Wednesday, October 30, 2019

Business Organization and Management Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Business Organization and Management - Essay Example For a better communication, a sender receiver, medium and message, all are very essential. The message must be structured in the mind of the sender and he must choose a medium before sending it. Communication is, always has been, and always will be one of the most pre-eminent skills of management. Because of electronic communication and widely spread teams related to business settings, good communication is often more difficult. There are weaknesses in terms of telephonic communications as well as face-to-face communications. Emails and facsimiles are a fast way of communication but they are also with some problems. The management feels that they are in need of good communication skills so that they can get awareness to their staff’s problems and their views regarding the organization. The management can improve the communication process by following the recommended steps for establishing an effective communication between managers and employees. Effective communication is very significant for success and good reputation of the company. Successful communication results in developing good relationships between the employers and employees, between the consumers and the sellers. Good and effective communication helps the better co-ordination and efficient control. It results in clear understanding, good production, healthy climate within the organization, willing co-operation among the various levels of management and general good will (Butterfield, et. al 65). It always brings good dividend. Because of effective communication, the businesspersons can communicate effectively and successfully. Effective communication is a part of good communication. Effectiveness means better response, ideal co-ordination with the aims and objectives of organization and greater adaptability to change (Ellinor and Gerard 31). Communication is a tool of management that plays a key role in decision-making. The greater is the organization, the greater is the role of

Monday, October 28, 2019

An Inspector Calls Essay Example for Free

An Inspector Calls Essay JB Priestly wrote An Inspector Calls to enhance the message that we dont live alone. We are members of one body. We are responsible for each other. This is something Priestly felt strongly about and he succeeded in representing his views through the character of the Inspector in the play itself. He wanted to communicate the message that our actions, no matter how small or seemingly insignificant, always affect others. He uses the downfall of Eva Smith and a chain of events to demonstrate this. This leads to a very convincing and well-devised play, which puts across JB Priestleys views clearly and precisely. In Edwardian Britain there was a great difference in the roles of men and women in society and the outlook of what and was not accepted differed substantially. A prime example of this in the play is when Mr Birling says Nothing to do with you, Sheila. Run along. This tells us that women are treated as inferior to men as they should not interfere with their conversations. For example, upper class men were encouraged to gain sexual experience with lower class women. This way, women were preserved until the wedding night as a sign of purity. The background a marriage carried was seen as more important than the relationship between the couple. In many cases it was necessary for individuals to marry into families that offered greater status or financial strength. This is shown in the play when Mr Birling says Your father and I have been friendly rivals in business we may look forward to a time when Crafts and Birlings are no longer competing but are working together. This suggests Mr Birling cares more about his own welfare than Gerald and Sheilas happiness. The Inspector conveys the theme of responsibility. He shows we must all look out for each other and think before taking actions. Priestley uses Eva Smiths death as an example of the suffering of lower class women in Edwardian times and directs the blame at the whole family caused by their small but consequential, chain of events. Priestley cleverly brings in the inspector at a strategic moment, just after Birling has stated that a man has to mind his own business and look after himself and his own. This is the speech that Birling has just made, which reveals his true character. That of a narcissistic, unsparing old man. But then the inspector comes in and gradually shows them how wrong Birling is and how we should feel and show responsibility for one another.

Saturday, October 26, 2019

Examining the Educator :: Education School Essays

One of the final problems identified in the topic of decreasing educational standards is the lack of educational competency. Educational competency is defined as a measure of excellence in the knowledge of individual educators and the ability of said educators to instruct students so that students are able to apply the knowledge to their own individual abilities; students should gain the ability to forge connections in the subject beyond the curricular base. Research also proposes than an adequate measure of defining excellence does not exist in the current educational system. It has been attempted, through research, to find a new measure - such as a peer critique and corrections system - thereby providing a medium through which a form of field expertise would arise in education. The topic of educational competency can be divided into subdivisions, these being the current institutions, evaluations, and theoretical basis of school systems. By studying literature, guidelines, philosophies, and proposals - which dominate modern education - the goal is to examine the strengths and flaws within the institution and its curriculum. In the end, the body of research examined should be sufficient to suggest the altercation needed in our current educational system. Evaluation Theory A main key to changing a system is finding a method by which to judge positive and negative changes in that system and in components of that system. Editors Donovan Peterson and Annie Ward compiled several articles pertaining to teacher competency and its theories in their book, Due Process in Teacher Evaluation. Boyd Applegarth, an author of one chapter in Due Process in Teacher Evaluation, focuses on a description and explanation of an operational evaluation system that includes classroom activities of teachers and extends to include examples of non-classroom activities that are considered crucial to the evaluation of teachers. Richard Brandt reviews several sources of nondiscriminatory criteria for evaluating teachers in his essay "Teacher Evaluation for Career Ladder and Incentive Pay Programs," in the anthology Teacher Evaluation Policy: From Accountability to Professional Development, edited and compiled by Daniel Duke. Brandt is interested in establishing criterion for a salary and career ladder for teachers based on competency. He addresses several modern systems for evaluating and rewarding teacher performance. Brandt recognizes the difficulty of judging teachers in an impartial way.

Thursday, October 24, 2019

The U.S. Education System and Adolescent Students At-Risk Essays

The U.S. Education System and Adolescent Students At-Risk In an age where getting a good education is increasingly a predictor of future success and stability, many of our youth are at-risk of falling behind in classes and dropping out of high school. Approximately half of all American adolescents engage in activities that put them at-risk and endanger their ability to succeed (Lingren, 1997). Not all of these adolescents will drop out of high school or end up on the streets, but a substantial number of them will not reach their potential in school and may carry feelings of failure with them the rest of their lives. Adolescents spend approximately seven hours a day, five days a week, in middle and high schools, making schools a logical place where at-risk adolescents might receive help. Realizing that this is a crucial time in their development, educators have instituted numerous school programs targeting these adolescents to help them succeed and catch-up to their peers. This paper will focus on adolescents who are at-risk educationally, and what strategies have proven effective at preventing dropouts and helping them catch up to normal levels for their grade. It will examine theories about how adolescents become at-risk, the needs of these students, several models of intervention, and overall characteristics of successful programs. Although most definitions of â€Å"at-risk† include individuals with severe learning disabilities and the mentally handicapped, this paper will focus primarily on students who appear to have the capacity to catch up to their grade level, and who are at-risk because of behaviors, environmental factors, or because they were not given meaningful instruction at an early age. Some observers estimate that â€Å"... ...mpscott, Massachusetts: Watersun Publishing Company, Inc. 17. Sanders, M. G. (2000). Schooling Students Placed At Risk: Research, Policy, and Practice in the Education of Poor and Minority Adolescents. Mahwah, New Jersey: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, Publishers. 18. Slavin, R. E., Karweit, N. L., & Madden, N. A. (1989). Effective Programs for Students At Risk. Boston, Massachusetts: Allyn & Bacon. 19. U.S. Department of Education (2003). Electronic source: Official U.S. Dept. of Education website: http://www.nochildleftbehind.gov/ 20. Washington, V. (1995). Project Head Start: Models and Strategies for the Twenty- First Century. New York, New York: Garland Publishing, Inc. 21. Wehlage, G. G. et al. (1989). Reducing the Risk: Schools as Communities of Support. Philadelphia: Falmer Press

Wednesday, October 23, 2019

Management and Group Essay

Reliable, Planning and organizing, resourceful, capable of making sound decisions with her job, not widely affected by emotions †¢How can understanding stages of group development and group properties help employees in a work group function more effectively? As a manager, how would you help employees come to that understanding? Understanding the stages of group development is very important to anyone involved in a group or organization. Understanding the stages can make for a healthy group because in order to perform well you need to have accomplished the prior stages before moving on. Understanding the stages of group development enables employees to work more effectively since results in a clear plan. The stages enable employees to work together as a group to finish the assignments that the company has. As a manager, I would sit down the employees and give them to bottom line. Typically when groups have an idea of the main goal or plan, the individuals come together to work towards that goal. †¢Although the optimal level of conflict can be functional, no conflict or too much conflict can be dysfunctional. What steps would you as a manager take to stimulate some degree of conflict when appropriate and reduce conflict when it is excessive? I would ask tough hard questions to stimulate a degree of conflict when it is appropriate. I would also use conflict in problem solving type training just to see how the employees react. Knowing how your employees react during stressful times is a great thing for managers to know. †¢What is the difference between a group and a team? Would your strategy be different for putting together a group than creating a team? Explain your answer. A group is a collection of individuals who coordinate their individual efforts. On the other hand, a team is a group of people who share a common team purpose and a number of challenging goals. Members of the team are mutually committed to the goals and to each other. This mutual commitment also creates joint accountability which creates a strong bond and a strong motivation to perform. Yes, my strategy would be different. I would have to try to get the group to work towards the same goal whereas a team is already doing just that. †¢In the article, â€Å"Conflict in Work Teams†, the author discusses several strategies for resolving group or team conflict. Which type of strategies seems to fit you best? Compromise is the type of strategy that best fits me. What criteria should you consider when determining the best conflict resolution strategy? I would get the employees to turn their anger around to interact peacefully and productively with their peers. Leaders learn how to conduct presentations, guide discussions, and help participants understand the purposes and pitfalls of anger and how to channel it into constructive and useful actions

Tuesday, October 22, 2019

Neural Networks essays

Neural Networks essays With most computer games over the year people have only been given the illusion of intelligence, as we are not yet developed enough to create actual intelligence in our games. It is extremely difficult to plagiarize human prediction when it comes to games. In some cases humans can be extremely predictable e.g. In the game of American Football some teams always throw the ball where as other teams always run with the ball. In some cases however humans can be extremely unpredictable e.g. The way of unpredictable thinking is extremely difficult to simulate in a computer, as a computer cannot think for itself. When it comes to playing games with a computer the computer itself is not actually thinking it is programmed with all the predicted moves that a user can make. The programmer of the game actually sits down and programs all the moves that take place if a user does something. This then gives the user the illusion that the computer is coming up with way to try and beat them. This is where a new way of thinking came in. The idea was to actually simulate the way a human thinks by actually creating a computer simulated brain. This in theory anyway would allow the program to actually think and learn through trial and error. Neural networks grew out of research in Artificial Intelligence by attempting to mimic the fault-tolerance and capacity to learn of biological neural systems by modelling the low-level structure of the brain. The main branch of Artificial Intelligence research in the 1960s -1980s produced Expert Systems. These are based upon a high-level model of reasoning processes (specifically, the concept that our reasoning processes are built upon manipulation of symbols). It became rapidly apparent that these systems, although very useful in some domains, failed to capture certain key aspects of human intelligence. According to one line of speculation, this was due to their failure to mimic the underlying structure of ...

Monday, October 21, 2019

Plessey V. Ferguson Essay

Plessey V. Ferguson Essay Plessey V. Ferguson Essay Robinson 1 Taniya Robinson Brennan AP US History August 7, 2013 Plessy V. Ferguson Homer Plessey born March 17, 1862, in New Orleans, Louisiana. Homer was the Plaintiff in the United States Supreme Court decision Plessy v. Ferguson. Plessey violated one of the Louisiana racial segregation laws and was arrested and appealed his case to the U.S. Supreme Court and lost thus leading to the decision of â€Å"Separate-But-Equal.† On June 7, 1892, Homer Plessy boarded a car of the East Louisiana Railroad that was designated by whites for use by white patrons only. Plessey was only one-eighth black but he was still considered and African-American which meant that he must sit in the "colored" car. When Plessy refused to leave the white car and move to the colored car, he was arrested. Plessy's case was heard before Judge John Ferguson one month after his arrest. Plessy argued that his civil rights, stated through the Thirteenth, which granted freedom to the slaves, and Fourteenth, which stated, "no state shall make or enforce any law which shall ab ridge the privileges or immunities of citizens of the United States; nor shall any state deprive any person of life, liberty, and property, without due process of law" amendments of the U.S. Constitution, had been violated. Ferguson denied this argument and ruled that Louisiana, under state law, had the power to set rules that regulated railroad business within its borders. Plessey tried to appeal the ruling but was denied, so he took the cased to the U.S. Supreme Court in April 1896, arguing that the state of Louisiana had violated the Thirteenth Amendment. Plessey lost the case and still had to pay the fine. This case led to the decision of â€Å"separate but equal.† It would become one of the Robinson 2 most famous decisions in American history. The court found that Louisiana did not violate the Fourteenth

