the ethical issues surrounding Charlie Gallagher and Chad MacDonald * Addresses turnover issues that have become routine in the company| * This act could cause tension between Joe and his direct superior (Gallagher) * There is a risk that the President sees this act as disloyal * Working with Gallagher and MacDonald after bringing their issues to light will be difficult moving forward * President/CEO may share the same dysfunctional attitude towards the culture in the organization| This alternative should include him making an appointment with the President/CEO and bringing analyst Carole Lam to help support his findings. She is well aware with the financial numbers and how Gallagher is letting ConnectCo take money from their top client. This meeting needs to be face-to-face in order to bring about the severity of the conflicting situation. The meeting needs to include all facets of the organizations current lack of corporate ethical values and which individuals must be held accountable. Joe must conclude that if there are immediate corporate culture changes, he would still like to keep working with Gallagher and MacDonald and build a trusting and functional working relationship with both. This will help ease the tension between himself and his immediate superior as well as showing the President that he is capable of handling mismanagement. This alternative is highly recommended and addresses all the facets of this situation. Alternative #2: Quit and find another job Pros| Cons| * Joe no longer has to deal with the resoundingly shaky ethical structure and poor communication at ConnectCo * Joe doesn’t become a â€Å"part of the problem† * Joe no longer has to deal with Gallagher’s lack of trust and consideration with their top clientele at his cost * Joe doesn’t become an accomplice to committing accounting fraud| * Leaving an organization after only one month doesn’t look good to future prospective employers * This would go against his newly engaged fiancà ©e who wanted to see him â€Å"get off the road† * No severance package * No recommendation or verbal support from ConnectCo once he leaves| This alternative does not come recommended as it leaves Joe and ConnectCo with an uncertain future. Should Joe decide to leave the company, he would not get a severance package and future employers will wonder why he lasted only a month at his previous job making it more difficult to find employment opportunities. Also, his fiancà ©e did not want his moving around for work a lot and two jobs in less than two months will leave his situation at home stressful. Also, should prospective employers contact ConnectCo, they would have no reason to support Joe for his limited work. Although Joe does not have to deal with this poor corporate culture, running away from the situation does not help in any positive way. Alternative #3: Try to resolve issue without Chad MacDonald or Charlie Gallagher Pros| Cons| * Helps ease relationship between ConnectCo and Symbol * Steve Puhl does not have to deal with Chad (who he is getting nowhere with) * Joe can try to incorporate cultural changes to those he can * Has Carole Lam to help him fix the financial disparities of the comapny| * Leaving Chad and Charlie in the dark is risky * Steve Puhl may accidently contact Chad or Charlie and miscommunication may occur * Does not address how to fix the imminent turnover issues surrounding the IAE’s * Not reporting these changes with his superior could cost him his job| Because Joe handles the reporting side of the company, it would go against his responsibilities as an employee to bring up any new information regarding Symbol and can be subject to his employment being terminated if Gallagher was to find out. This alternative is incredibly risky, but does see some rewards. These rewards include easing the relationship between ConnectCo and Symbol and slowly changing the culture in the corporation as best he can. Unfortunately, he is only just a manager and a new one, so it would be hard for him to get others to respond to his command when there hasn’t been enough relationship development between his other employees. With this in mind, it is best to look at other alternatives. Recommendation Our recommendation is based off of Alternative #1, in which we suggest brining the financial statements and issues to the attention of the President and CEO. This will allow us to ensure that all problems in relation to the Symbol account and the culture of the organization are addressed accordingly. This will also shed light on the ethical issues that need to be addressed, surrounding Gallagher and MacDonald. As well, it will prevent any consequences from occurring, resulting from accounting fraud. Once Joe Davis meets with the President and CEO to inform them of his findings, it will be up to the President to create and urgency for change within the organization. In order to implement this change we would recommend the use of Lewin’s Force Field Analysis Model. By implementing this model the President could unfreeze the current situation, change the organizational culture and ethics of the company, and then freeze the company in that state. By doing so the company would chan ge into operating with a more socially responsible client first attitude. By creating urgency for change the President could use client satisfaction as a driving force to push the employees, in order to ensure each client receives the customer service they deserve. By ensuring the client is always receiving social and ethical treatment, it will drive away any restraining forces, such as lack of integrity, which can be attributed to the accounting fraud. Now we can consider how the President could unfreeze and re-freeze the company in order to complete the change. The President should focus on creating an adaptive culture, in which the company will have an external focus. By creating an external focus the employees will realize that the organizations success depends on continuous change to be a more stakeholder and client oriented company. In this situation it means focusing on changing into a more socially and ethically aware organization to better serve the clients. There is also an internal focus that must be implemented as well. This includes employees