The Positive and Negative Effects of Confucianism in East Asian Essay

The Positive and Negative Effects of Confucianism in East Asian Cultures - Essay Example The researcher of this essay aims to pay special attention to the three main elements of ethics form the core of Confucianism. These elements are Ren an obligation of altruism  and humaneness for other individuals within a community, you the obligation to do good and li a system that defines how a person should act within a community. There are just the 3 primary components of the Confucianism philosophy. Apart from these, etiquette, loyalty, filial piety, relationships and various other elements from the structure of this system. The philosophy, politics, society and the business industry of East Asian nations like China, Japan and Korea were all based on the concepts of Confucianism. According to historical facts, these countries prospered in leaps and bounds, all due to the fact that they followed the Confucian ethics in all aspects of the society. The philosophy of Confucianism was practiced in many cultures and countries in East Asia like China, Japan, Taiwan, Korea Vietnam an d various Chinese occupied territories like Singapore. China, however, was the birthplace of Confucianism. It came into being from the sixth century to the third century B.C., an age described as "The Age of Philosophers". Eventually, during 141 to 87 BC, it was declared as a state philosophy by Emperor Wu of Han. Confucianism in Japan began at a time when â€Å"Confucianism† was quite different from what it is today. During the long years from the fall of the Latter Han dynasty in 220 CE through the Tang (618–907), the classics esteemed by Confucius remained an important part for those who exercised authority over others. The sixteenth year of the reign of Ojin is often taken as the start of Japan’s experience with Confucianism, with traditional dating assigning this to 285 but around 404 being the more likely. Reportedly, in that year a Confucian scholar from the Korean kingdom of Paekche, Wang In (known as Wani in Japanese), arrived in Japan to tutor a son of Ojin, bringing along with him copies of the Analects and the Thousand Character Classic. And this is how Confucianism in Japan took off. During Korea’s lengthy Choson dynasty (1392–1910) Confucian ideals were deeply valued. In the early Choson scholars imported Confucianism from China, establishing it as the governing political ideology and further developing Korean-style neo-Confucianism. Modeling neo-Confucian ideals, they transformed Choson into a thoroughly Confucian society during the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. It is an accepted fact that the nations of East Asia constitute a part of the fastest growing economy in the world. In the past 30 years, 3 smalls East Asian nations – South Korea, Taiwan, and Singapore have exhibited phenomenal economic growth which now rivals that of Japan’s. These countries are now ranked as having the world most successful economies. The explanation for this boom in the economic systems can be dedicated to the fact that Confucian values form an ethical thread across the East Asia nations. The philosophy of Confucianism is dictated by a harmonious collective social order. This, in turn, ensures absolute loyalty and obedience to authority from the subordinates. This is the base that enabled the East Asian nations to skyrocket their economy.