Sunday, October 20, 2019

A Medieval Love Story

A Medieval Love Story He was a brilliant scholar at the University of Paris, charismatic, engaging, and handsome. He drew students like moths to his flame, challenging his masters as well as his peers with scintillating displays of logic. His seemingly unshakable core of self-confidence was justified by his talents for dialectic, teaching, and poetry. His name was Pierre Abelard. She was a rare apparition in the cloister of the Paris cathedral: a young woman, still in her teens, pursuing philosophical studies with no evident desire to take the veil.  Though undoubtedly lovely, she was renowned more for her keen mind and her thirst for knowledge than for her beauty. Her name was Heloise. That two such extraordinary individuals in the same academic world should find one another seems inevitable. That their eloquent expressions of love should have survived for us in their own words is a rare gift of history. That tragedy should await them makes their story all the more poignant.1 The Pursuit of Love While Abelard surely caught sight of Heloise at some time in the busy academic scene of Paris, there were no social occasions on which they were likely to meet. He was occupied with his studies and university life; she was under the protection of her Uncle Fulbert, a canon at the cathedral. Both turned away from frivolous social pastimes in favor of a happy absorption with philosophy, theology, and literature. But Abelard, having reached his thirties without ever knowing the joys of romantic or physical love, had decided he wanted such an experience. He approached this course with his usual logic: It was this young girl whom I, after carefully considering all those qualities which are wont to attract lovers, determined to unite with myself in the bonds of love... 2 Canon Fulbert was known to care deeply for his niece; he recognized her academic ability and wanted the best education that could be provided for her. This was Abelards route into his house and confidence. Claiming the upkeep of a home of his own was too expensive and interfered with his studies, the scholar sought to board with Fulbert in exchange for a small fee and, more significantly, for providing instruction to Heloise. Such was Abelards reputation not only as a brilliant teacher but as a trustworthy individual that Fulbert eagerly welcomed him into his home and entrusted him with the education and care of his niece. I should not have been more smitten with wonder if he had entrusted a tender lamb to the care of a ravenous wolf... Learning of Love We were united first in the dwelling that sheltered our love, and then in the hearts that burned with it. There is no way to know what entreaties or wiles Abelard used to seduce his student. Heloise may very well have loved him from the moment they met. The force of his personality, his razor-sharp mind, and his handsome demeanor undoubtedly resulted in an irresistible combination for a young woman. Not yet twenty, she had no hint of how she and her uncle had been manipulated, and she was at just the right age to see Abelards presence in her life as ordained by Fate or by God. Moreover, rarely have two lovers been so suited to each other as Abelard and Heloise. Both attractive, both extremely intelligent, both enraptured with the arts of learning, they shared an intellectual energy that few couples of any age or era have been fortunate enough to know. Yet in these early days of intense desire, learning was secondary. Under the pretext of study we spent our hours in the happiness of love, and learning held out to us the secret opportunities that our passion craved. Our speech was more of love than of the books which lay open before us; our kisses far outnumbered our reasoned words. However base Abelards original intentions had been, he was soon overwhelmed by his feelings for Heloise. Finding his once-beloved studies burdensome, his energy for learning flagged, he delivered uninspired lectures, and his poems now focused on love. It wasnt long before his students deduced what had come over him, and rumors swept Paris of the heated affair. Only Canon Fulbert seemed unaware of the romance that was taking place under his own roof. His ignorance was fostered by his trust in the niece he loved and the scholar he admired. Whispers may have reached his ears, but if so they did not reach his heart. Oh, how great was the uncles grief when he learned the truth, and how bitter was the sorrow of the lovers when we were forced to part! How it happened is not entirely clear, but its reasonable to assume that Fulbert walked in on his niece and his boarder in an extremely private moment. He had ignored the rumors and believed in their good conduct; perhaps it was a direct confrontation with the truth that so drastically affected him. Now, the extent of his fury at the very least matched the extent of the trust he had placed in them both. But physically separating the couple did not quench the flame of their love for one another; on the contrary: The very sundering of our bodies served but to link our souls closer together; the plentitude of the love which was denied to us inflamed us more than ever. And not long after they were parted, Heloise got a message to Abelard: she was pregnant. At the next opportunity, when Fulbert was away from home, the couple fled to Abelards family, where Heloise was to remain until their son was born. Her lover returned to Paris, but fear or awkwardness kept him from attempting to heal the breach with her uncle for several months. The solution seems simple to us now, and would have been simple to most young couples then: marriage. But, although it was not unknown for scholars at the university to wed, a wife and family could be a serious impediment to an academic career. Universities were relatively new systems that had sprung from Cathedral schools, and the one at Paris was renowned for its theological teachings.  The brightest prospects that awaited Abelard resided in the Church; he would be forfeiting the highest possible career by taking a bride. Though he never admits such thoughts kept him from proposing marriage, that they were included among his considerations seem clear when he describes his offer to Fulbert: ... in order to make amends even beyond his extremest hope, I offered to marry her whom I had seduced, provided only the thing could be kept secret, so that I might suffer no loss of reputation thereby. To this he gladly assented... But Heloise was another matter. Love Protests That a young woman in love should balk at marrying the father of her child may seem perplexing, but Heloise had compelling reasons. She was well aware of the opportunities Abelard would be passing up if he tied himself to a family. She argued for his career; she argued for his studies; she argued that such a measure would not truly appease her uncle. She even argued for honor: ... it would be far sweeter for her to be called my mistress than to be known as my wife; nay, too, that this would be more honourable for me as well. In such case, she said, love alone would hold me to her, and the strength of the marriage chain would not constrain us. But her lover would not be dissuaded. Shortly after their son Astrolabe was born, they left him in the care of Abelards family and returned to Paris to be married secretly, with Fulbert among the few witnesses. They parted immediately thereafter, seeing each other only in rare private moments, in order to maintain the fiction that they were no longer involved. Love Denied Heloise had been correct when she had argued that her uncle would not be satisfied by a secret marriage. Though he had promised his discretion, his damaged pride would not let him keep quiet about events. The injury had been a public one; its reparation should also be public. He let word of the couples union get about. When his niece denied the marriage, he beat her. To keep Heloise safe, her husband spirited her away to the convent at Argenteuil, where she had been educated as a child. This alone may have been enough to keep her from her uncles wrath, but Abelard went one step further: he asked that she wear the vestments of the nuns, except for the veil that indicated the taking of vows. This turned out to be a grave error. When her uncle and his kinsmen heard of this, they were convinced that now I had completely played them false and had rid myself forever of Heloise by forcing her to become a nun. Fulbert became incensed, and prepared to take his revenge. It happened in the early morning hours when the scholar lay sleeping, unawares. Two of his servants accepted bribes to let attackers into his home. The punishment they visited upon their enemy was as horrifying and shameful as it was excruciating: ... for they cut off those parts of my body with which I had done that which was the cause of their sorrow. By morning, it seemed all of Paris had congregated to hear the news. Two of Abelards attackers were apprehended and made to suffer a similar fate, but no reparation could restore to the scholar what he had lost. The brilliant philosopher, poet, and teacher who had begun to be renowned for his talents now had fame of an altogether different sort thrust upon him. How could I ever again hold up my head among men, when every finger should be pointed at me in scorn, every tongue speak my blistering shame, and when I should be a monstrous spectacle to all eyes? Though he had never considered becoming a monk, Abelard turned to the cloister now. A life of seclusion, devoted to God, was the only alternative his pride would allow him. He turned to the Dominican order and entered the abbey of St. Denis. But before he did so, he convinced his wife to take the veil. Her friends entreated her to consider ending her marriage and returning to the outside world: after all, he could no longer be her husband in the physical sense, and an annulment would have been relatively easy to obtain. She was still quite young, still beautiful, and as brilliant as ever; the secular world offered a future the convent could never match. But Heloise did as Abelard bid her not for any love of convent life, or even for love of God, but for love of Abelard. Love Endures It would be difficult to imagine that their love for one another could survive separation and Abelards tragic injury. In fact, having seen to his wifes entry into the convent, the philosopher appears to have placed the entire affair behind him and devoted himself to writing and teaching. For Abelard, and indeed for all who studied philosophy in his time, the love story was but a sideline to his career, the impetus that triggered a change in his focus from logic to theology. But for Heloise, the affair was a seminal event in her life, and Pierre Abelard was forever in her thoughts. The philosopher did continue to care for his wife and see to her security. When Argenteuil was overtaken by one of his many rivals and Heloise, now the prioress, was turned out with the other nuns, Abelard arranged for the displaced women to occupy the abbey of the Paraclete, which he had established. And after some time had passed, and wounds both physical and emotional had begun to heal, they resumed a relationship, albeit far different than the one they had known in the secular world. For her part, Heloise would not let herself or her feelings for Abelard be overlooked. She was ever open and honest about her enduring love for the man who could no longer be her husband. She pestered him for hymns, sermons, guidance, and a rule for her order, and in so doing kept him active in the work of the abbey and kept her own presence constant in his mind. As for Abelard, he had the support and encouragement of one of the most brilliant women of his times to help him navigate the treacherous course of 12th-century theological politics. His talents for logic, his continued interest in secular philosophy, and his absolute confidence in his own interpretation of Scripture had not won him friends in the Church, and his entire career was marked by controversy with other theologians. It was Heloise, one might argue, who helped him come to terms with his own spiritual outlook; and it was Heloise to whom he addressed his significant profession of faith, which begins: Heloise, my sister, once so dear to me in the world, today even dearer to me in Jesus Christ...3 Though their bodies could no longer be united, their souls continued to share an intellectual, emotional, and spiritual journey. Upon his death Heloise had Abelards body brought to the Paraclete, where she was later buried beside him. They lie together still, in what could only be the end of a medieval love story. Your letter written to a friend for his comfort, beloved, was lately brought to me by chance. Seeing at once from the title that it was yours, I began the more ardently to read it in that the writer was so dear to me, that I might at least be refreshed by his words as by a picture of him whose presence I have lost...4 The story of Abelard and Heloise might have been lost to future generations were it not for the letters that survived them. The course of events that their romance followed was described unstintingly in a letter Abelard wrote, known to us as the  Historia Calamitatum,  or the Story of My Misfortunes. His intent in writing the letter was ostensibly to console his friend by telling him, essentially, You think youve got problems? Listen to this... The  Historia Calamitatum  was widely circulated and copied, as letters sometimes were in those days. There is a school of thought that Abelard had an ulterior motive in its composition: to call attention to himself and keep his work and his genius from slipping into oblivion. If that was indeed the case, the philosopher, though still confident in his abilities to the point of arrogance, showed a remarkably brutal honesty and a willingness to accept responsibility for the disastrous results brought on by his vanity and pride. Whatever his motives for writing the letter, a copy eventually fell into Heloises hands. It was at this point that she took the opportunity to contact Abelard directly, and an extensive correspondence ensued from which the nature of their later relationship can be gleaned. The authenticity of the letters supposedly written by Heloise has been called into question. For more on this matter, see the  Mediev-l  Discussion of Heloises  Letters to Abelard, collected from the Mediev-l mailing list and presented online by Paul Halsall at the Medieval Sourcebook. For books examining their authenticity, see  Sources and Suggested Reading,  below. Notes Guides Note: This feature was originally posted in February of 2000, and was updated in February of 2007.Notes 1 As with most names from the Middle Ages, you will find both Abelard and Heloise rendered in a variety of ways, including, but by no means limited to: Abà ©lard, Abeillard, Abailard, Abaelardus, Abelardus; Hà ©loise, Hà ©lose, Heloisa, Helouisa. The forms used in this feature were chosen for their recognizability and their ease of presentation within the limits of HTML. 2 The excerpted material on these pages is all from Abelards Historia Calamitatum unless otherwise noted. 3  From Abelards  Apologia. 4  From Heloises first letter. Additional Resources Abelards autobiography is online here at the Medieval History site: Historia Calamitatum,  or, The Story of My Misfortunesby Peter AbelardTranslated by Henry Adams Bellows, with an introduction by Ralph Adams Cram. Presented in fifteen chapters, an introduction, a foreword and an appendix. Sources and Suggested Reading The links below will take you to a site where you can compare prices at booksellers across the web. More in-depth info about the book may be found by clicking on to the books page at one of the online merchants. translated by Betty RadiceA Penguin classics collection of their correspondence. by Etienne GilsonLiterate analysis of the letters of Abelard and Heloise focuses on individual topics and themes rather than a chronological presentation. by John MarenbonA re-examination of Abelards work as a logician and theologian. by Marion MeadeThis fictionalized account is well-written and fairly accurate, and has been made into a well-received film.   A Medieval Love Story  is copyright  © 2000-08 Melissa Snell and About.com. Permission is granted to reproduce this article for personal or classroom use only, provided that the URL below is included. For reprint permission, please contact Melissa Snell. The URL for this feature is:http://historymedren.about.com/od/peterabelard/a/love_story.htmGuides Note:  This feature was originally posted in February of 2000, and was updated in February of 2007.

Saturday, October 19, 2019

Renewable Energy Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Renewable Energy - Essay Example Wind power: Wind power has been a major contender as the energy source of future. Some of the economic factors hampering the growth of the wind energy are the high estate rentals for wind farms and the high capital costs of turbines and connecting to the grid. However the operational costs of the turbines are very less. Geothermal: Geothermal energy is another renewable source that can be used. The source is extremely successful in the volcanic regions of the world. The use of this energy to regulate the temperature of homes can be a viable option for replacing ACs and heaters. However, the construction of power grids based on this source is a costly affair. Biofuels: With a small modification of a car engine, vehicles can be driven by biofuels such as ethanol, biodiesel, or used or unused vegetable oil. These biofuels are cheaper than petrol, have similar performance and emit less toxic gases. However the efficiency of the process in terms of gasoline as input and ethanol as output is still less and needs significant improvement. Tidal Power: With many of the rivers drying up, the future of hydro power is going to be coming from tidal waves. The major issue facing this energy source is the high maintenance cost of the propellant turbines in the marine environment. However the return in terms of power generated is maximum for the minimum area covered in this case. Wind energy provides us with a cheap low cost abundant energy source that can be used as an alternative to our current power grids. Over the years, wind energy production prices have gone down considerably thereby making it a cheap viable renewable energy source. The cost of generating electricity from wind comprises of: Over the years, technological advances have made it possible to achieve large economies of scale, with larger turbines and plant size, more grid friendly power electronics, and cost

Friday, October 18, 2019

Parts Emporium & Industrial Repair Inc Coursework

Parts Emporium & Industrial Repair Inc - Coursework Example A week’s demand of the EG151 gasket averages 100 units, but the company orders just 150 units every 2 weeks, so there is insufficient supply coming in. This fact alone already puts the company at risk of getting its inventory overrun by demand, hence losing money and market in the end. There is also no denying the fact that until now, the company’s inventory has generally been poorly managed and maintained. When it comes to the DB032 drive belt, its case appears to be the exact opposite of the EG151 exhaust gasket. Currently, the company orders too many units of the product, thus ending up with a lot of leftover stocks. In business, the wise thing to do is always to maintain a balance between supply and demand; the firm is supplying too much DB032s. More importantly, there is no justification of this whatsoever. The firm has a lot size of 1,000 units for a product whose demand averages 50 every week; it also has 324 units on hand. A comparison of the company’s tr eatment of the DB032 drive belt and the EG151 exhaust gasket reveals that it has gotten its priorities completely wrong. The more in-demand product (EG151 exhaust gasket) has been given a small lot size and is undersupplied, while the less in-demand product (DB032 drive belt) has been given a large lot size and is overstocked to the extent that almost 3 weeks’ supply is on hand. In order to solve this problem, it is necessary to develop a better and more efficient inventory system. I propose the following: For the EG151 Exhaust Gasket At least 150 units should be ordered every week so as to cushion the company from stockout and an inability to meet demand. In addition to this, the product should be given a larger lot size that can allow its inventory to be sufficiently built and maintained. The company should also improve the efficiency of its supply chain system so that backordering is reduced, losses are avoided, and market share is maintained or even gained. For the DB032 Drive Belt The lot size allocated to a product that sells an average of just 50 units each week is too much and not realistic. Allocating a lot size of 1,000 units to this product is almost criminal considering the EG151 exhaust gasket undersells and yet is given a lot size of just 150 units. Secondly, the company orders too many units of the DB032 drive belt, to the extent that surplus units are left in stock while demand remains low. Recommendations a) Reduce the lot size of the DB032 drive belt to 100 units, and increase the lot size of the EG151 exhaust gasket to 300 units. b) Increase the orders for the EG151 exhaust gaskets to 210 every two weeks, and reduce the orders for the DB032 drive belt to 150 units every 3 weeks. c) Slash or completely eliminate the tendency to backorder. d) Make better use of the warehouse, which is grossly underutilized. Question 2 The EG151 exhaust gasket costs $20 per order, while the DB032 costs $10 per order. Currently, the company orders 150 uni ts of the EG151 every 2 weeks, meaning it spends $3,000 every 14 days. For the DB032 drive belt, since the company has a lot size of 1,000 units it most likely orders that quantity every 3 weeks. This means that it spends $10,000 every 21 days. Total costs come to $13,000 every 35 days. My recommendation would mean that the company will spend $4,200 on the EG151 every 14 days and $1,500 on the DB032 drive b

