Inside the mind of a savant Essay

Treffert and Christensen’s article (2005), touches on the important and curious issue: the differences among humans. It is not to hide that jealous and curious species desire to possess what others possess and desire to know how it is possible. The description of savant individual, Kim Peek, leaves the readers wonder about the possibilities that have a mere possibility and right to existence. These authors begin their article with a concrete description of what does it mean to be savant. Their description is well poised and not an eggeduration. They, straightforwardly, describe the concrete features that Kim had without forgetting to mention that Kim also has serious physical disabilities. Kim’s listed abilities are though impressive. I do not know a person who would think twice to have what Kim had – but knot with the price that Kim had to pay. Enduring difficult attitude from others or enduring physical differences are quite different things. Kim endured physical differences that simply made him more different. Now, when he is a grown man (and way into his 50th), researchers took a serious interest in him due to the uniqueness of his case. The authors mentioned in the article that, even in childhood, Kim was missing Corpus Colossum, the connecting neural network that connects left and right human hemispheres. The writers write, â€Å"Yet in people whose corpus callosum has been severed in adulthood, generally in an effort to prevent epileptic seizures from spreading from one hemisphere to the other, a characteristic â€Å"split-brain† syndrome arises in which the estranged hemispheres begin to work almost independently of each other. † This statement, by itself, points out at the materialistic approach that without the synaptic connections between the right and left hemisphere the connection between right and left hemisphere is impossible. There were some ‘guesses’ among the appropriate researchers but no one wanted to mention a possibility that that here is a hidden purpose behind such appearances. The authors conjecture lies within a science fiction, however plausible. They wrote that the person born without corpus collossum learn to connect right and left hemisphere with the non-traditional ways. Their hypothesis consists of an idea that two separated hemispheres learn to act as one, in unison. One major point that the authors noticed was that the ‘abnormalities’ stem form the damage in the left hemisphere only. Furthermore, the suggested that males, per ce, display more frequent number of cases of savanism, stuttering, dyslexia, and autism. Their response to this theory was straightforward: one possible explanation lies within the fetus development in which they suggest that the make fetus has higher levels chemically dependent and left-brained situation. In to this hypothesis the understanding that the left hemisphere develops with a slower rate than that of right has a big part of their study. To evidence the above, the authors use the examples of so called â€Å"acquired savant syndrome† which is resulted in older children after the accidental damage to the left hemisphere. Further, the article speculates upon the implication of the significance behind the corpus collossum. One possibility includes a rationale, which suggests that, the possibility of the right brain compensation if the left-brain cannot function properly. Another possibility makes the readers think that inability to function within one hemisphere unravels the latent ability in another. The latter theory suggests that the left-brain dominance is due to the fact that we live in the techno logical society that prizes the left-brain achievements. Thus, the function of the left-brain, which is prone to science, math, and logic, leads us to what we call Human Rational, the human species that uses conscious analogies in their day-to-day operations (Read, 1997). The dysfunction of the left hemisphere all of the sudden opens new possibilities hidden and latent within the right hemisphere that holds the key to what we call today Human Conscious. It is of interest to the readers that traditional intelligence tests did not really work with the above subject: some parts showed below average while other superior range performance. In another excursion into the case, the authors noted Kim’s unusual versatility with a tremendously large lexicon of vocabulary in his possession. With Kim’s inability to explain the meaning behind the proverbs he finds amazing associations and is being quite effective in long-term memory recall. Such has been evidenced by his unusual abilities dealt with music, as per complex line up of tones and musical styles as well as the names and works of various artists. Here, and despite his dexterous prior complications, he can seat at piano and play a piece he had discussed â€Å"shifting effortlessly from one mode to another. † Even Greehan, the Mozart scholar commented positively about Kim’s abilities. In summary, the authors, refer to the fictional Rain Man produced after Kim’s life story, although the the writer Barry Morrow decided not to outline Kim’s life story. Similarities are striking, however, and cause one is thinking about not-discovered human abilities. References Darold A. Treffert and Daniel D. Christensen (2005). Onside the mind of a savant. Scientific American. Retrieved July 22, 2007 from http://www. condition. org/sa5c. htm Read, S. G. (Ed. ). (1997). Psychiatry in Learning Disability. Edinburgh: W. B. Saunders. Retrieved July 24, 2007, from Questia database: http://www. questia. com/PM. qst? a=o&d=100737215.

Bless Me Ultima Essay

Bless Me, Ultima, By Rudolfo Anaya is a moving story about a boy who is the last hope of his family and must decide on a culture and his own fate. Throughout the book readers recognizes allusions to the Bible but mainly to the Holy Trinity. The Holy Trinity is an alliance of three principles, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Antonio has three religions that influence him and each are alluded to the Trinity. The Father represents the Catholic religion and God, also the faith he resembles. The Golden Carp alludes to the Son, and his guidance of right and wrong and Antonio’s morality. The Holy Spirit is represented by Ultima and old curandera that resembles wisdom. By analysis of the book Bless Me Ultima, Anya uses the allusion of the Holy Trinity to conclude that through wisdom, faith, and morality a conflict can be reconciled. Throughout the text, Rudolfo Anaya uses the allusion of the Holy Spirit illustrates that when one only relies on wisdom a conflict cannot be resolved. This conclusion is confirmed when Tenorio has blamed Ultima; who resembles wisdom and the Holy Spirit, for the loss of his child. It is not rumor,† Narciso pleaded, â€Å"he has gathered his cronies around him at the bar, he has filled them with whiskey all day, and he has convinced them to burn a witch! They come on a witchhunt! † (Pg 128). The citizen’s fear of Ultima shows that he is using the allusion of the Holy Spirit and when Antonio only relies on one part of his Holy Trinity he fails to commit to resolving his conflict. Then he soon finds himself and his family in danger. Antonio again only depends on the wisdom Ultima supplies him, and then he realizes an internal conflict he has created after witnessing a fight between Narciso and Andrew. Had I already lost my innocence? How? I had seen Lupito murdered†¦ I had seen Ultima’s cure†¦ I had seen the men come to hang her†¦ I had seen the awful fight just now†¦ I had seen and reveled in the beauty of the golden carp! Oh God! My soul groaned and I thought that it would burst and I would die huddled against the evil house. How had I sinned? (Pg 165). Suggesting that Antonio has only leaned on Ultima he finds himself in a dilemma within his cultures in that he has been separating his cultures instead of creating intimacy between them. By only confiding in part of the  Holy Trinity one has to go through a cultural struggle without it being reconciled. Numerous times in the text Anaya uses the allusion of the Father in the Holy Trinity to explain that when one only focuses on faith a cultural conflict will not be compensated. For example, during one of Antonio’s dreams, he interprets God as a sort of evil figure. â€Å"You foolish boy, God roared, don’t you see you are caught in your own trap! You would have a God who forgives all, but when it comes to your personal whims you seek punishment for your vengeance†¦ Vengeance is Mine! He shouted, not even your golden carp would give up that power as a godâ€Å"(Pg 173). The fact that God is illustrated as a bad character in his dream it is clear that Anaya is using allusion within the Holy Trinity in that it is not enough to only take part in one section and might result in doubts like Antonio’s. Also, after the death of Narciso, Antonio returns back to school and has many things running through his mind. â€Å"I thought a great deal about God and why he let such things happen†¦ Perhaps, I thought, God had not seen the murder take place, and that’s is why He had not punished Tenorio. Perhaps God was too busy in heaven to worry or care about us†(Pg 186-187). The author uses the feeling of doubt in faith to show that when Antonio regulates the faith in his life he ends with failure. This occurs because Anaya uses allusion within the Holy Trinity to suggest that if you only regard the Father and the faith in which he represents one’s cultural conflict will not cease. As Anaya uses the allusion of the Son in the Holy Trinity it is evident that only confining in morality concludes to a cultural conflict. Readers experience this conflict multiple times throughout the text. One specific event is when Cico and Antonio are having a conversation about the Golden Carp and how Antonio would like to see the fish. â€Å"We have never taken a non-believer to see him,† he said solemnly. â€Å"But I want to believe, â€Å" I looked up and pleaded, â€Å"it’s just that I have to believe in Him? † (Pg 107). The author alludes to the culture of the Golden Carp to resemble the Son in the Holy Trinity; one sees here that when Antonio contradicts his religion and only focuses on his morals. Also when Antonio says â€Å"Its just that I have to believe in Him? † it is clear that faith and wisdom are not being considered in his decisions and because of that, cause conflict. Antonio’s morals rise and fall throughout the book according to his three cultures and the three parts in his Holy Trinity. When he only relies on morality we find that he is lost within himself. While Antonio is with Cico and they are waiting for the Golden Carp to show one of Antonio’s friends, Florence, dies in the water. Later that night he has a dream where all that he had lived for is now being killed around him. â€Å"Look! He pointed to the creek where Cico lay in wait for the golden carp. When the golden carp appeared Cico struck with his spear and the water ran blood red† (Pg 244). Through the allusion of the Son this passage and the resemblance of the Golden Carp being killed shows that if one is too strong in one section of the Holy Trinity it is no good. When Cico murders the Golden Carp it concludes that Antonio cannot accommodate his three cultures by keeping them separate and not combined. It is apparent that the most ineffective way to reconcile a cultural conflict is only alluding to one of the three constituents of the Holy Trinity. By closely examining Anaya’s use in allusion, it is clear that the most effective way to handle cultural conflicts is to believe in morality, wisdom, and faith. Antonio’s conflict is a result of not combing the three parts of the Holy Trinity. While he is in church he is listening to the priest speak. â€Å"How many persons are there in one God? † he continued. â€Å"Three. The Father, the son, and the Holy Ghost† (Pg 199). The author chooses to literally say that a God cannot work without the three main components. This shows resemblance in Antonio’s life when he tries to keep Catholicism, The Golden Carp, and Ultima all separate pieces. He questions if he can combine or create resolution for his conflict but hesitates to take action. â€Å"Does one have to choose? † I asked. â€Å"Is it possible to have both? †(Pg 238). This shows that Antonio recognizes his problem and starts to connect with all three parts of the Trinity, wishing they could all are one, and not realizing he has the power to do so. Through the power of the Holy Trinity, (God, The Golden Carp, and Ultima) Antonio comes to the conclusion to reconcile his cultural struggles. â€Å"‘Take the llano and the river valley, the moon and the sea, God, and the golden carp-and make something new, I said to myself. That is what Ultima meant by building strength from life†¦ Papa, I asked, Can a new religion be made? †(Pg. 247). Anaya attempts to inspire the reader by illustrating that within togetherness one can incorporate their cultures and create a new one. To conclude in Antonio’s struggle within himself it is inevitable that one can overcome a cultural battle by reliance of faith, wisdom, and morality. The Holy Trinity does not work if all parts aren’t connected. In Antonio’s life, the only way he would become successful it to combine and control his three cultures into one, never letting one over power the other. In Bless Me, Ultima; one can see a reoccurrence of resemblance to the Trinity and many other Bible references. Rudolfo Anaya suggests that one has the power to do anything with wisdom, faith, and morality in his or hers heart.