Corporate Governance in Australia After Hih Essay Example for Free

Corporate Governance in Australia After Hih Essay In the light of various corporate scandals, regulatory bodies and corporate governance were placed under pressure by shareholders and stakeholders to form a tighter grip in governing corporation’s conduct. The obligations, roles and responsibilities of company’s stewards are under scrutiny of Corporations Act, listing rules, country’s code of corporate governance, ethics as well as social standards. At the same time, advocates of market forces as a replacement to regulations and legislation continue to pursue for market deregulation and liberalisation based on the believe that government intervention will only distort resources allocation and hinder market growth. The collapse of Australian company HIH Insurance Ltd (HIH) in 2001 was analysed in terms of its conduct and compliance to the Corporations Act, listing rules as well as code of corporate governance as released by the Australian Securities Exchange (ASX) Corporate Governance Council (CGC). Reforms in regulations and the Corporate Governance Principles and Recommendations 2007 by ASX CGC were used to recommend best practices in corporate governance that should have taken place in HIH. Lastly, the effect of globalization and challenges to good corporate governance resulting from globalization were discussed from the perspective of national government, regulatory bodies as well as the corporation itself. Justice Neville Owen, The Royal Commissioner in the HIH Royal Commission Report described corporate governance as the framework of rules, relationships, systems and processes within and by which authority is exercised and controlled in corporations, and the Australian Securities Exchange (ASX) Corporate Governance Council added that corporate governance relates to and influences how the objectives of the company are set and achieved, how risk is monitored and assessed, and how performance is optimized (The HIH Royal Commission, 2003; ASX Corporate Governance Council, 2007). The meaning of corporate governance has evolved over time but, in the strictest sense, is linked to the legislation that allows its existence. The law sets forth a company’s rights and responsibilities but this can differ from country to country. However, it is generally accepted that corporate governance extends beyond the law to include a consideration of best practices and business ethics (Birt, Chalmers, Beal, Brooks, Byrne, Oliver, 2008). The structure of corporate governance as put forth by Farrar (2005) and represented in the figure below illustrates the relationship within the corporate governance structure: Figure: The structure of corporate governance (Farrar, 2005). The issues surrounding the rights and responsibilities of corporations are complex and ever changing as financial markets become more global, corporations become larger and more powerful, and society’s perception of the corporate role changes. A school of thoughts advocates for market forces to be the regulator of the financial market. The neo? liberals assume that factor markets work efficiently without government intervention if property rights and competition are guaranteed. They considered government interventions as less efficient than market? based solutions and stresses that government interventions hamper private sector development and that government should concentrate on improving the enabling of business environment through deregulation (Emeseh, Ako, Okonmah, Obokoh, Ogechukwu, 2010). Neo-liberalism challenges the conventional structuralist orthodoxy of government intervention by highlighting the negative effects of â€Å"financial repression† on economic growth and development. They refer financial repression to be the set of government legal restrictions preventing financial intermediaries in the economy from functioning at their full capacity. The distortion of domestic financial markets through rules and legislation is claimed to have negative impact on economic growth. In essence, corporations should be relied on in the main to self? regulate in the critical aspect of business activities. Neo-liberalism has prompted many countries to implement liberalisation and deregulation of their financial markets on the recommendations of the World Bank and IMF (Emeseh, Ako, Okonmah, Obokoh, Ogechukwu, 2010). The significant role of market forces in contributing to good corporate governance and strong corporate performance has for some time been emphasised in economic literature on the corporation and corporate law. In fact, advocates consider the influence of market forces to be an effective substitute for formal legal regulation (duPlessis, McConvill, Bagaric, 2005). However, through-out the last two decades, legislation reforms and corporate governance has also grown rapidly, particularly since the collapse of Enron Corporation in 2001 and the subsequent financial problems of other companies in various countries. As financial scandals continue to emerge, there will be continued attention placed on corporate governance issues, especially relating to transparency and disclosure, control and accountability, and the most appropriate form of board structure that may be capable of preventing such scandals occurring in future (Mallin, 2007). In pursuance of good corporate governance, an area of interest would be how directors’ conduct and decisions should be in the best interest of the company, its shareholders and other relevant stakeholders. In this context, the agency theory is a very suitable framework that can describe the problems associated with the principal-agent relationship caused by separation of ownership and control between shareholders (the principal) and directors (the agent) in corporations. Information asymmetry, moral hazard, difference in attitude towards risk and difference in interest between shareholders versus directors are common agency problems that would usually be at the expense of shareholders (Mallin, 2007; Rahman, Salim, 2010). For example, directors may have a wider range of economic and social needs (such as to maximize compensation, security, status and to boost their own reputation), while shareholders are interested only in maximizing return on investments. Furthermore, as directors are usually contracted to the company on short term basis, they may be eager for short-run payoffs within their contract term, whereas shareholders’ interest would be based on long-term success. Australian companies have a unitary board structure and the regulatory framework for corporate governance and directors’ duties is governed by (i) Statute (notably the Corporations Act), (ii) Common law rules (for example, cases relating to directors’ duties), (iii) The company’s constitution, and (iv) Guidelines issued by the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) (Dibbs Barker Gosling Lawyers, 2003). ASIC plays a vital role in enforcing and regulating company and financial services laws to protect Australian consumers, investors and creditors. It acts as Australias corporate regulator and administers various legislations including the Corporations Act 2001, Australian Securities and Investments Commission Act 2001, etc. (Australian Securities ; Investments Commission, 2010a). By the Corporations Act, general duties imposed on directors and officers of companies are stated as (i) the duty to exercise their powers and duties with the care and diligence that a reasonable person would have which includes taking steps to ensure they are properly informed about the financial position of the company and ensuring the company doesn’t trade if it is insolvent, (ii) the duty to exercise their powers and duties in good faith in the best interests of the company and for a proper purpose, (iii) the duty not to improperly use their position to gain an advantage for themselves or someone else, or to cause detriment to the company, and (iv) the duty not to improperly use information obtained through their position to gain an advantage for themselves or someone else, or to cause detriment to the company (Australian Securities ; Investments Commission, 2010b). Beyond their legal duties and obligations, directors are also expected to meet commercial expectations in th e interest of stakeholders, which include, but are not limited to, shareholders. These commercial expectations essentially require directors to drive the bottom line and provide appropriate shareholder returns. Taking it a step further, many directors of today are challenged to embrace triple bottom line reporting and consider the economic, social and environmental ramifications of their corporate activities (Lucy, 2006). While the scope and laws governing the conduct of directors are wide and many, intentional and unintentional breach has shocked the financial market and public numerously. Till today, HIH Insurance Ltd (HIH) that went into liquidation in early 2001 is well remembered by almost every Australian as a collapse caused by mismanagement of the company, and various board members were brought to court on charges including giving misleading information with the intention of deceiving other board members and the company’s auditor. As one of Australia’s largest insurers, the company ran into debts of over AUD$5 billion and subsequent to the collapse, the government carried out an expensive exercise to underwrite many of the failed policies (Mallin, 2007). According to the HIH Royal Commission Report on the failure of HIH, it was concluded that investigators did not find fraud or embezzlement to be behind the collapse. The failure was more the result of attempts to paper over the cracks caused by over-priced acquisitions (notably FAI Insurance Ltd) and too much corporate extravagance based on a misconception that the money was there in the business. The primary reason for the huge loses was that adequate provision had not been made for insurance claims and past claims on policies had not been properly priced. HIH was mismanaged in the area of its core business activity (Bailey, 2003). In chorus, the HIH Royal Commission report fundamentally states that the main reasons for the failure of HIH was poor management and greed characterised by (i) a lack of attention to detail and skills, (ii) a lack of accountability for performance, and (iii) a lack of integrity in the companys internal processes and systems (Nicholson, 2008). Justice Neville Owen further commented in the report on what was the essence of good corporate governance: The governance of a public company should be about stewardship. Those in control have a duty to act in the best interests of the company. They must use the companys resources productively. They must understand that those resources are not personal property. The last years of HIH were marked by poor leadership and inept management. Indeed, an attitude of apparent indifference to, or deliberate disregard of, the companys underlying problems pervades the affairs of the group. † (The HIH Royal Commission, 2003). The above comment can be loosely translated to say that the directors of HIH have failed their duties. Notably, in April 2005, Mr Ray Williams, the former Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of HIH, was sentenced to four-and-a-half years’ jail with a non-parole period of two years and nine months. Mr William’s sentencing follows ASIC’s successful civil penalty proceedings on the three criminal charges which Mr. William pleaded guilty to. The three criminal charges were (i) that he was reckless and failed to properly exercise his powers and discharge his duties for a proper purpose as a director of HIH Insurance Limited when, on 19 October 2000, he signed a letter that was misleading, (ii) that he authorised the issue of a prospectus by HIH on 26 October 1998 that contained a material omission, and (iii) that he made or authorised a statement in the 1998-99 Annual Report, which he knew to be misleading, that overstated the operating profit before abnormal items and income tax by $92. 4 million (Australian Securities Investments Commission, 2005a). ASIC’s HIH investigation also led to criminal prosecutions of 9 other former senior executives, including directors of FAI, HIH and associated entities on 31 Corporations and Crimes Act charges. Of high public interest was Mr Rodney Adler, a former director of HIH and the majority owner of FAI was sentenced to four-and-a-half years’ jail, with a non-parole period of two-and-a-half years, on four charges arising from his conduct as a director of the HIH group of companies in 2000. ASIC’s chairman, Mr Jeffrey Lucy, in his public statement said, â€Å"Mr Adler was in a position of trust as a director of HIH but he put his own financial interests before the interests of HIH shareholders† (Australian Securities Investments Commission, 2005b). Mr Adler was sentenced after pleading guilty to four criminal charges: (i) two counts of disseminating information on 19 and 20 June respectively, knowing it was false in a material particular and which was likely to induce the purchase by other persons of shares in HIH contrary to s999 Corporations Act 2001, (ii) one count of obtaining money by false or misleading statements, contrary to s178BB Crimes Act 1900 (NSW), and (iii) one count of being intentionally dishonest and failing to discharge his duties as a director of HIH in good faith and in the best interests of that company contrary to s184(1)(b) Corporations Act 2001 (Australian Securities Investments Commission, 2005b). HIH’s disastrous business ventures in U. K. , U. S. , acquisition of FAI Insurance Ltd. nd the Allianz joint venture were identified as what ultimately brought HIH down. These instances of poor decision-making were caused by and reflect a poor corporate governance culture. Corporate governance issues identified included (i) an over-dominant CEO whose decisions were never questioned, (ii) an ineffective chairman who failed his responsibility to oversee the functioning of the board, (iii) an ineffective board who failed to grasp the concept of conflicts of interest, and was unable to monitor and does not question management performance, (iv) inappropriate conduct in remuneration setting and performance measurement (mostly made by Mr. Williams who, although not a member of the committee, attended all meetings by invitation), (v) an ineffective audit committee who showed no concern with risk management and internal control, and (vi) compromised auditor independence (the auditing company was Arthur Andersen and HIH’s board had three former Andersens partners one of them was the chair of the board yet continued receiving fees under a consultancy agreement. Andersens also derived significant fees from non-audit work which gave rise to a conflict of interest with their audit obligations) (Lipton, 2003). Subsequent to HIH’s collapse, The Corporate Law Economic Reform Program (Audit Reform and Corporate Disclosure) Act 2004 (commonly known as ‘CLERP 9’) came into force on 1 July 2004. CLERP 9 incorporated a number of recommendations made in the HIH Royal Commission Report. Reforms were made relating to (i) disclosure of directors’ remuneration, (ii) financial reporting, (iii) auditors i ndependence, (iv) continuous disclosure, and (v) enhanced penalty provisions. CLERP 9 also deals with accounting standards, expensing of options, compliance controls, and encouragement of greater shareholder participation at meeting – all of which represents a significant development in the corporate law framework (Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu, 2005; Alcoc, Bicego, 2003). Prior to CLERP 9 coming into force, advocates of corporate governance were delighted with Australian Stock Exchange Limited (ASX) release of the â€Å"ASX Corporate Governance Councils (CGC) Principles of Good Corporate Governance and Best Practice Recommendations† in March 2003. ASX CGC adopted the same principles based approach as taken in the UK Combined Code which governs entities listed on the London Stock Exchange. ASX listed entities are at liberty not to comply with the recommendations, but if they do not, they must explain why not. The Guidelines were built on the belief that one size does not fit all companies. The Guidelines contained 10 essential Corporate Governance Principles (Principles) and 28 Best Practice Recommendations (Recommendations) which was later revised in August 2007 as â€Å"Corporate Governance Principles and Recommendations† (Guidelines) comprising of 8 Principles and 26 Recommendations (Farrell, Harding, ; Spilsbury, 2003). The Guidelines also reflect ASX CGC’s emphasis in continuous disclosure by listed companies. Each Principle has a Guide to reporting about the Recommendations at the end of the chapter discussing what should be disclosed and where. Under ASX Listing Rule 4. 10. 3, companies are required to provide a statement in their annual report, disclosing the extent to which they have followed the Recommendations in the reporting period. Where companies have not followed all the Recommendations, they must identify the Recommendations that have not been followed and give reasons for not following them – the â€Å"if not, why not† approach (ASX Corporate Governance Council, 2007). In relation to HIH’s case, a number of the Guidelines’ Principles provide fairly extensive coverage of corporate governance issues identified in HIH earlier. Principle 1 highlights the need for companies to establish and disclose the respective roles and responsibilities of the board and management. In the 2007 edition, the Guidelines added the Recommendation 1. 2 for companies to disclose the process for evaluating the performance of senior executives (ASX Corporate Governance Council, 2007). This Principle serves to provide disclosure in relation to HIH’s situation of an over-dominant CEO and ineffective chairman and board. Where HIH was highlighted to have a board that was ineffective and failed its duties, Principle 2 states that companies need to structure the board to add value with an effective composition, size and commitment to adequately discharge its responsibilities and duties. Recommendations in the principle placed importance in having a majority of the board and the chairman being independent directors to ensure independence in board decisions and prevent conflict of interest. Recommendation 2. 4 suggests that companies should establish a nomination committee to ensure appropriate selection and appointment practices in the company. This Recommendation also provides resolution in relation to HIH’s case whereby the board was mostly made up of directors hired by Mr. William, including the former Andersen partners. In the 2007 edition, the Guidelines added the Recommendation 2. 5 for companies to disclose the process for evaluating the performance of the board, its committees and individual directors (previously this was part of Principle 8 in the 2003 edition, titled â€Å"encourage enhance performance†). This Recommendation helps to ensure directors are given access to continuing education to update and enhance their skills and knowledge that are necessary in performing their duties (ASX Corporate Governance Council, 2007). Principle 3 discusses how companies should promote ethical and responsible decision-making. Beyond legal obligations, directors are expected to make decisions that satisfy not only the company’s shareholders but other stakeholders as well (this principal includes amalgamation from Principle 10 of the 2003 edition Guidelines which was to â€Å"recognize the legitimate interests of stakeholders†). To achieve this, Recommendation 3. 1 encourages companies to establish and disclose their code of conduct pertaining to integrity practices, legal practices and handling of unethical practices. Aligned with this, Recommendation 3. 2 promotes the establishment and disclosure of company’s policy concerning trading in company securities by directors, senior executives and employees (ASX Corporate Governance Council, 2007). Relating to Principle 3 and Principle 7 titled â€Å"recognize and manage risk†, HIH has been considerably questioned of its various business decisions, mostly of which contributed to huge loses and ultimately the company’s insolvency. Criticized decisions made by the company are many, and on top of the list include (i) the acquisition of FAI Insurance (majority-owned by Mr. Adler who later became a member of HIH’s board of directors) for A$300 million which FAI was later estimated to be worth just A$100 million, (ii) re-entering the California market in 1998 and failure to take the difficult decision to exit the market when it proved unprofitable, and (iii) the decision to enter a sector (insurance and re-insurance of film-financing) that has proved problematic for many market participants in London (Cagan, 2001). The lack of risk management within HIH was apparent and Mr. Adler’s unethical conduct was evident with his imprisonment. In view of the importance of risk management, Recommendation 7. 1 urges companies to establish policies for the over sight and management of material business risks (that is financial risks and non-financial risks) and disclose a summary of those policies while Recommendation 7. 2 call for the board to require management to design and implement risk management and internal control system to manage the company’s material business risks and report to it on whether those risks are being managed effectively.

How an Individual Positions Themselves for Marketability :: Job Market Employment Careers Essays

How an Individual Positions Themselves for Marketability With an unstable business environment and competitive job market individuals are finding it more difficult to acquire or maintain a way of life they have been accustomed to. Unfortunately this change is occurring faster than society would like to believe or can keep up with. The days of working for one company until retirement is one of rarity. Technological advancements, global competition, lack of leadership and foresight all play a part in the instability of the job market. Company mergers, acquisitions, reorganization, hostile takeovers, and just going out of business can happen regardless of tenure, or years of service. Individuals who lack a degree will find themselves at a disadvantage if ever unemployed or looking for a promotion. With a growing rate of unemployment, and need for skilled labor, employers are more selective in their choice of potential candidates and may overlook a qualified individual for one that possesses a degree. Although this practice may seem unjust or short sighted, it happens everyday. How an individual accepts this reality and positions themselves for future marketability is the focus of this argument. According to The Principles of Economics by N. Gregory Mankiw, Harvard University, Thomson South Western publishing 2004, many studies have documented that the earnings gap between workers with high skills and workers with low skills has increased over the past two decades. A man with a college degree can earn up to 89% more than one without, for woman the figure is about 70%. The incentive to stay in school is as great today as it has ever been. Throughout the 70’s and 80’s students could graduate from high school with a promising future and many joined the labor force without attending college. Unfortunately as the market changes and the need for skilled labor increases, many adult workers are now faced with a decision. More and more high school students are moving on to college and the labor pool is becoming more skilled and competitive. Although years of experience can be used to combat this reality, many employers do not grant an interview unless a degree is presen t. If an individual becomes unemployed or would like to be considered for a promotion the percentage of success is rapidly decreasing. There are programs available for the working or unemployed adult. Many college institutions have recognized this phenomenon and have developed programs to meet the needs of adult students.