OCCUPATIONAL EXPOSURE TO ASBESTOS FIBRE Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

OCCUPATIONAL EXPOSURE TO ASBESTOS FIBRE - Essay Example The respiratory system is the primary portal of entry for asbestos into the human body. Therefore, like as it is relevant to understand the applicability of techniques and selected instrumentation for analysis of environmental samples, it is equally important in determination of asbestos content from biological samples. Based on its on its fibrous morphology, asbestos is recognized as being a pathogenically active dust. Once inhaled, asbestos has continuous influences on cellular, biochemical, and molecular events in the human body. These complementary stimuli in synergy with the fibrous morphology of asbestos can result in irreversible cellular damage and in some cases the development of tumors. Various countries have sought to deal with asbestos and public health through regulatory guidance documents. This is necessary since asbestos mixtures are frequently used in industry, particularly chrysotile with either amosite or crocidolite. Moreover, exposures to "contaminant" noncommerci al amphiboles are common in miners and millers of chrysotile, talc, and vermiculite in some geographical locations. Therefore, there has been an acknowledged risk when the person is subjected to the exposure of asbestos, and these risks are health risks to create potential health problems even years after the exposure ceases. To prohibit these there are regulations from different authorities, which ideally would ascertain safety by eliminating and minimizing risks for the workers. These regulations should be guided by this risk and risk assessment approach. In this critical review, an assessment of different regulations will be done to examine how far these regulations have been guided by the concept of risk to control occupational exposure of asbestos (Bartrip, 2004, 72-76). Review: There is a perceived need for this critical review for various reasons. Practically, exposure to asbestos is very difficult to characterize. Moreover, there is a continued debate since there is an important confounding factor to determine the aetiology of any particular pathology. A strict separation of minerals goes beyond "asbestos" but involves two separate classes of the amphiboles, which collectively make up a great percentage of the earth's crust. The amphiboles occur in both forms and are not fibrous and do not look like asbestos, although they are basically asbestos. For those that are not fibrous and termed nonasbestiform, the United States Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) ruled in 1992 that "available evidence supports a conclusion that exposure to nonasbestiform cleavage fragments is not likely to produce a significant risk of developing asbestos-related disease" (OSHA, 1992) Similar problem has been reported from the British areas, but from the point of view of causation of the disease, this appears immaterial which form of asbestos has caused the disease. The grouping of the three commercial asbestos minerals is usually supplemented by the addition of the three "noncommercial" asbestiform amphiboles tremolite, actinolite, and

Thursday, October 17, 2019

ISMG Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words - 1

ISMG - Essay Example Secondly, there was the change in organizational structure to fit the organizational culture and climate of the old Mrs. Field Company. This action was perhaps in relation to the fact that the existing staffs who were to manage the new group of companies had to continue with an organizational system that they were more comfortable with. Finally, Mrs. Field adapted the existing name of Mrs. Field for the new group of companies rather than maintaining the La Petite Boulangerie for the new venture. As the saying goes, there is no smoke without fire. Indeed, Mrs. Field took the three actions discussed above for a reason. In the first place, Mrs. Field is reported to have said that â€Å"we absorbed many of the overhead functions into our existing organization including accounting, finance, personnel, human resources, training, and development† (Richman, 1989). This means that as long as positions in the acquired company such as accounting, finance, human resource and training all existed in the old company, the Fields’ felt that there was no need bringing in new set of hands to do what was already being done by existing set of hands. The Fields had therefore thought of increasing their savings by reducing cost on human capital development and payment. The second action of changing the organization structures must have been with the mentality that the staff who were going to handle the affairs of both Mrs. Fields and La Petite Boulangerie needed to operate with set of organizational structures that they were more conversant with. Since the staff-base had virtually not changed, there was the ideology that changing the organizational structure would have given the staff more concepts to learn. On the decision to maintain the name, Mrs. Fields’ we are told that â€Å"the Mrs. Fields name was demographically well established,

FAR Compliance Issues And Contributing Factors Assignment

FAR Compliance Issues And Contributing Factors - Assignment Example The national museum has selected Sunshine Wood Dealer Company to provide a proposal for supply of raw wood and furniture products for the construction of a natural wood products asylum. This request for proposal holds information and directives to enable the interested bidder to prepare and submit a detailed proposal and explains the terms and conditions that qualified bibbers will be expected to agree on in order to undertake the project. The project is in its initial stages and all documentation for commencement are ready. We intend to commence construction process once all the design documents are duly signed by the most preferred proposer. The construction director will be liable for the whole construction task and synchronization of commissioning, inspection, and certification. This project covers the construction of a one-story building haven for natural wood products with partitions for offices and various furniture products. The project documents provided (specifications and design) outline the span of the work. Close to one thousand pieces of raw wood are required for the construction of an ultramodern store that will house the natural wood products. Additionally, two thousand wood carvings of different shapes and styles are required for storage once construction is completed. Consequently, unique furniture products such as tables and chairs are required to color the sanctuary. Due to the scale of the entire project, the qualified company must ensure that its products are of high quality and will serve for a long period before replacement. It is essential to identify that fake product will not be accepted and if a company offers such products, it will face the full force of federal laws. Besides, in case of any loss suffered as a result of the counterfeit product, the source company will meet all the resulting expenses including the legal fees.

Wednesday, October 16, 2019

ISMG Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words - 1

ISMG - Essay Example Secondly, there was the change in organizational structure to fit the organizational culture and climate of the old Mrs. Field Company. This action was perhaps in relation to the fact that the existing staffs who were to manage the new group of companies had to continue with an organizational system that they were more comfortable with. Finally, Mrs. Field adapted the existing name of Mrs. Field for the new group of companies rather than maintaining the La Petite Boulangerie for the new venture. As the saying goes, there is no smoke without fire. Indeed, Mrs. Field took the three actions discussed above for a reason. In the first place, Mrs. Field is reported to have said that â€Å"we absorbed many of the overhead functions into our existing organization including accounting, finance, personnel, human resources, training, and development† (Richman, 1989). This means that as long as positions in the acquired company such as accounting, finance, human resource and training all existed in the old company, the Fields’ felt that there was no need bringing in new set of hands to do what was already being done by existing set of hands. The Fields had therefore thought of increasing their savings by reducing cost on human capital development and payment. The second action of changing the organization structures must have been with the mentality that the staff who were going to handle the affairs of both Mrs. Fields and La Petite Boulangerie needed to operate with set of organizational structures that they were more conversant with. Since the staff-base had virtually not changed, there was the ideology that changing the organizational structure would have given the staff more concepts to learn. On the decision to maintain the name, Mrs. Fields’ we are told that â€Å"the Mrs. Fields name was demographically well established,

Tuesday, October 15, 2019

Emergent strategic management Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2250 words

Emergent strategic management - Essay Example An emergent strategy is a model of management that is used over time when an organization does not have specific objectives and goals. It is also known as realized strategy because it is implemented when it is needed in an organization. Changes in an organization may lead to new challenges and opportunities. An organization will respond to the opportunities and challenges by employing an emergent strategy. Emergent strategy is also the process of being able to identify outcomes that are not in line with the planned strategy put in place and learning how to integrate the changes in the future. This strategy is not intended and cannot be planned in any way. In an organization, the strategy comes about when a series of acts which become a culture despite the precise intentions. Unlike deliberate strategies, emergent strategies enable an organization to learn how things work and what is best for the organization. Mintzberg explains that a strategy will emerge over time as objectives of t he organization are not met (Mintzberg, 1994). When planned strategies in an organization are not met, emergent strategies are used to counter the problems that may arise. Emergent strategies are used in an organization when the present assumptions in the organization are not valid and when the development taking place overtakes the planned strategy put in place. If there are valid and rapid changes in the external environment of an organization, then an emergent strategy would be implemented. For example, if the market becomes competitive, the organization will have to change its marketing strategies by implementing an emergent strategy. If the internal environment of an organization changes, planned strategies will have to be stopped and an emergent strategy be implemented (Lee, 2009). For example, in a comic book shop, the manager realizes that gaming products make more profits

A man to be admired Essay Example for Free

A man to be admired Essay Looking at the holy concept, the fact that Proctors death was part of the reason why it stopped steadily, it seems as Miller depicts him as a 17th century version of Jesus. How Christians believe he died for their sins; Proctor dies for the welfare of those accused and the stop of this fundamental accusations. He did do wrong: he committed a sin. But doesnt religion teach us about the road to redemption? Religious morals even allow sinners into heaven or paradise if in salvation. So therefore Proctor should be admired as he knows he has done wrong and which leads him to becoming a better man.. All throughout the play, there is friction between Proctor and Elizabeth, obviously due to the incident between Proctor and Abigail, but hope is at the horizon because funnily enough, the worst case scenario brings their relationship and marriage to its strongest point. Proctor attempts all that he can to regain her trust and forgiveness; even bribing her with land is attempted. Elizabeth, being supremely virtuous but with a flair of coldness, tries to forgive but the sense of Christian judgment still lays in her mind. Pride, revenge, fear, honesty, puritan ethics, and honesty are some of the themes in The Crucible, but these are the ones that apply to Proctor. Revenge had put Proctor in fear of losing his beloved wife, Elizabeth, by Abigail. Abigail had seen Elizabeth from more than an inconvenience to a threat. Proctor restricted himself from his feelings and even the subject, when spoken to her. This now showed her only vulnerability, her feelings for him, which is ultimately the reason for this havoc. Self-interest. Fear is what drove the hysteria on; the risk of facing the devil had put people in positions of self-interest and paranoia. How can a man of such caliber be down played? He had raised a family, even though he divorced his 1st wife and married Elizabeth, brought them up in religious fashion, tend his land, helped those in need, is respected by the village and does good deeds. To conclude, John Proctors integrity has such a overcoming substance, and the way Miller captures it is just admirable. He faces death, just to keep his name clean, to live or die with respect. For him to go through so many calamities and distress that the only time he feels at peace is when he dies. And he still remains as an admirable figure after hes public confession of being an adulterer. He put his own wife in front of himself, just to receive her forgiveness and trust. He have his goodness now. God forbid I take it from him! Elizabeth accepts it, the only way; his death is the answer to all their problems. His Christian morals and beliefs lead him to becoming a better man; a man with faith is a man to be admired in my opinion. He knows that even if he confesses a lie, he can not base the remainder of his life on another lie, which will then jeopardize his relationship; other innocent people will die and will evidently never forgive himself. Overall, Proctor is a: religious, emancipated, loving, family, integrity-filled and respected man, and if these are not the quality of being admirable then I do not know what is. John Proctor, a man to be admired. Discuss. By Ranja Faraj Show preview only The above preview is unformatted text This student written piece of work is one of many that can be found in our GCSE Arthur Miller section.