working towards the organizational goals that are set. In this situation the organizational goals would be to provide better customer service. As well by creating an adaptive culture, employees would have a stronger sense of ownership within the organization, and therefore take more responsibility for their performance and tasks. Therefore we believe that since a company’s culture often reflects the leader’s personality, it really is up to the President to make the steps necessary to change the organization. One final step we would recommend taking, is to fire Charlie Gallagher. The basis of firing Gallagher is the fact that he was trying to commit accounting fraud. Therefore the company would have just cause for his dismissal. By firing Gallagher, this would also be the first step towards creating a socially and ethically driven company; Gallagher is simply a restraining force that is preventing the organization from making that move towards a better organizational culture. Action Plan Our recommendation is often referred to as whistle blowing, which is when a company employee goes public or to his superiors with private information that could hurt the company. This technique is usually used when social and ethical responsibilities are being neglected or ignored. While it may seem simple enough, the process is far from smooth and the employee doing the whistle blowing is often made out to be a burnt out low level employee who is unhappy. So before Joe does anything of the sort he must be prepared for anything to happen. The best way to approach this alternative would be: 1. Collect all relevant information and be prepared to present your case and be able to answer any and all questions 2. No president of CEO wants to hear that their company’s values and ethics are being compromised, so he must prepare a plan B in order to protect himself from media and personal scrutiny. 3. Joe must schedule a face-to-face meeting with the CEO to ensure that there is no outs ide noise or misinterpretations with his information and language 4. When presenting his findings, Joe must deliver his message in a way that is not an attack or critique. He must not point out what is wrong but what needs to be improved and why. 5. As part of his presentation Joe needs to incorporate his own recommendations and action plan. Once he goes through with this meeting there is not turning back. The recommendation and action plan should follow a similar tone to what was mentioned above, it should not only identify the problems but what needs to be done to fix them and how to go about fixing them. 6. After the meeting is over all Joe can do is wait for the decisions by the CEO and board of governors. At this point in time a lot of different things can happen and Joe needs to be prepared for any outcome. The optimistic outcome would be to have your action plan ready to implement and begin fixing the company. The pessimistic outcome would be that they reject his action plan and making his career a nightmare. If this were the case Joe should be prepared to look for another job, or be prepared to defend himself from public scrutiny. Joe is caught in the middle of a lose-lose situation, so his best alternative is the lesser of two evils. It is difficult being the new guy in a company, especially when you’re the one telling that what they are doing is wrong. However, sometimes it takes an outside perspective to identify the problems that have gone unnoticed for too long. If Joe can present a clear and strong case that does not personally offend the CEO, and present the opportunities for improvement, the process should run as smooth as possible.

Technological Innovation in Indian Banking Sector Essay Example for Free

Technological Innovation in Indian Banking Sector Essay TECHNOLOGICAL INNOVATION IN INDIAN BANKING SECTOR – USE OF IT PRODUCTS Dr. Kanhaiya Singh, Professor, Fore School of Management, New Delhi,India Dr. U. S. Pandey, Associate Professor University of Delhi, New Delhi, India Priya Gupta, Asst. Professor, SSCBS, University of Delhi, Research Scholar, BIT(Mesra) Ranchi ABSTRACT Transformation is taking in Indian banks from all verticals, and subtle and not – so – subtle makeovers in banking products are dynamically altering the face of banking. The research paper focuses on the way transformation is affecting the banking sector and the way use of IT products have changed the face of banking in India. It reveals current environment of the banking industry; the factors that have brought changes in the industry; and the way these changes have contributed to the development of banking. This paper concludes that financial market has turned into a buyer’s market. Banks are have now bloomed into one-stop Supermarkets. Their focus is shifting from mass Banking to Class banking with introduction of value added and customized products. Technology now allows banks to create what looks like a branch in a business building’s lobby without having to hire manpower for manual operations. These branches are working on the concept of 24 X 7 working made possible due to Tele banking, ATMs, Internet Banking, Mobile Banking and E banking. This technology driven delivery channels are used to reach maximum customers at lower cost and in most efficient manner. The beauty of these banking innovations is that it puts both banker and customer in a winwin situation. The need of an hour is to design a system to promote marginal efficiency of investment in technology and widen the gap between marginal benefits and marginal cost involved in Banking transformation with special reference to technological up gradation. Keywords: CRM, ECS, Skimming, Spoofing, ATMs INTRODUCTION The study presents a broad overview of the current state of the  banking industry in India. It then goes on to identify some important forces for change and some important forces resisting change. Attention is paid finally to growth path of banking sector with technological advancement. It is depicted that banking is going to be intensely competitive and complex. The best idea would be for the domestic banks to enhance mutual co-operation in order to create a healthier market order and raise the overall competitiveness of the industry as a whole. Incorporation