A Dolls House as a Naturalistic Play

Henrik Ibsen was a nineteenth century playwright who is known for his great depiction of social reality. Ibsen was born in Norway; however he worked in different countries to earn a living. His plays are the most frequently performed after the ones of Shakespeare. One of his most popular plays, which we have studied as a part of the â€Å"Modern Drama† class, is called A Doll’s House. The following essay will try to demonstrate with detailed explanations and references to the play that its content is a Naturalistic one. First of all, we will define what Naturalism is. Secondly, we will look at how the definition applies to A Doll’s House. Thirdly, we will compare it with another play: The Cherry Orchard by Anton Chekhov. Naturalism is often based on the theory of evolution of Charles Darwin. Naturalist authors frequently want to show how people are predestined to live a certain way as they are prisoners of the social hierarchies created by men. John Rahn points out this affirmation in his article on Naturalism: â€Å"The dominant theme of Naturalist literature is that persons are fated to whatever station in life their heredity, environment, and social conditions prepare them for. The power of primitive emotions to negate human reason was also a recurring element.† (Rahn, 2011) Naturalism is a type of literature that attempts to apply scientific ideologies of objectivity and detachment to its study of human beings. It focuses not only on the characters, but on the way they react to unusual situations. Naturalists try to recreate human nature through fiction that is to say that the novel or play is a creation through observation of humans living in society. Some have criticized Naturalists to only show a pessimistic side of human nature. In Ibsen’s A Doll’s House we can easily conclude that the content is Naturalistic by, first, looking at the monologues and dialogues. For example, the way Nora speaks when she addresses Torvald is different than when she speaks with other characters. The fact that, in the 1880s, men were considered dominant and had power over their wife is a sign that it is the way a women would behaved towards her husband; she would have been respectful and always at his service. The author of A Doll’s House was concerned with the way women were treated back in his days: â€Å"Ibsens concerns about the position of women in society are brought to life in A Dolls House. He believed that women had a right to develop their own individuality, but in reality, their role was often self-sacrificial.† (Unknown, 2014) Women were not treated as equals with men, either in relation to their husbands or society, as is clear from Torvalds horror of his employees thinking he has been influenced in a decision about Krogstads job by his wife. However, when Nora speaks with Krogstad, she does not use the same tone and she is a lot more straightforward responding to his accusations. Since Krogstad is Torvald’s employee, Nora feels more inclined to not take him seriously and to argue. Even though Krogstad is a man, Nora is on top of him in the social hierarchy since her husband has power over Krogstad. Depending on the epoch, words and behaviour have more or less power. This also depends on who is reading the text. In the case of A Doll’s House we can understand from the way Nora acts, that her behaviour might not be well perceived by a 1880s audience, however in the present era her behaviour would not be as shocking. Still, the way Nora acts in whatever period in history is part of the human nature that wants to be free. As for the other characters, Torvald is a banker whose vanity will lead to his downfall and cause him to lose the love of his life. Dr. Rank is the only character that treats Nora as an intelligent human being, however he wants something in return (her love) which makes Nora more reticent to share her flaw with him. Mrs. Linden is a tragic figure at first since she is a widow and women did not usually work during the 1880s, but she gets hired at the bank and starts a new life with Krogstad. All of these characteristics are typical to a Naturalistic play because everyone stands where he/she belongs according to the social conventions of the time. If we compare Ibsen’s A Doll’s House to Chekhov’s The Cherry Orchard we can notice the similarities through the patterns of the Naturalist movement. As mentioned earlier: â€Å"The dominant theme of Naturalist literature is that persons are fated to whatever station in life their heredity, environment, and social conditions prepare them for. †(Rhan , 2011) In A Doll’s House, Nora is fated for the almost unique reason that she is a woman in a particular time in history, which makes her role as a mother and wife the most sacred thing for a woman at that time and deprives her of the freedom that man have. In The Cherry Orchard, the people of the Bourgeoisie are fated to become useless since capitalism is taking over and businesses are now richer than they are and can afford to buy lands and earn power through their possessions. In both plays there is a peripeteia also called â€Å"reversal† which is typical to Naturalistic drama. In A Doll’s House the peripeteia occurs when Nora decides to leave her husband to learn about herself, Torvald ends up alone not understanding what happened and at the same time Krogstad and Mrs. Linden decide to get back together to help one another through . In The Cherry Orchard the peripeteia is plain to understand as the Bourgeois culture comes to an end while a serf takes over the land since he has climbed the echelons and became a businessman. To continue, in A Doll’s House there is the character of Nora that is in some way a proto-feminist character and that was pretty revolutionary back in the days for a woman to quit everything and become autonomous. In The Cherry Orchard, that revolutionary character would be Trofimov whose idealistic convictions make him an interesting character to reflect upon. Naturalistic playwrights want the audience to see human nature through their eyes and make them rethink what is normally considered as right or wrong. These often â€Å"avant-garde† characters are there to make the audience react to their monologues and reflect upon what they have heard. Finally, we can notice that the play A Doll’s House by Henrik Ibsen is a Naturalistic play from the definition that is given of Naturalism. By looking at the dialogues and monologues we can recognize that everyone is at their place, there are no inverted roles, the social hierarchy is respected and humans are being humans. In comparison to Chekhov’s The Cherry Orchard, we can identify similarities from the typical unfolding of a Naturalistic play as the character are predestined to remain where life has put them, but also because of the typical â€Å"reversal† (peripeteia) that occurs in both plays. The intention of Naturalist playwright is regularly to make their audiences look at themselves in the mirror and realize the flaws of human nature.

Business Proposal to implement a Human Resource Information System for Term Paper

Business Proposal to implement a Human Resource Information System for Castle family Restaurant. This should be written from a theoretical perspective - Term Paper Example They even face various communication problems due to the pace in the business and absence of a proper system solution. The management was unable to connect and control the entire business through a single system. Therefore, a business proposal has been demanded from the restaurant authority. After the thorough assessment of the organization, it has been found that they need an integrated solution for their organization which can connect all eight restaurants through a single system and the entire human resource department work can be controlled from a particular location. As per the assessment, it has been recommended that Human Resource Information System can solve the prevailing problem in an efficient manner. It has been further observed that â€Å"ADP Workforce Now†, a software company can better serve the pressing requirements after analysis of all the facilities provided by this company. The Castle Family Restaurant is in a growth phrase with a vibrant past ten years and also, with increasing profitability every year. They have around 300-340 employees working at the restaurants. Most of them are part time and less than 50% are full time. Mr. Ben Henderson, being the founder of this restaurant tries to set up a restaurant chain in the entire Northern California. Recently, they face a problem though the root of the problem existed since the beginning of the foundation. They never built up or hired any HR team. All the HR related work was conducted by the operations manger. Even they do not have any single network system through which they can maintain the communication with the entire eight restaurants that the family possess and keep the data stored. Consequently, the HR Manager has to visit every location weekly to update the information. It invariably increases the travelling expenses. Recently due to the increase in the cost of gasoline, the HR manager is plannin g to reduce the

Financial Accounting Analysis of Pearson Group Case Study

Financial Accounting Analysis of Pearson Group - Case Study Example The Company operates a variety of pension plans, the largest being the UK Group plan which includes both defined benefit plans and defined contribution plans. It also operates a few smaller defined benefit plans in the U.S [(401 [K)] and Canada. Defined contribution pension plans and post-retirement medical benefit plans (PRMB) are principally for employees located in the U.S. The plan assets for the UK Group plan are held by a trust independently of the Company and hence are accounted for at their net value in the balance sheet as per IAS 19 (European Financial Reporting Advisory Group, 2008). Based on the discount rate of 5.80% (FY06: 5.20%), present value of this obligation was 1,682m (FY06: 1,683m) and the fair value of plan assets were 1,744m (FY06: 1,528). The net value of 62m was carried to the balance sheet as Retirement Benefit Asset. Deficit in FY06 amounting to 155m was reported under non-current liability as Retirement Benefit Obligations. In FY07, the Company contributed 121m (including a special contribution of 100m) to fund this shortfall and disclosed it as a reduction from cash flow from operations. The Management expects to eliminate this shortfall by FY14 and has agreed to further contribute 21m in FY08 and 21.9m per annum thereafter in excess of an estimated 30m of regular contributions. Any further deficit in funding can add significa nt burden on the Company's cash flows from operations. As per IAS 19, service cost of 29m (FY06: 27m) for UK Group plan was charged to income statement as an operating expense. Excess of expected returns on these plan assets over the interest paid on plan liabilities amounting to 12m was reported as finance income. While the expected return was 96m (FY06: 85m), the interest paid was 84m (FY06:78m). The rate used for discounting these plan assets is based on the annualized yield on the iBoxx over 15-year AA-rated corporate bond index. As required by IFRS, the Company has disclosed the details of retirement benefits arrangement for its directors and the assumptions used for estimating the present value of benefit obligations. The expected sensitivity of present value of obligations to changes in discount rate and the changes in the value of plan assets and liabilities are also disclosed under notes to consolidated financial statement. The Company has also reported Retirement Benefit Obligations amounting to 95m (FY06: 95m) under non-current liabilities as their present value of obligations were exceeded the fair value of their plan assets. These liabilities relate to other defined benefit obligation pension plans, US PRMS and other pension accruals. Service costs of these plans amounting to 3m were charged as an operating expense; whereas and the interest on the PRMS liabilities of 2m was recognized as finance expense in income statement. PRMS are unfunded but are accounted for and valued similarly to defined benefit pension plans. The total actuarial gains on defined pension benefit plans and post retirement plans amounting to 80m (FY06: 107m) was directly charged to equity and reported under Statement of Recognized Income and Expense (SORIE). Discount rate for all the U.S plans are based on a U.S bond portfolio matching model, which

Corparate finance Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Corparate finance - Essay Example The Company also had been operating in a country with under-developed stock of exchange. There has been therefore the need to carry out research to look into the ways that the firm can maintain its development to a high level. The research is therefore expected to look into an alternative capital sources for the company and analyze the impacts of dividend policy and level of debt on the value of the firm. The firm having been operating under economy with under-developed stock of exchange limited its goals towards adjustments. Risks diversification opportunities were therefore limited for the company. The company’s investment decision was influenced by high diversification costs, making it to avoid financial market use. The technological adjustment is therefore limited as the company end up choosing production technologies that are less capital intensive subject to short-term risk. The company was therefore unable to adjust up to the latest technologies which were more capital intensive. The under-developed stock exchange market prevents the company from structuring their financial packages optimally (Levine, 2002). Conflicts of interest usually exist between the managers of the firms and its suppliers and customers, and also between different firm investors. Hoad Company if having high debt levels had increased its possibility of bankruptcy sufficiently which may put them into risky projects harming their creditors. The company, if highly leveraged, could be unable to get additional credit due to incentives created by debt financing to the taking of greater risks. Availability of well-developed stock of market exchange would allow for equity issuance. This issuance would mitigate problems of incentives providing room for more borrowing to the company. Stock market has always played an important role in the provision of information. A well-developed stock markets gathers information concerning prospects of companies that had their shares traded availing

Raymond Carvers Cathedral Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Raymond Carvers Cathedral - Essay Example ed helpless and plain and was even dreading their meeting following his wife’s insistence after a short interaction which opens an entirely new state of affairs in his life. The foregrounding of seeing over looking is the author’s centre of focus. This is well demonstrated through a juxtaposition of the two related but substantively dissimilar ways of ascertaining and acquiring knowledge and insight into different phenomena. Literally, the hosts who are composed of the narrator and his wife are able to see as they have fully functional eyesight. Their guest for the night who is called Robert on the other hand is a blind widower fresh from the mourning of his wife Beulah who passed away after suffering from bouts of cancer. It is through the dynamism of the narrator that the author successfully manages to bring out the distinction between seeing and looking. The narrator clearly portrays the picture of a person with eyes but ironically cannot see. He initially uses his ability to see as a special attribute that makes him more important than the blind guest they expect to host for the night. According to Carver’s Cathedral, the narrator quickly sums up the pitiable look of Robert asserting how peculiar his eyes looked with glasses instead of shades. In his imagination, a woman married to him was like bondage to sorrow especially the thought of not being seen by a visually handicapped man. However, with his fully functional sense of sight, the narrator is unable to describe the structure of a cathedral shown on the television to Robert with whom they are watching. It is then that Robert asks for a pen and a paper and asks him to draw what he was seeing as the blind man’s hands followed the movement of his own. He is later asked to try drawing with eyes closed which he ably does. On finishing, Robert asks him to open his eyes and look at the drawing but the narrator marvels at the artistic creation with his eyes closed exclaiming that he had never

Laptops in Lectures Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Laptops in Lectures - Essay Example According to Fields, laptops use during lectures is the biggest distraction to listening of a student during lectures. This is because, when using the machine, so many catchy items may come along as in the internet, there is usually breaking news on celebrities which is an area of interest to most of the students in class. Fields further believes most of the addictives come with the use of internet which causes very big distractions like playing new games (Fields 1). I would like to disagree with this idea, as the use of computers in lectures can be used to establish the rate and level of attentiveness of a student while in class. Most of the students that are allowed to use these machines at lectures have the highest rate of concentration level. This is attributed to the fact that most of these students have to pay attention to any idea that a lecturer puts across and record it as well. This means that laptops increase the level of concentration and also allows the students to multi task.   According to Fields, there is heavy reliance on the internet for any source of information currently. Most of the students allowed to use laptops during lectures tend to rely on the internet for any new information which does not allow the students to use their brains to think even the most basics ideas. Most students have become so reliant on this technological gadget and even the most reliable sources of information that is found in books are currently not being paid attention to.  