Monday, October 14, 2019

Evaluation of the existing operations

Evaluation of the existing operations Introduction In the initial part of this report, I critically evaluate the existing operations and identify areas of improvement in the system. While undertaking this process, I have also identified some problems in the existing operations, and have suggested some approaches to overcoming them, in line with modern approaches. I have chosen to undertake an analysis of the operations of TBS Publishers Distributors for my work. Methodology The information in this assignment is largely sourced from the primary source of information. I personally visited, observed and conducted various surveys and interviews with employees, management and customers for undertaking this assignment. Various websites, journals and online materials have been researched for undertaking this work, though primary source of information is stresses more and given more significance. I have approached this whole assignment, applying the principles and concepts of Total Quality Management (TQM), i.e., through continuous assessment and improvement of the whole operations system and looking at it holistically from customers perspective, as well as demanding the consistent participation of all the stake holders involved in the continuous improvement of Quality. The Quality Circles approach and Quality Function Deployment (QFD) has also been applied/recommended to suggest resolution of quality issues that might arise while implementing TQM. Scope and introduction to the problem TBS is one of the top selling book shops in Calicut, India. During peak seasons and the launch of bestselling titles, there is tremendous waiting time for customers, resulting in customer dissatisfaction and decreased/lost customer loyalty. After detailed analysis of the operations system (explained in the later part of this report), it was found that the high waiting time for customers was due to the inefficient forecasting of demand, which also contributed to insufficient number of employees. This could be solved by non-adoption of latest modern forecasting methods, as well as integrating all the various resources of the company by implementing an advanced Enterprise Resource Planning software solution such as SAP or Peoplesoft. About the company According to its website, TBS is a leading provider of books, music, and other educational services and products in the state of Kerala in India[1]. Kerala is located in South India, and is renowned for its high literacy rate and its advancements in modern educational institutions. TBS have become one of the top book-stores and publishers in Kerala with revenues estimated to be over INR 20 million by their unique combination of customer service, innovation, efficient operations and cost competitiveness. [2] TBS is headquartered at Calicut in northern Kerala and has branches spread across Kerala in places like Kannur, Kottayam, Trivandrum and Trichur. It also has a vast network of agents across Kerala through which it distributes its products. TBS also sells office stationery, all types of lab equipments, raw materials for labs including chemicals, surgical items and apparatuses, equipment for   small industries, computer and IT components, sports   and athletic goods.[3] 80% of TBS revenues, and 85% of its profits are estimated to be from its books business alone, and hence this piece of my operations management work focuses on the books business alone, and whenever a specific shop location has to be mentioned, the main bookstore of TBS at Calicut is taken as reference.[4] Total Quality Management (TQM) TQM helps in the delivery of highest quality standards and the subsequent increase in operational efficiency and effectiveness. Thus, TQM constitutes the following: strategy implementation, plans and operational strategies for bringing together all the relevant practical quality control methodologies (Quality Assurance, Reliability Analysis, Statistical Quality Control, Random Sampling Inspection, etc) with the entire organisational mechanisms encouraging the consistent and continuous quality improvement. TQM concentrates in the entirety of the whole system and not just in its individual parts. Failure could be caused by various factors such as culture clashes/shortfalls, teamwork related issues, leadership and management issues, HR related issues, individual motivation issues and employee commitment issues, and other psychological and social issues as well as skills shortage or inadequacies of technical manpower and equipments.[5] Under TQM, customer is the primary focus, and every aspect of improvement is to be seen from a customers perspective. A holistic approach is used from an overall organizations perspective, and the customers are the most crucial and focus point of the whole approaches, and they are treated as the vital component of the whole operations. All stake holders must work together to achieve its objectives, i.e., a holistic approach with customers as the focal point, and involving all stake holders of an organization. Thus empowerment of employees as well as their team work is very critical for this approach to succeed.[6] Customer Satisfaction Survey According to David Garvin, eight characteristics that customers are interested are the following[7]: Since Customers are the central focus of TQM, a customer satisfaction survey was conducted with a sample size of 250 customers based on a survey questionnaire, to find out what matters most to the customers. In this survey conducted to evaluate the above parameters, it was observed that Features and Performance were the main lagging indicators, and there was much scope for improvement in these areas. The following chart demonstrates the customer satisfaction index (out of a total score of 10), the blue being the present score and red showing the areas which has scope for improvement. Analysis of Operations Processes under consideration The operations of TBS was analysed using the concepts of TQM (Total Quality Management). TBS could be categorized into a mass service business, with high capital investment and high volumes, medium variety of service offerings and low level of customization for its customers. The basic business proposition of TBS is that of a service provider of quality books and other services from the publishers to the potential end customers (Figure 1). TBS business can also be classified as a service business involving both Transformation of Place and Transformation of Ownership operation. Transformation of place because this business involves a great amount of storage and transportation, and Transformation of Ownership because it involves the change of ownership from TBS to the end customer. The Value Generation Process / The role of customers in the system Applying the principles of Total Quality Management (TQM), the customers play a major role in TBS business since the business of educational services in Kerala is highly competitive, with a lot of small bookstores and a greater competition from pirated books market. There is usually no intellectual property rights or exclusivity agreements, and hence almost all leading book stores in this market offer the same product services. However, TBS has managed to have a competitive positioning in this market, by ensuring a loyal customer base. By helping end-customers buy magazines, lab equipments, CDs, books and other educational items, in a very straight-forward and effortless method, TBS generates value for its end customers. Again applying the principles of TQM, for any efficient organization to succeed in the long term, they must offer a bargain for both itself and the customer. This bargain in this case, could be explained in figure 2: The value generating model could be characterized by the five key tenets (Figure 3) as per the model of service management system[8] by Normann. Applying the principles of TQM, it can be seen that People, Systems and Processes should work in perfect harmony with each other, under a conducive culture, effective communication and excellent commitment from all stakeholders, as described in Figure below: Market Segmentation The demographics of end customers of this educational market segment transcends across occupations, genders, ages and financial conditions. The key distinguishing feature is the need of these end customers for TBS educational products. By applying the principles of TQM, in my observations, it was found that the categories of customers that shop at TBS are (figure 3): Service blue printing technique[9] By using the service blue printing technique[10] of Zeithaml Bitner (2003), the following process maps in the next few pages demonstrates the various buying flow map of TBS various customer segments. The various type of customer segments found were: Focussed Customers Topical Customers Unfocussed Customers These are explained in detail in the next few pages. Focussed Customers these were customers who knew precisely what product they would like to buy, seek advice from the customer service personals on its price and stock availability and then make the buying decision. These customers usually only bought the precise product they came looking for, and would spend very little time in the store. The frequency of purchases made by this segment of customers were found to be very high, compared to the other two segments. Topical Customers these were customers who were interested in particular topics. However, they usually are not aware of a specific title/product. They would directly go to the appropriate section of the store, look at various titles under that topic and the various offers etc, and finally make a decision on which title /product to buy. The frequency of purchases made by this segment of customers were found to be lower than Focussed Buyers, though much higher than Unfocussed customers. Unfocussed Customers These were completely random customers, who came to the store without having any plan on which title or topic to buy. They would randomly go through various sections of the store, and make impulsive purchasing decision. The frequency of purchases made by this segment of customers were found to be very low, compared to the other two segments. Service Concept Applying the principles of Total Quality Management (TQM), the service concept of TBS can be classified based on the identified customer segments into Core services and Peripheral services Core: a. Location vital for any book store. TBS in Calicut is situated very close to a busy bus terminal and a leading supermarket, thus making it a very convenient and accessible spot for customers. b. Information counter/desk it is very essential and important because it helps TBS customers make decisions on which CDs, books or other educational products they need to buy, its location in the store and its inventory status. c. Variety a vast number of different services and books are offered at each TBS store, helping customers select their based on their individual preferences. d. Customer care facility    TBS offers excellent customer care facility to serve their customers. For this, they employ: e. Ease of reading/browsing The store layout has been carefully designed in such a manner that the customers can search efficiently and effectively e.g. adventure books by author, Playstation CDs by release date etc. Peripheral: Posters, Newsletters and other communications helps to enhance TBS visibility and information services by providing helpful information to customers. Sofas TBS always encourage customers to spend more time in their stores. They have realized that, more time customers spend in the book store, the more they purchase. Sofas are provided inside the store for reading the books in comfortable areas. Internet Connectivity There is Wireless Internet (WiFi) inside the TBS stores, giving additional revenues to TBS. It also attracts a lot of new and potential customers to the stores, especially travelers and tourists who want to access the internet. Coffee shop inside the stores Customers use this additional facility as it enables them to spend more time inside the store by having some refreshment during or after shopping. This facility also attracts potential new or future customers to the store. Delivery System In line with the principles of TQM, for delivering maximum value to its customers, TBS has designed and implemented a delivery system which is sketched out in Figure 4. The main components of this system include: For catering to ever changing customer needs and demands, TBS has ensured that it maintain many distinct layers of inventory. In each store, a back-office inventory is always maintained, to ensure availability of much demanded books, whose availability is important to prevent lost sales); also local warehouses are also maintained, enabling TBS to ensure that realistically fast-selling books are available in a timeframe of a maximum of 2 days; a central warehouse is also maintained to ensure that specialized books are stored, for those books that end-customers usually have to wait up to a maximum time frame of 5 days. TBS views inventory as both an asset and an insurance/guarantee against fluctuating demand, which is common in this turbulent market. However, the large amount of inventory at any point of time in their supply chain costs a lot for TBS, including: Physical/Geographic location: This is a very important factor of its business, because TBS relies primarily on end customers who visit its stores. With more customers visiting its stores, the more probability of sales. Also, it was observed that many new customers who primarily visit the stores coffee shop become buyers of TBS other product offering. TBS has a characteristic store plan/layout system, in which titles are grouped into topic (history, economics, politics etc), category (Posters, Blue-rays, books etc) and genre (comics, film etc). TBS also has different parts for specials such as new arrivals, offers/sale etc. to help customers. In addition, facilities such as sofas, coffee shop within the store, clean premises including passenger lifts and toilets. Also, other intangible factors such as a bright   and open atmosphere, large passages, passenger lifts and meticulously designed and implemented book-organization helps make it a comfortable experience for end customers. TBS has always ensured that good relationships with their vendors, suppliers, and publishers are maintained. This ensures more author visits, timely availability, higher priority treatment for new releases, and excellent price bargains from these vendors/publishers. Critical Evaluation of TBS operating and service delivery system For measuring the true most important strengths of TBS operating and service delivery system, it has to be assess at different levels: Based on my personal observations of the TBS bookstore and the feedback obtained with the interviews and interactions about the different kinds of customers who frequent TBS, the effectiveness of the operations management system could be evaluated by the following main criteria: a. Variety:   TBS end customers demand a vast variety of products including Books, CDs and magazines, and variety inside each of these categories as well. Hence, TBS has to ensure a right mix of volume as well as variety of CDs, magazines and books. TBS does not have a demand forecasting system right now, and hence it is very difficult to make any reasonable and accurate forecasting of demand in the near future. b. Availability: The buying decision of any customer is highly dependent on the ready availability of the product. In case the product they are looking for is not available, it is possible that the customer might buy it from its competitors. This is especially critical because TBS stresses a lot on customer retention and loyalty. c. Customer service experience: The customers overall experience in the store has to be pleasant, and is a very important factor. TBS ensures the availability of different ranks of customer-care service staff, who are well versed with specialist knowledge. Each of them serve about 6-7 customers/hour, and each customer on an average spends 6-10 min at the customer-care counter. TBS provides extra facilities such as a coffee shop, sofas, very clean wash rooms, baby feeding rooms and toilets. It was observed that almost 30% of the customers visit the coffee shop on course of their shopping experience in TBS. d. In-store promotions: These include promotions such as buy 1 get 1 free, festival celebrations, discounts, celebrity visits and authors book signing events. During my observation for two hours (2-4pm on a Saturday), 25 in 92 customers opted for a book which was under the promotions section. e. Purchase quantity per customer About 35% of customers purchased a minimum of 1 Magazine/CD/book. As described in Figure 6, we could plot a matrix to identify the various type of customers based on the amount of time they spent in the store, and the number of purchases they made. TBS uses this matrix to identify the most profitable high value customers as well as the least profitable unprofitable customers. The operational efficiency of the system determines the long term success of a business such as that of TBS. This could be evaluated and measured in various ways: a. Inventory flow is crucial for a fast-moving business such as educational books. Success is not defined by the quantity of books stocked in each store. But, how fast the product is transferred from the supplier/vendor to the end-customer determines the ultimate success of the business rather than finding the total number of books stocked. b. We must remove any bottlenecks that are there in any operations system. In the case of TBS, the main bottlenecks identified are: Bottlenecks in Supplier stage It is difficult to obtain enough quantities of some best seller books (especially those around which a hype is created even before the launch) from the supplier, as they are sought after by all book sellers, thus resulting in lost sales. This is the case especially during the initial launch of books (Eg: Harry Potter books). Bottlenecks in in-store Queuing system Customers are very demanding it terms of the time they spend in a queue in a shop, due to the fast lifestyles and increasing availability of online book shops. During my observations, it was found that the average dispensation time for each end-customer was 1.5 minutes, and the average queuing time was 6-8 minutes. Bottle neck in Customer care desk Customer satisfaction is very important in a highly competitive business such as book stalls. Any lack of customer care personnel, or the quality of service offered, could result in lost sales. The number of customer care personnel in TBS was limited during peak hours, and each customer during peak hours had to wait for an average of at least 3 minutes before he/she got some kind of help/support. c. Inventory Forecasting In the books business, it is crucial to effectively forecast demand and manage an optimum level of inventory in the whole system, i.e., both in-store and in warehouses. It must be able to predict much in advance, the expected peaking of sales (for eg: Cake cooking books during Christmas season or sports magazines during the time of a major sports event). TBS does presently this by using a multi-stage inventory, and promotional free home delivery offers during such peak periods. Suppliers as well as buyers possess enormous amount of power in the educational book industry. To have a profitable business, the books selling companies sign prior long term agreements with different stakeholders: a. Contractual agreements with publishers The negotiations with publishers are centered around the following areas: b. Business factors Book stalls has to consider other factors such as employee salaries, cost of maintaining the stores, the annual rents etc. The success of TBS depends heavily on the commitment and performance of its employees, both in-store employees and warehouse employees. The following considerations are needed : A major book shop like TBS requires many types of personnel for manning the various department inside the store such as administrative, billing, marketing sales, commercial, Human Resource Management and Inventory Management etc. TBS employees work in triple shifts and at any point of time, employs 13-17 employees inside the store, and during peak hours the number of employees can go as high as 20. b.  Ã‚   Employee Training Employee training is expensive, and it costs time, effort and money for TBS. To ensure that employees are working to their maximum efficiency, they have to be trained need to be ready to handle the high standards expected of them. c.  Ã‚   Efficiency The efficiency of staff has to be monitored continuously, and this could be done by measuring various parameters such as average time per customer, average time to fetch a book, number of positive customer feedbacks, etc. The largest customer who contribute maximum to the bottom line of TBS was found to be the unfocused buyers. Hence, it is imperative that TBS tries to get more of this customer segment to visit their store, and make them spend more time in-store (time spend in the store has shown strong correlation to the purchasing decision). I would like to recommend the following changes, in line with principles and practices of TQM and Quality Function Deployment (QFD), with the primary focus on customers and continuous quality improvement respectively as their goals. 1. Establishing an Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) solution To effectively have a holistic and total approach as envisaged by TQM, I recommend establishing a companywide Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) solution such as SAP or PeopleSoft. This system will integrate all the sub systems of TBS such as Inventory Management, Inventory Forecasting, Billing, Logistics, Human Resource Management, Marketing, Customer Service, Information Management etc. For instance, under the inventory management module, if the stock(inventory) gets below a particular amount (counters set in advance), the system will automatically place the orders for additional stock from the publishers/suppliers. 2. Suppliers could also be given access to the stock levels of each store, or when the customer places a new order, for their particular products. Thus the principle of Just In Time (JIT) inventory management is also implemented. By implementing this system, the waiting time in-store could be reduced drastically resulting in better customer satisfaction. Also, information and orders can be placed/obtained at any place, or customers in remote locations could order and gift products to their friends in Calicut, by ordering online as envisaged by TQM. Delivery system demand forecasting before implementing ERP system 3. Improvement in online/web presence There are a lot of customers who visit the physical TBS store, however this has created bottlenecks in the system, especially in terms of billing counter and customer care desk. This has translated into customer dissatisfaction, and hence applying the principle of TQM, I recommend establishing a full-fledged, easy to use website, where customers can view the books, preview its pages, and make an order using debit or credit card, and have the book delivered at home. The delivery and payment mechanism could also be made flexible, such as reserve and pick-in-store, cash-on-delivery etc. Thus the principle of Total Quality Management is applied effectively and efficiently. 4. Loyalty Programs On top of the in-store customer experience and promotions, TBS should also offer loyalty programs (eg: Reward/Discount cards) to reward and promote repeat/high value customers. 5. Starting a DVD/CD/Blueray rentals section instore. The number of customers switching from Books to CDs and DVDs are increasing. Since, we are renting them, customers would come back to return them possibly resulting in future sales. It must be linked both to the online presence of TBS as well as to the ERP solution to be implemented. Thus, customer satisfaction could be improved because they can get all necessary related products from the same roof. Thus, the prime objective of TQM can be successfully satisfied by meeting the demands of customers and making them satisfied. 6. Increase the number of customer-care service personnel Non availability of personnel or high waiting time for customers in the customer care results in immense customer dissatisfaction, and lost customer loyalty. These have a long term effect on TBS brand and customer perception. Thus, this will ensure that Quality Function Deployment (QFD) objectives are also met, and could save TBS considerable amount of money that would have been lost due to bad quality. Simple changes such as installing a ringing buzzer in the counter could potentially resolve these issues. 7. Modern Billing Self-Desks These days, customers are becoming increasingly sophisticated and comfortable with modern technology. They can without difficulty self use a Radio Frequency ID (RFID) billing self-desk by their own. Thus, savings on Human Resources as well as decrease in waiting time for customers can be obtained. 8. Well qualified and personable support personnel Staff must be well aware of the locations of various titles, and should be passionate about the products they are dealing with. They must be extremely patient, and hospitable. Staff must be always be well dressed and hygienic, and if they are not, it could result in a bad customer experience. By applying the concepts of Total Quality Management (TQM) and Quality Function Deployment (QFD), we can provide immense value to customers, and drastically improve their satisfaction levels, at the same time providing value to us as well. I recommend, primarily the implementation of an ERP (Enterprise Resource Planning) solution that will holistically and totally look at and improvise all the different components of the service delivery system. Customers are the key focus, and priority is given for Do-it-right-the first-time approach, rather than rectifying after a problem arises. Thus by implementing the suggested recommendations, the operational profitability of the firm should increase. [1] http://tbsbook.com/About.php (accessed: 22/01/2010) [2] http://tbsbook.com/About.php (accessed: 22/01/2010) [3] http://tbsbook.com/About.php (accessed: 22/01/2010) [4] Estimates, based on Personal Interviews with Management of TBS [5] RDI Online Course Materials for Operations Management [6] RDI Online Course Materials for Operations Management [7] Garvin, David Competing on the Eight Dimensions of Quality, Harvard Business Review, December 1987 [8] Richard Normann (1991), Service management: strategy and leadership in service business, Wiley (1991) [9] Zeithaml, Valarie A. and Mary Jo Bitner (2003), Services Marketing, International edition New York: McGraw Hill, third edition [10] Zeithaml, Valarie A. and Mary Jo Bitner (2003), Services Marketing, International edition New York: McGraw Hill, third edition