of advanced technology and International Journal of Management and Strategy ISSN: 2231-0703 International Journal of Management and Strategy (IJMS) 2011, Vol. No.II, Issue II, January-June 2011 http://www.myresearchpie.com/ ISSN: 2231-0703  utilization of modern management techniques are other crucial aspects at which domestic banks should pay keen interest. Indian Banking Transformation – The Starting Point Since independence Indian banks have undergone through four major shifts which can categorized as pre reform (before 1991) and post reform period (after 1991): Pre-Reform period: A period of consolidation of banks up to 1966 A period of historic expansion in both geographical and functional terms from1966 to mid- 1980s A period of consolidation of branches from mid 1980s to 1991 These changes were policy induced but not driven by market forces. Post- Reform period Entry of technology in the Indian banking sector can be traced back to the Rangarajan Committee report, way back in the 1980s but during nineties, the banking sector witnessed various liberalization measures. New private sector and foreign banks emerged equipped with the latest technology. These banks opted for a different model of having a single centralized database through a network infrastructure, instead of having multiple databases for all their branches. These changes were market driven, having the influence especially of globalization. The crux is Indian banks have no control over developments  abroad but are subjected to their effects. Hence these changes were not the outcome of internal changes but of external changes. Deregulation has opened up new opportunities for banks to increase revenues by diversifying into investment banking, insurance, credit cards, mortgage financing, depository services, securitization, etc. Now all the banks have started with the concept of multi- channels, like ATMs, credit cards, debit cards, telephone/mobile banking, internet banking, call centers, etc. The role of banking is redefined from a mere financial intermediary to service provider of various financial services under one roof acting like a financial supermarket. International Journal of Management and Strategy ISSN: 2231-0703 International Journal of Management and Strategy (IJMS) 2011, Vol. No.II, Issue II, January-June 2011 http://www.myresearchpie.com/ ISSN: 2231-0703 Forces for change in Indian Banking: Underlying forces for change Developments in communication systems, coupled with blurring of differences between banks and non banks and globalization have aggravated the competitive environment. Technology became a key differentiator for the new private sector banks. The technological superiority helped these private sector banks to have upper edge over public sector banks. The traditional source of income (Net Interest margin = Interest Earned – Interest Expended) was compressed due to the pressure of competition. As a result commercial banks had to face the challenge of finding out new sources of income and curtailing overhead expenses. The operating conditions are different for private sector and public sector banks in India (wage bill, legacy of non-performing assets and extensive network of Public sector banks) which results in imperfect competition in the market. With increasing competition among banks, customers are also becoming more discerning and demanding. To meet customer expectations, banks will have to offer a broad range of  deposit, investment and credit products through diverse distribution channels including upgraded branches, ATMs, telephone and Internet. The mantra to attract and retain customers lies in efficient customer service including customized and value added products to meet various needs of individual customers as also to meet the need of diverse types of customers. Manifestation of underlying forces: Concern Issues: Use of technology to be increased substantially in banks to cope with rising volumes and reduce transaction costs and processing time. In Public Sector Banks, legacy systems and interoperability is a major hurdle in the integration of all delivery channels. A major problem of banks in India is the availability of excessive data, the relevance and quality of which are both suspect. The inculcation of a proper attitude towards technology adaptation and proper security systems is an urgent need of the hour. International Journal of Management and Strategy ISSN: 2231-0703 International Journal of Management and Strategy (IJMS) 2011, Vol. No.II, Issue II, January-June 2011 http://www.myresearchpie.com/ ISSN: 2231-0703 Very low level of computer literacy and the existing mind set of some senior bankers are road blocks in the IT implementation in banks to 100% level. It related security issues in Indian banks are also a matter of concern. Suggestions Recommendations: Better and cheaper access to basic infrastructure requirements such as power and telecommunications. Creation of customer awareness and education for technology adoption are imperative. The IT Act 2000 needs to implement in totality to handle legal issues. Set up an Electronic Banking Group to provide guiding principles for prudent risk management of e- banking activities E-security to be tackled efficiently so as to mitigate all the attendant risks. Convert branches into boutiques catering to the requirements of clients and re-engineer the  functions of branch banking using technology and delivery channels. BANKING INNOVATIONS Today we have electronic payment system along with currency notes. India‟s financial sector is moving towards a scenario, where it can have new instruments along with liquidity and safety. Important events in the evolution of new age payment systems in India Arrival of card- based payments- debit card, credit card- late 1980‟s and early 1990‟s. Introduction of Electronic Clearing Service (ECS) in late 1990‟s Introduction of Electronic Funds Transfer/ Special EFT (EFT/SEFT) in the early 2000‟s Real Time Gross Settlement (RTGS) was introduced in March 2004 International Journal of Management and Strategy ISSN: 2231-0703 International Journal of Management and Strategy (IJMS) 2011, Vol. No.II, Issue II, January-June 2011 http://www.myresearchpie.com/ ISSN: 2231-0703 Introduction of NEFT (National Electronic Funds Transfer)as a replacement for EFT/SEFT in 2005/06 Plan for implementation of cheque truncation system as a pilot program in New Delhi in 2007. Migration from cash and cheque based payment system, it has become a necessity to electronic fund transfer system on account of the following reasons: 1. Large volumes of transaction, 2. High cost of physical handling and storage of paper instruments. 