American History Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

American History - Essay Example Poe's comic short story where its main attribute interestingly opposes typical notion of mystery attached to it by superstition. It feels like adventure is going to come my way at any moment with this 'sagacious' creature and I find myself soaked in an imagination of an elegant, lovely black cat that looks after the welfare of its master wherever the latter may be. Edgar Allan Poe, being the author of 'The Black Cat' would fill in the second notch since I'm quite up to satisfying my curiosity of his childlike poetic stance though majority of his works are known to possess macabre themes. I suppose it would be amply wonderful to find out about the special reasons behind his equivalent measures of inclination in detective-fiction and poetry. Perhaps, I could make him lead me to an inspiration of discovering how precious the treasure in writing is and exchange a few intellectual yet delectable verses of romance to figure how rich the literature and intelligent minds were during his time . Though it is rather unusual for me to acquire diversion in operatic theaters and watch dramatic plays, I would still sit next to Werther for my third choice. I believe this unique experience can be a potential source in engaging a different mood of delight.

Describe marketing situations in which the use of qualitative research methods would be appropriate Essay Example for Free

Describe marketing situations in which the use of qualitative research methods would be appropriate Essay Describe marketing situations in which the use of qualitative research methods would be appropriate. According to Zikmund, Ward, Lowe, Winzar, Babin Qualitative research is a methodology that elaborate interpretations of phenomenal of interest without depending on numerical measurement ( Zikmund, Ward, Lowe, Winzar, Babin, 2011, pg 65 ) . It is characterised by its aims, which relate to understanding some aspect of social life, and it’s methods which generate words, rather than numbers, as data for analysis ( Patton, Cochrain, 2002 ) . In terms of marketing situations, qualitative research methods are appropriate to be used when the organization root for new product idea generation and development, strength and weaknesses of products/ brands and studying emotions and attitudes on societal and public affairs issues (qrca. org). To maximize understanding on the situation, there are two qualitative research methods that can be consider is Focus Groups and Questionnaires. With these methods, we identify the benefits as well as limitations of using these research methods. Focus groups can be define as an unstructured, free-flowing interview with a small group of people ( Zikmund, Ward, Lowe, Winzar, Babin, 2011, p71) . An approximately 60 to 90 minute discussion is led by a trained moderator with 8 to 12 relatively homogenous but unacquainted individuals who are brought together to discuss a specific topic ( Gunn, 2004) . Focus groups allow people to discuss their feelings, anxieties and frustrations, as well as the depth of their convictions, in their own words ( Zikmund, Ward, Lowe, Winzar, Babin, 2011, p72 ) . The benefits of focus groups can be presented for an in-depth exploration of new ideas, opinions, perceptions, and reactions to concepts and messaging. Focus groups often serve as exploratory research to assist survey design of subsequent quantitative research methods. Similarly, they can also be useful in validating and/ or clarifying results garnered from previous quantitative research and can be use to elicit â€Å" in their own words descriptions of products, services or issues being discussed. Conferences and other events present relatively low-cost opportunities to conduct focus groups with target audiences. There tend to be few interviewer effects on dialog because individuals tend to be influenced more by the group discussion than by the moderator. Participants are usually enthusiastic and spontaneous in their responses and groups tend to naturally cover more questions, opinions and comments than researchers could have anticipated. The disadvantage of the focus group however shows that the results from focus groups are qualitative and nonprojectable to larger populations. They require well-trained moderators to manage discussions, maintain focus, and minimize affects of the personalities and behaviours of individual participants on others and/or the entire group. Logistical and cost considerations include room and food set-up, and incentives are typically needed to encourage response. Questionnaires are not among the most prominent methods in qualitative research, because they commonly require subjects to respond to a stimulus, and thus they are not acting naturally. However, they have their uses, especially as a means of collecting information from a wider sample than can be reached by personal interview. Though the information is necessarily more limited, it can still be very useful. For example, where certain clearly defined facts or opinions have been identified by more qualitative methods, a questionnaire can explore how generally these apply, if that is a matter of interest. Ideally, there would then be a qualitative check on a sample of questionnaire replies to see if respondents were interpreting items in the way intended. Alternatively, a questionnaire might be used in the first instance, followed by qualitative techniques on a sample as a check and to fill out certain features of the questionnaire replies. Interaction among techniques in this way is typical of qualitative research.

Management Practices Traditional vs Modern Innovative

Management Practices Traditional vs Modern Innovative In last many years, few management accounting innovations has been developed. Managers have to make decision on a daily basis as well make decisions regarding the future and how to survive and grow in an energetic market place with ever growing uncertain circumstances. Traditional or modern management accounting system give relevant information to all levels of management, financial and other information to make decisions about planning, control of operations and identifying opportunities to add value. The modern management accounting practice are typically different from that of traditional management accounting as they enable managers to make sound decisions to minimize cost as well in the same time add value to the products and services by improving the quality of products, which is required by the customers, and reduce waste. In addition, the modern management accounting systems allow the organisation as whole to develop the innovative capacity of the organisation and flexibility so that it can continually change and improve performance financially as well in its non financial areas of performance. Traditional vs. Modern Innovative Traditional will focus on cost control and, in particular, what is recognized as variance analysis and which involves evaluating forecast outcomes with real outcomes for example for costs such as materials and labour. The types of activity, therefore, that management accountants have traditionally involved themselves with include: †¢ Cost analysis †¢ Cost control †¢ Budget preparation †¢ Budgetary control processes †¢ Cost/benefit analysis †¢ Investment appraisal. More modern, innovative approaches include initiatives such as: †¢ Business process re-engineering: This is about rethinking and re-designing business processes as a means of reducing costs and improving delivery †¢ Zero-based budgeting: re-thinking budgets in a way that engage justifying and prioritising all items of expenditure †¢ Activity-based management: looking at what actually causes costs to be incurred, and being better able to forecast and control costs †¢ Life cycle costing: considering a products costs over its entire life cycle (rather than just, for example, the initial building costs) †¢ Total quality management: the process of continuous quality improvement †¢ beyond budgeting: a challenge to traditional budgeting techniques via the use of more flexible and wide ranging processes †¢ Balanced scorecards: the use of key performance indicators within four different perspectives financial, customer, internal business process and learning/growth. Non financial performance measurement approached gained momentum as a result of dissatisfaction with the traditional techniques such as balance sheets and income statement, as technology increasing and increasing global competition, companies able to recognize better their fault and might to improve their existing capabilities and create new ones the most successful of these being Economic Value Added (EVA). Initially Return on Investment (ROI) was used to enhancement the intuition and insight of managers. It was used to send down the goal for division managers to meet from corporate office. Since managers reward and endorsement prospects depended on the ability to meet targets, these core managers has a strong incentive to adjust their information accordingly. Some businesses have built accounting teaching modules for their managers that help them recognize the detailed information they get. Management accountants have a vital responsibility in preparing and distributing training materials. Nowadays multifaceted managerial surroundings technical functions, particularly accounting, need to become more than suppliers of information. They must turn into a kind of an educating where managers can obtain training. So far in numerous organizations, accountants are too hectic to turn out to be instructors and internal reward systems likely depress such performances. As the range of management accounting messages enlarge to contain non-financial presentation indicators, management accountants get an additional challenge. Many managers have complexities visualizing the cause and result relationships that connect cost drivers to financial returns. Yet this is the key information needed to manage value, and education is regularly required to help managers recognize improved the reason and result relations that cause shareholder value. Increasing functional area means that managers are ever more detached from shareholder values. Many managers are powerfully devoted to the association without being dedicated to the financial aim that drives it. Management accountants have a responsibility to take part in instilling financial control and assigning financial values to non-financial managers. One technique is to need operating managers (rather than accountants) to systematically organize and present the financial study of their industry unit. At the similar occasion that the management accounting role must pay great amount of attention to the efficiency of its inner infrastructure processes, other demands are occurring. There is rising pressure to decrease on the whole cost of the finance function as a fraction of revenues. There are gradually more time consuming demands for more comprehensive external reporting. While these final goals are vital and must be achieved, setting the precedence there only boost the risk that internal accounting communications will be unsuccessful to get their objectives and that management accounting system modify will be further postponed. Conclusion As discussed above, the modern  management  accounting  relevant to modern organizational  management  issues as well rectify and reform the   traditional management   accounting  practices  to make decisions and specialized decisions based on relevant financial and non-financial information depending on the nature of activities, size, external circumstances and market conditions, customer profiles, organizational human resource issues, structural issues. Even the modern  management  accounting  is not additional but can be entirely different. As well, some are more appropriate to various organizations and some are not, given the internal  management  practices, size of organizations, top management  support, human resource  practices. Organizational structural issues, employee motivational factors, centralization decentralization issues. In other words, before considering implementing modern  management  accounting practices  the  management  must have a feasibility study considering the above issues and evaluate the cost and benefit of the systems in financial and non-financial terms. Otherwise the benefits are applied  without through evaluation and commitment by top  management, therefore the benefits of these  practices will not be realized fully. If carefully considered based on enough facts and not on emotions, then the modern  management  accounting  with other strategies will certainly help ful for  management  to make sound decisions and therefore contribute to the success of the organization than the  traditional  management accounting  practices.

Frontiers of an Arab Woman :: Culture Cultural Marriage Essays

Frontiers of an Arab Woman â€Å"When you spend a whole day among the trees, waking up with walls as horizons becomes unbearable (Mernissi, 59).† One would assume that in the face of woman’s liberation-access to an equal and higher education, choice of a husband and access to a prosperous/independent future-that a woman would be positioned to escape gender oppression. However, this is not the case for the Arab women of Fatima Mernissi’s Dreams of Trespass and Ahdaf Soueif’s In the Eye of the Sun. The two main characters of these novels-Asya and Mernissi herself-enable the reader to understand how gender inequality is rooted in the frontiers and accepted social norms that are defined by the community and adhered to by the individual. Although these woman have access to an equal education with the hopes of becoming an enlightened, liberated women, education does not guarantee that they will ever become truly liberated. This paper will discuss the differences between the educated and seemingly liberated women of Dreams of Trespass, and In the Eye of the Sun, in hopes to understand whether cultural and educational frontiers are the only characteristics which govern a woman's right to escape the gendered Arab hierarchy. Why do some women, with access to westernization and an equal education still fall victim to the subservient expectations of an unliberated and uneducated female in the Arab world? Why are these women maintaining such domination when they are surrounded by tools of liberation? What are the causes of such oppression? The maintained traditional frontiers that continue to define gender roles in these stories, Islamic traditional values, familial expectations? Using the frontiers that guide the lives of Fatima Mernissi and Asya, we will seek to understand the causes of the differences between the two characters--one woman is liberated, the other, for most of her life, remains oppressed-- when both are from progressive, wealthy and educated families. Although both Fatima and Asya grew up in privileged families, these two women evolve into very different characters--one oppressed the other liberated. Asya and Fatima were surrounded by very different frontiers (see pg 2), which ultimately led to the development of two very different women. Fatima was raised within the rigid confines of a walled city harem, but emerges a strong woman that is left unscathed by her oppressive childhood. As a child she was surrounded by strong feminist role models, who lived in the harem with her, that taught her to maintain dreams of trespass because they eventually would set her free.