Saturday, October 12, 2019

The Power of a Front-Yard Garden Essay -- Exploratory Essays Research

The Power of a Front-Yard Garden Instructor’s comment: This student worked hard to forge a straightforward journalistic style that was supple enough to accommodate moments of poetic perception. This essay is a beautiful piece. Written with hard-won simplicity, it’s alive with images, and brimming with information about the possibilities of front-yard gardening. They were out there almost every day. Not always the same ones. Once, a line of preschoolers came by. Holding hands in twos, name tags swinging from bright bits of yarn, they stopped and turned with military precision. Wide-eyed, they peered through the bars of the wrought iron fence to watch. This time, I looked up to see a mom and two little girls. I was pruning the lavender. â€Å"Hi! What’s this spiky green stuff? Look, little blue flowers!† As I broke off a prickly, pungent sprig of rosemary and held it out to them, I had to smile. I’d made a lot of friends while working this bit of ground. I was about to make three more. My front-yard garden didn’t grow friendships in the beginning. I still hear the disbelieving voices of my neighbors, on the day I marched out to do murder with a pitchfork and shovel. â€Å"You’re going to do what? Take out the lawn!† The Lawn: icon of gracious living, verdant goddess of suburban virtue. Gardeners pay weekly homage to it. Teen-age sons are indentured to it. Nothing spells success quite so well as that unwalkable surface of emerald velvet fronting a house. The lawn marks the difference between Us and Them. What would happen to a nice neighborhood if someone just up and decided to rip out the front lawn? Questions hung in the pale winter sunshine. My neighbors eyed me, wincing each time a shovel full ... ... Some came to ask for cuttings. They made their own changes. A lavender border edged a drive. A waterfall of prostrate rosemary cascaded from a planter box. Ideas blossomed from such small changes. Xeriscaping was becoming popular. Three more people actually removed their turf. In one drought-tolerant planting, a dry creek of river-rock wound its way through native perennials. Another front garden featured an old-fashioned wood glider-swing under a vine-covered trellis. My own garden continued to flourish. The neighbors came often. Smiles had replaced their worried frowns. Bob tumbled the walls of Jericho one morning when he brought his granddaughter to see the hummingbirds. Tiny Sarah said her first word there. â€Å"Kitty,† she pronounced. She stroked a furry leaf of peppermint geranium and nodded, brown curls bobbing. Laughing, she repeated, â€Å"Kitty.†

Friday, October 11, 2019

Human Impacts on the Ecosystem Essay

The three cycling matters of the ecosystem and the key elements are Carbon, Phosphorus, and Nitrogen. Humans have impacted each and every-one of these cycles in different ways throughout time and keep increasing as time goes on. All living things are made of carbon. Carbon is also in the air, water and rocks. The humans have impacted the Carbon Cycle by releasing a large amount of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere. This is caused by the burning of oil, natural gases and coal. All these release carbon dioxide and other types of water molecules into the air. Phosphorus is a chemical compound found in many different forms like, soil, water and sediments. This is also a nutrient that animals and plants need to be able to grow and produce faster. When it comes to phosphorus, these types of fertilizers are then used to grow crops, feed their animals and many more. As time has passed humans have increased the amount of phosphorus which has been reaching the ocean. This has caused water pollution problems that have caused fishes to die, the overgrowth of algae and so much bacteria. When we take a deep breathe most of the air that we inhale is nitrogen. Most plants need nitrogen to survive. We normally get our nitrogen from soil. Many agricultural crops like; peas, beans, alfalfa, etc. grab a lot of nitrogen from the air that can cause fixation on land. There’s other agricultural crops that use mostly fertilizers instead of nitrogen like; corn, wheat, potatoes, cotton, etc. Humans have impacted and altered the amount of nitrogen from making fertilizers and burning fossil fuels and keep increasing as time goes on. These activities have increased the amount of nitrogen between the living world and the soil, water and atmosphere.

How the Watergate Scandal Changed Journalism Essay

Journalism has been an essential factor in making communication and information-sharing easy among people. It has been serving the purpose of delivering facts about anything of interest to the public. It is also the effective means used by the government in delivering essential news, policies, programs, and concerns, among others to the general public. Consequently, it has bridged the gap between the government and the public. Through journalism, information about things and events has been delivered to other people despite physical and physiological hindrances. Furthermore, it increases the awareness and versatility of the public with regard to public issues. In the early history of journalism, journalists are governed by law and are controlled by the government. Likewise, the contents of the materials are screened before it is released in the public. In addition, journalist is tasked to deliver only facts. However, through time, the extent of the influence of journalism has become encompassing. The role of journalist in the society has also increased overtime. Remarkably, in the popularly known Watergate Scandal, a new concept of journalism emerged. A new responsibility has been formed by the brevity of the news reporters of the Washington Post. From merely presenting facts, a journalist has gone to the extent of delivering their own opinion on a particular issue. Above all, journalism has become a critic of public figures. In the Watergate Scandal, journalism has been the influential means that moved the most powerful person to resign. Journalism was not merely focused on delivering news but has also adopted an investigative method of reporting. More importantly, journalism has eventually become a watchdog of any illegalities performed by the government officials. Hence, Watergate Scandal has remarkably become seminal in the development of journalism. History of Journalism The emergence of journalism can be traced back in the 1st century B. C. in ancient Rome through the Acta Diurna or Daily Events (Castro, n. p.). During that time, Julius Cesar ordered the posting of a handwritten news bulletins in the public spaces (Castro, n. p.). In the 750 A.D., China initiated the distribution of news bulletin (Castro, n. p.). Eventually, in the mid 15th century, the distribution of news and dissemination of information was made easier through the creation of movable metal type printer. Thus, it can be observed that in the early days, journalism was merely used by the government to disseminate information to the public. As part of the development in journalism, the purpose, extent, content, and forms of journalism has changed. Newsletters and books were introduced in some other parts of the world. On one hand, opinions of several writers were now incorporated in journalism. Journalism was found as possible means of influencing others by laying down opinions on particular issues in print. Politicians, on the other hand, discovered the enormous potential of journalism in reaching their voters and in sharing their insights and platforms. It can be observed that the development in journalism in the early days was rapid. Through the extent and influence of journalism in creating public policy and in widening public opinions, the threat was perceived. Besides, several laws possibly limiting the use of journalism have been enacted. One of the laws is libel. This was due to the danger and injury that may be created by irresponsible use of journalism. Remarkably, in America, the producer of the first newspaper, Publick Occurrences Both Forreign and Domestick, imprisoned and the publication was suppressed (Castro, n. p.). Several other publications were deterred from being published and many other journalist, news reporters, editors, and publishers were imprisoned. During those days, the struggle for press freedom was prevalent. The Watergate Scandal In the early days, politicians are being criticized and are associated with many scandals. The president, most especially, is very openly attacked by the media and the press because of the position and the public trust involved. In the American setting, the unforgettable attack by journalism on the president is the Watergate Scandal because it is the very first time in history that a president resigned from his powerful office. The Watergate issue is primarily a political scandal, which challenged the Constitution. The Watergate scandal pertains to the breaking-in of President Nixon’s men at the offices of the Democratic National Committee and the psychiatrist of Daniel Ellsberg (Berman 1329). The breaking-in was made in accordance with the order of President Nixon and his aide in order to search materials in the possession of party chairman Lawrence O’Brein (Berman 1329). Unfortunately, the men making the searches were arrested by the Washington Police Department (Berman 1329). The arrest of Nixon’s men, however, did not lead to his conviction. Further investigations led to the discovery of the illegal activities in the Oval office where President Nixon and his aides meet. The conversations were recorded. The president and his aide also tried to cover up the Watergate mess by coordinating with CIA and FBI. Further investigation showed that money laundering was involved in funding the Watergate scandal. In order for these activities to remain undiscovered, the president and his aide paid the people having involvement for their silence. However, a particular Deep Throat met with the young reporters, Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein, of Washington Post and spilled the beans about the illegal activities of the President (Kobrak 71). The courageous revelation by the young reporters about the Watergate Scandal has shocked the nation and the journalism world. The exposure also of the scandal has led to the vigilant investigation of the judiciary and the Congress that eventually led to the resignation of the president. Meanwhile, it was called Watergate Scandal to pertain to the place where the break-in was made and where everything originated. The Importance of the Source In journalism, the source is an important factor in presenting credible news. Notably, journalists do not always have the necessary information on particular things, events, or people. But through sources, journalist can have unlimited access to an interesting issue, person, thing, or event, and others. In the Watergate Scandal, the young reporters, Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein, would have not known about the irregular activities of the President’s men if not for the effort of a person known only as Deep Throat. Historically, the identity of Deep Throat was never revealed even after the resignation of the President Nixon. Meanwhile, in May 31, 2005, former FBI Deputy Director Mark Felt finally came out of the open and to reveal that he was the controversial â€Å"Deep Throat† (Streissguth 52). In the practice of journalism, the credibility of the source should be established. It is noteworthy that the quality of the reporting and the reports is the controlling aspect that invites people’s attention and the veracity of the news or information delivered. In addition, the readers look into the quality through the veracity of the facts and the truth presented. Remarkably, in the Watergate scandal, the source of Woodward and Bernstein hid his identity under an alias. Despite the pressure that Woodward and Bernstein received from different sectors, they never revealed their source as a means of protecting their source. In addition, there were strong denials and threats from the administration but the public believed the news journalist rather than the president and his men. Interestingly, the anonymous identity of the source was not a factor that hindered the revelation of the truth about the burglary and wire tapping activities of the President’s men. Instead, the information provided stirred the people’s anger against the administration that eventually led to the resignation of the President and the imprisonment of the President’s men. Hence, it can be observed that the identity of the source during those times was not a serious matter and did not affect the reliability and veracity of the news.