3. Delay in realization is a common feature. 4. Finality of payment takes time because the physical movement of instruments in large volumes from branches to and from clearing house, and sorting them according to each bank branch at the center creates problems. RBI has taken two major steps to tackle this problem: Use Of Magnetic Ink Character Recognition (MICR) technology was resorted to facilitate and expedite physical sorting of instruments using high-speed MICR sorters. There are about 40 MICR centers in India today. Introduction of Electronic Clearing Service. The ECS was the first version of „Electronic Payments‟ in India. It is a mode of electronic funds transfer from one bank account to another bank account using the mechanism of clearing house. It is very useful in case of bulk transfers from one account to many accounts or vice- versa. There are two types of ECS (Electronic Clearing Service) 1. ECS – credit 2. ECS- debit. International Journal of Management and Strategy ISSN: 2231-0703 International Journal of Management and Strategy (IJMS) 2011, Vol. No.II, Issue II, January-June 2011 http://www.myresearchpie.com/ ISSN: 2231-0703 ECS facility is available at more than 60 centers in India. The beneficiary has to maintain an account with one of the banks at ECS center in order to avail benefits of ECS. ECS- CREDIT Advantages of ECS to ultimate beneficiary are: No need to make frequent visits to bank for depositing physical paper instruments. No possibility of loss of instrument and fraudulent encashment No chance of delay or return in realization of proceeds as in the case of paper instruments. Benefits to Corporate bodies of ECS Save on administrative machinery for printing, dispatch and reconciliation Avoid the chance of loss of instruments in postal transit Avoid the chance of frauds due to fraudulent access to the paper instruments and encashment It can be ensured that the beneficiary‟s accounts get credited on a designated date. ECS DEBIT It is a scheme under which an account holder with a bank can authorize an ECS user to recover an amount at a prescribed frequency by raising a debit in his account. Utility service providers such as telephone companies, electricity boards, credit card collections, collection of loan installments by bank and financial institutions, and investment schemes such as mutual funds are eligible to participate in the ECS debit scheme.  Advantages of ECS debit scheme A. To the ultimate beneficiary is: Eliminates the need of physical visit and the trouble of standing in long queues for making payment There is no need to track down payments by last dates. International Journal of Management and Strategy ISSN: 2231-0703 International Journal of Management and Strategy (IJMS) 2011, Vol. No.II, Issue II, January-June 2011 http://www.myresearchpie.com/ ISSN: 2231-0703 B. To the corporate bodies and Institutions are: Saves on administrative machinery for collecting the cheques, monitoring their realization and reconciliation Better cash management Avoids chances of fraud Receives payments on a single date These schemes were introduced when Indian banking was in infant stage of its computerization hence cost benefits could not be maximized. EFT Electronic Fund transfer EFT scheme targeted one to one payments as an alternative to the use of cheques and drafts for remitting funds between bank accounts located at different centers. EFT encountered the problem of low level of computerization and connectivity in the Indian banking industry. Core Banking Solution CBS is a centralized platform, which creates environment where the entire bank‟s operations can be controlled, and run from a centralized hub. This creates a centralized customer database, which makes anytime, anywhere, anyway banking possible. Immediate advantages of CBS are: Faster and efficient customer service. Offering multiple delivery channels, like ATMs, Cards, mobile/Telephone Banking, internet Banking, Call centers, etc. Reducing the operational costs, through manpower saving and space saving. Centralizing the back end processes and reporting. International Journal of Management and Strategy ISSN: 2231-0703 International Journal of Management and Strategy (IJMS) 2011, Vol. No.II, Issue II, January-June 2011 http://www.myresearchpie.com/ ISSN: 2231-0703 Creating a customer profile database, it is a powerful tool for gaining competitive advantage through cross selling opportunities. Adoption of Risk management, by taking care of risk-monitoring and risk-reporting requirements. ATMs ATMs are an issue of survival for the banks and are becoming just another part of everyday life. Falling costs of machines and connectivity is a key factor contributing to the growth of ATM network. Banks have also been cutting costs and gaining synergies through ATM sharing agreements amongst themselves, for example: Cash Tree (Bank of India, Union Bank of India, Indian Bank, Dena Bank and Syndicate Bank) SBI, HDFC Bank, UTI Bank, Indian Bank and Andhra Bank ICICI Bank, Andhra Bank and Federal Bank Banks are now using ATMs for product promotion as banks market broader financial services to their captive audience of ATM users. But these facilities come with added problems when huge amount of money is withdrawn by large number of consumers in a market period (very short period of time). CRM Customer Relationship Management Solution is the set of methodologies and tools that help an enterprise manage customer relationships in an organized way finding, getting, and retaining customers. It helps to provide better customer service, increase customer revenues, discover new customers and sell products more effectively. CORPORATE INTERNET BANKING The Internet has initiated an electronic revolution in the global banking  sector. Its dynamic and flexible nature as well as its ubiquitous reach has