Plastic Surgery :: Cosmetic Surgery

Outside beauty and staying forever young are the newest trends among today's society. Women are the highest percentage of this trend because women have been conditioned at young age to believe outer beauty is unsurpassed. Plastic or cosmetic surgery in the past has been kept hushed, never knowing did she have her nose worked on? Today plastic surgery is being embraced by the millions and highly looked upon. Recently a friend of mine had a breast augmentation. Her argument was the need to feel more confident in her own body. She felt out of proportion to the rest of her body. Young and old women today feel the need to look like Barbie, which undoubtedly comes from the need to replicate their favorite celebrities. Other causes for plastic or cosmetic surgery come from low self-esteem issues, sexual satisfaction and the need to be accepted as beautiful. For Instance, in 2000 more than 6.3 million women went under the knife by surgeons certified by the American Board of Plastic Surgery, says the American Society of Plastic Surgeons statistics. The five most popular invasive surgical procedures for women in 2000 were liposuction, eyelid surgery, nose reshaping, breast augmentation and facelift (ASPS statistics). There were nearly 11.9 million surgical and non-surgical cosmetic procedures performed in 2004, according to the most comprehensive survey to date of U.S. physicians and surgeons by the American Society for Aesthetic Plastic Surgery (ASAPS Statistics). In addition the top five surgical cosmetic procedures in 2004 were, liposuction, breast augmentation, eyelid surgery, rhinoplasty, and facelift. The top five non-surgical cosmetic procedures in 2004 were, Botox injection, laser hair removal, chemical peel, microdermabrasion, and hyaluronic acid. Overall, since 1997, there has been a 465 percent increase in the total number of cosmetic procedures. Surgical procedures increased by 118 percent, and non-surgical procedures increased by 764 percent (ASAPS Statistics). Firstly in most recent research from Dental and Health Articles, women who have had cosmetic surgery have found greater satisfaction in their sexual lifestyles. Women reported that their partners were more sexually satisfied, dressed to enhance their new figures, and were compelled to try more and different sexual activities post-surgery. Especially, the greatest benefits were seen in women who had breast augmentation, breast lift and or body contouring procedures. The study was published in the January-February 2006 issue of Aesthetic Surgery Journal (Dental and Health Articles). "The benefits of cosmetic plastic surgery appear to go beyond enabling patients to feel better about their physical appearance," commented Mark Jewell, MD, President of ASAPS, which publishes Aesthetic Surgery Journal (Dental and Health Articles).

Graduation Speech -- Graduation Speech, Commencement Address

There's a recurring question that often presents itself at different points in our lives. We ask it to ourselves in private and are asked by others at any given time. It comes from those we are yet to know well and from those who can see us with their eyes closed. It goes to the tune of, "What do you want to do someday?" or "What do you want to be?" and it rarely comes with a monosyllabic reply. The routine "I don't know," or shrug are devoted companions of this question, though every now and then an individual can focus the future before his or her eyes and give it a name. For the rest of us, the specifics may still be hazy. I can say with certainty that my response to this questions is consistently inarticulate. I do take solace, however, in the fact that it would be difficult for anyone to form a sentence when countless possible futures crash into their heads and rain down indecision and excited apprehension. "What do you want to be when you grow up?" is difficult to answer for many reasons. It is not challenging simply because of all the choices we have, but also because it f...

Group Counseling †Article Review Essay

Unlike the first article, this second article talks about group counseling in elementary school focusing on eliminating aggressive behaviors. The purpose of group counseling in this situation is to lessen aggression by influencing the feelings, emotions, judgments, and behaviors of the students in the process. Group counseling is perceived to be significant for the purpose of lessening aggressive behavior because elementary student, in their respective ages, are highly dependent on groups or group structures. Children relate with each other making it much easier to break into the group structure and influence thoughts, feelings, or behavior that would consequently influence else within the group. Eight sessions were held to implement the concepts of group counseling and intervention. At the end of the sessions, the children were required to attend a follow-up meeting four weeks after. The result of the study revealed that learning took place and the children displayed desirable changes in their behavior. What I like most about the article is that it was based on an actual study conducted on elementary students, and that the purpose of the study is to change specific behaviors within the subjects. The objective of the researcher to approach the problem proactively yielded great results as the sessions have revealed that the aggressive behavior of the children were transformed during the group counseling sessions. The article would be a great source of valid and reliable information that could be applied to future situations that requires behavioral intervention. Moreover, the process is solution-based, such that the study focused on a particular problem which is common in the elementary school setting, and conducted research and data gathering which led to a specific resolution that schools would be able to adapt of implement within their school and guidance and counseling system. Another characteristic that is likeable in the article is that it opens opportunities for further studies and other related studies, such as the adaptation of the steps carried out in the study however, differing in the problem, etc. The success of the study would urge other schools and guidance and counseling professionals to conduct other studies that would resolve other issues as well. References Stewart, J. (1996). Group Counseling Elementary School Children Who Use Aggressive Behaviors. Guidance & Counseling, 11, 12-15). Retrieved November 12, 2008 from Academic Search Complete via EBSCOHost.

Literature in the Trash Essay

Society has almost forgotten how to appreciate literature. These are the themes of both Mario Vargas Llosa’s essay entitled, Why Literature, and Bob Swift’s On Reading Trash. Both writers believe that people nowadays are not delving into books because of misconceptions regarding reading. However, they have written their ideas using very different and contradictory approaches. Llosa’s belief is that people are so engrossed in their own worlds or professions to provide time for reading good literature. Society has learned the wrong notion that great books can only be read by those who can afford to devote time to it. Since work is the priority in most people’s schedules, literature has to be put aside. He also believes that this miserable state of literature in society is caused by the fast development of science and the other scholarly aspects of life. Llosa states that â€Å"in our time, science and technology cannot play an integrating role, precisely because of the infinite richness of knowledge and the speed of its evolution, which have led to specialization and its obscurities.† However, Llosa strongly feels that literature is a binding force that helps humans reconnect with each other through their experiences, dreams and ambitions. He writes that â€Å"the brotherly link that literature establishes among human beings, compelling them to enter into dialogue and making them conscious of a common origin and a common goal, transcends all temporal barriers.† His most controversial claim is that â€Å"genuine literature is always subversive, unsubmissive, rebellious, a challenge to what exists.† He simply wants to imply that good stories or readings usually depict a life that is much better than what reality has to offer. This normal characteristic of literature is a driving force that makes humanity attempt to copy the fictional worlds in books so as to live better lives. Bob Swift’s very brief essay, on the other hand, recounts how he has grown to love reading. His story does not directly point out society’s weaknesses but it is evident to the reader that he is attacking the wrong notion that appreciating literature is only for those who like classical readings. He clearly believes that children should be free to read even popular books (a.k.a. â€Å"trash†) because their appreciation for these simpler to understand books can lead them to love good classical literature. Although both writers are criticizing society for not reading enough, Llosa and Swift have written their essays in very different ways. Llosa used lengthy, descriptive sentences that can easily tire and lose the reader. His use of words that are not commonly heard in daily living can really be very boring to a young reader. Words like â€Å"solipsism† and â€Å"arcane† are deterrents in getting his message across. It might have been easier to understand these words if they were not part of such long sentences that seem to be saying more than just one message at a time. Swift was direct to the point and frank in every way. His use of brief but very concise words allowed the reader to quickly pick up his point. The hardest word in his essay seemed to be â€Å"omnivorous.† However, because the word was used in a very short sentence, it was easy to understand what it meant. Llosa’s approach encompassed the whole world. He even used Spain’s surveys to prove his point. Swift’s farthest distance to get his message across was the local library. Somehow, Llosa’s essay tends to be arrogant and cynical. Statements like â€Å"I feel sorry for these men† and â€Å"they earn my pity† forces the reader to look up to him and feel his judgmental tones. His sentences such as â€Å"When we close the book and abandon literary fiction, we return to actual existence and compare it to the splendid land that we just left. What a disappointment awaits us!† gives a peek to how negative this writer is about his surroundings. Although Llosa claims he loves literature, he delved too much on the subject of what hinders good literature from being read to the point that the reader does not feel the passion in his words. The author’s perspective dwelt so much on current and historical problems that it was inevitable for the reader to feel anxious throughout the essay. It seems he has alienated himself from the world because of literature. Swift’s love for reading is very much felt in every paragraph of his essay. His personal approach and overflowing description of his excitement when he is reading books was contagious. One cannot help but reach out for a story to read after finishing his essay. Swift’s very practical and positive outlook is evident in the way he has written his essay. His own theory that states â€Å"if you get kids interested in reading books – no matter what sort – they will eventually go to the grander literature all by them selves† shows how down to earth the author is. It also shows how much faith he has on beginning readers. Mario Vargas Llosa and Bob Swift both recognized that society’s misconception about literature is a problem that needs to be addressed. Their approaches to the subject provide clues to their own outlooks in life. Whichever approach may be preferred, it is still to a reader’s advantage to learn his lesson from these authors and read a good book soon.