Thursday, October 10, 2019

Internshp on Performance Evaluation of Exim Bank Ltd

Internship REPORT ON EXPORT IMPORT BANK LIMITED TOPIC: Performance Evaluation of EXIM Bank Ltd. Special Focus on Foreign Exchange Division Department of Business Administration Submitted by www. AssignmentPoint. com Date of Submission: 17th May2012 LETTER OF TRANSMITTAL 17th May2012 To Lecturer Department of Business Administration Subject: Submission of the BBA Internship Report. Dear Madam, It is a great Pleasure for me that I have the opportunity to submit the Internship Report on performance evaluation of Export Import Bank of Bangladesh Limited special focus on foreign exchange division.The internship program gave me an opportunity to have an exposure to the working environment and on the job experience. I have acquired a good understanding on distribution channel of this multinational. I have tried my level best to put meticulous effort for the preparation of this report. Any shortcomings or fault may arise as my unintentional mistakes' I will wholeheartedly welcome any clarifi cation and suggestion about any view and conception disseminated through this report. Sincerely yours www. AssignmentPoint. com †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦. SUPERVISOR’S CERTIFICATIONThis is to certify that student of department of BBA and major in Finance, has completed the Internship Report titled â€Å"Performance Evaluation of EXIM Bank Ltd. Special Focus on Foreign Exchange Division† successfully under my supervision. I wish her every success in life. Supervisor †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦ Lecturer Department of Business Administration Acknowledgement Allah is Almighty to mock internship report of my port of study of BBA Program. The accomplishment and completion of this report would not have been viable without the contribution of some people who took the time and effort to guide me in my report work.I deeply appreciate and value their suggestions and recommendations through the entire course of my report work. I would like to extend my heartiest thanks and my sincerest gratitude to all those who directly/ indirectly contribute to the compilation of report. I am especially grateful to my teacher, my internship supervisor. I could not prepare my Internship Report without her proper guidance and inspiration. Last but not least, I would like to give my thanks to all the members of EXIM Bank Ltd. , Panthapath Branch because working with them was such a wonderful experience in my life that I will never forget.TABLE OF CONTENTS Particular Page No |Executive Summary |VIII | | | | |CHAPTER-1 Introduction |1 | |1. 1 |Origin of the Report: |2 | |1. 2 |Objective of the Report: |2 | |1. |General objective of the Report: |2 | |1. 4 |Specific objective of the Report: |3 | |1. 5 |Scope of the Report: |3 | |1. 6 |Limitations of the Report: |4 | |1. 7 |Methodology of the Study: |4 | |1. |Sources of Information: |5 | | | | | |CHAPTER-2 Economic Conditions In Bangladesh |6 | | | | |CHAPTER - 3 Industry Analysis | | | | |CHAPTER-4 Company Analysis |12 | |4. 1 |Historical Background Of The Exim Bank |13 | |4. 2 |Vision |13 | |4. 3 |Mission |13 | |4. 4 |Objective |14 | |4. |Strategy |15 | | | | | |CHAPTER-5 The General Banking Division |16 | | | | |CHAPTER-6 Loans And Advances Department |24 | | | |25 | | | |29 | | | | | |CHAPTER-7 Foreign Exchange Department |39 | | | | |CHAPTER-8 Competitive position of Export Import Bank of Bangladesh limited with Premier Bank limited |45 | | | | |CHAPTER-9 SWOT & Financial Analysis |51 | | Swot Analysis | | |Ratio Analysis | | |CHAPTER-10 Recommendation & Conclusion |70 | |10. 1 |Findings |71 | |10. 2 |Recommendation |72 | |10. 3 |Conclusion |73 | | | | | Appendix |74 | |Bibliography |78 | Executive Summary Bank is a service oriented business organization. The prime goal of this organization is earning profit as another business organization. Customer service is core product of the bank. According to Bank Company Act 199 1 clause 5(3) Banker means that person or institute of accepting for the purpose of lending or investment of Deposit of money from public, repayable on demand.To know your customer is the main slogan in new modern Banking System providing customer services. EXIM Bank Limited has earned a good reputation around Bangladesh. Despite competition among banks operating in Bangladesh both local and international, EXIM Bank has made remarkable progress, practically in every sphere of its activities. Export Import Bank of Bangladesh Limited is a third generation private commercial bank in the country with commendable operating performance. This study is mainly based on performance evaluation of EXIM Bank Ltd. Special focus on foreign exchange division. In order to make foreign the report more meaningful and presentable, use both the primary and secondary sources of collection information. EXIM Bank Ltd. as already established a favorable reputation in the banking industry of the country. At is one of the leading private sector commercial banks in Bangladesh. The bank has already shown a tremendous growth in the profits and deposits sectors. To get competitive advantage and to deliver quality service management can establish training institute and credit car should be introduced. The over all performance of the bank is very good according to its competitive position. Within a near future EXIM bank will be a market leader among the banks. 1. Introduction: 1. 1 Origin of the Report: In today's world only academic education does make a student perfect to become competitive with the corporate & Global business world.By doing an internship program, a student can get the opportunity to learn facing about real business world. Internship is highly needed to gain idea knowledge and experience. I am a BBA graduate from Private University in Bangladesh. It has designed its curriculum of the BBA Program such a way that the international standard graduates will be produced. After co mpleting my 139 Credit hours I Need to go for further professional experience through Internship program in a Business organization EXIM Bank Ltd. is a place where I have learned the business dealings. This organization has created a positive image to the customer's mind by providing better service specifically I am telling about the Panthapath Branch.This branch has introduced an exclusive modern banking system that has got high market sharing and rating in the prominent business & banking avenue in Panthapath Bank way. As an BBA Internee Office I have tried to maintain the pace with the competitive business environment on official Activities Culture Philosophy Norms & Styles. It should be reflect the best at any field of my Professional life; The Vice President & Manger is my overall Guide Philosopher & Superior. By receiving his all sorts of cordial support I have been availed the opportunity to work with this branch for three months from 10th January 2010 to 9th March 2010. I ac quired idea about real business and corporate world. 1. 2 Objective of the Report: Prime objects to a large-scale study on Banking System. 1. 3 General objective of the Report:The report specification based on the overall banking performance evaluation and special focus on foreign exchange division of EXIM Bank Ltd. 1. 4 Specific objective of the Report: ? To apply theoretical knowledge in the practical field. ? To make a bridge between the theories and practical procedures of banking day-to-day operations. ? To know the different modes of scheme, in EXIM Bank. ? Trend analyses of the different scheme. ? To know the financial activity of bank. ? An overview on the major financial activity and practices of EXIM Bank ? To identify the strategies for EXIM Bank Limited, implementing in constant prosperity of the company ? Analyzing the performance trends of EXIM Bank. To give some idea about its management and organization structure ? To present and overview of EXIM Bank Ltd. ? Compare the different mode of scheme of Exim Bank with other similar bank. 1. 5 Scope of the Report: First the report presents about the current economic condition of Bangladesh and the present condition of the banking sector of our country and next it gives some ideas about EXIM Bank Ltd. Then it analyzes the performance of the bank based on financial analysis and SWOT analysis. After that, it emphasizes or foreign exchange division. By reading this report one can easily have some ideas about the performance and foreign exchange division of EXIM Bank Ltd. 1. 6 Limitations of the Report:Although there were sincere co-operation from employees of EX1M Bank Limited, Panthapath Branch, they could not manage enough time to provide the necessary information for the completion of the report. During the preparation of the report the following problems occurred that may be termed as the limitation or shortcomings of the study. Some of the limitations faced in preparing this report are: ? Confidentia lity the Bank's policy restricts disclosing some data ? Data about the performance of the bank of the year 2008 have not yet been disclosed by the bank. ? The study of such a short course of time is not free from limitation. ? The data relevant for the analysis report writing sometimes could not be collected due to excessive year-ending workload at the branch. It is too much difficult to comment and suggest based on only the annual report and information collected from written documents. ? As some assumptions were made with the help of limited information, there may be some personal mistake in the report ? It was very difficult to collect the information from various incumbents for the job restriction. 1. 7 Methodology of the Study: Although there were so many limitations, it was tried to use both the primary and secondary sources of collecting information to make the report presentable with as less abstraction as possible. 1. 8 Sources of Information: Two sources (i) Primary & (ii) Secondary A.Primary data: Primary data is always known as survey data. This type of data is collected from the respondent. For this personal Interview with the offices and customers have been conducted. B. Secondary Data: Data that were published before for some other reason can be collected using internal and external sources. i) Internal secondary data: To furnish the report properly some papers has been collected from the officials of EXIM Bank Ltd. Information from annual reports journals, newspapers and other published documents have been used besides other published information about the organization, depth interview of the branch manager and second branch manager have also taken. i) External Secondary data: For better interpretation some data has been collected from Bangladesh Bank. Internet Browsing is also one source of external Secondary data. 2. ECONOMIC CONDITIONS IN BANGLADESH Bangladesh has an agrarian economy with 32% of GDP coming from the Agriculture Sector. Major agricultural products are rice, jute, wheat, potato, pulses, tobacco, tea and sugarcane. . The country is the largest exporter of jute and jute goods in the world. Readymade garments are among the most exportable items. Tea, frozen shrimp, fish, leather goods and handicrafts are also major exportable commodities. The country has under gone a major shift in its economic philosophy and management in recent years.At Bangladesh's birth, the country embraced socialism as the economic ideology with a dominant role for the public sector. But, since the mid-seventies, it undertook a major restructuring towards establishing a market economy with emphasis on private sector-led economic growth. During the nineties, the country has completed a major stabilization program which has reduced inflation as well as fiscal and current account deficits and established a healthy foreign exchange reserve position with low and sustainable debt-service liabilities. With modest economic growth, the basic in dicators related to health, education and poverty have all shown sustained improvement.According to a World Bank estimate, Bangladesh has the 36th largest economy in the world in terms of GNP based on the purchasing power parity method of valuation, and the 55th largest in terms of nominal GNP in U. S. Dollars. Bangladesh economy grew on an average at above 6. 0 percent in the last four years up to FY07 . According to the provisional estimates of the Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics (BBS),real GDP recorded a strong growth of 6. 5 percent in FY07,which is marginally lower than 6. 6percent recorded in FY06 . This growth was commendable as it was achieved in challenging environment marked by high and volatile oil price ,phasing out of the MFA quota, labour unrest in the garment industry and confrontational political situation of the country in the first half of FY07. With reasonable support from agriculture sector, the 6. percent real GDP growth was underpinned mainly by industry sector and services sector. The expansion was broad based, registering positive growth by all sectors and sub-sectors of the economy. Spurred by a robust 9. 5 percent growth in industry sector and 6. 7 percent growth in services sector, GDP growth during the year was also aided by 3. 2 percent growth in the agriculture sector. The domestic savings-investment gap was met with net factor income from abroad which increased by 37. 0 percent in FY07 from 4. 4 percent in FY06 reflecting higher savings growth. The domestic savings investment gap was met with net factor income from abroad which increased by 37. 0 percent in FY07.The rising trend of inflation of FY06 as measured by CPI continued in FY07 mainly due to higher prices of oil and some other imported goods in the international market, distortion in the supply side factors and demand pressure generated from excess money supply . Slower import of consumer necessities pulling their domestic prices heightened the price pressures. Annual ave rage CPI (base FY96) inflation as of end June 2007was 7. 20 percent, compared to 7. 16 percent as of end June 2006. There was notable increase of food prices component of CPI inflation from 7. 8 percent as of end June 2006 to 8. 1 percent as of end June 2007. Maintaining a favorable investment environment and a sound macroeconomic management are important to strengthen private sector investment in the economy.In view of medium term outlook of sustainable economic growth and low inflation for world and south Asian economies and assuming continuation of prudent policies and progress in advancing structural reforms, the near and medium term economic prospects of Bangladesh appear favorable. 3. INDUSTRY ANALYSIS Bank plays an important role in this modern world. The development of industries and business sectors of a country mainly depends on good banking system. The industries and businessman are taking short and long term loan from banks. In the modern world international businesses a re fully depended on banks. Without sound banking system no country can develop in international trade. Bank constitutes an important segment of the financial infrastructure of any country. The economic history of many countries reveals that economic development and growth of financial infrastructure go hand in hand.Financial system of a country is the heart of a country’s economic system as it connects suppliers of the funds and demanders of fund, which is needed to produce economic goods. It also provides a large arena of employment opportunity. As Bangladesh is containing a bank base economy, its economic development is largely depended on the development of banking sectors. Bangladesh appeared as a new nation on the world map in the year 1971. After independence financial institutions, especially banks played a vital role in re-constructing the war-torn economy of Bangladesh. Bangladesh Bank is the central bank of the country and is in charge of monetary policies of the G overnment and controls all commercial banks. Development and growth of our banking system may be divided into three parts. The performance of our banking system during 1972 to 1982 was commendable in respect of expending network and providing easy credit to the socially desirable sectors but equally frustrating with regard to maintaining validity and customer services. The second phase from 1983 to 1989 was characterized by denationalization and privatization of banking system without broad-basing the prudential and information regulatory framework; however, these measures of denationalization and privatization could not bring the viability and operational efficiency of banking system.Under the above circumstances and with the recommendation of World Bank, a Financial Sector Reform Project (FSRP) was undertaken in 1989 by the government, which can be identified with third phase of the development of our banking system. The government of Bangladesh has also enacted some important act s namely financial institutions act 1993, Securities and Exchange Commission act 1993, the companies’ act 1994 and recently Bankruptcy act 1997. The present day banking structure has evolved over several decodes. The far-reaching program of economic reform is being carried out at present towards efficient utilization of scare resources and the development of private entrepreneurship. Banks are financial service firms, producing and selling professional management of the public's fund as well as performing many other roles in the economy.Banks are those financial institutions that offer the widest rang of financial functions of any business firm in the economy. Competition is strengthened by the entry of new and innovative provides of financial services, through the development of Money market and Capital market. Money market is designed for the making of short-term loans where individuals and institutions with temporary surplus of funds meet borrowers who have temporary cash shortages. Capital market is deigned to finance long-term loans where individuals and institutions with temporary surplus of finds meet borrowers who have temporary cash shortages. Capital market is designed to finance long-term investments.Private sector commercial banks are private companies operate under the legislative framework, which covers both Company Act, and Banking Company Act, under the ongoing financial liberalization, EXIM Bank emerges as a new Bank in private sector to operate at the Banking arena of Bangladesh It is committed to provide high quality financial services/ products to contribute to the growth of GDP of the country through stimulating trade and commerce, accelerating the pace of industrialization, boosting up export, creating employment opportunity for the educated youth , poverty alleviation, raising standard of living of limited income group and overall sustainable socio-economic development of the country. 4. COMPANY ANALYSIS 4. 