Sunday, January 26, 2020
Investigation and evaluation of environmental analysis
Investigation and evaluation of environmental analysis This assignment was given to me as well as to everyone else in the group by Ms. Karen Abberton. It is requested to be done as part of the course work experience in order to see how well students understood business management structure of the company they completed their work experience in. The brief for this assignment was given to us on the 16th of September 2009 and was requested to be submitted by the 16th of December 2009. As a business course student it is very important for me to understand business management, how a well organized business works and how it can change the wellbeing of an organization. In order to create a successful company or to upgrade an existing one, we should know what opportunities this organization has. We should be able to position the organization in the market scale against its competitors if there are any. The environmental analysis of a company helps us to see negative and positive elements of the organization, what in future might make us change s ome of the strategies in order to make the company more confident and invulnerable. 3. Methods of procedures Quite a few different sources were used by me in order to construct this report. In the first place based on the information received during Marketing Management Classes in Balsbridge College a lot of handouts were given to me as well as examples based on work of real existing companies and practical exercises. Also based on my work experience in KWE World Express where I have spent over two years working as Exports coordinator. I have included mainly secondary research and applied academic theories in order to support my assignment. Books, internet and newspapers. 4. Findings 4.1 Description of organization Is a Freight Forwarding International company which started its business in 1948 and was established in 1970 in Japan. At present there are 297 offices in 192 cities in 31 of the world it and employs over 8,000 people around the world. It is a tall company with LTD-limited Liability. Its product is the service the company provides to its customers. KWE is one of the leading freight forwarding companies in the world. Domestic and foreign air and ocean freight forwarding business, trucking company agent, customs agent, and transportation agent.There are two offices in Ireland: Dublin and Cork. Dublin office is located beside the Dublin airport in Horizon Logistics Park. It employs 26 people working in the office and 1 person working as sales representative visiting potential customers, (so called sales on the road). Dublin office organizes imports and exports of freight by road, sea-ocean and air. It has been established in Ireland in 1998 and managed to gain and keep quite a number of big and growing customers. Some of them are quite known pharmaceutical companies like Takeda, Astellas. Takeda is has been Dublins branch customer for over 10 years and there are two people in the company who are responsible for Takeda account. Astellas is a new pharmaceutical company which imports and exports up to 5 tons of cargo weekly with the KWEs help. I cant go any further until I mention such a well known customer of KWE as Dell. Dell have been KWEs customer for quite a long time, but as far as I know just before I left the company last spring Dell moved its main production to Poland which means the account was lost. There are still some transactions but only occasionally. Below I would like to show the structure of KWE in a chart. The first chart will show the main offices and the second chart will give information of the Dublins branch. Now I would like to point out the countries which go under the supervision of the areas shown in the chart: Americas: Brazil, Canada, Mexico, USA Asia and Oceania: Australia, China, India, Indonesia, Korea, Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore, Taiwan, Thailand, UAE, Vietnam. Europe and Africa: Belgium, Czech, France, Germany, Italy, Ireland, Netherlands, Poland Russia, South Africa, Sweden, U.K., Switzerland. Japan is the head office, each country should report to the headquarters main office, and the headquarters main office reports to Japan. Dublin Office Chart: As you can see it is a tall company, but lets start from the bottom. Each staff member should report to its supervisor, the supervisor reports to the department manager and the manager should report to the M.D. For Example I would report to Sandra White, she in her turn would report to John OShaugnessy and John should report to Thomas Weppelmann. In reality Thomas Weppelmann is responsible for more than just Dublin office. It means if the issue is not very big it will be resolved within the company, but if a decision has to be made like who to make redundant than Thomas Weppelmann will have to take part in the final decision, but still the opinion of John OShaugnessy is essential here as he spends more time with his staff and he knows everyones performance abilities. As already said the company is a freight forwarding agent. Its job is to safely transport goods from point A to point B, with the help of haulers, shipping lines or airlines. Sales Department: Manager Karl OReilly Mark Fuller and Josephine Kill under his supervision. The aim of the department is to sell the companys product, which is service. They are a kind of companys advertisers. It is also under their responsibility to give price quotes to any customer inquiring a service to any destination of the world. Sales department is the start point of any shipment. They should know: 1. What kind of cargo 2. Where is it going to? 3. Dimensions and weight of goods 4. When the goods can be ready for transportation? 