helped in leveraging a variety of banking activities. The Internet has emerged as one of the major distribution channels of banking products and services for banks in the U.S and in European countries. Consumers International Journal of Management and Strategy ISSN: 2231-0703 International Journal of Management and Strategy (IJMS) 2011, Vol. No.II, Issue II, January-June 2011 http://www.myresearchpie.com/ ISSN: 2231-0703  are embracing the many benefits of Internet banking like improved customer access which facilitates the offering of more services, attract new customers and reduce customer attrition. Advantages of Internet Banking: A) Advantages to customers Banking from your desk: with e-banking services, one can actually carry out a number of transactions sitting on one‟s seat with just a few click. Net banking customers view their account balance and also open fixed deposits, transfer funds, pay electricity, telephone or mobile phones bills and much more. Instant information: The accounts of the customers are updated as soon as the transaction takes place i.e., the accounts show the information updated to the last second. This means if a cheque issued by you has been debited from your account in the morning, your account status will reflect this when you log in to your accounts in the afternoon as against the earlier updating at the end of the day. (B) Advantages to the banks Lesser personnel required: online banking has encouraged a chunk of people, though a smaller one to carry out most of their transactions from a distance. This has resulted in lesser pressure on the employees in terms of entertaining customers. Easy publicity: banks can easily pass on the information about their new avenues/schemes without any wastage of time. Customers interested in the schemes would revert back and can be attended to later. PAYMENT SYSTEMS BY RBI: Inter-bank Clearing System High Value Clearing System MICR Clearing System Government Securities Clearing System and Real Time Gross Settlement System International Journal of Management and Strategy ISSN: 2231-0703 International Journal of Management and Strategy (IJMS) 2011, Vol. No.II, Issue II, January-June 2011 http://www.myresearchpie.com/ ISSN: 2231-0703 Banks not only deal with corporate and individual but also they need to make payments to each other to settle the accounts arising of the transactions carried out for their customers, and also for borrowing or repayment, investments, sale and purchase of various assets. These payments have to be effected through their accounts maintained with the Reserve Bank of India. Real Time Gross Settlement System The inter Bank Payments handle large amounts of money. The RTGS system is one in which payment instructions between banks are processed and settled individually and continuously throughout the day. In India currently it covers more than 28,000 branches of banks. The attraction of RTGS is that the payee banks and their customers receive funds with certainty and finality during the same day enabling them to use the funds immediately without exposing themselves to risk. RTGS system, do not create credit risk for the receiving participant because they settle the each payment individually , as soon as it is accepted , liquidity risks remains, as well as the possibility of the risks being shifted outside the system .The security has to ensure that hacking is not possible at the site. RISK FACTORS The latest fraud which is considered as the safest method of crime without making physical injury is the Computer Frauds in Banks. Computerization of banks had started since 1994 in India. Reserve Bank of India has evolved working pattern for Local area Network and wide area Network by instituting different microwave stations so that money transactions could be carried out quickly and safely. The main banking tasks which computers perform are maintaining debit-credit records of accounts,  operating automated teller machines, and carry out electronic fund transfer, print out statements of accounts create periodic balance sheets etc. Internet facilities of computer have revolutionized international banking for fund transfer and for exchanging data of interest relating to banking and to carry out other banking functions and provides certain security to the customers by assigning different pin numbers and passwords. Computer depredations have by some been classified as: International Journal of Management and Strategy ISSN: 2231-0703 International Journal of Management and Strategy (IJMS) 2011, Vol. No.II, Issue II, January-June 2011 http://www.myresearchpie.com/ ISSN: 2231-0703 1. Computer frauds; and 2. Computer crimes Computer frauds are those involve embezzlement or defalcations achieved by tampering with computer data record or programme, etc. whereas computer crimes are those committed with a computer that is where a computer acts as a medium. The difference is however academic only. The three most common are: 1. Cheque Frauds The resolute growth of paper cheques coupled with the ready availability of latest printing technology has resulted in an alarming rise in cheque frauds in Indian banks. Cheques are widely used instruments across the globe. It is interesting to note that cheques as a payment mechanism are still having a dominant position, both in developed and developing countries. Banks have been working very hard to wean customers from paper cheques. Cheques are expensive to print, mail and process. Other problems associated with cheques are inherent manual – handling process, high costs for banks, and high transportation costs between parties. Concept and Magnitude of Cheque Frauds There are a variety of ways to categorize cheque frauds. One broad distinction is â€Å"internal† and â€Å"external†. Internal cheque fraud refers to schemes devised by insiders – employees responsible for creating, authorizing, or processing cheques. External cheque fraud refers to schemes  created by independent operators or by organized gangs. The most common forms of external fraud involves: a. Alteration of cheque details b. Creation of counterfeit cheques c. Forgery of cheques Physical Security Controls used are watermarks, high resolution micro printing, reflective holograms, and security inks etc.