Essay on Eating Disorder - Anorexia Nervosa :: Argumentative Persuasive Topics

Anorexia Nervosa There may be murmurs about that girl who only fixes herself a salad with only vinegar at dining services or suspicious glances at someone who spends 45 minutes on the treadmill and then switches to the stair stepper at the rec. On-campus eating disorders are talked about everywhere and yet are not really talked about at all. There is observation, concern, and gossip, but hushed conversation and larger scale efforts to help and change never seem to earn public attention. There is this girl that I grew up and graduated with. I talked to her almost everyday at school, but we were never that close. I never saw much of her over the summer except when she was out running after a two to three hour softball practice. At my younger sister's volleyball game about a month or two ago, I saw this girl. She was so thin it was almost disgusting. Her skin was pale, her hair was thin, and I could see her ribs through her shirt. She went from looking healthy and physically fit to looking sick and fragile. This is why I chose this topic. People need to pay more attention to this disease. Anorexics are literally dying to be thin. Most of you probably already know what anorexia is, however in case you don't anorexia is basically a disease involving self-starvation. Anorexia victims have a very low "ideal" weight. It might begin as a normal diet carried to extremes, reducing their food intake to a bare minimum. Rules are made of how much food they can eat in one day and how much exercise is required after eating certain amounts of food. With anorexia, there is a strong almost overwhelming fear of putting on weight and they are preoccupied with the way that their bodies look. Anorexia sometimes involves use of laxatives, diet pills, or self-induced vomiting to lose or to keep weight off (http://www.netdoctor.co.uk/diseases/facts/anorexianervosa.htm). Anorexics may show symptoms such as extreme weight loss for no medical reason. Also, many deny their hunger, chew excessively, choosing low calorie foods and exercising excessively (http://news.bbc.co.uk/hi/english/health). Anorexics do all of those things to become thin, when in reality, it makes your body better at storing fat rather than burning it. Starving yourself to lose weight is not beautiful in any way. Starved bodies ache all of the time. Essay on Eating Disorder - Anorexia Nervosa :: Argumentative Persuasive Topics Anorexia Nervosa There may be murmurs about that girl who only fixes herself a salad with only vinegar at dining services or suspicious glances at someone who spends 45 minutes on the treadmill and then switches to the stair stepper at the rec. On-campus eating disorders are talked about everywhere and yet are not really talked about at all. There is observation, concern, and gossip, but hushed conversation and larger scale efforts to help and change never seem to earn public attention. There is this girl that I grew up and graduated with. I talked to her almost everyday at school, but we were never that close. I never saw much of her over the summer except when she was out running after a two to three hour softball practice. At my younger sister's volleyball game about a month or two ago, I saw this girl. She was so thin it was almost disgusting. Her skin was pale, her hair was thin, and I could see her ribs through her shirt. She went from looking healthy and physically fit to looking sick and fragile. This is why I chose this topic. People need to pay more attention to this disease. Anorexics are literally dying to be thin. Most of you probably already know what anorexia is, however in case you don't anorexia is basically a disease involving self-starvation. Anorexia victims have a very low "ideal" weight. It might begin as a normal diet carried to extremes, reducing their food intake to a bare minimum. Rules are made of how much food they can eat in one day and how much exercise is required after eating certain amounts of food. With anorexia, there is a strong almost overwhelming fear of putting on weight and they are preoccupied with the way that their bodies look. Anorexia sometimes involves use of laxatives, diet pills, or self-induced vomiting to lose or to keep weight off (http://www.netdoctor.co.uk/diseases/facts/anorexianervosa.htm). Anorexics may show symptoms such as extreme weight loss for no medical reason. Also, many deny their hunger, chew excessively, choosing low calorie foods and exercising excessively (http://news.bbc.co.uk/hi/english/health). Anorexics do all of those things to become thin, when in reality, it makes your body better at storing fat rather than burning it. Starving yourself to lose weight is not beautiful in any way. Starved bodies ache all of the time.

Swot of Taobao

Business: Taobao online trading platform Strengths: 1. The leading individual trading online platform in Asia provided B2C and C2C e-commerce business model. 2. Create (Lead) a convenient and easy online shopping channel for consumer without using traditional retail channels. 3. Connect with a reliable payment method and online trading & paying system (Alipay ) 4. A well-known brand for online trading platform in business field that can attract businesses to join and be the alliance with Taobao. 5.Gather millions of domestic businesses, personal customers, global businesses and global customers (users) to trade and access to a variety of products and services (in a lower price) without constrains of time and distance. 6. Self-help system is promoted to make users have better personal trading place. 7. Strategies like 7-day/30-day Safety Guarantee for Shopping and Shipping/ Shopping Insurance, in Taobao build up customers’ confidence. 8. Rich human resources to have a better de velopment for the business.Weaknesses: 1. There are many counterfeit and pirated goods appeared in Taobao as the supervision is poor. It damages the confidence of the buyers who have bought the fake one while the sale of sellers who are selling genuine is also affected. 2. Credit evaluation system is not comprehensive with poor management while sellers can easily delete a bad comment or evaluation from users (or they can pay and hire someone to evaluate positive comments). It provides low reference values for users. 3.Without effective control, Thousands of online advertisement increased causes the falsity of the advertising also increased. 4. The trading models of Taobao are easily being copied. For example, the Group buying nowadays in Hong Kong was originally started in Taobao. 5. Businesses might withdraw from Taobao and to have their own trading and shopping platform/ they will distribute their resources in different online trading platform when they expand to a certain busines s scale. Then those businesses will become the competitor of Taobao. . Personal information leak may happen, including names, phone numbers and home addresses when businesses get all these information. 7. Taobao does not provide a natively English version for the platform. It limited its expansion in global market. Opportunities: 1. The increasing usage of the Internet and technology development helps the expansion of Taobao. 2. The smartphone technology increases the efficiency and convenience of online shopping and builds up an efficient network business culture.People are confident and motivated to buy more. 3. Government launched a lot of policies to standardize the operation and development of different industries. It indirectly provides an elastic and loose developing environment for online trading platform. 4. Different banking system corporates with Taobao (alipay) to launch different system to provide more services for online users, such as bills payment, insurance or auto paying expenses. 5. The growing economy in China encourages people’s consumption on online shopping platform.Threats: 1. Different competitors in Asia is following behind Taobao and sometimes that its position is threatened, such as QQ Mall, 360buy, Amazon. cn etc. 2. There are many new online paying platforms appeared to challenge the position of Alipay, such as Tenpay (by Tencent) , Baifubao (by Baidu) as they fail to corporate with some third parties (banks, insurance companies) . 3. The quality of different logistic service providers is uneven. There are many complaints about courier stealing goods/damaging goods from customers at Taobao.It will affect Taobao’s expansion until they build up their own systematic and uniform logistic system. 4. Government policy about e-commerce business model is not fully established. Existing law and regulations always fall behind to define the attribution of the burden of proof. It somehow causes online transaction disputes betwee n buyers and sellers. 5. Traditional shopping platform provide a direct way for customers to look, feel and touch with the product. A big market will still stick with traditional trading platform (like malls, markets or shops in real).

Technical Project Paper

Technical Project Paper Technical Project Paper In videogame development confidentially is going to be most critical in what risk needs to be assessed. Upon reviewing your network structure, I have outlined some areas that need to be reviewed and systems established to mitigate the potential risks. The security controls will need to be more strict using smart cards or tokens or even biometric devices as a second layer to the authentication process. Establish a threshold of failed attempts for logon attempts while maintaining auditing logon events. These logs will provide you with a record of traffic and who and when someone entered or exited the system. The first phase that needs to be addressed is the 7 domains of your infrastructure. We will look at the User Domain this is who has access to an organizations information system. There are roles, tasks and responsibilities and accountability from the employees in the organization to keep sensitive information secure. As we know that human error is the greatest weakness in any IT infrastructure. The second domain is the workstation this is where your employees actually connect to the network, could be a laptop a desktop computer, smartphone or even remote access. This is where you want to make sure everyone is required to logon to system with strong passwords and that they are required at least every quarter to change their passwords. This is typically where malicious software in found in the system or installed on the workstation. The key here is to check for unauthorized users and make sure the anti-virus protection is up to date and all patches are installed. Your external firewall stops unauthorized traffic from entering or leaving your network. As packets of data travel the internet you external firewall adds a layer of protection by filtering every packet that arrives at either side of the firewall. Intrusion Detection System IDS - The IDS is in a location you want it to be in a place that will identify possible points of entry into the network. The IDS must be configured properly but it can add a layer of integrity to the infrastructure and trace user activity, notify you when the system is under attack. It can detect errors in the system configuration. The IDS will also help to mitigate some DoS attacks from occurring. Exchange Server - This is placed properly behind the firewall and with the DMZ, now we must configure it so that we disable the HTTP and only allow HTTPS this will narrow an attack. We would want to install whitelisting software to add protection from the Remote Administration Tool (RAT) gaining entry. File Transfer Protocol FTP - uses TCP as a connection oriented data transmission but it is in clear-text. The packets are numbered and acknowledged as being received to increase integrity of the file transfer. However these packets can easily be "eavesdropped" upon and therefore need to be protected. You would want to hide the data with cryptography or encryption. Third domain is LAN domain this is where computers connect to one another connection like the file servers or printer server. These should be configured with access controls to require logon ID and password authentication for access so only the required people have access to those servers that are supposed to. This domain is where data is usually transmitted unencrypted and the spreading of malicious software takes place. Implement encryption between workstations to maintain confidentiality. Wireless Access Point allows wireless capable devices and wired networks to connect like a hotspot. So this device needs to be behind the internal firewall and mac address filtering. Change password on settings from the default password. Change the SSID network name name of the device. Set your static IP address for your wireless networks. configure security settings change encryption on wireless settings and change to WPA or WPA2 if available. Server 2008 Domain Controller (DC) This is pretty standard now days and

lady lazarus Essay Example

lady lazarus Essay Example lady lazarus Essay lady lazarus Essay Lady Lazarus by Sylvia Plath Lady Lazarus is a poem by Sylvia Plath, which is about the three attempts of suicide of the narrator who corresponds to the poetess in many ways. And Lazarus is considered as a man, at the command of Jesus, who rises from the dead, in the Testament of the Bible. The poem starts by telling us that she had done it again. We do not know what this â€Å"it† is yet. In every decade, she manages to do this act that we do not know what it is about. The narrator sees herself as a walking miracle and describes it with a bright skin, a paperweight right foot and a face looks like Jew linen. She speaks to an unidentified enemy and says that her â€Å"sour breath will vanish in a day†. We see that she compares herself to a victim of Holocaust and states that she is 30 years old and like a cat, she has nine lives. Later on we understand that â€Å"it† connotes to dying, but she keeps returning to life again and again like a cat. In her first atte mpt to suicide, it was an accident she says, and the second one was intentional. She did not expect to return from it. She thinks â€Å"dying† is an art -like everything else- and believes that she does it well. It is like a theatrical event for her and thinks that everyone comes to see her doing it. In fact, it seems like she’s performing the third suicide in front of a crowd (which she explains â€Å"peanut-crunching crowd†) in a place which seems like a circus. Then she thinks that she has been burning to death in a crematorium in Concentration Camp. At the end of the poem she warns â€Å"Herr God† and â€Å"Herr Lucifer† to beware, because she is going to rise again from the ash and â€Å"eat men like air†. This poem of Plath’s is so dark and full of death imageries. It is estimated that this poem could be an autobiography because she is known for her suicidal acts, and she had committed suicide by sticking her head in a gas oven shortly after writing this poem. The