5. What is the desired date of transportation? And many more, the reason I say many more is because each customer and each type of cargo is different in its way. It can be smaller or bigger, it might be urgent on normal, it may go to different destinations and so on, it can be different types of goods and so on. The sales department goal is to give customer an impression that we are the only company in the country who can provide the cheapest, the safest and the best service off all. The information they give to the potential customer should be as accurate as possible, in order to avoid any issues later down the line. Imports Department: Eamonn Grogan and David Howell are responsible for Air Imports, the aim of these two people is to proceed the imported cargo as per government rules and regulations and to make sure that nothing bad happens to the cargo from the moment it arrives into Dublin and until the moment it is delivered to the final destination. They should make sure that the information they fill in the customs docs should be 100% correct, because any wrong steps or wrong information can lead to big fines for the company. Paul Byrne is dealing with DHL account, his job is to look after road exports and imports. Sarahs job is to look after sea imports and exports. She should be aware of the timetable of the ships and feeder vessels; she should daily check if the ships with different containers arrived into the transit port and left it as pre the time timetable. On the import side the procedure is pretty much the same as air imports, all the goods should be customs cleared and delivery organized unless customer wants different. Exports Department: Sandra White, Joanne Howe and myself, responsible for air exports. Responsibilities include negotiating the prices with the airlines, checking the post flights on daily basis, organizing pickups and deliveries to airport. I was working in the Air Exports Department. I personally was responsible for some of the imports and accounts jobs as when I joined the company there wasnt too much job in the exports department and people from other departments used to give me staff to do. In general my main responsibility was checking the post flights in the mornings, than I was preparing the airway bills for that days shipments arranging collections, customs clearance for the shipments. My duties also included Cass Reports twice a month they are bills from the airlines which have to be checked if the amounts to be paid match the amounts on the bills, reports for customers, earlier mentioned  Astellas account is one of the customers who require weekly and monthly reports of the shipments KWE handle for them it was also one of my responsibilities. Accounts department: Sylvia Smith is the H.R. representative but geographically she is part of the accounts department, and her job is closely related to accounts. She is responsible for payroll. Her duties include to staff and operate the organization. Nicolla Uzell and Michelle Boylan are responsible for the accounts of the company. I think this departments duties dont have to be explained. Avril Reilly receptionist, she is the first person anyone speaks to on the phone. She has to sort the post, make sure that no unattended people are on the territory of the company. Warehouse: Mickael Tallon ahs 3 people under his supervision, their duties include packaging the goods for exports, delivering cargo and documents to the airport. Collecting cargo from the customers, delivering imported cargo to the customer, labeling the shipments with the referenced stickers. That is pretty much the structure of the KWE and the explanation of the different departments duties. 4.2 Internal influence on organization. Tangible assets: these are the things which can be touched; we can also call it touchable: furniture, transport, equipment, it system. Furniture is the one of the assets KWE has which belongs strictly to the company as well as transport (Kintetsu Dublin owns one company car which is mainly used by the manager but it can be also used by any member of the staff unless they dont possess a full driving license), Also KWE owns a 20ft container truck which is used on the daily basis for collections and deliveries of the cargo. Equipment is a property owned by KWE, it includes copy machines, printers, fax machines, computers, a fork lift in the warehouse. IT system is another tangible asset the company owns. It belongs wholly to KWE and cannot be used by any other company. Intangible assets: The difference from the tangible assets is that intangible assets cannot be physically touched but it doesnt mean that its value is less than of those tangible ones. Intangible values of the KWE are: name, intellectual property. KWE name is a well known brand in the freight forwarding business circle. KWE is in the first ten biggest and known freight forwarding companies of the world. KWE has a good service reputation, and a good relationship with its customers built during many years with the help of the services provided. Intellectual property is one of the strongest assets of KWE. Most of the people working for the company have many years of experience working in the business, which is supported by completing different courses from time to time, which gives staff the ability to be up to date with any innovations. Capabilities: It is the ability of the company, its staff to achieve the objectives, which lid to the achievement of the mission. What KWE capable is of: each department has an objective which is to gain as many customers as possible, and customers are money profit. But how strong are the capabilities of the company to achieve. What KWE are well capable for is to keep the existing customers, of course it gained a few new ones in the last period of time but only a few not because they are not capable to, because of the already mentioned economical crisis. Value chain analysis: Is one of the tools we can use to see the companys steps taken for creating the greatest possible value for its customers. It shows how the product of a company looks from its infinitive conditions and step by step it becomes a finished product which is a value for customers, who are ready to use it only in its final, result condition. In KWE it is the service they provide. But the customer is not interested and some of them dont even know what is used to provide the service they require. Value chain is a chain of procedures, and action taken which are applied in any organization. It includes: Inbound logistics Operations Outbound Logistics Marketing and sales Service I would like to demonstrate this chain in a real example. I will describe a day of work dealing with a particular customer in exports department. Inbound Logistics: 1. 10 am a call received from a ones off customer by our sales department for an urgent shipment to Japan. Customer needs a quote. 2. Sales get the information required in order to proceed the quote. 3. Sales let know the air exports department about a potential shipment to Japan and the information about the goods, dimensions and weight in order for the exports department to book a collection. 