Customer Relationship Management of Coca Cola

Customer Relationship Management of Coca Cola Customer relationship management is managing the interactions between the  customers, clients ,sales prospects and the company. CRM needs technology to organise sales activities, marketing, technical support and customer service. The Aim is to find new clients, retain the old customer those the company already have and reduce the cost of marketing and the service provide to the customers. CRM shows the company strategy including the customer interface department and other departments. (Buttle, 2000) Customer relationship management is the development and maintenance of mutually beneficial long-term relationships with strategically significant customers. CRM support the relationship between a business and its customers are to Acquire Enhance Retain Relationship marketing that views customers as assets and emphasizes retaining customers by nurturing and sustaining a relationship with them. It involves building the value for the customer and giving the perception that the company and the customer are partners. Relationship marketing creates bonds with customers bu fully understanding and responding to their needs, requirements and problems with customized personal service. Marketing Mix is used to indicate the integrating of several variables to satisfy specific consumer needs. The task of the marketing manager is to form these variables into marketing mix that meets the needs of each consumer group or market segment targeted by the company. The most widely used marketing mix is the Four Ps Product Price Promotion Place QCI Model Introduction on Coca Cola Company Coca cola is the world largest beverage company. They sell their products over 200 countries and over one billion of their products is consumed each day. Maintaining the finances and logistics is the crucial task. Coca Cola started using a system called the legacy system which found to be very inefficient. This system was generating high cost and was not user friendly. All the finical plans are entered manually and used to re entered for updating the information.  Ãƒâ€šÃ‚  When Coca cola expanded this became more crucial for their success.   Coca Cola need a far more advance business management system. So Coca Cola decided to use SAP Strategic Enterprise Management.  They implemented SAP financials into their business in order to handle the financial processes of the corporation. SEM provides Business Planning Simulation for finances, Data Warehousing for information collection and data analysis, and can also generate financial reports and monthly sales forecasts.     Ãƒâ€šÃ‚   QCI Model for Coca Cola Company Business strategy of Coca Cola is Think local, act local.  The integration between the local bottlers and delivery to the customers is crucial to the companys overall efficiency and keeping the customers satisfied. Full-service vending, Direct Store Delivery (DSD), and equipment services are very important for bottlers business operations and profit centres.  DSD gather customer information to distributors. With that specific data they improve cost control in delivering products.   They receive request from Sales representatives, Mobile device and Service staff. With these details the store can respond easily to the customers and make the process more efficiently. The RFID gives feedback that benefits research, marketing and product development We can improve customer service and satisfaction using better CRM. Using advance CRM we can get the required information of the customer. IT system again collects all the data and analysis them and provide information to provide a better product that suit the customer needs. Using SAP CRM system Coca-Cola was able to achieve their goal of customer focus. The CRM helps the existing processes and also improve the new functions to satisfy the customer. These kinds of CRM help updates and improve the market share for the computer and create a better name with the customer and also reduce the cost for transportation.  Ãƒâ€šÃ‚   The CRM in Coca Cola also handle customer service support where you can direct talk to the person in the company for problem with the product. They have different type of service all around the world. They provide the customer service not only through feedback, email and telephone but also through monitoring and many types of analysis. So by this collaborative CRM, Coca Cola has provided efficient customer service to gain customer satisfaction. Coca Cola was able to continue to grow with the demands as they were able to provide to their customer needs. They always focus on to satisfy the customer needs with the new infrastructure of CRM,ERP and well maintained SCM system they were able to achieve the goals which they really needed to satisfy the customers. By this way there were able to be in the top in the beverage industry. They are still facing a lot of problem to be in the top position but well maintain CRM will never lose the position. (E.Neville Isdell 2005), As we have always done in the past, I know that this industry will rise to the occasion. Coca Cola has taken many steps to win back the customer and to retain the existing customer. They have created a fan page in Facebook which became a very popular with the customers and when they are connected to Facebook, They can actually keep on getting update on recent action by Coca Cola. They can send group message in Facebook. Can gain feedback from customer and provide solution online. Coca Cola is able to advertise in Facebook and gain more customers through the social site. Coca Cola also can gain all the details of the customer from the Facebook page and provide appropriate personalized service to gain more customer and also retain the existing customers. These kind of social networking site help the company to be closer to the customers. Marketing and Advertising in these kind of site will also help the company to grown better. Some of the company does not accept this fact but Coca cola established their Facebook fan page in the third quarter of 2008 by the mid of 2009 there were around 3.4 million fan. But this fan page was created by a Coca Cola fan after much consideration Coca Cola used it as a promotion page and a place where they can build a relationship with the customers. Coca Cola gained a idea and used this Facebook page as a promotion page and was able to gain information from the Facebook wall and provide promotional offers to the customers. They created many ways to keep in touch with the customer by creating Application online for computers and mobile phone. They also provide exclusive sneak peeks for the customer in Facebook. Coca Cola was able to maintain this Facebook page and gather the required information and be in contact with the customers. The company able to attract all the customer, When you go to the Facebook wall page you can see all the language. From this we can see that the company is able to build a good name in all the countries. Coca Cola is the second largest fan page in Facebook as they are around 3.4 million fans in it. When we calculate the number of members join per day would come around 3500. So Coca Cola through this is the best way for promotion and gaining the customer feedback. Coca Cola was able to bring a new innovate vending machine with fountain dispenser called Freestyle. In this the customer can customize their own drink from 100 combinations and this was the first time they can have provide 100 combinations which are not introduced before. The most important about the freestyle vending machine was it is connected to SAP system. So it collect