Free Essays on Analysis Of Willy Loman

Willy Loman is the main character of â€Å"Death of a Salesman†. He is an old salesman who is lost in fake hopes about how things should be and how they really are, he kind of lives in the past. Willy works on commission and nothing else and he gets to a point where he cant bring enough money home to pay the bills. The place he works for has pretty much used him and now no longer has a need for him so they will basically throw him away after 34 years. Willy has bad routine of having flashbacks. Having flashbacks might not be that big of a problem for some people but for Willy it is because of the fact that he lets it interfere with his everyday life and is starting to have trouble distinguishing between fact and fiction and between past and present. Willy believes things that are not true. For example he thinks his sons are very successful, but in reality they are not at all. His son Biff can’t even keep a job because he steals for no reason. Most of the flashb acks Willy has are of after Biffs senior year of high school when all of the family problems started. Willy also thinks that he is worth more dead than alive. Willys feeling of not being wanted or needed by his job or his family and the fact he thinks he’s worth more dead than alive makes him try to commit suicide a few times in which he fails, until the end of the play when he does finally kill himself.... Free Essays on Analysis Of Willy Loman Free Essays on Analysis Of Willy Loman Willy Loman is the main character of â€Å"Death of a Salesman†. He is an old salesman who is lost in fake hopes about how things should be and how they really are, he kind of lives in the past. Willy works on commission and nothing else and he gets to a point where he cant bring enough money home to pay the bills. The place he works for has pretty much used him and now no longer has a need for him so they will basically throw him away after 34 years. Willy has bad routine of having flashbacks. Having flashbacks might not be that big of a problem for some people but for Willy it is because of the fact that he lets it interfere with his everyday life and is starting to have trouble distinguishing between fact and fiction and between past and present. Willy believes things that are not true. For example he thinks his sons are very successful, but in reality they are not at all. His son Biff can’t even keep a job because he steals for no reason. Most of the flashb acks Willy has are of after Biffs senior year of high school when all of the family problems started. Willy also thinks that he is worth more dead than alive. Willys feeling of not being wanted or needed by his job or his family and the fact he thinks he’s worth more dead than alive makes him try to commit suicide a few times in which he fails, until the end of the play when he does finally kill himself....

My Favorite Movie The Million Pound Note Review Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

My Favorite The Million Pound Note - Movie Review Example After some time, he comes across Oliver and Roderick wealthy British brothers. The two brothers take advantage of Adams situation and try to experiment out their theories on Adam. The brothers take advantage of their status to acquire a note printed one million pounds from the bank. The first brother Oliver purports that the idea of owning a note of such a value is a key to the owner receiving whatever he requires, however, the second brother Roderick, expresses that the owner of the million pound note is bound to spend the money in order to attain whatever he needs. Adams gets the note, but under one condition from the brothers, he must keep it for a period of one month without using it till the brothers’ return. Everything changes from that point on, people coming in contact with Adam; treat him with a lot of respect since he is now a millionaire. Whenever he needs a good or a service it is efficient for him since he only needs to show out the million pound note. This trend goes on and in the process his popularity grows all over Britain to the extent of being invited to socialize with the nobility. In particular, he meets up with the English nobility and the American Ambassador. The intriguing life of Henry Adams is disrupted one time when he is unable to produce his note at a critical moment when it is needed at the stock market (Molyneaux 125). One of the main reasons I like this movie is its classical nature, all the characteristics and issues, which are expected to be in a classical film are embedded in this one. Gregory Peck is one of my best classical actors. Since I am a fan of classical music, the movie is more appealing with the use of classical music as the soundtrack. I also like the idea of old eliminated denominations used in the movie, the comparison of the value of money at that time and today is funny and absurd. The movie’s running time of one hour thirty minutes is convenient for me; the time is enough for me to watch without getting bored or restless. This movie inspires me when I think of the downfalls and unfortunate situations, which Adam had gone through before he met up with the eccentric brothers and his life changed for the better (Molyneaux 122). I am a lover of comedy movies such as The Million Pound Note, and the central actor who gives me laughter in the whole movie is Henry Adams. An interesting part in that movie is the scene in which Adam takes a meal in a restaurant after which he is asked to pay for it. An irony that brings out laughter is when Adam has to pay some small amount for the food he has eaten, but he only has the million pound note. He apologizes to the waiter that he does not have any small denomination to pay for the bill. It is a fun moment in that the person saying that he only has a million pound note, some days back could not claim anything as his own. Another interesting episode in this movie is the scene in which Adam is not recognized or welcomed when he enters a suit store. The situation changes when he shows out his million pound note. I like the fact that Adams is later treated like a king in the suit store when the attendants notice his million pound note, they bring out the best suits in the store to Adam. The climax of fun moments in the movie, which I like is when Adam is at the stock mark

Not sure Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Not sure - Essay Example This figure appears as a halo or ring around the head of the sanctified. Moreover, in many religious systems we can find some degree of syncretism. Islam and Confucianism are clearly the hardest to syncretize with each other. Indeed they do have certain similarities between them, but still it is more difficult to syncretize the two as compared to Judaism or Buddhism with Confucianism. Confucianism was brought about by K’ung Fu Tzu (Confucius). He travelled all over China and advised the rulers. He usually preached about morals and ethical values, and how political power should be exercised properly. According to Confucianism it is important for a person to have etiquette; he should be righteous; he should act benevolently with everyone and this, Tzu considered to be the most important virtue; there should be love among family members; and lastly, a person should show his loyalty toward his country. All these features are part and parcel of almost every religion, although in varying importance. Every religion teaches one to be good and treat others well too. However, Confucianism focuses only on this aspect of life. Confucianism is not an actual religion with God to pray to. It is basically more of an ethical system that has clarified certain traditions and rituals to be followed at the important periods of one’s life; for instance, birth, maturity, marriage and death. Islam, on the other hand, is a monotheist religion. This means there is one God that the followers of Islam pray and worship. The Muslims believe that He created the universe and He is omnipotent. Islam is, comparatively, a very young religion. Muslims also believe in the previous prophets, Abraham, David, Moses and Jesus, and consider Muhammad to be the last of the prophets of God. However, they do not consider Jesus to be the son of God as it is their belief that God

Observation Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words - 2

Observation - Essay Example However, there are means and ways put in place to aid in teaching this group of students. This paper is going to address the education of students with emotional and behavioral disorders, physical abilities, health impairments and traumatic brain injury. Moreover; it is going to describe the type of teaching strategies for this group and how to nurture their self esteem and self advocacy skills. Moreover, this paper is going to explain how regular students can be aided into accepting, understanding and respecting their colleagues and how to respond to their needs appropriately. In order to teach special needs student’s teachers need researched, evidence based teaching strategies to be sure of what they are giving to their students. Research and evidence based strategies can be defined as an intervention program that has been researched over and over and has positively yielded consistent results when tested. There are a variety of research evidence based teaching strategies that teachers can use. The first teaching strategy is class wide peer tutoring (Cullinan, 2007). This strategy is meant to teach students who are at different levels with the rest and those who have different needs but are in the same class. Class wide peer tutoring stipulates that after a class lecture by the teacher, the students must then bond together to evaluate and find out if they have all got the information together and in the same manner. Methods here include pairing of students that is regular students are paired with a special needs student, immediate correction of errors; inter class competition and frequent spontaneous tests. This will ensure that the special needs students are at par with the regular students. This method is very effective in math since one method in math is sometimes difficult to understand and group work exposes different methods. The second researched teaching strategy is the Direct Instruction, DI (Cullinan, 2007). This method involves teaching of

Gene Silencing at the Nuclear Periphery Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Gene Silencing at the Nuclear Periphery - Essay Example Some epigenetic abnormalities have been identified in human tumors, offering tremendous scope for epigenetic modulation as part of cancer chemotherapy. (TY Kim, YJ Bang, KD Robertson, 2006) Histones are small, basic proteins which bind to DNA, to form nucleoproteins - this helps the DNA to be packed tightly into coiled coils. Histones are rich in the amino acids arginine and lysine. Unlike most proteins, histones are water soluble. The functions of histones include packing nucleoproteins for compaction, and chromatin regulation. Histones undergo modifications; this set of modifications which are interdependent and responsible for controlling gene activity is called the "Histone code". The histone code theory of gene regulation was articulated by David Allis and colleagues. According to this theory, expression of certain regions of DNA is turned on and off by histone code. Histone proteins are one of the most highly conserved proteins in eukaryotes, emphasizing their importance in cell biology. Heterochromatin is the condensed, dense form of chromatin, which is transcriptionally inactive; hence it is peripherally located. It is abundantly seen in resting or reserve cells. It stains deeply during interphase (resting stage). The heterochromatin part of a chromosome either lacks genes or has repressed genes. Heterochromatin is seen in both pro and eukaryotes. Euchromatin is delicate, thread-like, active form of chromatin. It is abundant in active, transcribing cells. The importance of euchromatin is because the portion of the DNA coil intended for transcription must uncoil, to permit reading of the code. It stains lightly and its gene concentration is high. It is usually under active transcription and hence it is partially or fully uncoiled. Prokaryotes have only euchromatin. NUCLEAR LOCALISATION - ROLE IN GENE EXPRESSION The vital facts about gene silencing are: (Shaklai et al, 2007) 1. Chromosomes rich in genes are centrally located in the nucleus. Conversely, gene poor ones are located in the periphery. 2. Inactive genes are silenced and translocated to the periphery. 3. If chromatin is moved to the periphery, it is silenced and rendered inactive. Gene silencing plays an important role in determining the fate of different cell lines during development and defining their temporal order. (Fischer, Merkenschlager 2002) cDNA MICROARRAY TECHNIQUE cDNA microarray (c -complimentary) is a tool which helps us analyze and measure the activity of genes. This is done using the process of molecular hybridization. Adenine and thymine are complimentary; Guanine and cytosine are complimentary. While studying two pieces of DNA, if they hybridize (bind to one another), then we can conclude they are complimentary strands - opposite strands of a single gene. Conversely, if they do not hybridize, then they are unrelated. Microarray expression technique has many applications - Gene expression profiling (comparing gene expressions in normal and abnormal cells), study of multigenic diseases like Parkinson's disease,detection of

System Analysis and Design course Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

System Analysis and Design course - Essay Example The scope of the project is to give a plan which illustrates to draw an amount of $800 from the monthly earning or we can say from disposable income by managing the routine expenses within the same income. The expected length of the saving plan would be 5 months i.e. starting from 1st of March 2014 to 1st of July 2014. I hope that during the period of 5 months I will be able to accumulate the amount of $800 in order to purchase the iPad. In order to be successful in my saving plan, there must be a saving of $160-180 per month. In case of any decrease in the saving amount per month I may not be able to purchase the desired model of iPad in the expected time period. One more important thing, I may reduce my frequent visits to nearby fast food restaurants along with my friends. This will definitely cut down my extra expenses. The basic purpose or the objective of this study or report is to devise an information system which helps to manage the time spent in different activities of daily routine life. Time management is very much necessary in the life because now the philosophers consider time value as an asset which should be properly utilized so that an individual can take full advantage of it. The scope of the essay is to devise a time management plan for best use of time. This will look at the past behavior of how time has been used how the time was saved during the college period. This time management will help to maintain the resources in later years. We have to give a proper time to our college activities because these cannot be compromised at all or we can say at any cost. Though the college schedule is set keeping in mind the personal activities also but the time plan should give ample time to the study duration. If I look back to my past activities then I might come to know that at certain times I failed to properly allocate time. This failure caused certain problems for me. Now I