4. If the shipment was going let say to Canada than sales would have to contact different airlines for a quote, but because KWE have a daily consol going to Narita and Osaka in Japan they know how much it will cost the company for that particular shipment. All sales do is add up collection fee different airline fees, security if applies VAT and give the customer an estimated time of arrival of the shipment to the final destination and the total price. If customer agrees to the price the first part is done. Customer cannot refuse to go ahead because of the ETA estimated time of arrival, because any other airline can give whether later arrival time or the same one, the choice here is not a major one. There are only 2 airlines flying directly to Japan from London, none from Dublin. The inbound logistics part is done. Operations: After shipments arrival into KWE warehouse it has to be repacked (usually put on a pallet and wrapped with plastic cover to avoid any loss of the boxes from the pallet or water damage and so on.) A sticker with correct ref number matching the reference on the documents has to be labeled to the box now the shipment is ready to be loaded on the truck to go the port and connect Ulysses vessel to London. Outbound Logistics: It is the main process of the transportation. Next morning exports department have to ring Japan airlines in order to see if cargo managed to get to their warehouse for the cut off time to go on the plane. If so we can advice our customer, if requested, that the shipment is in London as scheduled and should arrive Osaka next morning. Marketing and Sales: As you can see the sales department did its job in the very start of this operation. And in this particular case all they can do is to send a thank you for using our company service and a kind of advertising to this new customer who may appear to be not just a once off one. Advertisement can include the information of thee services KWE provides and letting the customer know about different destinations and our availability anytime with mobile all the details included and company mobile numbers. Service: Is the final result. The cargo arrival to the final destination point. It is in time as promised. All safe without any damage, this is where the value to our product is added in the eyes of the customer. And trust me this customer will advice our services to its friend, and thats how KWE becomes a brand name. The main winning point for any business is TIME. A company cannot become famous in 1-2 months time from the moment it opened. 4.3 External influence on organization. Marketing Environment consists of the macro and micro-environment. The macro-environment includes large social forces that affect micro-environment, and usually cant be controlled by the company. It is an external structure which includes the following: Political Economical Opportunities and Threads Social PEST and Porter Five Forces Technology Natural And micro-environment consists of forces that are under control of the company. Micro-environment influences the ability of the company in producing a required service to its customers. It is an internal structure which includes the following Suppliers Customers Company Strengths and Weaknesses Marketing intermediaries Publics PEST analysis. Quite often someone who starts a business doesnt realize how important environmental factors for an organization are. I mean the country a certain business will be started in. It is very important for a new business owner to understand and to be aware of the political, social, economical and technological factors of the country the business is going to work in. A PEST analysis is one of those tools that help to understand the external environment of the organization. P Political                                                    S Social E Economical                                       T Technology Political factors Can have a direct impact on the way a company operates. This factor does not depend on internal work of the company. Only decisions made by government affect the operations. Political factors include such areas as: v What is government policy on the cargo transportation? v Labor Law                                                                                                                                               v Government Stability                           a) There is a law referring to imported and exported goods in Ireland. This would include: goods imported or exported to or out of Ireland have to be customs cleared; all goods have to be declared on the paperwork, airway bills or bill of ladings. There is a law referring the goods for resale or personal effects goods. There is a law concerning import or export of medical goods and many other laws and regulations which strictly have to be obeyed by the transportation agents.  b) Labor law can influence a companys performance a lot. Ages ago people could work 24 hours a day and for very cheap pay, nowadays people cannot work more than 4 hours without a brake of 1 hour and no more than 8 hours a day. Total hours worked in a week should be no more than 40 hours. Min pay per hour has been implemented. During my employment in KWE I noticed that the rules and labor law regulations were followed as per law, every employee has been given a copy of the KWE handbook where everyone coul d see a detailed description of the companys policy and entitlements procedures                                                                                                                  c) All the factors included above depend on how stable the government is. Any of the above can be easily changed due to government change or government instability. Government changes or coming of the new political parties can influence the organizations total figures. Business owners feel better to move the business to a country with growing economy rather than keep it in Ireland, where economy is down at present. Poland for example, labor is chea per, government taxes are lower. Transportation laws are softer. This follows with loss of clients for KWE. Economical Factors All types of organizations are affected by economical factors locally and globally. It doesnt matter if the economy is in a boom, recession or recovery all these affect consumer confidence and behavior. Economical factors affect the purchasing