all the customer data and stored in CRM system. It also identifies if the freestyle machine needs to be refilled or not. So they can easy refill it and it also uses the RFID. The Vending machine also has major disadvantage when there is out of stock of the item. Customer can easily choose other product so Coca Cola has to main there strategy in this to maintain the stock and to gain the customer satisfaction. So vending machine should be place in appropriate place where there is easy access of refilling and places where we can cover a lot of customers. We can also find out which products which has sold more and the product which is contribute more profit. We can provide many different products to the customer by giving different product at same day. This is the best way to sell the product more effectively. We can use credit card to pay for the drink which can also provide loyalty points so we can get a free product once a while. It can also identify your drink with the card and you can easily select it and pay for it. This is all built in the vending machine so it is more user friendly for the customer to order and get their favourite drink easily. This is how Coca Cola is able to attract more customer and provide the customer what they required. Coca Cola is trying to take a bigger step by creating a beverage on the spot for the customer and not to put it in a vending machine. Customer can select the required ingredients with a touch screen and we can track the inventory and the customer favourite product so we can serve the customer the better. This is a major operational CRM used attract customer into the company. This is a major step for Coca Cola but being the leader in beverage they need to take necessary step and new innovative idea to be in the top position. Coca Cola has started a new marketing environment by providing a unique pin number in the bottle which can be used to save 75 cents of the mobile bill. They can also gain point for icoke from this system. So this is one of the best marketing techniques to gain customer by giving offer to their daily use products. Coca Cola has worked on this strategy and made some more advance option in it and applied it to United Kingdom. Where you can get the redeemed instantly with the wireless service and get some credit of the minutes. Coca Cola customer gain icoke points from this way and they can use these points to purchase tickets and get some discount on direct purchase. Coca Cola has also joined with Mc Donalds and provide varies offer in purchasing a meal. These kinds of offer revoke the customer and make them purchase the drink. Coke also sells four out of five drinks in all major countries so consumers are able to select and purchase the drink with selected offers. Coca Cola has done one of the best marketing with the Air Bonus. It does not have any back office work. Customer can get the discount instantly without any problem. Mobile phone is a daily use product which helps the customer more. The phone is used a like a loyalty card. They also create a lot of contest online and make customer to play for exiting prize. This kind of action revokes customer to purchase coke. Customers Go Better With Coke As Coca Cola is working on this kind of strategy by creating a Fan page and using a better CRM and SCM process they are able to serve the customer easily and personalizing each customer needs and providing drink according to their taste. This kind of promotion can create word of mouth in office and other entrainment centre where people can take a time out and have some drink and talk about it in online and provide valuable feedback. This can create a major buzz in about the product and help expanding bigger. We can attract new customer with this kind of CRM strategy and retain the existing customer. We can also win back the customer by creating personalizing service. My view on Coca Cola While expanding the company they started to use advance CRM strategy which help the company to grow better and Coca Cola also understand the customer needs and provided innovative vending machine like freestyle made the customer to like Coca Cola. They provided exiting offer to the existing customer with icoke points and discount in phone bill. They used the IT system to get feedback and also made a quality monitoring in customer service made the customer more satisfied. They also used Facebook Fan page as a biggest promotion centre and provided some seek peek for customer. Coca Cola fan page is the second largest fan page in Facebook. We have used the QCI model on this case study to clearly study the Coca Cola CRM process. Conclusion The overview of this case study clearly provides information that using advance CRM strategy help Coca Cola to achieve their goal without losing their market. They were able to provide offers and started some contest online to play and win exiting prizes. They have created a freestyle vending machine where a customer can make his own drink from 100 combinations. This was one of the biggest step for Coca Cola. They were able to do online promotion in one of the top Social networking site. There were able to gain the largest number of fans in it. Coca Cola is able to collect data from vending machine, mobile, Customer service, online network and provide solution and give personalized service to the customer. Coca Cola is able to win back there customer with the new freestyle vending. Coca Cola is able to manage their top position in beverage with their advance CRM process.

BindImageEx Function :: essays research papers

The BindImageEx function computes the virtual address of each function that is imported. This function supersedes the BindImage function. Use BindImageEx to provide a status routine or flags to control the image binding. BOOL BindImageEx( DWORD Flags, PSTR ImageName, PSTR DllPath, PSTR SymbolPath, PIMAGEHLP_STATUS_ROUTINE StatusRoutine ); Parameters Flags [in] Specifies the behavior of the function. This parameter can be a combination of the following values. Value Meaning BIND_NO_BOUND_IMPORTS Do not generate a new import address table. Windows 95/98/Me: This flag is required. BIND_NO_UPDATE Do not make changes to the file. BIND_ALL_IMAGES Bind all images in the call tree for this file. BIND_CACHE_IMPORT_DLLS Do not discard DLL information in the cache between calls. This improves performance when binding a large number of images. ImageName [in] Pointer to a null-terminated string that specifies the name of the file to be bound. This value can be a file name, a partial path, or a full path. DllPath [in] Pointer to a null-terminated string that specifies the root of the search path to use if the file specified by the ImageName parameter cannot be opened. SymbolPath [in] Pointer to a null-terminated string that specifies the root of the path to search for the file's corresponding symbol file. StatusRoutine [in] Pointer to a status routine. The status routine is called during the progress of the image binding. For more information, see StatusRoutine. Return Values If the function succeeds, the return value is TRUE. If the function fails, the return value is FALSE. To retrieve extended error information, call GetLastError. Remarks The process of binding an image consists of computing the virtual address of each imported function. The computed virtual address is then saved in the importing image's Import Address Table (IAT). As a result, the image is loaded much faster, particularly if it uses many DLLs, because the system loader does not have to computer the address of each imported function. If a corresponding symbol file can be located, its time stamp and checksum are updated.