Reconstruction: American Civil War and Black Man Essay

What were the objectives and long term effects of Reconstruction on political, economic and social development of the United States? Reconstruction, literally meaning the rebuilding of the shattered nation, was a pivotal movement between 1865 and 1877 in which the South was trying to be readmitted into the Union as well as a moment in time where blacks were attempting to gain a redefined status in American society. The period of reconstruction during the later half of the 19th century consisted of two primary periods, known as presidential and radical reconstruction. Each one had its own unique goals and accomplishments; both however making significant advances for both South and the freedmen following the end of the civil war. Politically, economically, and socially, America was affected significantly in these areas during the Reconstruction era. Although successful in its pursuit of readmitting the South and redefining the status of the black man, the greater of the two accomplishm ents for the country as a whole was the rise in importance of the black man in American society. While political participation became one of the leading goals for blacks, who thought and believed was a significant part of the overall definition of freedom, following the end of the Civil War, the South was devastated economically but starting from almost nothing, the Union was able to reassemble eventually into a united nation socially. The vision of freedom during this era was quite controversial during this time, as no single man appeared to have an acceptable and clear definition that applied to the common man. As Congressman James Garfield mentioned in 1865, â€Å"What is freedom? Is it the bare privilege of not being chained? If this is all, then freedom is a bitter mockery, a cruel delusion.† The idea of freedom meant two separate things for the white and black man. African American’s definition of freedom was based on their experiences as slaves and what they observed around them in what they considered a free society. Public education and the sharing of righ ts and opportunities as other American citizens were some of the ideals that swept through the minds of the once previous slaves. Henry Adams, who was an emancipated slave in the state of Louisiana stated, â€Å"If I cannot do like a white man, I am not free†; a common theme for all blacks during this redefining stage of the black man. Succession from the Union created a difficult path for the South back into the Union following the end of the Civil War in 1866. One of the most  difficult objectives for the country as a whole was to gain the cooperation of the South in attempt to redefine the status of the black man; a goal that the South clearly and for good reason wanted no part of. Although not blatantly said before civil war broke out between the North and South, the war was fought over the debate of slavery. Therefore, as the North requested the South’s cooperation in honoring the goals and motives of this movement, there was an almost expected surge in opposition from those below the Mason-Dixie line. Social developments among the black communities created lasting effects upon American Soc iety which has lasted more than a century. Institutions like churches became centers for schools and social events, and almost a century later became strongholds for speeches that propelled the civil rights movement. The first black universities began to spring up across the country suck as Fisk University in Tennessee, Hampton University in Virginia, and Howard University in Washington D.C. Black family life which previously never existed came into existence. These social advances sparked the political and economical changes that would soon follow. Presidential Reconstruction, 1865 through 1867, consisted of a series of proclamations that had one goal, to reunite the nation. The man behind all the action, President Andrew Johnson, Lincoln’s successor, became the man in charge of the restoration of the Union. Although President Andrew Johnson once supported emancipation under Lincoln, this would soon change as he came into power. With the objective of admitting the South back into the Union, the president restored political and property rights through a series of pardons to all white southerners who agreed to take an oath of allegiance. Even though this pardon was meant to exclude leaders of the once confederates and wealthy planters, they were also given the opportunity to take an oath of allegiance. Furthermore, President Johnson appointed provisional governors to call state conventions that would create loyal governments. Unfortunately, these ‘loyal governments’ would become primarily infested with confederate leaders. The only rules that the South was required to abide by was the abolishment of slavery, reunite with the union, and pay confederated debt. But in turn, the president allowed the new governments to manage their local affairs; foreshadowing a disastrous outlook for the freedom movement of the black man. Soon after the end of the Civil War in 1865, Frederick Douglas said, â€Å"Sla very is not abolished  until the black man has the ballot.† Political participation became one of the leading goals for blacks, who thought and believed was a significant part of the overall definition of freedom. Having agreed to allow local governments in the South to govern their own affairs, this created a wall of opposition to this objective of political participation. Black codes, put into effect by southern governments to regulate blacks’ lives granted legalized marriage, ownership of property, and limited access to the courts. At the same time the black codes denied blacks voting rights and the ability to testify against whites in courts; ultimately creating a greater divide not only between the North and the South, but the North and the President of the United States. However, the ratification of the fourteenth amendment following the passing of the Civil Rights Bill in April of 1866 put citizenship into effect for all Americans, requiring the federal government to protect the rights of all Americans. This amendment stated that any state that denied the right for blacks to vote would have their representation in Congress reduced. This did not grant blacks the right to vote, however put political democracy in favor of the black community. The Reconstruction Act of 1867 marked the end of Presidential Reconstruction, and marked the beginning of a new period called Radical Reconstruction. This act along with the Tenure of Office Act, were just few of the political moves by Congress which characterized this time period. However most significant was the fifteenth amendment which under President Ulysses Grant in 1868 made it illegal to deny the right to vote based on race, literacy tests, property qualifications, and poll taxes. By 1870, the desire to have all states readmitted to the Union was completed. A few years previous of this, new state constitutions slowly started to form. Under these new state constitutions, the first established state-funded systems of free public education, prisons, orphanages, and institutions for the insane came to be. Further political action that affected American society which in some way or another has left an impact on society today is the Freedmen’s Bureau. This agency created in March of 1865 was put into place by Congress to establish schools, help the needy, settle disputes between blacks and whites, and finally maintain equal treatment for blacks and those loyal of the union in front of the courts. This bureau had a lasting impact, creating an astounding 3,000 schools, and ran hospitals that had been put into place  during the war. In addition, close to 250 blacks took office during the Reconstruction Era, marking a change in the direction of politics of the country as a whole. Following the end of the Civil War, the South was devastat ed economically. Numerous short-term effects became prominent, such as the situation with share cropping and the crop-lien system; two systems in which the black man as well as the white man came out as losers. However, due to the tremendous devastation that did take place railroads began to penetrate the South where investors and merchants took advantage of the ongoing situation. With the growing presence of the railroad companies in the South and their rapid expansion, towns and cities further inland became the market places for merchants and townsfolk. Cities like Atlanta for once were able to trade directly with the North. These cities expanded quickly and became enormous centers for great populations of people which are present today. Infrastructure, factories, and towns popped-up where they never would have existed without the introduction of the railroad. The Reconstruction Era was a period of time in American history which was represented by a country in shambles, a country divided not only b y the famous Mason-Dixie line but on grounds of ethics and morals. A country that had been devastated by war, and there existed points at which the conflict was not only between the North and South but also against the President of the United States like that of President Andrew Johnson. Starting from almost nothing, the Union was able to reassemble eventually into a united nation. The country was by no means unified on their perspectives such as politics or black’s place in society, but at least they were once again one union. Although unified once more, the reclassification of the black man in society far out-did the importance associated with readmitting the South into the Union. A country separated on accounts of civil war is by no means an easy situation to deal with. The process by which Congress and the North as well as South had to undergo in order to become what we now call the United States is no less than a marvel. But a greater success story can be found within the decade or so we call the Reconstruction Era. The freedom allotted to the black men that were once under white control is absolutely incredible. Not only was slavery abolished and black men allowed to vote thanks to the 15th amendment, but they finally took hold in American life with their own communities and establishments. There exists no other point  in American history besides the Revolutionary War that a group of people fought so hard, in desperation for their rights and the opportunity to live freely with the ability to reap nearly the same benefits as their counter parts, the white man. Within 12 years the black men were no longer slaves to a wealthy plantation owner, and no longer were they limited in society due to the belief that they were completely ignorant, but were now part of a nation that took significant progress in making blacks their equals. Although not perfect, an entire race was finally being recognized by society as a product-full part of society. A shattered nation was by no means an understatement in describing the condition of America following the Civil War. Not only having the overwhelming task of coming to terms of agreements with the succeeded states in order to re-unify the country, the country was also placed with another enormous situation, having to redefine the status of blacks in American Society. America has marveled many over its history, and has not let-up in its ability to amaze those in the accomplishments and advances made during this period of time. Whether it be the ratification of the 13th, 14th, and 15th amendments, or the fact that by 1870 the once divided nation was whole again. America has the ability to overcome even with the odds against them. The railroad system not only penetrated the South, but created a lasting impact like that of bustling towns which have now grown into tremendous cities such as Atlanta. Public education finally came to the forefront with the creation of Universities still prominent today like that of Fisk University. However far apart and at the same time inter-related the objectives of the Reconstruction Era were, the re-admittance of the South into the Union was not the highlight of the late 19th century, but masked by the success story of the redefining of the black man in American society.