power of potential buyers. It also influences the internal and external economy. Economical factors include: v Exchange Rates v Economic downturn v The level of inflation v VAT rate a) Interest rates influence the company sometimes positively, but sometimes negatively. Because KWE deals with customers and agents all over the world, invoices the company gets are in different currencies, so the exchange rates which are in place of the payment day can influence the amount to be transferred for payment in foreign currency. Quite often payments are queried because of the exchange rate changing every day. b) The present economical crisis negatively influences not only KWE but the general business structure of Ireland. People get redundant, companies lose experienced staff. A team which is used to perfectly fulfill its duties when everyone is in, looses the ability to do it in case of some people (not just one) of the team are not present. Performance of the companies is down, because not a full team works in the operations department. c) Level of inflation if it lows down than the customers are not very confident in using a service or buying a good. Social Factor: Social factor include the demographic changes of the country and of the world. KWE is a company who has offices all over the world so not only local demographics affect the business. These factors affect customers needs and size of potential markets. Information about demographical situation in Ireland can be found on the website: www.cso.ie . Social factors include: v How are views expressed? v Age v Career attitudes Technological factors. Technological factors are very important tools for an organization. Up to date technology can change the level of production, can improve peoples work performance and can change internal environment of an organization. Technological factor includes: v Impact of the internet v Software v Online Customs Clearance Internet is one of the most powerful technology inventions which were ever created. It helps people instantly send and receive information to and from agents, customers, suppliers and so on. Software- used in KWE for printing the documents for cargo and invoices was an old one, just before I left the company people started to be trained to use a new software which was easier to use, more friendly and could save time to staff because of the features and benefits it had and the old system didnt. Online Customs a few years ago I order to customs clear exported or imported goods the staff of the company were fill in all the customs declaration attach the documents for the shipment and physically go to the customs office and hand everything in. it was taking hours but sometimes days to customs clear the cargo. It was a problem for more people you can imagine: transportation agent, customer, customers customerand so on. After that an online system was brought to life to customs clear the goods. It saved people time increased the shipments, increased performance and increased the profits for customs office (which is regulated by the government), and for freight forwarding agents. From this analysis we can see how the PEST analysis can change the performance and may be predicting the near future of an organization even though a PEST as we know is an external factor which doesnt depend of the companys strategic. The most important of all four factors of PEST for KWE are the PET. We can see that technology had a huge impact on the company and freight forwarding business itself; economical factors like exchange rates have permanent influence different laws and regulation like the goods imported within EU are going under T1 status which means they dont need to be customs cleared and it eases the procedure and makes it cheaper as no customs charges apply. It was said that on tomorrows budget meeting 09-12-09 the government wants to bring the VAT up, which will hit the customers and KWE even more, negatively. It will work out better for companies to buy the goods they need across the border in England as the VAT is much lower there. Porter Five Porters This model was invented by Michael E. Porter he wrote a book called Competitive Strategy: Techniques for Analyzing Industries and Competitors. Since then, people use this structure for analyzing a companys industry structure and its corporate strategy. Porter described five forces that shape every single industry and market. These forces help us to analyze everything from the intensity of competition to the profitability and attractiveness of an industry. The structure below: Threat of substitute. 1. The time is wrong (economy is low). Bad time for any industry to be started right now. 2. This type of industry might need a much bigger capital to start the company than a local shop for example. 3. A lot of companies producing the goods for exports move out of Ireland to cheaper countries in Europe or Asia. (Dell moved to Poland, Xilinx-who were one of the biggest customers of KWE for nearly 10 years, moved to Asia) Cheaper countries means: cheap labor, cheap government taxes, VAT on imported goods and so on. Threat of new entrants. 1. If we look to substitute service KWE is providing than rivalry is quite high. There tens of companies at present competing for business in freight forwarding domain who can offer better service or rates. Due to high number of competitors with the same strategies and a lot of them being the same size the mission of KWE and many other organization in that industry is to just stay in for the moment until things pick up. Power of Supplier. Suppliers just like KWE are not in a very strong position at present. KWE can chose from many different suppliers and negotiate the rates to KWEs advantage. From many years of working in Ireland KWE managed to set up accounts and to build a business relation with many different suppliers, so at present if they move from one to another it wont be a totally new one which means there will be no switching cost involved. Switching doesnt affect KWE it only affects the airlines, trucking companies or feeder vessels. Power of buyer. This is exactly who is in a winning position at the moment. If we look at it, it can be whether KWE or their customers in this position. Customers now win as they buy cheap transportation of cargo worldwide. KWE wins as well as it buys cheap service from its supplier another side of it is that KWE have sell thing they for very cheap as