Gene Silencing at the Nuclear Periphery Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Gene Silencing at the Nuclear Periphery - Essay Example Some epigenetic abnormalities have been identified in human tumors, offering tremendous scope for epigenetic modulation as part of cancer chemotherapy. (TY Kim, YJ Bang, KD Robertson, 2006) Histones are small, basic proteins which bind to DNA, to form nucleoproteins - this helps the DNA to be packed tightly into coiled coils. Histones are rich in the amino acids arginine and lysine. Unlike most proteins, histones are water soluble. The functions of histones include packing nucleoproteins for compaction, and chromatin regulation. Histones undergo modifications; this set of modifications which are interdependent and responsible for controlling gene activity is called the "Histone code". The histone code theory of gene regulation was articulated by David Allis and colleagues. According to this theory, expression of certain regions of DNA is turned on and off by histone code. Histone proteins are one of the most highly conserved proteins in eukaryotes, emphasizing their importance in cell biology. Heterochromatin is the condensed, dense form of chromatin, which is transcriptionally inactive; hence it is peripherally located. It is abundantly seen in resting or reserve cells. It stains deeply during interphase (resting stage). The heterochromatin part of a chromosome either lacks genes or has repressed genes. Heterochromatin is seen in both pro and eukaryotes. Euchromatin is delicate, thread-like, active form of chromatin. It is abundant in active, transcribing cells. The importance of euchromatin is because the portion of the DNA coil intended for transcription must uncoil, to permit reading of the code. It stains lightly and its gene concentration is high. It is usually under active transcription and hence it is partially or fully uncoiled. Prokaryotes have only euchromatin. NUCLEAR LOCALISATION - ROLE IN GENE EXPRESSION The vital facts about gene silencing are: (Shaklai et al, 2007) 1. Chromosomes rich in genes are centrally located in the nucleus. Conversely, gene poor ones are located in the periphery. 2. Inactive genes are silenced and translocated to the periphery. 3. If chromatin is moved to the periphery, it is silenced and rendered inactive. Gene silencing plays an important role in determining the fate of different cell lines during development and defining their temporal order. (Fischer, Merkenschlager 2002) cDNA MICROARRAY TECHNIQUE cDNA microarray (c -complimentary) is a tool which helps us analyze and measure the activity of genes. This is done using the process of molecular hybridization. Adenine and thymine are complimentary; Guanine and cytosine are complimentary. While studying two pieces of DNA, if they hybridize (bind to one another), then we can conclude they are complimentary strands - opposite strands of a single gene. Conversely, if they do not hybridize, then they are unrelated. Microarray expression technique has many applications - Gene expression profiling (comparing gene expressions in normal and abnormal cells), study of multigenic diseases like Parkinson's disease,detection of

Kinds of movies Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Kinds of movies - Essay Example Action movies are two-dimensional, a protagonist on a quest to conquer an antagonist who afflicts the people. The category has intense local motion, low-key lighting resulting in visual disturbance, spectacular rhythm and pacing (Rasheed and Shah 2). Examples include American Sniper 2014 and Fast and Furious 7 2015. The second genre is comedy that has a low local motion with high-key lighting usually less dramatic and happy (Rasheed and Shah 2). Comedies are cheerfully and consistently designed to provoke laughter and amusement to the audience through exaggerating language, action, situations. Examples of comedies include Big Mommas and Mr. Popper’s Penguins. The last genre is drama, which is a plot-driven play, portraying real characters, life situations, stories and settings. Drama involves character interaction and development not relying on any special effect such as in action or comedy. Examples include Day One and Girls. The movies may serve to educate and guide especially the younger members of the society if the casting theme is a representation of a prevailing challenge. In summary movies play a great role in the entertainment industry besides being educative especially to the younger members of the society. Action, drama and comedy make the major classes of movies with each serving a unique purpose and theme to the

Ethics Essay Essay Example for Free

Ethics Essay Essay There are different systems in which an individual or a company could make ethical decisions. They can vary depending on the issue at hand and they relate and different in certain ways. In this writing I will compare the similarities and differences between virtue theory, utilitarianism, and deontological ethics. I will include a description of the differences in how each theory addresses ethics and morality. And I will give a personal experience to explain the relationship between virtue, values, and moral concepts as they relate to one of the three theories. Ethical systems based on abstract values are described as virtue theory. Virtue theory is based on character ethics. It is the viewpoint that in living one’s life one should try to cultivate excellence in all they do and in all that other do. This is the system that would address ethics and morality from the perspective of living with high values and with great character (Boylan, 2009). Quoting Boylan (2009) from our book, â€Å"Utilitarianism is a theory that suggests that an action is morally right when that action produces more total utility for the group than any other alternative† (pp. 153). Utilitarianism focuses on what is best for the group or team as a whole. This theory asks, â€Å"What ethical decision will profit the most for the largest amount of people?† Deontology is a moral theory that emphasizes one’s duty to do a particular action just because the action, itself, is inherently right and not through any other sorts of calculations (Boylan, 2009). Calculations like what the consequences of that action might be. Deontology is a duty-based theory when addressing ethics and morality. In comparing these three, a utilitarian working for ATT might overlook a bad credit report to make a deal because the deal would help the company and the  client. Therefore it’s a win-win. A deontologist might make the same decision based on the fact that the client needs a cell phone to be able to take care of business in order to take of her children. The simple fact that the action is inherently right regardless of the consequences is the bases for the deontologist. And to the contrary only a virtuous worker would have integrity and do what was in the best interest of the company. A personal experience of mine to relate these topics would be a girlfriend of mine just got out of a bad relationship where she was not married, but had a child with this man. She lived with the father of her child for many years although he was abusive and was providing home that was unsafe and insufficient for her and her child. She stayed for many years making decisions as a utilitarian until one day she changed to a deontologist. She chose to leave the state and ignore the rights of the father on the grounds that he was abusing both her and her son. She valued her and her son’s health over anything. She was virtuous in that she rose above the desire to retaliate and pursued only their protection. And all of her actions where based on her moral concepts, according to her beliefs and understanding. In conclusion, there are many different theories and ways to make ethical decisions. I have related and compared the virtue theory, utilitarianism, and deontology. I have also shared a personal experience to relate virtue, values, and moral concepts to one of these theories. Life and business are about making decisions and these concepts and theories are a foundation to a healthy life and a healthy business. References Thompson, S. (2014). What is the relationship among virtue, values moral concepts in individual and business contexts?. Retrieved from http://smallbusiness.chron.com/relationship-among-virtue-values-moral-concepts-individual-business-contexts-69097.html Boylan, M. (2009). Basic Ethics. : Prentice Hall.