Green Banking

Introduction: Deforestation, dissertation, flood, soil erosion, siltation, sedimentation, river bank erosion, increased evaporation, Co2 emissions, rising sea-level, displacement, cyclones, salinization, arsenic contamination are most burning word in the present world. And all words are related natural disaster and climate change. Because, climate change is the most complicated issue the world is facing. Across the globe there have been continuous endeavors to measure and mitigate the risk of climate change caused by human activity.Another name of this attempt is â€Å"Sustainable Development† to us. The process of sustainable development involves all sectors in the economy – Government, NGOs, corporate, citizens and, of course, the financial sector. Our beloved mother land Bangladesh is one most affected country by this climate change. And Bangladesh banking industry is ahead one step from other financial institutions for taking endeavors to measure and mitigate the ri sk of climate change caused by human and banking activity. This activity is familiar in banking industry with title of â€Å"Green Banking†. 1. Green Banking: Green banking in general refers to the efforts of the Banking sector to keep the environment green and to minimize greenhouse effects through rationalizing their strategies, policy, decisions and activities pertaining to banking service, business and in-house operational activities. Green banking may be seen as a component of the global initiative from Banks end to save environment. Green banks or environmentally responsible banks do not only improve their own standards but also affect socially responsible behavior of other business. 1. 2 Rational of the Study:The success of a program like BBA is determined by how successfully the student of this program implemented in the practical life, which they learned from the program. Universities take many steps to make bridge between the academic knowledge and actual business w orld event of BBA students. Bangladesh banking industry is ahead one step from other financial institutions for taking endeavors to measure and mitigate the risk of climate change caused by human and banking activity. In Bangladesh there are many banks to do Green Banking among our domestic banks.The world is now become globalize so we have to sustain in the competitive world. We must take the competitive advantage that’s why we cannot avoid the environment while doing business. That’s why I feel very much interest in Green Banking. And it has another importance to me that is implementation of my educational knowledge and theoretical knowledge to the practical. 1. 3. 2 Specific Objectives: 1. 3. 1 General Objective: 1. 3 Objective of the Study: The objectives of the report are in lies with the objective of Project work.The prime goal of Project work is to provide a theoretical and practical experience to the student and to generate an opportunity to match the theoretic al concepts with real life situation. As stated above to deal with these objectives this report has been primarily divided into two parts. The objectives are: The general objective of this report is to fulfill the partial requirements of the BBA program and making me competent to cope with corporate culture through observing the general banking and remove the gap between practical world and theoretical knowledge.The specific objectives of this report is to I. To get comprehensive knowledge on overall banking industry of Bangladesh. II. To gather comprehensive knowledge on banking functions. III. To get vast knowledge about Green Banking. IV. To learn the major areas and products of Green Banking. V. To learn initiatives for promoting green banking at home and abroad. VI. To identify Green Banking policy. VII. To identify the necessity of Green Banking for Banking Industry. VIII. To identify the steps of Bangladesh Bank for Green Banking. 1. 4 Scope of the Study:We know that Banglade sh is the most preferable playground to play with people life for natural disaster. Deforestation, dissertation, flood, soil erosion, siltation, sedimentation, river bank erosion, increased evaporation, Co2 emissions, rising sea-level, displacement, cyclones, salinization, arsenic contamination are most burning word in the present world. And all these words are related natural disaster and very suitable to accommodate in our country. That’s why, Green Banking open a new era for Bangladesh banking industry to create a positive image, increase market value and contribute for developing the country.In our country Banks’ are the major of welfare driven economy and promoter of balanced growth in a country like Bangladesh which has a poverty stricken contemporary economic background. So Banks’ have a great opportunity to implement their mission, objectives very easily through green banking. By adopting a comprehensive green banking policy, installing new green banking products, considering green banking strategies at time of loan disbursement, developing program for the clients, mass people, and stakeholders to create awareness among them about the environment a bank can easily practice green banking.Bangladesh Bank the central bank of Bangladesh is already placed an order on February 27, 2011for the banking industry. Dhaka Bank Ltd. , Shahjalal Islami Bank, Mutual Trust Bank Ltd. , AB Bank Ltd. , Al-Arafah Islami Bank Ltd. , National Bank Ltd. , Uttara Bank Ltd. , Rupali Bank Ltd. , Jamuna Bank Ltd. , Brac Bank Ltd. , United Commercial Bank Ltd. , Basic Bank Ltd. , along with Islami Bank Bangladesh Ltd. , are famous for practicing green banking in Bangladesh. It is obvious that every study has some limitations. The study I have made is of great importance and require me huge work.While conducting I had to face a number of problems, which called limitations of my report. Those limiting factors that hampered my smooth workings to prepare this rep ort are as follows: * Lack of time: The time period of this study is very short. We had some weeks in my hand to complete this report, which was not enough. So I could not go in depth of the study. * Insufficient data: There is a great lacking of numerical data about green banking. Some desired information could not be collected due to confidentiality of business. *Other limitations: I have lacking of previous experience in this concern. And many practical matters have been written from my own observation that may vary from person to person. 1. 5 Methodology of the study: 1. 5. 1 Methods of data collection: Methodology is the study or theoretical analysis of particular working methods. Adoption of methodology is an important factor in performing any study. If the methodology of the study is properly adopted and the study runs properly according to the methodology, the study is supposed to be successful.The following represents the methodology of the study. * Conceptualization: Conce ptualization is the way of developing concepts about the thesis topic and its related topics and its related matter the study follows a procedural approach in order to get complete picture of concentration of different banks initiatives to green banking in worldwide and in Bangladesh. * Theoretical Framework: This report theoretical framework is focused on the insight of the current process theories and techniques in related to practicing green banking to get sustainability.It emphasizes the green banking policy, green banking strategies, green products and probable key opportunities of the products. And their inter relationship with making the environment green. 1. 5. 2 Sources of Data: * Primary Sources: The â€Å"Primary Sources† are as follows- i. Face-to-face conversation with the respective officers and staffs of the Branch. ii. Informal conversation with the investment clients. * Secondary Sources: The â€Å"Secondary Sources† of data and information are: i. Ann ual Report (Last five years) of different Banks’. ii.Periodicals published by Bangladesh Bank. iii. Various books, articles, compilations etc. regarding green banking functions, and the policies. 1. 5. 3 Data processing and analysis: Collected data and information both from primary and secondary sources were analyzed in the. Raw data from the survey have collected and edited and then classified and edited and then classified according to the objectives. I have used some techniques for the purpose of analysis. These are: * Theoretical analysis * Graphical analysis * Tabular analysis 1. 5. Preparation of the report: Following steps are associated with the preparation of this thesis: I. Representations of the assembled data through graph II. Preparation of the draft report III. Preparation of the final report 1. 5. 5 Flow Chart of the study Methodology: Conceptualization Developing Theoretical Framework Fixing Goals and Objectives Data Collection Primary Data Secondary Data Rela ted Organization Identification of the Potential Problem Data Organization Data Processing, Interpretation and Analysis Findings Recommendations Report PresentationLiterature Review: A comprehensive literature study was done to gain an exact scenario of the present status of green banking. During the literature survey relevant information was collected from a number of books journals, magazines, reports, government and non-government documents and other printed materials from the concerned financial and non-financial institutions. A very little study was conducted with the intensity of the green banking till today, although green banking is a burning issue and very crucial phenomena for the present world banking industry.Green (1989) revealed that a bank's responsibility extends to Government, customers, shareholders, staff, and the community. Companies do have ethical responsibility, but it is not protected by limited liability from the consequences of their actions. A company's re cord and the perception of its ethics affect its reputation and ensure long-term success or failure. Further, he concluded that as we face increasingly complex and conflicting issues, our commitment to ethical behavior would be tested. Hitt, Keats and DeMarie (1998) identified strategic challenges and discontinuities encountered by firms in 21st century.They analyzed that to build and maintain competitive advantage, requires a new types of organization, leaders for survival and global market leadership. It was concluded that success in 21st century organization would depend on building strategic flexibility like exercising strategic leadership, building dynamic core competencies, focusing and developing human capital, effectively using new manufacturing technologies and implementing new organization structures and culture. Therefore, the responsibility of banks in this scenario should be reviewed so that changes of 21st century can be effectively controlled.There is a strong need fo r re-inventing the role of banks as Jeucken (2001) has compared three world regions Europe (24 banks), North America (6 banks) and Oceania (Japan and Australia; 4 banks) for the period of 1998 to 2000. He analyzed and focused some important differences between regions, countries, and banks with regard to sustainable banking. The methodology was entirely based on studying environmental and annual reports of banks. He concluded that 53 percent of the banks adopt a defensive position towards the environment issue.Still, a large group of banks do not see the role, which they can play a sustainable development. Sahu and Rajasekhar (2005) addressed and analyzed certain questions regarding bank credit to the agricultural sector and impact of the closure of rural bank branches on the provision of credit to agriculture by analyzing the data on the total outstanding credit provided by the scheduled commercial banks to the agricultural sector during the period 1981 to 2000 and concluded that p rofit-oriented norms persuaded commercial banks to neglect the agricultural sector, provision of a credit subsidy reduce the supply of agricultural credit.Lyne, Nielson, and Tierney (2009) evaluated and analyzed10, 000 Multilateral Development Banks (MDBs) loans from 1980 to 2000. They found that (MDBs) dramatically increased social lending for health, education, and safety nets after 1985. Yet the great powers’ social policy preferences remained relatively static from 1980 to 2000. This contradicts the conventional view that powerful states control International Organizations (IOs). They argued that highly institutionalized IOs like MDBs require a complete model of possible member-state coalitions encompassing the preferences of all member states—not just major powers.McMichael (2009) questions the Bank's new vision, arguing that ‘new wine in old bottles’ will continue to supply affluence rather than ‘feed the world’ and sustain its agricultu res, especially at a time when land is being commandeered for luxury foods (e. g. the livestock complex, all-season vegetables and fruits) and bio-fuels, neither of which feed the poor. Ironically, the reproduction of poverty remains the Bank's main source of legitimacy. Goyal and Joshi (2011) studied a sample of 19 bank mergers (post liberalization) based on umber of branches and geographical penetration in the market. Apart from financial aspects, they observed some emerging issues like employees’ perception, branch size, customer perception, communication, change management strategies, and human resource management. These issues can be settled when a bank implements certain social and ethical policies. Weber and Remer (2011) described Social Banking as a way of value-driven banking that has a positive social and ecological impact at its heart, as well as its own economic sustainability.Most of the Social Banks came out of the crisis much stronger and bigger than they were before. In addition, none of the Social Banks had to be bailed out with public funds. This increasingly attracts the interest not only of clients searching for safe and sensible ways to deposit their funds but also of conventional banks that begin to understand the potential of a more socially oriented approach towards banking. It is a matter of awareness, which compel us to have some views from a different outlook.Bearing in mind the various functions of a bank and current scenario, now it is high time to understand the role of banks in 21st century. Therefore, this study is conducted to understand the various roles and responsibilities of banks in order to strive more effectively and efficiently against some current issues, which has already attracted the attention of the world. Following are the objectives to uncover the issues: * To understand the various roles and functions of Banks. * To know various emerging issues of 21st century in Banking Industry of India.The synopsis of my report literature review is Green Banking; the focus is on satisfying existing needs in the real economy and the society; also taking into account their social, cultural, ecological, and economic sustainability. In the repercussion of the crisis, many people felt that green banking is more caring for the overall progress of society than traditional and mainstream banking. It is assumed that green banking may provide important lessons for the banking and financial sector to avoid further crises in the future. 2. 1 Nature of the Research: Research is the systematic investigation into existing or new knowledge.It is used to establish or confirm facts, reaffirm the results of previous work, solve new or existing problems, support theorems, or develop new theories. The goal of the research process is to produce new knowledge or deepen understanding of a topic or issue. This process takes three main forms: I. Exploratory Research: An exploratory study is undertaken when not much is kno wn about the situation at hand or no information is available on how similar problem or research issues have been solved in the past. II. Constructive Research: Constructive research tests theories and proposes solutions to a problem or question.III. Empirical research: Empirical research tests the feasibility of a solution using empirical evidence. The literature review of this report is saying us a very little study was conducted with the intensity of the green banking till today, although green banking is a burning issue and very crucial phenomena for the present world banking industry. So, definitely my this report research type is exploratory research because, An exploratory study is undertaken when not much is known about the situation at hand or no information is available on how similar problem or research issues have been solved in the past.Green Banking: Global warming, which is one of the most burning & discussed issues, has the worst impact on the climate of the planet a s a whole. The rapid change in climate will be too great to be adapted by the eco-systems, since the change have already made direct impact on biodiversity, agriculture, forestry, dry land, water resources and human health. As such, issue of global warming calls for a global response. Due to unusual weather pattern, rising greenhouse gas, declining air quality etc. ociety demands that business also take responsibility in safeguarding the planet. The key areas of environmental degradation cover air pollution, water pollution, surface water scarcity, encroachment of rivers, improper disposal of industrial, medical and house-hold waste, deforestation, loss of open space, loss of biodiversity and many other issues. In response to increasing awareness over climate change, environmental degradation, urgent measures for sustainable development have been addressed by some of the stake holders all over the world.Banking system hold a unique position in an economy that can affect production, business and other economic activities through their procedure for financing activities which would in turn contribute to protect environment/climate from pollution. Moreover, efficiency in energy use, water consumption and waste reduction may significantly contribute for operating cost of many of the large banks of the country.Projects/Businesses those include waste prevention and resource efficiency systems in a wide range of sectors including community, commercial and business organizations – such as shopping centers, regional airports, hospitals, construction, farms, a university, public organizations, and educational organizations are receiving enhanced attention these days. Green finance as a part of Green Banking makes great contribution to the transition to resource-efficient and low carbon industries i. e. Green industry and green economy in general.Green banking is a component of the global initiative by a group of stakeholders to save the climate/ environment. Gree n banks or environmentally responsible banks do not only improve their own standards but also affect socially responsible behavior of other businesses. 3. 2 Why Green Banking: 3. 1 What is Green Banking: * * Green Bank means * An ethical bank * A socially responsible bank * A sustainable bank. * Green Banking is to support: * Innovative green products * Activities those are not hazardous to environment and help conserve environment. To help safeguard the planet from * unusual weather pattern; * rising greenhouse gas; * Declining air quality. * For ensuring green economic growth: economic growth which is sustainable. * To meet one of the Millennium Development Goals: Ensure Environmental Sustainability. 3. 3 Definitions of Green Banking: 3. 3. 2 The Broad focus: 3. 3. 1 In general focus: Green Banking is like a normal bank' which considers the entire social and environmental factors; it is also called as an ethical bank' Ethical banks have started with the aim of protecting the envir onment.Green banking refers to the efforts of the Banking sector to keep the environment green and to minimize greenhouse effects through rationalizing their strategies, policy, decisions and activities pertaining to banking service, business and in-house operational activities. Green banking may be seen as a component of the global initiative from Banks end to save environment. Green banks or environmentally responsible banks do not only improve their own standards but also affect socially responsible behavior of other business. Green banking can benefit the environment either by reducing the carbon footprint of consumers or banks.Either works, some with paper. Either a bank o (a consumer can conserve paper and benefit the environment. Ideally, a green banking initiative will involve both. Online banking is an example of this. When a bank’s customers go online, the environmental benefits work both ways. Green banking means combining operational improvements and technology, a nd changing client habits. 