well, so the profit they make at present is minimum. Competitive rivalry of freight forwarding business. Conclusion: from the point of view of new entrants into the business rivalry is minimum and from the point of view that customers may move to a substitute supplier, rivalry is maximum. Competitive rivalry is high for KWE at present. So we cannot say for definite now that there is someone in a winning position in the present economical crises. Product can be easily substituted, suppliers can be easily substituted, each of them buys cheap and sells cheap. The only definite winner is the final consumer like us who doesnt buy imported goods for resale. The prices in Ireland on different products decreased a lot. The only problem is that the final consumer doesnt have the ability to buy as the income of people is very low and even worse people lose their jobs. 4.4 Internal and External influence on organization SWOT analysis Strengths: v Staff v Name v Experience v Global coverage v Long term contracts with suppliers v Consolidation Weaknesses: v Price of Services v Large number of players v Staff v Overseas agents. Opportunities: v Funding v New Services v Staff training v Technology investments Threats: v Economy v Falling Sales v Cash Flow Internal analysis Strengths of KWE Kintetsu World Express: Staff is one of the most important strengths of the company. A well trained and experienced staff is companys biggest advantage. Name KWE is a well known, recognized name in freight forwarding business area. Companies who supply different types of goods worldwide are well familiar with KWE as a freight forwarding company. Experience Many years worked in freight forwarding area gives the company an advantage. Global Coverage KWE provides services into main and secondary destinations worldwide. It can deliver any type of goods into most cities in the world. Long terms contracts with suppliers gives KWE the opportunity to offer its customers competitive rates as the rates they have with their suppliers are based on long term relationship. Weaknesses of KWE Kintetsu World Express: Prices of Services Air freight for example, some competitors might have their own planes flying to different destinations worldwide (ex. DHL) of course no matter how low the rates are DHL offers to KWE they can steel offer cheaper transportation to the customers and KWEs rates are going to be higher in comparison. Large number of players a lot of competitors in freight forwarding business quite a big number of which might offer better rates and bigger service Staff as well as staff can be a strength it can also be a weakness. Some workers are not very competent in doing their job; some are not team players which is very important in an organization. It gives birth to a weak operating performance. External analysis. Opportunities of KWE Kintetsu World Express: Funding Investments could help the company in present economical crisis to gain new customers. Example: Invest in companys transport; trucks 40 foot containers could help offer customers cheaper transportation charges on road freight. New Services could gain new customers or provide new business for existing customers. Threats of KWE Kintetsu World Express: Economy is one of the external factors of macro-environment. As said before it doesnt depend on the companys strategy. This is exactly what happens in the current economical environment, when economy negatively influences the business. People losing jobs, sales drop, annual profit targets fail to be reached and so on. Falling Sales this is also what is happening at present due to economical crisis. But it can also happen when economy rises, depending on the companys marketing management. How good are the strategies of the company, and how efficient are they for the org
Saturday, January 18, 2020
A Case Study Bank Of China And Hsbc, London
China’s rapidly developing economy is dependent on a banking industry which is controlled by the state. The four public banks of China and the People’s Bank of China have a strong hold over the country’s financial system. The advent of China in WTO in 2001 and globalization has led to a felt need for transformation in the Chinese economy to integrate it with the global economy. The financial sector will need to support this change. An assessment of the state of the Chinese banking industry at present and its future growth is therefore essential.Ideally this can be achieved by benchmarking a Chinese bank and a European Bank, for which purpose a case study of Bank of China and HSBC, London has been carried out. The aim of the research is therefore to undertake an analysis of the Chinese banking systems, processes and products through a case study of the above mentioned banks while the objectives of the research indicate assessment of the overall state of the Chines e banking industry, evaluate implementation of various processes and systems and highlight the areas for growth. A deductive – inductive approach with emphasis on case study has been adopted for the research.Apart from extensive secondary research through literature survey, a detailed questionnaire has been administered to 40 clients across a wide cross section of personal and corporate customers of Bank of China and HSBC, London which has formed the key primary resource for the research. A review of the research sources and questionnaires has revealed that Bank of China has been able to quickly adapt itself to the changing requirements of a globalised financial environment and is providing both personal as well as business banking services to meet its customer’s requirements.HSBC which considers itself as the World’s local bank is providing a complete package of services to the corporate as well as personal client and has been successful in implementing the sam e throughout the World. Its initial forays into China have also underlined the success story. The quality of service in both the banks was seen to be similar, however HSBC provided better follow up and also more services on the internet than Bank of China. The growth trajectory of both the banks indicates that, while HSBC is attempting to grow throughout the World; Bank of China is growing primarily within the Chinese banking system.There are a number of areas for improvement identified in the research which could well be undertaken by Bank of China to include greater efficiency and better customer service, improvement in