Causes and Impact of the Recession on Banking Sector

Causes and Impact of the Recession on Banking Sector Introduction Growth Management: Two Hats Are Better Than One By Andrew Lester page 169 Says there is a definition of an economic recession-two succsive quartets in a year when the economy shrinks rather than grows. In the presence of economic recession, the effected countries are extremely in the state of anxious..The developed countries are trying to do everything to avoid the impact of recession in their country, but, it is true, the developed countries are the first affected of the economic recession because of the economic slowdown. It can be understand with the simple explanation through the different principles of economic, when any country played a big role in international trade market in different sectors; it is true that the economic effect will be more swear on their land. Recession affects the GDP or gross domestic product of the country and the downturn in different economic activities are facing the declination (smith, 2009). Rationale Recession is the phenomena which is not new, but it occurs from time to time. In this dissertation we will focus on the economy of UK under the shade of recession. The economic changes which are being brought by the recession. Banks are the finance provider to the other sectors which in turn provide growth to the economy. This late 2000s recession aggravated the situation. Mortgage rate was high they cut back loans and redundant people. The problem was clear in the late 2000s recession when the international investors and domestic holders withdrawing their deposits and the banks were reducing the availability of loans. It was really hard for the clients to find a reasonable mortgage rate or mortgage offers. In the previous year, the external economic environment has greatly affected UK banking and finance. Globalization linked economies so that economic shifts and changes in one economy affects the other as in the case of the mortgage market in the United States and the banking sector in the United Kingdom. Technological innovation also supported the linkage of economic sectors so that a downturn in one economy is likely to affect other economies. This finds expression in the mortgage market of the United States and its effect on the banking sector in the United Kingdom. The trend in the United States is the engagement in the sub-prime mortgage market to meet growing demand for housing. As such, many banking and finance institutions engaged in sub-prime mortgage, which in effect is approving loans for people who do not necessarily meet the credit rating criteria previously established. As a result, many people purchased homes on mortgage financing. As these loans matured, many were unable to pay the mortgage loans. This resulted to the sub-prime mortgage market crash in 2007. In the meantime, the United Kingdom also experienced housing demand. This encouraged new firms to engage in the sub-prime market or existing banks to establish sub-prime mortgage services such as Northern Rock. The sub-prime mortgage market crash in the United States affected the banking sector in the United Kingdom, particularly the banks that engaged intensively or almost exclusively on the sub-prime market. The crash in the United States signalled the problem that is also starting to heighten in the United Kingdom because of a number of reasons. One, large banks present in the United States and involved in the mortgage market were in the process of consolidating their losses so that these banks refused or had not ability to extend short term loans to other banks, which heavily relied on short-term loans from various banks for its sub-prime mortgage system to work. Another, banks in the United Kingdom also refused to extend further loans to the mortgage market or to financial institutions relying on short-term loans. This led to a credit crunch that eventually led to huge losses and bankruptcy. In this crucial time some banking institutes had effectively exercise of sufficient internal control practices to support its sustainability target by balancing risks with expected returns as well as some important decision taken and implemented by board of directors like to not heavily involve in mortgage market helps them to survive and book enough profit in this time. In this dissertation we will focus on the impact of recession on some financial firms who couldnt survive and book major losses up to close down with the example of Northern Rock, who announced bankruptcy. The Focus will be on the Barclays that how it has bear the pressure of recession and it flourishes. We will find out the policy and the methodology to reflect the waves of recession. Dissertation will also focus on strategies to be implemented and suggest some changes to be made in operation of banking business to not repeat these again. Some other financial firms who survive and balance its profitability by quick important decision and implement of some strategies with the example of Barclays, top banking firm of United Kingdom Literature review This dissertation will also discuses the financial crisis in UK and what is the economic condition at present. Christopher Dow said that   Recession are best defined as shortfalls below the capacity growth rate,thus accompained by growing unemployment. the initial defination of a large recession(that output should fall absoltly) is thus equivalent to a requirment that the rate of out put growth should fall below the norm(or capacity rate) by more than the norm itself. Five periods were identified on theses criteria as major recession;1920-1,1929-32,1973-5,1979-82and 1989-93. On January 24, 2009, Edmund Conway, Economics Editor for The Daily Telegraph, wrote that The plight facing Britain is uncannily similar to the 1930s, since prices of many assets from shares to house prices are falling at record rates [in Britain], but the value of the debt against which they are held remains unchanged. Recession in this age of globalization is not to be kept at a single place it tranfer its effect from one sector to the other and from one country to other . It will also highlight what are the main causes of Northern rock banks down fall due to various factors which are thoroughly discussed in literature review with the help of print media, companys case studies/websits,books,gernerals and websites also what are the affects on consumer.It is also conclude ground realities of global recession as well as enhanced information of worth while recourse in order to understand the matter of crux of world economic globalization. The subprime mortgage crisis has already suggested living standard of people around the world in line with fare of US and global economy and now it threatens to derail the U.S. economy. Origin of economic crisis and how to tackle them, advice to take valuable measures to get over the economic crisis has been revealed by best selling economist Robert Shiller in his book. An aggressive response need to be taken by people in order to restructure the intuitional basis. He also shows in his book that how these economic bubbles can be further dangerous in near future . Northern Rock banks and several of its customers withdrawal their money and savings due to there was news in the market about bankruptcy of bank which are received from Bank of England. This was certain one the reason that the prior consumers of Northern Rock have placed their savings in other banks considered to save better constancy even if the interest rate slightly lower then others. However, these consumers and their experience with Northern Rock mostly affected their future financial planning and decision-making. Barclays bank was formed in 2006 with the forshighted motive to become powerful development platform for Barclays and targeted the rapidly challenging market. The idea was to provide the better services for retail and commercial customers in markets around the globe. In 2008 annual report the group chief executive John Verley reported that that We have managed Barclays carefully through this period. We have remained solidly profitable The main reasons for Barclays survival in credit crunch is followed by its constant approach to make important progress towards success of goal by attracting 9 Million new customers while offering them cost saving packages. Richard Posner in his book describe the way of getting ride vicious credit crunch and the reasons of economic crisis by his in-depth research.   By Marc LaBonte, Thecapitol Net, Patrick Purcell: describes the Recession, Depression, Insolvency, Bankruptcy, and Federal Bailouts and to determin how resession begin or end. By Mark Zandi:give the broad accessible analysis for the economic crisis from 2007-2009.the answer is also give thoroughly in his book related recession and new version is update with latest events regarding fall of 2008 financial collapse. Gjerstad, S.,et al(2009) said in the article ‘In just the past 40 years there were two other housing bubbles, with peaks in 1979 and 1989, but the largest one in U.S. history started in 1997, probably sparked by rising household income that began in 1992 combined with the elimination in 1997 of taxes on residential capital gains up to $500,000. Rising values in an asset market draw investor attention; the early stages of the housing bubble had this usual, self-reinforcing feature. It is noticeable that lower mortgage rates are attracting, but somehow the financial institutions have a big shortfall. They have to suffer for it. In general sense the housing market is the direct centre of the crisis. The Financial disaster had started in USA and spread out to Uk and the rest of Europe. Three years ago when northern rock a mortgage bank was teetering on the brink, the financial authorities considered keeping it float with secret emergency lending but it was bank run(Anon 2009) . The main objection at that time came from the financial services authorities that a listed company should have to disclose the emergency lending to avoid misleading the business market. BBC (Aug2009) reported thatNorthern Rock relied heavily on the markets, rather than savers deposits, to fund its mortgage lending. The onset of the credit crunch has dried up its funding. Schifferes,S. (2007) in his article reported that â€Å"A wave of foreclosures and evictions is about to sweep the United States in the wake of the sub-prime mortgage lending crisis. Another bank to discuss is northern Rock which collapse as a result of recession. Hyun Song Shin in the Journal of Economic Perspectives, said ‘The U.K. bank Northern Rock became the first high-profile casualty of the global financial crisis of 2007‚Äà ¬2008 when it suffered its depositor run in September 2007. In spite of the television images of long lines of depositors outside its branch offices, the run on Northern Rock was unlike the textbook retail depositor run caused by coordination failure. Also, contrary to received wisdom, its reliance on securitization was not an immediate factor in its failure. Rather, its problems stemmed from its high leverage coupled with reliance on institutional investors for short-term funding. When the de-leveraging in the credit markets began in August 2007, Northern Rock was uniquely vulnerable to the shrinking of lender balance sheets arising from the tick-up in measured risks. Aims and objectives. The dissertation aim will be recognise secondary data of global recession effects in the UK economy as well as in primary research study determining first hand information on the recent situation of global recession affecting Uk economy, in terms of banking sector and mortgage sector .The first objective of the research is to find out the most suitable strategy that can be use by the institutions which in return can increase their market performance..For the objective, the need to use collective research and information placing weight to global economic recession facts and figures in the year 2008 and present, and its impact within UK economy. . Research Questions The dissertation will aim to find answers the following research questions through the analytical techniques and the data collections. What causes an economic recession? What are the effects of an economic recession on the financial sector? Northern rock was collapsed during the recession period what was the reason behind? Barclays Plc is not affected by the recession. What are the strategies they adopted? What is the short term and long term strategies adopt by a business in the recent recession? Research Methodology The main objective of this analysis would be to examine the main causes of recession and the impact of recession on the financial sector with detail research on Barclays Plc and Northern rock Bank. This dissertation will discuss the strategies they applied to survive in recession and what are the problems they had faced. The dissertation will also discuss the economic condition of UK banks and housing market. It will also analyse that what are the strategies, which have been adopted by the financial sector. For the research methodology, it is important to bring in related knowledge towards the UK recession and its impact towards the financial sector. Negatively or positively from within the case study interviews to be given by some UK small medium enterpriser and multinational corporations, interviews will not be of less than hundred, these are the ones who are effected by recession regarding their loss of jobs and the status from their employment from the UK business sectors. Types of Data The main type of Data will be collected for this purpose of this report is as follows. Primary Data Primary data is the information, which is collected by the researcher from his own analysis. It could be in the form of analysis questionnaires, interviews, observations, case studies or critical incidents. The primary data, which is collected from the different sources, could be either qualitative which looks at the explanation behind the given responses or quantitative which is in the form of numbers and which can represent in the form of a graph or a table. Secondary Data Secondary data is the information that is already available. This could be including books, reviews, press releases, newspaper, news bulletin, or reports etc. Again secondary data collected could be either quantitative or qualitative. It depends on the source and type of the information collected. Primary Data Questionnaires A research question is a kind of survey where the information is collected with the intension of arriving at the different conclusions on an issue. This kind of survey will help the researcher to get impartial result and if required the researcher can predict an issue or advice changes. Questions will be divided to the employees, managers of big financial companies of selected banks, mortgage companies and the housing sector. The question will be targeting a most specific issue of the discussion and each response would be analysing against each other. Survey may be deals with a variety of media (paper-electronic-verbal). Different kind of method can be used internet, face to face, telephone and mails.. The population will be divided in managers employees and customers. Interviews Interviews will be held on the spot with the people of different sectors. It could be on phone or face to face either when the respondent meets the interviewee over the phone or directly and answer some circumstantial questions relating to circumstantial issue. This kind of interviews is more advantageous since not only respondent can convey himself or herself and interview can ask to elucidate the answer. Secondary Data Sampling method Stratified sampling Stratified sampling is a method where the population is based on groups. For the dissertation purpose, we will divide the populations. Managers of the companies This will include managers who are in direct contact with financial departments, including policy and decisions makers. Employers This group directs to those who help to apply the strategies or changes. Their opinion is indispensible as they are indirectly related with the running of business Customers This group directs to those who are directly and indirectly affects with new changes and strategies. The big advantage of stratified sampling is that question will be related to the details. The interviewer wants to be answered and there will be less chance that the respondent will simply guess an answer because they have already been chosen whether they are in a position to answer the question. There is another advantage of this type of sampling method is that it increases the chance of having a more relevant answers as compared to simple random sampling. It is possible that the disadvantage is that it makes the analysis a bit complex. Simple random sampling This is a method where a small group of samples are selected from a large group of people. the advantage of this method is simplest and straightforward and disadvantage is time scale may be too long. Data analysis There are two major approaches to analysis the data and collect an information qualitative and quantitative research method. Sometime required information is already available and required only be pull out. However, in the analysis sometime information must be collected. This kind of research will call back the second approach. The research needs to be collected and it is not already available. The research mainly relies on the primary data. The nature of the problem which researcher will explore in this report is suitable for both research methods. The secondary data in this research will be gathered from reports, books journals, internet journals-internet websites, companys website, articles and every other written source of data. As primary data will be collected through the interviews and questions, then all of the collected data will be analysis to accomplish the objectives and aims of the dissertation. Qualitative Research Technique Qualitative research means to know why, not the, how, which is collected by many methods like interviews, feedback, forms-emails. Qualitative research is used to understand how people feel and they think-depth interviews or group discussions are two common methods to use for collect qualitative information. Quantitative Research Technique Quantitative research technique where a research method depends less on interviews, questions, observations but it is more focused on the numerical data and statistic collection and analysis. Information collected from the financial sectors, banks, mortgage companies will be combined together and put into tables and graphical charts to view the opinion on different topics and to review overall responses. Limitations of the Study Validity and reliability Validity directs to the truthfulness and accuracy of the research. Research data may be mislead if a question will be misinterpreted or misunderstand. Reliability is a various statistical tests. There is another way to test the reliability is to ask a same question with different wording in the research survey. It will help to collect a right data. Data may be misleading if the interviewee gives a judgment instead of straight facts. Therefore respondent will be bound in many ways from freely expression views with the help of close ended questions. Interviewing It may be challenging to finding the right person at the right time because of the current economic situation. A financial sector would face the different challenges and then an interview for an academic research could end up with a long way wait. Confidentiality As the business market is very competitive and the fact is that bit information about the company can give a rise to the competitors, a company might not want to share data. Although a confidentiality, agreement will be signed and disclaimer will be issued. Response times The response time to the questionnaire and interview setting mostly rely on how busy the management and staff are at the research time. This might make collection process lengthier Recent external factors Economical changes have a direct impact on the financial sectors and therefore theses changes have impact on their staffs as well. It is possible that feed back could be more a response to the recent external changes and not because of the business to ensure employees are happy and content. Time Scale Planning Activities May 05-30 May-June 30-22 June-July 25-02 July 04-14 July 16-26 July-Aug 27-07 Aug-Sep 08-25 Sep 26-30 Project proposal ___ Literature Review ____ Research Methodology ____ Empirical study ____ Empirical result ____ Recommendation ____ Conclusion ____ Thesis submission ____