1 HISTORICAL BACKGROUND OF THE EXIM BANK EXIM Bank- Export Import Bank of Bangladesh Ltd. was named at first as BEXIM Bank BEXIM stands for Bengal Export Import of Bangladesh. This new commercial Bank was opened in August 03, 1999 with some new innovative visions in customer services.The Bank received the certificate of incorporate no. C-37864 (2164)/99 under the commencement of the business on the same day by the section 150(2) under companies Act. A part from the head office in Dilkusha C/A, it stared its first local branch in Motijheel C/A simultaneously in order to provide all kinds of Banking support to the clients. On December 02, 1999 the second branches both in Dhaka City and other cities. Now it has twenty-five branches in the country. 4. 2 VISION The gist of EXIM bank vision is ‘Together Towards Tomorrow'. Export Import Bank of Bangladesh Limbed believes in togetherness with its customers, in its march or the road to growth and progress with services.To achieve the desired goal, there will be pursuit of excellence at all stages with a climate of continuous improvement, because, in EXIM Bank, they believe, the line of excellence is never ending. Bank's strategic plans and networking will strengthen its competitive edge over others in rapidly changing competitive environments. Their personalized qualities services to the customers with the trend of constant improvement will be cornerstone achieve their operational success. 4. 3 MISSION The bank has checked out the following corporate objectives in order to ensure smooth achievement of its goals- ? To be the most caring and customer friendly and service oriented bank. ? To create a technology base most efficient banking environment for its customers ? To ensure ethics and transparency in ail levels To ensure sustainable growth and establish full value of the honorable shareholders and ? Above all, to add effective contribution to the national economy Eventually the bank also emphasize on: ? Provide high quality financia l services in export and import trade ? Providing efficient customer service ? Maintaining corporate and business ethics ? Being trusted repository of customers’ money and their financial adviser ? Making its products superior and rewarding to the customers ? Display team spirit and professionalism ? Sound Capital Base ? Enhancement of shareholders wealth ? Fulfilling its social commitments by expanding its charitable and humanitarian activities 4. Objective Bangladesh is now integral part of global market. As such there is an urgent requirement for Bangladesh to place the traditional banking pretties in harness with the global trades of a free market economy by following international banking customs, practices and standards. Today clients of a bank in Bangladesh are exposed as well as international markets. They have to stay update with their practice and standards to meet the demands of achieving harmony in the high standards of a free economy. EXIM Bank fully appreciates the importance and implication of the rapidly emerging competition in the banking and finance sector of Bangladesh.It intends financing its customer suited to his or her place in the market. In this regards EXIM Bank emphasizes in its employment the software aspects of human resource capability. It also emphasizes competence among its banking professional to cater to vary customer requirements to the modern time. The objectives of EXIM BANK is not only to earn profit but also to keep the social commitment and to ensure its co-operation to the person of alt level, to the businessman, industrialist specially who are engaged in establishing large-scale industry by consortium and the agro-based export oriented medium and small scale industries by self inspiration.EXIM BANK is always ready to maintain highest quality of services by upgrading banking technology prudence in management and by applying high standard of business ethic through its established commitment and heritage. EXIM BANK is committed to ensure its contribution to national economy by increasing its profitability through professional and disciplined growth strategy for its customer and by creating corporate culture in international banking area. 4. 5 Strategy In order to reach the goal it is important to build strategy and follow the policies. If it can select the appropriate strategy and choose the right policy, it will be very easy to touch its desired position.The distinguishing attribute of policy is to set the over all boundaries for activities. According to this system when the bank was started it has to decide what kind of business it is going to be in. The Bank also has to decide on its growth and communicate through am system of major objective of the business is to reach the goal, to reach the desired position from the current status. There might be a number of ways to reach there and its has to be decided which path would be easier to reach the objective. So the authority has no decided wh ich path they select to proceed. The following figure can be explained clearly. Slogan of the EXIM Bank: â€Å"Local Bank Global Network†The world EXIM implies the meaning of its operation. Through it is a new type of Bank in Bangladesh; it is familiar with so many countries in the world such as Export Import Bank of the United States, Export Import Bank of Japan. Despite it is a local Bank, It has spread of its operation in the whole world through foreign Banking. To achieve the desired goal, it has intention to pursuit f excellence at stages with a climate of continuous improvement. Because it believes, the line of excellence is never ending. It also believes that its strategic plans and business networking will strength its competitive edge over in rapidly changing competitive environment.It motto I to provide quality service to the customers all over the world so, the slogan of the Bank â€Å"Local Bank Global Network† is completely adjustable with its operation. T HE GENERAL BANKING DIVISION Internship has provided the opportunity to coordinate the theoretical knowledge that one has gathered in MBA Class with the practical field. Although three months is not a very long period to learn the whole thing that usually occurs in an organization. The supervisor divided this report into three parts. 1) The general banking department 2) The Investment department 3) The foreign Exchange department. Learning experience from General Banking Division:The main business of this Division is dealing with Deposit. There are two types of Deposit in this Branch and General Banking division as the following section: 1. Deposit section 2. Account Section 3. Remittance section 4. Clearing section 5. Customer Service section 6. Cash section and 7. Information Technology section Task I Handled in this Division is 1. Opening Accounts 2. Opening Monthly saving scheme, 3. Modaraba Term Deposit Account Current 4. Deposit foreign current Deposit Account 5. Modarada short notice Deposit (STD). 6. Fixed Deposit, Steady Money. 7. Demand Draft (D. D) 8. Telegraphic Transfer (T. T) 9. Payment Order (P/O) 10. Travelers Check (T. C) 1. Issuing Check. Pay Order (PO): Pay order is one kind of unconditional promissory note or instrument that is issued by the Bank to the customer. The difference between check and pay order is the mode of encasement. Demand Draft: Demand Drafts are made for the transfer of money from one place to another in the form of cheques through a particular Bank, which can be ensued right way. The Bank issues DD for their outer district branches. Telegraph/ Telephone Transfer: When a certain amount of money is asked by the client to transfer from one branch to another than it is called telegraph/ telephone transfer. For TT, there is a particular from.When the form is filled up properly and deposits the amount by the applicant, the authorized officer issued a cost memo to the application for their confirmation. lssuing cheques Books: Che ckbook issue is a very sensitive because most of the fraud occurs through this checkbook. Customer requiring check books to fill out requisition ship. For saving accounts 10 pages check book issued and CD/SOD/ CC accounts issued 25 and 50 pages checkbook. Cash Section: In clearing section the work is to clear the cheques, DD's and PO's through Bangladesh Bank that are submitted for cash collection. Everyday morning House another in the evening called return house.In the hose all the Banks representative sit together and exchanges their money receive instrument of their particular bank to clear the paper and transfer to money the paper partlcular accounts. Type of Clearing: There is two type of clearing 1) In-Ward 2) Out –Ward In- ward: Those Cheques or instrument of EXIM, which are submitted to other banks for collections are called In – Ward Clearing. Out- Ward: The cheques of other banks that are submitted to the EXIM for collections are called out-ward Clearing. Cas h Section: Cash is the main element of all financial activities. The cash section of any branch plays very significant role. It's very sensitive place of the branch, because it deals with most liquid assets. The EXIM Bank Mirpur Branch has an equipped cash section.This section receives cash from depositors/Client and pays cash against cheques draft, payment order and pay to slip over the counter This section deals with all type as of negotiable instruments and in includes volt. Used as the store of cash instrument, the main functions of the sections are cash receipt and cash disbursement. Accounts Opening Section: This section deals with opening of different types of accounts. It is also deals with issuing of books and different deposit boos to the different accounts opener. A customer can open different types of accounts through this department such as: l. Current Account 2. Saving Account 3. Fixed deposit account (FDR) 4.Short term Deposit (STD) 5. Monthly saving Scheme (Money Gro ver) 6. Monthly income scheme (Steady money) 7. Smart saver Scheme 8. Multi plus saving Account 9. Super saving scheme 10. Education saving scheme EXIM Bank gives special importance various deposit schemes are: l. Monthly saving Scheme (money Grower) 2. Monthly income scheme (Steady Money) 3. Multi plus savings A/C 4 Super saving scheme 5. Double benefit Scheme 6. Smart saver Scheme 7. And Education saving Scheme Types of Accounts with Terms and Conditions Current (CD) Account: Current account is purely a demand deposit account. There is no restriction on withdrawing money from the account.It is basically justified when funds are to be collected and money is to be paid at frequent interval. Some Important Points are as follows- †¢ Minimum opening deposit of TK. 1000/- is required; †¢ There is no withdrawal limit. †¢ No interest is given upon the deposited money; †¢ Minimum Tk. 1000/= balance must always maintain all the time. Savings (SB) Account: The bank provid es savings account services for the ease of its clients. It offers both personal and corporate Savings Account to its clients in every branch. Hence, there is a restriction on withdrawals in a month. Heavy withdrawals are permitted only against prior notice. Some Important Points are as follows- Minimum opening deposit of Tk. 5000/= is required; †¢ Minimum Tk. 1000/= balance must always maintain all the time; †¢ Withdrawal amount should not be more than 1/4th of the total balance at a time and limit twice in a month. †¢ If withdrawal amount exceed 1/4th of the total balance at a time no interest is given upon the deposited money for that month. †¢ The current rate on deposit amount is 6%. †¢ Closing of saving accounts will cost 300tk to a customer. Short Term Deposit (STD) Account: Normally various big companies, organizations, Government Departments keep money in STD account. Frequent withdrawal is discouraged and requires prior notice.The deposit should be kept for at least seven days to get interest. The interest offered for STD is less than that of savings deposit. Interest is calculated based on daily minimum product and paid two times in a year. Interest rate is 4. 50%. Call Deposits (Money at Call): Sometime the banker secures funds from the money markets usually from other bankers against receipt to meet his purely tepmorary shortage of funds. These debts are repayable immediately at call. When the money market is tight such derosits attract higher rate of interst and then to be treated as banker’s borrowings as call loans. Account opening: To dill with the bank individuals need to have an account first.The particulars are essential for identification of the account holders individually so that the banker can discharge his obligations to every one correctly and to the extent due. Documents required for opening account ? Individual / Joint Account: 1. Introduction of the account. 2. Two photographs of the signatories duly attested by the introducer. 3. Identity (copy of passport). 4. Joint Declaration Form (For joint a/c only). 5. Employee’s Certificate (in case of service holder). ? Partnership account: 1. Introduction of the account. 2. Two photographs of the signatories duly attested by the introducer. 3. Partnership letter duly signed by all partners (Sign should be similar as stated in Partnership Deed). 4. Partnership Deed duly certified byNotary public. 5. Registration (If any). 6. Updated Trade license. ? Proprietorship account: 1. Introduction of the account. 2. Two photographs of the signatories duly attested by the introducer. 3. Valid copy of Trade License. 4. Rubber stamp. 5. TIN number certificate. 6. Identity (Copy of passport). 7. Permission letter from DC/ Magistrate (in case of newspaper) 8. ? Limited company: 1. Introduction of the account. 2. Two photographs of the signatories duly attested by the Introducer. 3. Valid copy of Trade License. 4. Board resolution of opening A /C duly certified by the Chairman/Managing Director. 5. Certificate of Incorporation. 6.Certificate of Commencement (In case of Public limited company). 7. Certified (joint stock) true copy of the Memorandum and Article of Association of the Company duly attested by Chairman or Managing Director. 8. List of directors along with designation & specimen signature. 9. Latest certified copy of Form – xii (to be certified by register of joint stock companies) (In case of Directorship change). 10. Rubber Stamp (Seal with designation of each person) 11. Certificate of registration (In case of Insurance Company – Obtained from department of Insurance from the Peoples Republic of BD). ? Club / societies account: 1. Introduction of the account. 2.Two photographs of the Signatories duly attested by the introducer. 3. Board Resolution for Opening A/C duly certified by President/ Secretary. 4. List of Existing Managing Committee. 5. Registration (if any). 6. Rubber Stamp. 7. Permiss ion letter from Bureau of N. G. O. (In case of N. G. O. A/C). Savings Scheme; †¢ Monthly Income Scheme †¢ Multiplus Savings †¢ Smart saver †¢ Super Saving Scheme †¢ Monthly Savings Scheme (Money Grower) †¢ Hajj Scheme Finance/Loans: †¢ Corporate Finance †¢ Industrial Finance †¢ Lease Finance †¢ Hire Purchase Finance †¢ Commercial Loans †¢ Project Finance †¢ Syndicate Loans †¢ Retail Loans †¢ Mortgage Loans †¢ Loan against Share and Securities †¢ Account Opening Procedures: Step 1 | | | |The account should be properly introduced by Any one of the following: | | |An existing Current Account holder of the Bank. | | |Officials of the Bank not below the rank of an Assistant officer. | | |A respectable person of the locality well known to the Manager/Sub-Manager of the Branch concerned. | |Step 2 | | | |Receiving filled up application in bank’s prescribed form mentioning what type of account is de sired to be | | |opened. |Step 3 | | | |The form is filled up by the applicant himself / herself | | |Two copies of passport size photographs from individual are taken, in case of firms photographs of all | | |partners are taken | | |Applicants must submit required documents | | |Application must sign specimen signature sheet and give mandate | | |Introducer’s signature and accounts number – verified by legal officer | |Step 4 | | | |Authorized Officer accepts the application | |Step 5 | | | |Minimum balance is deposited – only cash is accepted | |Step 6 | | | |Account is opened and a Cheque book and pay-in-slip book is given | Account Sections: Daily function: The routine daily tasks of the accounts department are as follows: 1. Recording the daily transactions in the cash book 2. Recording the daily transactions in general and subsidiary ledgers 3. Preparing the daily position of the branch comprising of deposit and cash 4.Preparing the daily statement o f affairs showing all the assists and liability of the branch as per ledger and subsidiary leader separately. 5. Making payment of all expenses of the Branch 6. Recording inters branch fund transfer and providing accounting treatment in this regard. 7. Checking whether all the vouchers are correctly passed to ensure the Conformity with the Activity Report; if otherwise making it correct by calling the respective official to rectify the voucher. 8. Recording of the vouchers in the Voucher Register 9. Packing of the correct vouchers according to the debit voucher and the credit voucher. Periodical Tasks: The routine periodical tasks performed by the department are as follows. 1. Preparing the monthly salary statements for the employees 2.Publishing the basic data of the branch 3. Preparing the weekly position for the branch this is sent to the Head Office to maintain Cast Reserve requirement 4. Preparing the monthly position for the branch, this is sent to the Head office to maintain statuary liquidity requirement. 5. Preparing the weekly position for the branch comprising of the break up of sector wise deposit, credit etc. 6. Preparing the weekly position for the branch comprising of the denomination wise statement of cash in tills. 