technology and customer follow up and exploitation of niche areas such as credit cards. The entry of foreign banks will see greater competition in the Chinese banking sector. The need for Chinese banks to adopt global practices is also underlined and it is anticipated that the entry of more global banks as HSBC in China will provide the impetus to this growth.ANALY SIS CHINESE BANKING INDUSTRY SYSTEMS, PROCESSES AND PRODUCTS: A CASE STUDY BANK OF CHINA AND HSBC, LONDON Chapter 1 – Introduction China is a rapidly growing economy which is considered as a model for emerging countries all over the World. The dynamism of an economy lies in an efficient and effective financial system led by the banking sector. The impact of the banking sector on economic growth in China and its contribution to public life has been a matter of debate over the years.China has a banking system which is controlled by the State and thus has a very large influence on the economy. Exclusively controlled by the central government, the four state banks and People’s Bank of China have a very strong hold over the financial system both internally and externally. (China’s Economic System, 2004). However the rapid growth of China towards a socialist market economy has been affecting the banking sector in various ways and Chinese banks have undertaken measures to enhance their efficiency and contribute effectively to the economy.China’s entry into the WTO in 2001 has also necessitated adoption of liberalized norms in line with the global banking and financial industry. To what extent China has been able to adapt these new practices and how these are affecting or likely to affect the growth of the Chinese economy is an issue of great relevance. As China’s economy gets increasingly integrated with the global economy, its financial markets will have to support this union. It is therefore essential to assess the state of the Chinese banking industry at present and its trajectory of growth in the future.A case study approach to this issue is considered relevant for which Bank of China and HSBC, London are selected for review of the systems, processes and products to provide an insight of the financial needs and their fulfillment today and tomorrow. Bank of China is one of the principal banks in the country; it is one of the four banks which are owned by the State in China. (About Bank of China,. 2006). It has been a key central bank of China which has carried out international exchange as well as provided funds and been a point for foreign trade in the country over a period.It conducts a wide variety of services including commercial banking, insurance as well as investment banking. It is one of the largest banks in Asia and has been placed at the 18th position by the Banker Magazine in 2005. (About Bank of China,. 2006). It also has a large overseas presence in 27 countries. The systems, processes and practices followed by the Bank of China would be a good indicator of the state of the Chinese banking industry in both its internal and external dimensions. HSBC is an epitome of a modern bank.Based in London, the Bank had its origins in provision of finance for trading with China in the 19th Century. After China adopted a nationalist communist economy and banking system, HSBC’s presence in the country was limited. However the bank has now retuned with a vigor and strives to make inroads in the highly competitive financial sector where banks with a state monopoly are said to enjoy unprecedented advantage. The Bank is also taking benefit of its old legacy and is already earning profits to the tune of $ 161 million for the first half of 2005.(Schuman, 2006). HSBC in some ways can be seen to be a competitor to the Bank of China, though its reach within China is limited to only 20 branches. (Schuman, 2006). The investments made by HSBC in Chinese financial sector are reported to be $ 4 billion and include almost one fifth stake in China’s fifth largest bank, Bank of Communications and its second largest insurance company, Ping An Insurance with which the Bank of China too has many contracts.A comparative analysis of BOC and HSBC would thus provide us an effective understanding of the state of the banking industry in China in all its operational facets. The dynamic nature of th e research will entail application of a deductive-inductive approach which in practice is adopted by a number of similar research projects keeping in view the importance of both qualitative and quantitative findings. Aim and Objectives. The aim of the research is to undertake an analysis of the Chinese banking industry systems, processes and products through a case study of Bank of China and HSBC, London.Objectives. The research objectives are as follows :- 1. Assess the overall state of the Chinese banking systems, processes and products. 2. Evaluate implementation of systems, practices and processes of the modern banking industry. 3. Evaluate areas for further growth and development by Chinese banks. Chapter 2 – Research Methodology This chapter aims to illustrate the methodology of the research. It describes; common research philosophies, research approaches and the research strategy.Veal (2000) has described research as â€Å"systematic and careful inquiry and search for the truth†or an investigation into a subject to discover facts. What is Research? Research is a well defined area of study of a particular problem or issue in its totality or in specific to a particular area of concern. (Veal, 2000). Research should entail the following characteristics, which will be kept in mind by the author while evaluating the subject (Morgan, 2000):- (a) Systematic collection of data.(b) Analytical interpretation of data. (c) Developing a theory and conclusion. The Research Philosophy Modern research has three models; these are positivism, realism and interpretivism. (Cantrell, D. C. (n. d. )). Positivism Positivism entails a scientific stance for research and interpretation of data. Thus only those phenomenon which are observable and measurable are regarded as knowledge. Positivists maintain an independent and objective stance. (Cantrell, D. C. (n. d. )). Phenomenology (Interpretivism)This is opposite of the positivistic approach and is known as interp retivism or phenomenology. (Cantrell, D. C. (n. d. )). Though positivistic and interpretivism paradigm are two extremes, most researchers use elements of both practices, which is implied in realism. This approach is considered the most appropriate for the project as the writer will be carrying out a comparative analysis of the Chinese and the British Banking system with a case study of the Bank of China vis a vis HSBC, London.Since banking systems are not just financial and economic systems but involve social issues in the context of a broader socio-political environment, a realistic approach to research is considered the most suitable. Research Approach There are two strands, which can be adopted, deductive and inductive. The deductive approach is used when a hypothesis is developed and the research design has to test that hypothesis. The deductive approach is amplified by means of a diagram at Figure 1 (Trochim, 2000). –