A Refining of Magnet Schools: The Segregated System :: Research Papers

A Refining of Magnet Schools: The Segregated System Magnet schools are designed to promote voluntary school desegregation and to enhance educational quality through thematic teaching of uniform curriculum (www.magnet.edu). Partially funded by the federal government through grants and assistance programs, magnet schools essentially provide choice to parents and students across America to gain a more specialized education. Intrinsically, magnet schools allow students from many different districts to unite in one school in hopes of creating a racially diverse learning environment. Despite the attempt made by the federal government to desegregate schools, Jonathon Kozol points out that, in fact, the magnet schools have even further isolated the poor urban student and that magnet schools have indeed failed to meet initial expectations as a desegregated environment. Yet desegregation is apparent in the areas of philosophy and purpose, admission and entrance to the schools, and curriculum. The initial proposal of the magnet school as a means to create racial equity among schools has been unsuccessful despite its statement of philosophy and purpose. â€Å"By shifting focus toward academic interests†¦magnet schools are attempting to bring together students who have common interests regardless of race† (www.liberalparty.com). However, despite its attempts, the system of magnet schools has failed to overcome racial segregation. Kozol notes that â€Å"very poor children, excluded from this [magnet] system, says the Chicago Tribune, are ‘even more isolated’ as a consequence of the removal of the more successful students from their midst† (Kozol 59). According to Kozol and the Tribune, the magnet system is further segregating the school systems by worsening the regular public schools in neighboring areas. What must not be forgotten are the existing schools that the less successful and less motivated students are left to attend, and the damaging effects that they face as a result of the magnet school system. In addition, in an evaluation of the Magnet Schools Assistance Program between 1989 and 1991, researchers â€Å"Steel and Eaton discovered that only half the schools met their desegregation objectives† (www.eric.uoregon.edu). Another study providing evidence that racial equity has failed to be realized through the use of magnet schools is in a recent statecommissioned evaluation of New York State’s magnet school program for 1993-94. The study â€Å"found that schools did not completely achieve their academic or desegregation goals† (New York State 1994- www.eric.urogen.edu). Legal critic Kimberly West has also concluded that â€Å"magnet schools are a ‘desegregation tool that backfired, are rife with racially segregated classes,’ and minority students are too often ‘treated as inferior by the very system that was designed to help them’† (www.

Abortion is Morally Wrong Essay -- Pro Life Pro-Life

Abortion is Morally Wrong Abortion, the termination of pregnancy before the fetus is capable of independent life, can either be spontaneous or induced. It is called "the knowing destruction of the life of an unborn child." (Mass General Laws Chapter 112 Section 12K) When abortion occurs spontaneously, it is called a miscarriage. However, when the loss of a fetus is caused intentionally, it is regarded as a moral issue. Abortion destroys the lives of helpless, innocent children and is illegal in many countries. An estimate of 1.2 million are performed each year. In retrospect, an estimate 38,010,378 innocent children were aborted since 1973 when the process was legalized. Abortion is a simple and safe procedure if it is done by trained medical workers during the first trimester. There are four different techniques utilized during the first twelve weeks of pregnancy. Suction aspiration, also known as vacuum curettage, is the most common surgical means of abortion. This is when a powerful suction tube with a sharp cutting edge is inserted into the womb through the dilated cervix. The suction dismembers the body of the developing baby, tearing the placenta from the wall of the uterus, and sucking blood, amniotic fluids, placental tissue, and fetal parts into a bottle. Although it is one of the safer methods, there are still frequent complications such as infection and tearing of the uterus, causing hemorrhaging. Dilatation and Curettage (D&C) is another surgical process involving the insertion of a loop shaped steel knife to cut the baby’s body into pieces. The placenta is then scraped off the uterine wall. There is a higher risk of infection with D&C and greater blood loss than with Suction aspiration. RU 486 and Methotrexate are two similar types of chemical abortion. RU 486 is a pill that can be taken orally only during the five to nine week period. Three trips must be made to the abortion clinic. In the first, the RU 486 pill is administered after a physical examination. During the 2nd, 36 - 48 hours later, the woman is given a dose of artificial prostaglandins initiating uterine contractions. This causes the embryonic baby to be expelled from the uterus. The third visit, about two weeks later, can determine whether the abortion has been completed or if further surgery is necessary. Methotrexate is administered by intramuscular injection. It... ...ined that abortion is morally wrong and destructive in all circumstances. God, the ultimate creator who decides the fate of all humans who come into existence, is the only One with the ability to choose life or death for His people. For us to make this decision ourselves, we are taking dominion over God and disregarding the Predestination that He intends for each living person. Works Cited Fettner, Ann Giudici. Abortion. Compton’s Interactive Encyclopedia. 2008. Hope and Healing. Massachusetts Citizens for Life. Elliot Institute, 2007. Levy, Robert J. Abortion. Microsoft Encarta 96 Encyclopedia. 1993-2009. Pro Life Reference Journal. Massachusetts Citizens for Life. Massachusetts Citizens for Life. 2008 Schwarz, Dr. Stephen. The Moral Question of Abortion. [Online] Available: http://www.ohiolife.org/mqa/13-5.htm. Unknown. Abortion Techniques: Suction Aspiration. [Online] Available: http://www.nrlc.org/abortion/asmf4.html. Unknown. Is Abortion Safe: Physical Complications. [Online] Available: http://www.nrlc.org/abortion/asmfl3.html Unknown. Over 38 Million Abortions in U.S. since 1973. [Online] Available: http://www.nrlc.org/abortion/aboramt.html

Metaphors in Poetry Essay

The use of metaphor in poetry is one of the most important aspects of poetic style that must be mastered. Metaphor can be described as figure of speech in which a thing is referred to as being something that it resembles. For example, a fierce person can be referred to as a tiger. Another example of a metaphor would be the description of a person who was uncommunicative as being as â€Å"silent as stone†. The word stone is an image that is used to explain the intense silence of the person. In this way, metaphors are used in poetry to explain and elucidate emotions, feelings, relationships other elements that could not to described in ordinary language. Poets also use metaphor as a way of explaining or referring to something in a brief but effective way. An easy way to understand metaphor is to view a metaphor as a simile without the word â€Å"like†. A simile compares two things in a clear fashion. For example: â€Å"he is like a beast†. Another example of a simile would be to say that the man is so fierce that he is like a tiger. A metaphor assumes that the relationship will be understood without the interlinking word â€Å"like†. Metaphor works on many levels in poetry. The best way to show how a metaphor function is to study the use of sustained metaphor. Sustained metaphor refers to a metaphor that consistently runs through the entire poem and is therefore easily identifiable. Metaphors that are sustained also provide a depth and inner complexity to the poem.