7. Preparing the budget for the branch by fixing the target regarding profit and deposit so as to take necessary steps to general and mobilize deposit 8.Preparing an Extract' which is a summary of all the transactions of the Head Office account with the branch to reconcile all the transaction held among the accounts of all the branches. General Account: General account is important one, which has to be maintained by each branch. Indeed general account is are record of Oregonian and responding transactions among inter- branches of the same bank. All types of assets and liabilities of one branch with another one are settled through this account. Branch can know how much the bank is liable with Head Office. The debit and credit balance shows assets and liabilities of the respective branch. Statement or Affairs:Accounts section prepares the statement of affairs for finding the profit/ loss as well as amount of assets and liabilities of concerned branch per day Theoretically, it is called financial statement and has tow parts: 1. Income and Expenditure Account 2. Statement of Assets and Liabilities Amortization and Depreciation: Amortization is the allocation of the cost of an intangible asset to expense for example, prepaid expenditure, prepaid insurance and good will etc Amortization schedule is determined by the decision of management. Establishment: This section deals with employee's salary, much type of internal expenses such as purchase of pen, paper equipment, machinery and payment of labor Cost and employee conveyance. In cause of leave of absence employee collects prescribed from this section. LOANS AND ADVANCES DEPARTMENT Introduction:Banking is essentially a business dealing organization with money and c redit like all other business activates. Banks are profit-oriented organization. A bank invites its find many ways to earn more and more profit and most of its income is derived from loans and advances. Bank makes loans and advances to traders, Businesspersons, industrialists and many other persons against security of some cautions policy and sound lending principle in the matter of lending. EXIM Bank is a lending bank in loans and advances and it grant loans in various sectors especially in industry, trade and commerce. Types of loans and advances: There may be different types of loans and advance given from the commercial banks such as EXIM Bank Ltd. Of our country.Loans and advances may be in the following types: 1. Cash credit 2. Overdraft 3. House Building loan (General and Staff) 4. Transportation (Car) loan (only for senior staff) 5. Consumer credit Scheme 6. Loan against Imported Merchandise (LIM) 7. Loan Bills purchases Documentary (LBPD) 8. Loan against Other Securities (L AOS) 9. Term Loan Brief Idea about the different types of loans and advance: Cash Credit (CC): Cash credit is an arrangement by which the customer is allowed to borrow May up to a creation limit. This permanent arrangement and the customers need not to draw the sanctioned amount of money at a time. The borrower can draw the money when required.The borrower can put back any surplus, amount, which he/she may he affect frequently. Intersect is charged only to the amount with drawn and not he whore amount sanctioned cash credit arrangement is usually divide into two ways such as: 1. Cash credit pledge 2. Cash credit hypothecation Cash Credit Pledge: In case of cash credit pledge possession of the goods dealings to bank and ownership of the of the goods belongs to borrower and bank the possessions of the goods as primary security. The goods storied in go down under lock and key by direct supervision of the bank. If the borrower wants to sell any potion of the pledged goods he/she permiss ion of bank with returning the value of the loan amount.It is therefore regarded as the most secured type of advance. Cash Credit hypothecation: In case of cash Credit hypothecation possession of the goods not transferred to the bank and therefore such and advance is no better than a clean loan, such an advance can thus only be granted to a person in whose integrity the barked has full confidence cash credit in the form of Hypothecation is normally accompanied with mortgagee of immovable properties. The pray/ borrower possesses the lock and key of the down. The Formalities of opening cash Credit: There intending cash credit holder should submit the following documents and being fill up properly: 1. Stock repot, rend receipt 2. Trade license 3.Up to date income tax clearings certificate 4. Charge documents 5. Letter of Continuity 6. Letter of arrangement 7. DP (Demand Promissory) note 8. Letter of guarantee 9. Letter lien 10. Limit sanction advice 11. Non-Encumbrance Certificate Obse rving the documents the bank authority prepares a cc proposal from that contains the following information: 1. Nature of business 2. Banking with EXIM 3. Transition with CD account by the client 4. Allied deposit with SB/STD account. 5. Number of adjustment (s) how many times the CC holder made his/her Account nil that means debit balance equal to credit balance. 6. Recycling it is ration of total credit summation to the limit.If the ratio is Higher it is better from banker's points of view. 7. Turn over in the account 8. By the encasement authority the bank holds the power to encase the FDR the encasement authority at any time in case borrower's failure to repay the loan amount with interest in due time. Based in the above-mentioned information the dealing officer of the loans and advances department prepares recommendation about the prospect of granting the CC loan to the client. Overdraft: Overdraft is an arrangement between the banker and the customer by which the letter is allo wed to withdraw over his/her credit balance in the current account up to an agreed limit.The borrower is permitted for draw and repays any number of times, provided he total amount overdrawn dose not exceeds the agreed limit. Here the interest is charged only for the amount withdrawn over the limit. Not for the whole amount. Overdraft is divided into tow categories:  ¦ Secured overdraft (SOD)  ¦ Temporary overdraft (TOD) Secured overdraft: It is allowed against the full security (i. e. FDR, ICB unit Certificates). Temporary Overdraft: It is allowed to the customer for a very short period of time. But EXIM bank deals only secured overdraft. Car Loans: This is a special type of loan, which is only provided for the staff of EXIM Bank.Usually AVP and above level officers get this kind facility. This loan is reimbursed on instrument basis and repayable after each month. House Building loan (General and Staff): General house building loan is providing into two sectors:  ¦ Generally  ¦ Staff Naturally house building loan is paid for the construction of commercial building, and owners etc, procedures for sanctioning house- building loan as follows:-  ¦ Application for sectioning loan  ¦ Application properly filled up for credit facilities supplied by the bank.  ¦ Personal net worth statement each director  ¦ Enquiry form Required papers for sanctioning HB loan:  ¦ Copy of general power of attorney  ¦ Copy of material certificate Copy of engineer's estimate  ¦ Copy of projected cash flow Loan (General): In case of loan the banks sanction some of money for a certain period of time. The enter amount is one time disbursement and paid in cash or credit loan A/C. The interest is charged on full sanctioned amount @16%. The bank generally sanctions loan to establish industry. These types of loan are granted for capital expenditure such as purchase of land, constriction of factory building, purchase of new machinery and modernization of plant. The borrowe r cannot withdraw this type of loan once repaid in full or in part again. Formalities for extending project loan: Loan application form:After receiving the loan application from the borrower the branch scrutinizes the application whether it is viable or not. Loan application from contains the following particulars amongst other detail below:  ¦ Particular description of the Project.  ¦ Nature of the Project  ¦ Detail information about the borrower  ¦ Statements of assets and liabilities of the borrower with declaration  ¦ Detail information about proposed products, machinates and manpower etc  ¦ Project cost and source of fund.  ¦ Market for the proposed project. Feasibility report: This report is provided by the borrower, which includes the following aspects of the project:  ¦ Marketing aspect  ¦ Technical aspect financial aspect  ¦ Managing aspect  ¦ Socio-economic aspect 1) Classification Procedure 1.Categories of Loans- At first all loans and advances will be grouped into four categories for the purpose of classification, such as- (a) Continuous Loans (b) Demand Loans (c) Fixed Term Loans and (d) Short Term and Agriculture & Micro Credit. (a) Continuous Loans : The loan A/C in which transaction may be made within a certain limit and have an expiry date for full adjustment will be treated as continuous loan. Exp CC, OD etc. (b) Demand Loans: The loan that becomes repayable by the party on demand by his bank will be treated as demand loans. If any contingent or any other liabilities are turned into forced loan will also be treated as demand loan. Exp. LIM, PAD, FBP, IBP etc. (c) Fixed Term Loans: The loan which is repayable with in the specific time period under a pacific repayment schedule will be treated as Fixed Term Loans. d) Short Term Agriculture & Micro Credit: Short Term Agricultural Credit will be as per list issued by Agricultural Credit and Specialized Programmers Department (ACSPD) of Bangladesh Bank under the Agricultural C redit Programmed. Credit in the Agricultural sector repayable within 1(one) year will also be included herein. Short Term Micro Credit includes any micro credit not exceeding TK. 25,000. 00 and repayable within 12 months. 2) Basis for Loan Classification: (A) Objective Criteria (1) Past due/ over due: In this point we saw four factors those are; a) Any continuous loan if not repaid / renewed within the fixed expiry date for repayment be treated as past due/ overdue from the following day of the expiry date. ny demands loan if not repaid/ rescheduled within the fixed expiry date will be treated as past due/ overdue from the following day of the expiry date. b) In case any installment of a fixed term loan (repayable within fives) is not repaid within the fixed expiry date, the amount of unpaid installment will be treated as past due/ overdue (defaulted instilment) from the following day of the expiry date of the particular installment. c) Incase of any installment or part installment of a Fixed Term Loan (repayable over five years) is not repaid within the fixed expiry date, the amount of unpaid installment will be treated as past due/ overdue after 6(six) months of the expiry date of that particular installment. ) The Short Term Agriculture & Micro Credit if not repaid within the fixed expiry date for repayment will be considered as past due/ over due (defaulted instilment) after 6(six) month of the expiry date. (B) Qualitative Judgment; If any uncertainty or doubt arises in respect of recovery of any continuous, Demand or Term Loans the same will have to be classified as Sub- Standard or Doubtful or Bad/ Loss. Considering the merit of the A/C on the basis of qualitative judgment be it classified or not on the basis of objective criteria. The Bank will classify on the basis of qualitative judgment and can be- classify loans if qualitative improvement does occur.But if a loan classified by Bangladesh Bank inspection Team, the same can be de- classified with the approval of the Board of Directors of the Banks. CIB Report: Before making credit report to the head office the lending branch takes the credit information to the borrower from the CIB (credit Information Bureau) of Bangladesh Bank and other financial institutions. For obtaining this report the branch sends Inquiry form' to CIB duly filled in particulars of the borrower. The report id divided into 5 segments. Project appraisal: It is the reinvestment analysis done by Banker before a project is approved. Project appraisal in the Banking sector is needed for following reasons:  ¦To ensue repayment of the Bank finance To achieve the organizational goals  ¦To establish industrialists in a country. The main tasks of the project appraisal is to justify the soundness of an investment by the Banker by means of a capital and systematic of the different elements of the Project For this purpose Banks use two types of analysis:  ¦Lending Risk Analysis (LRA)  ¦Spread Sheet Analysis (SSA) Lending risk analysis: Lending risk analysis is modern methodologies, which describes how to access the risks that are inherent any credit extension and how to access the likelihood that the customer will repay a loan. The LRA form contains 16 pages to analysis different categories of Risks.The Financial Sector Reform project introduces the lending Risk analysis format in 1993. LRA is a standardize format for analyzing the credit worthiness of a borrower and the likelihood that the borrow will repay. Bangladesh bank issued a letter number BCD (p) 611/13/290 dated 17-07-1994, which now makes it mandatory for the commercial Banks to implement the LRA approach to credit analysis prior to extending credit facilities to a Borrower. The modern concept of lending is purpose and production oriented and not security oriented. The emphasis should be given not any security rather on he likelihood of repayment, the credit worthiness of the customer soundness and viability of the business etc. Lending PrinciplesThe Principle of lending is a collection of certain accepted time tested standards, which ensure the proper use of Investment fund in a profitable way and its timely recovery. Different authors describe different principles for sound lending. 1. Safety 2. Security 3. Liquidity 4. Adequate yield 5. Diversity Process of Investment |Heads |Characteristics | |Application |Applicant applies for the Investment in the prescribed form of the bank describing the types | | |and purpose of Investment. |Sanction |Collecting credit information about the applicant to determine the credit worthiness of the | | |borrower. Sources of information | | |Personal Investigation, Confidential Report from other bank, Head Office/Branch/Chamber of | | |Commerce. | | |CIB (Central Information Bureau) report from Central Bank. | | |Evaluation of compliance with its lending policy. | | |Evaluating the proposed security. | | |LRA is must for the Investment exceeding one crore – as ord ered by Bangladesh Bank. | |If everything is in accordance the Investment is sanctioned | |Documentation |Then bank prepare a Investment proposal which contains terms and conditions of Investment for | | |approval of H. O. or Manager. | | |Takes the necessary papers and signatures from borrower | |Disbursement |An Investment Account is opened. Where customer | | |A/C—————————————————————————————Dr. | | |Respective Investment A/C —————————————-Cr. |FOREIGN EXCHANGE DEPARTMENT Introduction: One of the largest businesses carried out by the commercial bank is foreign trading. The trade among various countries fills for close link between the parties dealing in trade. The situation calls for experti se in the field of foreign exchange operations. The bank, which provides such operations refereed to as rending international Banking operation. Mainly trisections with overseas countries are respects of import, export and foreign remittance come under the preview of foreign exchange transaction, and international trade demands a flow of goods from seller to buyer of payment from buyer to seller.In this case the Bank plays a vital role to bridge between the buyer and seller. Foreign Exchange Mechanism in Flow Chart: Sales/Purchase contract Issues L/C Forward Forward documents Makes payment Makes payment Foreign Exchange department of EXIM Bank is department of all departments. This department handles various types of activates by three separate sections: 1. Import Section 2. Export section 3. Foreign Remittance. Import Section: The functions are of the section is mainly to deal with various components such as  ¦ Letter of Credit (L/C)  ¦ Payment against Document (PAD)  ¦ Payme nt against Trust Receipt (PTR)  ¦ Loan against Imported Merchandise (LIM) Letter of Credit (L/C): Definition:A letter of credit can be defined as an arrangement where in a Bank Guarantee on behalf of these customers to make payments to the beneficiary upon presentation of documents specified in the credit. Parties involved in L/C: Opener/ Buyer/Importer: The person who opens the L/C is known as opener/ buyer/importer of the L/C. The buyer and the seller conclude a sales contract providing for payment by documentary credit. 0pening Bank: The Bank issuing the L/C in favor of exporter is known as opening Bank. The opening bank opens L/C on request of importer according to application of the importer. Advising Bank: The Bank through L/C is advised their agent (correspondent Bank) abroad.The duty of the advising Bank is to authenticate the message so that is to the seller can act on it without any fear of forgery etc. Beneficiary: Seller and exporter in whose favor the L/C are opened. The beneficiary is normally the seller of good who receive payment under documentary credit. If has compiled with terms and conditions thereof. Negotiating Bank: The Bank that is authorized to handle (purchase) the documents under the L/C in the exporting country is known as negotiating Bank. L/C will stipulate either a notified bank to negotiate (restricted L/C) or any bank can negotiate in the seller’s country (unrestricted L/C). Reimbursing Bank: The Bank that is (by the L/C issuing Bank) to effect reimbursement is known as reimbursing bank.Reimbursing Bank authorized to honor the reimbursement claims in settlement of negotiation/ accepting/ payments lodged with its by the paying/ negotiating/ accepting Bank. Confirming Bank: A Confirming Bank is one which adds the guarantee to the credit opened by another bank. Therese undertaking the responsibility of payment/ negotiating/ acceptance under the credit in addition to that of the issuing Bank. A confirming Bank normally doe s so it requested by the issuing Bank. Types of L/C: – Revocable/ irrevocable L/C – Confirmed/ unconfirmed L/C. – Transferable L/C – Back to back L/C – Acceptance L/C – Revolving L/C – Red clause L/C – Green close L/C The EXIM Bank basically deals with irrevocable L/c. which can not be amended or cancelled by the issuing Bank at any moment and without prior to the beneficiary.It also deals back to back L/C, which is the letter of credit, provided by the exporter to the import the raw materials from abroad in order to produce the exportable commodity for the importer. Procedures for opening L/C: Application for opening L/C: An importer who is desirous to import goods from foreign country will apply Issuing Bank for opening a L/C. The importer will provide an application mentioning the following aspects: 0 Full particulars of applications Bank account. 0 Types of business 0 Historical background 0 Amount of required L/C limit 0 A mount of L/C margin. 0 Term of payment 0 Name of imported goods 0 Repayment schedule and source of fund Document schedule and source of fund.An importer or L/C opener has to submit the following documents 0 Application from (provided by the Bank) 0 Import registration certificate 0 Pro-forma invoice 0 Four sets of IMP from 0 Insurance cover not 0 VAT registration number 0 Tex registration number 0 Letter of credit authorization form Examination for opening L/C: Application must be carefully checked by the concerned officer considering the facts mentioning below: ? The terms and conditions of L/C applications are consistent with exchange control and import trade resolution UCPDC 500. ?Illegibility of imported goods ?The L/C must be opened in favor of importer ?That is signed by the importer and agreed with the terms and conditions. Indenting registration number ?Goods are not of Israel and vassals to be used are not of Israel ? Insurance cover note with date of shipment. ?Whether RC is up to date or not ?Whether IMP form is duly filled up and singed ?The imported goods are marketable After scrutinizing all thee legal aspects necessary entry is given to the margin register and charge, commission and margin in realized. Transmitting the L/C: The L/C is transmitted to the advising Bank for advising the L/C to he beneficiary. L/C is generally transmitted through tested Telex of Fax. Before transmission of final examination of the L/C contents is