Friday, January 10, 2020
Deconstruction of Fairy Tales Essay
As most fairy tales are written there is always a happy ending, and no fairy tale yet has failed to deliver that ending. Fairy tales now in the modern day are perceived to be like a dream, an unattainable reality. A common theme in fairy tales is that the women are the victims that are dominated by a male, also there is a reoccurring theme of the terrible stepmother. Another theme that is common in fairy tales is that the women are forced to work, they are the ones who do the hard labor. In many fairy tales there are evil stepsisters that come along with the horrible stepmother and they taunt and harass, just like their mother. Three fairy tales that have the reoccurring themes of the evil stepfamily, women doing hard labor, and male dominance are Cinderella, Snow White, and Beauty and the Beast. One of the fairy tales that shows the reoccurring themes of the evil stepfamily, women doing hard labor, and male dominance is Cinderella. This story is a great portrayal of these themes because it includes all three. The theme of the evil stepfamily is shown through her two evil stepsisters and her stepmother. They torture and taunt her endlessly and make her feel like she is below them. Another theme that is common in fairy tales and especially this one is that women are put to do hard labor. In her own house she is made to clean and keep the house which causes her to be covered in ashes and be dirty all of the time. The last theme is seen frequently is the theme of male dominance. Although not shown as much as in other fairy tales, Cinderella still experiences male dominance because she is under her father and the horrible stepmother that he married. In the end, like any other fairy tale, the poor woman that was a victim ends up happier than any one else in the story. She ends up marries the handsome prince and everyone like her stepsisters and stepmother have to pay for all the trouble they caused Cinderella. Another fairy tale that depicts the three reoccurring themes is Snow White. It shows the evil stepfamily with having the evil stepmother. The evil stepmother is the fairest of the land up until Little Snow White grows up and then she becomes the fairest of the land. The stepmother is so envious that she sends a huntsman to have her killed. The huntsman having pity on her let her go and that’s when she stumbles upon the house in the mountains with the seven dwarfs. The theme of women doing hard labor comes into play when the dwarfs make her work to be able to stay there. The theme of male dominance also comes into play with this because in having to work she is under the power of the men that are forcing her to work for them. Like all good fairy tales in the end she ends up married to a handsome prince and living happily ever after, while her stepmother died for having to pay for what she did to Snow White. The last fairy tale that encompasses the three themes is Beauty and the Beast. Although not necessarily having an evil stepfamily, she does have two sisters that are jealous and envious of her. The youngest daughter, Beauty, was also seen as the smarter and better daughter of the three, for this the other two daughters did not like Beauty. When they become poor and can no longer live in the city they move to the country where they have to work for a living. The two other sister refusing to work, leaves all the work to Beauty, making her to the hard labor. When her father gets into trouble with a beast, she has to pay the price and surrender herself to him. Her giving herself up means she has to live with the beast, being under his dominance. Over time they form a relationship and they fall in love with each other. When she tells him she can’t live without him he turns into a handsome prince, and tells her that he had curse put on him but now that she fell in love with him doesn’t have to be a beast anymore. Beauty and the Beast lived happily with each other, like a fairy tale would usually end. In this story no one in particular had to pay for any wrongdoings but her sisters never got the happy life they wished for while Beauty does. For many fairy tales there are similar themes which are expressed in them. Usually they are depicted in relatively the same way but sometimes they differ. In all three of these fairy tales, Cinderella, Snow White, and Beauty and the Beast, they have the same themes of an evil stepfamily, women doing hard labor, and male dominance. These stories depict all the same themes, especially when they show that the women are the victim. In all of the faith tales the women are disrespected if they are not up to par with what the standard was at the time. Although in the beginning of all of the stories the women start at the bottom, they end up the happiest and on top in the end.
Thursday, January 2, 2020
How to Ace the Dreaded Phone Interview 2019