3. 3. 3 The definitions derived from specialists: * Sherman stresses (Key Differentiator of Green Choice Bank, Chicago): â€Å"With green banking, what sets leaders apart from the rest is†¦ ow you invest back in the community, so we are trying to develop loan products and deposit products that reward good environmental choices * Todd Larson (Community investing guide, green America): â€Å"a green bank is a logical extension of -socially responsible investing. † * Sherman Stresses, (Key Differentiator of Green Choice Bank, Chicago): â€Å"With green banking, what sets leaders apart from the rest are†¦ how you invest back in the community, so we’re trying to develop loan products and deposit products that reward good environmental choices†. Todd Larson (Community investing guide, green America): â€Å"A green bank is a logical extension of socially responsible investing. † * Justin Pritchard (columnist, about com): â⠂¬Å"Green Bank is a bank focusing on sustainability. It is bank like others but they are to claim the â€Å"green banking† niche, and they hope to excel by serving companies and individuals interested in green business. For the most part, the bank will work with businesses that find ways to do more and use less†. * Pravakar Shahoo (Author, Green Banking in India): The banks should go green and play a pro-active role to take environmental and ecological aspects as part of their lending principle, which would force industries to go for mandated investment for environmental management, use of appropriate technologies and management systems†. * Geoff Green wade, President and CEO, Green Bank (Houston): â€Å"Green banking means combining operational improvements and technology, and changing client habits†. * Stacy Ayiers (Author, Green banking-a new resource bank): â€Å"Specific banks designed to aid environmentally-conscious businesses and consumers with bet ter incentives and loan rates.Despite the changes in our economic system in business caused by the housing market, these banks are willing to work with companies who want to empower sustainability†. 3. 4 Conceptual derivation of Green Banking: : Americans are starting to turn to eco-friendly banking as a way to help reduce the carbon footprint from their normal banking activities. This movement away from branch and paper banking is being led by green banks that believe in social responsibility. The discussion around environmental management in financial institutions has until now largely taken place in industrialized countries.However, in view of the financial globalization and ever increasing environ-mental regulations, many financial institutions operating in developing and emerging countries are pressed to better manage risks arising from environmental liabilities. Besides credit and market risks, damage to an institution’s reputation often represents an important dr iver for international banks. Domestic players – including microfinance institutions may have different incentives, among others to contribute to local development, but they play an equally important role.Empirical research since 1990 concluded that banks were not interested in their own environmental situation or that of their clients. We are witnessing certain changes and growing awareness in the field of financial sector like; environmental investment funds, loans, green banking, global banking, rural banking, agri-banking, social banking and ethical banking. * Social Banking: In Social Banking, the focus is on satisfying existing needs in the real economy and the society; also taking into account their social, cultural, ecological, and economic sustainability.In the repercussion of the crisis, many people felt that social banking is more caring for the overall progress of society than traditional and mainstream banking. It is assumed that social banking may provide import ant lessons for the banking and financial sector to avoid further crises in the future. According to Institute for Social Banking, â€Å"Social Banking describes the provision of banking and financial services that consequently pursue, as their main objective, a positive contribution to the potential of all human beings to develop, today and in the future†.Benedikter (2011) defines Social Banks as â€Å"banks with a conscience†. They focus on investing in community, providing opportunities for the disadvantaged, and supporting social, environmental, and ethical agendas. Social banks try to invest their money only in endeavors that promote the greater good of society, instead of those, which generate private profit just for a few. He has also explained the main difference between mainstream banks and social banks that mainstream banks are in most cases focused solely on the principle of profit maximization whereas, social banking implements the triple principle of profi t-people-planet.Social banks care about making a profit, but equally for promoting human and environmental well-being. It is this triple principle that they follow when they decide to whom to lend money, and for what purpose. It means that social banks consider social and economic â€Å"sustainability† when making financial decisions. â€Å"Sustainable† investments and lending practices are ones that produce a better quality of life for the greatest possible amount of people, and whose effects endure over time and continue to produce a multiplicity of positive effects long after the initial investment.Now-a-days, social banks are becoming cultural power as social banking includes the concepts of humane and humanist in financial activities. * Ethical Banking: The Cooperative Bank (UK) offers its customers home energy rating on purchases of consumer durables. The purpose is to enable them to better understand how energy efficient a property is and how to make improvement s. Moreover, bank's mortgages include carbon-offset features. Every year that a customer holds a mortgage, the bank offsets a fifth of the carbon dioxide emissions arising from a typical household's energy consumption.Following customer consultation in 2003, offset money were used for reforestation in Uganda, a Bangladesh project that trains local people to build energy efficient stoves and a Bulgaria project supporting micro-hydro electricity generation. Citizens Bank (Canada) allows its customers to choose between a variety of VISA cards that benefit Oxfam Canada, Amnesty International or their philanthropic Shared Interest program by donating $0. 10 to not-for-profit initiatives worldwide every time their VISA card is used. This enabled Citizens Bank to donate thousands of dollars to Doctors.These are only a few of the wide range of services available at different ethical banks. * Agri-Banking Alston (2004) argued that international and national events like globalization, interna tional policy manipulations such as the US farm bill, and national policy, are having a major impact on agricultural production in Australia. It is more likely that these issues are acting to continue and exacerbate a trend towards reduced viability for farm families evident in economic and social trends since at least the 1950s.It was further argued that social aspects of agricultural production in Australia noting social trends and drawing attention to the changing social relations of agriculture. It was concluded that there is dominance of farm families, the role of corporate agriculture, ethnic diversity, the importance of women, and the practice of farm transfers. Punjab National Bank’s (PNB) Corporate Social Responsibility Report (2010) shows that agriculture and farmer’s related initiatives are taken by PNB increased lending to agriculture, weaker sectors and women; which results in impacting their lives through income generation.Moreover, the report shows that the Bank has established two trusts viz. , PNB Farmers Welfare Trust and PNB Centenary Rural Development Trust. These trusts are involved in running training centers which imparts training in farming and also other non-farm activities. PNB Farmers’ Welfare Trust was established in the year 2000 for welfare of the farmers, women and youth in rural areas. Under the aegis of the Trust, 8 Farmers’ Training Centers (FTCs) have been made operational at villages.Apart from this Mobile Van is being used at FTC Sacha Khera for providing off-site training on improved package & practices of agricultural crops & allied activities, soil testing and Jatropha cultivation. In addition, the van is acting as an information kiosk. * Rural Banking: Ramachandran and Swaminathan (2002) examined the effect of financial sector reform on rural banking and rural credit transactions in India. They reviewed the trends in selected indicators of rural banking at the national level over the last 30 years.Moreover, they used longitudinal data for a village in Tamil Nadu to examine changes in patterns of indebtedness and credit transactions among landless labor households. They concluded that the exploitation of landless labor households in the credit market has intensified with the introduction of financial reforms and lastly, the policy was envisaged as an alternative to the formal credit sector in the countryside. Burgess and Pande (2005) evaluated the impact of a large state-led bank branch expansion program in India on rural poverty between 1977 and 1990.They used deviations and regression analysis and found that branch expansion into rural unbanked locations in India significantly reduced rural poverty. * Global Banking: Miller, S. R. and Parkhe, A. (2002) conducted empirical test of the liability of foreignness in the global banking industry, using Fitch–IBCA Bank Scope data for the period 1989–96 and their findings strongly support the liability of foreignn ess hypothesis. Further, the data showed some evidence that the X-efficiency of a foreign-owned bank is strongly influenced by the competitiveness of its home country and the host country in which it operates.Moreover, it was found that in some environments U. S. -owned banks is more X-efficient than other foreign-owned banks in some environments, but less X-efficient in others. Mathur, N. D. (2009) has identified a visible trend that growing integration of economies and the markets around the world is making global banking a reality. The use of Internet banking has widened frontiers of Global Banking and it is now possible to market financial products and services on a global basis. Like other industries, banking has become more global. Banking stands out, however, in its legal form and reliance on cross border positions.Banks run special risks in lending abroad. McCauley, McGuire and Peter (2010) have shown that some banking systems are international in their organization while ot hers are multinational, and that the multinational model can be operated with a greater or lesser degree of centralization. While much work remains to be done in assessing the performance of various banking models during the crisis, it does appear that local assets proved more stable under stress. Cross-border claims and liabilities proved less stable. These findings hold even if account is taken of the series break represented by US securities irms becoming reporting banks, exchange rate changes and distortions from mergers and acquisitions, some of which resulted from the crisis itself. * Other Issues: Banks, usually take help of various Information Technology (IT) based channels to provide their banking and other services. For this purpose, they are in need to provide continuous and frequent information about their services. We can use IT as a strong means to fulfill our objectives social and ethical banking. The IT based banking services are as follows: Mobile Banking is a new a nd emerging concept.Large numbers of people are still not aware about usage of mobile banking. In this, one's mobile phone is used to conduct banking transactions. The popularity of Online Banking is significantly increasing day by day. It is a term used for performing various transactions, payments, and account statements etc. with the help of Internet. Relationship Managers, mostly for private banking or business banking, often visit customers at their homes or businesses. Video banking is a term used for performing banking transactions or professional banking consultations via a remote video and audio connection.Video banking can be performed via purpose built banking transaction machines (similar to an Automated teller machine), or via a Video conference enabled bank branch clarification. * 3. 4. 1 Flow Chart of conceptual derivation of Green Banking: Green Banking: There are some major concerns about environmental issues. Therefore, organization need to pay attention to their o utputs whether they are violating environmental issues or not. At Triodos Bank, it is believed that profit should not be earned at the expense of the world's most pressing environmental problems.That is why they finance organizations from organic food and farming businesses and pioneering renewable energy enterprises, to recycling companies and nature conservation projects. Citizens Bank of Canada has lowered its interest rate on loans for carbon emission cars. These kinds of efforts will surely motivate other banks to promote green banking and consequently in long run environmental issues can be resolved. Agri Banking Rural Banking Global Banking Social Banking Ethical Banking Other Issues Green Banking 3. 4. 2 Green Banking: A New Eco-Friendly Concept in Banking Arena:Green banking is a component of the global initiative by a group of stakeholders to save environment where, sustainable development has emerged as a new paradigm of development in response to the current discourse of development that over-exploits natural environment for economic prosperity. The sustainable development can best be achieved by allowing markets to work within an appropriate framework of cost efficient regulations and economic instruments. One of the major economic agents influencing overall industrial activity and economic growth is the financial institutions such as banking sector.The banking sector influences the economic growth and development in terms of both quality and quantity, there by changing the nature of economic growth. Banking sector is one of the major sources of financing investment for commercial projects which is one of the most important economic activities for economic growth. Therefore, banking sector can play a crucial role in promoting environmentally sustainable and socially responsible investment (SRI). Banks may not be the polluters themselves but they will probably have a banking relationship with some companies/investment projects that are polluters or could be in future.Banking sector is generally considered as environmental friendly in terms of emissions and pollutions. Internal environmental impact of the banking sector such as use of energy, paper and water are relatively low and clean. Environmental impact of banks is not physically related to their banking activities but with the customer’s activities. Therefore, environmental impact of bank’s external activity is huge though difficult to estimate. Moreover, environment management in the banking business is like risk management.It increases the enterprise value and lowers loss ratio as higher quality loan portfolio results in higher earnings. Thus, encouraging environmentally responsible investments and prudent lending should be one of the responsibilities of the banking sector. Further, those industries which have already become green and those, which are making serious attempts to grow green, should be accorded priority to lending by the banks. This method o f finance can be called as â€Å"Green Banking†, an effort by the banks to make the industries grow green and in the process restore the natural environment.This concept of â€Å"Green Banking† will be mutually beneficial to the banks, industries and the economy. Not only â€Å"Green Banking† will ensure the greening of the industries but it will also facilitate in improving the asset quality of the banks in future. Internationally, there is a growing concern about the role of banking and institutional investors for environmentally responsible/socially responsible investment projects. Banking and other financial institutions are more effective towards achieving this goal for the kind of intermediary role they play in any economy and for their potential reach to the number of investors.Environment is no longer the exclusive concern of the government and the direct polluters, but also the other partners and stake- holders in the business like financial institution s such as banking institutions can play a very important role in fostering linkage between economic development and environmental protection. To substantiate, quality of service, the implementation of environmental conservation measures, support to the deprived section of the society, concern about the quality of life and nature are the basic principles that the financial institutions are relying on in their business strategy in recent years.The banking operation targets a certain long-term rate of return on their credit and investment. Therefore, it is of importance to the banking sector to follow certain environmental evaluation of the projects before financing. There are studies showing positive correlation between environmental performance and financial performance (Hamilton, 1995; Hart, 1995; Blacconiere and Pattern, 1993). Thus, it is imperative for the financial institutions in the present context to consider environmental performance in deciding whether to invest in companie s or advise clients to do so.The formation of different rules for environmental management like resource conservation, clean water act, clean air act, toxic substance control act are also viewed as potentially significant contributor to the recent increase in environmental liability for banking institutions. Adoption of these principles will offer significant benefits to financial institutions, to consumers and also the stakeholders. There have been attempts to adopt sustainable development strategies from various quarters at international level.Multilateral agencies, international consortiums, multilateral financial and development institutions have been advocating for environmental standards and strategies to evaluate investment projects. In the recent years, the international organization for standardization (ISO) has issued series of comprehensive guidelines for incorporating environmental protection and pollution prevention objectives into industrial activity worldwide, known c ollectively as ISO 14000. It would certainly give the much needed impetus for the banking industry to expand the use of environmental information in their credit extension and investment decisions.In this backdrop, the paper aims to discuss the issues of sustainability in Banking and how banks can play a role for sustainable growth and development, particularly in the Bangladesh context. The state of environment in Bangladesh is rapidly deteriorating. The key areas of environmental degradation cover air pollution, water pollution and scarcity, encroachment of rivers, improper disposal of industrial medical and house-hold waste, deforestation, and loss of open space and loss of biodiversity. In addition, Bangladesh is one of the most climate change vulnerable countries.In line with global development and response to the environmental degradation, financial sector in Bangladesh should play important roles as one of the key stake holders. In response to the above, urgent measures are r equired by stake holders for sustainable development and thereby save the planet. Banks hold a unique position in an economic system that can affect production, business and other economic activities through their financing activities and thus may contribute to pollute environment. Moreover, energy and water efficiency and waste reduction are of high concern for many big banks.Green banks or environmentally responsible banks do not only improve their own standards but also affect socially responsible behavior of other business. 