Merger of Bank of Rajasthan with Icici Bank

MERGER OF THE BANK OF RAJASTHAN LIMITED WITH ICICI BANK The Bank of Rajasthan Limited (Bank of Rajasthan), a banking company incorporated within the meaning of Companies Act, 1956 and licensed by Reserve Bank of India (RBI) under the Banking Regulation Act, 1949 was amalgamated with ICICI Bank Limited (ICICI Bank/the Bank) with effect from close of business on August 12, 2010 in terms of the Scheme of Amalgamation (the Scheme) approved by RBI vide its order DBOD No. PSBD 2599/16. 01. 056/2010-11 dated August 12, 2010 under sub section (4) of section 44A of the Banking Regulation Act, 1949.The consideration for the amalgamation was 25 equity shares of ICICI Bank of the face value of Rs. 10 each fully paid-up for every 118 equity shares of Rs. 10 each of Bank of Rajasthan. Accordingly, ICICI Bank allotted 31,323,951 equity shares to the shareholders of Bank of Rajasthan on August 26, 2010 and 2,860,170 equity shares, which were earlier kept in abeyance pending civil appeal, on November 25, 2010. During the year, we acquired The Bank of Rajasthan which substantially enhanced our branch network and strengthened our presence in northern and western India.The merger of Bank of Rajasthan added over 450 branches to our network. Including these, our branch network has increased from 1,707 branches at March 31, 2010 to 2,529 branches at March 31, 2011. We also increased our ATM network from 5,219 ATMs at March 31, 2010 to 6,055 ATMs at March 31, 2011. During the year, the integration of Bank of Rajasthan into the Bank was a major exercise which was successfully completed. The integration process focused both on business as well as cultural integration.The people and cultural integration was achieved through well-planned communication of the Bank's values and culture. The Bank reached out to all employees of Bank of Rajasthan and addressed their expectations and concerns. This was achieved through communication from the top management of the Bank, open house sessions join tly conducted by senior managers from Bank of Rajasthan and ICICI Bank and one-on-one sessions wherever required. Further, to align the skill sets of Bank of Rajasthan employees, special training programs were designed and conducted by the Bank.Pursuant to the merger of the Bank of Rajasthan, we also enabled seamless transactions for the customers of Bank of Rajasthan in a short timeframe and combined the ATM and branch networks and technology infrastructure. To enable better customer service, our branch staff has been equipped with a comprehensive and single view of customer relationships. We have also enhanced our Interactive Voice Response system at our call centres to support regional Indian languages. Amalgamation of The Bank of RajasthanOn May 23, 2010, the Board of Directors of ICICI Bank and the Board of Directors of The Bank of Rajasthan Limited (Bank of Rajasthan), an old private sector bank, at their respective meetings approved an all-stock amalgamation of Bank of Rajast han with ICICI Bank at a share exchange ratio of 25 shares of ICICI Bank for 118 shares of Bank of Rajasthan. The shareholders of ICICI Bank and Bank of Rajasthan approved the scheme of amalgamation at their respective extra-ordinary general meetings.RBI approved the scheme of amalgamation with effect from close of business on August 12, 2010. We have issued 31. 3 million shares in August 2010 and 2. 9 million shares in November 2010 to shareholders of Bank of Rajasthan. The total assets of Bank of Rajasthan represented 4. 0% of total assets of ICICI Bank at August 12, 2010. At August 12, 2010, Bank of Rajasthan had total assets of Rs. 155. 96 billion, deposits of Rs. 134. 83 billion, loans of Rs. 65. 28 billion and investments of Rs. 70. 96 billion. It incurred a loss of Rs. 1. 02 billion in fiscal 2010.The results for fiscal 2011 include results of Bank of Rajasthan for the period from August 13, 2010 to March 31, 2011. The assets and liabilities of Bank of Rajasthan have been acc ounted at the values at which they were appearing in the books of Bank of Rajasthan at August 12, 2010 and provisions were made for the difference between the book values appearing in the books of Bank of Rajasthan and the fair value as determined by ICICI Bank. The amalgamation was part of our strategy to expand our branch network with a view to growing our deposit base.We believe that the combination of Bank of Rajasthan's branch franchise with our strong capital base would enhance the ability of the combined entity to capitalise on the growth opportunities in the Indian economy. Total assets increased by 11. 8% from Rs. 3,634. 00 billion at March 31, 2010 to Rs. 4,062. 34 billion at March 31, 2011. Total deposits increased by 11. 7% from Rs. 2,020. 17 billion at March 31, 2010 to Rs. 2,256. 02 billion at March 31, 2011. Current and savings account (CASA) deposits increased by 20. 7% from Rs. 842. 6 billion at March 31, 2010 to Rs. 1,016. 47 billion at March 31, 2011 while term de posits increased marginally from Rs. 1,178. 01 billion at March 31, 2010 to Rs. 1,239. 55 billion at March 31, 2011. The ratio of CASA deposits to total deposits increased from 41. 7% at March 31, 2010 to 45. 1% at March 31, 2011. Total advances increased by 19. 4% from Rs. 1,812. 06 billion at March 31, 2010 to Rs. 2,163. 66 billion at March 31, 2011 primarily due to an increase in domestic corporate loans, overseas corporate loans and loans taken over from Bank of Rajasthan.Net non- performing assets decreased by 37. 0% from Rs. 39. 01 billion at March 31, 2010 to Rs. 24. 58 billion at March 31, 2011 and the net non-performing asset ratio decreased from 1. 9% at March 31, 2010 to 0. 9% at March 31, 2011. We continued to expand our branch network in India. Our branch network in India increased from 1,707 branches and extension counters at March 31, 2010 to 2,529 branches and extension counters at March 31, 2011. We also increased our ATM network from 5,219 ATMs at March 31, 2010 to 6,104 ATMs at March 31, 2011.These include branches and ATMs of Bank of Rajasthan. The total capital adequacy ratio of ICICI Bank on a standalone basis at March 31, 2011 in accordance with the RBI guidelines on Basel II was 19. 5% with a tier I capital adequacy ratio of 13. 2% compared to a total capital adequacy of 19. 4% and tier I capital adequacy of 14. 0% at March 31, 2010 Average advances increased marginally from Rs. 1,915. 39 billion in fiscal 2010 to Rs. 1,926. 52 billion in fiscal 2011 which includes advances taken over from Bank of Rajasthan. Retail advances increased by 5. % from Rs. 790. 62 billion at March 31, 2010 to Rs. 836. 75 billion at March 31, 2011. In US dollar terms, the net advances of overseas branches increased by 22. 8% from US$ 10. 1 billion at March 31, 2010 to US$ 12. 4 billion at March 31, 2011. In rupee terms, the net advances of overseas branches increased by 22. 1% from Rs. 451. 37 billion at March 31, 2010 to Rs. 550. 97 billion at March 31, 2011. Payments to and provisions for employees Employee expenses increased by 46. 3% from Rs. 19. 26 billion in fiscal 2010 to Rs. 28. 17 billion in fiscal 2011.Employee expenses increased primarily due to addition of employees of Bank of Rajasthan, annual increase in salaries and provision for payment of performance bonus and performance- linked retention pay during the period and increase in the employee base, including sales executives, employees on fixed term contracts and interns, from 41,068 employees at March 31, 2010 to 56,969 employees at March 31, 2011 (including employees of Bank of Rajasthan). Tax expense The income tax expense (including wealth tax) increased by 22. 0% from Rs. 13. 20 billion in fiscal 2010 to Rs. 16. 10 billion in fiscal 2011.The effective tax rate of 23. 8% in fiscal 2011 was lower compared to the effective tax rate of 24. 7% in fiscal 2010 primarily due to change in mix of taxable profits with a higher component of exempt income in the current fiscal year and tax benefits from the amalgamation of Bank of Rajasthan. The total assets increased by 11. 8% from Rs. 3,634. 00 billion at March 31, 2010 to Rs. 4,062. 34 billion at March 31, 2011 (including Rs. 155. 96 billion of Bank of Rajasthan at August 12, 2010), primarily due to increase in investments and advances. Investments increased by 11. 4% from Rs. 1,208. 3 billion at March 31, 2010 to Rs. 1,346. 86 billion at March 31, 2011. The net advances increased by 19. 4% from Rs. 1,812. 06 billion at March 31, 2010 to Rs. 2,163. 66 billion at March 31, 2011. Investments Total investments increased by 11. 4% from Rs. 1,208. 93 billion at March 31, 2010 to Rs. 1,346. 86 billion at March 31, 2011 (including Rs. 70. 96 billion of Bank of Rajasthan at August 12, 2010), primarily due to an increase in investment in corporate bonds and debentures by Rs. 125. 1 1 billion, RIDF and other related investments in lieu of shortfall in directed lending requirements by Rs. 49. 0 billion (including Rs. 21. 34 billion of Bank of Rajasthan at August 12, 2010) and investments in commercial paper and certificate of deposits by Rs. 31. 21 billion. The investment in pass- through certificates decreased by Rs. 15. 93 billion at March 31, 2011 compared to March 31, 2010. At March 31, 2011, we had an outstanding net investment of Rs. 28. 31 billion in security receipts issued by asset reconstruction companies in relation to sale of non-performing assets compared to Rs. 33. 94 billion at March 31, 2010. At March 31, 2011, we had a gross portfolio of funded credit derivatives of Rs. 0. 60 billion and non-funded credit derivatives of Rs. 28. 17 billion, which includes Rs. 0. 22 billion as protection bought by us. Advances Net advances increased by 19. 4% from Rs. 1,812. 06 billion at March 31, 2010 to Rs. 2,163. 66 billion at March 31, 2011 primarily due to increase in domestic corporate loans, overseas corporate loans and loans taken over from Bank of Rajasthan amounting to Rs. 65. 28 billi on at August 12, 2010. Net retail advances increased by 5. 8% from Rs. 790. 62 billion at March 31, 2010 to Rs. 836. 75 billion at March 31, 2011.In rupee terms, net advances of overseas branches (including offshore banking unit) increased by 22. 1% from Rs. 451. 37 billion at March 31, 2010 to Rs. 550. 97 billion at March 31, 2011. Fixed and other assets Fixed assets increased by 47. 7% from Rs. 32. 13 billion at March 31, 2010 to Rs. 47. 44 billion at March 31, 2011 (including Rs. 5. 15 billion of Bank of Rajasthan at August 12, 2010) primarily due to part capitalisation of the Bank's new building in Hyderabad and increase in the branch network and other offices. Other assets decreased by 14. 9% from Rs. 192. 15 billion at March 31, 2010 to Rs. 163. 8 billion at March 31, 2011. Total liabilities (including capital and reserves) increased by 11. 8% from Rs. 3,634. 00 billion at March 31, 2010 to Rs. 4,062. 34 billion at March 31, 2011 (including Rs. 155. 96 billion of Bank of Rajas than at August 12, 2010), primarily due to an increase in deposits and borrowings. Deposits increased from Rs. 2,020. 17 billion at March 31, 2010 to Rs. 2,256. 02 billion at March 31, 2011. Deposits Deposits increased by 11. 7% from Rs. 2,020. 17 billion at March 31, 2010 to Rs. 2,256. 02 billion at March 31, 2011 (including Rs. 134. 83 billion of Bank of Rajasthan at August 12, 2010).Term deposits increased from Rs. 1,178. 01 billion at March 31, 2010 to Rs. 1,239. 55 billion at March 31, 2011 (including Rs. 88. 02 billion of Bank of Rajasthan at August 12, 2010), while savings deposits increased from Rs. 532. 18 billion at March 31, 2010 to Rs. 668. 69 billion at March 31, 2011 (including Rs. 34. 48 billion of Bank of Rajasthan at August 12, 2010) and current deposits increased from Rs. 309. 98 billion at March 31, 2010 to Rs. 347. 78 billion at March 31, 2011 (including Rs. 12. 32 billion of Bank of Rajasthan at August 12, 2010). Total deposits at March 31, 2011 formed 67. % of the funding (i. e. deposits and borrowings, other than preference share capital). During fiscal 2010 and fiscal 2011, we focussed on our strategy of increasing the share of current and savings account deposits in total deposits and re-balancing our funding mix. The current and savings account deposits increased from Rs. 842. 16 billion at March 31, 2010 to Rs. 1,016. 47 billion at March 31, 2011 (including Rs. 46. 80 billion of Bank of Rajasthan at August 12, 2010) and the ratio of current and savings account deposits to total deposits increased from 41. 7% at March 31, 2010 to 45. % at March 31, 2011. Total liabilities (including capital and reserves) increased by 11. 8% from Rs. 3,634. 00 billion at March 31, 2010 to Rs. 4,062. 34 billion at March 31, 2011 (including Rs. 155. 96 billion of Bank of Rajasthan at August 12, 2010), primarily due to an increase in deposits and borrowings. Deposits increased from Rs. 2,020. 17 billion at March 31, 2010 to Rs. 2,256. 02 billion at March 31, 2011. Deposits Deposits increased by 11. 7% from Rs. 2,020. 17 billion at March 31, 2010 to Rs. 2,256. 02 billion at March 31, 2011 (including Rs. 134. 83 billion of Bank of Rajasthan at August 12, 2010).Term deposits increased from Rs. 1,178. 01 billion at March 31, 2010 to Rs. 1,239. 55 billion at March 31, 2011 (including Rs. 88. 02 billion of Bank of Rajasthan at August 12, 2010), while savings deposits increased from Rs. 532. 18 billion at March 31, 2010 to Rs. 668. 69 billion at March 31, 2011 (including Rs. 34. 48 billion of Bank of Rajasthan at August 12, 2010) and current deposits increased from Rs. 309. 98 billion at March 31, 2010 to Rs. 347. 78 billion at March 31, 2011 (including Rs. 12. 32 billion of Bank of Rajasthan at August 12, 2010). Total deposits at March 31, 2011 formed 67. % of the funding (i. e. deposits and borrowings, other than preference share capital). During fiscal 2010 and fiscal 2011, we focussed on our strategy of increasing the share of current and savings account deposits in total deposits and re-balancing our funding mix. The current and savings account deposits increased from Rs. 842. 16 billion at March 31, 2010 to Rs. 1,016. 47 billion at March 31, 2011 (including Rs. 46. 80 billion of Bank of Rajasthan at August 12, 2010) and the ratio of current and savings account deposits to total deposits increased from 41. 7% at March 31, 2010 to 45. 1% at March 31, 2011.Equity share capital and reserves Equity share capital and reserves increased from Rs. 516. 18 billion at March 31, 2010 to Rs. 550. 91 billion at March 31, 2011 (including statutory reserve of Rs. 2. 00 billion taken over from Bank of Rajasthan at August 12, 2010) primarily due to allotment of shares to the shareholders of Bank of Rajasthan and annual accretion to reserves out of profit. Excess of paid-up value of equity shares issued over the fair value of the net assets acquired in the amalgamation and amalgamation expenses, amounting to Rs. 2. 10 billion hav e been adjusted against the securities premium account.