Interviews are hard enough in person, but theres nothing quite like the dreaded phone interview. Many organizations utilize the phone interview for their initial screenings because its quicker and less expensive. The phone interview is much more difficult for many people because you cannot read the interviewers body language so you never know how youre doing. Heres how to ace the phone interview. Ask how much time the interview will take This can let you know what to expect. Youll need to call ahead and ask how long the interview will take. This will ease some of the tension and anxiety you may be feeling now that you know how long the interview will take. Talk in a quiet location You never want to be interrupted by calls coming in, coworkers, kids, barking dogs, etc. This is very unprofessional and also affects your ability to focus 100% on the interview. If youre on a cell phone make sure you get good reception and that your battery is fully charged. .ube0c2ba009e701660da0d002e658058c { padding:0px; margin: 0; padding-top:1em!important; padding-bottom:1em!important; width:100%; display: block; font-weight:bold; background-color:#eaeaea; border:0!important; border-left:4px solid #34495E!important; box-shadow: 0 1px 2px rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.17); -moz-box-shadow: 0 1px 2px rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.17); -o-box-shadow: 0 1px 2px rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.17); -webkit-box-shadow: 0 1px 2px rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.17); text-decoration:none; } .ube0c2ba009e701660da0d002e658058c:active, .ube0c2ba009e701660da0d002e658058c:hover { opacity: 1; transition: opacity 250ms; webkit-transition: opacity 250ms; text-decoration:none; } .ube0c2ba009e701660da0d002e658058c { transition: background-color 250ms; webkit-transition: background-color 250ms; opacity: 1; transition: opacity 250ms; webkit-transition: opacity 250ms; } .ube0c2ba009e701660da0d002e658058c .ctaText { font-weight:bold; color:inherit; text-decoration:none; font-size: 16px; } .ube0c2ba009e701660da0d002e658058c .post Title { color:#000000; text-decoration: underline!important; font-size: 16px; } .ube0c2ba009e701660da0d002e658058c:hover .postTitle { text-decoration: underline!important; } READ Use the Internet to Attain a Master's Degree in TeachingHave notes You cant see them, but they cant see you either. That means you need to have notes in front of you at all times. You dont want to sound like youre reading a script, but keep notes with details about the job, your qualifications, the organization, and other talking points you want to hit on. Come prepared An unprepared person will sound unprepared during an interview because it often shows up in the tone of their voice. Theres no excuse to come to an interview without being fully armed with details about the organization, what they do, and why you want to work for them. Hit up the web and do your research. Know the description Not knowing the job description will likely be your ticket back to the unemployment line. This shows youre sloppy and do not do your homework. It also shows youre not serious about the position or the company. Know the description and how you are able to fit it with the combination of your work skills, history and education. .u537ed85bac524ad75f82df487fce0cfd { padding:0px; margin: 0; padding-top:1em!important; padding-bottom:1em!important; width:100%; display: block; font-weight:bold; background-color:#eaeaea; border:0!important; border-left:4px solid #34495E!important; box-shadow: 0 1px 2px rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.17); -moz-box-shadow: 0 1px 2px rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.17); -o-box-shadow: 0 1px 2px rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.17); -webkit-box-shadow: 0 1px 2px rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.17); text-decoration:none; } .u537ed85bac524ad75f82df487fce0cfd:active, .u537ed85bac524ad75f82df487fce0cfd:hover { opacity: 1; transition: opacity 250ms; webkit-transition: opacity 250ms; text-decoration:none; } .u537ed85bac524ad75f82df487fce0cfd { transition: background-color 250ms; webkit-transition: background-color 250ms; opacity: 1; transition: opacity 250ms; webkit-transition: opacity 250ms; } .u537ed85bac524ad75f82df487fce0cfd .ctaText { font-weight:bold; color:inherit; text-decoration:none; font-size: 16px; } .u537ed85bac524ad75f82df487fce0cfd .post Title { color:#000000; text-decoration: underline!important; font-size: 16px; } .u537ed85bac524ad75f82df487fce0cfd:hover .postTitle { text-decoration: underline!important; } READ Online Nursing Degree BSN Students Share Time Management StrategiesWrite out your answers Most phone interviews have standard questions such as, Tell me about yourselfÃ'Å" The best way to handle these is to write out the answers to these questions using your notes and then practice them. That way they come out sounding polished and smooth. Come up with your own questions This is a must for in-person and phone interviews. Be sure to never ask questions about pay, vacation times or hours. Watch your tone of voice This is a big one. Watch your tone of voice. Make sure you sound engaged and upbeat. They cant see your body language so your tone of voice matters even more. Focus on being yourself and sounding natural. You may want to practice with a friend or family member and get their feedback on what you sound like. You may even choose to record yourself. .u13e46dc8fd634819fd1145edd3d882ef { padding:0px; margin: 0; padding-top:1em!important; padding-bottom:1em!important; width:100%; display: block; font-weight:bold; background-color:#eaeaea; border:0!important; border-left:4px solid #34495E!important; box-shadow: 0 1px 2px rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.17); -moz-box-shadow: 0 1px 2px rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.17); -o-box-shadow: 0 1px 2px rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.17); -webkit-box-shadow: 0 1px 2px rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.17); text-decoration:none; } .u13e46dc8fd634819fd1145edd3d882ef:active, .u13e46dc8fd634819fd1145edd3d882ef:hover { opacity: 1; transition: opacity 250ms; webkit-transition: opacity 250ms; text-decoration:none; } .u13e46dc8fd634819fd1145edd3d882ef { transition: background-color 250ms; webkit-transition: background-color 250ms; opacity: 1; transition: opacity 250ms; webkit-transition: opacity 250ms; } .u13e46dc8fd634819fd1145edd3d882ef .ctaText { font-weight:bold; color:inherit; text-decoration:none; font-size: 16px; } .u13e46dc8fd634819fd1145edd3d882ef .post Title { color:#000000; text-decoration: underline!important; font-size: 16px; } .u13e46dc8fd634819fd1145edd3d882ef:hover .postTitle { text-decoration: underline!important; } READ Find Computer and Technology Degree ProgramsRelated ArticlesHow to Answer Common Interview QuestionsHow to Handle a Group InterviewAssociate in Applied Business Top Employers Reveal Hiring CriteriaNonprofit Jobs Training to be a Communications DirectorNonprofit Jobs Training to be a Fundraiser at a Nonprofit OrganizationHow to Prepare for an Interview
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)