3. 4. 4 Green Banking & Environmental Risk Management Interrelationship: 3. 4. 3 Green Banking & Sustainable Growth: Sustainable development meets the need of present generation without compromising the ability of future generation to meet their own needs. The key to sustainable development is to ensure broad-based inclusive economic growth, with: * Promotion of natural resources; Preservation of regenerating capacity of ecological system; * Avoidance of envi ronmental risks on future generations. Banking sector can play an intermediary role between economic development and environmental protection. Green Banking & Environmental Risk Management (ERM) move together to care for: * Environmental problems * Poverty & environment * High consumption patterns * Health and environment * Moral obligation 3. 4. 6 Scope of Green Banking: 3. 4. 5 Purpose of Green Banking:The purpose of Green Banking Policy will be to ensure necessary measures to protect environmental pollution while providing service or financing customers as well as to improve in-house environment management through efficient use of various resources at Head Office, Branches and other link offices. This policy document will be applicable for issues related to Green Banking with respect to activities of the Bank and its customers that have impact on the environment. 3. 4. 7 Benefits of Green Banking: Apart from enrichment of the external environment, Green Banking may also help impr ove the performance of the Bank in the following ways: Basically Ethical (Green) banking avoids as much paper work as possible and rely on online/electronic transactions for processing so that you get green credit cards and green mortgages. Less paperwork means less cutting of trees. * Creating awareness to business people about environmental and social responsibility enabling them to do an environmental friendly business practice. * Green (Ethical) banks adopt and implement environmental standards for lending, which is really a proactive idea that would enable eco-friendly business practices which would benefit our future generations. When you are awarded with a loan, the interest of that loan is comparatively less with normal banks because ethical banks give more importance to environmental friendly factors – ecological gains. Natural resources conservation is also one of the underlying principles in a green bank while assessing capital/operating loans to extracting/industr ial business sector. * Improve the image of the Bank by showing and serving its commitment to the environment. * Significantly reduce operational cost due to less consumption of office stationeries, energy and water. Enhance productivity as well as efficiency of the employees through skilled & optimum usage of technology. * Reduce possible health hazards by installing eco-friendly equipments. * Save significant portion of Forestry by reducing paper usage * Lessen emission of Green House Gases (GHGs) through making less corporate travelling through teleconferencing as well as arranging transport pool for the employees. * Help develop customer’s consciousness on environment by arranging awareness development program * Reduce the extent of Non-Performing Loans (NPLs) if investment goes to less risky projectsThe Initiatives for Promoting Green Banking: 4. 1 Ethical Initiatives and Community Involvement: Numerous banks (as well as some conventional banks) create initiates that all ow the banker to contribute to organizations that have positive societal environmental impacts either in the local community or in developing countries. For example the Cooperative Bank (UK) offers customers â€Å"a free Home Energy Rating on all house purchases, enabling them to better understand how energy efficient a property is and how to make improvements. Additionally, all of the bank's mortgages include carbon-offset features.Every year that a customer holds a mortgage the bank offsets a fifth of the carbon dioxide emissions arising from a typical household’s energy consumption following customer consultation 2003 offset monies were used for reforestation in Uganda, a Bangladesh project which trains local people to build energy efficient stoves and a Bulgaria project supporting micro-hydro electricity generation. Whereas the Citizens Bank (Canada) allows its customers to choose between a variety of VISA cards that benefit Oxfam Canada Amnesty International or their ph ilanthropic Shared interest program by donating $0. 0 to non-for-profit initiatives worldwide every time their VISA card is used. This enabled Citizens Bank to donate $24,800 to Doctors without Borders/ Medicines Sans Frontiers in 2007. These are only a few of the wide range of services available at different ethical banks. Many also have lower interest loans for low emission cars (ex. of low emission car initiative put forth by citizens Bank). Ethical banks excel in community involvement, as do other financial instructions such as credit unions. Community involvement is not limited to ethical banks as conventional banks also partake in such actions.The following are a few examples of community involvement done by ethical banks, credit unions, and conventional banks: * Affordable housing projects (ex. Van city ; Citizens bank) * Many banks/credit unions try to increase financial literacy and consciousness for environment in the community * Financially support community events (for e x. each year TD Canada trust donates to a local cause). The role of Green banking in Environmental Management. The world has seen much focus on economic progress and mankind has made giant steps in its journey through time.The side effects of the development process have’ however, also been equally enormous-loss of biodiversity' climatic change' environmental damage, etc. Social issues such as, poverty alleviation have also become more important as the world has progressed economically’ Banks play an important role in development of an economy. The economic reforms totally have changed the banking sector. The banking sector forming a portion of the financial sector primarily works as a financial intermediary generating money supply.The banks should go green and play a pro-active role to take environmental and ecological aspects as part of their lending principle, which would force industries to go for mandated investment for environmental management' use of appropriate technologies and management systems. Banks that are serious about sustainable development put principles at the heart of decision-making' Fundamental issues such as how deals are done and loans are made, in searching proactively for opportunities and even in establishing and adhering to policy frameworks that deliberately preclude involvement in certain investments.For example, an investment in a factory that pollutes heavily (and passes on the costs to the society at large) will generally have a higher financial rate of return than a factory that invests in expensive pollution control technology' as a result showing a lower rate of return. A Green Banking movement such as less paper is good for the environment where Customers make paper less deposits, withdrawals and remittances. Going green through I. No paper statements (statements and charges summaries will be delivered electronically Via Internet Banking) II.Fewer letters to open (Bank will call or email us for service reasons wherever possible rather than write to us) III. No cheque book or paying-in book for our current account. IV. No paper-based marketing. The Bank can concentrate on Nature and environment by projects in the field of renewable energy (wind energy & hydro-electric projects), organic agriculture across the entire value chain including health food shops and environment technology such as recycling companies and nature conservation projects.As environmental issues gain greater attention, pressures are being placed on all industries, including financial services, to implement â€Å"green† initiatives. Like Resource conservation through cash recycling, double-sided statement print-outs’ electro mobility. 4. 2 International Initiatives for Green Banking: The financial sector’s glowing adherence to environmental management system is attributed to the direct and indirect pressures from international and local Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs), multilateral agencies an d in some cases the market through consumers.In the early 1990s, the United Nations Environment Program (UNEP) launched what is now known as the UNEP Finance initiative (UNEPFI). Some 200 financial institutions around the globe are signatories of this initiative statement to promote sustainable development living the framework of market mechanisms toward common environmental goals. The objective is to integrate the environmental and social dimension to the financial performance and risk associated with it in the financial sector.As the commitment of this UNEPFI statement goes, sustainable development is regarded basic to the sound business management. It advocates for a precautionary approach towards environmental management and suggests integrating environmental considerations into the regular business operations, asset management, and other business decisions of the banks. IFC's environmental unit was established in 1991 for reviewing each project for environmental assessment.Simi larly, the US Export-Import Bank regularly reviews while financing exports on the ground whether they are environmentally sound. It will be noteworthy to mention that Netherland-based ABN-Amro bank has developed certain Reputational Risk Management (RRM) policies to identify, asses and mange non-financial present within it business engagements- Similarly, some of the big international banks like ABN Amro, Deutsche, Standard Chartered, HSBC Bank etc. look at environment issues discussed under Kyoto Protocol.Going further, the Dutch Government has made a formal request to barks in achieving sustainable development. The dialogue between banks and government was established in 1999 to initiate policies for environmental improvements through the development of new financial products and services. Similarly, Earth (FOE) and the Rainforest Action Network (RAN) challenged the industry with high-profile campaign that highlighted cases in which commercial banks were -bankrolling disasters in 2000 in the US.In 2002, a global coalition of NGOs formed a network named Bank Tract’ to promote sustainable finance in the commercial sector. This coalition came up with a resolution constituting six principles promoting environmental protection and social justice by banks and this is popularly known as â€Å"Collevecchio Declaration†. The six principles that this declaration advocated included commitments to sustainability no-harm responsibility, accountability, transparency and sustainable market, and governance.More than 200 organizations have endorsed this declaration and urged the banks to incorporate these commitments into their business operation The declaration states that -Finance and Commerce has been at the center of a historic detachment between the world's natural resource base, production and consumption. As we reach the boundaries of ecological boundaries of the ecological limit upon which all commerce relies, the financial sector should take its share of responsibility for reversing the effects this detachment has produced.All these concerns for sustainable finance or green finance have compelled the banking institutions to devise a common and coherent set of environmental and social policies and guidelines that can be used to evaluate the projects. A small group of banks along with IFC carne together to initiate the process of designing the common guidelines in October 2002 and came up with a guidelines in June 2003 that is known as Equator Principles with 10 leading commercial banks adopting these voluntary set of principles.This equator principle was subsequently updated and the new revised sets of principles are hunched in July 2006. The coverage of projects being financed is expanded in this revised set of principles by lowering the finance threshold from $50 million to $10 million presently 46 financial institutions from 16 countries with business operation in more than 100 countries have embraced this equator principle, So this principle has become a common standard of project finance that imported environmental and social issues in project finance.The activities of the equator banks (banks adopting equator principles) are being reviewed by NGOs worldwide and are being published whenever it is realized that they are not committed to Equator Principle. IFC along with the Financial Times has initiated Sustainable Banking Award' since 2006. More than 104 financial institutions out of 151 entries from 51 countries have made it to the final lists of award 2007. The number of banks applying was up by more than 100 percent compared to the previous year’s 48 banks from 28 countries.All the international initiatives towards integrating environmental concerns into business operation of banks are voluntary in nature and are meant to a common good of a better ecosystem Voluntary commitment has its own shortcoming in a competitive market. Unless the market for green money will increase, the lenders will al ways have an incentive to increase their social commitment and prioritize the commercial interest in the short run. So demand for green money is a precondition of green banking if it will be voluntary.A Government legislation that makes banks accountable for the misdeeds of their clients will help promotes green banking. 4. 2. 1 Global initiatives: Durban Climate Conference: Governments agreed to adopt a universal legal agreement on climate change by 2015. Key Decisions: * Green Climate Fund to be made available to developing countries by 2012. * Adaptive capacities of the poorest and most vulnerable countries to be strengthened. * Technology Mechanism to become fully operational by 2012. * Web-based registration of developing country mitigation actions seeking financial support. . 3 Domestic Initiatives for Green Banking: : Though be late, Bangladesh is now aware that global warming is an issue that calls for a global response. The rapid change in climate will be too great to allow many eco-systems to suitably adapt, since the change have direct impact on biodiversity, agriculture, forestry, dry land, water resources and human health. Due to unusual weather pattern, rising greenhouse gas, declining air quality etc. society demands that business also take responsibility in safeguarding the planet.Green finance as a part of Green Banking makes great contribution to the transition to resource-efficient and low carbon industries i. e. green industry and green economy in general. Green banking is a component of the global initiative by a group of stakeholders to save environment. The state of environment in Bangladesh is rapidly deteriorating. The key areas of environmental degradation cover air pollution, water pollution and scarcity, encroachment of rivers, improper disposal of industrial medical and house-hold waste, deforestation and loss of open spaces and loss of biodiversity.In addition, Bangladesh is one of the most climate change vulnerable countries. In line with global ; development and response to the environmental degradation, financial sector in Bangladesh can play important roles as one of the key stake holders. In response to the above, urgent measures are required by stakeholders for sustainable development and thereby save the planet. Banks hold a unique position in an economic system that can affect production, business and other economic activities though their financing activities and thus may contribute to protect environment.Moreover, energy and water efficiency and waste reduction are of high concern for many big banks- Green banks or environmentally responsible banks do not only improve their own standards but also affect socially responsible behavior of other business. 4. 3. 1 Bangladesh Bank's Earlier Initiatives: Bangladesh Bank (BB) is well aware of the environmental degradation situation as mentioned above and has already given time to time directions to all scheduled banks.Commercial Banks are now required to e nsure necessary measures to protect environmental pollution while financing a new project or providing working capital to the existing enterprises. Banks have been advised to facilitate their clients with utmost care in opening Letter of Credit (L/C) for installation of Effluent Treatment Plant (ETP) in the industrial units. Banks have been advised to finance in Solar Energy, Bio-gas, ETP and Hybrid Hoffman Kiln (HHK) in brick field under refinance program of BB.A comprehensive guideline on Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) has been issued where banks have been asked to concentrate hard on linking CSR at their highest corporate level for ingraining environmentally and socially responsible practices and engaging with borrowers in scrutiny of the environmental and social impacts. Banks have been brought under the purview of E-commerce with a view to providing the customers with online-banking facilities covering payments of utility bills, money transfer and transactions in local c urrency through internet as well.Considering the adverse effects of Climate Change, banks have been advised to be cautious about the adverse impact of natural calamities and encourage the farmers to cultivate salinity resistant crops in the salty areas, water resistant crops in the water locked and flood prone areas, drought resistant crops in the drought prone areas, using surface water instead of underground water for irrigation and also using organic fertilizer, insecticides by natural means instead of using chemical fertilizer and pesticides. 4. 3. 2 Commercial Banks’ Attention to Green Banking:Bangladesh Bank governor urged the chief executive officers of the country’s banks to pay attention to green banking, by investing in energy efficiency and renewable energy projects. Central bank has a fund named -Renewable Energy Fund. Only two banks have so far taken the opportunities offered by the fund. The central bank governor made the request at the launching ceremony of the Environmental Risk management Guidelines. BB urged the banks and financial institutions to keep climate change and environmental considerations as priorities in their activities.The Impact of a deteriorating climate on financial institutions and business enterprise have driven the creation of the Environmental Risk Management Guidelines, encouraging banks and FIs to adopt risk management practices to safe guard against these inevitable environmental concerns. Detailed guidelines on green banking were Issued on February 27,2011 in which banks have been advised to give more emphasis to help environment by eliminating paper uses saving gas and carbon emissions, and reducing printing costs and postage expenses.Banks shall comply with the instructions stipulated in the detailed guidelines on Environmental Risk Management in consideration of a part of the Green Banking Policy. The comprehensive guidelines were developed by Bangladesh Bank in collaboration with IFC and with input f rom Bankers Association of Bangladesh and financial sector stakeholders and have been issued to all financial institutions in the country. The Major Area & Products of Green Banking 5. 1 The Major Areas of Green Banking: : Green banking can benefit the environment either by reducing the carbon footprint of consumers or banks.Either a bank or a consumer can conserve paper and benefit the environment. Ideally, a green banking initiative will involve both. Online banking is an example of this. When a bank’s customers go online, the environmental benefits work both ways. Other examples of what Green Bank Report considers forms of green banking on the consumer side include: * Green Deposits: Banks can offer higher rates on CDs, money market accounts, checking accounts and savings account if customers opt to conduct their banking activities online. Green Checking – converting checking accounts to online banking * Green Money Market Accounts – converting savings accoun ts to online banking * Green CDs – bonus rates for online banking * Green