Policy Proposal for Economic Reform in Russia Essay -- Economics Polit

Policy Proposal for Economic Reform in Russia Despite making a recovery after the 1998 market crash, Russia remains weighted with numerous holdovers from the Communist era that keep its economy from taking advantage of free-market reforms. In short, Russia has not prospered under capitalism because it has not yet discovered it. In order to do so, the Russian government must engage in extensive reform in several key areas: improving the rule of law, creating stable monetary policy, and ending a policy of favoritism to particular businesses. Engaging in these reforms would lower the extremely high transaction costs of doing business legally, stimulating a wave of new investment and wealth creation within Russia, as well as encouraging investment from abroad. While the causes of Russia’s economic problems are numerous, the absence of a rule of law causes enormous unpredictability and uncertainty that is the primary barrier to economic growth. The regulatory mess caused by presidential decrees, legislative changes and numerous bureaucracies putting out contradictory rulings is just one aspect of this problem. The court system, which is supposed to be a neutral arbitrator of private disputes, is highly publicized, and even worse, is used by the governments to silence critics and unfavorable companies. One of the major challenges to reform is the uncooperative nature of the bureaucratic apparatus in carrying out laws and policies enacted by the executive. While Yeltsin and Putin have generally been in favor of free-market reforms, the bureaucrats meant to carry out their policies are often rich oligarchs who stand to lose financially or politically from reform. To combat this, Putin has replaced most of the Yeltsin-era ruling... ...-07-98.html 9. Dmitry Pinsker, â€Å"TV6 saga nears final episode.† The Russia Journal http://www.trj.ru/index.htm?obj=5321 10. James A. Dorn and Ian Vasquez. Ending Russia's Chaos, September 9, 1998 http://www.cato.org/dailys/9-9-98.html 11. Daniel J. Mitchell, â€Å"Tax Reform: Russia, 1; United States, 0,† March 21, 2002 http://www.heritage.org/views/2002/ed032102.html 12. Rose Brady, Kapitalizm : Russia's Struggle to Free Its Economy, New Haven, Conn. Yale University Press, 1999. 13. Martha De Melo, and Gur Ofer, â€Å"Private Service Firms in a Transitional Economy: Findings of a Survey in St. Petersburg† Studies of Economies in Transformation, 1014-997X ; Paper No. 11: 1994. 14. William C.Gruben, "Dollarization: The Greenback Goes Global," Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas Expand Your Insight, March 1, 2000 http://www.dallasfed.org/eyi/money/0003.html

A Rasin in the Sun :: essays research papers

A seed is planted to begin a new, yet sometimes on the way to becoming a bright, beautiful plant, the plant lacks minerals or sunlight or water and is misshapen, much like that of a family? the Younger family, to be exact. Few gardeners will spend their precious time to help a sickly plant, knowing it will never bloom, to grow into nothing more than it already is. Yet, there are those exceptional ones? ?Mama? is, indeed, the most tender of hearts to care for this sickly family that, I have no doubt, she knows will never fully blossom into a big, strong, and powerful family. The physical plant she cares for is a symbol for her family in every way. The mother waters the plant every chance she has, as illustrated on page 52. The ability for the mother to ignore all else and cater to this plant can be said, too, about her family. The money, which comes in from her dead husband?s insurance is to be put towards what her family needs, not what she would like to have, what she would wish to have, no, the money is put towards her family?s future. She even tries to protect their pure hearts when she mentions, ?Now don?t act silly? We ain?t never been no people to act silly ?bout no money (68).? Protecting the family from greed, the root of all evil, is the main focus for this gardener of life, just as she would protect the ravished plant from an overwhelming beam of sunlight. Placing a rod behind a plant is sometimes the best way to straighten a plant?s stem, yet the gnarled plant she cares for is still disfigured, as to is Walter. Mama tells Walter, ? [It?s dangerous] When a man goes outside his home to look for peace (73),? in order to straighten his mind out, even though it doesn?t work out all fine and dandy, the effort is made. Without this gardener?s protection, the plant would have been evaporated, long ago, by the insanity that comes with the struggles of everyday life. Checking to see that the soil still has water, Mama makes sure that the family is not in dange r of losing their love for each other, their power source for striving in the retched world, as if checking the soil on page 39 and then replenishing it by saying, ?